The Ascender's Legacy [A CHAOTIC STORM LITRPG]

Aodhán's world spun as the portal spat him out from a height of nearly thirty feet. He flailed, arms wide as he tried to find his bearing and reorient himself, but the incredibly turbulent spatial ride had his mind completely out of order.

"Aagh!" he yelled as he tumbled into a manicured garden, snapping branches off a series of trees before crashing headfirst on the ground. Dazed, he groaned and rubbed his temples, forcing himself upright as he took in his surroundings.

Geneva's portal had been incredibly turbulent, lacking the refined precision that a proper spatial skill or portal circle might have offered. Still aching, Aodhán dusted off his uniform, exhaling sharply when his gaze landed on the reinforced black walls of Fort Dominion in the distance.

A glance in the opposite direction revealed the looming gate of the Sigma 15-25 camp of Conquestia, and after a few seconds of mental gymnastics, Aodhán was able to roughly pinpoint his location. He was about a mile and a half away from the fort, but less than a mile from the camp.

He was honestly surprised he had even made it this far at all, as he had half expected the portal to spit him out in the middle of an ocean or somewhere else just as inconvenient.

His relief was fleeting, quickly giving way to a jolt of fear as he remembered the massive explosion that had rocked the aerial shields of sector 6 and the invading champions who had arrived alongside the massive swarm of beasts. He needed to alert someone immediately; Geneva would need reinforcements.

Creating a storm platform, he raced towards the camp, channeling willpower into the skill to increase his speed. However, as he drew closer to the massive gate, he noticed something very concerning. The camp was eerily silent. Gone were the usual clangs of steel from training soldiers or the commanding bark of captains drilling new recruits. Even during the changeling's rampage, things had never been this quiet.

With a sinking feeling in his heart, Aodhán expanded his core sense, scanning for any sign of life. For a moment, the emptiness stretched unbearably—until, finally, a quarter mile from camp, he sensed something.

Standing before the gate were two evolved-class guards at the 24th tier, their cores blazing with power. The massive gates loomed into view a couple of minutes later, and as he closed the distance, one of the soldiers, a muscled wind-awakened, stepped forward and raised a hand to halt him. "Champion Candidate Aodhán, you shouldn't be here."

"I know, but something bad has happened." Aodhán replied, his platform raising a cloud of dust as he came to a sudden halt. "Sector 6 is under attack. They have breached the aerial shields and—

"We know." The second soldier cut him off. "We are aware of Sunstone's retaliation, and it's not just sector 6. Five different sectors are under attack as we speak. It's why the camp is so empty. Nearly all the soldiers have been deployed."

"What?!" Aodhán exclaimed, and the soldiers shook their heads in understanding.

"It is bad." The first guard grimaced. "Sunstone's retaliation is far more than we envisaged."

"Sector 9 is the worst, though." The second guard said. "We hear it's being besieged on both sides by the Sunstonian army. They plan to seize it."

Aodhán stuttered, having no words to express his shock. With a shake of his head, he asked. "And how is that going?"

"Bad." The first guard replied. "Things are better at the Rocky Shores, but the reports from the Steppin' plains aren't too good. Too many new recruits, too many dead."

Aodhán's heart sank, and despite knowing the order of things, he couldn't help but ask. "Is there a way I can help? I want to help."

The guards shook their heads, and the first one replied. "I'm sorry, kid, but you can't. This is military business, and you, sir, are still a civilian."

"I won't be for much longer." Aodhán protested. "Now or in the next four years, what difference does it make?"

"It's the order of things, sir. We don't make the rules."

"I know, I just…" Aodhán sighed. "I feel so helpless. Champion Ryntharion sent me here before I could help, and now what am I supposed to do? Just stand around and wait for news to reach me?"

The guards exchanged a look, and the second one spoke. "You could go to your family. The fifth sector is also under attack."

Aodhán paused for a moment before shaking his head. "My parents are protected and safe." Aside from the guards principal Zatya had hired to keep constant watch, Daruk and Aldric were also present. His parents were as safe as they could ever be. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ascertain that, so he quickly raised his chip to his lips and texted Aldric. "I heard the 5th sector is under attack. Do I need to come home?"

Aldric's reply came immediately. "Daruk and I were just about to text you. Stay where you are. Norbuik hasn't been hit yet, and I doubt we will, but in the event that we are, Daruk and I will handle it. If we can't, I'm sure the guards stationed above will step in."

"Are you sure I shouldn't come?"

"Stay where you are, Aodhán. Help the people around you. We are fine."

Aodhán sighed and looked back at the guards. "There has to be a way that I can help. I'm not just an ordinary civilian. I attend an academy."

"We are aware, sir." The second guard spoke again. "But like my partner said earlier, we don't make the rules, and we certainly can't break them. At least not without permission from a higher authority."

"I'm not asking…" Aodhán trailed off as the guard's words sparked an idea in his mind, and he asked. "Just what sort of authority is sufficient to grant you this permission?"

"A captain's authority is sufficient." The first guard smiled. "If things go south, it'll be their head on the chopping block, not ours."

The first instinct was to text Tyrus, but he quickly discarded that idea as his friend was most likely fighting for his life at the moment. There was someone else he could text, though, someone with much greater authority than Tyrus, but there was just one tiny issue. She might not reply to him.

Still he had to try, and without hesitation, he searched for her contact on his chip and texted. "Sorry to bother you, Colonel Fortuna, but I need your help."

Fortuna's response was surprisingly quick. "This isn't the right time for favors, Aodhán. I am busy."

"I'm not asking for a favor. I'm asking for permission to help out with the battle at the Steppin' Plains. I am currently at the Sigma15-25 camp in Conquestia, and I've got absolutely nothing to do. I want to help."

This time, there was a moment's pause before Fortuna replied, her surprise evident in her choice of words. "Didn't you detest the war a few months ago? If I remember correctly, you wanted nothing to do with it."

"I changed my mind. Can you help me or not?"

"I can't help you; I'm sorry. The active participation of a civilian in a battle zone is against the rules."

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"But—" Aodhán's mind scrambled for an idea that could help his case, and somehow, perhaps by the will of gods, he stumbled upon a loophole. "What about passive participation or support? I won't pick up a sword and join the battle, but what if I can support in some way?"

There was another long pause. This time it stretched for nearly two minutes before Fortuna eventually responded, her words tentative. "Passive participation or support from civilians isn't against the letter of the law, but I'm certain it's against its spirit. If—"

The text suddenly cut off, but then another line of text appeared.

"What kind of support are we talking about here?"

Aodhán grinned, certain that he had finally caught her attention. Not wanting to give too much away, he shrugged. "You know, just a little rain to cool things down. Maybe some clouds…"

The speed at which Fortuna put two and two together was frightening. Her response came almost immediately. "Where are you right now?"

"I told you earlier, I'm in front of the Sigma15-25 camp."

The instant she received his response, a rift tore itself open a few feet away from the camp's entrance. But instead of the usual spherical nature of portals, this rift was more rectangular, giving Aodhán a sense that it was more planar than spatial in nature.

Fortuna stepped out of the rift, garbed in her uniform, and behind her stood a lean, sharp-faced man who looked more like a butler than a soldier. Fortuna's gaze honed in on the two necklaces hanging around his neck, but she said nothing about it and went straight to business. "Ragnarok, thanks you for your enthusiasm. How well do you think this rain of yours will work?"

"Well enough to make a difference. I hear that the battle at the Steppin' Plains isn't going too well."

"No, it isn't." Fortuna replied, her expression serious. "Let's hope that the little you bring to the table will be enough to change the tide. However, I cannot let you go without a warning. Your enthusiasm is admirable, but this isn't a class exercise or one of those simulation things Andrew won't stop yapping about. This is an actual battle with actual consequences. You cannot afford to be careless."

"I know." Aodhán nodded as a memory of dead cultists flashed before his mind. "Champion Geneva has been…teaching me things."

"Indeed." She glanced at the man behind her and said. "Get the inheritor into a uniform. We can't chuck him into an active warzone in commoner's clothes."

The man produced a complete military uniform from his spatial ring and handed it to Aodhán, who immediately began stripping off his bloodstained clothes to change into it.

"For official purposes, we'll refer to you as Private A." Fortuna continued. "Remember, you're not an active participant in this war. Make sure you remain high within the clouds for the duration of your 'support.' As long as you do not step onto the battle zone itself, this whole thing can be managed wisely."

"I'll stay in the clouds."

"Please do. I would dearly hate to explain this to Command or Zatya Malakov if things go sideways."

"It won't." Aodhán promised, and after putting on the uniform, he wrapped his storm scarf around his neck and announced. "I'm ready."

Fortuna glanced back at her assistant, and the man nodded, creating another rectangular rift nearly 8 feet in height. "This will lead you directly to the skies above the Steppin' plains, so you'll require a platform construct to keep you from falling."

"I'll keep that in mind." Aodhán nodded gratefully, and Fortuna prayed. "May the Ascendants be with you."

Without wasting any more time, Aodhán stepped into the rift. Despite the assistant's warning, the sudden transition of planar travel was still incredibly jarring. The world didn't blur, granting him no chance to orient or prepare himself for the transition. He just simply appeared.

It was as if he had simply stepped through a vertical doorway only to appear horizontally facing east rather than west. The transition wasn't violent or anything. It was just so mentally jarring that Aodhán fell more than a couple of feet before getting himself under control.

A powerful explosion of elemental forces snapped Aodhán's attention to the battle raging below, and he fought back the bile rising in his throat at the gruesome sight of blood, severed limbs, and charred flesh strewn across the battlefield. The clang of steel against steel was still prominent, but most of the soldiers had discarded their weapons in favor of their skills.

Energy, willpower, and bloodlust roiled in the air, intertwined densely with the essence of conflict and blood. Together, they formed a maelstrom of chaos and destruction that increased with each clash of steel or explosion of skill.

The earth itself groaned as earth awakenings tore through it, reshaping vast expanses of land to suit themselves. Chasms opened up like maws, swallowing whole companies alive. Sinking sands formed, swirling and drowning all those who stepped into it.

At one edge of the battlefield, a volcano of azure flames rose high into the sky, burning with an intensity that transcended the physical. It was soulflame, Tyrus's special brand of flames that not only charred flesh but spirit too. It was an amazing skill that helped Tyrus bridge the gap between himself and the Sunstonians at the evolved class. It made it so that, despite being in the mundane class, there were only a few people able to halt his scorching advance.

Sunstonian soldiers in their white and gold armor fought valiantly, but it was nothing compared to the untamed and fiery brutality their soldiers fought with. Yet, they weren't winning. From his vantage, they seemed to be at a stalemate. An almost equal number of broken bodies littered the ground on each side, and blood pooled everywhere. Every second, soldiers fell, and the aura of death hanging above the plain thickened until it was nearly choking.

The shouts of desperate soldiers reached up to the sky, and Aodhán knew he had to act immediately if they were to have any chance of winning. Clenching his fist in determination, he spread his arms wide and activated {Storm manipulation}, gathering all the clouds around him into a single massive cloud that completely blocked out the sun and cast the plain in darkness.

The sudden change didn't go unnoticed, but Aodhán was already prepared for that. Channeling energy and willpower into the cloud, Aodhán activated {Vortex of Lightning}, creating a shield of electricity around himself for protection. Since his participation in this war was passive, he couldn't afford to use an attack skill or release Varéc. However, nothing restricted him from defending himself thoroughly.

The lightning show drew everyone's attention, and without hesitation, nearly a dozen Sunstonian soldiers took to the sky, intent on bringing him down. They closed the distance swiftly, but the moment one of the soldiers tried to pass through the vortex, Aodhán poured a ton of willpower into skill, nearly tripling its effects and certainly doubling its density.

The soldier didn't survive. The sheer voltage of lightning overwhelmed him in an instant, boiling his blood and bursting his veins as it ripped through him from the inside out. In only two seconds, the soldier was reduced to little more than a charred husk, nearly all his body having disintegrated into crackling sparks and ash.

The sight of such horrible death gave the others pause, but Aodhán doubted they would relent. Still he was unfazed. He had fought against intelligent creatures at the 27th tier. A dozen tier 25 evolved-class soldiers were nothing against him.

Trusting the vortex to protect him, Aodhán returned his attention to the storm cloud, which had expanded to cover the entire battlefield. Satisfied with the size, he redirected his energy and willpower to fueling the cloud until it exploded with rain, flooding the earth with a deluge of ordinary water.

He had learned from his last mistake and was determined not to repeat it. Now for his promised 'support'

Aodhán opened his spirit up to the origin plane, his breath hitching as chaos rushed into his spirit. Groaning both in pleasure and pain, Aodhán took hold of the swirling chaos and harnessed the quintessence of an entire seal all at once.

Heat exploded within him, burning with an intensity that caused his body to release steam whenever rain touched his skin. Leveraging all of his focus and control, Aodhán took hold of his seal's quintessence and merged it with the chaos swirling within him.

The whole thing cost him a massive chunk of willpower, but Aodhán barely even noticed as he channeled the merged energies through his {Choose Target} technique and into {Eye of the Storm}.

Energy roared through his pathways, so loud that it drowned out the sounds of battle and the crackling fury of the vortex around him. The instant {Eye of the Storm} activated, Aodhán experienced something he never had before. His ears popped, the world stilled, and an overwhelming sense of awareness settled over him.

His control stretched far beyond its natural limits—farther than he had any right to command. It was as if the storm itself had bent to his will, its power no longer something to harness but an extension of his very being.

With a grin, Aodhán tested it out, picking out a hundred droplets of rain from the downpour almost as easily as breathing. It was the effect of his Choose Target technique, coupled with the increased perception of {Eye of the Storm}, but it almost felt like something more. Like if he pushed hard enough, he could perhaps control water itself.

The immense control and awareness didn't come without its drawbacks, though, and when his nose began bleeding, Aodhán knew he only had a few seconds left to act before he sustained permanent damage. Without further hesitation, he gathered more droplets of rain, arranging them around himself until he couldn't gather anymore.

With nearly a thousand droplets now firmly under his control, Aodhán infused them all with the effects of {Eye of the Storm}—enhanced control and perception, which had been further heightened by his seal, willpower, and chaos energy.

Strength drained from him like water through a sieve, and with shuddering breaths, Aodhán unleashed the droplets, directing them to the soldiers he had placed targets on

The special droplets fell alongside the ordinary ones, undetectable as they effortlessly weaved through the chaos to reach their intended targets. The instant they touched the chosen soldiers, the battle took a sudden, drastic turn that left every spectator and even the soldiers themselves in complete, and indescribable shock.