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Scorching Ascension - 1.54: The gamble (Unedited)
🕑 Added 2024-12-18 19:25:42 +0000 UTCA/N: Hey all! Thank you as always for your support. Hope you like this week's chapter and don't forget, I'm off next week ( to recharge some batteries and finish Undersea B1's editing)
Peace!
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Ethan paced while the tier-3 list of spells floated in front of him.
Wings, or weight?
On one hand, he had just been thinking and hoping for a spell to fix the weight issue so he wouldn’t get tossed around by monsters or powerful spells just like Savannah had done. It would allow him to ram through swarms and anything else that stood in his way, especially when combined with Horns of the Juggernaut. It fit his fighting style well, and it would synergize with his Path of breaking through anything that tried to stop him.
It was an amazing fit. But it didn’t feel as exciting as the wings. Even though the latter didn’t have the oomph of brute-forcing obstacles, and even though it was less offensive in nature, they were still wings. It was flight. If his Path was about breaking through obstacles toward what he desired, the wings could provide the speed to do so.
Ethan pictured cities and hills stretch below him as he beat his giant scaled wings, right before he dove down with terrifying speed with the lance.
Nothing would resist such impacts. Not even himself, probably. Not yet.
Ethan opened and closed his new claws. Just the idea of soaring into the air made his heart flutter.
The wings would allow him to fly over great distances and even though they weren’t as offence-focused as the rock rhino’s form, he could still use that speed and momentum to ram through his targets. He could drop on his opponent with crushing force. It would allow him to not get bogged down by lines of monsters or people and to rush straight into the heart of enemy territories. They could be used as shields against spells as well.
And there’s also the ‘draconic’ part.
Ethan wasn’t sure of that part, but what if there was some sort of hidden mechanic involving forms of the same nature? You’d think there’d be a connection between [Draconic Claws] and [Draconic Wings]. It would be a small gamble, as he was not guaranteed such a thing, but if there was such a mechanic, then that’d make the wing’s choice even more attractive.
Deep down, Ethan felt like there was something there. It couldn’t just be a coincidence.
He paced, humming. Even if there was no such mechanic, having two spellforms with the same theme might unlock a special trait. Unique or personal.
He looked back at [Rock Rhino’s Skeleton] and bit his lips. It was the safe choice. He needed something for the weight, sooner or later. But the wings—aside from gambling on a synergistic mechanic—would also patch up some important weaknesses. What if there were flying monsters? What if he needed to get somewhere really fast? The weight won’t do much there.
And even if I get knocked around some more, I’m not really getting hurt. It’s just a pain in the ass.
Ethan vigorously rubbed the back of his head. He was going to regret whatever he didn’t pick, but he’d regret it more if he passed on the wings. It was flight. It was the most superpower-like ability he’d seen so far, and considering he’d been offered [Minotaur’s Frame] and now [Rock Rhino’s Skeleton], he was sure he’d get something to fix the weight issue soon.
If I’m lucky, it might end up being something draconic as well. And if there’s synergistic combinations between spells, then that’d be even better.
Ethan closed his clawed hand, exhaled, then made his choice. He had to have wings. He had to feel what that was like. Soaring through the air. Unfettered and unchained from gravity.
He stopped pacing, heart hammering in his chest. Then he made the call.
As the spell sunk into his chest and as the notification came through, Ethan turned left toward the tunnel’s exit and up at the cave’s ceiling, then back at the maxed slots and his wand and the unique trait that’d allow a third form.
He glanced around, then back at the wand.
Just so I can test if something happens with both forms. And maybe a quick flight test.
Ethan removed the fireball from the wand and switched out the unique trait to the new one he’d gotten.
Alright. Moment of truth, he thought as he dragged the [Draconic Wings] spell into the wand. The spell clicked in place, and something echoed the click in his chest.
Ethan tensed. It was as if two miniature heartbeats were trying to get in sync. They pulsed. At different frequencies at first, but as the seconds went by, the energetic pulses he could feel in his soul were slowly merging, until finally, they pulsed one last time, in unison, and a message came through, appearing over his interface.
Draconic set activated
Set bonus (2 forms): +5 Toughness and +5 Spirit per form.
Ethan laughed and pumped his fist up. “Yes!”
He had been right. There was a bonus to spellforms of the same family. Now he just needed the next spellform to be a draconic weight upgrade. Something like an [Draconic Skeleton] or [Earth Dragon’s Frame]
“[What is it?]”
Ethan turned back and saw the cat sitting on her haunches, staring at him.
In answer, Ethan summoned the wings. A prodigious amount of mana instantly rushed out of his chest and to his back, and a small weight dropped on his shoulders. A moment later, he felt them. Like extensions of his own limbs.
Ethan grinned at the dark gray wings, and as he unfurled them, he raised a clawed and scaled hand. “I just found out about sets and their bonuses.”
Ember stilled, and her eyes narrowed. She got up, stepped closer, then tilted her head. “[Congratulations. What set is that? It looks…very lizard-y.]”
“Draconic,” Ethan said, wincing as he tried to stretch the wings out. He couldn’t sync their movement just right, and they were scraping against the wall. He had to go outside to really get a feel for them. But as he considered heading out and trying them out, he paused.
He expected Ember to say something about the set or react. But she’d gone quiet and through his link to her, he felt such a profound sense of stupefaction that his heart rate picked up. He looked at her, and his eyes widened in alarm when he saw her.
The cat was standing, back blazing with excited flames. Her ears were standing straight, and her tail was swishing around with gusto, and as he watched her, the stupefaction turned to a mix of malice and amusement.
“What? What’s going on?”
Ember’s flames softened, and her shoulders began to shake. Ethan thought she was having a seizure for a moment, until he realized she was laughing.
It was a disturbing sight. He’d never seen a cat laugh before and he was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to.
The cat approached him, eyes bright. She hopped over their companions and began circling him as she examined the forms. “[That is perfect. What do you know of that word?]”
“[Which word?]”
Ember paused and blinked at him, and her ears flicked back in annoyance. “[Draconic. Do you know what it means?]”
“[It’s related to dragons?]”
Ethan didn’t know where she was going with her line of questioning, and he didn’t mind giving her the answer, but the cat was so easy to provoke that he couldn’t resist. She swatted at his foot.“[Obviously. Do you know what they are?]”
Ethan laughed. “[Yes. Fantastical creatures. Scales. Breathes fires. Hard to kill? Why are you asking? Are they real?]”
The cat sat back down on her haunches, flames still merrily dancing on her back. “[I thought you didn’t have magic in your world. It’s curious how you know so much of them without having had to suffer their existence. Yes. They exist. They’re tyrants. Monsters. Some even see them as gods. At least, the most powerful of their kinds are. So the fact that you, as a tier-1 human, is using their forms is utterly hilarious.]”
Ethan paused at that, but as he considered giant lizards getting mad at him for using their abilities, he couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his lips. He glanced at the sharp black talons, and wondered if they could cut through a real dragon’s scales. “[You think they’d find it offensive?]”
Ember swished her tail back and forth, and her pupils narrowed into a slit.“[I heard a kingdom was razed to the ground because of a painting. They keep to themselves, off in their own dungeons and towers, but when they come out of hiding, it's to enslave, burn, and take whatever it is they want. So yes. I think they might take offense to someone using their form. Or maybe they’d see it as a tribute of sorts. Who knows. I know they’re supposed to be temperamental and proud, and if you know one’s around, you should be on the other side of the world but at the end of the day, they’d have to notice you exist for them to get mad. But long story short, yes. They’ll probably find your appearance offensive.]”
The two shared a look. He sensed a morbid sense of excitement from the cat but while he understood such prospects should at least worry him a bit, Ethan couldn’t help but think of old medieval illustrations. Specifically those portraying dragons and knights armed with lances.
Ethan was no knight and he didn’t intend on being one. But he did have a lance.
Comments
guillaume nguyen
That or the System came once long ago and the stories were passed on
Gilded Goblin
Okay, so set bonuses are neat. I like the implications of "conceptual bleed" being a thing. Like ideas and concepts falling through to lesser developed universes, as a sort of "prep" for when they inevitably get integrated. Dragons, monsters, magic. Do you think the idea of video games and RPGs themselves were a bleed-through to prep for the System?
