The Path of Ascension 10

Matt, his partner Liz and their Bond Aster, an Arctic fox who has grown in strength beside them from the start, have finished the Path of Ascension. The program spans the whole Empire. It took Matt from an orphaned teenager with a Talent thought to be a handicap to one of the most capable Ascenders of his generation.

With that behind them, the three join the war alongside Light and Shadow. The fighting is already under way, and holding the line would count as a good result. Turning the tide is what they are really after.

The book is volume ten of twelve in C. Mantis's Path of Ascension, a serial from Aethon Books that first appeared on Royal Road. It combines LitRPG elements (dungeons, skills, measurable Tiers) with xianxia-style cultivation.

Earlier books follow the trio up the Empire's Tiers. This one moves them from a structured contest into a war with no set rules, and it builds toward their Ascension. A side-story, Book 10.5, revisits that Ascension through other eyes.

Readers can expect a progression system that keeps to its own rules, realistic fight scenes, and a rational protagonist who treats every problem, war included, as something to be worked out.