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Scorching Ascension - 2.24: Hypocrisy
🕑 Added 2025-07-05 15:28:49 +0000 UTCAs he took a step to the side and heard the whistling blade fly past him, Ethan came to a realization.
Fighting close-range was, for a lack of a better word, relaxing.
True, the ominous gray nimbus of magic that surrounded the axes was a little worrying, and so was the fact that the hooded man whose wand felt strangely similar to the gray magic had not shown up ever since Ethan had blasted him with a fireball. But even with that in mind, Ethan felt at home, fighting like this, and after a couple of exchanges with the bulky man in the rusty plate, he had to admit that by far this was his favorite range, especially when compared to the spray-and-pray he had to deal with against the eldritch-caster from… a few hours ago.
Damn, it hasn’t even been 3 hours since all of that, Ethan thought as he channeled another activation of [Detect Life] through his horns. The wave of soft magic spread out, but only the form of the panting man in front of him was highlighted.
The fact that he couldn’t locate the hooded man was an issue. Was it a range issue, or was he countering Ethan’s spell? Was he hiding to try and get an ambush off, or was he more of a supportive caster, opting to stay hidden and safe instead of getting his hands dirty?
Through his link with Ember, Ethan sent a message as he lobbed the two remaining [Overload Fireballs] at the man, intent on ending the fight fast. At first he’d considered letting the rust-armored man tire himself off, but that wasn’t going to end well for him. The man seemed to be growing faster by the second and the red light emanating out of his eyes seemed to be shining brighter. He didn’t seem to be tiring that fast, and he was still a tier-2 human. He could likely still go on for a while.
“[Ember. Can you sense the invisible man? His magic feels the same as the gray stuff that surrounds the axes.]”
As he waited for an answer, he glanced back and found his companions pressing the flying man, with Audrey catching the stray spells and standing right over Amanda who was intently scanning the surroundings, her glowing golden eyes roving about.
It seemed like he didn’t need to warn them about the missing man.
“[No. Well, I can sense the curse magic, but I’m too busy to narrow it down. Amanda will tell you if she finds him. Deal with the warrior and we’ll take on the last one together. If he’s still around. He doesn’t strike me as someone who’d be willing to be the last one standing.]”
Ethan had to agree there. Between the small frame and the invisibility, the mage didn’t feel like someone who wanted to duke it out. Then again, he might be wrong so he should still watch out for the stray dagger to the back.
The armored man roared, rushing out of the flames as more red wisps danced around his body. At this point, his eyes were literally glowing red, and Ethan relaxed his knees as he prepared for another exchange though this time, he wasn’t hiding his abilities anymore.
“So what’s you guys’ deal?” Ethan called out, eyes unblinking at the oncoming attack. The first axe came at his neck and Ethan leaned back, only for the second to come at his side. Stepping in, Ethan parried with an elbow and crashed his horns against the man’s helmet, putting all of his weight into the head-butt. The silent man stumbling back, face contorted with pain as blood flowed down his helmet and Ethan extended both of his arms.
“No? Too worked up to chat?”
With the Draconic bonus’s alignment set to fire, the element reacted to his will seamlessly. Easily. The [Scales of the Bronze Dragon] ignited as if they’d been soaked in gasoline, and as he willed every ounce of his mana out of his hand and on his opponent, the flames roared, engulfing the man in a five foot wide column of fire that went on for nearly 10 yards before it lost its form.
Ethan kept the flow going for nearly three seconds when he sensed a flare of something behind him, and he threw himself to the side and looked back. Where he’d been standing, there was a circle of pale, gray magic crackling with magic. The magic activated, but he was out of the circle, so nothing happened.
A few yards to the right, the hooded figure tutted. “Thought I’d get you there,” the nasal voice said. “And it’s a bit too late to try and talk to him now.”
A roar drew Ethan’s attention back to the smoking, blackened stretch to his left and to the smoking form of the armored man. And the haze of red that surrounded him as he let his rage out into the world.
Oh boy.
Ethan had suspected something like this when he realized the man had been getting faster and stronger with every exchange, but he didn’t think he was fighting a literal berserker.
“I could stop him. If you agreed to surrender and join us,” called out the mage. Ethan was tempted to blast him away, but he’d rather keep him where he could see him.
“Nah, I’m good,” Ethan responded, one eye on the mage, and the other at the panting berserker. He let out a deep breath, and lowered his stance a little, claws slightly raised. He didn’t extend them yet, as he didn’t want to give himself away and this time, he was putting all of his back into the attempt.
Anything less would open him up to be interrupted once more.
A snort escaped the mage, and Ethan’s eye swiveled toward him, only to find him gone. Still, the voice echoed around, amplified. “You think yourself a little hero, don’t you? With your little town, and your little friends? You made it out of the tutorial and think you’re gonna be a big deal out here?”
A derisive laugh echoed around, and Ethan almost smiled at the attempt to rile him up.
The armored man broke out into a run as the mage continued his taunt, and Ethan sensed something under him, so he rushed forward to meet the armored man and get away from whatever the mage had been planning.
“You’re not any different than us. You’re just going for power, just like we are. We’re just not hypocrites about it,” the voice said, and Ethan was gratified to sense some frustration in it. But he couldn’t dwell on that. Not when there was a nearly seven feet-tall man sprinting at him, frothing at the mouth, with two noticeably larger hand-axes in hand.
Either I’m getting smaller, or everything about him is getting larger, Ethan thought as his feet skidded and as he barely ducked in time to dodge the first swipe, and extending the black [Draconic Claws], he stabbed up, activating the Zenith state as he did.
He couldn’t have this fight drag on more than it needed to. Not against someone who can just keep angrily working themselves into more power.
The claws met the red glowing armor, and Ethan was surprised to feel a little feedback from them. A little resistance to his own stab. Something that tried to protest the reality-defying action of his Prime Manifestation. But it wasn’t developed enough.
The man’s own Zenith state was nowhere near ready to oppose Ethan’s, so Ethan’s clawed hand just tore through the armor, through the man’s heart and back, and out the other side, and whatever he had left in that tank was burnt away.
Ethan wrenched his arm out right as he sensed a flare of magic under him. He took a step back, but his movement was jerky, and it was as if he’d been dunked in honey.
“You should be paralyzed,” he heard the man behind him say, voice disbelieving and Ethan went to throw a spell back as he flared his scales with flames defensively, only for a hand to fall on his shoulder.
Turning forward, he came face to face with a red-eyed, blood-soaked rictus of pain and rage, and the man screamed in his face and swung. Ethan raised his hands with a curse, and the blade met his ignited forearms.
Ethan groaned as the sharp edge tore through his scales and bit into his bones, but that was where it had stopped. With a kick, he shoved the armored warrior away and lobbed a fireball at him before whirling back, only to find no one. A pulse of [Detect Life] came back empty again.
Shit.
Ethan turned his attention back to the stumbling man ahead. Blood was freely flowing out of his guts, and while it seemed that the edge of the gaping wound was closing up, it didn’t seem like it’d be enough. The man was growing paler by the second, and even the red light was fading away.
But he wasn’t taking any chances.
Raising his hand, Ethan drowned the man in fire, until the familiar ding reached his ears and glancing back, he saw his companions standing around the fallen form of the winged man.
He hoped that one was still alive, because they were about to need to ask some questions.
Comments
calcroissant
The "3 hours" to weeks conversion messed me up too lol. People who get to read this all in one shot are lucky.
guillaume nguyen
"Fighting close-range was, for a lack of a better word, relaxing. " Seriously, if I was axe guy and I heard Ethan say that out loud, I would be so triggered that I would keel over on the spot XDXDXD Yeah, seems weird to think that it was *only* 3 hours and a few weeks ago XDXDXD Hmmm, seems we'll need to upgrade the Detect Life spell into Draconic Gaze, impervious to all illusions, soon. Ah, and a Berserk too. Berserks are always cool, as long as you don't deal too much friendly fire (aka non permanent shonen injuries are okay, anything else isn't). Sure, sure, the whole hypocrite talk. There is a difference between killing for the sake of killing and making hard choices for the sake of others. Yes, Ethan like to gain power, who wouldn't ? But abandoning all morals open up the weakness of having the whole world against you, and it's more a liability than a strength. Tsk, got away. That guy was more an annoyance than a threat, but only against Ethan. Hope Amanda will catch him before he come back to wreck some havock on New Dawn.
