Godspawn Ascendant [LitRPG, Epic Progression Fantasy]

With my upper body still enhanced by the dose of essence I'd pumped through it, I yanked my spear out of the deep cavity I'd created in the dragon–the final blow that had finally killed her.

I wiped a sweaty palm over my forehead, then cleaned as much of the dark red dragon blood off my spear as I could with a spare cloth tucked into my waist for such occasions.

Cinthara fell to her back and stared at the ceiling. I rushed to her side, brows furrowed in concern.

"What's wrong? Where does it hurt?"

Cinthara didn't meet my eyes, but a wide smile stretched on her lips. She pressed her palms to her forehead and blinked away exhausted tears. And then she started laughing…. An uncontrollable, belly-aching laugh.

"I didn't think we'd succeed," she wheezed in between laughs. "I thought for sure we'd die trying to kill this dragon."

I frowned. It was good to know that Cinthara was the type of person who ran into hopeless situations without any regard for her companions' lives or her own. But I was surprised we'd actually managed to kill the thing, too. Without the traps Lord Solomon had placed for one of his clones to activate, Cinthara and I might have traded places with the now-dead dragon.

Cinthara remained motionless, save for the heavy breaths making her chest rise and fall. She probably needed the break. I took advantage of the silence to survey the damage and see how much essence the carcass had both released and attracted.

The hordes of essence swarms were thick. Like an impenetrable fog of glowing blue. I could take as much as I wanted! Well, as much as my Tier 4 body could handle. And even after taking all of that, there would still be plenty to naturally fall into Cinthara. She, like everyone else, couldn't see the essence–she had to literally walk by streams or stay mentally alert to attract essence to her. So, she'd have no way of knowing that I'd be taking my fill.

Some streams were already beginning to flow into Cinthara and me, already attracted to our living presence. I closed my eyes and welcomed it, also preparing myself to call even more over to me. But before I could do that, a loud ringing echoed above our heads.

I blinked my eyes open and glared at the ceiling, where the high-pitched sound had come from.

"Congratulations, Clone Number 52. You have successfully killed the dragon. Please accept your first reward."

I knew that booming voice anywhere–Lord Solomon, or at least the AI version of him, or even a recording.

I glanced around, trying to detect if something new had appeared or if the so-called treasure room had opened. But nothing happened. Was my first reward supposed to be harvesting the essence and spoils from the dead dragon?

"You heard that, too, right?" Cinthara was sitting up now, and her head shook back and forth as she tried to find the source of the disembodied voice. "What do you think he's talking about? You? You're a Lord Solomon clone."

Excitement dripped from her voice. Lord Solomon had said the reward was for Clone Number 52, me, but she deserved any incoming prizes just as much if not more than I did. She'd been the one to find this cavern, solve its clues, enlist my help, and get trapped in a weakening prison circle with a dragon while still holding her own.

Before I could answer Cinthara, another ringing blared, but it only existed in my head this time. I curled into myself and squeezed my eyes shut, the sound making my head pound.

"Dex?! What's going on?"

"Your first reward, Rayden."

It felt like someone was ripping every bit of skin off my body. My organs felt like they were going to explode, and even my teeth were loose. I wouldn't have been surprised if they started to fall out of my mouth one by one.

I suffered through the agony, trying desperately to trust both Codex and Lord Solomon. Surely whatever came at the end of the excruciating pain would prove worth it.

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"Rayden? What's happening to you?"

I could barely hear Cinthara's voice over the blood rushing through my head. I dropped to my knees and gritted my teeth as I tried to bear whatever was happening to me.

I felt a petite hand rest on my shoulder, Cinthara's hand, but I shrugged it away. It took all of my focus to keep from screaming.

Suddenly, the pain stopped all at once. My shoulders slumped forward, and I sighed in relief. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't peel my eyelids open. Some unknown force held them closed. I breathed through the panic that naturally bubbled up in my chest. I was determined to remain calm, especially in front of Cinthara.

Ding!

That sound had existed only in my head, as well. And it sounded just like the unseen bell that always accompanied the appearance of a stat sheet. What was going on? Was I Tiering up already?

STATUS

NAME: RAYDEN GRIM

TIER: 4

The rest of the stat sheet didn't show up for some reason–no levels, no stat points, no Skills… just my Tier. And then, the Tier number ticked up like the numbers on a fast-moving clock. It went from Tier 5 to 6 and then ended on Tier 7 within the blink of an eye.

I couldn't believe my eyes. This had to be a trick. There was no way I'd broken through all the way to Tier 7 for killing just one Tier 12 monster.

The stat screen faded away, and my eyes fluttered open almost involuntarily.

"Rayden?" Cinthara was shaking me now, ignoring that I had shrugged away her help just moments before. "Are you all right? Talk to me!"

I allowed her to help me to my feet, pressing a hand to my forehead as I swayed precariously.

"I don't know what happened," I lied, feeling no desire to explain something I didn't quite understand myself.

Cinthara pursed her lips and studied me for a moment. I could tell she knew I was keeping something from her, but thankfully, she didn't press me for more answers.

"I'd better get something worth my while here," was all she said. But I knew a threat from anywhere.

"Let's harvest what we can from the dragon," I said.

Cinthara shrugged and pulled a dagger from her bag, then got to work carving into the dragon's already sliced-up abdomen. The one soft part of the otherwise scale-reinforced body was as good a place as any to start.

Maybe I was in shock, but I couldn't comprehend the fact that I had just broken through to Tier 7. I wanted to leave this cavern and return to my dormitory as soon as possible to discover my three new Skills and see how many free stat points I had.

But how had Lord Solomon done it? Did he have some special, godly magic that could Tier up his clones in seconds? Had he channeled some essence into me somehow?

"How did he do it?" I asked Dex. "How did Lord Solomon get me to Tier 7 so quickly?"

"In addition to the essence you see around the dead dragon, Lord Solomon also had a Skill that allowed him to store essence banks wherever he wanted. He injected into you a store of essence he kept in this cavern. Then, with his own access to my systems, he sped up your process of breaking through three more Tiers."

"That must have been a lot of essence," I said.

"Indeed."

"But three Tiers is a lot to go up at once. How did I even survive it?"

"This cavern, much like his other facilities, contains healing properties for Lord Solomon clones. His magic was able to keep you alive as you underwent the process. It is similar to how he healed you in that first facility you found."

I remembered that all too well. I had discovered I could enhance the Tier 1 armor and weapon Drayek had given me by channeling essence through them, but it had been too much on my body–a body that had not yet broken through to Tier 1. I'd almost killed myself, but the Lord Solomon facility near Edrona had been able to heal me.

I took a moment to steady myself on my feet, simultaneously drawing in as much of the mounds of essence surrounding the dragon as I could. My Soul felt like it would burst. It was similar to when I had eaten way too much food, but the essence stretched my entire body in every direction instead of just my gut.

There was still so much essence in the cave–it felt a shame to leave it all there. And then it struck me.

"Dex…?"

"Yes, Rayden?"

"Do you remember when you helped me Tier up while I wasn't meditating? During my duel with Cinthara?"

"Of course, Rayden. I do not forget things."

I hesitated, afraid to ask him to do what I wanted him to do. "Can you do it again? That way, I can take more of this essence that came from killing the dragon."

If I could Tier up even one more time, or even just level up within Tier 7, my core would cycle through the essence I'd just stored in my Soul and leave room for me to take in more.

"It will be painful, and your body is already weak from advancing three Tiers in 65 seconds."

It was worth the sacrifice. "Do it."

"I'm going to get my bag," I told Cinthara. "My knife is in it."

She nodded mindlessly, still hacking away at the dragon's bloody flesh.

I walked back to the entrance of the dragon's cave, where I'd hidden my satchel that held things like the knife I'd just bought to harvest monster parts and also Eira, my etherea pet still within her egg.

I safely procured the satchel from its hiding place and wrapped its strap around my shoulders. I peered around the wall and saw Cinthara still working on getting into the dragon the best she could by herself.

"All right, Dex," I said. "Do it now."