The Ascender's Legacy [A CHAOTIC STORM LITRPG]

Daruk's victory caused an uproar of cheers and outrage—the former from their enthusiastic seniors and the latter from the students still in line, especially those who had thought they stood a great chance of winning the trial if Daruk hadn't done so first.

Prominent members within this group included Lysirel Cosmind, Celeste, Lilith, and Cyrus. Their grumbles and murmurs echoed in Aodhán's ears, but he ignored them as he rushed to hug Daruk, relieved that they'd avoided the train wreck that would have been the trial of spirit.

Daruk's eyes were a milky white when Aodhán reached him, but his smile was wider than Aodhán had ever seen.

"What a relief." Aodhán smiled as he pulled back from the hug and extended Daruk's right hand to the waiting healer. The healer clasped Daruk's hands, and soft golden strings of energy emerged from her arms to swirl gently around his.

While the healer worked, Aodhán continued. "I'm so proud of you."

Daruk nodded. "I am, too. But more importantly, I'm now a candidate for the tournament." He clasped Aodhán's hand with his left and smiled wider. "I can't wait for you to join me tomorrow."

Aodhán smiled. "Me too."

Daruk regained his sight a moment later, blinking against the brightness of the sun. His gaze went to the holographic screen displaying his name, and a wide grin appeared on his face. "This is so surreal. I still can't believe that gamble paid off."

Andrew and Yurin soon joined them in celebration, and together, they exited the stage, laughing and chanting Daruk's name alongside the audience.

They finally returned to their seats as Professor Vastermoff announced the commencement of the second-year trials, but although Aodhán would have loved to stay and watch with the others, he had too much to do and very little time in which to do it.

One issue in particular was most pressing—the trial of the spirit.

The trial was a measure of one's spiritual cultivation, and despite the enviable rise in advancement within the first-year bracket, Aodhán was almost certain he had this trial in the bag. Aside from the fact that he was an 'inheritor,' he also had Varéc, whose contribution to his spiritual cultivation far exceeded that of an icon.

Still, there was no harm in ensuring his victory. His spirit was strong, Aodhán knew, but there was nothing wrong with making it stronger—just in case.

Settling into a meditative pose, Aodhán began by taming and harnessing his willpower, drawing from the dam of inexhaustible will Az'marthon had left him. The process was seamless, almost perfunctory at this point, and with every flame of willpower he tamed, his mind settled further.

His thoughts slowed, and his spirit opened up to the origin plane of storm. Chaos rushed in, pleasurable and painful at the same time, but Aodhán didn't mind the rush of sensation. Instead, he waited until his entire being hummed in harmony, then turned his senses inward.

Beneath the haze of chaos rushing into his spirit, his core blazed to his senses like a star, only slightly tainted with tiny dots of impurities—like scars on a beautiful painting. They weren't enough to limit him in any way, but their mere presence made him grimace.

Exhaling deeply, he turned his senses away from his core to scan his pathways and then his essence threads. The blue tendrils gleamed to his senses, revealing themselves more easily to him now than before. He scanned the essence threads he had expanded so far and smiled as the golden threads gleamed back at him. They were only slightly smaller than the pathways themselves now, but he was far from finished.

For the past few days, Aodhán had been stealing moments out of his busy schedule to expand his essence threads, and he was proud to see that he had made significant progress. Aside from his brain, which remained untouched, he had expanded all the essence threads in his head and neck region. He was working on his chest area now, inching ever so slowly toward his lungs.

Smiling in satisfaction, he picked up from where he'd left off, harnessing a wisp of quintessence from his seal and drawing it into his spirit. Chaos and quintessence clashed, creating a fusion of unstable energies that swirled within his spirit like a ball of liquid flame.

An infusion of willpower stabilized the mixture, just barely, causing it to light up his spirit for a moment. It was fleeting, but the flash of brightness was all Aodhán needed, and a moment later, he latched onto a bundle of dormant threads leading to his right lung and began expanding it.

A weave of stabilized chaos-quintessence surged into the essence threads, expanding the tiny pathways the deeper it went. His proficiency with the process had increased greatly, and three hours later, Aodhán finished expanding the bundle, inhaling deeply as chaotic quintessence rushed into his lungs.

The energy burned off any impurities within his lungs, and the second breath Aodhán took was so clean and clear that his body shuddered from the bliss of it.

Without delay, he began working on his left lung, harnessing another wisp of quintessence from his seal to push through the bundle of dormant threads. He gave his heart a wide berth, though, not wanting to risk pushing chaos into his heart without the required experience to handle such a feat. Hopefully, he would be able to advance his proficiency with the technique to rough before dawn.

Pushing all thoughts aside, Aodhán focused on expanding his essence threads as much as he could. But unlike the seamlessness of willpower taming, this process was far more demanding, causing his brows to scrunch tightly together as he fixed all of his concentration on the painstaking work.

The more time passed, the wearier Aodhán became, but he refused to give up. He had delayed this technique long enough.

Before long, the golden clouds of the nexus of sunsets converged in the sky, bathing the training room in their glow. Deciding to take a small break, Aodhán summoned Varéc out of his spirit for his nightly hunt, bidding him to be careful before settling back to continue his meditation.

For the next few hours, Aodhán worked tirelessly, slowly expanding the essence threads until he completed both lungs and eventually branched into his diaphragm. The accomplishment brought a smile of relief to his face, and he exhaled deeply, relishing the pleasure surging through him as chaotic quintessence pooled within his chest, setting his nerves alight with power and excitement.

Inhaling deeply, he prepared to delve into the next bundle of essence threads, but before he could begin, a notification chimed in his mind, and his smile widened into a grin.

Congratulations! You have improved your proficiency in the Energy Enhancement Technique. Rank: Crude ---> Rough.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Finally." Aodhán breathed in relief as he stared at the notification. He'd achieved his aim far earlier than he had hoped, and though he was tired, he still had an hour or two left in him before he couldn't go any longer.

Chuckling to himself, he channeled the remaining weave of chaotic quintessence into the next bundle, slowly expanding it until his head began throbbing with a headache.

Straining, Aodhán pushed for a few more minutes before finally giving up, nearly collapsing to the floor as he released the essence thread. He pushed the remaining weave of chaotic quintessence out of his spirit as a beam of red electricity that surged from his right palm to strike the opposite wall, causing a host of runes to flare.

But Aodhán was too tired to assess the damage. His eyelids felt heavy, and his head throbbed with a headache.

Forcing his gaze upward, Aodhán looked at the time and smiled when he realized that it was already past midnight. If his calculations were right, then he had been meditating for the last ten hours or so. That was a lot, even for him, but he couldn't rest yet.

He hadn't learned a single rune since the academy resumed. The last rune he had learned was MYRRDAN—the rune of decay and rust.

The fifteenth rune might have been great progress in the last class, but Professor Caldwell was sure to raise an eyebrow if he said he hadn't perfected any other rune since then. Even he was unsatisfied with himself. There was just so much to do in so little time. It was almost as if he spent half his time getting into trouble and the other half getting out of it.

Sighing heavily, Aodhán pushed himself to his feet and made his way back to his room, where his pen and practice notebook waited for him, placed beside a host of textbooks and Geneva's practice notebook.

They beckoned him forward, promising the usual excitement he always felt whenever he studied them. Aodhán hesitated for a moment before finally giving in to the urge.

Smiling faintly, he sat down at his reading table and opened his practice notebook. He opened Geneva's practice notebook next, flipping the pages carefully until he reached the sixteenth rune: DRAVMIR—the rune of silence.

DRAVMIR was a rune Aodhán had wanted to learn for a long time now, especially when he was at home, to limit the noise of his errors or explosions.

Geneva's practice notebook, however, had several variations of DRAVMIR. The first was the original version, bulky and complex, but with each page he flipped, the runes became slimmer and slimmer until the last version—a golden symbol only slightly more complex than the letter S. It was so streamlined that Aodhán felt that if he activated it, he would most likely blow something up.

Professor Caldwell's advice on safety came to him, and Aodhán sighed. He stared at the streamlined version of the rune for a moment before flipping back to the original rune to learn that one instead. The silence rune, however, wasn't that difficult to learn, despite its complexity, and two hours later, Aodhán smiled, tired eyes scanning the perfected rune glowing in his practice notebook.

Excitement bubbled within him, and despite his tiredness, Aodhán decided to learn the next rune too. The next rune was a peculiar one: SKORVAL—the rune of fragrance.

It wasn't a particularly useful rune, but Aodhán decided to learn it regardless. The rune, however, was very complex despite its simple function. Aodhán wondered what would happen if he did mess things up and chuckled. What was the worst that could happen? He'd blow a place up with sweet-smelling fragrance?

Chuckling tiredly to himself, he began working on the rune.

Varéc arrived an hour later, sharp claws tapping gently against the windowpane to signal his arrival, but Aodhán was too deeply absorbed to hear him.

His eyes were closed, his face pressed against his notes, and a pen dangling loosely between his fingers. A small pool of drool had gathered beneath his lips, and soft snores echoed through the room.

Aodhán was fast asleep.

Varéc took one look at him and let out a low, amused growl. Waking Aodhán would have been simple, but Varéc was quite pleased to find him unconscious. He had an adventure of his own in mind.

For months now, Varéc had roamed the skies of Sector 5, hunting and drifting among the clouds. Each time he returned from a hunt, he brought back a souvenir—what Aodhán teasingly called a bribe. Today was no different. Clutched between his fangs were two gleaming wind cores, their vivid hues brilliant against the darkness of his scales.

Had Aodhán been awake, he would have immediately noticed the oddity of the third core nestled between the others. A sky core? That was exceptionally rare. Like the storm affinity, the sky affinity was complex and elusive, encompassing wind, gravity, light, color, and several other affinity subsets.

Naturally, Aodhán would have asked where Varéc had found it, which would have been awkward—because Varéc hadn't acquired the core hunting in the forests or any of the other areas Aodhán had granted him access to.

For the past few months, Varéc had hunted within the fifth academy and the surrounding cities. Once or twice, he had even ventured as far as Norbuik and Nematon. But today, he had traveled even farther. Had Aodhán not been so deep in meditation, he might have noticed—and certainly wouldn't have approved.

But Varéc craved adventure.

After circling the sector for hours with nothing to show for it, he'd soared toward the border, tearing through the golden clouds of the Nexus of Sunsets and into the open sky beyond. That was where he had discovered a dungeon—but this wasn't just any dungeon. It was a sky dungeon, its green entrance gleaming with a promise of adventure and excitement he hadn't experienced in far too long.

Varéc hadn't entered the dungeon yet, worried Aodhán might summon him back if he did, but with his partner asleep, he had the perfect opportunity to explore the dungeon to his heart's content.

Growling in anticipation, Varéc flew to the roof and deposited the cores, laying them carefully in a corner for his return. Then he soared back into the sky, elated that he'd been given both the chance and the perfect excuse to explore the sky dungeon he had discovered.

Racing toward the academy's aerial shield, Varéc felt the spiritual perception of several guards settle on him with familiar curiosity. He was well known by now, so he ignored their routine scrutiny as his dark wings carried him through the entrance they created.

With a roar of excitement, he headed for the very border of the sector, wings slicing through the air as he flew like a streak of light. When he reached the border half an hour later, he suddenly veered upward, tearing through the golden clouds of the Nexus once more and roaring triumphantly at the vast sky beyond—a sky so dense with stars they looked like sand scattered across a dark beach.

Their numbers were overwhelming, their colors mesmerizing.

With another roar of excitement, Varéc surged higher and higher, breaching the first and second layers of the atmosphere until he finally reached it.

Gleaming just below the aerial shields themselves, at the very border of the fifth sector, was an imperceptible ripple in space. Growling in excitement, Varéc flew toward it, fangs bared in anticipation as he congratulated himself on finding the sky dungeon again.

The rippling entrance soon revealed itself, large and imposing, hinting at a danger level far above any dungeon Aodhán had ever attempted. Despite its location, the dungeon wasn't, however, a wild dungeon. Two advanced guards stood before the entrance, dressed in the colors of the Adventurer's Guild.

They eyed Varéc curiously as he approached, arms folded behind their backs, expressions hard. When Varéc finally reached them, the first guard raised a hand to halt him and said, "Familiar of Aodhán Brystion, you have no clearance to enter this dungeon, as your bond isn't registered with the Adventurer's Guild. You can only be granted access if you promise to pay the required fee before leaving."

Varéc couldn't speak, of course, so he nodded instead and growled, trying to show his agreement with the deal by stretching a wing.

The guard smiled. "Well, then. You'll have to contact your bond as soon as you enter the dungeon. We mean it when we say you will not be allowed to leave without due payment."

"It's only a thousand coins." The second guard smiled, looking a little more relaxed compared to the first.

Varéc growled again to signal his agreement, and after exchanging glances, the two guards stepped aside from the entrance. The first guard gestured toward the entrance. "Well, then, have a lovely hunt, stormy one. I'm sure this will make for an interesting arrangement when your bond eventually gets here."

Varéc grinned, wings flapping and fangs bared, as he rushed into the dungeon. He cared not for the arrangement, nor did he realize what this might mean for Aodhán. He was just too excited to show Aodhán what he had just discovered. To return to the academy with a load of rare affinity cores and watch Aodhán's face light up with wonder.

After Varéc entered the dungeon, the guards exchanged glances again, and the first guard asked, "Is that familiar up to a year old?"

The second guard frowned. "I doubt it. It's huge, but its intellect isn't that developed."

The first guard chuckled. "Well, old or not, I'm sure it'll make for some interesting developments when his bond gets here. At the very least, it'll be a relief from boredom."

The guards laughed and turned their gaze toward the fifth academy, where a certain student soon began stirring from all the foreign excitement welling within him.