Scorching Ascension - 2.47: Prosper

When the communication module loaded in front of his eyes, Ethan’s attention hovered for a couple of seconds as he considered what to say exactly before a realization hit him: he didn’t need to do it over message.

He was done here. He could just go home and see how things were in person.

With one last look at the permissions, he made sure none of the Union’s people were on administrative roles for now. Once their city’s own councils get set up, Amanda would handle who’d get access to what but for now, it was a clear board and thankfully, the pylon take-over seemed to have cleared out any and all parameters the previous management might have set up.

So that was one less thing to worry about.

Glancing around for Sarah, Ethan couldn’t wait to use <Administrative Recall>. Now that this whole mess was almost over, he wanted to go home, take a shower, and sleep it off. But would the pylon feature work? Now that he thought about it, he had used it to teleport from Wyldrock to New Dawn.

I guess we’ll see in a sec, he thought as he took a step toward the woman. He had to let her know that Amanda would contact her soon to start setting things up. But probably not before a few hours if not tomorrow, considering how busy his administrator was going to be with the fallout of all of this.

The conversation didn’t take long and basically, he told her to keep things going as they were until Amanda got in touch. Sarah would be the point-of-contact and would represent New Dawn’s authority until the new government was set up.

He did notice some shared looks and some muttering at that, so he decided to address the ex-leaders. He spoke low, though some would likely overhear.

“I already mentioned how we do things and this will be the first step. Sarah here will be managing all your settlements under my authority, until the city councils and the high council’s representatives are selected. This is us going back to diplomacy,” he told them, eyes moving from one individual to the next. “The transition to the new system should be smooth, especially once we’re done fixing the damage. You answer to Sarah, and Sarah answers to me and my managers. Cross either of them and I’ll come back,” he simply warned.

Ethan knew he wasn’t winning any points with threats, but at this point, he didn’t care. He didn’t need to be loved. He just needed the troublemakers to worry about starting shit.

With that done, Sarah and her protectors called for the crowd to disperse, and considering it was already night, quite a few just headed home, leaving Ethan finally free to go home so without further ado, he activated <Administrative Recall>.

It didn’t work. All he got for his effort was a timer until the next activation, which wouldn’t happen before nearly 24 hours. So he had to fly.

With a sigh, Ethan spread his wings, and he was about to hop up and away when a voice called out.

“Hey, do you have a second?”

Ethan was already a few inches off the ground when he turned. Someone was walking up to him, hands clasped together, and his brows immediately furrowed as some of the embers in his chest suddenly smoldered.

It was the mage that had led the assault on Wyldrock.

She was still wearing the same red tunic, and while the cloth itself hadn’t burnt from the small meteor he’d sent her way, soot still clung to her skin and clothes. This time, none of her spellforms were out, and after a few seconds of silence in which Ethan just stared, lips pressed, she cleared her throat and spoke up.

“I wanted to apologize. I know there will be an investigation and all—”

“Get to the point,” Ethan snapped, somewhat more forceful than he intended. While she might have been following orders and looking after what she believed to be a kidnapped individual, she still had put his people at risk. Maybe she had pulled some punches, as he’d sensed some form of Manifestation from her, but he was in no mood to be charitable right this second. While the leaders shared just as much blame for the assault if not more, she—along with the senator—were the faces he most associated with the assault.

So his patience was running thin.

Multiple emotions flashed on her face. Shock, which then turned anger that she near-instantly clamped down upon. Face tense, she gave him a firm nod. “You’re right. I just wanted to apologize, considering this likely won’t be the last time we work together. That’s all.”

Ethan eyed her for a moment, then gave her back a brief nod. “Noted,” he simply answered, then snapping his wings wide, he exploded up in the air, wind whistling in his ears as the lights of the ground quickly disappeared below the fog.

It was time to go home.

***

The flight home didn’t take too long, and Ethan would go so far as to say it was enjoyable. Having removed all of his spellforms but the wings and scales, he took his time gliding up and down through the clouds as he slowly but surely approached New Dawn. The cool and humid air was refreshing. The stars glittered on his scales and for a few minutes, he flew on his back and looked above. He didn’t even glance at his interface, even though there were upgrades he could likely afford. He’d do that later. For now, he took a breather and tried to digest the last few hours.

Ethan knew that this was just the start. There would be more Zacharias and bloodthirsty factions that’d come knocking on their doors. It was just the way of things, and the fact that the System was rewarding them with more unlocks and capabilities to their factions made it obvious.

It all lined up to the theory he had thought of when this had all started. The System was pitting people against each other. And the upcoming leaderboards were just one more proof of that fact.

As for territories, everyone would be striving to integrate more pylons and people into their own factions, because that was the path toward more power. It just made sense. And most likely, it would be done through pressure. Either through economic pressure or by brandishing the largest stick around and whether he liked it or not, tonight had confirmed something else that would mean he’d be crucial in their expansion.

Personal power was key in the conflicts to come. And as the official “stick” of New Dawn, Ethan was going to have his work cut out for him. Individuals would make a difference in this competition. Zacharia had stood up to the Union just because of his personal prowess, and while the Union had multiple settlements, they had been basically stalemated by the man. When Ethan entered into the conflict and knocked the Brotherhood out in less than an hour, the Union could only fold.

Most likely, that pattern was going to hold in the future. The highest powered individuals would clash, and then that’d be that.

That might even be better, he thought. It would spare the lower level people the dangers. And frankly, if some ground-rules could somehow be established, Ethan could see himself enjoying these clashes. The fights were fun.

Ethan considered for a second, then grimaced. Actually, maybe not. That sounded awfully like gambling with the pylons and settlements on the line. Then again, wasn’t that what all battles and war were about? A big gamble, then winner takes… whatever was left?

That’s grim, Ethan thought. But tomorrow will tell. Maybe there’d be other ways to prove their power aside from fights. Maybe the leaderboards would help, he mused. If people noticed how well they were doing, they’d be more inclined to join.

Ethan twisted and began his descent. That sounded like a problem the high council would need to take care of and as the settlement approached, he looked forward to seeing it grow larger and stronger.

They would rebuild. And he’d do everything he could to see it prosper.

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A/N: There will be one more to put a bow on the arc. Prooobably not tomorrow, but likely before the weekend. I'm officially on break, but as I said, I wanna finish up this arc. We gotta do the leaderboard. Hope you liked this one!