Scorching Ascension - 1.92: Another Portal (Unedited)

A/N: A bit rushed. I think I'll revisit this one once I've recovered a bit and flesh it out a bit more. There's also still an epilogue I want to do, but I'm so out of juice. I'll prolly post somewhere within the break, or maybe I'll tweak it once I finish up the dev edits.

See you soon everyone! And thank you all for reading!

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As Ethan took a few minutes to catch up with the team, he found himself frequently looking back toward the portal, and clearly, he wasn’t the only one. Every one of them kept stealing glances at the supposed exit. Some worried that the portal might be another set of harrowing trials, and some were afraid that it would get them back home, where they’d have to confront whatever was waiting out for them.

Surprisingly, even Ember was a bit apprehensive as she stared past him at the portal, paws hanging limply as she had resigned herself to being held by Amelie. Ethan had asked her if she wanted to be let go, but the cat completely ignored him before she gave voice to her own concerns.

“[That portal might take us to your world. Taking me further away from my home. While I can rely on myself away from my clan, I do wish for the possibility of going home. Eventually.]”

Ethan looked up from his new Arcanum’s menu. “Can your clan not summon you back?”

Ember flicked her ears“[I don’t know how those lizardling things even managed to summon me in the first place. Well, it was an accident and I got here instead of a drake, but even that shouldn’t be at the disposal of such weak creatures. So I really don’t know…]”

Ethan glanced once more at the green tear in hovering a dozen yards or so away. More and more people were drifting closer, and he realized a few of them were looking at him. waiting to see what he would do.

Ethan selected another upgrade and confirmed it. He wasn’t even close to the upgrades of the other Arcanums, so he might as well get this one up to speed. “I guess we’ll figure something out. I’m sure we’ll find a lot for you to do,” he said as he triggered the tier-2 upgrade for the new Arcanum.

Ember glared at him, ears flicking, then hopped off of Amelie’s loose grip and began trudging toward the portal before she sat down and stared up at it. In the meantime, Ethan dealt with some finishing touches. He had been pleasantly surprised to find out that unique traits could transfer between Lesser Arcanums. Setting the new one with Arcanum of Forms, Ethan moved a couple of spells around, but refrained from touching the scales.

He had to find a discreet spot for that, though he was looking forward to it. The spell was a bit too heavy on the Prime Arcanum, and it was tiring him out.

I’ll do that before we head into the portal…

Amelie stretched her arms above her head and yawned. “I wish I could hear her directly,” she said, then, she glanced to the side at her seated companions.

Ethan noticed and dismissed his interface as they all stood up one by one. From across the small clearing, Diego got up, and Amanda walked with him, soon followed by the coach, and quite a few people Ethan hadn’t seen before until there was a small crowd surrounding the green-hued portal.

A hundred and fifty? Two hundred, maybe?

Most people were high level, aside from a small group of harried men and women that Ethan assumed had been from the higher camp. Shockingly, their levels were still in the thirties. A few still in their twenties, even.

Ethan looked away and found himself a spot to move the scales to the Arcanum of the Fire Elemental. He hoped Luther had gotten some good levels. If this has been a tutorial, then Earth was likely not that much better than this place, and everyone had to be ready.

Finding himself back in front of the tutorial, Ethan took a deep breath. It was time to head back home.

After telling everyone present to wait a minute before they went in, Ethan walked through the green light with Ember on his shoulders and once more, he was dragged through his navel through the space between worlds.

***

One moment he was in the underground cave, illuminated by crackling fire and blue mushrooms, and the next moment Ethan was standing in an empty parking lot, under a bright, almost blinding afternoon sun. Up ahead, he could see the store he used to work in, covered by overgrown vines. At least, what remained of it.

A good chunk of it had been carved through, as if something had scooped out a portion of the sidewalk, the store, and then just… vaporized them. Wild vegetation was covering a lot of the surrounding buildings, with roots cracking through the stone and forcing their way out of the ground. Wherever he looked, Ethan felt that years, maybe even decade had passed since he’d been teleported away.

What the hell happened here? We were gone for like a week. And why… why does it feel like this?

The air felt heavy. Pressuring. Almost…as if he had the riftcore in his hands.

Ethan frowned. Mana?

“[This place smells.]”

Ethan glanced down at the cat at his feet. Ember was alert, peering around, but before he could respond, a large prompt popped in front of him.

Congratulations on completing the initiation tutorial. Future integration steps will be disclosed once the first tier-3 pylon of your world has been established.

As your world adapts to the heightened levels of mana, more and more rifts will spawn. Unclaimed rifts can release the creatures spawned within into the world, threatening the territories in which they appear. For this reason, it is recommended that all settlements monitor the levels of mana at all times and be prepared whenever a higher threshold is reached.

Eventually, the mana levels will stabilize, but it is not possible to know the limit at this point in time. It is of the utmost importance to keep improving and preparing for the next threshold. A high-tier rift, unchallenged, can lead to catastrophic losses. Good luck.

Ethan quickly read through the text, and no sooner had he finished than a second prompt arrived.

As the highest level participant of your group, you will be awarded a tier-1 pylon.

As the owner of a pylon, you will have access to multiple system-assisted features to rebuild, protect, and enrich your territory. 

Once activated, a pylon cannot be moved. If captured, the upgrades, resources, and unlocked features will be transferred to the captor. If destroyed, all of the pylon’s content will be lost.

There was a pulse in the air around him, then a clatter. Ethan looked down to find a small, black box with silver filigree on the ground in front of him. It was tiny, almost the size of a ring box. Ethan picked it up and turned it around in his hand, and quickly realized there was no opening he could see. And unlike spellcores or primagems, he wasn’t getting an offer to absorb it. But he did get a prompt.

Do you wish to activate the pylon?

Ethan dismissed the prompt and leaned down to safely tuck the pylon into the pouch, but as he tried to put it away, the box refused to get in.

Huh?

“[What is that?]”

Ethan looked down. “A pylon. Do you know about them?” 

Ember tilted her head. “[No clue,]” she said, peering past him. “[Something’s coming.]” 

Forms began appearing around him. First, Amelie and Audrey, soon followed by Liz, Gerald, and over the next few seconds, everyone else. They all landed, blinking around with their hands above their eyes.

Ember didn’t look at them. She was still staring down the street, and when Ethan followed her gaze, he saw it as the large gray and black shape came into view.

The sound of clatter broke through the chatter, and everyone whirled in a panic as  a lamp post fell down with a loud clang as a wide, fat, raccoon-looking monster ambled itself toward them, breaking off the already deformed pole. It bared its teeth, eyes glowing red as a thread of white-saliva dribbled out of its mouth.

[Raging Raccoon (I) - Level 61]

Raccoon? That thing’s larger than a freaking bear…

Ethan’s eyes widened while the people around him moved back and impressively, they quickly fell into formation as the creature growled in its throat as it approached. 

Then it saw him, and its advance halted.

The parking lot went quiet as the monster seemed to hesitate when it realized it might not be the strongest around, but a few levels were not enough to dissuade it. The oversized raccoon shook its head and snarled, and its eyes grew brighter while its fur stood up on end. 

It didn’t care about the others anymore. It didn’t even look at them as they backed away. Seemingly, what had begun as an opportunistic meal had now turned into a territorial challenge and so, Ethan began charging a fireball at the edge of  a wing while his claws ignited.

These should be an interesting couple of days.