CalCroissant

Scorching Ascension - 2.50: Interlude - Ember

A/N: It's a little late, and it's short, but here are the leaderboard. Update on my work, I finished the Book 1 edits. Took me a minute, but they're already sent back. Now I just gotta edit what I wrote in book 3 of Undersea and book 2 of Scorching this week.

Should be easy enough.

Laters!

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Ember’s POV

It had been two days since the attacks on Wyldrock and New Dawn, and Ember was still pissed. Her… territory ha...

Scorching Ascension - 2.49: Rebuilding

A.N: Pretty cliffy ending... sorry. It's prolly better that it gets its own chapter rather than be the end of this one, I think.

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As he left the cold and humid cloud behind and as New Dawn came into view, Ethan’s flight almost stuttered as he took in the sights below. For a moment, he thought he had his landmarks wrong, and that the brightly lit town below couldn’t be the same one he had left a few hours ago. But as the ground grew...

Scorching Ascension - 2.47: Prosper

When the communication module loaded in front of his eyes, Ethan’s attention hovered for a couple of seconds as he considered what to say exactly before a realization hit him: he didn’t need to do it over message.

He was done here. He could just go home and see how things were in person.

With one last look at the permissions, he made sure none of the Union’s people were on administrative roles for now. Once their city’s own councils get set up, Amanda would handle who’d ...

Scorching Ascension - 2.47: Milestone

Megan’s POV

With the headache still pulsing behind her eyes from their earlier clash, Megan—along with everyone else—trailed from a safe distance as Ethan made his way to the pylon. And she didn’t need to use her own Manifestation to sense the mood around her. It was obvious, and it was swirling around her. Easily visible through their pale features and barely audible discussions. They all spoke in hushed whispers, but no one dared stop the man. ...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.53: Reinforcements

“You heard me,” Ash said once she was sure she had the full focus of the Clydemar scion. And she did finally remember who he was, now. She remembered having been introduced to him, years ago, before the relationship with their families had soured. He was only a couple of years older than her, but as he stalked closer, eyes narrowed, he towered over her.

[?]

Just like her, he had his own anti-appraisal gear, but from the twitch of his features, she knew he’d d...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.52: Reminiscing

A/N: Next one should be ready in a few hours. Tomorrow morning at the latest (sorry! sinus headaches are making it difficult to focus.)

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In the affluent side of First Landing, there were no dingy, dark alleys to creep around and hide in, like one might find in the busier areas of the city. Alleyways were a frequent thing elsewhere, considering the number of residences and businesses that tended to spring up in most inhabited islands, and they were ofte...

This week's schedule and next month's - Membership Pause for October

Tl:dr;

• This week's schedule: There will be two each, but I'm still working on them. Expect both Undersea's chapters by Wednesday at the latest, and both Scorching's chapters by Sunday.

• Taking October off to work on a pile of stuff. I won't be completely inactive, but there will probably not be a lot of new chapters. Details down below but basically, I got 2-3 book's worth of edits to get through.

• 2025-09-22 15:27:37 +0000 UTC View Post

Scorching Ascension - 2.46: Providence (Pt. 2)

A/N: A little bit on the shorter side, but I'm running out of juice. We'll be finishing up this arc hopefully next week.

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Maybe it was because he’d just executed the senator supposedly responsible for the assault. Or maybe because he outleveled their best protector by at least ten levels. But as the seconds ticked by after his declaration to the leaders and as the content of his words sunk in, none of them wanted to be the first to speak and break the silence.

Scorching Ascension - 2.45: Providence (Pt. 1)

A/N: The fatigue is catching up with me. Next one should be tomorrow. Maybe Sunday at the latest, but likely tomorrow.

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Flying at night was a little tougher than Ethan expected.

He could see just fine, but while he’d done the trip to Providence in the past, back when cars and trucks and traffic lights were still a thing, flying over the dark, quiet road was disconcerting. He kept the highway in sight, of course, and he noticed how some parts of it we...

Scorching Ascension - 2.44: Conviction

Zacharia’s wings fluttered erratically as the man hunched over the lance that had just pierced his chest and heart. His lips trembled, eyes wide in terror, and Ethan could see him try and fail to pull air into his lungs.

It should have been a fatal strike. Ethan believed it might still be, but then, he heard the words ring in his ear as barely, almost inaudibly, Zacharia kept repeating the same thing. And it was as if reality itself agreed and was trying to make his vision a reality.<...

Scorching heads up: Later today

Hey folks. I'm working on the chapters, will be out later today (and not 11.25am).

See ya!

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.51: First Landing

A/N: Late chapter! Also, tweaked the ending sentences of last chapter so the action flows better with the start. Nothing big.

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Mid-air down toward the dock and as the breeze whipped his hair back, Henry realized—after he had jumped off the ship—that his current weight, which would easily be in the upward of 500 pounds, would absolutely demolish the thick planks of reinforced wood he was about to land on. Enchanted or not, he hadn’t had the chance to actual...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.50 - Land

A/N: I feel like this one still needs a little polish, but I ran out of time. Let me know if it's too jarring. Next chapter should be out in a few hours.

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A couple of hours before their arrival to port, Henry and Maurice were putting the last touches to their human disguise. They had real clothes from the crew—which didn’t fit that great but they’d do until they found a clothing store. Henry was wearing brown shorts that absolutely needed a belt along ...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.49: Moving forward

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Next one should be out tomorrow, or maybe Wednesday. We should still be getting three chapters this week. But they might need time to cook.

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The next few days passed by rather quickly, from Henry’s point of view. Especially with how busy he found himself to be.

By day 2, counting from their fight against the seahorse, Henry would say he was almost 85% recovered. His constant therapeutic soul baths—which he called the pro...

Scorching Ascension - 2.43: Obstacle

A/N: Third chapter! See you all on Wed (or Thursday)

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With Zacharia’s wrist firmly in his grasp and with his scaled shoulder already closing with an activation of [Heal], Ethan had the juiciest opening since the fight had started. Sure, he was a little surprised the man had managed to tear through his scales, though now that he was holding the man’s wrist, he could sense the reason why.

Considering how powerful that strike had been, it made complete se...

Scorching Ascension - 2.42: Detonation

A/N: Chapter went a little longer than expect. Next one on Sunday likely.

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Three concussive fireballs were already glowing above Ethan’s horns as he flew up, hovering over the wreck as the voices of the crowd died out below him. Wind rushed past him, smelling of pine as he drifted away from the settlement and as he waited for Zacharia to pull himself out of the wreckage. As expected, the man was fine, though his appearance had certainly changed.

Ant...

Scorching Ascension - 2.41: Foreign

AN: We're doing three this week! Next one tomorrow or Saturday. All will be done by Sunday at most.

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Having set eyes on the Brotherhood’s home, Ethan swerved away, keeping pace with the shape he had noticed running down the paved route leading out of the retreat. The darkness of the early evening made it a little challenging, but the mana that had been wafting out of it—which [Sphinx’s Gaze] had picked up—had already stabilized, leaving a barely visible out...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.48: Honesty

It took around an hour for Henry and Maurice to finally reach the ship.

While the fight itself had taken barely a handful of minutes, catching up to the sleek xebec with the wind in its sails took a little more time, especially with Henry taking it slow while he fixed up the damage to his soul. As he quietly swam, with Maurice settled atop his head like a submarine’s periscope, Henry took it easy on himself, using only some basic camouflage while he went over the aching parts o...

Scorching update

Hey folks. I tried to finish up a third over the weekend but it's not where I want it to be. It'll go to Thursday. See y'all in a couple of days!

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.47: One might never know

A/N: Next chapter on Wednesday. Hope you like this one! Also, while the design had been initially inspired by leafy seadragons (goofy ocean fellows), I realized that I've been basically recreating Dragalge from Pokemon. Ngl, I love that mon's design. I stopped following around gen 3 and didn't know such a cool Pokemon existed.

See you Wednesday!

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It was like an explosion had gone off in this relatively shallow section of the ocean. Flares o...

Scorching Ascension - 2.40: Anyone else?

A/N: I'll try to get a third out by the end of the weekend. I'm a little swamped (especially with the new story hitting the top 10 of Rising Stars).

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With two of the invaders out, Ethan’s worries began creeping through his thoughts. How many had died? Who had they lost? He’d seen most of his people, but he hadn’t seen Liz. And he really hadn’t stopped to see the state of the others.

Ethan shook his head, cutting off the train of thoughts as he turned his at...

Scorching Ascension - 2.39: Ringing

When the magic of the pylons pulled him through the fabric of reality, in that half of a second washed in unearthly purples and void-like darkness, Ethan didn’t know what he was about to find. His guts churned. He didn’t know whether he was about to find the settlement completely fine or completely razed to the ground. Or anything in between. He frankly didn’t care about buildings. He just hoped everyone was okay. Buildings could be rebuilt.

Then his talons landed at the foot of t...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.46: Stinglance 2.0

A/N: Sorry for the delay folks.

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Henry didn’t want to teleport to the new target, opting to swim toward it and approach it slowly with his mana signature camouflaged, considering it had already shot out his clones as soon as he tried to talk to it. Much like a weaker specimen he’d encountered in the past, it was smaller than the creatures they usually hunted, though everything it had lost in weight and size it made up for in the piss and vinegar that seemed to circu...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.45: Ready

With Maurice latched atop his head, Henry was swimming comfortably along the grassy seabed, a mile or so below the ship. The light of the sun could not reach this far down, but the lights and energies of the Current were still exerting their influence, even though they were supposedly approaching the edge of this particular Pillar.

The grass swayed calmly below, like a rippling tapestry of bright greens and below, Henry could peek a few hiding fish just waiting for the opportunity to sn...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.44: <title goes here>

A/N: I have no clue what to call this chapter. Also, Hi! New week! Thank you all for supporting me :)

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While Maurice pouted and Velistraine drifted away to let him focus, Henry turned his attention to the glorious, almost electric energies that were rushing through his body from the first A-rank he ever consumed. It wasn’t unlike his previous experiences, but it definitely felt a lot more intense, and the stat he gained from the core agreed.

Moss-...