A wrenching pain tore through Kaelen’s arm. Claws, sharp as obsidian shards, had raked deep. An Ash Crawler, its segmented form grotesque in the perpetual twilight, had sunk its mandibles into his flesh. He pulled back, a grimace tightening his jaw. Bone showed beneath the torn skin. A deep, ugly gash. His body, toughened by what little sustenance the Cinder Wastes offered, kept the limb attached. But this damage was severe. Time was a luxury he didn't possess. Neglect would leave him crippled, another broken relic in a broken world. Yet no calm moment presented itself for healing. Ash Crawlers swarmed around him. He dodged snapping mandibles, the air thick with their chitinous scent. Cinder Jets erupted from his hands, scorching bursts of compacted ash. Crawler heads exploded, fragments of carapace raining down. The Cinder Jet was potent. Ash Crawlers fell before its focused power. Their numbers, however, were an overwhelming tide. He killed one, three more took its place. The dust-choked air shimmered with their ceaseless movement. Giant Cinder Lurkers, with their lumbering attacks, had been formidable. But these Ash Crawlers were relentless, tireless. Ash Drifting, his swift movement through the loose ground, offered only temporary reprieve. He was encircled. To continue this way meant certain demise. He would become fuel for their endless hunger. Kaelen checked his internal reserves. Mana flickered, almost spent. Without mana, the fight ended. His journey, his solitary vigil, would simply cease. This was his only chance. A desperate gamble. ‘Something stronger,’ his mind raced, ‘faster. Less draining.’ ‘Think, Kaelen. Think of a way.’ The key lay in pure imagination. A quiet desperation clawed at him, yet he had to envision it. An evolution of the Cinder Jet. The Cinder Jet was an expelled burst of high-pressure ash. It inflicted damage through sheer force. Suddenly, a question formed in the haze of battle. ‘Must it always be expelled with a jet of air?’ His connection was to the ash itself. He could manipulate it. He could move it without a breath of compressed air. Many Awakened conjured basic projectiles. Why not him? Yes, a possibility existed. Even if remote, he had to seize it. His life hung in the balance. With just a flicker of hope, he would risk everything. Kaelen poured his last vestiges of mana into the earth. Ash around him stirred. It rose, coalescing into compact, arm-sized projectiles. Dozens of Cinder Shards hung suspended. A silent command. The Cinder Shards shot forth towards the Ash Crawlers. Whoosh! Whoosh! Impact! Holes, the size of a human fist, tore through the Crawlers' bodies. Several beasts convulsed, their ichor spilling onto the ash. No Ash Crawlers remained standing in his immediate vicinity. Kaelen, eyes burning with a desperate triumph, scanned the terrain. They were gone. All swept away by the concentrated assault. He managed a weak, weary laugh. His legs buckled. He knelt, utterly spent. Emptying his core had brought an extreme, crushing exhaustion. He had given everything. Even his fingers lacked the strength to twitch. Then, a low rumble vibrated through the ash. Sand trickled down. Kaelen looked up. Despair flared in his bloodshot eyes. Through the ash, a gargantuan Ash Crawler revealed itself. It dwarfed the others several times over. Its carapace, like dull, reddish obsidian, hinted at something extraordinary. Its identity crystallized in his mind. “The… the Queen?” Her subordinates had fallen. Now, the Queen made her appearance. Around her, more Ash Crawlers clawed their way out of the ground. These were the Soldier Crawlers. They were twice the size of regular Crawlers. Their mandibles promised triple the biting force. Once caught, escape was a fantasy. For every Ash Crawler Queen, perhaps twenty soldier ants existed. Compared to the numbers Kaelen had just decimated, they were few. Yet their threat level felt exponentially higher. The Queen approached him, her soldiers flanking her. Mineral-like eyes burned with a primal rage, fixed solely on Kaelen. Her fury must have been immense. For a Queen to break from her lair, to journey this far, spoke volumes. This Queen, though likely C-rank, wielded a danger level B-rank or higher. She commanded legions, trampled countless underfoot. She let out a piercing screech. The Soldier Crawlers advanced. Kaelen, paralyzed by exhaustion, did not move. ‘Old man Corvus… where are you, you cur?’ One Soldier Crawler bit into Kaelen's waist. A searing pain locked his body rigid. Yet his mind remained disturbingly lucid. The Queen began to dig into the ash. Her soldiers followed. The Crawler still biting Kaelen dragged him along, pulling him into the ground. Kaelen’s face contorted as the crushing pressure of ash surrounded him. He knew not how far they descended. Suddenly, the pressure vanished. A vast cavern opened before him. They had entered the Ash Crawlers' stronghold, the Cinder Warren. Its walls were hardened ash, strengthened by the creatures' viscous secretions. They were unyielding. The Cinder Warren was a labyrinth. Even someone with an unerring sense of direction would be lost within its maze. The Queen and her soldiers led Kaelen deeper. They arrived in a chamber teeming with larvae and eggs – the Queen’s nursery. Bones of devoured creatures lay scattered across the ash-dusted floor. The Queen stood in the nursery's center. Eerie chittering sounds emanated from her. Immediately, more Ash Crawler larvae emerged from the walls. They were smaller than regular Crawlers. Their shells were chillingly transparent. Hundreds of larvae crowded the walls, swarming the floor, moving towards Kaelen. The Soldier Crawler, which had held him, finally released its jaws. Kaelen fell helplessly to the ground. A paralyzing toxin spread through him. He could not move a single digit. The larvae, seeing their helpless prey, twitched their antennae eagerly. They seemed to rejoice, sensing their imminent feast. They tore at his tattered robe, sinking their small, sharp teeth into his skin. He could not even scream. His eyes widened, a primal terror seizing his brain. He was being eaten alive. Kaelen let out a silent roar. His wrist, bearing the mark of his power, shimmered. A deep orange glow emanated from the second line. E-rank. He had ascended. In the face of absolute demise, he had unlocked his dormant potential. With the E-rank breakthrough, the abnormal state shattered. The paralysis ceased. His mana surged, fully restored. At that moment, Kaelen's voice, though raw, echoed through the cavern. A plethora of Cinder Shards flooded the Cinder Warren. They obeyed his furious command. The Ash Crawler Queen let out a wail. Kaelen ignored it. He unleashed the Cinder Shards. The larvae were obliterated. They burst, tore apart like brittle husks. Seeing this, the Soldier Crawlers surged forward. Kaelen launched Cinder Shards at them, too. The Soldier Crawlers, struck by the reinforced projectiles, began to die. The chasm in power between F-rank and E-rank was immense. A single rank advancement had drastically amplified the Cinder Shards’ potency. Soldier Crawlers' legs shattered. Their heads exploded. They became helpless, broken forms. Now, only the Queen remained in the nursery. Kaelen sent Cinder Shards at her. But his attacks, even amplified, had no effect. Her shell strength surpassed even the Soldier Crawlers'. Like solidified titanium, it neutralized the ash projectiles. An aura barrier, unseen yet unyielding, deflected his power. Enraged by the deaths of her offspring and soldiers, the Queen let out a high-frequency sound. The sound waves hit the walls, amplifying, reverberating. Kaelen screamed. He collapsed, blood streaming from his ears. His eardrums ruptured. His brain, concussed, reeled from the high-frequency assault. The Queen wielded a skill akin to a true titan of the Wastes. Sound waves, a weapon he hadn't anticipated. Vision blurring, Kaelen gazed at the approaching Queen. Her form swam, overlapping. She moved her antennae, a gesture that seemed to boast of victory. ‘Yes. You won. Damn you.’ Kaelen lifted a hand, a difficult, almost imperceptible gesture of defiance. The Queen plunged her mandibles, ready to strike. Kaelen closed his eyes, awaiting the end. Suddenly, a searing gust of wind erupted within the Cinder Warren. The Queen Ash Crawler's head flew into the air. Her body remained, a headless, twitching mass. It felt unreal. A grotesque, impossible sight. Kaelen was drenched in the bodily fluids that spewed from the Queen's severed torso. Then, a familiar voice, rough as abrasive ash, cut through the ringing in his ears. “Come to your senses, you damned idiot! How long will you lie there, gawking?” Old Man Corvus. He had severed the Queen's head. He had rescued Kaelen. Corvus glanced at the corpses of larvae and Soldier Crawlers. His expression remained grim. “Still, you’re not entirely useless.” Kaelen had proven his worth, however grudgingly acknowledged. He had been powerless before the Queen, true, but any other Awakened would likely have fared no better. The Queen was a high-level beast, capable of challenging formidable opponents. His refusal to yield, his desperate ascent in rank – that was the crucial point. Crisis revealed the true nature of beings. Some gave up. Others persisted. Kaelen belonged to the latter. Wails of Ash Crawlers echoed through the Cinder Warren. They were coming, aware of their Queen’s demise. Corvus let out his characteristic, rough laugh. His eyes gleamed with a predatory light. “Get up! How long will you just sit? Your enemies still breathe. Do you intend to simply perish?” “Get up! Even if you’re going to die, die fighting.” Kaelen gritted his teeth. He wouldn't appear foolish to Corvus, not again. Even if he was to fall. ‘You damn old bastard!’ He stood, cursing the man silently. The Cinder Warren filled with charging Ash Crawlers. Kaelen screamed, unleashing a relentless storm of Cinder Shards. No bystanders remained in the Cinder Warren. Only Ash Crawlers. A monster in human form. And a madman, unleashing his skills, devoid of all reason save survival.

Ascendant from the Dust