The Ascender's Legacy [A CHAOTIC STORM LITRPG]

"Who's the highest-ranking military officer you can get me in contact with—right now?"

Aodhán read the message, his brows furrowing. He double-checked the sender, and his frown deepened. What kind of mess had Aldric gotten himself into that he needed a high-ranking military officer?

He thought back to their conversation the night before and reached a distressing conclusion. "Did you get caught for piracy?"

Aldric's response came instantly. "Okay, that was cute while it lasted. But now that we are talking about the Military, I should clarify that I'm just a smuggler and seafarer. Sorry to disappoint, but my profession isn't quite that glamorous."

Aodhán exhaled, half-laughing as the tension eased. "Is there really a difference between smuggling and piracy?"

"Plenty actually, but we can delve into the intricacies of that at a later time. Now, I'm not in trouble yet, but I will be if I don't speak to someone in a uniform fast."

"I don't have any military officers on speed dial, Aldric," Aodhán lied. "Where the fuck are you?"

This time, Aldric's response was delayed, and even with miles of distance between them, Aodhán could detect Aldric's hesitance.

"I'm at Baron Shrapanelly's noble estate in Nematon." Aldric finally replied. "I've stumbled on some delicate information, and I need to relay it to the highest-ranking member of the military you can connect me with. Now, we both know you have some contacts. Will you connect me or not?"

"Why not just ask the Baron to connect you?"

"Because he's lying at my feet. Bound and barely conscious."

Aodhán blinked. Then he just shook his head.

He wanted to ask more questions, but the matter seemed urgent, so he decided to save his questions for later and began scrolling through his contact list in search for Major Fortuna. He didn't have to search long, as he'd only just spoken to her a week ago.

After finding her contact, he messaged Aldric back. "I've got Major Fortuna. Is she high enough for you?"

"She's perfect. Now I need you to send her a message. Tell her I've got a devotee-ranked cultist chained to a wall beside me at the bottom of Baron Shrapanelly's dungeon. They can have the cultist if they get me out of here."

At first, Aodhán thought he must have read the text wrong, but a second glance at the floating text convinced him otherwise. A devotee-ranked cultist was no ordinary member of the children. Whomever this cultist was, they had a ton of information about the children locked away in their head. Information that could spell the end of their infestation once and for all.

Not even bothering to ask Aldric how he got into a nobleman's dungeon, Aodhán texted Major Fortuna and relayed all that Aldric had just told him. He tapped his foot impatiently after sending the message, waiting for Fortuna's response.

When she eventually responded, Aodhán wasn't disappointed. "I will handle this. Don't speak to anyone else about it."

"Of course." He responded and then texted Aldric. "I've informed Major Fortuna of the situation, and I've attached her contact to this message just in case you need to speak to her yourself."

"She has contacted me already" Aldric replied. "And Aodhán, please keep this yourself. I'll tell you the whole story as soon as I get out of here."

Aodhán nodded even though Aldric couldn't see him. "Alright. Just… take care, and fix this, Aldric. Whatever this is, we can't have the consequences affecting us or your…our parents."

"I'll fix it."

Their conversation ended after that, yet Aodhán spent a few minutes just staring at his screen worriedly. This was the first time Aldric had ever reached out to him for help ever since he began this seafaring/smuggling career of his, and maybe because nothing had gone wrong before now, Aodhán had let himself underestimate the risks that came with it.

But seafaring was a dangerous profession. It might not be as terrible as piracy, but it was still a risky business. Aldric was toying with fire if his profession was bringing him in contact with cultists and leaving him in dungeons.

Then again, his job did the same. It put him in the line of fire just as often—only in a less nefarious way.

Aodhán sighed and massaged his temples. Part of him wanted to wait—just sit tight until he got confirmation that Aldric was okay. But he couldn't do that. This was his first class of the term. He couldn't afford to miss it or skip it. So, after a few minutes of pacing and second-guessing, he forced himself to move.

Aldric could take care of himself just fine.

It was true too. Despite being a mundane class awakened, Aldric scared him sometimes. Unlike him and Daruk, Aldric's abilities didn't rely on physical force, nor did they affect the physical. Instead, they reached into something far harder to shield—something almost unknowable and impossible to protect.

Aodhán had read up on it once and had found the empathic affinity categorized as an abstract because it was more subjective and fluid rather than structured as most concepts usually were. It wasn't widely accepted in academic circles, but Aodhán thought it made sense. Affinities like memory, insight, fear, dreams, fate, and luck—those that dealt with the metaphysical—fit nowhere else.

Boxing every affinity into only two categories was inadequate.

Still, the point was that the unpredictable and hard-to-understand nature of Aldric's affinity made him dangerous—even to those who, by all logic, should have had no reason to fear him.

Assuring himself that Aldric would be fine, Aodhán pushed the worry to the back of his mind and stepped into the auditorium. The class had already started, so instead of searching for his usual seat, he slid into the nearest empty one—just in time for Valerie Potts to glance up from her notes and announce, "Today, we'll be dissecting the complex relationships between elements, their oppositions, and counterbalances, as well as what we call Triadic and Quadra-Convergences."

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

She turned to the board to begin writing, and that's when Harnoth Darkwater, whom he had made the mistake of sitting next to, growled. "What are you doing here? This isn't your seat."

Not surprised by the confrontation because these sixteen-year-olds were obviously still children, Aodhán pulled out his notebook and said. "I'll get out of your hair soon enough, Harnoth. We only have to endure each other's presence for two hours."

Harnoth scowled but didn't push the matter, and Aodhán sent a silent prayer of thanks to whatever ascendant governed noble tempers before turning his attention to the board.

Valerie finished writing the topic and then turned back to the class with a bright smile. "Now, I know some of this might be unfamiliar territory for a few of you, so I'll start by stating a foundational truth: Elemental Affinities are not isolated forces. They interact, they blend, they oppose—and sometimes, they even warp reality itself. Understanding their interactions is key to wielding them properly.

She stepped forward, her tone shifting into something a bit more playful. "This is going to be a highly interactive class, so let's start with something easy—what happens when water meets fire?"

Dozens of hands rose into the air—including Aodhán's. And really, who could blame them? The recently released result had just opened their eyes to the importance of forge points, and everyone wanted to get as much as they could.

Valerie scanned the sea of raised hands before pointing to Andrew, who looked mildly startled to have been chosen at all. Aodhán couldn't help but wonder if Andrew even realized how much his social standing within the academy had shifted since he gained his icon.

Andrew stood up and responded. "In a clash, water typically extinguishes fire—but that's not always the case. If the flames are hot enough, fire can overcome water instead."

"Ten points to you, Andrew, for that beautiful answer," Valerie said with a pleased nod before turning back to the class. "As Andrew rightly pointed out, the interaction between fire and water hinges heavily on intensity—and in magical combat, on the strength of the awakened individuals involved."

She let the words settle a moment, then continued. "As I stated earlier, elemental affinities are not isolated forces. They interact, blend, oppose—and sometimes even warp reality itself. Understanding these interactions is crucial to mastering your affinity. Now, tell me—how many of you have ever dueled someone whose affinity directly countered yours?"

Aodhán raised his hands along with many others and Valerie nodded, clearly satisfied. "Exactly. By now, you've realized that elemental counters like water beating fire or earth resisting wind aren't absolute. We touched on elemental limitations last term—this is the natural continuation of that lesson."

She stepped aside and gestured toward the board, where a cluster of elemental symbols had been revealed. Tapping the first, then the second, she explained, "Earth and wind are considered counter-elements. At equal strength, earth typically resists wind. But if there's a significant imbalance—either through a well-designed skill or sheer power—wind can slice through stone like paper."

She paused, letting the implication sink in "A skilled Awakened doesn't just master their own affinity. They study how it responds to others, and how to bend the expected rules. That understanding is what helps you create skills that offset those limitations. The same goes for other so-called counter elements."

"These principles I believe are things you already know. The interaction between one element and another is a basic concept. But what happens when we raise the stakes?" She swiped across the board again and the symbols of earth and wind vanished, replaced by those of ice and lightning. Aodhán didn't miss how similar the ice symbol was to the Isa rune.

Smiling, Valerie asked. "What about these two—ice and lightning? How would they interact?"

Silence.

Then Aida tentatively raised a hand. "Lightning melts ice, right?"

Valerie laughed. "I'm afraid not. Ms. Simms. At least, not normal lightning."

Aodhán frowned in thought, his mind going back to all the battles he and Daruk had engaged in before and how his lightning had interacted with Daruk's ice. Ninety percent of the time, Aodhán was certain his lightning attacks shattered Daruk's constructs until recently when Daruk began playing around with the paradoxical nature of his element.

He raised his hands to respond, but Daruk beat him to the punch.

"Just like with fire and water," Daruk began, "the interactions between ice and lightning depend greatly on the intensity of each element. But it goes deeper than that. It also hinges on the composition and structure of the ice itself. Mundane ice acts as an insulator, but magical ice can act as a conductor if its structure and paradoxical nature are harnessed right. This allows it to conduct and even transfer electricity exceptionally well and even allows for the creation of fusion techniques that blend the best of both elements." He frowned, then added with a frown, "I suppose this is also where intent comes into play."

Nearly the whole class took a minute to digest that packed response, and even Valerie blinked before speaking. "Beautiful answer, Daruk, fifteen points. Though I think it could have done with a little more streamlining."

Daruk sat down, and she continued. "Just as Daruk explained, the results of such elemental interactions lie not only in their intensity but also in their intent and structure. If lightning was created to work alongside ice rather than shatter it, then a fusion is possible. In a normal interaction, though, lightning either shatters ice or conducts it. In fact, for the sake of understanding, why don't we have a demonstration?"

A chorus of agreement echoed out, and Valerie proceeded to call Aodhán and Daruk out to the stage. When they got to the front of the class, Valerie placed them opposite each other and asked. "You're both at the same tier, right?"

"Yeah," Aodhán replied and she nodded. "Good, so we can assume you're both on the same power level. Now for intensity, Aodhán, I want you both to create a bolt of lightning using only a single strand of willpower, and Daruk will create a box of ice doing the same thing."

They complied.

Channeling only a single strand of willpower through his pathways, Aodhán summoned a bolt of white-gold lightning in his hand and raised it slightly, enjoying the harmless crackling of electricity around his fingers. Daruk did the same, creating a foot-sized block of ice using only a single strand of willpower.

It surged forward and struck the icebox, crackling across its surface in a flash of blue-white arcs. Thin fractures spread rapidly, dancing across the frosted surface like veins of light.

But it didn't shatter.

Then again, Aodhán hadn't caused the bolt to explode. He had let it fizzle and arc, holding back its destructive force and allowing it to discharge erratically. A fine dusting of frost and a few delicate cracks flaked off the levitating box, but it remained intact.

"So, do you see?" Valerie gestured for both boys to return to their seats and turned to address the rest of the class. "At roughly equal strength and intensity, ice and lightning can cancel each other out. But the introduction of intent changes everything. Your intentions—whether focused or diffuse—play a vital role in magical interactions like this."

She swiped across the board again, shifting the display. "Now, let's move on to the concept of Triadic and Quadra Convergence…"

The class continued in this manner for the next two hours. Valerie peppered the session with questions, pulling students up for live demonstrations on essence convergence and counterbalance mechanics. It turned into a full-on point fest, with students gaining forge points for every correct answer or successful display of skill.

By the time the lesson ended, the class was practically buzzing with activity. Valerie finally clapped her hands and gave a nod. "For your assignment, I want you to research the principle of Affinity Counterbalances and Convergence. Give practical examples if possible. Class dismissed."

Ten minutes later, the class officially ended, and as soon as Valerie stepped out, the room erupted into excited cheers.

Aodhán weaved his way through the crowd toward Andrew and Daruk, smiling just as Andrew punched the air with a triumphant grin.
"Thirty whole points," Andrew said. "I don't think I've ever racked up that many in one class before."

"It was fun, I can't deny." Daruk chuckled. "Gaining that many points in one go cured my depression from this morning."

They all laughed and started making their way out of the auditorium together. When they exited the hall, Daruk texted Yurin, asking him to meet them at the arena. Aodhán, meanwhile, sent a quick message to Aldric.

"Are you okay?"

A few seconds later, a single-word reply came through.

"Yes."

Aldric's response was short and abrupt, but it was enough. Aodhán was just glad Aldric was still alive. Pushing the matter to the back of his mind, he joined his friends in waiting for Yurin by the courtyard steps.

Yurin arrived a few minutes later, and together, they headed for the arena. It was time to screw up the leaderboards—or at least, that was what everyone else was aiming for. Aodhán? He just wanted to keep his place at the top.