C_Mantis
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Chapter 339
🕑 Added 2024-06-21 19:00:20 +0000 UTCChapter 339
Contrary to his expectations, the older Ascenders were content to spend the entire two weeks leading up to the ceremony lounging around in Lila’s room. He had half expected them to have their own things to do, but all of them seemed more interested in hanging out in person.
Matt, Liz, Aster, Allie, and Zack, on the other hand, had never been inside the Corporation Minkalla space station and wanted to explore. Which matched up with the rest of Team Zero who had already been exploring.
Zack left with Susanne fairly quickly off to go do their own thing; it was the first proper date they had been able to have in at least twenty years, subjective-time. Seeing that, Matt and Liz decided to copy them and split off from the others who decided to keep together.
He hadn’t expected to see anything interesting, after all he had already been in Minkalla, but that thought was killed almost immediately.
The very first floor they entered was centered around selling skill shards. There were hundreds of people showcasing the skills they had inventory of as well as others rushing from person to person buying things up.
Matt wasn’t too interested in any of the actual skills, but he enjoyed walking around absorbing the ambiance.
Phoenix Liz cocked her head and sniffed a few times before squawking quietly. Human Liz translated the thought. “Oh, I smell something interesting in this direction.”
Together they weaved their way through the crowds until they found a room filled with dozens of games of chance. Following Liz’s nose they made their way through a dozen more rooms until they found a beauty care section. Phoenix Liz had to flap her wings to stop from falling forward as the two humans were too slow.
Matt just looked on in amusement as Liz grabbed a small jar of orange lotion. Matt had to nudge human Liz to the side as she and Phoenix Liz were seemingly trying to inhale the substance.
It smelled slightly citrusy but that was the only smell he could identify. Leaning back he shrugged. “What's so interesting about it?”
Both Liz’s looked at him like he was crazy. “Can’t you smell it?”
Matt shrugged again. “Not really. It's light citrus.”
Both Lizzes looked at him with pity. “Rub a dab on your neck.”
As he did so Liz turned back to the smiling shopkeeper who Matt finally noticed was only a Tier 15.
“What is this stuff?”
The young man beamed. “It’s Famila’s newest product and designed with bird bloodlines in mind, especially those with an exceptional sense of smell. It's made with a proprietary blend of a few herbs as well as everything listed on the back.”
As Matt rubbed a small dab of the lotion on his neck Phoenix Liz fluttered over to him and started nuzzling his neck with little coo’s.
Human Liz seemed to have a better handle of herself. “What's the price?”
“Five hundred ninety nine kilocredits a bottle. What size order are you thinking about purchasing?”
“What are your sizes?”
“A box comes with fifteen bottles and a pallet comes with twenty seven boxes. We can even do large scale orders and arrange shipping with an Empire merchant, though that comes with additional cost. Alternatively, we can simply deliver here and you can arrange your own transportation.”
Liz nodded and asked a few follow-up questions while Matt tried to reframe what they had purchased. He knew that the Corporations used credits instead of mana stones, even for higher Tier transactions, but that wasn’t how he thought normally so he did some mental conversions to put the price into Empire standard.
Current exchange rates, which did fluctuate, put six hundred kilocredits around… a Tier 18 mana stone. Or it could be a few Tier 8 skills because they also usually sold for around a megacredit.
The core of the issue was that the Corporations didn’t value things based on Tier. Unlike the Empire, where a mana stone of that Tier served as the fundamental unit for a given Tier’s economy, in the Corporations, mana stones were valued primarily on how much mana they held. There was still some markup for the higher-Tier stones due to their mana to size ratios, but it still meant that a Tier 18 mana stone might only be worth a few dozen times more than a Tier 8 stone in the Corporations.
Amusingly enough, it meant that he actually created more value for unit of time with his Talent in the Corporation’s economy than the Empire’s.
While he was busy trying to figure out how much they were spending, Liz finished her transaction for three pallets, which came to about two hundred and forty megacredits. Translating that to Empire standards it was one Tier 32 mana stone, if directly converted, which they weren't doing.
They had thousands of Tier 8 skills lying around in their portable house and that was how Liz paid the salesman, which made the price feel downright cheap.
But that didn't explain what she needed over a thousand bottles of lotion for. That much would last well over a century, and it seemed excessive to buy that much at once.
When he asked she simply replied. “Do you think I’ll get my chance to buy any of these once mom smells this? Not a chance. She's going to buy millions, if not the recipe itself.”
Shoving her face into his neck she took a deep breath. “Oh that smells soooo good.”
She tried to go in for a second sniff but got smacked by Phoenix Liz for her efforts.
Seeing that, Matt just considered it money well spent.
Grinning, he pulled her along to check out some of the other stalls. They didn’t find anything else quite so interesting but it was fun just browsing through the random stalls together, seeing all the odd bits and bobs that had either been pulled out of Minkalla or brought into the system by the Corporations.
It was a great way to spend an afternoon and better still when they met up with the rest of the group and did some exploring together.
Liz was also proven right and the moment they arrived at the Empire quarters a blur of fiery chicken raced at them trying to smell Matt’s new lotion.
Liz tried to hide the source but cracked almost immediately as Mara started grooming her phoenix body.
Answers pulled from her daughter, Mara vanished for a whole ten seconds before she came running back, wings trying to hold a dozen bottles of the lotion as she speed waddled back to her and Leon’s room.
Aster leaned forward and took a sniff but shrugged. “I don’t get it. Is it an aphrodisiac?”
Liz rolled her eyes. “Not technically. It just smells really good.”
A chortling chuffing sound came from the other side of their quarters hallway and two non-human figures came walking their way with Manny escorting them.
The first was a turtle-like man, complete with scaly skin and a massive rocky shell on his back. The shell itself looked almost like a miniature world, mountain peaks and lakes and forests spread out, wisps of clouds drifting through the landscape. If there were any people or cities, they were too small to see, but he didn’t dare look too closely at a Tier 50. Tobias, the First Shepherd of the Monster Collective wasn’t an enemy of the Empire, but politeness was always the best policy for people twice your Tier.
Next to him was a very large lion-like person he didn’t recognize, and needed to query his [Library] to recall notable individuals before he had any luck. He was fairly clearly a chimera, with very pale yellow fur contrasting strongly with metallic bronze wings folded along his back, but Matt didn’t know all of the Collective’s super soldiers. After a moment, he got his answer: Kar’tan, the first chimera and the only one the Federation had managed to make. He was a fairly reclusive figure, and while he’d had a fair few impressive stories from their war of independence and some tragic ones from before, he hadn’t been seen much in public since then.
That he was here was surprising.
Manny made the introductions before he and Tobias turned and left, leaving just the chimera.
Kar'tan dipped his head to them. “Good to meet you all. If I could talk to you two privately, that would be ideal. Matthew is welcome to join us of course.”
Matt and Aster followed Liz into their room where they all took a seat, watching as one of the chairs adjusted to match Kar'tan’s size.
His smile, while ostensibly friendly, set Matt on edge as the hand sized teeth came into view. “You are a spitting image of your mother, Elizabeth. While I don’t have the honor of calling them close friends, both of your parents fought in the war when we were freed and I owe them a personal debt of gratitude for that. This is why it pains me to come asking for more instead of bringing gifts.”
They had been warned that the Monster Collective would be interested in their new bloodlines by Mara when Liz and Aster had decided to advance down that path. As far as he knew neither of them were too interested in sharing, but that may have changed.
Liz nodded politely. “My parents always expressed regret that your people weren’t helped until it became a good political excuse, despite their advocacy.”
Kar'tan shrugged a wing as if he wasn’t bothered, but even Matt could read his anger at the fact. “It is simply a truth in the way the realm works, but I still appreciate their efforts. Without them and people like them, the cause would have been crushed long before any help would arise.”
With a full body shake, the large lion man changed the subject. “Onto happier topics! I was overjoyed when news came forward about you two having evolved your bloodlines. Aster, your creation of a Rank 1 Aurora bloodline astounded even my greatest researchers. We had thought the possibility of making a Rank 1 bloodline with a Level 4 mana type a distant possibility at best, but you managed it. I know the pressures of modifying one's bloodline, but to do so while resisting the pull of advancing up a rank? That is something I don’t believe that even I could have managed. Let me express our heartfelt congratulations on your success.”
Matt thought that was just a figure of speech but Kar'tan let out a long low roar.
Once he finished he looked over to Liz and repeated his roar. “And another for you, Elizabeth, for your feat of creating both a blood fire mana type and bloodline. A wondrous Level 4 mana type that combines the best aspects of both of your parents, as well as your own uniqueness. It is truly a marvelous accomplishment.”
Liz seemed uncomfortable at the praise, but Aster preened under it. “And I intend to make the jump to space ice as well, though I don’t know if I want to stay Rank 1 for that or advance to Rank 2 with the breakthrough.”
Kar'tan nodded. “Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Be aware that Level 5 mana types, like your space ice would be, are oftentimes even more challenging to integrate with a bloodline than is normal. I wouldn’t call it impossible, certainly not in the presence of Alphas, but such a thing would be very difficult indeed. On the other hand, advancing to Rank 2 with the creation would greatly lessen the strain on you, while remaining Rank 1 would increase the difficulty many fold. All that being said, if I may be so bold, I’d recommend staying Rank 1. The advantages of creating the bloodline at Rank 1 are less so for yourself but more so for any descendents. The lower the rank of a bloodline innately is, the longer it can last without supplements to bolster it before being bred out. It will also give you more control over the actual power that manifests at Rank 2. When the time comes I would even be willing to add my own insights for free and more help can always be traded for.”
Aster considered that before agreeing. “It's a ways off, but I’ll keep your offer in mind.”
Kar'tan chuffed in what Matt interpreted as happiness. “Wonderful. Now, Elizabeth, while you have set up your own research guild I’d like to offer a partnership of sorts. The advancement of bloodlines is something the Monster Collective is very interested in. We will not allow our people to be ostracized again and part of that is learning all we can about such a fundamental part of ourselves.”
“While it's a generous offer, I can’t accept something so binding.” Kar'tan seemed a little upset but Liz held up a hand, forestalling any comment. “I intend to take a feather out of my husband's cap and publicize my research initiative’s findings for the wider public.”
That turned Kar'tan’s full attention to him for the first time, and Matt explained. “I created a rune while I was younger for the [Bandage] skill after seeing how a local guild was monopolizing something so helpful. Now that the war is over I intend to pursue those ideals on a larger scale with a guild of my own, with the express purpose of creating things without the expectation of making a profit. My intentions aren’t limited to runes but anything and everything that can help people.”
Kar'tan’s wings started to flap lightly in unison with his nods and it seemed like he was working himself into a bit of flight before he finally said. “An admirable goal and one I will keep an eye out for. One does wonder if those inventions will make their way out of the Empire, though.”
“For most things, I don’t intend to just sell the product at cost, but make the creation of it public. That should ensure that prices remain low. If there is enough interest, people will flock to creating such items. I’m sure there will be exceptions, but my core ideal is to better the realm itself. Not just a single Great Power, even if that is where I’m sure most of the inventions will be clustered.” Matt corrected Kar'tan’s misunderstanding with a smile.
Or at least his pretend misunderstanding. Kar'tan, for all that he was affable, was a warrior forged to be a super weapon by the Federation and now led a research group of his own. The man was anything but dumb, which made Matt question the legitimacy of his ‘misunderstanding’.
“A wonderful intent. I look forward to both of your findings then.” Settling back in, Kar'tan looked between Liz and Aster once more. “The last thing I would ask is that you two allow me to take a sample of your bloodlines back to the Collective. We will provide resources to make up for the removal of course but it is important that we don’t allow such unique bloodlines to fade because of an early death no matter how unlikely. We would handsomely compensate you for such personal information as well.”
Liz and Aster shook their heads in unison, but Liz spoke for both of them. “We are going to have to decline. We have thought about it, but we just don’t feel comfortable giving so much information about our bloodlines to anyone else.”
When Kar'tan looked like he was going to try and persuade them to change minds, Aster spoke up. “We are willing to revisit the topic before we Ascend, but not until then. As for death, it's always possible, but we aren’t so easy to kill.”
Kar'tan nodded and stood from his chair saying. “That will suffice.”
He quickly took his leave and Matt followed his Monster Collective etiquette training and did the polite thing, escorting him out of the Empire’s quarters. There he found one of the Monster Collective Tier 48s waiting for them.
Martin may have been physically the exact opposite of Kar’tan, a roughly humanoid mouse all of eight inches tall, but the Giant Slayer hadn’t earned that title for nothing. Around him, a lingering aura of righteous bloodshed filled the corridor, making his presence impossible to miss.
Kar’tan greeted the mouse with a friendly bow, then extended his furred paw out. In a blur of motion, Martin jumped first to the outstretched appendage, then scampered up until he was sitting on the lion’s head.
However, before the man could say anything, another figure appeared in a way that high-Tiers often did when they stumbled across an interesting scene and wanted to readjust their cultivation speed to take part, but Matt highly doubted that this particular encounter had been by chance.
The First Leader of the Federation, Faith. Like many other high-Tier Federation citizens, her physical body was sculpted past perfection with a metallic sheen, giving the illusion of them being a sculpted statue. Not a single hair was out of place, and she had an all-too-elitist smirk carved into her face, a disproving glint in her eye.
“Hello, Martin, Kar’tan. Good to see you two after so long.” The words were casual enough, but Matt didn’t even need his Tier 25 senses to feel the mood in the area plummet. A few other people nearby vacated the area as well before anything dramatic could happen, and Matt couldn’t blame them. Faith’s prior title was The Beast Master, and was a potent mind controller with all the associated implications those two facts carried.
Kar’tan didn’t even acknowledge the woman, but simply turned aside and walked down the hall without a word. As he did so, Martin simply sat atop his fellow’s head and faced backwards, his eyes fixed on Faith until the duo vanished, returning to their Tier 40 speeds.
Faith tsked slightly, shaking her head. “Such rudeness is unbecoming of civilized creatures. But if they don’t wish to speak, allow me to simply wish you firm congratulations upon your showing in the war.”
With that, she walked away, as though the entire encounter hadn’t been set up purely for his viewing. She had come in already slowing down to Tier 25 speeds, but the question was why Kar’tan and Martin had played along. At their Tiers they could have been gone long before she finished uttering her first word, that they all chose to remain at speeds perceivable to a Tier 25 meant they wanted Matt to hear her snide comment.
He doubted they were working together, but they were both playing their own angles. He suspected Kar’tan wanted to look sympathetic and hoped Matt used that to convince his wife and bond to share their bloodlines. That explained Kar’tan’s motivation, but he didn’t get what Faith got from being so clearly antagonistic in front of him.
He very much doubted she was so truly evil that she would do something which would only make her look bad without a dozen reasons which all played into whatever game the Federation was playing as a whole.
That was why Matt simply turned around as if he hadn’t even noticed her.
He probably wasn't doing anything she hadn’t accounted for, but he also didn’t care. He just wanted to stay out of their games as much as possible. He did make a mental note to take Max up on her offer to give him some extra lessons on resisting mind control. It was unlikely that it would do much against a Tier 48, but if anyone had knowledge on how Tier-jumping and mind magic interacted, it would be Cosmind.
As he turned around the corner he was startled to see Harper and Frederic waiting for him. Neither said anything and vanished before Matt could ask what game was being played but it was nice to know he wasn’t alone in it.
Thankfully, that was the last thing of note to happen while they waited for the ceremony to commence.
Matt was ready for a lot of things, but he hadn’t expected the way the collective Great Powers liked to show off. The ceremony only had immortals so it could have been held even in the depths of space, but that wasn’t good enough. No, the Clans invited the attendees into a massive teardrop of glass which was lowered into the local star once everyone was inside.
The plasma of the star was caught and funneled into channels and runes which both powered and illuminated the station like the entire thing was a light rune.
Being made out of high Tier materials, it wasn’t so impressive that it was possible, but that they bothered to do it at all. The star was only Tier 2, but the work that went into the structure had to be immense. Doubly so when it couldn’t be stored in any system Minkalla resided in for long or the planet would drain the essence out of the materials, and moving around something so large and high Tier would be difficult at best.
And they did it all to make a grand stage for a ceremony.
It seemed… extravagant.
Thankfully, Matt didn’t have too much to do. As an elite and Ascender his participation in the ceremony was minimal, and after that little bit it was made clear he could leave on his own or remain as he so chose.
As the ‘losers’ it was their turn to go first and one by one all the notable Tier 15s made their way down the roaring stage to where the Tier 50s awarded the participants a special gift for their outstanding efforts.
A few even caught Matt’s attention.
Benny Silverstan, a fresh recruit in the early stages of the war, had joined as a Tier 15 and played an incredibly key role in helping his squad hold their position on a fortress world against three assaults by Federation soldiers, which bought enough time for the rest of his battalion to focus on repelling the other attacks.
For his heroism he was awarded a Tier 26 upgrade orb as well as ten thousand army contribution points.
Next was Tianyna Forglow, who snuck behind enemy lines and killed the higher ups of an assault before leading the pursuit off on a wild goose chase buying enough time. She then managed to slip from her pursuers and return to her command.
For her efforts she was awarded a Tier 26 upgrade orb, two thousand army contribution points, as well as time with a smith who could affect growth items.
The Empire's army was massive and it took hours to get through each person one at a time but Matt didn’t really mind. After the first few he enjoyed the insights to the army and its typical heroics. Each and every one of them earned their moment of fame as did everyone who they represented.
Who knew how many people had done similar heroics, but hadn’t succeeded, or hadn’t lived to tell the tale.
Before he knew it, it was their turn and he detachedly listened to Manny as he spoke of their accomplishments. It all felt so distant, as if someone else had done all off that.
The only thing really worth paying attention to was the names of the planets they were going to be provided with for their duchies. He’d been a bit surprised when he’d first learned they were effectively getting paid to not be paid to not advance past Tier 35, but he didn’t care that much. Tier 35 seemed so far away as to not matter even if he was sure time would fly.
Also, what he hadn’t expected was that they were getting residual benefits from the massive pile of goodies that Zack and Allie were getting, mainly from the Sects in the form of access to hidden realms and the like. The way it was presented made him wonder if that had been a last-minute addition.
What did wake him up a little was the other Ascenders cheering for them.
They had all been quiet up until that point but they broke decorum and cheered with the Empire’s people even as their Great Powers politely clapped.
The reception for Allie and Zack was slightly more elaborate considering they were being bought out of the war Tiers altogether but it was ultimately the same song and dance.
Aiden, on the other hand, interrupted his ceremony to monologue for fifteen straight minutes about how great his accomplishment of making an Authority was. He probably would have gone on for longer but magically his throat got dry and he needed to take a break.
Even as he was given his accolades he complained relentlessly in the Ascender chat about being stifled less than a tenth of the way into his prepared speech and how his wife and Cammie wanted to hear more from him while he was onstage. None of the other Ascenders believed a word of it and simply drowned out his complaints with messages of their own.
Then the ceremony concluded, they returned to the station, and everyone filtered out, allowing for the next ceremony to start up.
Before he could go to the Ascenders box he dedicated some time to make a pass through some of the award recipients. He might be exhausted by the politics and Great Power grandstanding, but he knew it would mean a lot to those present to get some face time with an Ascender.
He was even pleasantly surprised when he got a handshake from a Tier 15 elite who had been in Minkalla at the same time as him and had acted as their rearguard when they had made their final dash to the exit.
It took Matt aback that the man was still Tier 15 for a moment, but it had only been a few hundred years and elites advanced much more slowly than Ascenders on the Path.
The conversation did serve as a good reminder of why he was fighting so hard for the Empire and it was a lesson he took to heart, acting as a balm for his exhausted spirit.
For the rest of the time he was able to hide in the Ascender’s box, watching as the other Great Powers had their own concluding ceremonies in turn while chatting with the others.
The Guilds had technically won, as their separate peace was decided just off their own war score which had been overwhelmingly positive. The rewards given out to their people weren’t any more interesting than the stuff given to the Empire soldiers but there was a bit more pomp and ceremony in it all.
Then there was another changing of the guard, as the Republic cycled in for their ceremony, and Matt just let himself tune everything else out and he only started paying attention once again when the elites he had fought were brought out to be shown off.
He glared at Valentina, but she never looked at him or where the rest of Team Zero stood, which was a smart decision all things told. He wasn’t about to rush out and kill her, but if she’d tried stirring the pot any, a fight would have broken out.
It was at least more interesting when Gan Le, as part of his prize, was being brought under Yun Me’s tutelage. A number of other sect members showed outward expressions of jealousy but Gan Le’s expression never wavered from his flat stoicism.
Aster chuckled even as she sent a message through the ascender group chat. “I bet he's fuming inside. I get the feeling he really wants nothing to do with wars. It was half of what he complained about when I had him trapped in my spirit place.”
Max sent back a quickly sketched Gan Le, tearing his hair out. “It's all he can do to not run away. Poor guy. He’s got a creative breadth of profanity, I’ll give him that though.”
Sien didn’t even try to defend him. “He’ll get over it sooner or later. I had a talk with him and while he’ll never make for anything but a defensive specialist he’s going to become a force to be reckoned with after ten or twenty thousand years of training with Yun Me. I’ll bet he can take a full force punch from Moe at that point.”
“I’d sha’er em with a ‘ingle blow.”
Everyone weighed in on whether or not he would survive such a blow and even Matt couldn’t help but add his own bet to the pot.
That last thing of note was the complete absence of the rune soldiers from the ceremony and when Matt raised that question in the group chat, Gideon replied. “If they are alive this time next month I’ll be very surprised. Virgil is like her grandfather in all his worst traits. I’m sure they officially sacrificed themselves for some project, but we’ll never know the truth about it.”
Allie replied almost immediately. “Really now? That seems super interesting. Maybe I need to go snooping in the Federation’s backyard. They sent me into a wild goose chase in a shit bucket and I still haven’t forgiven them about it. Maybe I'll go see if I can find the rune squad after this stuff settles down.”
Ellen immediately replied. “Oh you need to take me. Or at least take a skeleton that Boney can shove me inside. Their systems are cleaned super regularly so I need to physically bust in to get a more permanent back door into their systems.”
As their conversation devolved into how to best hack into secure systems Matt let his attention wander back to the rest of the ceremony which was more of the same.
There was some more chatter, but none of it particularly pivotal. Matt couldn’t help but feel like he was being pulled into a den of inveterate gamblers with how fast and loose everyone played with what were objectively immensely valuable items… but hey, what did he know?
Eventually, the final reward was given to the final Federation elite, and with that the ceremonies came to a close. Nominally, they could have stayed for a while longer, visiting and shopping in the Corporations station, but Allie announced that she was heading back to the Capital that very day, and that if anyone wanted teleportation back home, they’d need to let her know right then.
With none of the other Ascenders indicating that they were going to stick around terribly long, Matt decided to take her up on the offer.
Of course, right before they left, Matt got an interesting message.
He had already agreed once but the second check in warmed him.
While this would be one more person who knew his talent this one at least was one who truly needed to know.
Comments
nolan saylor
Sure it's silly, but little things of world building like perfumes still being a thing at high tiers, and not needing to be high tier to be enjoyable, are nice. 'speed waddled' I hadn't thought about how Toby would shrink down. A planet on the back of a giant is grandiose and awesome. A shrunken planet on a normal sized person sound beautiful. Bonsai taken to the extreme. Not tierist art, but genuinely nice. Our echo meets the MC. I enjoy that Matt made himself seen by the Monster Collective. Not agreeing to give info to them is smart, as they are still active ascenders. More so than that, without the bloodline essence the Monster Collective now has at least some additional reasons to not wish the Empire to fall. Well, not to be part of the reason it falls, if they are seemingly innocent Aster or Liz may join them. Martin the Warrior! I am happy with the reference to Redwall. Maybe that is my own assumption but I doubt it, and don't care regardless. I do like the image of tiny mouse on large turtle-man... who has an even tinier world on his back. Again the Feds make every interaction unpleasant. Yeah, the games of GPs are unknown to many. Best to avoid involving yourself for as long as possible. It truly does sound gorgeous. Assumedly no longer blinding at their tiers... or that is accounted for by the craftsmen. The Ascenders being truly supportive is a nice touch. The water ascender having a dry throat... -and the ascenders 'drowning' out his complaints. Matt going to greet the others is a nice touch as well. He is growing. I wish a name was given for the person at the rearguard, just for that extra bit of enjoyment if the name is the visible in the Minkala Chronicles chapter, or perhaps even the PoV in question. Poor Gan Le. Lucky Sects though, probably going to have another Ascender equivalent in a couple millennia. Yup Me probably will enjoy the company, maybe even becoming Gan Le's sugar mama... The most tanky family in existence. Virgil's grandfather was somehow worse?! I mean, he was in charge of the Feds when they were less forced to be restrained... but wow. Virgil is an easy bar to clear for morality and this is apparently underground. Allie to the rescue! Bring Carlos a friend!
Nicholas Grey
“Current exchange rates, which did fluctuate, put six hundred kilocredits around… a Tier 18 mana stone. Or it could be a few Tier 8 skills because they also usually sold for around a megacredit.” Why is something worth 600k (ie, 0.6 of a mega credit) worth “a few” (ie, more than one) items worth a full mega credit?
Alex
Of course they're gamblers. They're bored.
austin kutz
Nope, looks like he accidentally pushed the notification for an old chapter. Or was it Patreon fucking up?
Christian Sullivan
Old chapter ppl
Julie Smith
As usual, a good ending to the chapter. Who is the person and who deserves to know Matt's power? I'd guess Allister, the Tier 50 friend of Manny.
Quixotic
Why did this send out an email again?
Trevor Mergen
Thanks!
Dylan Kelley
In this world you are so wrong it hurts. This is more akin to a barter system with the caveat that everyone wants/needs mana so it's an easy thing to set up a sudo-currency around.
Dylan Kelley
In the very chapter you are referring to, Matt clearly suspects Gan Le is lying. It's also implied that everyone else also thinks he is. So while WE the readers know it's actually the truth, everyone in story suspects he has other motives or reasons for deceit.
tem
> I get the feeling he really wants nothing to do with wars. It was half of what he complained about when I had him trapped in my spirit place. This seems like odd phrasing/small continuity error. Why would Aster say she "gets the feeling"? That turn of phrase, denotes guessing/deducing, that they're not a 100% sure. Then she follows it up by saying Gan Le complained about it incessantly. So Aster 1000% knows he hates war and wants nothing to do with it. Continuity error comes in referencing chapter 329. Gan Le literally whinges to the whole of Team Zero about his disdain for wars and those that live for battle. He shares his whole sugar mommy plan with them and even tells them he was intentionally sandbagging to obscure himself. So Matt, Liz and Zack definitely already also knows that he wants nothing to do with wars and were present for his little ted talk. >* Poor guy, he really wants nothing to do with... makes a lot more sense contextually. It might not seem like an issue now, but when this arc is released as a book and people read these chapters an hour or two apart, its hard to ignore <3 PS Miniseries idea. Shorts of Gan Les' monologue complaints as he explores Asters spirit space. Maybe she even has tea once or twice with him. 👀👉🏿👈🏿
DumpsterCoffee
> "currency has no intrinsic value" What a strange non-sequitur. Totally wrong, and totally irrelevant to the discussion. It's like you just wanted to broadcast your ignorance to the world in order to please some sort of internal bias, and because you didn't get a reaction the first time, you have to try again.
Istyatur Elestel
Fiat currency (Credits) has no intrinsic value. But mana stones aren't just currency, they are also a store of mana and instrisicly have the value of whatever the mana in the stone is worth.
Violet
Friendly reminder that currency has no intrinsic value. The value form is not innate to anything.
DicedOnions
Or she will get her authority think that makes he queen of the realm and break the rules of war causing an early true war. Would be good for the empire if that happens because nobody would want another true war right after a brutal war against the federation
Maya
oh i only now realized that the conversion chart in chapter 4 and 8 is about monetary value of each tier, i always thought it was about how much mans each tier of stone held, yeah, no i see much more why matt's talent is so ridiculous on an economic scale now
DumpsterCoffee
To be fair, the exchange rates described for the Corporations feels more like what was intended all along. While we have to take Matt as an unreliable narrator (as his musings on how things work and what's possible are blatantly contradictory), he has often thought of a Tier 14 skill as being worth several Tier 8 skills. Based strictly on the Empire's economy, it should be closer to 2e11 (at least within an order of magnitude), but if we were to retcon the Imperial exchange rate of mana stones to be based on actual mana content, then a Tier 14 skill should be worth dozens of Tier 8 skills. Our clearest indicator of the intended exchange rate for skills is for Endurance, which trades for a Tier 14 skill. We have a confirmed report of a team trading the skill for 10 Tier 8 skills. So this is clearly the economy Mantis pretends the Empire has. Of course, if the wealth scaling worked like that, then there is no way a Tier 5 Matt could have provided his orphanage with an endowment.
DumpsterCoffee
1. I imagine that the Empire is using anti-scrying methods to protect Waters talents, the same as they're doing to protect Matt's talents. 2. Anyone attempting to divine Waters talents will assume that the Empire is employing anti-scrying techniques. 3. Getting nonsensical results for talent scrying just confirms that the Empire's anti-scrying techniques are working.
Istyatur Elestel
Its not so much as "not adapting to change" as "trying to help mantis with math". Lots of things are connected to mana stones, so such a change breaks a lot of cannon. for example, if mana stones have 20% less mana per tier(conservative, considering what this suggests) Matt should be at the point where powering up T40 rifts takes days, not decades; cannon interacts with cannon and you can't just change it without causing ripple effects that usually cause problems. Truthfully, Mantis did a pretty good job with most of it, though he needed to retcon mana concentration to make it work sensibly. the empire currency is the only thing that is compeletely nonsensical.
Violet
Ah, I see, you're asserting that prior canon overrides declared canon and ignoring the fact that canon can change. I'm not reading things that aren't there, you're just not adapting to change.
WierdWebLurker
So if you drop the negatives, it would be "they were being paid to advance past Tier 35," which would be false; that's a buyout, which the Great Powers specifically didn't want to do. What usually happens is "they were being paid not to advance past Tier 35." That's how Great Powers keep their Ascenders in the war tiers, with various cash and resource incentives. That's not what's happening here either. What's happening is a "partial buyout." As stated back in the negotiation chapter, the other Great Powers are paying Manny (and MLA by extension) not to hold them at Tier 35, with the expectation that they'll probably advance out of the war tiers by the time the Empire's truce wears off. Therefore, "(paid not to be (paid to not advance.))" It's kind of an odd sentence, but it perfectly encapsulates how atypical the agreement was.
skewness7
Unacceptable. And here I thought that Kar'tan greets his foes.
Istyatur Elestel
One - all rift stones are the same size, unlike artifical mana stones Two - in the Empire, a T18 mana stone is worth somewhere around 5e19 T8 mana stones or 3e31 credits, instead of 6e5 credits. Assuming 1 empire credit = 1 corporation credit, which is probably not the case, but i bet it isn't a 24 order of magnitude difference either. This is why we know there is an error: a T 18 mana stone has exactly 1000 times as much mana a a T8 in the same volume of space. So it should be worth a few thousand to maybe a million times as much depending on how much that 1000 times space reduction matters in a world with bags of holding and storage rings.
John
Thanks!
Desidia
When Aura rifts first gets mass produced, there's going to be a lot less people going into Minkalla. I always wondered if it's possible for Matt and the Emperor to pump so much mana into Minkalla, so that it evolves and gain an eighth floor.
ShivaMcTimber
I think we will have both Manny and Allister POV - at least I hope so. it would be interesting to get the Guild perspective.
Desidia
I wonder if we're going to get Allister's inner thoughts. The author said the next chapter was going to be an Emperor POV.
Desidia
Are talent appraising talents that rare? I wonder why no other GP knows about Duke's Water's talents at this point. The Emperor is t50, but this doesn't stop him from secretly copying the talents of lower tiers from other GP's. Why aren't there talent appraisers from other GP's that's not telling other people about Duke Water's talents? It'll be funny if there's a group of talent appraisers that's scratching their heads, wondering why their secret investigation into Duke Waters keeps showing up as farming talents. Their first thought would be; how is the Empire hiding Duke Water's talents?
Gjim
Dang, we just got Redwalled, I do believe.
Violet
Which is why it has to be the actual amount of mana present, or there's literally no difference between the Imperial and Corporate systems.
Tijay Arnie
I knew that were a reference there, that was just tickling a corner of my brain
Raymond Lenihan
When they talk about mana stones in terms of currency they are talking about rift made mana stones, which means they all have the same amount per tier. We are given the amounts in a table in book 1 or 2.
Violet
But that's exactly what this chapter seems to imply, unless the idea is that in the Empire, a Tier 18 stone the size of a house is of the same value as one which is the size of a fist.
Jason Hatter
It was mentioned when we first met her as part of Team Zero.
Jason Hatter
No, they were noted as dating, when she first appeared as part of Team Zero
habu987
If we get some hares and badgers to show up, too, I'll be a very happy camper! Redwall was such a seminal part of my childhood.
Jason Hatter
It was great to get a callback to those valiant elites.
James Skinner
And Gan Le! Now there's a trio.
Jeff Wells
It's the only accurate phrasing possible (though more descriptors would make it a little clearer). "They are being paid to tier up" is incorrect, which is what it would say if you dropped the negatives. Ordinarily, they would be paid to NOT tier up. They are being paid to not be paid to not tier up. It's the only correct way to say it.
Jeff Wells
Aiden has been paid by the Empire for thousands of years to stay below tier 35. The other GPs are paying the Empire and MLA to prevent the Empire from paying MLA to stay below tier 35 for thousands of years. It's a soft-buyout. MLA can stay below 35 if they choose, but the Empire may not encourage them to per this agreement. Paid to not be paid to not tier up.
Kelly Bryan
Redwall is on a low tier world in the Monster Collective, new headcanon.
Elaine
good chappie
Istyatur Elestel
A "TN Mana Stone" is generally assumed to be a full TN Rift mana stone which does have a set mana value and cannot be recharged. No one is suggesting a half-used mana stone is worth the full value.
James Harrison
It's a typo p sure, unless
ShivaMcTimber
"A shocked Allister sprayed his tea directly into Manny's face." Opening line in the next chapter probably.
ShivaMcTimber
Haha "We could not talk or talk forever and still find things to not talk about."
Pat Sprehe
Sergio survived! That’s the Empire guy from the 7th floor Minkalla Chronicles.
Derze
Quite sure that would be regulated. Plus, who has that many tier 8 skills shards? Besides the Mcs
Derze
most of the citizens don't actively sell to other Great powers, so unless they are Tier 15 or one of the Big guys up top, the local economy for each Power is not really affected
Xarow
Thanks for the great chapter. I really want an itemised list of their rewards and their planets with a breakdown of details etc.
Matt
Thanks that was beyond me too.
Austin Koos
I'd really like to see her fight Tier 35 Matt. Getting hit in the face by the equivalent of a Tier 50's mana pool every second lol
Mezmer
Is Martin the Giantslayer a reference to Martin the Warrior?
Blake N.
Yeah, that’s why it’s mentioned that it’s nice of him to check in again. It’s not the first asking for permission, but a repeat to be sure
Blake N.
No, the emperor is going to tell the guilds leader in the next chapter.
Violet
It's the amount of mana actually in the mana stones that they value. A Tier 18 stone /can/ store more, but that doesn't mean that every Tier 18 stone does. If you view currency as needing to have a 'real' value (it doesn't - goldbugs btfo), then the Corporation's model makes more sense than the Empire's. Mana is the capacity to do work (both in the physics sense and in the economic sense), whereas storage capacity is merely the potential to acquire the capacity to do work. But, again, currency doesn't need to have 'real' value, just exchange value.
Andrew Adams
I'd just ignore anything to do with these economies. they don't stand up to even a cursory glance.
Istyatur Elestel
"There was still some markup for the higher-Tier stones due to their mana to size ratios, but it still meant that a Tier 18 mana stone might only be worth a few dozen times more than a Tier 8 stone in the Corporations" thats a definit math error, should be a few thousand times more. 1000 for the mana, few for the markup.
James Faulkner
Here we goooooooo
DumpsterCoffee
So much for economics. The Corporations, who are depicted as masters of economic systems, prize mana stones for their mana. Therefore, they value a tier 18 stone the same as a dozens of tier 8 stones, despite the tier 18 stone having over 1000 times as much mana as a tier 8 stone. Sure, that makes sense. Of course, the valuation of mana stones in the Empire has never made any sense either, but this is just...
KollegvomMirgan
Tftc really looking forward to next chapter
Violet
I think the currency arbitrage would only function in one direction: buy empty Tier 18 mana stones in the Corporations and then use them in the Empire to buy saleable goods to sell in the Corporations. But yes, mana stone arbitrage does sound like it would be a potential gold mine. The factors that Andrew K mentioned would also be part of the arbitrage process and might limit your profitability. Currency arbitrage is an old way of making a lot of money, though. That's why currency exchange desks were so lucrative, particularly in the pre-Euro European Union.
Aaron Hardin
That is how all trade works, things are less valuable in one place and more valuable in another place, and the difference between the two needs to be large enough to overcome the costs of transportation, and any other costs, such as tariffs. We don't know if there is money to be made in this, but if there is, there is undoubtable some trade of mana stones going both ways, but given the tiers of the mana stones involved, as the ones doing this are higher tier, the wealth level they are working with is immense, so there are likely far more lucrative things they can do with their time.
Andrew K
Question for things like this isn't really if there's money to be possibly made that way considering face-value prices. It's whether there's enough monetary gain left on the table to be worth the time (particularly compared to other money-making opportunities) after taking all the secondary costs and constraints into account. Things like import/export tarrifs, travel/shipping costs, market volume limitations (natural or imposed by government regulations, and effective split due to competition running the same trading strategy), and such can all alive away huge chunks of potential profit margin. Even if there's initially a lot of profit left on the table after considering those factors, the other relevant parties will almost shift behavior over time until it's either not very lucrative or tightly controlled by some small group benefiting from regulatory capture.
John Balman
Damn tease lol that ending 😂
william wallace
Dont look too hard at the economy… it gets messy quickly.
Andrew K
Normally, a great power would pay off Ascenders and the like to stay at tier 35 for a long time for strategic reasons. Part of the war settlement was a payoff to the empire not to do that in the case of MLA, and a chunk of that payoff is going right to MLA just like a full buyout would.
RedEyeLordofFire
I don't understand this economy. Any idiot with half a brain can just buy tier 8 mana stones in the empire sell them in the corporations then buy tier 18 mana stones in the corporations and sell in the empire. Rince and repeat easy money.
Andrew K
It can be a bit confusing, but I personally still really liked that phrasing - really highlights how odd that bit of the war settlement was.
Abriel Blauer
Sorry about that, but not sure if I understood that phrase correctly: " they were effectively getting paid to not be paid to not advance past Tier 35" Can someone please translate that in layman terms?
darwensassistent
Great chapter, just wanted to comment that this section about the planet buy out for matt was really confusing to read. Too many negatives "they were effectively getting paid to not be paid to not advance past Tier 35, but he didn’t care that much."
Havokk
re reading this I think the very best part of this chapter has to be Zach and Susanne actually getting a real date
Tim Johnson
ahh thats right, got them mixed up, JR is the one who made him the bonding device for his talismans.
Havokk
Just have DW give her a lesson on authorities... she will think she understands him and try then kill herself trying for it
Fozzy
I was really hoping for a description of the "Furious Thrust of the Rooster" skill
Violet
Poor Gan Le getting a reminder that the only reward for good work is more work. I wouldn't be shocked if the leadership of the Sects was purposefully fucking with him for going out of his way not to be too exceptional. Someone with good impulse control should go with Allie, because she's /not/ going to like what she finds. Or, really, someone with better impulse control than Allie, which isn't exactly a high bar. For entirely dispassionate and pragmatic reasons, I volunteer Aster for the job.
Alex
I think this might actually be the definition of Gan Le’s hell. Yun Me has stayed at Tier 35 for a million years because she lives to fight Pinnacle Elites and Ascenders with her unyielding defensive powers. She’ll be teaching Gan Le all about how he can block attacks from Ascenders with his face. Poor guy, he might actually defect from the Sects.
yannick schwende
I loved the chapter. Shows all the pomp such an event needs. Also liked Matt's reaction to it. Can totally relate. I would leave as soon as he does as well
C_Mantis
That is correct
MikeL
Obviously Cosmind would be the best mind teacher, but I would have thought Kurt would have a lot of insight also.
Havokk
ahhh Gan Le got his sugar momma but gets stuck with a warrior and knowing he will never be out of war range lol
Alex
Allister, Tier 50 of the Guilds. JR is on the don’t tell under any circumstances list, since he has a habit of selling anything and everything for the right price, and the Corporations are borderline enemies of the Empire, with projections earlier in the series saying they were probably going to join the Light and Shadow war against the Empire.
Alex
The Rune Soldiers didn’t deserve any part of their terrible lives. Virgil really does need to die horribly.
Thomas Todd
It's Alister the Guild t50. Manny mentioned it when their meeting broke up a few chapters ago. Their conversation will probably the be Manny chapter for Monday
Thomas Brusilovsky
Nice, slowpaced chapter to close out the matt part of the arc. Great stuff as always!
Teatime42
Ah, the leader of the Guilds.
Ellariayn
Wait, if this ARC is ending on the next chapter, that means that we have to wait and see whom Matt is referring to in the last paragraph! You’re evil Mantis 😂
Uuds
Typo: "..leading the pursuit off on a wild goose chase buying enough time." To "buying enough time for..." The defenders to regroup or something?
Tim Johnson
JR? i thought Manny already confirmed with Matt that JR could know in preparation for the true war.
Bob Bryan
Again, really hope Virgil dies. Ripped apart by a tier 50 black and white hole perhaps. Are tier 50 space piranas a thing? Rip rune soldiers, you didn't deserve that.
Ben Heggem
I like it
C_Mantis
yup they are dating.
BagFullOfLizards
Ooo, this has me looking forward to the emperor POV so much
Owen Kaz
Here it comes, time to see how another faction leader reacts to the possibilities of an endless future
Ben Heggem
Okay I must’ve missed it or forgot but Zach and Susanne??🤣
R.M.
Amazing
Luna_1001
Thanks
