Chapter 888 Ash

Ilea scanned the names of her options for the Ashen Titan.

The Flame Touched Dragonrider (bond with creatures/Fire)
The Blood Coated Warrior (Blood and hand to hand)
The Goddess of Ash (Ash divinity)
The Alloyed Titan (Metal and fire – thicc steel)
The Pyroclastic Storm (Ash and volcano, non divine)

The choice for this one, she had already made.

Keeping her ash, and remaining decidedly non divine, Ilea selected the Pyroclastic Storm.

The Ashen Titan

Vitality +200
Strength +50
Dexterity +20
Intelligence +20
Wisdom +15

Body enhancement magic is improved by 400%
All Ashen magic skills are improved by 200%
All fighting styles using hand to hand combat are more refined
Your will is ash and embers
You cannot be stunned by enemy attacks
Your bones and muscles have increased density
Your heat generation is increased by 100%

‘ding’ ‘Class change: The Ashen Titan becomes The Pyroclastic Storm

The Pyroclastic Storm

Vitality +500
Strength +300
Dexterity +20
Intelligence +20
Wisdom +50

Body enhancement magic is improved by 500%
All Ashen magic skills are improved by 500%
All Fire magic skills are improved by 250%
All fighting styles using hand to hand combat are more refined
Your will is ash and heat
You cannot be stunned by enemy attacks
Your bones and muscles have vastly increased density
Your heat generation is increased by 1000%

One thousand percent heat generation. Ilea laughed. Going for a strong start, I see.

Skills changed by The Pyroclastic Storm

Active: Mantle of the Titan [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30
An armor of hardened ash protects you. Stronger than steel and forming to your will. The Mantle increases your resilience by 160% [1920%].
2nd stage: The strength of your Resistance skills also benefit from Mantle of the Titan. The Mantle is a part of the Titan’s body. It benefits from natural regeneration. You can feel through your Mantle and you can heal it.
3rd stage: Increases the defensive capabilities of all ash and ember you control. Increase the ash used to form your mantle by up to a static 500%. The additional ash used requires conscious manipulation. You may use Mantle of the Titan to defend willing allies. Amount of required ash dependent on size of the target.
Category: Body Enhancement – Ashen magic

[Mantle of the Titan] becomes [Ash Scale Armor]

Active: Ash Scale Armor [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30
An armor of ash and hardened volcanic glass scales protects and fuses partially with your body, forming at your will. The Armor increases your resistance to heat and fire, as well as your overall resilience by 200% [3200%].
2nd stage: The strength of your Resistance skills and your wings also benefit from Ash Scale Armor. The Armor is a part of your body. It benefits from natural regeneration. You can feel through your armor and you can heal it. Your Ash Scale Armor repairs minor damage on its own. If you armor is penetrated to the lowest layer, an explosion of heated smoke and volcanic glass is released at your enemy if you do not suppress the effect.
3rd stage: Increases the defensive capabilities of all ash you control. Increase the ash used to form your armor by up to a static 500%. The additional ash used requires conscious manipulation. You may use Ash Scale Armor to defend willing allies. Amount of required ash dependent on size of the target. You may increase the ash used by another static 500%, reducing your total speed by a static 15% for each 100% of additional increase.
Category: Body Enhancement – Ashen magic

Higher numbers, scales, volcanic glass. An explosion of heat and glass when it’s penetrated. And more layers for a speed reduction.

Ilea tried it immediately, feeling the dense coat of ash forming around her. It felt more weighty, more substantial. Atop the layers formed scale like protrusions made of entirely black glass, a slight sheen to some of the pieces, though barely reflecting the light of the suns.

She looked at herself in her domain. Her form looked slightly larger compared to before, the ash itself different, the scales on top fitting well with the horns she still sported. It felt right. As if the previous versions were mere prototypes, and now she got the final version.

Ilea snorted. “Fits damned well with Ravenhall. Lilith, the Raven queen. Or Lilith, the dark knightess!”

She did a fancy twirl, laughing to herself at the sight in her domain. Adding additional layers, she repeated the twirl, her movement slowing down with each layer. The armor slowly changed from well made medium armor to decidedly heavy. She wondered if the Alloyed Titan would’ve changed her defense to something like that. With all five additional layers, her total speed was reduced by 75%. The twirl was more a menacing turn, and still she kept her balance.

Slowing to a stop, she removed the additional layers but kept the main five layers up.

What’s next.

Active: Titan Core [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30:
Ember glows within you, raising your resilience, speed, Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity by 70% [700%]. Your learn how to generate and store heat within your Titan Core. This effect has a separate mana requirement.
2nd stage: The longer you fight with Titan Core active, the deeper it roots. Each minute of fighting adds 15% more power to the skill with a maximum of 150%.
3rd stage: Familiarity with the skill removes its upkeep. You can choose to increase your weight by 25% [250%] for each passing minute to a maximum of a static [750%], increasing your natural health regeneration, heat generation, and resilience by the same factor.
Category: Aura – Body Enhancement

[Titan Core] becomes [Draconic Core]

Active: Draconic Core [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30:
Heat glows within you, raising your resilience, speed, Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity by 100% [1850%]. Your learn how to generate and store vast amounts of heat within your Draconic Core or your magical constructs.
2nd stage: The longer you fight with Draconic Core active, the deeper it roots. Each second of fighting adds 1% more power to the skill with a maximum of a static [250%]. Once no longer engaged in battle, 1% of additionally generated power is lost per second.
3rd stage: Familiarity with the skill removes its upkeep. You can choose to increase your weight by 1% [18.5%] for each passing second to a maximum of a static [1500%], increasing your natural health regeneration, heat generation, and resilience by the same factor.
Category: Aura – Body Enhancement – Ashen Magic - Fire Magic

Minutes to seconds. Seems appropriate, took me ages to get this one up and running in the recent battles. Ilea squinted her eyes, realizing she had only gotten around a 30 to 40% increase in the fight against the dragon. Would’ve been at least a hundred or one fifty with this one.

Seems like this one doesn’t immediately fall off either when I stop fighting. Just one percent lower for each second. A nice addition, I suppose. Main bonus is just the Ashen and Fire magic additions. The bonuses nearly tripled. Oh and I can generate heat inside of magical constructs directly with this one as well.

And I can become the heaviest object in existence, she smiled, seeing the 1500% maximum increase to her weight.

Hmm… now let’s see what this one does.

Active: Origin of Ash and Embers [Enhanced] – 4th Tier
Create ash and embers in a certain radius around you.
2nd stage: You can control the density of the ash and the heat of embers to an extent.
3rd stage: You have proven your dedication. Ash and embers move to aid and destroy at your whims. The amount of ash and embers you can create is vastly increased.
4th tier: You are maker and being of ash and embers. The Fourth Tier allows for true harmony. While you are using the Fourth Tier, any self caused movements from your position will reduce your harmony to its previous limit.
Category: Ashen Magic

[Origin of Ash and Embers] becomes [Pyroclastic Flow]

Active: Pyroclastic Flow [Enhanced] – 4th Tier
Create ash, smoke, and volcanic glass in a certain radius around you.
2nd stage: You may vastly increase the density and heat of your ash, smoke, and volcanic glass.
3rd stage: You have proven your dedication. The Pyroclastic Flow moves to aid and destroy at your whims. The amount of ash, smoke, and volcanic glass you can create is vastly increased.
4th tier: You are the Pyroclastic Storm. The Fourth Tier allows for true harmony.
Category: Ashen Magic – Fire Magic

Ash, smoke, volcanic glass, and vast addition of heat generation. Otherwise it’s the s...

Ilea reread the fourth tier.

Is that.

Right.

She smiled and activated true harmony, instantly feeling the connection to the vast endless desert of ash within her, but this time, there was black glass twirling inside of moving smoke and ash. And there was a feeling of suffocating heat. As if the smoke was all encompassing.

Ilea tried it out. She willed everything into existence, as if she would summon a cloud of ash.

An oppressive darkness formed around her, burning hot smoke and ash pouring out into existence, more and more as if the floodgates of a dam were opened. She felt the heat and felt the ash, the smoke that carried all within, and the shards of black glass moving as if the talons of an ancient beast. She felt small within the smoke and ash, as if she should not be able to breathe, or to survive. A human instinct partially, but knew there was no need to be afraid. It was a part of her, an extension of her will. She raised her arms and pushed the storm to settle, down onto the ground. The smoke followed, glass and ash spreading out onto the wracked stone of the valley, the scorching heat remaining as she willed the unstoppable to halt.

Ilea kept her fourth tier up, and took a step forward. Then another. Some of the glass pieces glittered slightly in the layer of ash all around her, crunching beneath her heavy weight.

The connection held.

No restrictions at all.

She gulped, feeling her insane pool of mana, her ludicrous regeneration, and now her true harmony, freed entirely. And she could feel the heat nearby, without generating any, without pushing her new Pyroclastic Flow.

She wanted to test her limits immediately but restrained herself, focusing back on the skills she hadn’t yet looked at. There would be time to test, and she already felt a little sorry for whatever Daughter of Sephilon would think her its prey.

Active: Embered Heart [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30
Increase the heat in your body and release it in a blast around you.
2nd stage: The embers run deep. The heat you may reach is only limited by your very life. Your resistance to heat held within your body is doubled.
3rd stage: Focus on release to change the blast into a cone of destruction sent out of either arm. You may store heat within any ash you control, the more ash used, the higher its potential to hold heat. Ash not connected to you releases its stored heat upon a strong impact in a blast around it or when you will it.
Category: Body Enhancement – Ashen Magic

[Embered Heart] becomes [Volcanic Source]

Active: Volcanic Source [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30
Vastly increase the heat in your body and release it in a blast or continuous heat around you.
2nd stage: The fires run deep. The heat you may reach is only limited by your very life. Your resistance to heat held within your body is tripled.
3rd stage: Focus on release to change the blast into a cone of destruction sent out of either arm. You may store heat within any ash, smoke, or volcanic glass that you control. Creations not connected to you release their stored heat upon a strong impact in a blast around it or when you will it. You learn to send out any stored heat as waves through your Pyroclastic Flow.
Category: Body Enhancement – Ashen Magic – Fire Magic

More resistance and the ability to send out waves of heat, I suppose. Not the biggest change, but this is adding up to something pretty scary, coupled with the one thousand percent to heat generation from the Class itself.

She remembered the mention of her having seen dragonfire, and finding it wanting. Ilea now started to see what that really meant.

Active: Tempered Seal [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30
Burn the inside of whatever your body hits with a surge of heat and embers or release the attack in a burst of fire and cinders.
2nd stage: The flame burns on. Targets hit will have fire burning through or on them. Time and consecutive attacks will increase the effect. When using your arms, fists, fingers, legs, feet, or head, you gain the ability to send pockets of heat within your enemies alongside the initial surge of heat and embers. Activate these pockets to cause a violent explosion of fire within the affected targets. Can be activated three seconds after pocket formation or until heat is lost.
3rd stage: Tempered Seal burns away all that stand against it, damaging mana intrusion capabilities of defensive enchantments, natural- as well as manufactured armor. You may add heat to existing heat pockets or form more. You may add a static 500 mana to a new or existing heat pocket every second.
Category: Ashen magic

[Tempered Seal] becomes [Scorching Intrusion]

Active: Scorching Intrusion [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30
Burn the inside of whatever your body or your magical constructs touch with a surge of heat or release the attack in a violent burst.
2nd stage: The heat burns on. Targets hit will have fire burning through or on them. Continuous use of Scorching Intrusion will increase the stored energy up to a breaking point where all is released in a violent explosion of fire and heat. Breaking point is dependent on enemy resilience and heat resistance.
3rd stage: Scorching Intrusion damages mana intrusion capabilities of defensive enchantments, natural- as well as manufactured armor. Once a target is affected by Scorching Intrusion and in contact with your body or your magical constructs, you may increase the stored heat for up to a static 1000 mana per second to faster reach the breaking point.
Category: Ashen magic – Fire Magic

So they just have to be inside the cloud I summon? And with the third tier I basically just have to hit them once and then ramp up the heat until they explode. Violently. With fire and heat.

I like that.

Passive: Authority of Ash and Ember [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30:
You are one with Ash and Ember. Allies rushing to your aid.
2nd stage: Your understanding grows, allowing you to create greater change in ash and ember. Imbue mana into your creations. Ash and Ember you imbue retains its form until the mana is used up.
3rd stage: The elements themselves become an extension of your body, an extension of your will, for as long as they stay in physical contact with you. Ash not connected benefits from passive abilities enhancing your body. You may imbue commands into ash and ember you have imbued with mana.
Category: Ashen magic

[Authority of Ash and Ember] becomes [Mastery of Ash]

Passive: Mastery of Ash [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30:
You are one with Ash and Heat, your creations blotting out the very suns.
2nd stage: Your understanding grows, allowing you to create greater change in ash, smoke, and volcanic glass. Imbue mana and complex commands into your creations. Ash and volcanic glass you imbue retains its form until the mana is used up. Imbued creations retain a static 10% of your ambient and enemy spell mana absorption.
3rd stage: The elements themselves become an extension of your body, an extension of your will, for as long as they stay in physical contact with you. Ash and volcanic glass not connected benefits from passive abilities enhancing your body. You may imbue commands into ash and ember you have imbued with mana. Once per hour, you may create up to 25 copies of your form made of ash and volcanic glass, all instantly imbued with the same or separate complex commands. Each copy receives one random Class skill from any of your Classes. Should a spell require health or stamina to function, you may choose to imbue these resources as well. Copies lose access to this skill after initially imbued resources are used up.
Category: Ashen magic

Retain 10% of my ambient and spell absorption? So they can just fight on and if whatever they’re fighting doesn’t have magic powerful enough to destroy them fast, they’re indestructible? Or am I misreading that?

Ilea came to the third tier of the new skill and immediately activated it. She felt her mana drain and knew to give the complex commands. And so she told them to make some distance and then fight each other.

The spell came to life, twenty five beings made of dense ash and volcanic glass appeared. Two of them instantly vanished, one of them sprouting wings, another one glowing with the power of Cosmic Energy. She saw one of them layer even more armor on top of itself, all of the copies rushing to a secluded spot in the valley where they joined the brawl of the two teleporters.

She watched with fascination as more ash was created and cosmic energies rushed out, even the fires of creation burning on one of the creatures. She smiled to herself and summoned herself another meal, this time forming an ashen chair as she kept her eyes on the brawl of her twenty five creations, all of them fighting with speed and ferocity, some of them faster, some teleporting, some using beams of fire, another summoning a storm of ash, smoke, and heat.

Ilea did come to the conclusion that the copies couldn’t use her Fourth Tiers, and none of them benefited from all of her defensive skills, which meant that after a few seconds, most all of them had already perished. She saw that two of them had some ability to hold back the surrounding storm, one of them likely the Space Manipulation Ilea, the other one the Mastery of Ash Ilea. She kept her eyes on the latter, seeing it finally perish to a bright beam of burning heat and energy. So I can’t make infinite copies. Really quite sad.

Hmm, might just be a mana issue. This one was quite costly. As costly as a new car to a billionaire, she thought and grinned, watching the fight continue. More and more of the copies perished.

“And here we see Teleportation Ilea continuing to avoid the spells of her enemies. Pyroclastic Flow Ilea is battling the Fires of Creation Ilea at the center of the battlefield. Who will run out of steam first? Well, Ilea, I would say if Pyroclastic Flow Ilea cannot break through the Fires of Creation soon, she is doomed to lose as we know that the white flame returns mana from burned away spells! Oh! Volcanic Source Ilea caught Primordial Shift Ilea right when she returned from her safe space in the fabric, instantly incinerating her entire form!

She ate a few bites and gulped. “And there goes Ash Scale Armor Ilea! A valiant last stand, but ultimately overwhelmed by the other players. Catalyst Core Ilea and True Reconstruction Ilea are battling each other, but I suspect the latter will soon- and there she goes! A devastating use of her third tier, her enemy fading away into nothingness!

“And finally, we see the Pyroclastic Flow Ilea gaining ground, the Fires of Creation Ilea betrayed and attacked in a pincer move by the Embodiment of the Arcane Ilea. And with that, the creators have run out of mana, leaving the four remaining to a melee brawl!” She watched and ate, until only one of the beings remained.

“Draconic Core Ilea wins! What a battle! Well fought!” she clapped her hands at the self made performance and laughed.

Her copy bowed, which made Ilea choke on her food before she laughed even more.

“Ah, this is fun,” she murmured, dismissing the winner as she watched the fading flames and rising smoke left on the battlefield. Some of those are pretty crazy as standalone fighters.

Still in her presenter persona, she summoned a bottle of ale and raised it. “Next!”

Passive: Ashen Wings [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30
Your understanding of ash allows you to form wings from ash and ember. Strike your enemies from above and close the distance to deliver your wrath.
2nd stage: Your wings become more dense and tangible, able to help you defend and attack.
3rd stage: Ash Creation and Unity prove you are above the rest. Shape and form your wings to your liking, now directly affected by your control. An added tail shall make you one with the skies above, not a mere human imitating flight but one who revels in it. You may charge your wings with mana and stamina to dramatically increase your flight velocity at the cost of heavily reduced control. Your resilience is increased greatly during a charged flight.
Category: Body Enhancement – Ashen Magic

[Ashen Wings] becomes [Draconic Ash Wings]

Passive: Draconic Ash Wings [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30
Your understanding of the Pyroclastic Flow allows you to create scaled wings from ash and volcanic glass. Bring terror from above and deliver your wrath, your wings carrying you no matter how dense, how heavy, or how injured you are.
2nd stage: Your wings become more dense and tangible, able to help you defend and attack. When active, your wings become a part of your body.
3rd stage: Shape and form your wings to your liking, now directly affected by your control. An added tail shall make you one with the skies above, not a mere human imitating flight but one who revels in it. You may charge your wings with mana and stamina to dramatically increase your flight velocity at the cost of heavily reduced control. Your resilience is increased greatly during a charged flight. If wings are active, this charge may be applied to created magical constructs for a vast increase in the velocity of projectiles. Resilience bonuses do not apply to such constructs.
Category: Body Enhancement – Ashen Magic

“My wings,” she murmured. No matter how dense and heavy? That’s great. No more awkward wing assisted hopping.

She spread her wings and found they had gained the same black scale like quality of her armor, and while she had always felt a deep connection to them on an emotional level, now the connection felt physical as well. She knew instinctively that they wouldn’t be damaged as easily.

More importantly, she thought and created a few spears of ash and volcanic glass before her. Focusing on her wings, she charged not her appendages, but the spears themselves, finding them thrumming with power just like her wings usually did. She aimed at a nearby mountain and shot them out, the impacts visible before the sound reached her ears.

Right. Now that, is filthy. Might even have to be careful how much ash I charge with this or it may as well be an actual meteorite striking this planet.

Fuck, I hope that’s not going to become an issue.

Restraining myself because of the puny atmosphere of a planetary object. Good thing I have some realms to test this on.

Now what’s the last one.

Passive: Avatar of Ash [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30:
Increases your reflexes and speed by 65% [780%]. Your ability to avoid damage to your vitals when dodging increases.
2nd stage: Your muscles grow more dense. For each Resistance skill your body becomes tougher. First tier Resistances equal a static 5% increase, second tier equal a static 10% increase, third tier equal a static 15% increase [625%].
3rd stage: You can choose to allow magic damage to bypass your related resistance skills. Effect is canceled automatically upon reaching 50% of your health. Each Resistance skill in the second tier or higher increases the potential density of your created ash by a static 5% [225%]. Each Resistance skill in the third tier increases the speed of your ash projectiles by 5% [130%].
Category: Body Enhancement – Ashen magic

[Avatar of Ash] becomes [Embodiment of Heat]

Passive: Embodiment of Heat [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 30:
Increases your reflexes and speed by 75% [1387.5%]. Your ability to avoid damage to your vitals when dodging increases. A static 25% of this bonus is applied to Vitality.
2nd stage: Your muscles grow more dense. For each Resistance skill your body becomes tougher. First tier Resistances equal a static 5% increase, second tier equal a static 10% increase, third tier equal a static 15% increase [625%]. Additionally affects your stamina.
3rd stage: You can choose to allow magic damage to bypass your related resistance skills. If this effect is active, any absorption abilities related to such magic damage is increased. Effect is canceled automatically upon reaching 50% of your health. Each Resistance skill in the second tier or higher increases your heat generation and the potential density of your created ash and volcanic glass by a static 5% [225%]. Each Resistance skill in the third tier increases the speed of your created projectiles by 10% [260%].
Category: Body Enhancement – Ashen magic – Fire Magic

Ilea immediately checked her resources.

Health:                498,238 / 571,177
Stamina:                7,201 / 43,500
Mana:                                1,528,856 / 1,619,188

She leaned back in her chair.

“Nice.”

She paused.

“That’s very nice.”

Five hundred thousand fucking health. That’s crazy. And that stamina. Well, it would’ve been kind of funny to see it sit at six thousand still. Compared to one and a half million mana.

She chuckled at the thought and finished her meal, quietly looking out into the valley as she let Keyla’s creation distract her from the wild thoughts and dopamine rushing through her brain.

When she was done, she resummoned her notebook, and looked at the options, for her third Class.