Scorching Ascension - [Progression Litrpg Apocalypse]

Ethan trudged toward the starting area, eyes peeled for any movements or any campfires he could perceive. He was a bit lost, so he figured finding the starting area and working his way from there would work best. He tried to sense Ember, thinking it might be possible through their pact, but if it were, he'd have to do more testing because he got nothing.

Still, he kept the scales on and his [Mana Heart] pumping. His pants were on, the dagger comfortably set on his belt, which he ended up using a couple of times, having encountered a couple of sub-thirty water monitors that quickly fell to an improvised gout of fire.

He hadn't been expecting much from the dagger, considering its disappointing showing back in the cave below, but something new happened.

As the blue light pulsed around the monitor's ruined eye, a strand of smoke-like blue thread drifted out of the wound, materializing just past the scales. It began folding up on itself, twisting, pulling more of itself out of the corpse and then it brusquely shrunk with a flash of light, almost as if it had imploded, and a fingernail-sized stone clinked against the scales and fell to the ground.

Ethan lunged forward to catch the object, afraid it would be lost in the mud and growth of the underbrush, but there was no risk of that. The stone kept emanating a soft blue glow, and it was frankly impossible to miss.

It was like a tiny blue-gem. It felt wet and cold against his fingertips, as if it was made of solid water. Not ice. It wasn't that cold. But the tactile sensation wasn't too far off.

Assimilate [Primagem of Water (low-grade)]

"Whaaat? This is a primagem?"

Ethan looked down at the small crystalline bead and recalled what Ember had said. She had not listed all of their uses but he recalled they could be used to improve the options offered for spell evolutions. They could also be traded, though he wasn't super worried about that for now.

He rolled the gem for a few seconds in his hand, then accepted the prompt. The primagem slowly floated into his chest and disappeared, flowing into him like a breeze, and as Ethan eyed his interface for changes, he found a new line under his library of spells.

Primagems:

Low-grade: 1 Water

Ethan grinned. Just like that, the dagger redeemed itself. While he'd been happy enough with it providing him with the tier-2 [Breath Gland], this primagem vindicated his choice even more.

It was a good thing he hadn't selected the fire primagem back then. While that specific element might have been a little more useful to him, he was sure he'd be able to get a use out of this drop and well, the dagger was just fine. It might soon become a little awkward to carry it around when his pants would be gone, but he'll figure something for that when he'd get there.

Ethan quickly collected the fragments into Lesser Arcanum, cut off a good portion of the monitor's tail and roasted it as he walked through the biomes until finally, around ten minutes later, he saw the familiar lights of a campfire a bit closer to the cave walls.

He washed his hands from the grease in a nearby stream, then approached, unsure of who he was about to find, when a familiar voice called out from above.

"I see you figured out a solution for your clothing problem," Liz said, sitting atop a smaller mushroom tree. Ethan looked up and grinned, then was alarmed as she saw her slip off the edge before he realized it had been on a purpose, and that she'd probably be fine.

A thirty feet drop was probably not as fatal as it used to be, he thought as Liz landed with a grunt, her feet sinking a little in the soft soil below her. Her clothes were in a rougher shape, with a nasty tear around her right knee, and when he saw her face, he thought he'd noticed some redness around her eyes. Ethan filed that for later and refrained from commenting. Instead, he returned the smile and tapped the clothes wrapped under his left arm. "Less chance to burn these. Or like, what remained of them."

Liz gave her own clothes a look down then poked one of his shoulder scales. "I see that. Might have to look into it myself," she added, tone thoughtful before they began walking the remaining way toward the camp. "How was it down there? Did you finish what you set out to do?"

"Yup. Prime Arcanum is fully active. It's worth it."

Ethan quickly told her a bit about his encounters. Talking with Amanda, sparring with Diego, as well as the oddly numerous monitors down below, and as they exchanged pleasantries, he picked up on the subdued mood a little more. It wasn't very noticeable, but Ethan had had to tiptoe a lot in his early life. Foster homes could do that to a person, so he was seeing the signs.

It didn't seem like hostility. Just fatigue. Weariness. Stealing a couple more looks, he began suspecting the cause. Now that the rush and stress of the first couple of days had passed, and now that people were getting used what was happening around them, it began to sink in, emotionally.

Like, really sink in. That the old world was over. That the sense of security most had enjoyed for the longest time, was gone.

Ethan still didn't bring anything up. He wanted to see how the others were doing first, but he wasn't about to let them mope around if this mood had spread out.

They arrived in front of the campfire, and when Liz saw him glancing around the new camp, she added. "We had to move. Too many water monitors. Both living and dead."

Ethan nodded, recalling the tunnel he had to collapse. "I don't know how bad it has gotten up here, but… yeah. It's literally swarming with them down below. Had to collapse a tunnel behind me so they wouldn't follow me up."

Liz sighed, and her shoulders drooped as she sat down on one of the white, square logs. "Oh. Of course."

As Ethan sat down, curiously poky the soft texture of the log, Audrey came behind her and gave her a firm pat on the back of the shoulder that made the mechanic stumble forward. "We might get to thirty tomorrow, then. About time."

At that point, everyone else showed up. Gerald had been resting, but you couldn't tell from the dark circles under his eyes, while Amelie seemed in an alright mood, if not a bit tense. Her face was flushed, eyes bright. She was still panting and from the blood over her hands, and considering the dagger in her hand, it seemed she'd been doing some fighting.

From close range?

Ethan recalled her fighting from a distance. But it seemed she'd been trying some new things. Which was unfortunate for her clothes. She stood a few feet away, gave his scales a once over, then nodded appreciatively. "Nice. I need to get some of those as well."

Audrey grabbed her sister by the shoulder, then turned her toward the stream Ethan had just used to wash his hands. "Wash you hands, and come eat."

Ethan smiled at that. He watched as Audrey bossed the others, ordering them to eat and drink some water which they must have fetched from one of the nearby springs, and as he searched around for Ember, he was quick to find her. She laying down on a boulder, yawning. She flicked her ears at him, then without a word, went back to sleep.

Ethan shook his head. Classic cat behavior.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

***

Main Quest: Gain access to the tutorial's exit within 5 days, 11 hours, and 41 minutes.

Reward: 1 tier-0 lesser Arcanum.

As they ate more of the salt-less roasted meat of the monitors, Ethan filled in the group with his recent discoveries. He told them about the Prime Arcanum and what they should expect, but he still kept some details to himself about the details of the Prime forms. Even though he checked his surroundings with [Detect Life], he felt instinctively that such information should maybe not be shared as openly as this. It wasn't a big secret per se, but it wasn't something he needed to speak of in details either and in any case, they'd gotten the idea, and they were all already speculating about what their own forms might be.

While he recounted his encounters, Ember had come closer and requested a meal, which he obliged. The team now knew about Amanda and her vague plans, about Diego, and about the ever-increasing number of water monitors.

"I thought the 600 fragments will take a minute to accumulate, but with how many of the damn things are around we might knock it out in a day or so," Liz said after a moment. The food and conversation had energized her a bit.

"Their levels are increasing fast, though, and so are the lizardlings. Not many had gotten up here, but if we don't keep up…" Gerald said, lips drawn into a line as he stared pensively into the fire, a frown on his face.

"We just have to keep going. And we have to find the higher leveled ones more consistently. Every other monitor we're facing is in its level 20s, and while those are safe fights for us to take individually, they're not doing much for us at this point. I think its time to head down with Ethan. Find something isolated, down it, and move on to the next. We stay near the tunnels and we rest when we can," Audrey said, addressing Gerald's concerns. "We can do it. The more we level, the easier it will get," she added encouragingly.

They all nodded, and after she finished stifling a yawn, Amelie spoke up. "We should also look into spellforms a little more. Something like that [Mana Heart] would be a game-changer. I sure know what I'm doing with the next token I get my hands on. As for the fights below, yeah. I think it's time we push ourselves a little more."

The others nodded at that, mostly resolve showing on their features, though all but Amelie seemed to have a little bit of tension to their shoulders.

"Well, you guys are doing well, and it should all get better once you get a few spellforms under your belts. The bonuses for both are pretty great, and they add up," he said, sticking another log of the hardy mushroom stem into the fire. Thought they were all showing some signs of stress, they were faring decently well and once they started working on the lower biome, their levels should sky-rocket.

Ethan was looking forward to seeing their new abilities.

I could work with them on this. There's plenty of water monitors down there for us all. All of them have passed the twenty-five mark thanks to the increased number of monsters and soon they'll hit thirty. It might take them a minute to get through the path stuff, but once they do, they'll start leveling faster.

Ethan considered offering, but they were all still resting anyway, so there was no rush. He'd bring it up once they were all a bit more rested, and if they weren't ready to dive down with him, then so be it. He would do fine either way. But he wouldn't mind knowing a bit more about what he was dealing with, and there someone among them who might have had an idea. Ethan glanced down at the cat he was feeding.

"Do you know what's going on with the lizards? Why are there that many of them?"

Everybody else looked down at the cat as it chomped into Ethan's flames and when it was clear it had no intent to answer, he cut her off.

Ember yowled softly in the back of her throat, then sighed. "[A wild rift. Probably.]"

Ethan frowned, but he still relayed the information to the others first. Amelie blinked and tilted her head. "What's that?"

Ember was back to munching, and he considered cutting her off again but right as he was about to, she stopped by her own volition. The Ignisra sat on her haunches, licking her paw before she wiped her own face before finally answering.

"[A small world connected to this one through a tear. A rift. They happen pretty often. It is… like how clouds can create rain and storms. Mana creates rifts. At least, it connects them, then they keep growing, and if they're not quelled, they start spilling their content out in the larger world.]"

Ethan relayed the information, but he never looked away from the cat. While they hadn't really addressed much of it, this confirmed that Ember had lived a life elsewhere—she hadn't just been born in the ritual. Sure, the fact that she'd known about primagems and spell evolutions suggested the same, but those might have been instincts of some sort. Each of those things might have been a coincidence, but all three? That made him certain she had a past. Maybe it was time to start asking some questions—like how old was she? How had she ended up in this place? What were her long-term goals, and why was she so… okay with what had happened to her?

"[I don't want to answer all of those. I'm sleepy. Pick one.]"

Ethan blinked. Right. She could hear him. Through his thoughts. Pushing aside the concerns of such a connection, he sent back a question, but he didn't speak it. Instead, he focused on the link he could feel connecting him to the Ignisra and thought his question at it.

"[Two questions. How come you showed up, and where did you come from? It didn't look like those lizardlings were too happy to see you.]"

Ember looked up at him and flicked her ears in annoyance, but she still answered. "[We were hunting. The magic tried to catch the fat drake we just killed, but it was bleeding out, and it died before the teleporting magic could get a hold of it, so it picked me. I come from… far away. Far from the human worlds. And when it comes to this new System-stuff, I'm as new to it as you are. That's why I'm not worried about what is happening. This is… entertaining. To me.]"

Ethan was shocked for a moment at the mention of other human worlds, but he still relayed some of the tidbits he'd just learned. The four listened, enraptured, and to be frank, so was he.

Other worlds and a new System? What was even happening out there?

Liz let out a sigh as she cupped her face. "I wish… all of this had come with a guidebook or something. Like, even a pamphlet. 'Here's What's Going On And Here's What You Need to Know About It'," Liz said, pointing to the imaginary title before she dropped her arm and sighed, then threw a piece of bone into the fire. "This sucks. When I get a new apprentice, I don't just give them the toolbox and point them at a car. You can't just throw someone off the deep end and expect them to do well. Some might, but that doesn't work for everyone. I'm sure some will get through it, but I know for a fact that many won't. So many will die just because this System couldn't spare the time or effort for a slower onboarding. Or a safer tutorial. It just feel so… wasteful."

They all nodded at that, and Ethan wondered how many would fall to these tutorials. He was doing well himself, and other people like Diego were thriving just as well, but he could definitely see Liz's point. He was aware enough to know his reactions to things weren't very… conventional. He was pretty used to 'being thrown off the deep end'.

"What is your world like? And how are the other human worlds?" asked Amelie, eyes shining as she leaned forward, and Ethan found himself doing the same. For a moment, they'd taken that information in strides, but it was still a world-shattering information.

Earth's humans weren't unique. What did that even imply?

The cat stretched her back while the others stared at Ember and at Ethan. Waiting for him to relay her words, only for the cat to open speak to all of them, her voice making the others flinch back in surprise.

"My world is one of fire and stone. Of elementals and of scaled bastards. As for the other humans? I wouldn't know. They had never dared attack our worlds. But they are both hated and dreaded, though thankfully they're at each other's throats as much as they are at ours. Now, let me sleep. I'm tired."

Ethan stared down at the cat as it curled under his feet as he slowly tried to digest everything he'd heard. But even though what she'd said was incredibly important, he couldn't help but focus on the last part. As for the others, they were still shocked at hearing the Ignisra's voice.

"Tired from what? Sleeping?"

The cat kicked him with her hind leg, and he chuckled as the others began discussing what they'd just learn, while Amelie kept staring at the cat, her features warring between pain and shock. She met his eyes and mumbled. "She could speak out loud?"

Ethan gave her an apologetic smile. He didn't know she could use her real voice. Which was just one more thing he was learning today.

Human worlds, huh…

It seemed there was a big world waiting for them once this tutorial was over, and Ethan couldn't wait to see it for himself.