C_Mantis posts
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Chapter 397
Chapter 397Matt felt like he was walking on air as they exited the rift, and even Luna’s appearance while looking them up and down and circling them did nothing to ruin his mood.Sending her a recording of their boss fight, Matt enjoyed the brief micro expressions that slipped through her control.A...
Chapter 396
I just want to state that I hear the comments about the delving feeling like it's more lack of progress. That's not what I intended but if it's coming across that way it's good to know. I wanted to show some delving since we didn’t do so for so long but with the feedback in mind th...
Chapter 395
Chapter 395Palustris, being a Tier 27 world, wasn’t exactly ideal to delve at with their abilities. But if they didn’t delve it while they were Tier 26 or Tier 27, they wouldn't get to delve it at all, so it was very much a now or never situation.The planet did have Tier 28 rifts, but only a...
Chapter 394
Chapter 394They had been gone for a little more than a year and work had piled up, all of which needed to be cleared out before they could dive back into delving. The moment they arrived home, they all split up, having decided to dedicate a month to catching up before going back to advancing.The fir...
Chapter 393
Tier 1 paterons read this: I’ve been sick all week and so I’ll be taking monday off to catch up on all the writing I didn’t get done. Sorry about this but I didn’t want to just not put out a chapter with no warning so taking monday off and burning a backlog chapter for today. I’m starting ...
Chapter 392
Chapter 392Matt frowned as he watched the ongoing scene below the surface with his spiritual power.The Empire's people were almost uniformly going in the wrong direction. If he was a more cynical man, he would have suspected that someone was messing with them. But even the Corporation people see...
Chapter 391
6.5k chapter today. Enjoy.***Chapter 391Having settled on an initial method of settling the ownership of the planet, Matt did something he didn’t think he’d ever end up actually doing.Leaning into his Ascender status.They needed a lot of people to contend with the masses of Corporations mercenar...
Chapter 390
Chapter 390Head down, they delved for another five years.They wanted to delve more to advance further, but they were called up by the army.A Tier 15 world had drifted between Corporations territory and Empire territory, and both sides were claiming it.They, being the highest combat prowess Ascenders...
Chapter 389
Chapter 389Aster's capital world was… interesting.That was the best word Matt could describe it with, no matter how many times he visited.When he and Liz had been slated a fire aspected world, Aster had been dreaming of an ice version, but that was so improbable it may as well be impossible gi...
Chapter 388
Chapter 388When Matt arrived back at Palustris he was immediately greeted by Liz, who hugged him before they shared a long kiss just enjoying being back near each other.They didn’t give themselves the time they would have liked to enjoy each other's presence, however, and Liz got right to busi...
Chapter 387
Chapter 387The Dobrescu duchy was a two month jaunt across the Empire, but that was only because Matt was able to use a real space crossing they controlled to cover most of the distance. A border duchy between Rusty’s and Harper’s respective kingdoms, they were in a strategic economic zone for g...
Chapter 386
Chapter 386The following week passed far too slowly for Matt’s liking, but he understood it was a hectic one for his lawyers.He hadn’t seen a single one of them drop below their maximum perception speed for even a second while they got the guild ready for the metaphorical war they were about to ...
Chapter 385
Chapter 385Matt stood amongst the flames of another burned out thieves guild and pondered just what exactly he had been finding.This was his tenth raid on those who had hit the cargo ships, but so far, each of them had only been fed details on one of the aura potion shipments, with no information ab...
Chapter 384
Chapter 384Hearing that over a dozen of their aura shipments had been hit immediately set alarm bells ringing, and Matt flew down to their floating island that was currently pretending to be a more standard island on one of Palustris’ seas as it was being renovated.Liz was already there and waitin...
Chapter 383
Chapter 383While Ra’thala was being questioned and interrogated by the people Matt had assigned to work on the tentatively named ‘Skills for All’ task force, Matt had other things to work on at the guild.He would much rather help with the skills project than essentially slam his head against t...
Chapter 382
Also fyi this book is about to start speeding up but wanted to slow roll the new guy but this arc is going to start kicking into gear.***Chapter 382Ra’thala couldn't help but look to where Ascender Shadow, Allie, had vanished. He and Ascender Titan, Matt, were dozens, if not hundreds of planet...
Chapter 381
Chapter 381Matt had to rein himself in after their spar with Ra’thala, and he could tell that everyone else felt the same way.The fight had been so… different,they all wanted to go another round or five.Ra’thala’s spells felt unique, and each cast carried with it a surprise as their patterns...
Chapter 380
Chapter 380Rusty watched as a dozen people filed into his throne room. Next to him were Frederic and Tur'stal to round out the meeting. Now that the Emperor had stated this was his final offer to the Knight revival program, they were either going to move forward or the effort would die here.It h...
Chapter 379
Chapter 379Ra’thala had never minded fights, spars, battles, or even death feuds where only one side could walk away. They were a part of gathering power and influence. Friendly fights could also be a good way to learn about someone, and these Ascenders seemed interesting.If he was understanding t...
Chapter 378
Chapter 378Matt couldn't help but look at the ascender in awe as Manny talked to him. It was just so strange to think of someone ascending into their Realm.They didn’t get many people from lower Realms, as there weren’t any Tier 25 Realms directly connected to this Realm, but they still tend...
Chapter 377
FYI to all readers. My birthday break is coming up and this will be the schedule. 20th: Chapter23rd: Chapter27th: No Chapter30th: No Chapter3rd: Chapter***Chapter 377Ra’thala swallowed as he listened to headman Tiu’ja talking to the other village elders. There was an uneasy feeling lingering in ...
Chapter 376
Chapter 376Emmanuel stood up from his desk and stepped through space to arrive in one of the palace's personal gardens. It wasn’t one of his or Carissa's favorite ones but it was empty and he needed to think.The Empire’s economy was… not great.Fighting a war nearly alone against three ...
Chapter 375
FYI to all readers. My birthday break is coming up and this will be the schedule. 20th: Chapter23rd: Chapter27th: No Chapter30th: No Chapter3rd: Chapter***Chapter 375Returning back to Palustris, Matt immediately went to Liz and discussed Frederic’s request. In the end, they decided that it was a g...
Chapter 374
Chapter 374“Liz, I don't like this. It looks… dumb.”Matt gestured at the mockup of their floating island.In front of them lay a fully decentralized layout that looked more like an opulent estate than a proper governmental administrative center, which is what their floating island would end...
Chapter 373
FYI to all readers. My birthday break is coming up and this will be the schedule. 20th: Chapter23rd: Chapter27th: No Chapter30th: No Chapter3rd: Chapter***Chapter 373Matt and Liz moved to meet the two Ascenders in space, but Wun Miloan skipped on golden air and arrived down at the front door of thei...
Chapter 372
Chapter 372With the sects properly cowed, Matt turned to where Cui Ming and Lang Ru were convalescing.With a step across folded space, he and Liz appeared next to them, and as the medic tending to the pair gave them space, Matt added the duo to his Concept’s whitelist. He felt Liz chortle on his s...
Chapter 371
FYI to all readers. My birthday break is coming up and this will be the schedule. 20th: Chapter23rd: Chapter27th: No Chapter30th: No Chapter3rd: Chapter***Chapter 371The Rage Within sect and Dancing Flames sect leaders floated in the middle of the valley a dozen feet from each other. There was a fam...
Chapter 370
Chapter 370Matt whistled as he and Liz watched chaotic space swirl past them, letting his hand idly run through her hair as she leaned into him on the couch as they watched chaotic space pass by with their spiritual senses.They were both in excellent moods, the ducal meeting having gone exceptionall...
Chapter 369
Chapter 369Leon split into two and took Matt a short distance away from Liz.At first, Matt felt profoundly awkward about talking to Leon about the Soerilia incident. If he hadn’t come in spells blazing, Matt might have felt a little better about talking to his father-in-law as an understanding ear...
Chapter 368
Chapter 368Stepping out of the portal, Matt let out a deep breath.That was less than ideal. They— no, he— had fucked up, but the only thing he could do was to try not to do it again.Checking his calendar, Matt found that Cato had cleared some of his more immediate tasks, which gave him a few day...
