Scorching Ascension - [Progression Litrpg Apocalypse]

Ethan's claws smoothly carved out another chunk along the felling-cut of the burning mushroom-tree before he took a step back and called to Gerald. "Now!"

The man huffed and pushed, and it barely took a second for the soft crack to resound out of the giant mushroom. It careened down and slammed against the soft forest floor, then continued merrily burning in the clearing while Ethan moved back toward the last survivor of Lance's group. Barry. The healer.

Gerald was going to cut off every part of the mushroom that wasn't on fire, and the remains should burn out safely in the center of the clearing. They'd be watching it to make sure the fire didn't spread, but it should be fine. He saw Aaron come back with one of his students, a girl who raised a wand and began spraying the giant mushroom cap with a thin jet of water.

That looks like a useful spell.

He passed Audrey and Liz, who'd been watching the healer, and came to a stop a few feet away from the anxious mess. Barry fearfully glanced up at him, and Ethan raised a hand to forestall any further begging. Further away, the two still smoking corpses lay in a small ditch, but even though they couldn't be seen from his angle, the healer couldn't stop himself from looking back in their direction every few seconds.

He turned to Liz and Audrey. They were both grim. "Are you sure we can't take the healing spell from him?"

Audrey shook her head. "We tried. Doesn't seem like it's possible to remove a spell once it's in you. There might be something for it, but none of us know or have it."

Glancing around, Ethan noticed that Amelie was gone. The short battle might have disturbed her, which was… perfectly understandable. Right now she was checking on a couple of injured students. Apparently, out of around six wand users, none had gotten a healing spell.

Healing spells might not be that common… even if there are two right here now.

Ethan glared down at the healer. "What do you know?"

The man cringed. He moved his lips wordlessly a couple of times before clearing his throat and trying again. "Th—there are tunnels. Leading down. In most caverns."

Ethan waited, then began frowning when nearly ten seconds passed without man saying anything more. He kept looking fearfully around. Amelie—who had come back already and to Ethan's surprise, didn't seem as shaken up as he assumed—spoke up.

"Details. What's down there? How do you know? Etcetera."

The man startled once more. "I haven't been. I only heard Lance and… Robert. I heard them talking. The way down is at the center of these caves. High level monsters. Stronger lizardlings. There's someone they know. Knew. She's the one that started the camp before she left. Then Lance and Robert took over after the one she had left to watch over the camp… had an accident. She could move discreetly, I heard. That's all I know. If there's an exit, it's probably down there."

Ethan felt a thrum of excitement run through him, and he embraced the distraction from the grim mood. Stronger monsters and lizardlings? He liked the thought of that. He didn't believe there was still too big of a challenge in this area and well, higher levels meant higher harvest of fragments. "How high are the levels?"

"Thirty and higher. I heard forties and fifties, even."

Both the coach and Liz cursed at that, while Ethan couldn't help the grin that stretched across his lips. Gerald had a worried frown on his face, while Audrey had both eyebrows raised in surprise, but she didn't look scared.

Amelie had a wide-eyed smile that Ethan found a little disturbing, though he was very aware he wasn't one to talk.

Ethan glanced around to see the others mumble and talk between themselves, discussing the dangers that waited for them below. Only Amelie didn't partake. She shared a look with him, aware of what was not being said, and looked past him at the remaining individual.

He was part of the problem. Though he might have also been a coward. He could be a liability, or he could save people with his healing.

The weight of Lance and Robert's guilt made it a lot easier to deal with them. Their arrogance and their malicious tendencies helped as well, but the disheveled trembling man in front of him made his arms feel heavy. In this man's case, Ethan didn't feel like he knew enough about him to take the final step.

Ethan turned to Liz and her team. They talked until Amelie elbowed her sister, who stopped and looked back to Ethan.

He finally asked the question most were probably thinking. "What do you all know of this guy? What do we do about him?"

***

In the end, Barry was complicit by being a coward. He apparently hadn't abused his power, mostly following the other two at their orders, but he also could have grown a spine and done something about what was happening around him.

The fact that he hadn't was a problem. Was it enough for Ethan to kill him and not lose sleep over it? No. It wasn't. And he wasn't alone in that.

"We'll remember your face," said Amelie, towering over the kneeling man. She pushed her the point of a metallic, smooth wand against his forehead, making him recoil. "We'll remember your name. If you survive and when this is all over."

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Audrey continued. "Go heal people who need help in camp. If they'll let you. We'll come and check if you do."

Ethan stared down at the wide-eyed man. "Make yourself useful. If people aren't singing your praise when we come to check, you're done. Got it?"

Barry nodded fearfully. Slowly, trembling, he got up and then took a step away. Still staring at them wide-eyed. When he wasn't vaporized, he picked up the pace, then soon began sprinting and quickly disappeared in the brush.

Ethan glanced toward the shallow ditch in which the two corpses were laying, then at the golden dust emanating from the shield and bow still resting where they had fallen. Turning to Gerald, who'd been standing nearby, he nodded. "Take Lance's fragment, Gerald. He got you in the stomach. I'll take the other one."

Gerald gave him a surprised look, then nodded.

With the unpleasant encounter out of the way, Ethan and the two groups walked in silence for a while. A few were pale, clearly shaken, especially the coach and a few of his students. But the rest were growing familiar with the new world. As for why the coach followed, even though he was wary, it was because Ethan had told them about the pond and the pretty large lizardling cave nearby. If they could manage to clean it up, it'd be a good defensible spot for them and as soon as it came into view, they left pretty quickly.

It looked like they couldn't wait to get away from him, but he didn't mind that. He didn't get looks from all of them, of course, but it was fine. Ethan didn't mind doing the dirty work if it meant no one would have to take an arrow from Lance. Or be shot through the head by a random stranger as they were to turn a corner.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he pulled his notification for a second before dismissing them.

You have defeated [Human - Level 23]

You have defeated [Human - Level 21]

Prime Arcanum: 37 fragments collected.

With Aaron and his people gone, Ethan and Liz's group made their way toward the center of the current cave. The four were clearly on edge, eyes peeled for monsters, but they didn't look scared. There was some steeliness in their movements. Even a bit of greed, he believed, and he could understand that.

With him around, they could afford some risk to catchup without actually putting themselves in mortal peril. As for him, well, he could definitely use a fallback and some company whenever he needed them. To have a meal and chat. Maybe even take a nap. Eventually. When he'd get tired. For now, he had plenty of lizardlings, toads, and monitors to kill before he'd need rest. Especially with two Arcanums requiring his hard earned fragments.

After a few minutes of tense walking, Liz finally broke the silence. "Do you guys think someone will come after us for… you know. Lance? Like the person who found the tunnels we're looking for?"

Ethan glanced at her for a second, then shrugged. "Probably not. If we trust what Barry had said, Lance wasn't the one she had put in charge. Lance took over. By force, probably. So I bet we've done her a favor."

"What if… she still takes it personally? I'm not sure how this new world's going to work, but it seems like there will be a lot of… posturing involved, when it comes to power. Political or literal, I guess," Audrey mused. She had dismissed her tower shield, but Ethan noted how her head was on a swivel, continuously scanning the brush and their surroundings for any danger.

It was an interesting question. Ethan wasn't sure as obviously the dust has not settled on their changing reality, but he had to admit, quite a few things would be different.

Did he care about it that much, though?

Ethan shrugged. "Not much I can do about how she'd react, and if it's negative, then so be it. I don't plan on resting on my laurels anyway. Either she would make for a good challenge, or we might get along. I've got more to worry about than people with potential grudges."

Gerald grunted. "I agree. I think we should do the same. Get stronger. I think it's going to be jungle out there, just like it's in here, and we better be ready."

Liz peered over her shoulder, then nodded as well, crossbow still in hand. "Yeah. I've been thinking the same."

Ethan eyed the crossbow for a second. No bolt was primed, which he assumed was a safe habit to get into. She seemed a bit different from the first time he'd met her. More focused and less nervous.

She turned to him, her eyes bright. "What are you planning? Do you need backup? I know we're still low-level, but we can help watch your back."

Amelie grinned and was about to say something when she caught an elbow from her sister. "Stop that," she said as she rubbed her side and glared up at her sister while Gerald just sighed, then froze when he felt her turn toward him.

Ethan chuckled. It hadn't been long since this had all started, but between dealing with monsters and the likes, he had missed these sorts of dynamics. It reminded him of the camaraderie in the gym. But of course, it wasn't that simple.

"I don't mind it. I was going to propose it anyway. But I intend on heading down, so it might be best if you guys lag behind for now, at least until you catchup. I would be the vanguard and scout ahead, and I'd keep an eye while you have big fights. When I need a break, I'll just come back and take my breaks here."

At this point, they were a bit too weak to help in anything above level 30. They'd be in actual danger. But if they could play their cards carefully and hunt everything in the area, they could level fast and then they could join him in his forays below. Thankfully, no one took offense at his words, and the four looked at each other and nodded.

They looked a bit more motivated to him.

"Fair enough. Hey, is anybody else hungry? I've had nothing but a dusty granola bar I had to trade for," Amelie chimed in, wand twirling atop her finger as she peered around, as if looking for anything edible..

Ethan grinned. "Have you guys had monitor tail yet?"

The wand stopped twirling, and Ethan almost took a step back from the intense, unblinking eyes that fell on him, as all four nearly lunged to shake the information out of him. Amelie coughed in her hand and smiled. "Tell us more."