Tony’s eyes snapped open to his menus flashing from page to page before them, almost too fast for him to keep track of. What he was seeing most was his quest log flashing back and forth between his talent screens.

For each blocked or replaced talent, Tony received a side quest from the wannabe Archon in the loading space. Each side quest corresponded to an opponent in the arena. Tony would have to make it to and through the Champion of the Pits in order to regain his most valuable skill, Fatal Resolve.

How hard could that be? he thought.

The only side quest in the long list that he had that wasn’t tied directly to a fight was Dromhoke’s Vow, the reward for that side quest changed Tony’s mind about completing it entirely.

Fulfilling Dhomroke's Vow: You have discovered an Arach Limb Melded weapon. To gain favor with The Archon, discover the vow made on the blade and complete it for the departed Arach.

Rewards: Summon Dreadblade (Ascendant Talent), XP, Standing: Dread Knights (Errant)

"Standing" was a new mechanic as far as the interface was concerned, but he was familiar with how it worked due to games like Godmaker.

“So, the Archon is such a dick that there’s a whole faction of outcast Dread Knights?” Tony muttered.

He jumped at the sound of his own voice. It wasn’t the tired, haggard, tone that he’d become accustomed to; even before he had been “loaded” into Ascendant: Online. He sounded rested and rejuvenated.

He sounded healthy. He'd almost forgotten what that was like.

After a few minutes of scrolling his menus, Tony felt a pair of eyes on him. He swiped the menus away with a flick of his wrist to see Vixie glaring at him over a large flower pot sprouting with saplings.

Name: Locusnettle (Dormant Sapling)

Class: Sorcerer (Root and Vine) Level: 31

Race: Acer Sapien

Did he gain a level? How?

Tony went through their fight in his head… as much of it as he could remember anyway. The giant tree man had been sap and splinters at the end of the fight, there must have been something that he had missed.

A pair of fingers prodded the middle of his forehead.

“Hey!” Tony shouted.

“Get a little lost up there?” Vixie asked.

Tony furrowed his brow and looked down at the incandescent elf, “No, definitely not.”

Deception: Failed

I was being sarcastic...

”I wonder what happens to a perfectionist that figures out they’re a shit liar,” Vixie wondered, mockingly, aloud.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Tony’s face flushed.

“Being a bad liar isn’t a bad thing, Tony. Relax,” she said.

”I missed things... details... I don’t get how Locusnettle gained a level or how he’s still alive after the fight…”

“You don’t need to understand -“

“Yes, I do.”

Tony’s voice came out with the same tired, haggard, and angry tone that it carried before he’d been treated.

”Sorry… it’s just… all of this has been a lot and if I’m going to do what I need to do I need to understand as much of the system as I can. I didn’t mean to snap, Vixie,” Tony explained.

The elf quirked an eyebrow at him and nodded.

”Acer Sapiens, if they have the right talents set up, can stash a cutting or a seed somewhere and if they are killed, it sets a respawn timer. Depending on their level, average XP gain, and the respawn timer, they might gain between one and five levels… tops,” she explained.

Aside from Auren and Vasna, Vixie was the first person he'd interacted with that referred to game mechanics within the system; that sparked his curiosity in a big way.

“And Locusnettle isn’t an Ascendant?” Tony asked

”What’s an Ascendant? I see that on your nameplate, but I’ve never seen it before.”

Vixie worked as she talked, gliding almost effortlessly from cot to cot, and again directly referenced "game mechanics" in ways that others hadn't.

“Wait, that means you aren’t one either?” Tony observed.

Tony wasn't sure what to think. He'd assumed, incorrectly, that Vasna had been an Ashtar of sorts, due to all of her elemental markings, but that had been a byproduct of her Class Specialization. Was it the same for Vixie? Did she somehow have a glitched entry to the system too, or was she a natural part of the world?

Vixie simply nodded as she worked with her charges, “That’s right... This is the part where you tell me what an Ascendant is... right?”

“Ascendants are a sort of chosen… we gain powers beyond what the system would grant to normal folks…I think... different talent trees and class options…”

Vixie continued to nod every so often as Tony explained, throwing in the odd “Uh-huh…” or “That makes sense…” as he rambled.

“So… I guess I’m just a little surprised that the whole war between Ignacious and Auren isn’t more headline news… from how it was explained to me, sentient races across the universe have been targeted by Ignacious and not all of them have the means to stand against him… I’m also really surprised that with a load out that allows him to escape death and how you were hucking all of that chain around in the spire that neither you or Locusnettle are Ascendants…”

Tony’s brain kicked into overdrive. If neither Locusnettle nor Vixie were Ascendants, that meant that none of the other combatants in the pits were either…

But what if they were?

If Tony hadn’t berserked when and how he did, would he have won the fight against Locusnettle? Was he capable of fighting without restraint and without using his rage talents? How much of a powerhouse would Vixie be at ranged combat if she did Ascend?

A hand wrapped around Tony’s tricep, the touch was gentle; he flinched away regardless. It wasn’t all too different from how Serketzi would touch him before their “sessions.”

”Hey, what’s wrong?” Vixie asked.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” Tony answered in a hurry, “just thinking about some stuff… y’know… new information and all that…”

Deception: Failed

God damn it.

“Okay… well, there’s been a little bit of buzz about The Coterie and what they’ve been up to, who they’re backing and who they aren’t, but nothing about an all out war,” Vixie explained.

“What do you mean who they’re backing?” Tony asked

“How do you think this invasion happened so quickly and so easily?”

"You've got to be kidding me... really?"

"That's the rumor, anyway..." Vixie answered.

It all clicked into place... Tony, Auren, and D shot out of the sky over Arach... Sujuko buffed by Ignacious to weaken the Arach Empire's leadership... Ignacious sending his Avatar instead of showing up himself...

The God-King wasn't some all-powerful entity capable of one-shotting a planet, he would have just done that if he was... he was a fucking politician... one that had played Tony like a fool, meddled in his progression and personal quests, and was responsible for his current imprisonment.

Maybe this is why The Archon was so pissy? Is Ignacious' rule the result of one giant bluff that paid off?

Questions Tony would have to find answers for later.

"Hey Ascendant," Jak's voice interrupted, "you've got another fight."