Scorching Ascension - 2.05: The next level

A/N: dev edit at the bottom.

Once he wrenched the twisted door of the bank open, Ethan practically skipped his way inside, an excited grin on his face as he felt the electrifying magic swirl about him. A corona of gold with red-streaks urged him to sit down and let it do its work, but he intuitively knew it wasn’t going anywhere, so he reveled in it.

He’d finally got past the last barrier. Level 70. And with the quest officially completed, he was ready to advance to tier 2. Ethan wondered if it was going to be as intense as the tier-1 upgrade had been. It might, but then again, the drastic effect might have been due to his Prime Arcanum being activated back then.

Coming to a stop, Ethan took a quick look around while the mist-like magic crackled about him. Customer-facing desks lay empty, with darkened monitors and moss creeping along the processed wood, explaining the musty scent he was smelling. A creaking sound reached his ears, telling him there might be a door or a window somewhere swinging back and forth.

No need to stay here more than I need to.

A minute later, Ethan found the large stainless-steel door. Or at least, it might have been stainless a week or two ago. Blue, vein-like lines were all over the metal, which gave him pause. Was this magical rust of some kind? Or was it a new magical strain of mold that fed on metal?

Whatever it was, Ethan didn’t want to be exposed to it for too long, at least until he learned what it actually was. Igniting his hand, he tried to pull the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. 

Alright. Maximum effort, then.

He actually hadn’t tested his strength much, especially since they left the tutorial barely a few hours ago and so with a deep breath, and after he planted one of his feet on the door frame, Ethan gripped the vault wheel and pulled.

His arm bulged as he heaved with everything he had. His veins stood out along his neck, and his breath came out as a growl as he stubbornly pulled on the giant, metallic door. Ethan had expected his arms or back to give out first. After all, this was a damn vault. Something that was made purposefully so it would be easy to break into or force in any way. He was almost feeling silly for making the attempt, so when heard a grinding noise, he thought it was his gnashing teeth or maybe the floor tiles were about to crack.

But that wasn’t the case.

Bewildered, Ethan watched as the two-inch thick metal bar bent under his pull, groaning as the metal twisted and threatened to snap. Unfortunately, the gate itself refused to budge and while he might actually be able to wrench it out if he used the Zenith state, he refrained.

The magic about him intensified, swirling more urgently, and he knew he had to get a move on. Giving the door a begrudging look, he moved away from it.

Well. Screw it, then.

Ethan shut the door of the little hallway that connected the lobby to the vault, and sat down on the ground and without further ado, he lowered his guard and let the process begin. Pretty quickly, his assumptions were challenged.

As the energies that had built up about him began funneling into his chest, Ethan groaned. While sure, it didn’t seem to be as intense as the last time, it still felt like molten metal was being poured into his soul.

But it was a small price to pay.

Ethan closed his eyes as the energies scoured his bones, his muscles and nerves. But it didn’t stop there. He could feel them spreading out deeper within him, scalding something else. His soul. While he didn’t have that much experience feeling that part out, he knew it was there. It was where his mana went. Where his Arcanums were. It was the part of him that got tired when he channeled too much mana and overextended him. And now, it as well, was being tempered.

He liked to imagine these energies as a great fire, burning away weakness and priming him for the next levels, and with that in mind, what was a bit of pain in the face of limitless potential?

With a smile, Ethan endured the trial, and by mid-way through, he was almost enjoying the process.

***

When Ethan re-opened his eyes, the corona had been reduced to barely a few wisps of gold that were quickly fading. Slowly, he took stock of the new strength he could feel course through his veins. In a way, his body felt both familiar and not, though it was only an impression. He had no way of really quantifying it. His stats were the same. 

But he remembered how his strength and endurance had improved when he had advanced to tier-1, and well, the vault door was right there. Staring at him. Taunting him.

Ethan chuckled as he effortlessly got up. Well, it wasn’t really taunting him. But he had been strong enough to bend metal at tier-1. How far could he take it with tier-2?

Taking position once more, Ethan gripped the vault door and pulled. Already, he could notice his movements growing smoother. As if his body was obeying him better, and instantly, he knew he was exercising much more strength than the earlier attempt. He could just feel it in his muscles, like mini-explosions were going off, making every strand of muscle feel like corded metal.

As he tiered up, it seemed that his body could do more with the stats he had at his disposal, and as if to prove his theory, a deep, metallic grinding filled the hallway. The metal screamed. Cracking sound began to echo and under his eyes, he could see the vault handle begin to tear off the door. A couple of seconds later, something snapped and Ethan was launched back and through the wall of the hallway before he was showered with debris.

Laying on his back, Ethan laughed. 

Well. I’m definitely stronger.

A couple of minutes later, he found himself standing in front of the rift entrance once more. Two more rock elementals had come out, which he quickly dispatched before he took care of a couple more items on his list.

Firstly, he started with the nice free trait he was getting. Claiming his token, Ethan quickly read his options, two of which were familiar at this point. Already, he was tempted to get Bound Spellform but of course, it was too soon to make any decision just yet. He had to see what the last option was.

Select a trait from the list below:

Soul Space: Create a small storage space in your soul.

Bound Spellform: You can slot one spellform of your Prime Arcanum tier or lower to be always accessible. Changing the bound spell can take a few hours.

Founder’s Bounty: Whenever you harvest fragments, an additional 50% is granted to your founding pylon.

Ethank blinked. “Huh… I was not expecting something like this.”

Ethan was intrigued. Every trait offered to him so far had been about him and nothing else. All of his selection had been about empowering himself, so having a personal trait not directly affecting him was odd. For the first few seconds, it felt like a waste, but when he thought about it, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

First, it would still empower him, considering he was bound to benefit from his pylon. Whenever someone created something new, made a discovery, or just contributed to the new settlement, Ethan could benefit. Plus, he was sure there were many more capabilities to unlock. What if there was trade? Learning? What if the pylon could create more opportunities to advance and grow stronger? It felt like a gamble, sure, but he didn’t see any losers in this trade.

And an extra 50% is just… insane. That would add up so fast.

Sure, they weren’t going to his pocket, but those were free resources. Free fragments, coming out of thin air.

Ethan hummed, eyes glued to the curious trait. In a way, it was like an investment. An investment in the little settlement he was starting. While the selfish part of him told him everyone had to stand for themselves, and that he owed no one anything, he didn’t want to listen to it.

Luther had owed him nothing either, and the man had opened up his house for Ethan. Where would he be if a stranger hadn’t welcomed him in? That wasn’t a world Ethan wanted to live in. He’d had enough of that when he’d been younger. 

The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. He wanted his settlement to do well. While it was still full of strangers, he knew a few personally. The group with whom he traveled. Ember, who had saved his bacon more than once. Diego, and Amanda, though the jury was still out on the last one but still, there were plenty of people he hadn’t had the chance to meet just yet. 

It was an idealistic way of looking at things, and he knew some would inevitably disappoint him, but if there was a child or someone lost who his city would give a genuine chance at life, then it’d be worth it. And what about the future? What about Luther and what about other refugees?

He was aware a city couldn’t be perfect. But Ethan would like it if a little part of the world was safe. Welcoming. Of course, abusers would be kicked out or dealt with, but for once, he didn’t mind giving a bit back. Or to be more accurate, pay it forward. The other two traits weren’t going anywhere. Plus, this would go a long way into making the city capable of standing for itself.

With a smile, Ethan clicked Founder’s Bounty.

It felt right. 

——

Dev edit: Actually, the extra fragments are 50%, not just 5%. For a city (and considering the costs of upgrades ), 5% is a rounding error. 50% is more appropriate for a “ founder’s blessing”. I’ll fix it in the morning.

PS: Fixed