Scorching Ascension - [Progression Litrpg Apocalypse]

Floating high above the last rock elemental and with a giddy look on his face, Ethan shoved more and more mana into the [Overloading Fireball] hovering in front of him.

The air shuddered around the beach ball-sized orb. Unlike the original beast, this one was not as bright or burning as one would expect. It still had the fire aspect and heat, of course. He couldn't fully take those out without destabilizing the spell and having it blow up in his face—again—but instead of a vivid, burning orange and swirling flames, it looked more like… a pale yellow orb. Like one of those old round light bulbs. But while the heat and flames had taken a step back, it didn't mean the spell didn't look as scary. In fact, Ethan believed this version was the most dangerous to himself. After all, he could resist and handle fire. He couldn't do the same for concussive blasts.

Let's see how this bad boy does.

With a mental shove, Ethan let the fireball drop toward the tier-2 creature. It was noticeably slower than the less charged ones, which was the tradeoff with overloading the spell and so without overthinking it, he swooped low past it and shot a few faster fireballs and water jets to keep the elemental busy, buying time for the overcharged fireball to make its way down.

He didn't want it to try and intercept this one as well.

The parasitic rock elemental wasn't that much different from its weaker brethren. It was just larger, meaner, and shot its rock shards further.

Seeing him enter its range, the fifteen feet-tall monster spat out more of its sharpened rocks and Ethan instantly banked away from their trajectory, wary of taking more of the damn things, but he kept some covering fire going while mindfully watching the approaching descending fireball. When he believed it was close enough to land a hit even if the elemental disrupted it prematurely, he zipped away.

We out.

At full speed, it didn't take him long to get to a safe distance away before landing, and he still shielded his body with his wings, leaving only a thin slit out of which he could see. Ethan saw the tier-2 elemental look up and open its mouth. He saw the stalactite-like object fly out at the [Overloading Fireball] that was only a dozen yards away.

Next thing he saw was a painful flash of harsh light, then a ripple in the world itself that got to him in an instant, nearly bursting his eardrums as a sharp, mighty clap rang throughout the whole rift. Seconds later, bits of rock and dust rained down for a few moments, and a couple of notifications came through.

You have defeated [Parasitic Rock Elemental (II) - Level 80]

Rift challenge: Exterminate the parasitic rock elementals completed

Challenge reward: One mid-grade primagem of Draining

Ethan eyed the reward for a couple of seconds, then nodded. As expected, the awarded primagem fit the theme. And as a mid-grade primagem, it was bound to be valuable. So far, he'd only seen and used low-grades.

Within a couple of seconds, a 6-inch wide cubic box of bleached stone appeared in front of him, and instantly, he knew what it was.

He could feel the ambient mana that was supposed to go into him through his Arcanum's regeneration be drained away by whatever was in the container. Reaching for the floating reward, Ethan took the box and opened it to find a fist-sized white rock that he could literally feel sucking the mana and energy out of his own chest.

Damn… that's intense. Much stronger than the other ones I've gotten…

Ethan closed the box, and the powerful draining effect abated. It didn't fully disappear, but it got better. Next, he tried to put it in the dimensional pouch, and thankfully, it went right in.

That's bound to be an issue, soon, he thought as he eyed the little pouch. Just in case you die on me, I need to get that [Soul Space] trait soon.

If he wanted to keep things around for trade, he would actually need to be able to store them. Not that he planned on giving this one away, of course. He still intended on creating something life-stealing with [Draconic Claws]. But still, the point stood.

With the large primagem dealt with, Ethan flew toward what remained of the tier-2 elemental and the still smoking crater that had formed around it to pick his fragments and as he did, he eyed the level-up notification.

You have reached Level 71. 1 stat point awarded.

You have reached Level 72. 1 stat point awarded.

It wasn't a lot. Two levels for a whole rift was slightly disappointing, but that only underlined their importance and why they should find as many as possible. That, and the nearly 8 primagems the experience had netted him.

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3 primagems of Stone, 5 of draining, and the mid-grade one. Good haul. I wonder how the others are doing… I've been away for what? Four or five hours?

Reaching out the gold dust emanating from the remains of the elemental, he watched it float into his hand, making the sigil of the shardpurse shine for a few moments, and with that done, he could see how much fragments this whole adventure had resulted in.

Shardpurse: 2764 fragments collected.

Pylon E-G12: 5528 fragments withheld to be delivered when within range.

Ethan whistled. "Not bad. Not bad at all."

The amount of fragments was… pretty staggering. That was at least one big Arcanum upgrade and nearly half-the cost of the pylon's tier upgrade.

The Founder's Bounty' already showing its value.

Glancing around, Ethan considered examining the limits of the rift, but he already wanted to get moving. Pulling the final notification, he eyed it for a moment.

The riftcore can be claimed.

That was another thing that was slightly bugging him. "It says I can claim the riftcore… but what happens if I don't?"

He wasn't exactly willing to pass on the riftcore, as clearly they were valuable materials. But what would happen if he didn't? Would the rift not collapse? What happened then?

Ethan was guessing either it replenished its denizens, which could make for some sort of level and fragment farm, or they would now have a spare pocket dimension to do with as they pleased.

He was willing to test this eventually, but if leaving a rift brought back the same creatures he had just fought, then he would rather do it with one that wasn't this… problematic.

If these things run loose in the outside world, they'd make a mess.

In here, the parasitic rock elementals had been limited by the rift, but what would happen if they'd infiltrated Earth and passed into the bedrock without them noticing? How long would it take for them to grow stronger and eat their way into the whole planet?

Lots of theories without a clear answer. Ethan hoped the next pylon upgrades would allow them some library of sorts. Ethan considered how nice that would be for a few moments, then shrugged and summoned the riftcore. He'd test his theories on another rift. Plus, what if he passing on claiming a riftcore the first time made things more complicated? He didn't need that right now. He had plenty to do without complicating his life more than he needed to.

As the bleached and dead world of this rift cracked and collapsed, Ethan plucked out the swirling and heavy orb of pale lights and stepped through the portal.

***

The fresh, dewy air of dusk met him as Ethan stepped foot back on the parking lot. Birds were chirping, filling the sky with their calls, and Ethan frowned. It was noisier than he expected for dusk, and after a few moments, he realized that his assumption was off. It wasn't dusk.

"Dawn? Already?"

He'd walked into the portal sometimes in the afternoon. Maybe around 3 or 4pm, if his inner clock was right, and he didn't think he had spent more than four hours within the portal.

Something's wonky. Either the day-night cycle got messed up out here, or time's not flowing the same within rifts.

Not finding any reason to dally longer, Ethan spread his wings and flew north toward the settlement and as he did, he continuously tried to connect to the pylon's interface. He believed the construct basically had two ranges: one for detection, and one for interacting with it, which he believed included transferring the fragment transfer.

It would be nice to have access to the map and to everything else from anywhere within the detection range. That would eventually allow him to hop from one target to the next without having to head back to the settlement every time.

Wind whistled in his ears and soon, the lights of a large campfire appeared in his sight. Ethan had made one quick stop in a clothing store to get a change of clothes and as the newly raised barracks came into view, highlighted by the bright and fresh light of a new day, he smiled, and when he was within 300 feet of the pylon, it happened.

The transfer occurred in the form of a small, focused nimbus of gold that came off of his shoulders and dispersed into thin air.

6028 fragments transferred to Pylon E-G12

Seeing the line, Ethan pulled up the pylon's interface and went into its status. It was time to give the settlement its name, and he just knew what it would be.

That would do nicely, he thought with a smile as he floated down. Unfortunately, before he could even set a foot down, a figure standing near the campfire at the center of the settlement shouted up, waving a torch at him.

Frowning, Ethan flew toward the figure and quickly realized it was a young man that seemed a bit familiar. One of the high-schoolers, he believed. Those Aaron had watched over.

"Sir! Miss Amanda says to join her as soon as you get back! There's trouble at the second rift! People from another pylon!"

Ethan instantly shoved his plans and questions to the side and soared back into the air, only taking a second to memorize the exact direction he had to take.

Here we go, he thought, lips tight as he cut through the air like a bronze, scaled comet. He knew this was going to happen. Sooner or later, stuff like this was bound to start.

He only had hoped it would have taken longer than a single damn day.