Scorching Ascension - 1.26: Good news. Ish (Unedited)

EDIT: Don't read these here! They've been heavily edited and I'll come back and change them. Go read it on RR. Here's the announcement for the edits:

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/95647/scorching-ascension-progression-litrpg-apocalypse/chapter/1892368/announcement-lance-encounter-edits-done

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Ethan’s claws smoothly carved out another chunk along the felling-cut before he took a step back and called to Gerard. “Now!”

The man huffed and pushed, and it barely took a second for the soft-crack to resound out of the mushroom-tree right before it careened down and slammed against the soft forest floor, then it continued merrily burning in the small clearing while Ethan moved back toward Lance and his group.

Gerard was going to cut off everything that wasn’t on fire, and the remains should burn out safely in the center of the clearing. They’ll be watching it to make sure the fire doesn’t spread, but it should be fine.

He passed Audrey and Liz, who’d been watching the trio, and came to a stop a few feet away from the defeated group. The healer, back on his feet, fearfully glanced at him, then went back to fussing over his companions. The burnt wounds were slowly fading as sweat beaded down the office-worker’s forehead, making Lance wince and grit his teeth hard enough Ethan believed he could hear the grinding if he just leaned over just a bit.

Dude needs to relax.

Ethan didn’t pester them and gave them a second. From his right, he saw Aaron come back with one of his students, who raised a wand and began spraying the giant mushroom cap with a thin jet of water.

That looks like a useful spell.

Ethan had been expecting Amelie to jeer and rub the defeat in Lance’s face, but it seemed like the short battle had rattled her a bit. Instead, she went to check on a couple of injured students. Apparently, out of around six spellcaster-wand users, none had gotten a healing spell.

Healing spells might not be that common… even if there are two right here and now.

After a few seconds, Lance cleared his throat, and Ethan looked down at him. It took the man a second, then finally he spoke between gritted teeth. “There are tunnels leading down in a few caverns.”

Ethan waited, then began frowning when nearly ten seconds passed without Lance adding any more details. Amelie—who had come back already—spoke up. “Details. What’s down there? How do you know? Etcetera.”

The man’s lips tightened, and Ethan could clearly see his temples throbbing. There was even a vein pulsing down his forehead, but he relented after a few seconds. “High level monsters. Stronger lizardlings. It keeps going down. We have someone who can move discretely and they didn’t get too far down there. That’s all I know. If there’s an exit, it’s probably down there.”

Ethan felt a thrum of excitement run through him. Stronger monsters and lizardlings? He liked the thought of that. He didn’t believe there was still too big of a challenge in this area. Certainly not Lance and his group. “How high are the levels?”

“Thirty and higher. Our… person had to stop when the monsters in the 40s and 50s became too common.”

Both the coach and Liz cursed at that, while Ethan couldn’t help the grin that stretched across his lips. Gerald had a worried frown on his face, while Audrey had both eyebrows raised in surprise, but she didn’t look scared.

Amelie had a wide-eyed smile that Ethan found a little disturbing, though he was very aware he wasn’t one to talk.

He shook his head and turned his attention back to Lance. The archer stank of defeat and could barely look at their faces for more than a second. Ethan knew he had just created a vendetta for life and he wasn’t naive enough to think things weren’t about to turn sour.

Still, he gave the chance. Knowing it wasn’t going to be taken. Not with the hatred he was seeing in the man’s eyes.

“We appreciate the tip, Lance. We’re square. And I don’t think I need to say anything more about our next meeting, right?”

The archer grit his teeth and gave him a tight nod. Ethan nodded to Liz, who then gestured to the others and they began walking. A few seconds later, once they were far enough, Ethan exhaled.

“Good luck,” he said, then turned and walked away as well. He went through the motion, knowing what was about to happen. Knowing the unpleasantness wasn’t over. His feet crunched on the dried mushroom and brush bits. The silence was heavy and he could almost hear his own heart beat in his ears. 

He was ready. But he wasn’t happy about it and in his mind, he only thought of the words he’d like to say once.

Don’t do it.

Unfortunately and as he expected, within five steps, a hushed and urgent voice reached his ear first, followed by a crackle of electricity. Ethan heard a “no” from behind, followed by the twang of a released bow just as he flared his flames in a barrier around his back and ducked his head.

He winced as the arrow slammed against his shoulder-blade, barely cutting into his skin. It had been weakened by the barrier, then it didn’t have enough momentum to punch through his high Toughness. But the damage was done and the mild pain he felt in his back was relief, in a way. 

If the man had taken the peaceful option, Ethan would have still needed to find him at a later time and dismantle his operation. But he had given the man a chance, and Lance proved he couldn’t be trusted. Even if he were no danger to Ethan, he would continue being a menace to everyone else.

Ethan turned and found the archer nocking another arrow, teeth bared, eyes dark and unblinking. The healer was wide eyed, stumbling back and away from the archer, while the shield-bearer was grim, but he also was taking steps away from his companion.

Lance raised his shortbow, aimed, and shot another arrow. 

Ethan extended a hand and sent out a wide gout of scorching flames. The fire vaporized the arrow, his magic easily overpowering the archer’s glowing arrow. Lance stumbled backward, a streak of spit hanging from his mouth, while he waited for another arrow to materialize into his trembling shortbow.

But that would be too late.

Ethan felt cold when he took the final step. He could smell the man’s burnt clothes.

Ethan’s 8-inch talon sunk into Lance’s chest and through his heart with barely any resistance. Smoke instantly bellowed out of the wound, as if Ethan was tempering a piece of white-hot metal into a bucket of oil.

“Fuck… you…” breathed out the archer. A second later, his body fell, and Ethan got the notification. 

He took the fragments into his Prime wand and then, without another word, he turned away and left.

***

Ethan and the group walked in silence for a while. A couple of them were pale, but the rest of them were growing familiar with the new world. On their heels, Aaron and his students followed. They’d been hiding in a pretty small and open cave, so Ethan told them about the couple of lizardling caves he’d cleared and when they learned about the pond, they’d been very willing to move.

They might have also been trying to get away from him, but he didn’t mind that. He didn’t mind being the big bad guy if that meant no one else would have to take an arrow from Lance. Or be shot through the head by a random stranger as they were to turn a corner.

He checked his notification for a second, then quickly dismissed them.

You have defeated [Human - Level 23]

Prime Wand: 27 fragments collected.

After they left Aaron and the high schoolers in the first cave Ethan had found, they made their way toward the center of the second forest. 

He didn’t mind hanging out with Liz’s group for a bit. 

Minutes after they left Aaron, Liz finally broke the silence. “Do you guys think someone will come after us for… you know. Lance? Like the person that found the tunnels we’re looking for?”

Ethan glanced at her for a second, then shrugged. “No clue.”

“You don’t seem worried about it,” Audrey noted. She had dismissed her tower shield, but Ethan noted how her head was on a swivel, continuously scanning the brush and their surroundings for any danger.

“Not much I can do about it, and I don’t plan on resting on my laurels. Either they’ll make for a good challenge—which I doubt—or that’ll be curtains for them. I’ve got more to worry about than people with a grudge.”

Gerald grunted. “We should do the same. Get stronger. They might still come after us.”

Liz peered over her shoulder, then nodded as well, crossbow still in hands. “I think next time we see them, we’ll be ready.” 

Ethan eyed the crossbow for a second. No bolt was primed, which he assumed was a safe habit to get into. She seemed a bit different from the first time he’d met her. More focused and less nervous. She turned to him, her eyes bright. “What are you planning? Do you need backup? I know we’re still low level but we can help watch your back.”

“Mmmhm—ugh! Stop that,” Amelie said as she rubbed her side and glared up at her sister.

That made him chuckle. The overt flirting, that is, not the proposal. Frankly, he wouldn’t mind having them around, as long as they were a few steps behind. They were too weak to help in big fights, but they could clean up behind him and level. At this point, anything below level 25 was barely worth the effort for him, so he’d rather focus on stronger opponents.

On top of the company, he’d have a fallback point to get some sleep and rest. Once he was sure he could really trust them.

Which was supposed to be Ember’s job. Where is that cat?

Ember was no show as of yet, and who knew when she’d show back up. Also, now that the adrenaline was out of his system, maybe he should have included something about his safety in that pact. Were there some inherent protection clause in the pact, or could that cat turn on him when he was asleep? He had something it wanted, sure, but was he really safe from it?

Oh, well… I just need to be at a higher level than her. And maybe pick up something other than fire in case I need to fight her.

Ethan turned to Liz and her teammates and finally gave them his answer. “I plan on finding those tunnels and exploring them. I don’t mind if you join up, but you’ll need to stay back and work on your levels. We can work our way down the tunnels once we find them. We need to locate the exit as soon as possible… because I don’t think it’ll just be a door that leads out. This all started in the castle with weak lizardlings, and the deeper we go, the stronger everything’s getting—”

“—so there might be something watching the exit. A boss,” breathed out Amelie, eyes shining.

Ethan glanced at her, surprised. After a second, he nodded. “I haven’t thought of it that way at first… but yeah, probably. If there’s a guardian, we might not have to beat it for the main quest, but I’m sure there’ll be a side quest for it.” 

Amelie grinned. “Yes. Classic game logic.”

***

Robert

Robert and Barry walked in silence back to their camp.

“Daniels’ going to be pissed,” said the shield-bearer after a bit. “We should have dealt with that fucking punk the first time we’ve met him.”

Barry kept quiet, as always. Robert glanced sideways toward the ex-insurance broker and found him worriedly looking around. 

“Barry,” Robert said, and refrained from showing his distaste when he saw the grown man practically jump from being startled. Like a fucking child.

“Yes?”

This was their best healer? No wonder they couldn’t stand up to that thug.

“We need to speed up our leveling. We need to step up our game or we might not even—”

A meow cut him off.

Robert stopped and tightened his grip on his shield. Barry whimpered, and any other day, he would have scolded his acquaintance for such a cowardly display, but this time… it might have been warranted.

A few yards ahead, an orange cat was sitting at the foot of a mushroom-tree. The ground was smoking around it, but that didn’t bother it. It kept licking its paw and rubbing its face.

[Feline Fire Elemental (I) - Level 50]

Robert saw the text above it and his eyes boggled. He felt Barry’s breath quicken and, just in case the young man decided to book it, he gripped it by his arm and whispered. “We can’t outrun it. Stay still.”

The cat continued its cleanup routine, uncaring of them. Cold sweat dripped down his back as Robert took a first step back, dragging Barry along with him. “Slow,” he whispered. “Easy…”

Barry began speaking, but his voice cracked. “Did—didn’t Ethan mention a cat?”

Robert narrowed his eyes, then shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. Keep walking. Slow—”

As if it had heard them—and it most probably did—the cat got up. Robert froze, and then the feline began walking toward them.

Robert’s stomach tightened, and he found himself holding his breath. Should they run? They couldn’t outrun a cat. Just wait and pray?

He hated that.

The cat continued its relaxed march while Robert swallowed. His throat felt dry. He scrambled for something to do as the orange cat approached. He took an involuntary step back—and then the cat just veered to the left and stepped around them.

It didn’t even look up at him.

Robert and Barry watched the monster as it continued on its way, not even sparing them a glance, and seconds later, it disappeared behind the foliage.

The two were quiet for nearly a minute and now that the encounter was over, Robert realized how close he’d been to disaster. Was that a message sent to them?

Was that boy still threatening them?

He swallowed, exhaled, then nudged Barry.

“Back to camp. Then we’re heading down those tunnels. Daniels should be back.”

The two briskly walked out of the underground forest and as the camp came into view, Robert spoke. “We took it easy long enough.”

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DETAILS OF THE EDIT:

EDIT START:

[...]

He shook his head and turned his attention back to Lance. The archer stank of defeat and could barely look at their faces for more than a second. Ethan knew he had just created a vendetta for life and he wasn’t naive enough to think things weren’t about to turn sour.

Still, he gave the chance. Knowing it wasn’t going to be taken. Not with the hatred he was seeing in the man’s eyes.

“We appreciate the tip, Lance. We’re square. And I don’t think I need to say anything more about our next meeting, right?”

The archer grit his teeth and gave him a tight nod. Ethan nodded to Liz, who then gestured to the others and they began walking. A few seconds later, once they were far enough, Ethan exhaled.

“Good luck,” he said, then turned and walked away as well. He went through the motion, knowing what was about to happen. Knowing the unpleasantness wasn’t over. His feet crunched on the dried mushroom and brush bits. The silence was heavy and he could almost hear his own heart beat in his ears. 

He was ready. But he wasn’t happy about it and in his mind, he only thought of the words he’d like to say once.

Don’t do it.

Unfortunately and as he expected, within five steps, a hushed and urgent voice reached his ear first, followed by a crackle of electricity. Ethan heard a “no” from behind, followed by the twang of a released bow just as he flared his flames in a barrier around his back and ducked his head.

He winced as the arrow slammed against his shoulder-blade, barely cutting into his skin. It had been weakened by the barrier, then it didn’t have enough momentum to punch through his high Toughness. But the damage was done and the mild pain he felt in his back was relief, in a way. 

If the man had taken the peaceful option, Ethan would have still needed to find him at a later time and dismantle his operation. But he had given the man a chance, and Lance proved he couldn’t be trusted. Even if he were no danger to Ethan, he would continue being a menace to everyone else.

[...]

EDIT END:

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