Symbiotic Ascension : A Progression Fantasy Adventure

Glenn had endured all sorts of pain in his life. On Limbo, he had been impaled, eaten alive, tortured, cut, ripped open, burnt, and other nasty sorts of torture.

In his top ten of absolutely horrible things to feel, having his skin removed little by little by his mother, of all people, was actually quite close to the top.

"I'm starting to see the end of it... Hmm, I'll have to make sure the skin does not grow back again. Glenn, start doing whatever you need to do with that Regeneration power, and I'll handle the rest," Emily ordered, her scalpel carefully slicing, separating the skin away from his stump.

Glenn closed his eyes, unable to even say a word.

'I must say, I do not envy you at all,' commented Diamanes. 'Damn, are you actually getting skinned alive? Is that what it is?'

The young man shut the stupid voice out and directed his entire Mana capacity towards the stump, activating Regeneration at the same time. He could feel the skin try to grow back over the stump, to try and stop the blood from flowing out, but his mother's scalpel and careful application of her healing powers stopped it. Instead, she guided it outward to start forming a new limb. She was like a gardener, pruning off what wasn't necessary and directing the flesh to grow in the right direction.

Glenn felt feverish from the pain, his eyes rolling back in their sockets. He still held on, focusing on maintaining his Regeneration the best he could. His Mana was almost infinite when it came to not casting hill-destroying spells, so he didn't need to worry about that.

Emily sighed as she worked, sweat accumulating on her forehead. "This is going to take a long time..."

***

"Can you try that again?" Nelg requested, squinting through thick tinted glasses.

Sahro grunted and drew his katana back, aiming at the target, a child-sized Blumar pillar. Crimson, Primal lightning ran down the blade, hungry for destruction. The dark elf grunted as he cleaved down, a line of crimson red cutting through the world and colliding against the Blumar pillar. The dark-blue material immediately turned searing white, even crackling slightly. It took a few seconds for the pillar to return to its normal state.

Nelg jotted down a few observations on a notepad and grinned widely. "Nice, nice. I wasn't sure, but now I'm convinced. Blumar absorbs mystical energies and actively processes them, eats them. That's how it manages to cancel big spells or powerful Aura attacks. I simply couldn't understand where all that energy went, but now I know." Nelg walked up to the pillar and tapped on it with a steel-clad hand.

"It also seems like it has a sort of buffer dependent on how much Blumar is used. I'm almost certain a small pillar would have exploded from your attack, unable to completely absorb the brunt of the attack."

Sahro sheathed his katana, grunting. "It's annoying. I'm a Saint and use Primal Aura, but I still can't slice through a measly piece of stone."

Nelg's eyebrows rose. "We're talking about a material created to kill gods, not common marble. I was hardly expecting you to even scratch it, to be honest."

The dark elf sat and took a swig from his water flask. "How strong would I need to be to..." He gestured at the annoying Blumar pillar, "Slice through this?"

Nelg used his pencil to scratch the back of his neck. "Probably a Newborn Ruler. Or you could spam attack that pillar so you don't let it absorb the energy. If you're fast enough, you'll be able to overload it and destroy it."

Sahro rested his chin on his prosthetic metal fist, staring at the pillar with an annoyed expression. He shook his head and stood up. "I'd rather cut it in one go instead of cheating my way through."

Nelg shrugged. "Suit yourself. And thank you for helping me with my experiments, it's been very useful."

Sahro nodded. "Of course."

The dark elf left Glenn's doppelganger to its shenanigans, his annoyance reaching a tipping point. He thought back to when Onnea and Nergal had manifested themselves and clenched his fists. He hadn't felt a thing, hadn't been ready.

He hated that.

"I need to train more," he muttered, his fingers tightening around the sheath of his katana. Raijin peeked out of his master's shadow, giving him an inquisitive glance.

Sahro nodded sternly at the elegant crimson fox. "Yes, Raijin. We're going to need to be much stronger than we are currently. Much, much stronger."

He looked at the sky, his teeth clenched. "Our opponents are Gods now, after all."

***

Milena drew a deep breath, displeased by the side-effect of taking the warp gate back to King's Rise. The dark elves standing guard near it glanced at her but quickly recognized her, returning to their station. New Hope, the city of the once Black Heirs and now dark elves, had been developing steadily thanks to the help of the Maron Company.

She hadn't been the only one to teleport back to the capital. Lucian was also here, dusting off his clothes. He turned towards her and sighed.

"I'll see you back in Thalorieth," Lucian said with a grim expression before taking off to the skies, his red cloak fluttering behind him.

Milena pressed her lips together and followed behind him, her robotic arms tucked in her back. Her status as Duchess meant she could bypass any checkpoints, so she was able to fly over the immense walls without any issues. It took her only a dozen minutes to arrive at the Royal Library in the Court, and only a few more to find her grandfather foraging through a massive pile of books.

"I'm sure I left it here somewhere... 'Studies of Divinity,' 'Studies of Divinity,' where are you..." The older man muttered, the silver gear replacing his eyes spinning slowly.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Grandpa', it's me," Milena said as she poked Exan the Omniscient with her finger.

Exan flinched and hurriedly pulled himself out of the pile of books. "Milena? What are you doing here?"

Milena chuckled and proudly puffed her chest out. "For once, I know something you don't!"

Exan frowned. "Oh yeah? Please, surprise me. If that's about the Black Heirs turning into dark elves and the sudden appearance of pointy-eared people all over the kingdom, then I already know about it. Oh, also, you should think about turning back on the live-feed of your A.S.S., it's always fun to watch your adventures with Glenn and the rest."

The woman blinked at that. "Pointy-eared people? There are elves in Munirp?"

The Omniscient sighed. "Yes, and a ton of them too. Half elves, too. We're not sure how many, but the King probably has an idea of the exact percentage. I'll have to ask him next time I meet him."

Milena shook the awe away and grabbed her grandfather's sleeve. "Listen, there's something important I need to tell you. About the gods."

Exan's brows furrowed, and he crossed his arms.

"I'm listening."

***

As usual, Lucian kicked open the doors to the throne room, shattering the recently installed shock-resistant enchantments.

"Father!" He clamored, interrupting yet another war council. Duke Noir stifled a laugh while the King's Blade Harriet sighed in his gauntlet. Alaric Magnus, King of Munirp and Lucian's father, rolled his eyes, tapping on his throne's armrest and dismissing the council.

"Good luck, my lord," muttered Harriet as he went and stood at the furthest point in the throne room, leaving them a shred of privacy.

"I heard you, Harriet," grumbled Lucian as he walked up to his father.

"Lucian, what can I do for..." His eyes widened. "You broke through to the Seventh Circle?"

The Crown Prince dismissed the question with a wave of his hand. "Yes, yes, and we also single-handedly put an end to the war with the Orcs, but that's another pair of hands. No, I need to ask you about the Gods."

Alaric frowned and glanced to the side of the room, where a conspicuous, bare-chested bear of a man was quietly sipping on ale.

"The Gods? Tell me more."

***

Glenn was starting to feel a little queasy. No, that was a lie. He felt like shit. His entire body was numb, the sound of the scalpel cutting through the regrowing flesh a torture to his ears. They had been at it for hours now. Emily's hair was stuck to her head, drenched in sweat, and she was heaving with difficulty.

It had taken a lot of time and effort, but it was finally done.

Glenn looked at his pristine new arm, pale and ready to be hacked off again. The relief washed over him violently, and he collapsed in the medical bed, sighing heavily.

"Thank God it's over," he mumbled.

Emily carefully put her tools away, cleaning them and herself with a nice Mundare before collapsing into a chair. "This was awful," she muttered. "I'd like to say that's the last time I'm doing this ever, but that would be a lie."

Glenn opened and closed his hand, feeling the blood flowing to the tip of his fingers. "Good job, Mom. That's a miracle you've just worked out right here," he muttered.

Emily scoffed. "Magic, am I right?"

They laughed together for a moment, flinching when a loud grunt exploded beside them.

"Ubi sum? Quis es?" Decimius demanded as he tried to sit up on his bunk bed. He recognized Glenn nearby and calmed down, but he still kept a suspicious pair of eyes on the rest of the tent.

"Why help me?" He asked in broken Common Tongue. "I Orc. I enemy."

Glenn shook his head dismissively. "You helped us against the Newborn Rulers, didn't you? You're a friend now, Orc or not."

The Orc went quiet at that, looking down at his shoulders. Once, two strong muscular arms had been attached to them, before being ripped off by the Celestial Gods, the Newborn Rulers of the Occult Wanderers. "I... Friend?"

Glenn nodded. "Yep. I'm not sure what you want in life, but-"

"Fight! Get strong!" The Orc roared, before settling back in his bed, his eyes drifting back to the empty spaces below his shoulders. "Not possible anymore, true?"

Emily and Glenn exchanged a glance, and the latter grinned widely. "Well, you see, there's something I'd like to try, and you're the perfect test subject..."

Maybe for the first time in his life, Decimius swallowed heavily, gulping. Something in Glenn's eyes was shining dangerously, and he did not like that.

***

'Healing myself was truly hardcore,' Glenn thought, his Mana flowing out freely. 'This is a piece of cake in comparison. Damn, I should have tried before to push my Regeneration ability. Perhaps Sahro would be strolling around with a new arm had I thought about it.'

'No point in beating yourself up about it,' cackled Diamanes. 'Be satisfied this is happening now instead of the moment you need to save someone's life.'

'Well, I can't grow back a limb without my mom's help, so I don't see how that would make a difference, but sure, I'm satisfied.'

Decimius was screaming like a pig at the slaughter. Glenn was pretty sure that every Pale Son and new inhabitants of Thalorieth had heard Decimius' roar.

"What a baby," Emily groaned, frowning as she sliced a bit of skin growing in the wrong direction. "How can such a strong man like you cry this way when my son barely made a sound? And he's half your size, too!"

"Glenn... Raghhh!!!" Decimius slammed his foot against the bed, bending it in two. "Glenn is monster!"

Emily scoffed. "Look at yourself in the mirror before calling my son a monster, you lout."

Decimius clenched his fangs tightly, his eyes bloodshot and ready to pop out of their sockets at any moment. Glenn picked at his nose with his newly grown hand, unfazed.

"It's so much easier when I'm not the one being operated on," he commented. "Maintaining a precise flow of energy is so simple without the... disturbance."

"Raghhhhh!!!"

Emily's eyebrows rose. "I am actually fairly surprised. What the hell did you experience for you to have such a high tolerance to pain? What we're doing would require violent anesthetics back on Earth."

Glenn shrugged. "A bit of this, a bit of that."

'Bah, I'm sure your mom is tough enough to listen to your tales of surviving in a Thorns Church's prison, tortured and fed Beast Blood as a test experiment.' Diamanes sneered.

'She is, but I'd rather continue keeping these sorts of things for myself. I am past all of this,' he thought, smiling slightly. 'What the Thorns Church did to me can't hurt me anymore."

Eventually, Decimius' tortur— treatment was over. The Orc couldn't believe his eyes as he stared at a new, fresh pair of powerful arms and hands. He clenched and unclenched his hands, awestruck. Slowly, he looked up at Glenn and Emily.

'Why does it feel like he's going to say something insane?' Glenn questioned, a shiver crawling down his spine.

Decimius jumped off his bed and went on one knee before Emily, his head bowed.

"Me, Decimius, swear serving you!" He proclaimed loudly, his voice empowered with Aura. "Mea vita, mea manus, mea fides — omnia tibi dono, domina mea." Emily blinked at his declaration while Glenn stifled a laugh. She threw a gaze at Glenn, requesting help, but simply mouthed 'Say yes' at her.

Emily moistened her lips and hesitantly grabbed Decimius' muscular shoulder.

"I, uh, accept?"

And that's how Glenn's mother got herself a Saint-level Orc as a personal guard.