The Ascender's Legacy [A CHAOTIC STORM LITRPG]

With Cyrus taking care of the gargoyles and Aodhán dealing with the churning storm above, Daruk was finally able to concentrate on his advancement.

He pulled out three water cores from his bag and pushed himself into the 24th tier, gasping in pleasure as energy surged out of his core like a dam burst open. It rushed into his pathways, cleaning and reinforcing them, before diffusing into his muscles and bones.

Daruk smiled at the strength he had gained from the advancement, despite it being only one tier. It wasn't overwhelming in any way, but it was apparent in the way his muscles contracted and moved, having grown subtly denser and more compact.

Daruk moved his arms around and clenched his fist to test his new strength. The results caused his smile to widen into a grin, and he let out a small whoop of excitement. It had been a while since he'd actually advanced his tier, so long that he'd almost forgotten the euphoric pleasure it brought.

But that delay had been intentional.

Ever since Sunstone's brutal attack on Ragnarok, Daruk had focused nearly all of his attention on the paradoxical nature of his affinity. Ice in itself was nothing special. It was merely a sub-affinity born from the simple act of drawing away heat until water, in any form, solidified.

Its conceptual applications, however, were nothing to scoff at. And its paradoxical applications were even greater.

Daruk wasn't content with just freezing physical things and operating within the realistic limits of his affinity. He wanted to freeze time, and freeze death, and freeze karma, and freeze fate itself. He wanted to freeze reality and chaos, to bring everything to a complete standstill.

That was his dream, and to achieve that, he had realized just how important it was for him to set up the proper foundations before entering the advanced class. Had things gone as planned, he doubted he would have advanced until the day of their graduation, just to maximize his gains.

But he no longer had the time or opportunity to wait so long. With cultists and monsters attacking from every angle, he couldn't afford to remain intentionally weak, and so, whether he liked it or not, Daruk had to take the next step.

Despite the circumstances, he felt oddly ready.

Smiling, he called up his status screen to review his progress so far.

[STATUS]

Name: Daruk Brystion

Class: Evolved Ice Awakened: 99.9% (Requirement for Evolution Met)

Tier: 24—3%

Title: Neophyte, Bronze, Sealbearer (2), Architect, Origin Marked, Icy Spirit, Silver, Warrior of Will, Treasure Hunter, Treader of Dread—Greater Variant.

Glimpse—>Opening: Increases elemental control by 2.5%

Techniques: Energy enhancement (clean), Cold Forge, Perfect Imbuement technique.

Skills {Innate}: [Ice manipulation] [Ice creation]

{Other}: [Freeze] [Cold Vision] [Drain Heat] [Forge constructs] [Ice conversion] [Animate Constructs] [Hailstorm] [Hailspears] [Frost Beam] [Ice Age] [Frostbound Curse] [Track Forged Constructs] [Glacial Paradox—Stage 1]

Bloodline: Frost Forged Ancestry (Rare+).

· Amplifies ice and cold-related abilities by 2.25%

· Grants major resistance to cold

· Aura of Frost Heart.

Treader of Dread—Greater variant: This is a title given to any evolved-class awakened who willfully pits themselves against an advanced-class creature no less than five tiers above them and then survives to tell the tale.

Effects:

Ø Defier's Grit: Increases resistance to aura suppression from enemies no more than 50 tiers above you.

Ø Battle-Honed Core: Grants an increase to Willpower regeneration, Energy manipulation, and recovery during life-threatening circumstances.

Ø Dread Tempering: Unlocks an alternate path to bloodline evolution and refining. Bloodline can now be refined through accumulated near-death encounters with creatures five or more tiers above you, rather than consuming vast amounts of willpower. May trigger unique bloodline paths not found through conventional willpower evolution paths.

Rare+---->Epic (22/2048 DT)

Daruk hadn't gained any new skills after his battle with the fire-rexes, but he had gained the greater version of the [Treader of Dread] title and all the benefits that came with it. With Abyssos now looming over them, the willpower generation, energy manipulation, and core recovery that Battle-Honed Core offered would be immeasurable.

The dread tempering bloodline evolution technique was the true prize, though, and it was interesting to see that he'd already killed 22 creatures five or more tiers above him. Daruk wasn't sure how willful the fights were, but he guessed he could have run if he truly hadn't wanted to fight. After all, he had run from the gargoyles.

His gaze landed on the number of creatures he had to kill for the next evolution, and he raised an eyebrow in astonishment. Two thousand and forty-eight creatures more than five tiers above him. That wouldn't be easy, but in a place like Abyssos, the number didn't seem quite so large.

His astonishment soon morphed into confusion when he remembered the numbers Andrew and Yurin were dealing with. Their numbers were far lower—only a bit more than a thousand if he was remembering correctly—and they were evolving from epic to epic+.

Daruk understood that as a double inheritor, his spirit was far stronger than that of Andrew or Yurin, and the fact that they also had the lesser variant of the technique might have played a part in such easy numbers, but Daruk still thought the difference was a lot.

He dwelled on the matter for a moment before moving on, his gaze straying to the titles and skills he had gained so far. They were the foundations he had laid, which would no doubt impact whatever form his advancement took and what skills he would be rewarded with. He hadn't gotten all he had been aiming for, but he had gotten enough.

Finally, his gaze came to rest on his tier, and he exhaled deeply in determination. Only 97% to go. He could do this.

Without wasting any more time, Daruk began absorbing the cores in his bag. Whether it was a fire core or a water core—it didn't matter. Both essences rushed into his core, burning through and cooling his pathways at the same time.

With each core Daruk absorbed, his core expanded. He couldn't see it, not like Aodhán could, but he could sense it shifting within him. Growing.

Daruk kept his gaze on his tier, watching the counter tick forward, ever so slowly.

17% ------> 22% ------> 26% ------> 34% ------> 45% --------> 51% -----> 57% -----> 63%...

Daruk grimaced as he grabbed another core and absorbed it, its fiery energy burning through his pathways to join the swirling energy within his core. Anticipation hummed within his spirit even as chaos bled through the small opening he'd allowed.

After about ten minutes, Daruk had completely lost count of the number of cores he had absorbed, but one thing was clear: the energy requirement for the 25th tier was insane. Daruk wasn't dismayed, though, because he understood that the more energy required for him to break through a tier, the stronger he would be.

Rather than fret, a grin spread across his face as he pulled out another core and absorbed it. And then another. And another.

However, when he reached into the bag for the next core, completely drunk on the bliss of the energy churning within his core, he found the bag empty. A glance at the tier counter revealed how far he still had to go.

[Tier 24—79%]

He had 21% left to cover. And no more cores to his name.

He contemplated calling out to Aodhán for assistance, despite suspecting that Aodhán's energy requirement would be nearly double his. But before he could speak, a boom of thunder dragged Daruk's mind out of its drunken bliss.

He looked up immediately, eyes widening when he saw that Aodhán had exited the tribulation and was now standing a few feet to the side, his entire body rippling with golden and purple electricity.

The storm above had been reduced to nearly a quarter of its former size, and though arcs of purple and gold electricity could still be seen, the churning storm was now dominated by blue. Ice lightning.

"Can I absorb that?" he asked himself, eyes widening in panic. But he'd barely had the thought before the first lightning bolt struck.

Daruk screamed—rather shrilly—as the bolt struck, spreading crystalline electricity coursing through his body. Pain exploded through every nerve, but beneath the agony, Daruk knew.

This wasn't destruction. It was refinement.

The ice lightning didn't simply burn through his pathways like regular lightning would. Instead, it flowed like liquid nitrogen, freezing and purifying as it went. Each spark that danced along his pathways left them stronger, more resilient. His core, starved for the final 21% of energy it needed, drank greedily from the tribulation's power.

[Tier 24—84%]

Another bolt struck, this one twice as powerful as the first, but Daruk didn't scream this time, even as welts and blisters opened up on his body. Instead, he clenched his jaw hard and squeezed his fists tightly as the lightning carved new channels through his spirit, each one perfectly aligned with his affinity.

Essence threads expanded as the lightning touched them, but new ones were also born, multiplying through his spirit like a virus. His core hummed, vibrating violently as it drank the energy from the lightning like a starving beast.

The counter ticked forward: 90%.

A third bolt descended, and this time Daruk barely held back the scream that tried to tear itself from his throat. His world went white, and his body convulsed, frost spreading across his skin in intricate patterns that looked almost like runes.

But in that moment of overwhelming pain, clarity struck like another bolt of lightning, and Daruk turned his gaze inward, gathering all the insights and ideas he had gained over the past few months.

Of all his friends, he was the only one who hadn't taken a single step forward in gaining an icon or realizing his ideal. However, he hadn't been idly sitting by.

He'd been learning, studying, and analyzing their experiences. He had been gathering insight and meditating but intentionally never delving too deeply, because he suspected he knew the answer already. He just hadn't been ready to hear it.

But now, as the fourth bolt struck, setting his whole world on fire, Daruk asked himself, "Why do I advance?"

The answer came to him like bubbles rising to the surface of a lake, so cold and absolute that the truth of it was undeniable.

I advance because I refuse to be helpless.

It wasn't noble. Neither was it heroic. Instead, it was selfish and self-serving—raw, primal self-preservation wrapped in cold logic and necessity.

But that was okay.

At first, Daruk had thought he had advanced to match Aodhán's relentless drive, not wanting to be left behind. He had soon discarded that idea, wondering if it was so he could prove himself worthy of his noble aspirations.

But those were simply byproducts of his actual ideal.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

He was not a hero like Aodhán or a guardian like Andrew. He wasn't an atoner like Yurin.

He had no trauma pushing him forward, nor duty binding him to others.

He simply refused to be weak. Not because he craved power, not because he wanted to save the world, but because he had learned right from the beginning how harshly the helpless were crushed, left behind, and discarded. Even before awakening, he had seen how badly the soldiers were treated. How, day by day, people died just because they were helpless to transform their situation.

He had seen more of it during Sunstone's attack. And now, in this imprisonment. The helpless were fated to be trampled beneath those with power. It was how the world worked. But more importantly, that was his reality. He was linked to a transmigrant. More than just keeping up, he needed to be strong enough to protect himself for when Aodhán eventually dragged him into another chaotic event—that is, if they left Abyssos alive.

Daruk wanted to be prepared for that inevitability. He wanted to be able to fight and protect himself in chaotic situations without needing anyone to save him. He would advance, he would grow stronger, and he would become powerful enough that no situation could catch him unprepared. When the world tried to break him, he would be unbreakable. When circumstances demanded strength, he would have it.

That was his reason for advancing.

The fifth bolt descended like judgment itself, and this time, his pathways didn't just expand; they crystallized, becoming conduits of absolute cold that could channel not just ice, but cessation itself.

[Tier 24—97%]

His core pulsed with newfound hunger, devouring the tribulation's energy with unmatched desperation. His core felt bloated, stretched nearly to the max. Yet it devoured, wrangling every piece of lightning and absorbing it before it could escape.

His essence threads multiplied exponentially, making sure he would have his hands full by the time this advancement was over. Frost spread all over his body, encasing him nearly completely in ice.

[Tier 24—99%]

The final bolt gathered above him, massive and terrible, crackling with the accumulated power of the entire tribulation. Daruk couldn't handle it. Neither did he need to. All that power would be wasted on him because all he needed was 1%.

He glanced at Aodhán, and despite no words flowing between them, Aodhán understood. He pulled out a small fire core from his bag and threw it to him, eyes already turned to the storm above.

The last lightning struck, but it never touched him, because Aodhán was there to absorb it, eyes glowing and face set in a mask of determination.

Daruk smiled.

In that moment, Aodhán looked just like the hero he always denied being. Powerful, imposing, and capable.

Daruk grabbed the core from the air and absorbed it. This time, the fiery energy barely stung, coursing through his remade pathways meekly until it reached his core.

[Tier 24—99.9%]

[Class Evolution Initiated…1%]

[Bloodline Evolution Initiated… 22%]

Daruk had barely drained half of the fiery core before his core exploded with energy—so overwhelming that he was physically rocked. Energy flooded his body, spirit, and mind at the same time, drenching him completely in a wave of icy energy so absolute that it nearly sparked another inspiration.

The remnant of the surge diffused into his muscles, and this time, the effect wasn't subtle. His muscles grew and his bones hardened as the energy diffused into them, reinforcing them to an unimaginable extent. Energy and power brimmed within him, as if a culmination of all the strength he had gained from tiers 19 to 24 had suddenly doubled. His body vibrated, and at the slightest pressure, the ice beneath him cracked, unable to accommodate his new weight.

All while this happened, Daruk's spirit groaned under the onslaught of energy and chaos brimming within it. His spirit opening had enlarged into a channel with his evolution, and now the chaos of the origin plane wasn't just bleeding into him. Instead, it poured into and flowed around his spirit like a raging river, drenching him completely in energy.

Pain and pleasure mixed within him, hot and cold at the same time, and Daruk grimaced. He was glad to have evolved his opening, but this rush of chaos and pain would certainly need some getting used to. With the increased flow of chaos into his spirit, its chaotic whispers also grew, teasing Daruk's mind like the incessant hissing of serpents until he raised his own chant: I advance because I refuse to be helpless. I advance because I refuse to be helpless. I advance because I refuse to be helpless.

The words drowned out the whispers of chaos in his mind—like a mantra of cold logic and self-preservation. It bloomed in his mind like a flower opening its petals, and the moment the whispers of chaos fell silent, the world fell away, replaced by a realm of utter and absolute cold.

The whispers of chaos returned immediately, hitting him with full force as the chill of cessation and stillness encapsulated him. Daruk raised his mantra once again, but this time, the whispers were like a tidal river, and his ideal simply wasn't enough to stop them.

They rushed into his mind like a drowning wave, their chorus so loud it drowned out any other thoughts. Instinct took over in that instant, and with a massive burst of willpower, Daruk screamed out his ideal, letting the words pour out of his spirit without restriction.

Chaos stilled, and for a brief moment, Daruk experienced a sense of quiet as willpower shielded his mind from the onslaught of chaos. He looked around the familiar realm, forever awed by the profundity and awesomeness of it, no matter how many times he had seen it.

Just staring at the origin plane caused his mind to quake with new insights and inspirations. Daruk scanned through as much as he could—the different ways the ice affinity could be interpreted or wielded—and his mind finally settled on one. It was a seemingly random understanding of the ice affinity, one Daruk had considered many times but had never truly understood.

The ice affinity had always been associated with death. And end. A cessation of all things living.

There was no heat in the Origin plane of ice. No spark, and therefore, there was no life. How could there be? That was what Daruk had once thought, but now, as he stared out at the sea of snow and ice around him, he realized that as right as his first perspective on the topic was, it was also wrong.

The ice affinity wasn't always an end. It was a preserver. A keeper. Coating everything in ice so cold that even time couldn't penetrate. It was the affinity that stood against change and entropy. That stood against the turnings of fate and the weavings of karma. It was stasis and stagnation. Immortalizing everything for all eternity.

As long as the ice didn't thaw, everything would remain forever. Unchanged.

It was such a powerful viewpoint of his affinity, and it struck him like a bolt of lightning. For that brief moment of respite from the whispers of chaos, Daruk stared out at the origin plane with new eyes, understanding teasing his senses even as the latticework of new skills began to form in his mind.

A feeling of belonging and worship came over him as the all-encompassing consciousness of the plane descended upon his mind. It scrutinized his new perspective and approved it with a brand on Daruk's wrist.

Daruk shuddered at the biting chill as his icon burned itself on the inside of his wrist—a simple black hole with a line of snow-white lining its edges. But this wasn't merely a black hole. It was an absence of heat.

He looked up at the all-encompassing consciousness of his plane, but before he could speak, the realm fell away from him as his spirit returned to his body, and he suddenly found himself back atop the oasis, ice cracking beneath him.

Aodhán had taken several steps backward from him, eyes wide as he stared at the transformation Daruk had undergone. Despite being outside of Daruk's latent aura, his body still shivered from the sheer presence of his new power, and even Cyrus croaked, "Please tell me he didn't get a seal?"

"He didn't," Aodhán replied, the relief in his tone evident as he watched Daruk inhale deeply, gather himself, and then open his eyes.

An audible gasp left Aodhán's lips as he took in the change. Daruk's bloodline had evolved, and it had caused some pretty drastic changes. His pale skin had grown paler, and the icy scales on his arms had grown to cover his entire chest, giving him a sort of natural skin armor. The scales crackled faintly with blue lightning before settling into a translucent color that melded invisibly with his skin.

His already long hair had lengthened even further, and the power that radiated off him was insane. But his eyes seemed to have undergone the most change. His formerly blue irises had turned pitch black and were now ringed by a band of pure white, a band of gold, and lastly, a sharp band of crystal blue.

It was such an unsettling arrangement that Aodhán was short of words, his attention seemingly being pulled into the pitch darkness of Daruk's irises. He stuttered for a moment before asking, "How do you feel?"

Daruk, however, didn't respond; his eyes unfocused as he read through his status screen with open excitement.

Congratulations! You have evolved into the advanced class.

Minor regeneration >>> Basic regeneration

You have now gained passive resistance to evolved skills.

Congratulations! You have gained an icon: Heat Void. [See full details below].

Congratulations! You have gained a new title: Herald of Winter. [See full details below].

Congratulations! You have gained a new title: Adept. [See full details below].

Congratulations! Glacial Paradox—Stage 1 has evolved to Glacial Paradox—Stage 2.

Congratulations! You have gained a new skill: Embody Ice. [See full details below].

Congratulations! You have gained a new skill: Cryostasis Soul Seal. [See full details below].

[STATUS]

Name: Daruk Brystion

Class: Advanced Ice Awakened: 1%

Tier: 25—6%

Title: Neophyte, Bronze, Sealbearer (2), Architect, Origin Marked, Icy Spirit, Silver, Warrior of Will, Treasure Hunter, Treader of Dread—Greater Variant, Herald of Winter, Adept.

Glimpse----->Opening-----> Channel: Increases elemental control by 5%

Icon: Heat Void!

Techniques: Energy enhancement (clean), Cold Forge, Perfect Imbuement technique.

Skills {Innate}: [Ice Manipulation] [Ice creation]

{Other}: [Freeze] [Cold Vision] [Drain Heat] [Forge constructs] [Ice conversion] [Animate Constructs] [Hailstorm] [Hailspears] [Frost Beam] [Ice Age] [Frostbound Curse] [Track Forged Constructs] [Glacial Paradox—Stage 2] [Embody Ice] [Cryostasis Soul Seal]

Bloodline: Frost Forged Ancestry (Epic).

· Amplifies ice and cold-related abilities by 3%

· Grants major resistance to cold

· Aura of Frost Heart.

Treader of Dread—Greater variant: This is a title given to any evolved-class awakened who willfully pits themselves against an advanced-class creature no less than five tiers above them and then survives to tell the tale.

Effects:

Ø Defier's Grit: Increases resistance to aura suppression from enemies no more than 50 tiers above you.

Ø Battle-Honed Core: Grants an increase to Willpower regeneration, Energy manipulation, and recovery during life-threatening circumstances.

Ø Dread Tempering: Unlocks an alternate path to bloodline evolution and refining. Bloodline can now be refined through accumulated near-death encounters with creatures five or more tiers above you, rather than consuming vast amounts of willpower. May trigger unique bloodline paths not found through conventional willpower evolution paths. Epic---->Epic+ (22/6200 DT)

Herald of Winter: You have evolved your understanding of your affinity from just ice to something greater. Your origin plane has noticed you.

Adept: This is a title given to any awakened who successfully crosses the 2nd milestone tier. You are no longer a neophyte. Your eyes have seen. Your ears have heard.

Glacial Paradox—Stage 2: This is a rare and enigmatic skill based on your understanding of the paradoxical nature of ice and cold. The skill functions solely on willpower and allows the user to conjure and manipulate paradoxical forms of ice, bending the natural laws of physics and the element of ice. At the second stage, glacial paradox grants access to four paradoxical ice forms—LiquidIce, FireIce, PhantomIce, and MemoryIce.

Embody Ice: Transform your body partially or completely into any paradoxical ice form, gaining all of its properties and abilities while retaining consciousness and mobility. Can seamlessly switch between different ice types and combine multiple forms simultaneously for hybrid effects.

Cryostasis Soul Seal: Freeze the soul of a target in absolute temporal stasis, locking them in that exact moment of life until the seal is lifted. The target becomes a crystalline statue existing outside the flow of time, completely preserved, and unable to act, change, or experience the passage of time.

NB: This skill utilizes a massive amount of willpower, proportional to the target's own pool. You cannot use the skill on anyone with more willpower than you possess.

Daruk read through his new skills with increasing excitement. He had expected glacial paradox's evolution to the next stage, but he certainly hadn't expected the paradoxes he had gained.

Phantom Ice seemed self-explanatory, but Daruk still analyzed the instinctual knowledge that came with the skill to understand it better. It was pseudo-intangibility in a way, granting him the ability to phase through ice, moving through it like shadow cultivators usually did through shadow.

Memory ice, however, was the most surprising, and though it seemed to have stemmed from his understanding of preservation, Daruk hadn't been thinking in that direction at all. The paradox granted him the ability to create ice with perfect recall and memory storage ability.

With MemoryIce, he could store the memory of a battle and replay it endlessly, finding every flaw, every opening. He could absorb the memory of a person for safekeeping and could even give other people his memories.

It was a perfect skill, and though it didn't seem to have much combat application, when combined with the next skill, {Embody Ice}, Daruk realized he had stumbled upon a goldmine, so perfectly suited to his pursuit of intelligence and knowledge.

Chuckling to himself, he went through the details of the self-explanatory {Embody Ice} skill, his smile widening as he imagined all the ways he could utilize the skill.

His gaze landed on the last skill, {Cryostasis Soul Seal}, and he frowned as he read through the summary of the skill. With every word he read, though, his frown deepened—not because he hated the skill, but because the power of the skill had exceeded any expectations he might have had.

The skill was rooted deeply in his understanding of ice preservation and stasis, but even he hadn't imagined it would be this powerful. The ability to trap a person's soul in ice for eternity was mind-blowing. How could the system give him a skill as powerful as this? And more importantly, why would it do so?

Daruk had more willpower than anyone in his tier and below. He even had more willpower than most people twenty tiers above him. This skill was just like Aldric's deviant skill, which allowed him to manipulate the emotions of people thirty tiers above him, but on a much larger scale.

Anyone he used this skill on would remain frozen forever, unable to grow or become stronger, as their spirit had been sealed. If the person didn't have enough willpower to break the skill the moment it was cast, then they would never be able to because, well, their spirit couldn't regenerate willpower while frozen.

Unless someone else broke the seal or he did, his target could potentially remain frozen for all eternity.

Daruk was absolutely blown away by the magnitude of the skill, but he couldn't deny the excitement bubbling within him. He had been the one requesting power, and now, he couldn't believe the amount of strength he had at his disposal.

A smile touched his lips, a sense of confidence and power radiating off him as he finally looked up to see Aodhán and Cyrus staring at him with wide expressions.

His gaze strayed to the gargoyles, which had managed to close the distance, the strain of stretching space weighing achingly on Cyrus. They were close now, still dozens of meters out, but close nevertheless.

His smile stretched into a grin, and he said to Cyrus, "Why don't you come sit down so I can take over?"

Cyrus complied immediately, and the stretched space he had been maintaining collapsed, shrinking quickly like an elastic band returning to its normal state. The gargoyles drew even closer, but Daruk's grin only widened.

Exercising only a bit of strength, he pushed himself to his feet. Despite his care, the ice platform shattered beneath his feet, fissures spreading out like spiderwebs until they reached the very edge of the construct.

Aodhán and Cyrus tumbled, hands flailing as they both prepared to take to the air, but before they could do so, another platform of ice rose beneath them, merging seamlessly with the cracked platform to create a stronger and colder version of the last one.

It radiated a biting chill that reminded Daruk of the icon on his wrist, and with a grin, he pointed his right hand toward the gargoyles and whispered, "Let's see what you can do."

~~ICON MANIFESTATION—HEAT VOID~~