Scorching Ascension - [Progression Litrpg Apocalypse]

The man stood up as he studied Ethan. Ethan studied him back, and the first thing his eyes picked up was the man's bare feet.

Where are his shoes? I'm not one to talk, but that can't be comfortable.

The stranger wore a black t-shirt with a popular metal band's logo on it. Baggy jeans that may have been intentionally made into shorts, if Ethan was to go on with the rough and uneven tears. A bright smile stretched across the man's deep olive skin as he rubbed his shaved head with a hand.

"You must be the one who took the crown for a minute, huh? What's your name, dude? I'm Diego."

He seemed pleasant. Ethan wasn't about to drop his guard, but he wasn't getting any unsettling or uneasy energy from the man.

"Ethan. And yeah, I had it for a couple of hours before it was gone. Did you take it back?"

Diego chuckled and shrugged. "Nope! I thought I would have had it back by now, but it looks like someone else took the lead."

A small silence fell around them as Ethan took in the clearing. Much like the others, it had the some fungus-like trees, the same bushes of glowing purple and blue moss, and a soft loamy soil that had gone muddy in the areas hit by the monitor's water-jets.

Turning his attention back to Diego, Ethan wasn't sure what to make of him. He seemed friendly enough, but quite a few people had snapped every since this started. Were things about to get violent, or could he just move on with his day and go find the others?

The man rubbed his chin for a second, then a smile crept on his lips. "So. Wanna spar?"

Ethan blinked, and a matching smile showed in his face. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious about the man's abilities. A cursory glance showed him nothing aside that he might be a hand-to-hand fighter as well. He had well defined and wide shoulders, pretty toned forearms and Ethan couldn't see much aside from the man's own clothes.

I kinda want to see how I fare against the previous champion, Ethan though, wondering what the man might have picked from the highest level hidden quest. He could see no daggers or pouches, and it didn't seem like he'd gotten a change of clothes.

Maybe we don't get all offered the same thing? Maybe Amanda had figured some other way to get her own Harvester's dagger?

Ethan pushed the musings to the side and rolled his shoulders, nodding to the waiting man. "Sure."

A few yards away, Diego's smile widened as Ethan reeled his enthusiasm back a bit and considered a couple of things. First, he'd have to be ready for low blows and attempts on his life, just in case he was misreading the man. Second, he was also close to mana exhaustion, so he couldn't keep the fight going for long, while the man seemed to have been resting. While [Mana Heart] was helping, he shouldn't let a spar lengthen the rest he'd end up needing.

Then again, I could use this opportunity to work on my spells a bit. Push them toward the next evolution.

He just ha to keep an eye out just in case the man wasn't as friendly as he seemed. Ethan's brows twitched at the uncertainty. He didn't like overthinking things, so he just went with the straight path through and said what was on his mind. He should be able to assess the man's personality a little more that way.

"Are going to use the spar to try and kill me?"

The man's eyes widened in shock, and then he burst out laughing. "What?! No! What kind of crazy question is that?"

Ethan stared for a second. This man was either the most genuine person he'd ever met, or he was an amazing actor. Ethan's face cracked into an apologetic smile. "There are some weird people out there. You never know, I guess."

The man shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Nah, man. It's just a spar and you don't have to. I know what you're talking about, though. Had some weird people try and pick fights or get me to join their weird-ass plans, but they moved on pretty fast once I told them to fuck off. Crazy how fast they backed up once they saw the levels."

He gave him a wide grin, and Ethan had to agree. The sense of freedom was pretty addicting.

"Alright, sure. Let's do a minute. Magic?"

The man clapped, eyes shining. "Yes! I knew you were fun. Yes, to magic, but let's keep away from the dangerous shit. Deal?"

"Deal. Weapons?"

"Just these," said Diego as he raised his fist and a knee, a cheeky smile on his lips.

"Prime forms?"

"Nah. Let's keep it simple."

Ethan nodded and began taking off his shoes. "Fair enough. By the way, was one of the weird people you met someone named Amanda? Has moth-wings and can go invisible?"

For the first time, a dangerous look entered the man's eyes, and he clicked his tongue. "Yeah. Got some weird vibes from her. Reminded me of those scummy corpos that'd sell you down the river for a dollar. I'm not interested in that stuff, man. I just want to win this thing and find my family."

Ethan nodded knowingly. While he might have not gotten as a severe reaction from Amanda, he didn't have the conviction to deny it either. As for the latter part, he could empathize.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Without a word, Ethan summoned his [Claws] first, keeping the talons the shortest he could make them, quickly followed by the [Reptilian Scales] and felt them spread out of his chest, down to his arms and feet. When they tried inching up his face, he stopped them at the neck while the man's eyes went wide.

Diego began walking around Ethan in the small clearing, jaw hanging as he marveled at the rust-red scales. "Dude… that's awesome! It's defensive, right? Man… I was offered the scales but I passed on them. Now I gotta pick them up next time."

Diego came to a stop and did a couple of arm stretches. "Alright, let me show you why I'm the goat," he said, eyes dancing mirthfully. One moment the man was standing casually, and the next his began growing taller. Diego's legs grew thicker. The thighs and shins lengthened, while the knees bent slightly. Coarse brown and white fur grew thickly to cover his lower limbs, which ended in a pair of thick hooves.

The man gave him a shit-eating grin, brows raised. "The goat. Get it?"

Ethan tried to not smile at the crappy joke, but the man's mood was infectious. Ethan chuckled as both took a few steps back, until they came to a nice distance. "Ready?" called out Diego from fifteen feet away.

"Ready!"

Ethan barely finished sounding the last letter when Diego launched off the ground. The goat-legged man crossed the fifteen feet in a single bound, gauntleted arm wound back, and Ethan instantly thought he didn't want to take a hit with that much momentum behind it.

But something in him objected.

He was walking a path of a juggernaut. And while there was a time and a place to dodge and deflect, this wasn't one. His opponent came to meet him head-on, and Ethan wasn't running from that.

Ethan put his arms up and braced himself, a crazed look in his eyes as he bared his teeth, right as the metal-studded fist came crashing down.

Their eyes met, and both of them had wide-eyed grins.

The metal fist cracked into his scales like a battering ram. It was like an explosion went off against his forearms. His bones groaned and shook from the impact, and his scaled feet slid against the soft and muddy ground, but he didn't fall. And he didn't buckle.

Ahead of him, Diego shook his right hand, a look of shocked surprise on his face. "Hot damn. You're sturdy! How high's your Toughness?"

Ethan refrained from showing how sore his forearms felt as he grinned back at the man. They were pulsing with pain, but the scales had held up pretty damn well against the impact. The defensive nature with the spellform, coupled with his thirty points in Toughness made it his arms hadn't been shattered like twigs and in fact, the pain was already fading.

He hadn't even used [Child of Flames].

Ethan cracked his neck and smiled. "What's up with the gauntlets, Diego? I didn't think there were going to be gauntlets. You won't complain if I use a little bit of fire, will you?"

Diego barked out a laugh. "My cestus? It's part of the getup and sure, go with some fire. But watch for the clothes!" the man said as he jumped and twirled in the air, and a dangerously large and fast hoof came at Ethan's unprotected face. But he was already moving.

Ethan lunged forward to intercept, and the hoof cracked onto his blazing, fire-wreathed forearms. The impact was painful, but not as painful as it would have been if Ethan had given Diego the space to fully extend his leg. Before the man could react, Ethan kicked at the remaining foot.

Diego instantly saw what Ethan was going for and launched himself backward, and Ethan ended up kicking nothing.

"Damn dude. What the hell?" asked Diego as he landed gracefully on his hoofed, furry legs before he dismissed them. "And I thought I could hit hard."

Ethan raised a brow at the man's bare legs, lowering his guard before he massaged the arm that had taken most of the hoof's impact. "That's it?"

Diego began doing stretches, face flush and eyes shining. "While I'd love to continue, yeah, prolly better to call it. You take this one. Plus, I can't be wasting my energy right before I head back down there. But we should do this again! And if there's a big bad boss down there, maybe we'll team up. After I try to solo-it, of course."

Ethan chuckled and shook the man's head, and after a couple of minutes of chatting, the two said their goodbyes and wished each other luck, then Ethan headed back to his allies after taking a couple of minutes to locate himself.

***

Savannah's POV

Savannah stood over the rumbling, bleeding demon summoned by the primitive reptiles, and stomped her bare foot through its eye socket. The bone crunched. The horn twisted, and the brains of the creature splattered around her, some landing on her cheek as she stared down blankly. She barely felt it. Her face was already caked with dirt and blood.

You have defeated [Fire Drake (I) - Level 53]

The creature's soul coalesced around the mark her Prime dagger had left in its throat, and Savannah grabbed for the nebulous ball of light of raw power. Mechanically, she lifted it, then pushed it into the dim lurid green crystal set in the center of her chest.

The organ pulsed with a green, vibrant light, and Savannah felt the power course through her. Joining the strength of the rest. She lowered her hand, and she felt something brush against her palm again.

She looked down and saw her badge. It had her name on it.

Savannah vacantly stared at it for a second, before her sight drifted away and down to the dagger in her hand.

The Path of the Redeemed Soul. A dagger to mark them. A heart-gem to host them and offer her their strength, and a wand to leverage the power at her disposal and to bring down her enemies.

Starting with the lizardlings. All of them. And all those who hadn't helped.

Her body screamed with fatigue. With pain. If she sat down, she might never get back up. So she didn't. She trudged to the pink backpack at the cave's entrance, steps slow and shuffling. She gently checked it for damage or spillage. When everything looked fine, she put it on her back, and walked out of the blood-soaked cave. To find more of the lizardlings and the demons they were summoning.

In the back of her mind, she could see some logic to what the creatures were doing. In their gibberish, she thought she heard something about the ever-rising number of water monitors. But she didn't care. She couldn't bring herself to care.

She only cared about the lizardlings and their summons, and the quests that gave her the tools to quench the gnawing hole in her chest before she could finally lay down and rest.