Scorching Ascension - [Progression Litrpg Apocalypse]

After around ten minutes of slow flying above the new wilderness of a once populous city, Ethan brought the two flushed and giggling teenagers back down to the ground before he took flight once more, flying circles around the refugees and his escort. From Dwayne, he'd learned that they should get to Wyldrock within the hour, and so he spent some time checking his interface, occasionally swooping to take care of an approaching raccoon or to cull out some rats. It was between that and socializing, and he wasn't much in the mood for the latter, if he was honest. Maybe once things have settled with these new people, he'd spend some time getting to know them, but for now, he'd rather keep to himself. Ever since they had come out of the tutorial, it had been non-stop action and after having dealt with the gut-twisting madness barely an hour ago, he could use a little downtime. Just some mindless flying and killing of hostile creatures.

I wonder if the pylon's influence would stretch to cover all of this space. Eventually. We'll see. For now, I got 4 points to assign, and I still have one tier-2 spell token, he thought as a breeze gently lifted his outstretched wings, carrying him a little higher as their destination grew larger in the distance.

Loading up his list of spells, he read through it, wondering what else he would need.

Available spells:

General:

Tier-1: Whisper, Gout of Flames, Detect Life, Water Jet

Tier-2: Arc of Force, Crystal Dart

Tier-3: Acid Orb, Overloading Fireball

Modifiers:

Tier-1: Extended Enhancement

Tier-2: Scorching Enhancement, Homing Projectile, Electrified Projectile

Tier-3: Crystalbed Bloom, Elemental Crown

Armament:

None

Enhancer:

Tier-1: None

Tier-2: Breath Gland, Mana heart, Draconic Claws

Tier-3: Draconic Wings, Draconic Skeleton, Scales of the Bronze Dragon

"Those are a lot of spells," he mumbled as a couple of birds flew by him, curiously peering at him before they flitted away. That wasn't all the spells he had at his disposal, of course. He had a decent amount of duplicates tucked away in the pouch, as well as that crossbow and eldritch whip spell, but considering the quests were out of the picture for now, did he want to use the token right away? It might be a minute until he would get his hands on some more.

General spells and modifiers are still strong, but I want to have an idea what's out there first. As for Enhancer spellforms, what else could I use?

Ethan brainstormed for a moment. More draconic spells meant more stats and potentially more abilities, and for that there was plenty he could find.

Horns, tail, muscles… heart? I'd rather upgrade the one I have. Same for the Breath Gland. But what else is possible? Gut? Nervous system? Eyes?

He was never guaranteed to get whatever he wished for, of course, but having an idea of the pool of possibilities was nice. And armament-spellforms were still a thing that he hadn't paid much attention for.

I'm not that big on weapons, but there's some cool accessories and defensive stuff out there…

Ethan had seen plenty of powerful armaments ever since this had all started, but he'd never been tempted to get some until now. With that in mind, he decided to keep the token tucked for a little more. Hell, if things went well with this new settlement, maybe they could establish some sort of bartering system for spellcores and primagems? He couldn't be the only one who had a little stockpile of the things.

And once this is dealt with, I'm taking some time to work on some spell upgrades. Especially if I can get my hands on some more primagems.

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Ethan's eyes widened. He should definitely ask these new people if they had some life-themed primagems on hand. He had plenty of Water and Draining primagems, but he was still missing the life part. And if he could get more than one, maybe he could do something with Scorching Enhancement? Or save it for [Child of Flames]?

I think Ember mentioned that traits could use primagems…

The possibilities for their uses were endless, and Ethan resolved to give [Crystalbed Bloom] a try the next rift he visited, but that would have to wait, because finally, nearly an hour after having set out with the refugees, they had come up on their destination.

Ethan began his descent and took in the curious—but very organized—looking town.

Out in a wide and cleared park, four gray stone walls had been raised. Ethan was pretty sure this place had been pretty flat before, and he could still see the obelisk-like memorial in the center of the small town, now standing right next to the city's pylon. But while this place had been flat, there was now a significant hill on which the town had been built, and all around, the cleared park sloped down, giving the guards posted upon the stone-rampart a clear view of everything that could approach their home. Himself included. And from this angle, he could see some details of the town within. It was all barracks on one side, and the other side was more of a plaza with people milling about and before his vision was cut off as he lost altitude, he saw a couple of lines formed in front of cabins, and he assumed some people were already providing services that others wanted.

This place is pretty neat. Well defended, too, Ethan thought as he eyed the slowly approaching figures. There were hidden entrances out of which the local settlers were coming from. At least, he assumed so, as he could see no gateway from which one might enter and exit. But not all were coming by foot. One of them had taken flight, and they were flying toward him pretty fast and so, before he could create any unnecessary tension, he landed back on the ground and dismissed both wings and claws, but he left the bronze-coloured scales and his horns. Just in case he needed to defend himself.

Plus, he'd be lying if he didn't think they were pretty cool, and they fit pretty well with the summer-themed shirt and shorts he managed to pick up from a store.

Maybe I should have picked up some shoes… but I kinda got used to the scales, he thought as he glanced down at his scaled feet. Turning toward the approaching and hopeful refugees, Ethan was about to speak when a shiver ran down his spine, half a second before he sensed something moving behind him.

Scales ignited, he whirled, claws summoned, and came face to face with a creeping visage of yellow slitted eyes that just froze when their eyes met. It was barely ten yards away when he noticed, and now, it stood there, frozen, as if it was waiting for him to show his back again so it could pounce.

[Wyldcat (I) - Level 62]

"Penny, no!"

The panther-sized calico's ear flicked a couple of times, but neither Ethan nor it looked away from each other, though from the corner of his eyes he could see the flying figure approaching fast. Ethan activated [Detect Life] and as the wave of green spread out, two forms were outlined, only a few yards away from the first one, and now that they had been made as well, they dropped their camouflage. Two more Wyldcats. One had a black coat that seemed to absorb the surrounding lights, nearly the same size and level as the first one, while the second was nearly as large as a tiger, and it also had a tortoiseshell pattern.

[Wyldcat (I) - Level 68]

Where's Ember when you need her, Ethan thought as he dismissed the claws and let the flames die out as the three cats continued their approach, ignoring their handler. He hoped they weren't about to get hostile and were just being curious, as three massive, nearly tier-2 felines did not sound like a safe pet to have around, especially when settlements had weaker individuals.

"Ginger! Luci! Get back here," said the stern voice of the woman in black robes as she landed in front of them, cutting off the three oversized-cats who suddenly seemed to realize someone had been trying to talk to them. The three cat's ears immediately perked up as they stood straighter, though the higher levelled one still tried to get past the woman to sniff at him. "Ginger. Cut it out. Sorry. She's just curious. I think," she added under her breath as she looked worriedly down at the cat, and Ethan noticed a pair of antlers suddenly appear atop of her head. She was about to speak, but Ethan just extended a hand for the cat to sniff.

"It's fine," he said. Eying the approaching feline. "Let's see what she wants. I'm not really worried."

The cat leaned forward on a single paw, sniffing his scales while the rest of the welcoming party got to them. Behind him, Marc got to them first and stood casually at the side of the woman with the antlers, moments before Taylor made it, panting as she glared at Marc who just ignored her though he still gave her a little smug loog. Soon after them, Dwayne and Imani arrived and from the other side, two more figures approached—well, there were more than two, but only two were above level 60. The first, a man with mole-like claws who was giving him the stink-eye, and the second was a man carrying a vine-wrapped staff. He wore a necklace made of green, shining beads, and his eyes shone with the same vivid green luster.

Ethan had a feeling that the staff, necklace, and eyes were all connected and as the leopard-sized ginger hopped on top of his shoulders and began sniffing his horns, the man with the stuff smiled.

"You must be Ethan. I'm Gavin, the Administrator of this town. We've heard much about you," he said as his people lined up on his side, leaving Ethan and the refugees on the other. "I was going to invite you to chat, but it seems that Ginger here is very intrigued by your horns," Gavin said, smiling at the cat as patted Ethan's horns.

He looked up at the paws flitting in front of his face and sighed. What was it with cats and his horns?

Reaching up to nudge the cat off of his shoulder, Ginger hopped off by herself and came to a seat right beside the antler-horned woman who mumbled something at the cat, only for the latter to flick her ears and ignore her.

Ethan took a step forward and reached out for a handshake. "There's a cat that has been travelling with us. She likes to sit up there."

Gavin chuckled as he shook his hand. "I'm sure Sophia and Ginger here would love to meet her. In any case, welcome to Wyldrock," the man said as he peered past him at the refugees, the to his left and right at his own people before he looked Ethan in the eyes again. "Let us talk."