Scorching Ascension - [Progression Litrpg Apocalypse]

The fireball detonated with a powerful blast, filling his vision with fire as he closed in on the little warband ahead of him, but as the flames parted, Ethan saw the cracked, opaque panel of blue light and quickly knew this fight was going to be a bit more challenging than expected. But he didn't stop, and as barrier dissipated, two warrior came running at him, screeching, so Ethan lunged forward to meet them.

The first lizardling wound its arm back, dagger glinting in the half-darkness of the underbrush, and Ethan moved. The orange flames around his arm were reflected for a fraction of a second in the creature's eyes right before he tore its throat open, sending smoking blood on the second's shocked face right before Ethan drowned the both of them in car-sized gout of scorching flames.

He had a longer reach, and it seemed like these lizardlings might not have had to fight humans in close range just yet.

The lizardling still alive howled in pain as the flames cooked it alive and Ethan could already tell the temperature was rising dangerously in the little corner of the forest, but he couldn't dwell on that as he heard a familiar twang, so he jumped to the side, and an arrow flew past him as he cast another fireball in the group's general direction before he looked forward.

The archer had posted itself a bit to the left, and as it waited for another arrow to appear, the new fireball detonated near it right as the barrier was coming up. The archer recoiled as gout of flames got to it, singing its scakes, but the barrier still caught most of the blaze.

He still noticed it barely came up on time, and to his surprise, the archer was now being healed, by the same heavily decorated lizardling who'd summoned the barriers.

Barriers and heals. And it's the highest level, too, Ethan thought as he circled. It was at level 32, and it wasn't the only one above 30. There was one more. A warrior, still staying back. Most likely the bodyguard of the mage. But no matter. They would all go down.

Ethan waited for the fireball to be ready once more, and the instant it was, he extended a claw sent it toward the caster. This time, it didn't manage another barrier in time, shouting as it scrambled back, confirming the barrier needed more time to be re-cast than his fireball.

Ethan grinned as he watched the warrior intervene. It was only a matter of time before he got them with a good one. One good fireball, and they would be toast.

With the caster backing away in alarm, the warrior jumped forward, summoning a round, glowing shield that it raised to receive the fireball. The orange orb hit the shield with a soft click, and the next thing Ethan saw was the fireball heading back to him.

Shit!

Ethan bolted to the side, unwilling to be anywhere near the explosion right as another arrow flew at him. With a hasty wave, flames billowed out of his left hand to catch the projectile, only for the damn thing to curve around the improvised barrier and only missed him because he dropped in a roll at the last moment, which was when the fireball detonated.

Ethan stood back up, panting as dust and soil rained down around him. He quickly found the lizardlings, and realized he was smiling, at which point a chuckle escaped his lips.

This was a good challenge.

Ethan itched to grab his dagger and mark the lizardlings, but he needed to thin them out a bit first. The archer, the caster and the shield-bearer were all threats, each with their own weaknesses, but they covered for each other pretty well.

Focus on just one. But close the distance first, Ethan thought to himself, sending another distracting fireball which he expected to be blocked before he broke into a run.

The fireball flew toward the caster, bathing the clearing in its eerie orange light as Ethan ran after it. Already, he could see the caster wave, summoning the barrier once more, but the warrior didn't budge and instead, waited for him to get close.

Ethan leaped into a kick, his foot slamming on the round shield with a loud gong that sent the warrior skidding, but before he could capitalize on it, a sharp pain in his shoulder reminded him of the third lizardling still in the fight. It barely cut through his skin, but it still stung.

Glaring at the shield-bearer and waiting for another fireball to be ready, Ethan raised both arms.

"Reflect this, you little shit."

Instead of the focusing the flames and narrowing them down to welding-torch like stream, Ethan made the flames go wide and turn, aiming to engulf the shield-bearer fully within his fire and it turned that the lizardlings could reflect his raw flames, but it was only a small portion and it did nothing to the remaining flood of scorching flames Ethan was producing. While his 'orb' wasn't perfect, it was doing the job just fine as he heard the agonizing screech but he soon had to stop as already, he was muted ache twinge deep within his chest, and from the corner of his eye, he could see the archer line up another shot.

If he kept this up, he was going to be mana-exhausted again in no time. He had to finish this fast. He didn't want to be forced into another break so soon

Ethan cut off the flames and moved to the right, only a couple of seconds before the ding of a notification reached his mind.

Standing still, he waited for the arrow to shoot out before he dodge, and he answered with another lobbed fireball that crashed against another barrier, but this time, he was keeping count. Ethan closed the distance toward the archer once more, hoping he'd be able to end this with only a couple more, and as soon as [Small Fireball] was ready to be cast again, he sent it at the caster and this time, it worked.

The caster scrambled away in a hasty dodge, while the archer was rebuffed by the expanding heat and flames and as it looked up an aimed, a lance drove through its chest before detonating, scattering blood and viscera on the forest floor.

A second notification came through, but Ethan ignored as he turned his attention to the last remaining lizardlings and sprinted for a few steps before he jumped and stabbed down at the still-dazed healer, red glyphs shining across the length of the lance.

A panel of light appeared, catching the lance head, but Ethan just had to trigger the explosion to shatter it as if it had been made of sugar-glass, tearing a yelp out of the cowering lizardling. It pointed its bone-wand at him, but it was too late. Ethan shoved, breaking what remaining out of the barrier, and tore a hole into the creature's chest.

The lizardling fell to its knees, choking on its own blood but after a couple of seconds, Ethan frowned. There had been no ping, even though he must have gotten its heart, and a beat later, green light began emanating out of the lizardling's throat as it tried to push the lance out of its torso. So Ethan dismissed the lance and pointed both claws out, but paused.

Right, he thought as he reached toward his belt.

With a lunge forward, Ethan shoved the dagger in the lizardling's throat and dragged, tearing its throat open before he pointed with an arm and engulfed the still healing creature in fire, lighting up the space. A second later, a ping rang through his mind.

You have defeated [Lizardling - Level 27]

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…

You have defeated [Lizardling (I) - Level 32]

You have reached Level 34. 1 stat point awarded.

Ethan eyed the pulsing blue light in the dead healer's throat, and sighed disappointedly when nothing showed up. No spellcores. No primagems. But Ethan couldn't be too sad considering the haul of fragments.

With this encounter done, he was ready to unlock the second form.

***

As he climbed up the steep cliff and stepped back into the cover of the tunnel, Ethan still felt a bit iffy about channeling all the new fragments into the Prime Arcanum, but he'd set himself a goal. He needed to unlock all three forms before he could focus on something else, and the sooner he did, the quicker he could turn his attention to other matters. With that in mind, he pulled up his Prime Arcanum's screen and checked his total.

Prime Arcanum of the Juggernaut - Activation in progress (1/3):

Spells: None

Spellforms: None

Prime forms: [Lance of the Juggernaut]

Traits: [Universal Tongue, Enduring Brawler, Child of Flames]

Tier: 1

Spell Capacity: 0

Spellform Capacity: 0

Form Bonus [10%]: [Lance of the Juggernaut: +10% to Might, +10% to Mana]

Essence: 7

Fragments: 377

Available upgrades

Prime form - Wand of the Juggernaut: Summon a classic wand to quickly cast spells. Spells cast can be empowered to suppress magic and foreign spells in their path - 200 fragments

Prime form - Horns of the Juggernaut: Summon formidable horns that empower your magic. Additionally, when charging toward your quarry, your Might and Toughness are greatly empowered. Form Bonus: Spirit, Toughness - 200 fragments

Ethan quickly noted how essence had gone up to 7, even though he'd used the explosive ability of the lance a couple of time.

"I guess rushing headlong into fights does work," he mumbled to himself. Ember had been right. Or at least, his interpretation of her semi-cryptic response had been.

Ethan smiled and shook his head. Even his bad habits were becoming an advantage.

Taking a seat on the ground and making sure he wasn't about to squish any of the glowing moss and mushrooms that lined the walls, Ethan dismissed his claws, then confirmed the second form's upgrade.

I'll do this, then take a short break before I get back out there.

It really did seem like something was going on in the area. The giant fungal biome was like a kicked anthill, boiling with activity and fights. That was good for him, as it meant plenty of targets and challenges, but he would still like to figure out what was going on, just in case it had anything to do with the main quest.

But those were worries for another time. For now, it was time to unlock the second juggernaut-themed ability of the Prime Arcanum and as he eyed the description, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"I've been charging in like a bull, lately. Now I'm getting the horns to complete the look."

Ethan confirmed the Enhancer selection and sat still. Magic appeared out of the ether and slowly revolved around him, soon followed by a cloud of golden flecks that reminded him of the fragments he collected. They swirled and blended around him for a few seconds, then sunk into his chest.

The magic spread through his limbs, reinforcing his flesh, and then it seemed like it began flowing upward. Through his chest, neck, and they only stopped near his forehead.

Ethan grinned, and his smile turned into a chuckle that echoed through the blue-lit tunnel. With a flex of will, a pair of horns materialized at his forehead, just above the hairline. They jutted forward and upward for an inch before curving back. Ethan ran his hand along their rough texture and found that they swept backward, only curving upward again near the tips.

"Damn. I really want to see them."

He wished he had a mirror to see how they looked, but suffice it to say, he was very happy with this improvement and without further ado, he assigned the new point he had to Might before he loaded his stat sheet and checked the effect of the bonus of this new form.

Name: Ethan Voss

Level 34

Might: 18 (15)

Toughness: 25 (23)

Spirit: 15 (14)

Mana: 15 (14)

Ethan loved seeing the free bonus points he was getting, and pretty soon, the third form would be unlocked, then he could get on increasing the spellform limits and get even more bonuses.

"Let's see the effect of the horns, then."

Still hidden within the confines of the tunnel, Ethan summoned his claws. They did seem slightly larger, and the claws did seem like they've gained half an inch or so, but as he ignited them, he realized that hadn't been where the new empowering effect lay.

It wasn't in the spellforms. Not in any way he could see just yet anyway. But the flames were a whole other matter. With the least amount of effort, they bellowed out, instantly burning the moss above him and wilting those around him and immediately, he had to turn them off.

Ethan stood there, shockingly staring down at the charcoal-like skin and at the red, glowing cracks, and a wide smile drew itself on his lips as he stepped closer to the exit, and as smoke drifted out of the cave after him, Ethan eyed the flashing lights of the biome and had to hold himself from going down there right this second.

"30 minutes. Then I get down there and let loose."

Stepped back in, he hoped he'd soon find something to counter mana-exhaustion. It was definitely becoming an issue.