The Path of Ascension

The action immediately picked up when the auction officially ended. Matt was pretty sure that the Prince and Princess didn't stick around long enough for the smaller side auctions to end or the banquet. They quickly flew out of the bubble and started getting things ready.

Team bucket didn't linger either, but they didn't exactly rush out the door. Once they finished their meal, they left at their own pace.

None of them thought that the fighting would start immediately. But their assumption was incorrect. Both sides had already sent out teams to take forts through any means necessary. Matt figured that would be it for the first day, but both sides were emptying the outlying cities to mass troops in a pretty transparent attempt to take new cities.

They were going to rush into the fray, but as soon as they surfaced, a warning went out.

Assassins were out in full force, attacking anyone suspected to have a large amount of points. At first, they thought the attacks were all sanctioned hits. But it was soon confirmed to be opportunistic Pathers trying to remove points from the general point pool and collect bounties. The upgrade orbs and the rumored auction next month were surely motives for the attempts. They all wanted to ensure that they had a greater chance at the more expensive items. No matter their motives, their pursuits were causing a ruckus.

No one targeted them in the time it took to make it to their rooms, but they were all on high alert. A quick message to Juni registered the team as ready for new missions, and they immediately received a standby order.

Liz started pacing. “The upgrade orbs and the promise of new items appearing in the auction are going to cause a fucking disaster.”

Conor rubbed his hands together with a hungry look on his face. “Upgrading [Demon Zone] increases the likelihood to trigger the reflected damage, and the percentage of damage reflected increases while upping the range. It's just too perfect for me. And I'm so close.”

The large man paused. “Well there is the chance that the skill will get the rarer upgrade that increases attack speed with each successful reflection of damage, along with an increase in area of effect size. But that’s so rare, I highly doubt I’ll get it.”

Everyone nodded. Matt felt the same way. He was only 50,000 points away from the orb, which could mean quite a significant change in his fighting style.

Liz, chimed in from next to Conor. “Same. My manipulation skill gets cheaper and easier to use. That alone would be worth the price. Otherwise, I have no idea what my skill would turn into after my Talent goes into effect. But that one should be safe enough.”

Liz nodded to Conor. “Granted, any manipulation skill can be upgraded so it's instinctive to use, just like a limb. Zero effort required to direct it. That would be great, but that’s like one in a trillion. They’re more well documented rumors than anything else. There’s tons of theories about ways people have changed their skills into Talents, but Talent scanners haven’t figured out how to predict it. Like I said, everyone is searching for the secret to recreating the unique upgrades, but no one has found it.”

Annie shrugged. “It's not like we’re banking on that effect anyway. What are you thinking of using it on Matt?”

Everyone looked to Matt, who said, “I could risk it on my innate skill—” He meant [Cracked Phantom Armor], as he was still lying that it was a Talent. It was a slight, sudden change to his story, from a Talent to an innate skill. But it was one he hoped they overlooked. Although, he was getting tired of lying to his friends about it. “—But that could backfire, since it's a cracked skill. I honestly have no idea what it could turn into. I also have [Flamethrower], and that upgrade is amazing without the risk. Honestly, I don't know which I would choose, but it would be a worthwhile investment either way.”

They all turned to Annie, who wiggled her hand back and forth. “Not sure if I really need it. It would be better for me to save up. My skills are less magical and more mundane for the most part. If I could get [Side Slide] and the upgrade orb, it would be great. But as of now, I don’t really need the orb on its own.”

Matt agreed with her logic. The orb would be nice for her, but it wasn’t as vital for her as for the others.

Everyone turned to Emily, who nodded to her sister. “It would be great for [Bolt], but the upgrade only slightly increases base damage, and adds the ability to jump to more targets. If I use it on [Cracked Mana Bolt], it might let me get more aspects, or maybe give me the ability to choose. But I really can’t be sure since the upgrade for the base skill only increases damage and range. It’s such a gamble with a cracked skill. The upgrades would be nice, but I'm so far away right now, I doubt I'd get an orb before they’re all gone.” Her eyes flickered off to the side before she said, “They’re already down to thirty-one.”

Checking for himself, Matt saw the counter on available upgrade orbs and verified what his teammate said. It was a heartbreaking realization, but Conor put a voice to the frustration and started cursing out loud.

Matt clenched his fist. The precious orbs were just going too quickly.

He was so wrapped up in his thought he missed the looks Annie and Emily passed to each other. He didn't miss what the twins said afterwards.

“Take the points you three need from us.”

“You already gave me points once. I'm happy to return the favor.”

It took him a long moment to register what they had said.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. It was just too large of a favor for him to accept, but it was too valuable to decline.

Matt felt frozen in limbo from indecision.

Conor wasn't so afflicted. “We can't take that. It's too much.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Just take it. We know you’re all able to pay us back. We don't need the orbs, but with them, the whole team will be stronger. If you three are stronger, we can earn more points. I'm sure this is exactly what the other teams are doing. Besides, we’re friends.”

That last bit sounded so simple, but it wasn't.

Liz slowly shook her head. “I'm not sure what to say. It's a lot more points than the few thousand points we gave you. I...”

Emily waved her off. “It was a larger percentage of your points. Just take it.” Seeing their reluctance, she said, “I still want an orb, so if we can pool our points together to get me one after the next few engagements, I'd call that repaying the favor. if it makes you feel any better. We just think that our team could use the upgrades now.”

Annie jumped in. “We already agreed to pool our points if we needed to in the auction, so this is really no different. Don’t be weird just because you’re on the receiving end.”

That seemed fair enough to Matt. He checked Aster's point total and saw that she was at 230,936 points. Where exactly she had been spending her points he didn't know, but while the others bickered, he impressed on the fox through their bond that she should save up her points. Getting her an upgrade orb now would be incredibly useful, even if she didn't use it right away.

He tuned back into the conversation after Emily called his name twice. He rejoined the world of the living while she rolled her eyes. “Ugh. How many points do each of you need?”

Matt checked. He needed 47,291 to reach the half-million marker. “I can’t thank you enough. I’ll take it if you insist, but just know that we can do this without the upgrade orbs.”

Seeing both twins wave him down, he imprinted this favor into his heart and said, “I need 47,291 points to buy the orb.”

A heartbeat later, Emily flicked a finger at him, and he received 47,292 points. He now understood why Emily had been so grateful when they gave her the points she needed at the first auction.

She grinned. “One extra, just in case you die right here and now.”

Matt clenched his fist and carved their generosity deep into his memory. He knew they weren't doing it for favors to be traded, but he was determined to repay both for their friendship, trust, and generosity.

Conor nodded slightly at Matt before half bowing at the twins. “Same as Matt. I am incredibly grateful for this. Since you both have made up your minds, I won't hesitate anymore. Just... thank you. I need 71,013 points to buy the orb.”

As Annie repeated her sister's gesture of point transfer, and Conor whispered another thanks.

Everyone looked to Liz, who flushed and said, “I need 91 points.”

“What!?” Everyone exclaimed in some fashion.

Matt actually couldn't see Liz’s point total. After all, they were dating, not actually married, so some things were restricted. He could ask, and she could send him an updated number, but neither bothered with that.

Liz's blush deepened to a crimson as she sputtered, “I never made any large purchases besides my two skills, and I get a stipend for doing most of the actual leading of the Pathers. So I have a bit more points left over. I was just going to borrow what I needed from Aster.”

His fox yipped a response at Liz, who blew a raspberry at her in return.

Emily flicked a finger at Liz and quipped, “Here's 100 points. Keep the change.”

The three of them quickly purchased the orbs. In under a second, three black boxes with silver ribbons tying them shut hovered in front of them. Matt plucked the box out of the air, but immediately stumbled at the unexpected weight.

A quick scan with his spiritual sense revealed why the box was so heavy. Both the box and its contents were Tier 14. Matt activated [Mage’s Retreat] to control his stumble. He barely landed in the chair with the heavy object pressing down his lap.

Liz and Conor learned from his fumble, and just removed the lids of the floating boxes. The covers floated next to the box as if that was their intention.

Matt flicked his box open with some effort. Nestled in the black, silk-like cloth was a thumb-sized orb of silver, with pulsing streaks of black running through it.

It was much smaller than he expected.

He picked up the little orb and marveled at its weight. The box and its lid vanished, presumably back to where they had come from.

With a trickle of essence he still had from an essence stone he’d recently used, Matt connected to the orb in his hand.

Unlike a skill, this object vanished into nothing. But he felt the change immediately in his spirit. There was no cycling needed. A new kind of energy was sitting in his spirit, waiting for direction and eager to be used.

Matt reviewed his choices, but [Cracked Phantom Armor] won out in the end, despite the risks. [Flamethrower] was handy, but he didn't need the upgrade when he could simply keep the heat on his opponent endlessly. After all, upgrades were rarely bad for cracked skills. From everything he had heard and read, the upgrade would be a net neutral at worst.

He expected some sort of significant change, but no. There was a brief rush of energy that wrapped up his first and most important skill, and then the change was over. The whole ordeal was done in an instant.

With fear building, he inspected the skill and found that there were no immediate changes. Focusing in further, it almost seemed as if there was a second copy of the skill, situated in the same place as [Cracked Phantom Armor]. He attempted to move his skill, but the original skill structure and the other copy moved in unison.

With trepidation and a hammering heart, he poured mana into the skill. Everything functioned as normal. He searched around himself to see if anything else changed, but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. His armor was its usual, smooth light blue. Meanwhile, the second, illusionary copy of the skill structure was still sitting there, untouched.

Carefully, he poured more mana into the skill, to the point where it would typically start to overload its structure. The mana was instead redirected to the illusionary copy of the skill. Matt inspected himself as he put his remaining 34 MPS into the other side of [Cracked Phantom Armor]. His AI took the last bit of mana to analyze and record everything that he was doing.

Nothing hurt, or warned him of impending doom, so he inspected his arms a second time.

The changes were distinct.

His armor had thickened, and changed from its simple, smooth design to add an elaborate filigree that lightly lined his armor. He twisted his hands, marveling at the thicker gauntlets, and at his idle thought, all of the extra armor flowed to his fist. Both gauntlets grew incredibly detailed, and the plating became more dense as he focused on the area.

All of the extra decorations glided from the rest of his armor to fill out the gauntlets. It was almost overly detailed when it was finished. He was worried that the ridges would give enemy blades purchase, but they were just a slightly different color of mana, instead of actual engraving.

“Huh...”

Everyone was looking at him, so he shrugged. “The skill seemed to grow a second layer that’s really easy to shape.”

With a thought, he imagined a shield connected to his left arm, and the second layer of armor rushed to create the image. The mana around his left hand simply traveled from his fist to his forearm, creating a ghostly image of the medium kite shield he had imagined. The mana from his right hand crossed his chest before filling in the armor and making it more solid. It was harder to hold this shape than the gauntlets, which were almost natural. From a little testing, he discovered that the farther away from his body— or maybe the original [Cracked Phantom Armor] layer— the harder it was to keep the shape of the image in his head. Even when just six inches away, the skill started growing slightly hazy.

As his thoughts drifted off, the shield fell apart.

“Interesting.”

An exacerbated Liz hollered, “What!? Give us the details!”

Matt didn't have them to share. So as he tested and confirmed his hypothesis, he said, “It seems like another channel for my skill. Its default state bulks up the armor all over. But if I concentrate, I can make the second layer reinforce one area in particular.”

He met Liz’s eyes with his own. “Hey, can you stab me, please? I want to test it.”

A tendril of blood rose up, and Matt could feel that it was full of Liz’s Concept. The darker tinge spoke to her using the blood iron as well, "Sure, my initial mana cost is lower so I didn't get lucky it seems." She didn't seem upset at that at all as she nearly vibrated as she couldn't stand still.

He stopped sending mana into the second channel, and the extra mass of the armor vanished into nothing.

Liz carefully drove her blood tendril into his armor until she broke through.

“Ok, I know how much that took. Feels about normal. I didn't notice it being harder than before.”

Matt reformed the skill, but added the rest of his mana regeneration into the other channel. With 45 MPS in the original skill, he sent the rest of his 80 MPS into the second layer, and let it settle naturally in the full body armor configuration.

Liz tried to drive into the skill, but he could see the visible effort it took her. She finally broke through with a grunt, and the outer layer of his armor shattered in his spirit. It only took her a moment to then drive through the normal armor underneath.

Matt checked what his AI registered and nodded at Liz.

She inspected his unarmored arm for wounds before finding none. She said, “That was about twenty-five percent stronger. Or it took twenty-five percent more effort for me to break through.”

With [Cracked Phantom Armor] having settled down in his spirit, Matt reformed both spells and then redirected the entire second layer of the skill to cover his forearm, where Liz was testing.

Liz had to bring considerably more effort to break his armor, even leaning into the attack while directing her blood with a hand.

Finally, the skill shattered when Matt felt her do something different. He flinched out of the way as a drill of blood slashed past his quickly broken inner armor layer.

She quickly stood straight and nodded to Matt, with everyone else watching. “That was the hardest I can hit and I had to use a drill to get through it.”

A private message reached him. ‘I had to use my full Concept to break through the thicker layer. Can you keep that up all the time? I was breaking Tier 7 defenses at Tier 5. I'd call that top quality Tier 8 armor if it's all concentrated.’

Matt thought out loud. “Nope, can't manage that. Too expensive. That eats everything I have. It takes a lot of focus too.”

Conor gave him an evil grin. “Nice. Now we can just stand there and beat anyone who comes to challenge us.”

The large man hugged Annie then Emily in quick succession as he thanked each of them again.

Matt nodded to them as well, but was thinking more internally. The upgrade wasn't his worst fear; [Cracked Phantom Armor] still functioned as a pseudo-channel skill, and was fundamentally unchanged. But its direct application right now was limited. If he wanted to use the skill, he would need to drop every other spell to use it. That meant no [Endurance] or [Mage’s Retreat] to increase his combat ability.

The ability to manipulate the skill so easily was great, but it didn't seem to transfer to the original skill. The first layer felt firmly anchored to his body. Whereas the second layer felt loosely anchored to the mana of the layer below it.

With that thought, he reactivated the skill and tried to create his spiked gauntlets with his new layer of armor. It flatly refused to form the spikes. In a panic, he tried to create them with his standard layer of armor, and they formed as quickly as before. Then, and only then, would the second layer cover the spikes, lengthening them a hair. It was still far less than the changes he could do when making it a shield.

That was an interesting limitation, but not one that bothered him a ton. He continued to test the new portion of his skill, but anything that wasn’t strictly armor was impossible to create. Considering that the skill was called [Cracked Phantom Armor], he wasn't surprised. But it would have been nice to have a backup weapon that couldn’t be taken away or stolen.

Still, having a shield that couldn't be stolen and didn't need to be stored could be useful. He wondered if it would fulfill the requirements for a skill that needed a shield, like [Shield Charge] or [Shield Bash]. It would be quite handy if it did.

His second test was a simple one that didn't work. He was unable to activate the second layer of [Cracked Phantom Armor] without putting at least 1 MPS into the base layer. At the same time, the amount of mana he fed into the bottom skill was apparently the max he could channel into the second layer. It was another interesting limitation that unfortunately prevented him from gaming the system, as it seemed that the second layer of armor was directly tied to the first.

All in all, Matt was happy with the upgrade. It added further defense at only the cost of more mana. While just increasing the overall effect of [Cracked Phantom Armor] would have been simpler and cleaner, he was pretty sure that this would allow the skill scale with him even more. The second layer was far less mana efficient in terms of pure defense, but the increased flexibility made the skill more adaptable. It was a worthy tradeoff. Eventually, he would have millions and trillions of mana generation, which meant that taking twice the mana was a great long-term upgrade. It was just somewhat less useful in the short term.

He’d still need to focus on increasing the mana throughput on the skill, but it wasn't anything new. He worked on that every day.

The only problem was that his current maximum mana was only at 80, so he only had 80 MPS to spend on channeled skills and his AI. When he Tiered up, he'd double that. But as of now, he had more skills than he could afford to keep up at once.

Realizing that he was complaining about having too many skills, Matt laughed at himself. Most people were happy to have a single skill or two at Tier 6, and he was complaining that he didn't have enough mana to power all the skills he had.

He rubbed his face with a self-deprecating smile.

Idly, he checked the number of upgrade orbs left. Twenty-six. He peered at the twins, who smiled and chatted with the other three as he tested his armor.

He owed them. Massively.

***

That evening, they were called to martial up, but not through their AI. Instead, they were summoned in person by a nervous looking aid. They asked Team Bucket to assemble with everyone else. Over the course of an hour, the team and nearly a million others were funneled through the teleporter, and into a large fortress on one of the other continents.

During their down time, Matt and the other fast flyers were asked to scout the area. This was one of the few new large forts that the Kingdom had managed to hold on to from their mass invasion into Queendom territory in retaliation for the first city's capture.

They were actually closer to the second city that the Queendom had taken. It was the larger of the two cities situated on this continent, and the Queendom had made their headquarters, as it held the intercontinental teleporter linked back to their main holdings.

Matt didn't see much of anything during his time scouting; neither enemies, nor anything else out of the ordinary.

Their intention to hit a less prepared city was for naught. They had been flying for most of the afternoon in a loose formation, and their scouts reported that the first small fort they were meant to engage was already garrisoned and on alert. Not only that, but a million extra troops were spread out around the base of the fort too, positioned well inside the anti-flying formation.

For what must have been the third time in the last hour, Alastair, the top general for this mission, stood around with his own entourage of people and nodded towards the enemies. “What are we going to do about them? Suggestions?”

Matt suspected he was only in charge because his father was a Kingdom Duke, and that his two aides were the real brains of the operation. Finding an equally sized force shouldn't have stumped the man this much.

With each side fielding massive armies and sending them to cause mayhem and destruction, Matt hadn't expected this to be easy. From the reports coming in, the Queendom was already trying to invade Kingdom territories and attack a city of their own. If the Kingdom could anticipate that move and set up blocking forces, there was no reason that the Queendom couldn't as well.

One of the aides, Philip, said, “I see zero reasons why we should fight this battle. There aren’t even any notable strategic assets in the area. We just need to go around them and clear a path to the city we were supposed to attack.”

Olivia countered his point. “No, we need to weaken the enemy troops now. That alone would be worthwhile. Remember, we’re here to siege a city down, but they’re probably planning to do the same. If we don't engage them now, they won’t simply disappear. Best case scenario, they march on one of our cities that can hold them off long enough for reinforcements to arrive. But most likely, they’ll ambush our supply lines, flank us in the middle of the siege, and then partially reinforce the city. That would be utterly disastrous for us. The Princess might be desperate for new gains, but only a short-sighted idiot would pass up such an easy opportunity to decimate the enemy like that.”

Olivia sighed as she rubbed her brow under her helmet. “Were it not for The Prince’s very firm directive to not concern ourselves with reinforcing the cities, I’d say that this should be our plan too. Either way, convention states that every potential defender we kill here will be worth three of our attackers during a siege. Let's take the opportunity to cull their forces now, in the open, before they have surprise on their side or walls to hide behind.”

Phillip tried to counter what Matt felt like was a good point. “Yes, but we’re only the first million of several waves of troops on the way. We’re meant to clear a path, not get bogged down with a battle against a random small fort that we could’ve bypassed.”

Matt just watched the mass of Queendom troops with a careful eye. They sat there, but something felt off about their movements around the top of the hill. He just couldn't pin down what was bothering him about it.

He wasn't alone in noticing. Alastair interrupted the squabbling aids and said, “What are they doing? Does anyone have binoculars? I don't like the way they’re mucking about.”

The loose formation had been shifting around in seemingly random patterns, but it was too smoothly coordinated to truly be haphazard.

A minute and a half later, the long barreled mana cannons were revealed.

“Take cover!” The scream echoed half a dozen times, but even as everyone scattered, it was too late.

Matt tackled Liz and activated [Cracked Phantom Armor], putting everything into the skill and covering his back. Liz didn’t sit on her ass either, and a bubble of blood surrounded them. For a moment, the evening sun went dark.

Until the mana cannon shots landed.

The world lit up in bluish-white, even overpowering the deep crimson of the blood wall. Despite having his eyes squeezed shut, he could make out the color clearly.

Well, I can’t say I like being on the other side of a mana cannon.

Matt looked around himself and breathed into Liz’s face.

After a second of silence, she asked, “Think it's safe?”

He shook his head. It was more instinct, but he expected a second volley.

Liz repeated her question, and he realized that she couldn't see him, and must not have been using her special sense. So, he repeated himself. “Not yet. My gut tells me there's another volley on the way.”

Thirty agonizing seconds later, he was proven right. Another all-consuming flash and world-rocking explosion washed through the area around them.

Instantly, Liz deactivated the dome around them, and they scrambled up to their feet. He had been monitoring his AI, and the rest of their team was fine, still where they had been with the general troops.

The command area was a crater, blasted ruin of holes and smoke.

Things had gone to shit with most of the leadership decimated, and the general troops had rushed forward. To his bewilderment, they were charging on foot.

They were in an anti-flying formation from the nearby small fort, but he had no idea why they would just rush into the enemy army after their leadership had been taken out so quickly. It would have been far better to pull back out of range and formulate an actual plan. Now, the best move was trying to instill some fragment of order back into the chaos.

When no mid-level commander responded to his messages, he had to give up and face reality. There was little else left but to simply throw himself into the fray and find his team.

Matt barreled into the front line with a roar and a torrent of fire that roasted half a dozen people as they cooked inside of their armor.

Still trying to keep his cover, he cut the spell once he cleared a hole in the defender's shield wall.

Half a dozen people followed him into the gap and started to hack and slash, before enemy reinforcements tried to close the breach and push them back. The Tier 6 defenders were led by a Tier 7 who engaged with another giant of a Tier 7 on Matt's side.

After they were forced back out, Matt traveled along the frontline to find his team. Liz had become separated from him at some point, but he had no idea when. Nonetheless, all six members of Team Bucket had responded to the situation in the same way. They rampaged their way to the front lines, causing massive damage, and eventually found each other. Conor and Matt reunited first, and converged to create and hold a zone of death that none dared to enter.

The upgrade for [Demon Zone] was a massive improvement. The general reflection chance had doubled to three percent. Now, everyone in the area took an unexpected and unblockable attack once every thirty or so hits. Considering that the range was now close to ten feet to a side, the skill was able to hold down a significant number of attackers.

The twins appeared behind their position, with Emily carrying Aster in her backpack. Moments later, Liz joined them from a tidal wave of blood, and collected her partner in crime. Led by Conor, Team bucket scythed into the enemy ranks. With Aster, Liz, and Emily unleashing a bombardment of spells from behind their front line, their advance was nearly unopposed.

The enemy’s situation devolved further once enough blood had been spilled to soak the ground, and Liz had enough to cast [Blood Sprite]. As the first sparrow appeared, it dropped to the ground unnoticed and feasted until it split, over and over again. As Matt and Conor hacked their way through the Queendom troops, even more food was left behind for the little monsters to feed on.

When Liz finally directed the flock to attack the Queendom troops, pandemonium ensued. Except, it didn't last as long as last time.

A purple-haired woman with a guitar strummed a cord that splattered all of the little sparrows, and left everyone around her clutching their ears. Everyone except her defenders, who seemed unaffected. But the odd attack had worked, and had prevented [Blood Sprite] from cascading further and overwhelming the defenders.

Annie tried to pick off the woman with a crossbow bolt, but one of her guards intercepted the shot. With the threats taken care of, the musician went back to buffing the people around her. Visible energy rose off her instrument and into the people around her as she worked.

The tide of battle ebbed against them, and Team Bucket was once again broken away from each other. They had to struggle against several waves of Queendom fighters before being able to file back into a formation. The fighting only grew fiercer as each side endured more and more casualties. Annie eventually slipped away, pretending to be hit with an arrow and falling down, just before activating her invisibility and disappearing.

She later reunited with them and reported that she’d returned the favor, executing two of the Queendom’s top brass before having to escape from the small fort they were using as a headquarters. Their top general was out of the picture.

With Matt’s Concept keeping the team charged, they battered their way forwards until their enemies broke.

***

Matt and Liz lay next to each other in the smoking ruins of the battlefield, panting from exhaustion. Aster was sprawled out across them, with her thumping heart beating in lockstep with Matt’s own through their bond.

They had been one of the final groups to take out the lingering Queendom forces. The bloody and disastrous fight had only been won because the enemy commander hadn't expected anything as dumb as a full frontal assault. Under no circumstances was that a reasonable response to their leadership being beheaded in the opening salvo, especially not for a measly fort. The Queendom hadn't bothered to set up significant forward defenses, which cost them dearly when things got to melee range.

With only one hundred and some odd thousand troops left, the force Team Bucket had come with was effectively destroyed. They were now fit only to be absorbed into their reinforcements, which were already funneling through the nearby portal, and flying the long way over the ocean separating the continents.

Now, Team Bucket laid in the wreckage of their final encounter, where they’d chased down the last few Queendom soldiers unable to flee fast enough. It was a disaster for the Kingdom, but their team was too tired and exhausted to care.

Emily, lying at their heads, groaned as she sat up and spat. Her coughs squelched with a wet sound that couldn’t be healthy.

Annie flopped over and asked, “Whose bright idea was that charge?”

Matt had to clear his throat twice to force out, “Everyone was already moving when we came up from the first shots. No one responded to my hails either.”

Emily cursed as she started inspecting her face with a broken sword that she’d polished. “Are you fucking kidding me!? This is gonna take a healer to fix.” She poked the deep gash and screeched. “Fuck! My face...”

He didn't need to get up to see what she was looking at. That blow would have taken her head off if Matt hadn’t been there to block it. Well... most of it. Her face was split with a gnarly scar that cleaved through her helmet, grazed her head, and ran down part of her face. Bone was visible, but only gently scored. While not life-threatening, the wound was damn ugly.

The bit of sword dropped as she deflated, “Still, thanks for the save guys. I'd be dead if not for your help. What a disaster.”

Matt nodded as he sat up, it had been a disaster of epic proportions. Even for the ‘winning’ side.

But it had earned them quite the number of points.

Prior Total (last updated 0 days ago): 1 point.

TEAM MERITS:

(Calculated for Tier 6 Combatant).

Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 141 times.Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 8,592 times.Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 7 times.Enemy general assassinated, Tier 7. Worth 1,000 points. Performed 2 times.Items and equipment looted but returned. Assigned worth: 7,874 points.Captured a heavy artillery asset intact, long-range mana cannon. Worth 1,000 points. Performed 3 times.Eliminated enemy general(s) in the middle of a major engagement (each side >500K units). Reward: 1.4x multiplier to all team merits.

PERSONAL MERITS:

(Calculated for Tier 6 Combatant)

Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 21 times.Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 1,272 times.Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 2 times.

ARMY MERITS:

Defeat a major enemy army of equivalent size (975K vs 997K) in a defensive position, field fortifications. Reward: 1.2x multiplier to all merits (applied after other multipliers). Note: All leadership bonuses (brigadier general) forfeited due to loss of command over subordinate troops.

UNACHIEVED MERITS: For reference purposes only.

Capture a fortified enemy position defended by an equivalent force, small fort. Worth 250 points. Leadership Bonus (brigadier general): 1.x multiplier to all merits.Reestablish the command structure of a major army (>500K units) after the sudden loss of >90% of top leadership. Reward: 1.5x multiplier to all merits. ‘Victory from the Jaws of Defeat’ Bonus: 2.0x multiplier. Final Reward: 3.0x multiplier to all merits.

SUMMARY OF GAINS:

Team Merits:Raw Total: 56,150Team Multiplier: 1.4xCategory Total: 78,610Personal Merits:Raw Total: 6,431Personal Multiplier: N/ACategory Total: 6,431Combined Merits:Sub-Total: 85,041Total Multiplier: 1.2xGrand Total: 102,049

New Gains: 102,049 points.

New Total: 102,050 points.

Pather Team Ranking (Kingdom of Seven Suns): 3rd place.

Estimated Daily Stipend: 1,250 points.

He sent 47,292 points to repay Emily while they lazily chatted for a bit. The points would only actually be sent once they went back to the neutral city, but he felt better knowing he had cleared his debt. It put his total at 54,758, but he had repaid his friend after just one disastrous battle.

A quick check of the market showed that there were still twenty-six upgrade orbs remaining. Anyone who could have bought one had done so quickly, and the second half seemed to be waiting on those who could earn the most points over the next few weeks. He still wanted to get Aster her own orb, and then help Emily get one for herself. But the rush for the orbs seemed to be mostly over. That, or no one was in the neutral city anymore, so they were unable to purchase items for the moment.

As he recovered his energy, Matt realized that he had to pee something fierce, and stood to find someplace slightly out of sight. A deeper crater fit the bill, as no standing trees were nearby. After fighting through the entire night and into the morning, his body was finally alerting him to its needs.

Seeing him up and about, the rest of the team wobbled to their feet with various grunts and moans. They were all drained, but everyone started to address their own waylaid needs while groaning at stiff muscles and pains. Only their fading adrenaline had kept them upright.

The highest-ranking commander to survive was Olivia. She’d stepped up and directed the battle as best she could, despite losing both her legs to the mana cannons. Even now, she was still barking out commands from her newly cobbled together command tent.

Half a dozen new orders awaited Team Bucket that still needed to be acknowledged.