The Ascender's Legacy [A CHAOTIC STORM LITRPG]

Lupin climbed into the dueling ring, feeling much better than she had felt ever since her father's death. For the last couple of months, the academy had been the furthest thing from her mind, and she had only managed to push through the semester thanks to her friends.

However, the break had given her time to think, reflect, and process her father's death. She had sought counseling to help with the grief and was now in a much better place. The fact that she'd also had a ton of work to occupy her mind had also helped.

She was now Baroness Lupin Cavanaugh and that position came with many responsibilities, most of which her mother was coaching her through. Still, there was so much she had to do on her own, people she had to meet, events she had to attend, and decisions she had to make—there was just so much to do, and Lupin was just grateful that right here within the academy walls, she could finally shed those responsibilities and just be a normal student.

It was freeing to be so carefree, and as she took her position within the ring, she let out her first real smile in a while. She might not be as strong as Yurin Lahey, but she wasn't helpless either. How could she be, when she had dated someone as strong as Aodhán and was friends with so many exceptional individuals?

Watching them advance and grow stronger was a constant motivation to improve herself, not just because she didn't want to be left behind, but because she hated being the weak link in any circle. Her affinity wasn't a combat affinity as it was almost entirely geared towards concealment, deception, and infiltration, but Lupin hadn't let that stop her.

During the break, she meditated on the nature of her concept, searching for ways to push its boundaries and stretch her understanding in less conventional and predictable ways.

The Cloak affinity was not an offensive affinity, but just as Professor Alaric often said, there was no weak affinity. Anything could be made into a weapon, and Lupin was determined to make a breakthrough.

That breakthrough came one rainy morning while she stood by her father's grave, her body completely drenched by the relentless showers. In that moment, as her fingers traced the marble headstone, all the insight she had gathered over the break condensed into a single mote of understanding so pure that it shot through her mind like lightning. Right then and there, by her father's grave, Lupin created her first offensive skill—and what a skill it was.

For days, she had buried herself in training, using the skill out of fascination and a childish urge to hack things to pieces. She had even hired a personal trainer to help refine her use of the skill.

After all that training, Lupin felt confident. She believed she had a chance against Yurin, and even if she didn't win, she could at least take him by surprise for a moment. A moment was all she needed.

They discussed the rules—no seals, familiars, or icons—but Lupin wasn't concerned. She didn't have any of them, so she couldn't break the rules even if she wanted to. Sad.

Once the rules were set, Aodhán began the countdown. "Three, two, one… fight!"

Lupin attacked instantly, channeling a small amount of energy and willpower weaves into {Cloak Shard}, the offensive skill she had created, and aimed it at Yurin. Energy surged from her open palms, condensing into a sharp, undetectable blade that tore through space, streaking straight toward him.

Against ninety percent of the first-year student body, the skill might have worked—slicing through an opponent without being noticed—but against Yurin, whose eyes shone with the brilliance of Radiant Clarity, it failed.

Yurin dodged, his eyes widening in surprise as the skill swept past him and into the wall, causing a flare of runes so bright it was almost blinding. He wasn't the only one who was surprised. Everyone, except Andrew, had widened expressions. Some hadn't even noticed the skill, but the massive flare of runes was an indication of the power of the attack.

Yurin glanced at the wall in shock and blurted out. "What the actual fuck?"

Deciding not to give him a chance to recover, Lupin attacked again, unleashing another Cloak Shard—then another. Yurin dodged and even retaliated with a beam of scorching light, but his aim was off from shock, and Lupin did everything she could to capitalize on it.

As she fought, hurling Cloak Shard after Cloak Shard, she basked in the shock and awe of her friends. It was as if they had just discovered their favorite pet had claws. It was exciting!

She couldn't blame them, though. It was a common misconception that cloak awakeneds were no different from invisibility awakeneds, but Lupin was more than glad to shatter that misconception. Cloaking wasn't about turning invisible—it was about concealing oneself and others from notice. Rather than vanishing, Cloak Awakeneds tricked the mind into ignoring the presence of the cloaked individual or object.

This perception-twisting effect of cloaking bore a strange similarity to illusions, but rather than implanting false images into the minds of her opponents, it caused people's senses to slide off her attacks without registering them. It made her strikes undetectable, fast, and impossible to defend against. Or at least, it should have. Yet Yurin evaded them all without issue, the flaw in reality standing out to his senses like a beacon at midnight.

Quickly regaining his bearings, Yurin retaliated, launching light missiles and scorching beams at her with such speed that she struggled to keep up.

She dodged to the side, nearly twisting her ankle in a bid to escape the burning discs of light slicing past her head. But it wasn't enough. One disc dipped lower, severing more than an inch of her precious hair and filling the air with the sharp scent of ozone.

Lupin yelped, clutching her hair in panic.

"It's not on fire," Aodhán shouted from outside the ring, easing her mind slightly. The assurance replaced her panic with anger, though, and with a furious yell, she activated {Cloak Self} and {Cloaked Step} in tandem, spinning around to enact her revenge on Yurin.

She vanished from everyone's perception—everyone except Aodhán and Yurin. The latter lunged forward with a blade of light, nearly cleaving her in two had she not bent backward at the last second.

Desperate, she activated {Cloaked Bubble}, flooding the area with dense cloak essence that distorted all sensory input within it. The perception-altering skill finally affected Yurin, whose eyes widened as a barrage of nonexistent flaws suddenly flooded his senses—each one clamoring for attention like hundreds of alarms blaring at once.

Disoriented, Yurin stumbled to his knees, and Lupin seized the opportunity, pouring willpower and energy into her aura to magnify the bubble's effect. As it expanded, she activated {Cloaked Step} once more, dashing forward while cloaking her surroundings erratically, creating even more distortions for Yurin to contend with.

Yurin wasn't handicapped for long, though. As soon as she closed the gap between them, he unleashed a beam of light so blinding and true that it burned away every iota of cloak essence from the area.

Lupin staggered as the cloak she had woven around herself dissolved. Before she could dodge or retreat, Yurin unleashed his aura, flooding the ring with a wave of golden light so conceptual it felt almost tangible.

Lupin tried to fight the aura with her own, but her spirituality crumbled under the weight of Yurin's power, and a moment later, a dozen blades of scorching light manifested around her, hovering only an inch or two away from her skin.

She stilled, not wanting to injure herself on the scorching blades, and Yurin laughed. "How do you like my {Light of Truth} skill?"

I hate it," Lupin muttered, scowling as she surrendered. The moment the blades dissipated into wisps of light, she reached up to pat her hair carefully and sighed when she found it still intact. Still, she had to confirm. Waving Scarlett forward, she bent down and asked. "Has it burnt to ash?"

Scarlett chuckled and shook her head. "Your hair is perfectly fine."

Lupin sighed in relief and finally allowed herself to relax. A smile blossomed on her face as Gwendolyn walked over to congratulate her.

"You did great, holding out for so long." Gwendolyn smiled and pulled her into a hug. "You may not have won, but you've definitely grown stronger. I'm proud of you."

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"Thank you." Lupin smiled, then eagerly launched into a retelling of how she had created her skill. The boys soon joined in, each congratulating her and commenting on how impressed they had been with her performance. It eased the sting of her loss, and before long, she was laughing along with them.

"So, you're going the conceptual route then?" Aodhán asked while they spoke, but Yurin shook his head.

"Not really. I watched Champion Cyridian and Luminus's battle in sector 4, and I've decided to go a hybrid route like Champion Dawnfire. It'll make my Mythic and Calamity evolutions far more complex, but I'd rather suffer than box myself to follow convention."

The mention of Champion Cyridian caused a slight gloom to descend upon the room until Scarlett asked. "Isn't Champion Dawnfire a member of the Unorian League of Champions?"

"She is," Daruk nodded. "Or at least she used to be until she retired a few years ago to focus on her Mythic evolution."

"The hybrid route is avoided for a reason, though," Ayisha cautioned, her gaze fixed intently on Yurin. "Had Champion Dawnfire gone the elemental or conceptual route, she wouldn't need to take time out for her mythic evolution. Perhaps it's better to wait until she succeeds before deciding what route you want to take?"

"I think that's a good idea." Aodhán concurred. "If she succeeds, then you'll have a template to follow, and if she doesn't, then you'll know what to do to avoid the same fate."

Yurin nodded in agreement, and Lupin shook her head in amazement. Sometimes, she wondered if she even belonged in this friend group. Everyone here was so focused on advancement and power that it was inspiring to hear them speak and debate their future this way.

It caused the fire burning within her to blaze hotter, and Lupin realized she needed to put more effort into her advancement. One offensive skill wasn't enough. She needed another. No, dozens, if she ever wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.

They soon dispersed in preparation for the next duel, joking and laughing as Scarlett and Ayisha playfully threw jabs at each other. Andrew stayed with her, though, and after everyone left, he smiled and said. "Congratulations. You just climbed a dozen steps up on everyone's danger radar."

Lupin laughed, knowing exactly what he meant. She was no longer the harmless awakened whose only ability was to hide herself and slash people with daggers. She could attack from a distance now—and with a powerful skill too. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before she climbed into the top fifty on the forge list.

"I'll do my best to keep climbing." She replied.

Andrew shook his head in amusement. "I'm happy for you. That first skill you used seemed very dangerous. If you create more of those, you'll be a terror."

"You sensed the skill too?" Lupin asked, surprised,

Andrew nodded, his gaze taking on a faraway expression. "It shares a similarity with my icon, so I felt a slight tug." He frowned and continued. "I didn't sense the skill itself, but its underlying concepts—inevitability or something close to it."

Lupin's eyes widened, and she stared at Andrew with a newfound respect. {Cloak Shard} was her ace skill, a hidden blade that could be unleashed at any range, but there was one thing Lupin had kept secret about the skill when she'd been explaining it to everyone, and that was the fact that the skill wasn't just undetectable, it was nearly indefensible.

One could dodge it, perhaps even deflect it if they knew the direction it was coming from, but blocking or resisting it directly was nearly impossible. This was why she had only used a small amount of energy and willpower to activate the skill, just in case it made contact.

"I was careful." She whispered.

"I know." Andrew nodded and smiled. "Like I said earlier. I'm impressed with the skill. However, I would advise that while you work on creating offensive skills, you should get some defensive skills too. You weren't the only one being 'careful.' Besides, there's only so much hiding and dodging one can do in a battle before their spine breaks."

Andrew left after that, and Lupin watched him go, marveling at how drastically the twisted effect had changed him. It was good advice, though, and she intended to take it. She was now the leader of her house, and the only way to protect herself and those she cared about was to grow stronger.

***

Ayisha stepped into the dueling ring, her steps measured and sure as she watched her opponent closely. She wasn't afraid of Scarlett, but the Calodan noble was strong—strong enough to force her to take this duel a little seriously.

It was no secret that she despised showcasing her abilities, but after Aodhán's status reveal as an inheritor last term, her parents had decided there was no need for her to keep them secret any longer.

"You need him to draw you into his inner circle." Her father had instructed. "He won't do that if he doesn't see you as useful."

"He knows I'm strong." She had argued, but her father wasn't one to be reasoned with.

"Just do it." He had snapped. "We need him to trust you. He won't do so if you're not in his inner clique. Enough of the hiding and mystery. We don't need you to keep a low profile anymore."

And so, here she was—standing before people she neither loved nor cared for, about to showcase her abilities just to earn the trust of a single boy. Her father's instructions didn't mean she had to showcase all of her abilities at once, though. Letting them see too much would be just as reckless as showing nothing at all.

Scarlett shifted her stance, her posture becoming more predatory, but if the display was meant to intimidate her, then it had failed. Ayisha wasn't one to boast—especially not about her skills—but this duel against Scarlett was child's play.

There were only a handful of students in the academy who could push her beyond her innate skills in battle, and Scarlett wasn't one of them. The only real challenge, if he ever learned to control his temper, was Cyrus. But he was too reckless, too impulsive. He would have been devoured in the asylum of a home she had grown up in.

Others, like Aodhán, Andrew, Daruk, Cameron, Lysirel, and perhaps Lilith, had potential. Yet Ayisha doubted any of them could truly stop her if it came down to it. Not because they were weak, but because time was an entirely different kind of power—a force as fundamental as reality itself. It stood alongside the rarest of affinities: reality manipulation, infinity, fate, void, creation, oblivion, space, and karma.

The strength of these affinities wasn't just in their power but in their sheer complexity—how deeply they intertwined with existence itself. Storms were destructive, perhaps more so than she had initially thought, but they weren't a fundamental force of reality. Compared to time, they simply didn't measure up. They never could.

Most people believed that all affinities were equal, each holding infinite potential limited only by imagination and understanding. But Ayisha, like her guardians, believed otherwise. She wouldn't outright say she was superior to the others—but wasn't she? Wasn't her affinity simply greater?

While these thoughts ran through her mind, Ayisha watched silently as Scarlett shuffled from foot to foot, her focus narrowed as if it would make a difference. As if anything she did would matter if Ayisha decided otherwise.

Aodhán began the countdown soon after, his voice echoing like thunder in the enclosed space, then with a sharp command, he shouted. "Fight!"

Scarlett attacked immediately, hurling a flurry of uncommon-ranked daggers, each one enhanced to the limits of its structural integrity.

Had this been a more public duel, Ayisha would have feigned struggle in a bid to look weaker than she was, but with such a small audience, Ayisha decided there was no need to pretend.

The daggers burned the air, tearing through the space with an audible whoosh, but with {Foresight}, Ayisha simply took a step to the side, tilting her body just enough for the blades to whistle past her, so close that she could almost feel them brush against her skin.

They struck the wall behind her with a sharp crack, causing runes to flare brightly in defiance. Ayisha glanced at Scarlett and raised an eyebrow in challenge. Is that all you've got?

Scarlett grimaced, her expression hardening with determination as she prepared to do something 'surprising.'

By the heavens, would they ever learn? With foresight, nothing was truly surprising.

She spun sharply, dodging just in time as the daggers embedded in the wall behind her suddenly reversed direction, stabbing through the space she had occupied a heartbeat ago.

"Impressive," Ayisha said, her tone dry. "But I can't say I didn't see that coming."

Scarlett growled, her face twitching in anger as the daggers she had thrown earlier crumbled to dust. In their place, nearly a dozen flaming blades materialized, burning so intensely that they tore through the space with a piercing screech. They were packed so tightly together that a simple dodge wouldn't be enough.

The attack was meant to force her into action, but Ayisha only smiled and activated {Time Manipulation—Decelerate}. Instantly, the blades slowed to a crawl, as if wading through thick molasses. They moved so slowly that Scarlett shouted. "Fight me, you fucking bitch."

"I am fighting," Ayisha responded, amused. "You're just…

Before she could finish, Scarlett exploded with rage, and a long, crimson sword materialized in her grip. It radiated a bloody aura, so thick that the sharp scent of iron flooded the ring. The moment she enhanced it, its power skyrocketed, so much so that Ayisha nearly choked on the overwhelming presence.

It was impressive, the things that Scarlett could do; Ayisha wouldn't deny that, but against her, it was all so… futile.

Scarlett dashed forward, swinging the bloody sword in a deadly arc, but before she could take more than a few steps, Ayisha activated {Time Manipulation—Decelerate} once more, expanding the bubble of decelerated time to encompass the entire ring.

Just like flaming blades still creeping forward at a snail's pace, Scarlett was caught in the bubble, her movements sluggish despite flaring her aura and willpower to combat the temporal distortion.

Smiling, Ayisha walked towards her slowly and said. "Now, you can either surrender quietly or I can keep you in a time loop for the next hour until you do. Your choice."

Unable to speak coherently within the decelerated bubble, Scarlett just nodded. Ayisha's smile widened, and with a flick of her fingers, she dismissed the time bubble, squeezing her hands into fists to hide just how much willpower she had burned to make this battle seem effortless.

The manipulation of time was so willpower-draining that simply capturing Scarlett within the bubble had nearly burned away a quarter of her willpower, due to how fervently Scarlett had fought her capture.

"I hate you." Scarlett spat the moment she could move freely again. She slapped Ayisha's offered hand away. "And I'm no longer giving you any of my brothers."

Ayisha laughed. "Oh, but we can't have that. Ankaz is so handsome."

"Ew. He's my brother. He looks like an ogre."

They exited the ring, and Aodhán's friends came to congratulate her, their expressions amazed even though she had only used a single skill in that fight. Crushing her opponents like this felt satisfying, but Ayisha knew she couldn't keep holding back.

defying her father was not an option. she had to bring her A-game to the next duel. Hopefully, her next opponent would pose more of a challenge.