The Ascender's Legacy [A CHAOTIC STORM LITRPG]

Fortunately for Aodhán and Daruk, the entire morning passed without much drama. After they left the clearing, they began their hunt for the Hevrenten MindBlossom immediately—skillfully evading both hunters and creatures to save time.

They had eight plants to find and only twelve hours in which to do so. Considering their track record, it wasn't exactly impossible, but it would be very hard, especially now that Andrew and Yurin had returned to the academy.

With that in mind, Aodhán raced through the forest with single-minded focus, his entire attention fixed on core sense, which was stretched to its absolute limit in an attempt to pierce the node clusters of plants from miles away. The strain sent a dull ache behind his eyes, but he pushed through it. Thankfully, the number of mind affinity plants within the forest was little—only a few dozen.

With only a few points to search, Aodhán found the Hevrenten in less than an hour, grinning from ear to ear as he placed the purplish plant within his spatial storage while Daruk dealt with the Slytherin protecting it.

"What's next?" Daruk asked, transforming a ball of ice into water to wash the blood off his hands. "If we continue like this, we might make good time."

"I doubt we can continue like this." Aodhán shook his head, feeling a slight strain in his shoulders. "The only reason we found this plant so quickly is because the mind affinity is so rare in quantity. The other affinities are quite abundant, which means we'll have a larger area to search."

Daruk shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Well then, we'd better get moving. What's the next plant"?

"The EpochVine," Aodhán replied and placed the list back in his pocket. "It's a time affinity plant, so hopefully, it'll be a little easier to find."

Daruk nodded and threw the Slytherin's core into his spatial storage with a satisfied grunt. "Okay, let's get moving."

Aodhán took a moment to shift his target from mind to time affinity, and as a new set of cores exploded with intensity to his senses, he began making his way to the nearest plant, racing forward steadily while Daruk followed behind him. The forest seemed to blur around them as they moved—ancient oaks giving way to twisted willows, then dense thickets of thornbush that scratched at their clothing despite their careful navigation. Despite pushing his core sense to the absolute limit, the ability didn't seem to be anywhere near an evolution, forcing him to check out every epic-ranked plant on his radar before finding the plant he was looking for.

Still, they were making decent progress, and by the time noon came, they had crossed out four more plants from the list, leaving only three epic-ranked plants left to find. The spatial ring Aodhán had gotten exactly for this purpose was nearly full to bursting, with Professor Jorendil's plants arranged on one side and a mountain of uncommon, rare, and epic plants piled high on the other.

With only three plants left to find and six hours in which to do so, Aodhán was cautiously optimistic they would make it back in time for dinner at the cafeteria tonight. Maybe even earlier if their luck held.

The deeper they ventured into Nilhal, though, the more dangerous things became, and the final three plants were likely to be the most challenging yet. They'd been pushing hard all morning, taking circuitous routes to avoid clashing with hunting parties or running into packs of Rithclaws, but the constant vigilance was wearing on them both, and after a few hours, they both decided to take a break and rest a bit. They had enough time either way.

Exhausted, they settled within a small clearing surrounded by tall oaks and jagged silver boulders stacked haphazardly on top of each other in a way only nature could.

Exhaling deeply, Daruk slid down the bark of a tree. "Dear heavens, I need an ice bath."

"I just need a bath." Aodhán concurred and then summoned a storm cloud before dismissing it. "That won't satisfy me."

Daruk chuckled and pulled a jug of ice-cold water from his spatial ring. He handed a cup to Aodhán, who accepted it with a nod of thanks. In one smooth move, he downed the drink, exhaling deeply as the cool liquid slid down his throat and chest, spreading cold everywhere.

They sat in silence for a moment, simply enjoying the chirping of birds and the sound of insects, until Daruk spoke. "Three more plants to go, huh? With luck on our side, we'll finish this mission before dusk."

"We just might," Aodhán chuckled and then glanced at the list. "The first two plants should be relatively easy to find, and though the third might be a little complex, I don't think it should cost us five hours to find."

Daruk smirked. "What if we don't find them?"

"That's impossible. They might be epic-ranked plants, but they aren't that scarce, to be honest."

"What if we find the last two and can't find the first one at all?"

Aodhán leaned back against a boulder. "Then we return to the academy without it. Seventeen out of eighteen plants is a pass mark in my book. Besides, I think we've found the most important plants anyway. Professor Jorendil can simply buy the rest from the auction house."

Daruk took another sip of water, eyeing him curiously. "How much will you sell to him?"

"I'm not sure yet." Aodhán pulled out the plant list, scanning it thoughtfully. "I'll have to speak to Gwendolyn Blackwood first to know the current market prices. The Eternal Emporium has better rates, so we could use theirs. But I also have to factor in the stress we all went through, Andrew and Yurin's near-death experience—"

"That has nothing to do with the hunt." Daruk waved his hand dismissively. "Besides, they already got a great title as compensation for their troubles."

Aodhán rolled his eyes. "I'll factor it in anyway. Professor Jorendil is a peak advanced class awakened. He's most definitely not poor, and I doubt he'll be keen on haggling—"

His words were cut short when a sudden rustle broke through the underbrush, and a creature darted into view—no larger than a house cat. It was light-bodied, with a metallic sheen to its fur and sleek, flexible limbs. Its paws were entirely covered in silvery metal that gleamed like polished steel.

Above its head floated a simple text: [Serriswing, Tier-7].

Despite its name, the creature had no wings. Aodhán was about to chuckle and point this out to Daruk when the Serriswing suddenly launched itself up a tree trunk, then twisted mid-air with fluid grace.

Its trajectory curved unnaturally, as if guided not by wings or wind but by something else entirely. It bounced off bark, kicked against what seemed like empty air, and moved in arcs too precise to be instinctual. Yet it wasn't gliding, nor was it flying.

Instead, its metallic paws gleamed with each movement, seemingly absorbing the force of every impact and releasing it as the Serriswing chose. Aodhán's eyes widened in recognition—it was like watching a physical manifestation of his {Surging Momentum} skill.

The creature launched itself at another tree, seemingly unconcerned about their presence. Again, its metallic paws flared with light as it leaped, converting raw movement into something more refined. Momentum itself, perhaps?

Aodhán remembered the guards from the awakened council who had used gravity boots to reach the top of the spire. What the Serriswing was doing wasn't exactly the same, but it wasn't entirely different either. The gravity boots had been crude and heavy, allowing the guards to hover and dart across the sky with rigid, bulky movements.

The Serriswing's paws were the opposite—seemingly paper-thin yet perfectly efficient. Momentum in its purest form.

The creature soon darted beyond their view, leaving only swaying branches in its wake. Daruk chuckled softly. "I can't decide which is cuter—this or the Rizzels."

Aodhán smiled, settling back against his boulder. "I'll choose this one since it didn't try to kill us."

Despite his humorous words, Aodhán's mind was racing. For months now, he had been thinking of an item that would grant him an edge, something that aligned perfectly with him, but what if he'd been thinking in the wrong direction?

The Serriswing's soles had opened his mind in a way, linking itself with the gravity boots he had seen a few days ago. Neither fit him perfectly, nor would either grant him the edge he sought, but there was an idea brewing somewhere in the connection. A middle ground that, if executed properly, could be truly formidable. He didn't need flight—he already had his platforms and his wings—nor did he need another version of {Surging Momentum}.

And then it clicked.

"No… not flight," he murmured to himself. "Directed will. Will into force."

He didn't need boots. He didn't want flight. He wanted freedom of movement—true movement—force that surged the moment he willed it into being. He wouldn't have to wait to absorb kinetic energy and force with {Surging Momentum} before rocketing forward. What if he could create that force at will? Or, more appropriately, with willpower itself?

A concept began to crystallize in his mind: slim, detachable soles infused with runes. Momentum is not stolen from gravity but born from pure willpower. Speed that responded to intent—so vast it would rival his enhanced perception. Force that scaled with resolve…

The idea simmered and took shape with startling clarity, and as it did, his spirit hummed in perfect resonance. Aodhán's lips curled in a slow grin. He had found it. An item that was uniquely his own, one that resonated flawlessly with his spirit.

Drawing a notepad from his spatial necklace, he sketched frantically, etching the vivid image from his mind onto paper before it could fade. He would need to speak with Professor Caldwell about the required materials. Hopefully, by then, he would have scraped together enough coin to purchase everything necessary.

Silence settled over the clearing as he put his thoughts to paper, while Daruk chose to spend the time in meditation. They stayed that way for more than an hour before they finally stood up to continue their hunt.

Four and a half hours remained, with three plants yet to find. They were still on schedule.

The next plant on the list was a wind-affinity plant, and with his core sense stretched to its absolute limit, Aodhán and Daruk raced from specimen to specimen, harvesting some while dismissing others based on the trouble they would cost to obtain. To save time, they skirted around plants guarded by particularly formidable creatures or other hunters—unless it was a plant they really wanted.

The four hours trickled down in this manner—peacefully—until only one hour remained, and still one plant hadn't been crossed off their list. It was the Purple Ambrosia, a rare-ranked spatial affinity plant that Aodhán had spent the past two hours desperately searching for.

"Maybe it doesn't exist in Nilhal?" Daruk wondered aloud after hours of futile searching.

"It does," Aodhán insisted. "According to the textbook, hunters have found it here before, especially toward the forest's center."

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"Perhaps another hunter claimed it before us. There are dozens of them roaming these woods, after all."

Still, Aodhán refused to give up. Unfortunately for him, spatial affinity was remarkably abundant, which meant the plants were scattered far and wide, too many to actually harvest or investigate in mere hours.

In the end, Aodhán had to give up and accept that he wouldn't find the Purple Ambrosia.

He spent the remaining time harvesting plant after plant, most of them Epic or Rare-ranked, and when their twelve-hour deadline finally expired, they clicked on the ejector and were immediately transported back to the Academy.

Upon their return, their first destination was the nature laboratory, where they found Gwendolyn Blackwood deep in discussion with several second-year students about a rare-ranked, fire-affinity plant. The specimen had a pitch-black stem bearing bright orange leaves that flickered like tongues of flame.

Daruk nudged him forward. "You go talk to her while I message Andrew and Yurin."

Aodhán nodded and began making his way toward her. He lingered behind the second-year students, waiting for her to finish speaking to them before approaching.

She smiled when she noticed him. "Hello, Aodhán. How are you?"

"Exhausted," Aodhán smiled back, then grew serious. "I need your help with something. Is there a private room where we can speak?"

"Is something wrong?" She frowned, concern painting her features.

"No, not at all. I…" He leaned forward and whispered, "I just returned from Nilhal, and I need you to help me with the prices of a considerable number of plants."

Gwendolyn's eyes widened, and she glanced around to ensure no one was listening before asking, "Just how many plants are we talking about here?"

Aodhán scratched his neck awkwardly. "I don't know. A hundred, maybe two. Epic, Rare, and Uncommon."

Gwendolyn's eyes practically bulged within their sockets, and she couldn't have pushed him toward her office faster. She paused midway through as she found Andrew, Daruk, and Yurin already waiting, each wearing eager expressions.

"We're together," Aodhán explained quickly, as she sent a curious look in his direction. "We went to Nilhal together. They have to be present for this."

Gwendolyn frowned, and then her gaze widened. "Don't tell me—" she turned to stare at the boys. "Do you guys all have plants too?"

Andrew shook his head. "Only a few. I've given the bulk of what I found to Aodhán. These two behind me don't have anything."

Yurin jabbed him playfully, and Gwendolyn cracked a smile.

Exhaling in relief, she pushed the office door open, gestured for them to come in, and then shut the door firmly behind them.

"Okay, we can—" Aodhán began, but she cut him off with a sharp glare and raised a finger to her lips.

"Not yet," she explained when Aodhán paused and began activating a series of runes around the office. "We can't afford another scene like last time. Once you bring out those plants, it'll only be a matter of time before that door is blown to bits from students and teachers trying to buy or take the plants for themselves."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Yurin asked.

"Yes and no," Aodhán replied grudgingly. A part of him was excited at the prospect. He could have had another auction and made a whole lot of money, but did he want the attention that came with it? Better to sell it to the pavilion and let them auction it instead.

He gave voice to his reasoning, and Gwendolyn nodded. "As an agent of the pavilion, I must let you know that the pavilion greatly appreciates your patronage. It is rare to find hunters of your caliber, and we want you to keep selling to us. To this end, we have decided to buy everything you choose to sell at a higher price. We won't be using the normal market prices, but those of the Eternal Emporium, which is usually about 5% costlier."

Daruk whistled in admiration, and Aodhán smiled. "Sign us up. Unless we find a better deal in the future, you can consider us your personal hunters."

"I wouldn't quite phrase it that way," Andrew murmured, and Gwendolyn smiled.

Moving toward the marble counter at the center of the office, she pulled one last lever, and all the runes blazed to life at once, shimmering a golden hue so bright it put the overhead light to shame. Nearly all the runes were obfuscation or energy containment runes, but Aodhán sensed a few void runes scattered around.

Gwendolyn placed both hands on the counter and sighed in relief. "Okay, I'm ready. But before we start, let me understand you perfectly. You want to get the prices of each plant and then sell them all to the Pavilion?"

"We won't be selling all of them," Aodhán explained. "Some were specifically harvested for Professor Jorendil, so we need to know their prices to know how much to charge him."

Andrew nodded. "We might also want to keep a few to ourselves, but yes, we would like to know the prices of them all."

"And their fruits," Aodhán continued. "Some of them have fruits. I'm fairly certain those are priced separately. Is that right?"

"It is," Gwendolyn nodded, pulling out a silk rag from her spatial ring to clean the counter, her gaze unfocused as she stared at her status screen. A moment later, a holographic interface of the Eternal Emporium appeared before them—not shared, but projected for them to see.

Gwendolyn's gaze focused, and she rubbed her hands together. "I'm ready. Pour the plants on the counter."

Aodhán unleashed the contents of his spatial ring onto the marble counter, pouring out a veritable mountain of plants from his spatial storage.

Gwendolyn's jaw dropped, but she wasn't the only one in shock. Before them stood nothing less than two hundred plants, more than half of them Epic-ranked.

Yurin whistled in admiration, and Andrew shook his head. "It's so much more than I expected."

Even Aodhán was surprised. He hadn't exactly been counting the plants he harvested, but looking at them right now, Aodhán struggled to suppress the childish urge to shout, "We're gonna be rich, baby."

Gwendolyn only allowed herself a moment to gape at the pile of plants before she began sorting them. Her fingers moved swiftly, differentiating the plants with only a glance. In only a few seconds, the mountain of plants had been cut in half, and two minutes later, it was reduced to thirteen smaller piles—an arrangement Aodhán had become familiar with.

On the far right of the counter were the Epic plants, which had been further divided into four different piles—concepts, elements, light, and shadow. The next four piles made up the rare-ranked plants, and the next four piles made up the uncommon-ranked plants. The last pile, which was the smallest, contained a series of fruits, some as small as nuts and others the size of apples.

Gwendolyn looked at the array of plants and fruits with a smile. "If that's all, let's begin—"

"It's not all," Aodhán cut in and then released another pile of plants. There were only seventeen plants within this pile, and they were in a category of their own. He placed them on one side of the counter and explained, "These are the plants we harvested for Professor Jorendil. Since we won't be selling these to the Pavilion, we would like to get the market prices for this pile. I don't want to hike up the prices for Professor Jorendil, not when his mission has already allowed us to make so much more."

Gwendolyn nodded mutely as she observed the seventeen plants, most likely knowing their use, but she turned her gaze away from them without comment and explained, "At the Epic rank, plants aren't usually priced according to category—element or concept—but their functions instead. For this reason, it isn't uncommon to find elemental plants priced far more expensively than conceptual plants. However, certain affinities take precedence regardless."

"The fundamental affinities," Aodhán murmured, and Gwendolyn nodded.

"Yes. Regardless of their nature, these affinities are considered the building blocks of our reality and are priced higher just because of that. Examples of such affinities include earth, time, space, air, water, light, shadow, karma, void, and so many others."

She smiled and picked up the Hevrenten MindBlossom from Professor Jorendil's pile. "Knowing that, I think we can begin. The Emporium's prices are only five percent higher than the normal market prices, so you can just deduct that."

"Can we access the Emporium interface ourselves?" Daruk asked.

Gwendolyn shook her head. "The Eternal Emporium is an interconnected trading network spanning the entire continent of Lutia. Access to their interface can be a bit of a hassle to get unless you've got someone really powerful backing you. As a member of the pavilion, I have limited access to the interface, but I guess I could give you guys a temporary pass. It'll only last five hours, but we should be done by then."

Gwendolyn's eyes grew unfocused again, and a moment later, Aodhán's chip pinged with a notification.

[You have been granted temporary access to the Eternal Emporium interface.]

Welcome, dear awakened. We invite you to browse and buy to your heart's content. If it exists, we sell it. If it doesn't, we will find it.

Time till pass expiration: 4:59:27

Dismissing the notification, Aodhán opened the Emporium interface and blinked in surprise when a sea of items appeared before him—so vast that he wondered if it were possible to browse each category to the end. Everything he could think of was for sale—items, animal parts, plants, food, clothes, books, techniques, treasures, cooking appliances, and even bedsheets.

But that was where the normalcy ended and the impossible began.

Core Fragment of Dying Stars, Blackhole Dust, Blackhole Cores, Singularity Threads, Bottled Quantum Paradoxes and Concepts, Liquid Time, Tamed Event Horizon Shard, Planck Dusts…

Aodhán's world spun as he read through a list of mind-bending items available for sale, each costing millions and billions of Lutian credits. Actual cosmic, elemental, and metaphysical phenomena packaged and sold like groceries. It was insane, but most importantly, it reminded Aodhán of the heights he was aiming for. The kind of power he needed to gain to casually buy and absorb the core of a black hole. Undoubtedly, such items were only used by Calamities.

With a shake of his head, Aodhán realized that he had never truly understood the power of Calamities until now. A person who could casually absorb the core of a dying star or wield singularity threads like ribbons. Just how powerful were they? How hard would it be for them to simply level an entire kingdom if they wanted to? How hard would it be for a group of them to simply destroy the world if they so chose?

No wonder the system was always hounding them to ascend immediately after they reached the 200th tier. No lingering or waiting behind. No chance to get bored and enact calamities upon the world.

Sensing their thoughts, Gwendolyn gave them a few minutes to parse through the Eternal Emporium interface before speaking. "I think we should begin. You'll have more than enough time to scroll through the Emporium after this."

Grudgingly, Aodhán made his way to the plant category and clicked on the search icon. "I'm ready."

Andrew echoed his words, but Yurin and Daruk barely paid them any attention, having secluded themselves in one corner of the office to continue browsing the Emporium interface. Aodhán envied them for that.

Chuckling to herself, Gwendolyn explained how it worked. "The search icon responds to both your thoughts and voice commands. Simply think of the plant you want to search for, and it'll reveal itself to you along with its price."

Aodhán nodded and did as she explained. He'd barely finished thinking the name when the screen shifted and a three-dimensional image of the Hevrenten MindBlossom appeared before him, spinning slowly to display it in its full glory. It zoomed out to display a few lines of information about the plant—basic things that Aodhán already knew.

And under all that was the price: twelve thousand gold coins.

"What the fuck!" Andrew gasped, an appropriate expression for how Aodhán felt at the sight of such a large amount. "Twelve thousand gold for a single Epic plant? That means the market price for the Hevrenten MindBlossom was eleven thousand, four hundred gold. That's so much more than I thought it would be."

"Me too," Aodhán agreed, although he couldn't say he was sad about it. The more expensive the plant, the more money he made. Still, he couldn't help but ask, "Why are they so expensive, though? Even with an auction, I remember selling the Nightshade Lotus for only two thousand five hundred coins. I was expecting the base price for Epic plants to be triple that at most, not quadruple."

Gwendolyn sighed, not willing to expose how envious she was at how easily they just gathered these plants. Plant gathering was a hard profession. She had an edge over most people courtesy of her affinity, but compared to Aodhán's core sense ability and Andrew's secret skill, her edge was shit.

Forcing calm into her voice, she explained, "Epic-ranked plants are not cheap, not even the more popular ones. They are a great deal more expensive than rare-ranked plants, not just because of the difference in rank, but because of their functions and the insight they provide for those who use them. Moreover, this is no ordinary plant. It is a mind affinity plant—an affinity so scarce in Ragnarok that only a few users are known."

"I know I said the Emporium is usually more expensive, but now that I think about it, if the pavilion were to sell this plant, we would most likely sell it for nothing less than twenty thousand, considering the demand for it."

Gwendolyn paused and then asked, "Would you like to switch to the Pavilion's pricing system now that we've established that it might be a bit pricier, considering the demand for the array of affinities you've gathered?"

"No," Aodhán said, shaking his head. Professor Jorendil's dream of creating a dual-affinity core was something he genuinely believed in—and truth be told, Aodhán wanted to be a part of its success when it became a reality. Besides, he'd already promised not to hike the prices too much, despite how tempting it was. "Let's stick with the Emporium's rates."

Gwendolyn nodded and scribbled down the listed price of the Hevrenten on a small notepad before reaching for the next plant—the Lucentglass Myrrthorn.

It wasn't quite as pricey as the Hevrenten, coming in at ten thousand gold coins. Still, the Dark-Vitalis Bloodbloom made that look modest by comparison, with a jaw-dropping price tag of fifteen thousand. The Infernal Emberleaf, at least, offered some relief at only nine thousand gold coins.

Gwendolyn gave a small shake of her head. "That's probably the cheapest Epic-tier plant in this entire batch. I doubt we'll find another one that low."

True to her words, no other plant was priced lower than the Infernal Emberleaf.

Aodhán jotted down the numbers with growing delight, his grin widening as he began calculating just how much Professor Jorendil was about to pay them. At first, Daruk and Yurin had paid them no attention, but as the prices began climbing—ten thousand, fifteen thousand, twenty—they found their ears perking up. And when Aodhán's poorly suppressed giggles broke into open laughter, their curiosity got the better of them.

Now, the two stood frozen, mouths agape, watching as Aodhán and Andrew tallied up the cost of just seventeen plants.

Aodhán snorted as he finished the last sum, laughter bursting out of him uncontrollably. "Two hundred and seven thousand gold coins," he declared, practically breathless. "For seventeen plants."

Yurin let out a stunned breath. "Fuck my life."

"And mine too," Daruk intoned, shaking his head in astonishment. His eyes drifted toward the other piles of unsorted plants spread across the table, suddenly viewing them in a whole new light. "It's like every time we realize just how lucrative plant hunting is, they up the ante."

Aodhán laughed and rubbed his hands together with gleeful anticipation, his grin stretching from ear to ear. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun."