Chapter 713: Things That Ascend (Patreon)

Chapter 713: Things That Ascend

"Aren't the only things that can ascend?" Derek asked, frowning. "I already know that," he finally said.

"Wait, you do?" Dave replied, slightly deflated.

"Of course," Derek said. "I already know that Void Beasts can ascend. They even do so without the help of any system. A... Void Beast friend of mine explained all that to me and Alanah before Alanah ascended."

"Oh... that is correct," Dave said. "But I wasn't speaking of Void Beasts."

"Oh," Derek said. "Then... are system monsters able to reach a high enough power instinctively to ascend?"

"Well... it is very rare, but yes," Dave replied. "But that's not what I was talking about either."

"Oh... if it's not that, then is it..." Derek started but was cut off.

"Just... just stop guessing and let me finish," Dave released a long sigh.

"Well, you asked," Derek said. "Fine..."

"Ingredients!" Silvi's voice suddenly rang out. "Ingredients ascend!"

"Uh, no..." Dave replied. "Ingredients do not ascend unless you count a beast as an ingredient and them ascending as the ingredient ascending."

"Wrong," Silvi replied. "Ingredients do ascend."

"I think I would know if ingredients could ascend," Dave replied.

"I ascended," Silvi finally said.

"Yes, you did," Dave replied.

"I had ingredients," Silvi said. "Ingredients ascended with me."

"That... you..." Dave drew in a deep breath. "That is technically true. But we were speaking of ascension without assistance."

"But we had system assistance," Silvi replied.

"Assistance other than system," Dave replied.

"Derek gave Void Beast Asher assistance, and it might ascend," Silvi argued.

Derek watched the two of them go back and forth for a while. It was certainly an interesting thing—seeing one of the most powerful beings in the entire System Universe have an argument about ascension with a horned bunny that wasn't even 10 years old yet. Derek finally decided to cut Dave a break—mostly because he was too interested in what Dave was talking about.

"Silvi," he said, causing her to look his way. "We're likely speaking about things that have the possibility of growth on their own being able to ascend. A Void Beast can ascend without the system's help, but it also gets stronger on its own. Non-living ingredients aren't able to do that. The only way they are able to 'ascend' is through third-party help."

"Oh," Silvi said. "Why not say that?"

"That's what... you know what, I got sidetracked. I apologize," Dave finally said. It looked like his face was even slightly flushed with embarrassment. "As I was saying, there are other things that can evolve and ascend."

"Evolve, too?" Derek asked.

"Yes, evolve, too. Actually, the thing I am speaking of must evolve to ascend," Dave clarified. He looked at Derek, then at Silvi as he paused for dramatic effect. Unfortunately, Silvi started lapping up some more of her beverage, and Derek just looked back at him. Dave sighed. "Fine... the system... my system... the Davenresh System is able to ascend, as well."

"Wait, what?!" Derek half-shouted. He didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't that. Instantly, he thought back to all his conversations with Dave. There were always things that the elven man wasn't able to tell him, and now it was beginning to make sense. In fact, looking back after knowing, he realized that the man had even dropped him some hints. Suddenly, a question struck him. "What does that mean? What does it mean for the system? For the system users? For the planet?"

"It means the same thing that it would mean for a system user," Dave said. "Once you become a Transcendent and agree to take control of a system—whether a qualitative system or a quantitative system—how you govern and run your system and the things you accomplish with it allow it to grow. It allows it to gain essence just like a normal system user would. Certain things give more essence than others. But, just like system users, growth can stagnate if you don't keep pushing."

"What all gives essence?" Derek asked. He already knew about the qualitative and quantitative systems. The Davenresh one was a qualitative system, and the Universal System V3 was a quantitative system. One focused on a small area or population—a planet, in Dave's case—and the other spread out, encompassing many planets or populations, but not heavily focusing on any one thing.

"Well," Dave started. "The stronger the beasts and system users are, the better," he said. "For example, for every beast or person slain, a small portion of the essence that would normally go to whatever killed them actually goes back into the system. That gives very small, but continuous growth to it."

"I... see..." Derek said. "What else?"

"Well, one thing that gives a huge boost is when a system user—or beast—ascends to a higher-tier system. We still aren't certain, but we believe that the Origin System calculates the amount of essence the ascender has accumulated in their lifetime, then gives the equivalent amount to the system. But I'm not really one who believes that. In fact, I have evidence that others do not have that suggests that the Origin System calculates the total reward based on the ascender's achievements."

"Oh... then when Alanah ascended..."

"The Davenresh System was given quite the reward in the form of system essence," Dave explained.

"And when I ascended?"

"That is where the new evidence comes from," Dave said. "You accomplished so much that you even skipped an entire system tier with your ascension. And I know from research that I wasn't rewarded anything from any of those who you brought along with you—aside from your sand goblin friend."

"Marrick?" Derek asked.

"Yes," Dave replied. "He was on the verge of ascending to the next tier system, so the Davenresh System received rewards as if he had done that. But the amount it received from you ascending was tenfold what anyone has ever gotten from a single ascension."

"And you're sure it's not because of the ten or so people that I brought with me?" Derek asked. The numbers did kind of check out.

"I'm positive," Dave said. "In fact, the system actually lost a little more essence with you taking them than it gained from Marrick's advancement."

"Oh... my bad?" Derek winced a bit.

"It is completely fine," Dave said. "Yes, I may have lost out on some future essence and gone negative on a small amount, but your contribution in the Invasion and the amount of essence you earned me with your ascension mean I have nothing to complain about. It was a net positive outcome, by far."

"Then that's good," Derek said. "And about the Invasion?"

"Yes, defeating a Universal System via an invasion and doing so in such a short amount of time rewarded the system with a large amount of system essence, as well," Dave said. "As I said, there are various ways to earn system essence or experience. Any methods that include completing quests or earning Titles from the Origin System provide very large amounts."

"Did you earn essence just by winning the Invasion, or also through the performance of each Guardian?" Derek was curious about how it worked. Who knew? He could end up having a system of his own one day—based on how the conversation was going.

"No. It did earn experience from the old elf's evolution, though," Dave said. "That always gives a good amount. I had to double-check notifications after you informed me of his evolution."

"That's good," Derek said. "So, what does all of this mean for your Davenresh System?"

"Quite a bit, actually," Dave said. "When a Transcendent chooses this path, the system created for them to control starts as an F-tier system in that part of the System Universe. Then, as it gains essence, it progresses until it is eventually able to ascend to the next tier system."

"What happens to the people and the planet?" Derek asked. "Does it stay in the same part of the universe? Surely it can't, right?"

"I'm getting there," Dave replied. "Yes, the system does move to the next part of the universe. And in a qualitative system, when the system ascends, it takes the small area and population with it."

"And what about a quantitative?" Derek asked.

"The same, but on a larger scale," Dave said. "The Origin System makes sure to place each ascended system in a part of the System Universe far enough away from any other systems so that they won't experience any system invasions or other conflicts until each new one is given enough time to grow."

"Unless a person comes from a Universal System and it starts seeking out the other system?" Derek asked.

"Exactly!" Dave replied. "But that also has to do with the person in charge of the other system. I could have very well chosen not to allow you access to the Davenresh System. Then the Universe System V3 would not have detected it, and nothing would have happened as it did."

"But you decided to put your trust in me? Someone you'd never seen or met before?" Derek asked.

"I decided to take a calculated gamble after watching you for a short amount of time," Dave said. "Worst-case scenario, we lose, and the system loses essence, which delays the ascension for an unknown amount of time. But I was already so far ahead of schedule that losing would have only made my system's ascension match in speed to your average Transcendent. And I'm sure I would have found a way to speed it up again, anyway."

"I see..."

"But the gains if it worked," Dave said with a smile. "Well... in my humble opinion, the gains made the risk more than worth it."

"Then I guess... congratulations," Derek said, but he was still focused on one thing. "So, the planet that the Davenresh System encompassed and the Davenresh System itself... has ascended? What happened to all the people on it? Avery? Natalie? Rayna? Jacks? The twins? Are they all okay?"

"Yes, to both questions. The planet, which is just known as Davenresh A, and the system users and beasts on the planet will all ascend with the system," Dave said. "But the ascension has not happened yet. I have held off for some time. Ascension was ready directly after the Invasion. Then your own ascension gave even more rewards."

"Why wait? Isn't it better to do it sooner rather than later?" Derek asked.

"Yes and no," Dave said with a shrug. "The Origin System would eventually force the ascension, but waiting for that really wouldn't hurt anything in the grand scheme of things. Look at the amount of time we have as Transcendents. Waiting a few extra months or years or something wouldn't change much at all. And, funnily enough, my patience is one of the things that has allowed me to grow so fast—both with myself and with the Davenresh System."

"I guess I can see that," Derek said.

"Yes. I look at as many possible paths as I can think about, and I do research into them before I choose to do anything," Dave said. "Unlike my brother, who essentially just wings everything because he wants to move as quickly as possible."

"Gotcha," Derek replied. "So, is this a good thing for everyone on your planet or a bad thing?"

"It is a good thing, of course," Dave said. "Especially for the current generations living during the ascension."

"Why is that?" Derek asked.

"Because any of them who have maxed out their levels or skills will all be able to progress again. The old can gain more life with increased vitality, and the young will have new Achievements from being alive during their system ascension," Dave said, then leaned in. "And the best thing? Everyone's growth will be less dangerous because all the current and new beasts that the system will gain will be growing at the same time. So, even though they don't know this, it won't change growth potential. They will be much less likely to run into anything that will be overly strong."

"I'll be honest," Derek said. "I don't know how I feel about all that. If I had known, then maybe it would have been better to leave everyone there so they could grow naturally along with all their friends and family who didn't come along. Or maybe I would have brought more people."

"No," Dave said. "I think you made a good decision. Those that you brought along will all benefit more from being here than they would have if they'd stayed there. The same could also be said for those who stayed there. Besides, you were just about at the limit of the number of people I could allow you to take."

"Oh..." Derek said. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt okay with everything. Specifically, he thought about Avery. The man had given up a lot to stay with his students and not come with Derek and the others. He felt for the man because he knew how much Avery enjoyed fighting and adventuring. Now, he would be able to stay with his students and continue to grow. He'd planned on gaining enough power to ascend on his own, anyway—he just wanted to do it on his own while also staying with his students longer. Now, he would get all of that and more.

The same was true for Braxton. He would get to stay with his wife but start growing his own power again, too. And Rayna, Jacks, and the others would all be looked out for by him and Avery. Derek made sure of that before he left.

"I guess... that's not bad," he finally said. "And it's not your fault for doing what you're supposed to and growing your system." And now there are so many more questions I have... he thought with a sigh.

"I'm glad you see it that way," Dave said. "Because I'm about to accept all my rewards."

A/N: Was going to call it System Ascension, but felt it would instantly spoil anyone who hadn't already figured it out.

Had a decent time in Fort Smith on Saturday. Spending 8 hours driving isn't super fun, but it was nice seeing people.

Fun story because 2026 hates my guts. On Friday, my dog came in through his doggie door and jumped on me... after being sprayed by a skunk. I spent from like, 11PM to 4AM doing everything I could to clean and remove smells. Luckily, other than my hands and that shirt and pair of pants, it didn't get into my skin, so I didn't smell awful at the bookstore. lol

Also: Check out Valerios's new book, Path of Steel.

It's a chunky 1000+ page book and the audio is narrated by the great JS Arquin! 35 hours for like... $7.50 if you have whispersync and KU.