The Path of Ascension

Chapter 329

The battlefield seemed to hang in a single moment of stasis, though Matt knew that was just an illusion. He’d expended a lot of willpower with his Domain meld, but [Archmage’s Presence] still cranked his reaction speed up high enough that most people hadn’t been able to recover from it, even now.

His hand, still raised above his head, turned slightly and unleashed a blast of [Mana Beam] at the presumed Synoid and Crastor. Without Darrow’s mind-link, he had to rely on only his own knowledge, but the two elusive-but-known members of the Harmony Accords were certainly the two Sect-looking men who had suddenly appeared after Aster had spirited away Gan Le. They were also probably the source of Maven’s buff; two people who could be shifted around to empower different members of the Harmony Accords explained most of what they’d seen.

The exact nature of how they’d been inside Gan Le, or why they hadn’t been taken alongside him, was immaterial. Right now, Matt just cared that his attack hit.

It was a breath of fresh air for his [Mana Beam] to go where he aimed it, but the green twin turned shadowy and insubstantial, dove into the blue twin’s body, and then the two vanished, leaving only the impression of entering the shadow cast by Matt’s own mana beam as it swept to cut them in half.

He wasn’t certain where they went, but his instincts said they weren’t out of the battle yet. Whatever that was, it hadn't been a lifesaving tether back to the ship. Not that he could properly account for what it was, as he had genuinely no idea what their capabilities were like. A part of him wondered: if they could turn Maven from someone beaten by Light and Shadow into someone who could keep up with two Ascenders, what might they be able to do to someone already extraordinary?

Idle, but fun thoughts. For now, he had only a single thing that mattered.

Gan Le was finally gone and that meant the Harmony Accords were ripe for the picking.

And they knew it, which is why the smarter ones immediately activated their life saving measures.

Matt swept his [Mana Beam] across Maven, H’wuit, and Brilliant Wing. His beam hitting Maven triggered some kind of reflexive transformation that diffracted and scattered the beam in multiple directions but that only caused damage to her allies. He was able to blast half of H’wuit’s body to pieces before the Federation elite vanished in a puff of smoke. Brilliant Wing turned into a streak of light and raced away before Matt could strike them but that didn’t stop Matt from just shifting his aim elsewhere.

Across the battlefield, similar sights were playing out, with some of the elites - especially the peak elites - acting a bit too slowly and opening themselves up to attacks from Team Zero. Queen took the head of one of the runesoldiers and Light blasting them to pieces an instant later. It was something of a pity that they could indeed be revived, but they were fairly certain it was at least costly to revive them. So killing them wasn’t a waste.

That was when even the holdouts started to activate their life saving measures en masse. In the confusion Aster even managed to sweep up a few more stragglers before the battlefield was completely abandoned.

Once their people were out of the way the massive ship started charging its cannons trying to inflict some measure of receptacle losses.

Darrow’s mental link reconnected to Matt, calling for a withdrawal, and Matt, after sending a fruitless pulse of [Mana Beam] at the massive ship’s shields, obliged.

He knew the situation as well as the others. The Harmony Accords were waiting in this system to keep the lane open for the eventual Tier 35 attack, and High Command was happy to use that to keep the Harmony Accords pinned down in one place and not running around. At least until Allie recovered enough to rejoin them in two or so years.

Until then, it wasn’t worth forcing en engagement. That, and they hadn’t actually figured out how to get through the ship's hull without giving away Matt’s Talent. The armor and shielding were in a league of their own and would take hours to burn through. Ai'la was working on some kind of breaching charge system, but that would take time to set up and they would have to defend from the Harmony Accords elite's inevitable reprisals with their backs to the ship's hull, which would mean no maneuverability.

There had to be a better way, but they hadn’t figured it out yet.

Matt was certain they would, which is why he didn’t bother to press the attack now that they had run. That was something which immortality had taught him. They had time. A few months of skirmishes would let them learn and test out weaknesses, so there was no rush to be hasty.

Besides, they already had the biggest win and one shouldn't get greedy. Matt just needed to remind himself of that.

He and the others, prize clutched in their metaphorical hands, retreated with the entire Harmony Accords ship on their heels, but it was forced to stop its pursuit as it started to get too far away from the fortress world and the respective armies it needed to defend. Ten armies would be oh so vulnerable to ambush should the ship decide to chase them.

After all, what if Allie wasn’t actually down for the count and they were just playing along with everyone's expectations, waiting for a perfect moment to let her lash out with devastating power?

It was unlikely, but that was exactly what Ascenders specialized in.

Aster howled a cry of primal victory through their [AI] that resonated with Matt. It might not be the overwhelming victory they dreamed of, but they had pushed their enemies to the point they needed to retreat. More importantly, they had finally captured the seemingly unkillable Gan Le.

If nothing else, they hoped that would lead to the eventual cascade of defeats as the Harmony Accords started to take damage.

The moment they arrived back at the ship, phoenix Liz threw herself into his arms and Matt removed his helmet just in time to catch an exuberant kiss from his wife. Phoenix Liz squawked about being crushed, but Matt planted a kiss on her head which calmed her down.

Matt laughed as Sebastian slammed him on the shoulder.

He felt good. A Domain meld was rare, and while it had been spontaneous and more than a bit accidental, it had happened, which meant he would eventually figure out how to reproduce the accident purposefully. He’d become one of the few people to merge a mirror domain, and just the initial ability he’d developed was already quite potent. No doubt, next time he used it, people would be ready for it, but he could probably still get at least a good handful of uses out of it before workarounds were discovered.

“That was impressive, Ascender Titan. Do you have anything to report that we couldn’t tell for ourselves?”

Matt pondered Darrow's question before shaking his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t know what it felt like to you, but, for me, it was the sensation that creation and destruction overlapped, pushing aside everything else.”

Liz shrugged and tilted his head down slightly so she could look into his eyes. He deliberately widened them to give her a better view and got an image sent back to him just a moment later.

As a mortal, he’d had fairly standard green eyes, the color of leaves at the end of summer, right when they started to lose their luster. They had gotten slightly more vivid for his first couple of Tiers, until he ate the Root of Perfection, at which point they’d become an exceptionally vivid green that nearly looked like they glowed in the right lighting. That illusion had only strengthened when his pupils took on the appearance of white holes, and had become true in the wake of obtaining the Sliver of Night’s True Sight, albeit with a bluish-green tinge. It wasn’t until the combination of immortality and Ironsight Salt that his eyes took on their current appearance. Or, he supposed, his prior appearance, of glowing, emerald-like green eyes with white pupils.

Now, for the first time in centuries, he had a normal-ish pupil. Two perfect circles of absolute darkness resided at the center of his irises, around which his white hole radiated eclipse-like, a bright, glowing and shifting pattern of white set against vivid green.

If he said so himself, he thought it looked pretty fetching, and he was more than happy with the change.

Before he could analyze himself further, Darrow answered his last question. “Pushing aside all other Domains seems apt. It didn’t feel like a typical suppression, but more akin to my Domain simply not having the paraphysical space to expand beyond my spirit. I could probably grow accustomed to it with some time, but it would necessitate practice, unless I manage to integrate it into the tactical network. Quite useful, I must say. Do you have any insights into the simplest growth routes for it?”

Matt pondered that as the others agreed with Darrow about how it felt until Susanne spoke up. “I’m not sure if it was because of how far I was away, but I felt like it was weaker than that. Like it was a…” Susanne chewed on her lower lip as she searched for a word, but eventually she settled on, “Similar to something Lila did to me when we were training. A forbiddance of the foreign, enforced by a more… she explicitly didn’t like the phrasing of ‘profound,’ but maybe something like ‘cohesive’ view of your Domain? It’s a bit like having an Aspect, an extra part to the Domain. She said the metaphor that she liked was that our Domains were having an argument, and having an Aspect was like having an approach to the debate my Domain didn’t have a rebuttal for. Your meld reminded me of that. But if you give me a bit of heads up next time, I think I can push through at least the basic level, and keep my sword. Lila made sure I could summon it even if I had an Aspect opposing my Domain.”

Liz chimed in with a nod. “Same, mostly. It felt like getting my arm slapped while lifting a heavy weight, and pushed my Domain back to my spirit. It still fought me, and I think that a weaker Domain might be suppressed completely, but Domain powers that are more internal-focused are probably going to be relatively usable still.”

That was interesting and something Matt really wanted to dig into, but without the ability to use the power on command again, it would be hard to test. Still, he felt like there was something more to the power and said so.

“The philosophical foundation of the ability is the overlapping of creation and destruction, enforcing a kind of dynamic stasis. There’s definitely more to it, but I’m not entirely sure what, beyond the obvious ability and the fact I can use my Concept and Intent simultaneously with it. If I can get it under control though, I think a natural direction of growth would be…” he thought for a moment, “I think it’s about me existing more than my surroundings, and a certain level of inevitability, that everything has to contend with me in some way. Perhaps I could expand the forbiddance effect, or make it more selective? There’s definitely something more to it, though. Some kind of semi-passive, maybe? Where I don’t have to actively fight everything. That’s what my instincts are telling me, anyway.”

Ideas started getting thrown around, but, until Matt figured something else out, that was as good as they were going to get. Susanne had a bit of extra insight about the differences between forms of Domain suppression, and the pair chatted for a few minutes until Zack joined in, after he wrapped up a conversation he’d been having with Liz.

“Something that I believe may be worth noting, is that your meld has a partial effect upon mana. While my Domain is involved in all of my casting, so it is difficult to say for certain, I was partway through casting a [Plasma Bolt] when your meld began, and it instantly began to be opposed, not in a manner akin to a counterspell, but simple pressure placed upon the spell structure, threatening to disrupt it. I was forced to shift the spell to lava aspect to prevent it from collapsing outright. Though I believe that I have understood the mechanism of how it works and will be better prepared for next time.”

Matt took the praise without too much preening, but he was still running off that high and knew it. “The mana thing is very interesting, even if it makes sense considering the rest of my Domain. It might be a good starting place for me to develop the ability. As for what it felt like? It was like… harmony between my Domains for the first time. The two finally working in sync even if just for a moment. It's like I’ve had two instruments playing notes at opposite ends of the scale, but for a brief moment, they met in the middle. I was everything and I was nothing, but both took up space in the realm. What did it feel like to you guys? In more detail.”

Susanne tapped her greatsword a few times before giving Matt the answer he was looking for. “It was like wearing clothes, really baggy clothes, and then getting wet. They can feel light and airy while dry, which is like using a Domain, you push it outward and affect the world around you. But the moment your meld came out it felt like water dumped on me and everything was pushed right back to my skin because there was something else out there. Lila taught me the trick of solidifying my Domain into something more substantial when we did our training. It's like turning that shirt into rope, so instead of being spread around you in a thin layer, you bunch it up. Then, while it can still get wet with the change in how you are using it, it becomes harder to misshape. At least, that is how I visualized the lessons. She did it with her Aspect and it was pressure coming from above and that felt different. That was like a weight from above. I said it before, but your meld came from another direction, and while it had less raw power than what Lila could bring to bear, it came from a weird angle. Like expecting a blow from above to get hit with a leg sweep. The analogy isn't perfect, but the best I have. Honestly, you’ll probably never really get it unless you can find someone else with a meld and match up against them. It's truly odd, and I better understand the book now. Calling it a Domain and a half feels incredibly wrong, but it’s also the best way I can describe it.”

Matt pondered what Susanne said. He had long since enlisted her help with the meld, as she was probably the best at Domains in their group besides Aiden, but his advice was useless and to be ignored. He had instead recommended Matt to just push for his Aspect as if it were easy.

They had tried. More than once in fact. None of them, even Susanne, had even the smallest bit of success. An Aspect needed not only a Phrase, Image, and an Anchor like the step before it, it also needed a Truth.

The Truth was a profound plea to the metaphysics of the Realm, connecting one’s actions to the underpinnings of reality in the same way that an Anchor connected the Domain to physical reality. It became a fixed point in the tapestry of defining Who You Were, the lens through which you would judge the Realm, and the Realm would judge you.

Aiden had made it sound so easy when he talked about forming his Aspect at Tier 23, but actually sane people had cautioned them against trying to weave their spirits into the underpinnings of reality. Matt wasn’t even certain what single insight defined his approach to dealing with the Realm. Mana is powerful, perhaps, but it rang so hollow compared to the few examples he’d been given.

Matt supposed he couldn't complain too much, considering he had just created something even Aiden didn’t have, but it still rankled.

After that, everyone started trading ideas of how best to capitalize on this change when Aster dumped cold water on everyone.

“We have a bit of a problem.”

That was the last thing any of them wanted to hear, and they all turned to Aster, who looked just as perplexed as the rest of them.

“Did Gan Le try to detonate his core?”

That was Matt’s largest worry. That kind of energy expenditure could possibly kill Aster.

“No, no, no, quite the opposite actually. [Cryogenic Storage]... isn’t working on him. Like at all. The spell isn’t taking at all, there’s no frost buildup, and his vitals are entirely normal… but he’s currently complaining about the cold, and after I took his armor, he keeps asking to be given something warmer to wear.”

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She cocked her head to the side, and her fox ears started twitching. “He just pulled a go board out of his spatial ring.”

Ai'la laughed, and Darrow surprised them all with his next order. “Bring him out.”

From their various fights, Matt expected a lot of things from Gan Le when Aster pulled him from her spirit place. But what he saw was not any of them.

He expected Gan Le to be meditating to resist Aster's cold or just generally being stoic, but instead he found Gan Le with his hands tightly clasped around his arms, engulfed in flames, and furiously jumping from side to side, shivering.

That combined with his sudden appearance caught everyone except the smirking Aster off guard.

Gan Le instantly set himself together again, extinguishing his limbs and clasping them behind his back, straightening his back with perfect posture as he glanced around the room with one last shiver. His lack of visible irises and clear practice with hiding his micromuscular movements made the task a not-insignificant one, but still one Matt didn’t find too difficult.

What Matt judged as a heavily modified [Cleanse] rippled over the man, sweeping aside a few snowflakes that had come to rest upon him, and he set his face in a very neutral expression. Matt expected him to transition into a stoic and-or haughty stereotypical Sect warrior, only to be immediately proven wrong.

Gan Le spun to face Aster, pointing at her accusingly. Considering he was at least a few inches shorter than Matt’s sister, it was a somewhat comedic image. “Do you know how unbelievably frigid it is in there? I nearly froze solid, and what sort of Lady are you to have such a drab, boring frozen wasteland? Where are the endless hounds of winter, chasing me unto the ends of the earth, the magnificent towers of awe-inspiring architecture to cast into firm relief how much greater you are than the rabble which you toss inside? You cannot possibly expect me to merely sit there and freeze to death!”

Aster snickered and glanced at Gan Le’s hands, still clad in flame, then past those to the man glaring at her. “They’re… in progress. And look, you were fine, obviously. If my skills weren’t freezing you, then you sure as shit wouldn’t die from just being in the cold for a bit. But all you need to do is relax your defenses a bit, I’ll shove you in cold storage next to Dumbass Deathtouch, and you can skip experiencing the cold entirely.”

Gan Le folded his arms, pulling his expression back to merely a glare. “Do you know what that cold would do to my meridians? Think of the disarray it would cause. The restoration treatments alone would cost a decade of delving. In fact, it's cruel enough to warrant a breach in the captured prisoners' treatment act!”

Matt raised an eyebrow at that, not quite sure his [AI] had translated meridians properly, but Darrow must have remembered their initial purpose better, because he interjected.

“Are you offering an official surrender? On account of Ascender Wraith capturing you mid-combat, you are technically still an active combatant, unless you wish to officially enter yourself as a Class One or Class Two prisoner. And, unless you wish to declare yourself a Class Two prisoner, please disable your defensive capabilities, allow yourself to be restrained, and we can arrange for a proper prisoner transport in a warmer environment than Ascender Wraith’s winterscape.”

Gan Le shuddered and he stood up straight, and Matt was sure he was about to get the haughtiness he usually expected. “I most certainly do not surrender, and I will not put myself at risk of death by suppressing my protection.”

Darrow leveled a flat look at the Sect elite. “As an active capture, you are not currently protected, but if you do surrender, then you don’t be allowed to die, and we can—”

“Allowed to die? That's not how people die. People rarely intend to die. But being next to two teams of Masters is certainly an excellent way to risk death, be it a spare icicle through my temple, my spirit being torn asunder should Wraith suffer spiritual damage of her own, or any number of similarly dangerous situations I have no desire to subject myself unto.”

As if considering something Gan Le nodded. “Actually, why haven't we left yet? Or do you have a ship coming to pick me up?”

Matt was genuinely confused by this point, and he couldn't help but wonder if the Sect man's attitude was just a distraction to escape. Matt wasn’t sure how that would be the case, but it was the only thing that could explain it. Even If Gan Le wanted to destroy the ship to leave them stranded while the Harmony Accords slipped away it wouldn’t be easy with how close everyone was.

Even a core detonation took a moment or two to spin up so Matt had more than enough time to end the man let alone Liz or Zack.

Catching himself, Matt acknowledged that the Sect culture wasn’t monolithic, and there could be more normal people like Gan Le. But it made no sense if he was some hidden elite they had pulled from deep cover just for this mission.

Having the thought, Matt asked it just to get a look of either confusion or derision from Gan Le.

“Deep cover? What?”

“What is there to be confused about? You were a hidden asset the Sects pulled out of deep cover for this mission. Right?”

Gan Le’s eyebrows twitched, “Of course not. I constrained myself to ensure my safety.”

“Safety?” Now, even Liz looked confused.

Gan Le’s expression became one of restrained exasperation, and his tone became that of a beleaguered adult trying to explain something to a particularly dimwitted child.. “Yes. Danger.” Pointing at Matt he slowly explained in clipped Sect, “His techniques are too strong. Too strong means breaking. Breaking means death. Death is bad. Gan Le not want death.”

Liz’s face went flat and Matt couldn't tell if she planned on punching him or laughing.

Gan Le looked around and scanned the rest of the faces staring back at him and shook his head. “None of you possess self-respect. Foolish hotheads, all of you.”

Gan Le walked over to a nearby seat and sat down, interlacing his fingers as he rested his hands upon his lap, “Now. I request a warm drink. Tea would be preferable but I will accept anything hot.”

His attention flicked down to his hands, “If not that, I would request the return of my spatial ring. I have a tea set in there, and I direly need to warm myself.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No. They are battlefield spoils.”

“Ah, but that rule only applies if I were to be dead! And as the case may be, I’m very good at being not dead, and therefore they remain my possessions until I relinquish them voluntarily or have passed away.”

Aster smirked as she shot right back, “But what if they contain some life-saving measures that you might use to escape?”

Gan Le snorted. “This ship is locked down so I can’t use them so why bother. Speaking of which, how are you intending to transfer me to someone else's custody? Is someone going to pick me up or will we be leaving?”

Darrow’s interjection caused the Sect man to visibly blanch. “We aren’t. You will remain inside Aster's spirit place until the war is over.”

“I refuse. It is far too frigid in there!”

Darrow just stared Gan Le down until the other man wilted. “Now, as a prisoner, are you aware of your rights?”

Gan Le waved dismissively. “I’ve been captured before. I know the rules. I can’t be forced to tell you anything and you can’t torture me for the information but I can volunteer anything. Ask away. I might even talk about some things.”

“Only some?” Phoenix Liz’s yellow eyes hardened to slits and cocked to the side, even as human Liz glared.

Gan Le nodded. “Naturally. There are people who I won’t risk offending by speaking about anything that relates to them. But if that comes up, I’m more than willing to just say so and we can all move on like civilized cultivators.”

Darrow asked the question that Matt was most interested in. “Synoid and Crastor, wha—”

He hadn’t even finished when Gan Le shook his head. “Nope. Can’t talk about them. Next question.”

For the first time he seemed deadly serious, which only piqued Matt's curiosity about the topic, but Darrow must have read the same thing as Matt did. If he pushed, Gan Le might clam up.

“Can you confirm that they are how some of your team is being buffed? We saw them merge with others after you were removed from the fight.”

Gan Le chewed on his thumb for a moment before nodding. “Yes, but that is all I am willing to say. And that's all you need to know. Besides to avoid killing them. You didn’t kill them, right?”

When everyone looked at him for more information, he just shook his head hard enough to cause his hair to smack him in the face. “It's a bad idea.”

Darrow just nodded and moved on. “Does the Harmony Accords ship have access to a way to resupply between battles?”

Gan Le relaxed after hearing that question and nodded. “Yes. There’s something the Republic provided, though I don’t know details.”

Joy leaned around the now-healed Morgan and asked, “How are they moving so fast?”

Gan Le shrugged. “Large engines, powerful pilots. They’ve been asking much the same about you, and have been complaining how much they need to cycle people into the recovery chambers.”

“Please elaborate about the pilots and the chambers.”

Gan Le un-folded his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I don’t know too much about the pilots. There are perhaps a score of them, and they work together to make the ship faster. That's all I know about them. As for the chambers, they are just Federation things we use at times. They are useful, but not that useful. They accelerate time inside while stimulating healing cooldown recovery. We’ve used them a few times, but I can’t speak to how they work or if they do anything else.”

Sensing they weren’t entirely happy with the answer, Gan Le shrugged. “I keep my nose out of things that don't relate to me. Keeps me out of trouble most of the time.”

The man glared at Matt as he said that. It looked like he was contemplating restraint, but instead he exploded.

“And you! Fuck you, Titan! Do you need to hit that hard? No, you don’t. They expect me to block all of your damage to the others but, like, it's too much! Just stop it. Use smaller attacks or something.”

Matt took a bit of perverse pleasure at the man's frustration. That was how he felt when dealing with him.

“Maybe you guys should have thought of that before killing my husband.” Dena’s voice was frigid and cut through the room like a knife.

Gan Le gave something of an acknowledging nod. “I am sorry for your loss. I do not claim responsibility, and I see no gain from any of this foolishness. I did not wish to be a part of this, and that has not changed now.”

Aster snorted but Gan Le threw up his hands in protest, looking up to Matt’s bond. “I assure you. I participated in wars merely to accumulate sufficient face and reputation, until I could situate myself in a position where nobody would seek to disturb me. I hoped to be notable enough to avoid conflict, yet not so notable that young hotheads would seek to prove themselves on me. At no point was fighting any of you part of my plan.”

Pointing at Matt again, Gan Le almost pleaded. “Seriously, do you know how hard he hits? I’ve taken battleship blasts that aren’t as powerful. It's not fun. I simply wish to live in peace.”

Matt pointed out the flaw with his story. “Except getting captured should lower your merit. Then you can’t retire.”

Gan Le looked at Matt and snorted like he understood nothing. “I might not have gotten a choice in getting sent here, but I already argued my retirement package. One that is paid out whether I get captured or not, so long as I don’t surrender mid battle without just cause. I’m no battle maniac pinnacle elite who throws himself into stupidly dangerous situations.”

The small move of his white eyes suggested that his last point was meant for them.

Matt didn’t know what to make of the man and just shook his head. Whatever he had been expecting, it hadn’t been this mostly level headed and pragmatic man.

Ai'la raised a good question Matt hadn’t thought of. “If you hate the Sects, why not defect?”

Gan Le looked equally confused. “Hate the Sects? Absolutely not. The Sects are wonderful, and know how to treat those who properly earn it. Why do you think I desire merit? Because the Sects are wonderful for those strong enough to claim it, and I am strong enough. Once my plans come to fruition, I will be in an untouchable spot with at least two layers of backup protection.”

“Doesn’t your Talent protect you?”

“No mere single technique, no matter how mighty, is truly invulnerable. Be it from higher-Tiers or political pressure, I possess many, many weaknesses. But, if you would be nice enough to send me to a safe, comfy prison cell with my tea set and Go board, I will gladly remain there until the end of the war.”

Seeing the sincere look on Gan Le’s face, Matt almost started to believe him.

“Let's move on then. Can you list any members of the Harmony Accords you can name with a greater than seventy percent certainty?” Darrow's question was a good one, and Matt wanted to hear the answer.

Gan Le sent a discontent glance at Aster which implied he knew the moment he stopped being helpful it meant he was going back on ice. “Very well. Let's start with the leadership. There is a General from each Great Power. They…”

Matt thought he would get bored of the information but he was kept, if not interested, entertained by Gan Le’s personal tidbits and quips.

He seemed to always have an acerbic look on anyone who wanted to fight for things like glory or prestige. When he got around to Maven and Long Zhiyuan, Gan Le went into a tirade about how their brains had been replaced with a single pebble, and they had had to share with a dozen other people.

“I swear, all they think about is fighting. Long Zhiyuan doesn't even eat. They have some amazing food, and the man never touches it. ‘It could be poisoned.’ Obviously. But that’s why you use techniques to avoid being poisoned. It’s not as though it’s challenging to do so. But no, he just wants to be all stoic and work on ways to better defeat all of you guys. Really, why even grow strong if you don’t wish to take advantage of that fact?”

Pursing his lips, Gan Le nodded slowly as if he was coming to an understanding. “Maybe that's the issue. You all rise through the Tiers so fast you forget what it means to live.”

Nodding as if he finally understood some great quandary, Gan Le nodded before blinking at Darrow. “Speaking of food, do you have anything to eat? I’m starting to feel peckish and as a prisoner my needs must be met to the best of your abilities and supplies.”

Aster straightened with a devious feeling through her spirit. “I have a few ice creams I’ve tried out and need a fresh palate to taste for me. I even have some cookies and other snacks to pair with them.”

Then she pulled out the plate of horrors.

It might look like perfectly normal ice cream, but Matt had been tricked into trying a few of the innocuous looking concoctions and knew better.

Matt almost felt bad for what was about to happen, but then he remembered he didn’t actually like Gan Le, and that feeling turned to excitement.

“Oh, I’d love some. I actually find cold food tolerable on cold days as odd as that may seem. You make ice cream? I guess that makes sense for an ice fox.” Rubbing his hands together, Gan Le looked ready to dive in. “Where should I start?”

Aster pointed at a soft red ice cream that Matt knew from experience smelled like strawberries. “This one.”

Gan Le took the proffered spoon and after taking a big scoop, smiled and dug in with a nod.

Matt watched his chewing for a long moment waiting for the reaction of when the insane spices Aster had put into the ice cream to kick in but he just nodded. “A little bit of a kick for ice cream, but it's pretty good. It's missing a hint of something though. Maybe cilantro? Weird for an ice cream, yeah, but this is clearly not for mass production and I feel like that might bolster the flavor profile. I like it though.”

Gan Le turned and coughed slightly which released a bit of visible flame, but he didn’t seem bothered, which stumped Matt.

When he had been tricked into trying that particular concoction he had only been a step away from cutting out his tongue and esophagus thanks to the searing heat the ice cream delivered to every inch of flesh it touched. Aster had made it when Allie started using Aster’s personal ice cream stash as her own personal stash, and the teleporter had cried for three days as she tried to cut the heat.

And Gan Le went back for another scoop.

Aster, on the other hand, looked ecstatic and started feeding Gan Le all manner of concoctions of dubious edibility. Matt was pretty sure a few of them would constitute as actual poisons, which feeding to a prisoner would constitute as a war crime, but no watcher came to haul them away. That just left everyone to observe as Gan Le tried ice cream after ice cream.

A few of them he even liked enough to shamelessly take the whole container.

Matt had seen a lot of things in his long life, but he couldn’t name a single time where he had seen something weirder.

Liz, who had moved next to him when Aster pulled out a noxious mixture that made everyone else's eyes water, couldn't believe it either. “Do you think he's just powering through and trying to make a good impression?”

Susanne sidled over and nodded before Matt could respond. “He's got to be. That last one had actual rocks in it. There is no way that he actually liked it. He’s trying to lower our guard.”

Matt wanted to agree, but he just couldn't. “I don’t know. Maybe his taste buds are broken. If he's really gone all into durability cultivation, maybe he's genuinely hardened his taste buds to the point where he needs something this strong to enjoy.”

Phoenix Liz squawked slightly. “Or maybe his Sects food is really weird. Does anyone know what Sects he came from? Like the first one? Maybe it was the Sect of Poisons and Ill Concoctions maybe and they force fed him weird things like this from a young age?”

While they waited for another battle to be initiated from the Harmony Accords, Gan Le eating Aster’s foods became the pinnacle of entertainment.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Aster was thoroughly defeated by the Sect man and she was eventually forced to admit she had no other toxic waste leftovers in her spiritual space with which to feed him.

Gan Le then turned his attention to everyone else, and Matt was forced to bring out a perfectly normal turkey he had made before they left. It was supposed to be a small meal for everyone to enjoy between battles, but now he just wanted to see what Gan Le thought about it.

Maybe his taste buds really had been destroyed and he couldn't enjoy anything but the most extreme flavors. Instead, he even noticed the slight hint of apple Matt had infused into the skin.

Seeing that, Matt threw up his hands and tried to ignore their unfreezable Sect prisoner who had finally cajoled Aster and Ai’la to play go with him.

That was until they needed to fight again. That got everyone rearing to go.

Or, all of them but Gan Le.

“Please just leave me in the ship. I won't run or try to escape. If you send me back into your spirit place, something will happen in the fight and you will have to send me out. And then I’ll have to fight unprepared. I really don't want that. Please, please, please just let me — damn it!”

In a puff of ice, Gan Le vanished, and they were ready for round two.

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