Path to Transcendence

Julius spat out the ash from his mouth. The acrid and burnt smell filled his nose like a stubborn fart that wouldn’t go away, no matter what he did.
“I told you it was a bad idea,” Aubrey said with a severe frown. Her clothes were covered in soot as well. Despite being far away from him, the ash managed to blow everywhere and even got on her.
He nodded as he accepted the scolding. His skin slowly healed from the burns inflicted by his own rushed actions. [Phoenix Renewal] was healing him more slowly than usual. He suspected that this was some kind of aspect of his new flames.
It was like something was preventing him from healing as easily as he was used to. However, it wasn’t able to stop the skill entirely. His skin still regenerated at a visible pace, and within several seconds, all his wounds were healed over.
It was only then that he looked around at the destruction his little orb had caused. Everything within twenty feet was scorched black. However, ten feet of that destruction was from before. At least that was what he told himself to make himself feel better about his mistake.
The little orb had been created successfully, but it only took one moment of lapsed concentration for everything to go south. The orb blew up right in his face, blasting outward with fire so hot that it blew through his own fire resistance like it was not even there.
However, despite the accident, he was very thrilled by what he had sensed. All of his fire mana had been focused through the crown on his head. When that happened, he could feel the crown forcibly changing the nature of his flames on its own.
He could see where the name Ruinflame Crown had come from. The flames were truly ruinous; he could detect several similar aspects of the fire that were in his aura. The endless hunger and desire for destruction were formidable.
He had a feeling that he was going to experience something similar to what he had gone through with his aura when he received [Pyrokinetic Embodiment of Ruin].
The pain was a little annoying, but honestly, it was how his mind was affected that worried him. He hadn’t realized it during the time he was using it, but the power he felt from the crown was absolutely addictive. He could already feel himself craving to taste that power again.
Was this another test from the crown? Was this what the description meant by tempering his willpower?
He wanted to send the crown back into his soul, shoving it away until he felt comfortable handling it. In all honesty, it would have been the most logical decision. He clearly wasn’t prepared to handle the item quite yet. It was too powerful and too mysterious.
However, his gut was telling him that if he chose to do that, he was already subconsciously admitting defeat. Avoiding it might be just as bad as giving in to the temptation. If he retreated now, it might cast a shadow on his confidence.
In the long term, that might be an even worse outcome. So he ultimately decided to leave it alone for the time being. Letting it float over his head as the blue embers flickered in the light. He didn’t completely throw caution to the wind, though.
He had already figured out how the item worked to some extent. It was really quite simple and had many similarities to a magical focus. It was for that reason that he believed he could limit or somehow restrict how much of his fire mana would be fed into the crown.
Just moments ago, when he used it, the crown had consumed every bit of fire mana he gathered without any regard for his actual wishes. What he had managed to scrap together was immediately transformed into the ruinous flames that powered this crown. However, he wanted to test if he could somehow prevent that.
With the flames being as powerful as they are, it was overkill. If only a small amount of his fire mana was converted into the ruinous flames, then he suspected it would be more than enough for his purposes.
But then again, he could be completely wrong and end up combusting in flames. At this point, he would not be surprised if that was the outcome. If anything, he would be grateful if that were the worst possible scenario. At least he had some experience with blowing himself up, so he wasn’t too worried.
***
He and Aubrey decided to stay in the forest for the time being. Their decision was based on the fact that they still needed one token apiece. They hoped to find some in this forest. After all, the forest was an interesting place, and there were bound to be some locations where tokens were hidden.
They took their time, and he used this opportunity to get familiar with the crown floating on his head. It was a fickle and sadistic little thing. Each time he so much as moved a tiny bit of fire mana through it, he was assaulted by pain and suffering.
Not the good kind either. Just the painful kind.
And while a lot of his focus was placed on his new item, he made sure that nobody ambushed them as they traveled throughout the forest. Aubrey was also keeping a close eye on things. She had already sent several clones to scout out the area.
He was a bit jealous of her clones. They were handy for both fighting and auxiliary aspects. Hell, now that he thought about it, she could probably use them to help her with chores such as cleaning and cooking.
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He scrunched his nose at that thought. Life wasn’t fair. She got special clones and a lovely willpower treasure, while he got a cursed crown that was currently doing its best to kill or drive him to madness, whichever came first, he supposed.
He glared upward at the floating crown. It was constantly pulsing as if mocking him for trying to control it. He didn’t know if he was being paranoid, but it was like the item was sentient or something.
He was currently playing with a small thread of fire between his fingers. The thread glowed a brilliant blue and constantly flared outward with each movement. However, he kept control of it. He made sure that it bent to his will, not the other way around.
Julius had wanted to test other things, but those attempts had ended badly. Each time he tried to bite off more than he could chew, the fire would go wild and blow up in his face. It was only because he was using such a small amount that he didn’t destroy the entire area in the process.
To his embarrassment, he had already burned off half of the skin from his face several times in the past hour. Drasil was working overtime to help Julius overcome the hindering effects of the fire. The little spirit’s assistance was very useful.
For some reason, while Julius had a hard time dealing with whatever effect these flames had on his regeneration, Drasil didn’t seem as impeded. His support allowed Julius to heal normally, which was why he was much less worried about playing with the dangerous flames.
He was tying the thread into complex knots with his fingers when he felt something ping his senses off in the distance.
He gave Aubrey a slight nudge with his aura, letting her know that he had picked up something. She looked back at him and nodded, acknowledging him.
“Where?” She whispered quietly.
“Three hundred feet. They seem to be humans, and from the looks of it, they are waiting to ambush someone,” he informed her.
She sighed. “Why are so many people ambushing people? Can’t they get tokens any other way?”
“It’s probably way easier from their perspective. Why run around like maniacs trying to get lucky finding tokens, when you can ambush people who might have three or four tokens instead?” Julius mused, not that surprised by these people’s decisions.
Humans were greedy and lazy. They usually choose the easier or faster way. In this case, it was stealing from other people, who were also the competition. To be fair, they also chose a pretty good location for the trap.
With the natural effects of the forest, their mana was hidden very well. There also seemed to be some kind of enchantment or runic circle set in place. He wasn’t able to use his senses to decipher what it did, but his spatial perception allowed him to at least know something was there. For now, that was more than enough. At least, they wouldn’t be walking in blind.
“How many of them?” Aubrey asked him.
“Just two.”
“Oh, this will be easy then.”
He nodded in agreement and gave her a brief explanation of what he had detected. He had a feeling that she wanted to take care of these people without his help. He didn’t mind either. It would be a good experience for her. Dealing with ambushes was always annoying, and the more practice she got, the less likely she would be caught off guard in the future.
It would also allow him to focus on his crown, which was good because he was in the middle of an ongoing willpower war. He was winning so far, but he didn’t want to let up, and dealing with these people would force him to do so. It was a win-win.
At this moment, all he wanted was to break this stupid crown. He looked upwards and started to curse at the thing in his mind.
He flinched when a sudden pulse of agony flowed through him.
he thought to himself with a little more confidence. While the description didn’t mention anything about the item being sentient or something of the like, he wouldn’t be surprised if an item of its potential and power had some secrets hidden beneath the surface.
He watched as Aubrey thought for a few moments, likely deciding how she would handle the situation. She must have come to a decision because he saw her activate her stealth skill, turning into a shimmering mirage, and almost a dozen clones appeared around her.
They continued to get closer, and she must have finally detected them on her own because she took off. Her clones were ahead of her.
She also sent several of these clones to flank these people—a wise decision on her part.
These people finally seemed to sense Aubrey’s approach and activated their skills, preparing for the fight. They seemed excited about the thought of their trap working, especially since Aubrey’s clones were heading straight for it.
The moment the first clone stepped over the trigger, the enchantment structure detonated. A massive surge of lightning and ice magic exploded outward. The clones were ripped apart with ease, and a good portion of the forest right alongside them.
However, Aubrey remained unharmed, and during the chaos, he saw her slip closer once the lightning and ice magic died down. Her flanking clones were also almost on top of these two people, and they shot out several thick beams of prismatic light.
Her opponents turned around to deal with the sudden attack, and because of that, they completely overlooked Aubrey herself. As they blocked the beams of light with barriers or sidestepped them, she was already too close.
A crystal-hardened fist slammed into the guy with a spear. The blow sent him tumbling to the ground, his grip on his spear loosening, and she kicked it out of his hands.
The other person seemed to be the one who had created the trap, and Julius felt several surges of mana. Multiple enchantments were activated, and a wave of lightning and ice crashed into her, turning her body into particles of mana.
She had already teleported to one of her clones, and a beam of light slammed into the enchanter’s back. Their robe helped protect them from the worst of it, but it wasn’t enough to stop Aubrey’s full-powered attack. Whatever protections were on the robe were shattered after a few seconds, and they blasted them into a nearby tree. They fell to the ground lifelessly.
Julius wanted to warn her about the incoming spearman, but she didn’t need him to. She was already aware and turned around, parrying the spear with a backhanded swipe. Then, before he could do anything, half a dozen of her clones dogpiled him.
Her opponent was caught off guard; the chaos of the battle likely confused his senses.
There was nothing he could do but claw desperately at the air while she detonated her clones with a loud explosion. The dust cleared, and he spotted the guy still crawling along the ground.
He shockingly survived that explosion. Something he didn't even think Derek would be able to do very easily. However, Aubrey was already there, sending another group of her clones at this guy.
Safe to say, he didn’t survive the subsequent explosion.