Scorching Ascension - [Progression Litrpg Apocalypse]

Ethan sat at the ledge of the tunnel, gazing down at the agitated mushroom-trees of the second layer as he confirmed the assignation of the free stat points to mana, bringing it up to 20 when the 25% bonus applied. Next, he checked his fragments.

I'm at 405 fragments in the Elemental wand. I'm almost at 500, which would afford me the next tier upgrade. Then again, I could buy the tier-2 upgrade of the spellform bonus for 150. And it looks like my last fight brought me over the 20 mark for Essence… which means I could get the spellform bonus upgrade there as well.

Ethan hummed, considering the expense. With how active the area was, he'd get the fragments in no time, considering he had no Prime Arcanum activation to suck up all of his earnings. Earlier, he did try to move his fragments around as an experiment, but no matter how much he tried to will them to transfer to his Lesser Arcanum, they wouldn't. He tried over and over. He tried to meditate and visualize them moving about, but nothing happened.

I hope I can get my hand on a solution to that eventually. Oh well. A hundred fragments aren't that hard to collect, and a few extra stat points could make the difference.

With that in mind, Ethan pulled both upgrades, looked at them for a few seconds, then with a decisive nod, he confirmed both.

Prime Arcanum of the Juggernaut: Spellform Bonus (Tier-0 → Tier-1): Increase Spellform bonus from 10% to 15% - 100 fragments, 20 Essence

Arcanum of the Fire Elemental: Spellform Bonus (Tier-1 → Tier-2): Increase Spellform bonus from 15% to 20% - 150 fragments

Ethan closed his eyes as the mystic energies built up in his chest, pulsing with power, and after a few moment, that strength spread out of his chest and into his limbs before receding into the background, leaving him feeling more energized and poweful than ever.

Level 39

Might: 21 (16)

Toughness: 32 (24)

Spirit: 17 (15)

Mana: 21 (16)

Ethan whistled. That was a total of 20 bonus point. Before the upgrade it had been 13 points… so these two upgrades had netted him 7 extra stat points.

"And it's only gonna get better," he mumbled. The more stats and bonuses he had, the larger the number would get. Now, he had to work on the tier-2 upgrade for the Prime Arcanum, then the tier-3 for the other one, and maybe save some fragments for more spellform capacity for both.

At least I've got plenty to work with until then.

He had the [Claws] and his lance for weapons, and through the scales and the horns, he could generate an inferno of empowered flames to roast the swarm of water monitors before they could even get near him.

And now I have to hold the dagger in my hands… because I have nowhere to store it. For now, at least, he thought, eying the little bend in the metal. Unfortunately, the impact against the drake's scales did damage it a little, but it didn't seem broken just yet.

Ethan sighed. Glancing behind, he saw the others resting. All but Gerald, who just sat and watched the other end of the tunnel, just in case something snuck up on them. Finding the tunnel hadn't been too difficult, and after the battle and the hastened retreat from the fire, Ethan thought a break could be beneficial to everyone. Especially considering the injuries they had sustained.

He felt fine himself. It probably had something to do with his stats and with Enduring Brawler. And at the end of the day, he still managed around five hours of sleep before the ambush had taken place.

Ethan looked back down at the agitated biome ahead and reviewed the loose plan they had. The goal was for the team to stay up here and shoot down everything Ethan would lure to them. Amelie and Liz would benefit the most from that strategy and hopefully they'll level quickly. Gerald and Audrey might not get a lot of levels that way, but sooner or later, the lizards will start climbing, and they'll be able to get their levels then. Ember would be their backup. She would watch their back and only intervene in case of emergencies, while Ethan would take on the bulk of the water monitors as they came.

That should net me a nice chunk of essence as well.

He itched to get down there, but Ethan was sure a swarm would be created in minutes and once that happened, they either would have to fight their way through or retreat and collapse the tunnel. But he didn't expect things to get that dicey.

Ethan was ready, and he was much more powerful than the first time he'd come down here.

Next to him, Ember was peering down, ear flicking back and forth as she watched the occasional flashes of light and jets of water break through the canopy. She seemed excited to get down there as well.

I'm just one level short of finishing the side quest as well. I'll be getting one more trait and 10 stat points at level 40.

He was so close. And the nice thing about what monitors was that they were easy to burn. Unlike that drake had been. Which made him think of something else.

Ethan gave the cat a sidelong glance. He could pick her brains a bit while he waited for the others to rest up. "Are you weak to water? Will you be okay in this fight?"

Ember tilted her head up at him, then stared back down at the giant cave ahead of them and yawned. "[It depends. But I don't enjoy it.]"

Ethan raised a brow. So being strongly attuned to an element could cause issues?

"Were those fire drakes weak to water?"

"[No. They're resilient bastards. They might not be the best at handling water, but it doesn't affect them more than any other element. Well. Basic ones, at least.]"

Ethan hummed. "Does that mean I could have blasted them with fire? And what kind of elements are there? Outside of the basic ones? Actually, what's even considered 'basic'?"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The cat's ear began twitching more and more, and Ethan took that as his signal that this might be the last answer he was getting. "[The fire drake is not immune to fire. But it's used to it, so you weren't wrong to prioritize other types of damage. For elements… plenty are considered basic. Things like Fire. Water. Air. Earth. Magma. Non-basic are combinations and specialization and at that point, you can't even call them elements. They're more like… aspects. Things that can have conceptual effects mixed in. Cursed elements. Light, which mixes some concept of purification and heat as well as the light itself. There are countless non-basic elements, and some can be very… unpredictable. So you should always be careful. You never know what you might encounter.]"

Ethan extended a hand and flared a bit of fire out of his rust-red scaled hand. The cat nibbled on the thin stream of fire, and the two continued watching the world below them.

***

Around twenty minutes later, the others were ready to get started, and Ethan ventured out, nearly skipping toward the tree lines. It took him less than two minutes after he had stepped into the brush to find the first water monitor. Its dark scales reflected the blue and purple light of the mushroom trees. It was tearing into a dead mystic toad, twisting and pulling at the strip of meat and using its clawed forelegs to manoeuvre the carcass.

"Level 39. Just like me," he said, cracking his neck a predatory grin spreading on his face.

Ethan didn't waste time and jogged forward, dagger in hand and horns jutting back along his hair. He might not have the chance to use the dagger much soon, considering the swarms and its state, so he'd better make the most of it. By the time the lizard began turning, hissing at being disturbed in its meal, Ethan shoved the dagger in the side of its bloodied jaw. The lizard thrashed away, but it was already marked, so Ethan jumped on the creature's back and wrapped his scaled elbow around its neck in a slightly uncomfortable chockehold.

"Night night," Ethan said before summoning a blaze of flames out of the scales of his arm, directly against the reptile's throat. Fire billowed instantly, and he saw a flash of magic as it tried to summon its reinforced scales, but it was too late.

Within a couple of seconds, Ethan felt the throat crack and give, and as he hurried up, a grimace of pain on his face as he shook his arm. While he was immune to his own flames, the super-heated scales had burnt him a little, even through the protection of his own fire and scales.

In front of him, smoking blood seeped out of the decapitated beast, while flakes of charred flesh and ash fell out of his hand. The dagger wound pulsed a few times, but there was nothing to pick up aside from the fragments.

"Good enough. But I need more."

Over the next ten minutes, Ethan down three more monitors before he had to head back and check on the other, and it netted him one primagem of Water.

Ethan briskly made his way back to make sure the others weren't under attack, only to see a couple of water monitors shooting water up at the tunnel. Audrey was taking the sprays on her shield while Liz and Amelie shot down at the monsters. Then one of the creatures leaned back and ululated.

"Oh we got visitors? And they lined themselves so well for me…"

Ethan began with a relaxed jog after activating the horn's skill, but quickly accelerated toward the monsters. As his strides sped up, a rush of power washed over him, seeping into his flesh and bones. His stride lengthened, and a mound of earth that would have tripped him was blown to dust as if an explosion had gone under it.

Ethan's momentum was completely unaffected, but his mood was.

He just could not help but grin as the world blurred around him.

A corona of yellow-orange slowly built up around him as he streaked toward the reptiles like a comet. Ethan felt like nothing could stand in his way at this point, and he was only a few seconds away from impacting the two creatures. One of the water monitors, a level 41 creature, saw him come and shot a thick jet of concentrated water at him. It hit him right in the chest, and it was like he'd just been hit with a nerf-gun.

He barely felt it.

Ethan laughed as he left geysers of upturned earth in his wake. The ability used an essence point with every activation, but it was so much worth it. He was practically sure that whenever he used in this matter, the point would refunded, with interest, too.

After all, this was what his path was about.

Ethan launched himself in the air and impacted the lunging mouth of the level 41 with a kick. There was a small resistance and weight against his bare-scaled foot for a fraction of a second before something gave out. Blood and entrails exploded ahead of him and as he tried to slow down, Ethan found himself sprayed and showered with blood and viscera, which forced him to stop laughing as the stuff was getting into his mouth.

You have defeated [Water monitor (I) - Level 41]

You have reached Level 40. 1 stat point awarded.

Gross. But fucking worth it.

Ethan managed to stop around fifteen feet later. He hopped out of the grove into the earth he'd created, then grinned at the remaining monitor. It opened its mouth, a blue glow in the back of its throat, and a glowing crossbow bolt caught it in the neck. From the corner of his eyes, Ethan saw the first water monitor step out of the bush.

This should be fun, Ethan thought as he collected the fragments, which finally put him at 547 fragments.

Ethan paused, then sprinted at the lizard just ahead of him and broiled it in a second before he scrambled up the tunnel.

"What's wrong?" asked Liz, alarmed.

Ethan grinned at her, and she saw her gulp while Amelie continued shooting at the lizards but still gave him an excited look and a nudge. "It blew up like a watermelon. That was awesome."

Right. He was covered in blood water monitor chunks, But there was no time to dally.

"Upgrading!" he shouted as he already began looking through his interface. "Buy me some time."

Ethan slipped past them and dropped on his behind. He quickly cast [Detect Life], confirmed nothing was around, and triggered the upgrade as his gaze swept over the finished quest.

Things were going well.

Congratulations. Side quest <Reach level 40> completed.

1 custom trait awarded

10 stat points awarded

New side quest unlocked.

Side quest:

Reach level 50

Reward:

15 stat points

1 magic item token

1 custom trait.