Reckless Pursuit of Power

Kade stood amidst the wreckage of the battle, his body heaving with breath as he took in the carnage surrounding him. The tattered carcasses of wretches and the two rendclaws that had torn into each other were scattered around the courtyard, it was silent once again save for the low crackling of a burning minivan. His fingers tightened around the handle of his Morningstar, the weapon slick with the dark, congealing blood of his fallen foes.

He had done something incredibly stupid. And incredibly necessary.

His mind reeled, not just from the intensity of the fight but from the realization of what it meant. Survival was no longer enough. He couldn't just exist, skirting the edges of ruin like some desperate scavenger. That wasn't him—not anymore. He wasn't weak. And the world wasn't going to cater to weakness. If he didn't push himself, stretch his limits, and break them, then he would be crushed under the heel of those who did.

He wiped the sweat from his brow, a crooked smirk tugging at his lips as he let out a quiet chuckle. "That was the most fun I've...ever had" The thought was as alarming as it was exhilarating. In the chaos of battle, his body had felt alive—his blood humming, resonance energy burning through him with each breath, filling the void as quickly as he expended it. The rhythm of combat had consumed him, his movements fueled by an instinct deeper than reason but also a bloodlust expelling from his every swing. Every strike, every dodge had been a dance of life and death. And he thrived in it.

But he wasn't done yet.

With a giddy grin on his face, he began collecting his spoils. The best part of war was the loot! The slain wretches yielded a handful of Tier 1 cores, their dull glow pulsating faintly in the dim light. He retrieved several pounds of Riftsteel from the battered bodies of the larger beasts, their jagged crystalline formations still gleaming with latent energy. But the true prize lay within the two Tier 2 creatures. Kade crouched down, carefully extracting their cores—larger and denser than their lesser counterparts, radiating a deeper, richer hue of violet. He wrapped them in cloth before stowing them away.

As he surveyed his haul, the thought settled in his mind—he was close to evolving again.

He could feel it. His body had reached the threshold, his veins coursing with stored resonance energy, the remnants of battle still seething inside him. But how much more could he take? How far could he push? He needed to know. Test his limits.

And he couldn't do that near the refuge.

If his evolution attracted monsters—or worse, if he lost control—he'd be endangering everyone. Though he had cleared most of the wretches in the tunnels already wasn't a risk he was willing to take. With renewed resolve, Kade tightened his pack and set out, moving swiftly through the ruined city streets. 

Every step carried him deeper into the ruins, where monsters lurked in the shadows, waiting, growing. If he didn't keep moving, if he didn't cull them now, they would soon surpass him.

And so he hunted.

The next two encounters were brutal. He struck with calculated aggression like a predator hunting its prey, lurking until it was a perfect time, letting the resonance energy flow through him, guiding his blows. When he first evolved he had started with the strength of three adult men, but he could feel already he had far surpassed that. He was at least twice as strong now. He shattered bone, crushed skulls, and felt the weight of his victories stack against the fatigue creeping into his limbs. Another Tier 2 fell beneath him, its core added to his collection. Wretches clawed at him in desperation, only to be turned into nothing more than shattered husks on the pavement. Again he wore a devilish grin "Your loot is all mine!" It felt like a shopping bonanza, everything was free!

By the time he found himself in a desolate area, devoid of both monsters and human life, his muscles burned with exhaustion but he felt his capacity for resonance energy was reaching his peak. All his battles till now had brought him to this point, his discipline in practicing the breathing technique had shown its results. Now was the time.

He took a deep breath and sat on the cold concrete of a ruined penthouse atop a tall apartment building, for whatever reason the whole area had been barren of life. Unwrapping the cores one by one. He started small—Tier 1 cores. The energy seeped into him easily, his body accepting it with relative ease, only feeling a tinge a pain, but it wasn't enough anymore. He refined the energy too quickly and it felt like only a drop in a bucket of what he could store. He could still feel the hollow space within him, the unmet potential waiting to be unlocked.

More.

He pulled out one of the Tier 2 cores and held it in his palm, the resonance pulsing beneath his fingertips.

He hesitated. This was dangerous. He had absorbed massive quantities of energy before, but that had been raw, chaotic, uncontrolled. If he failed here, he could lose himself.

Then he clenched his jaw and inhaled deeply. No risk, no reward!

He pressed the core to his chest, allowing the energy to flood into him. His body seized instantly, fire igniting in his veins as the power tore through him. His muscles locked, his vision blurred, and for a split second, he thought he had made a fatal mistake.

But he forced himself to push through, steadying his breath, tightening his control. The book had made it clear—he had to flood his bloodstream with resonance energy, forcing it into every fiber of his being until his very cells screamed for release. His muscles tensed as the energy coursed through them, tendons straining under the sudden surge, bones vibrating as if being reforged from the inside out. His ligaments, his skin—every inch of him had to be dismantled and rebuilt, made stronger, more resilient.

Each inhale dragged the energy deeper, weaving it into his body, while every exhale purged the chaos, refining it into something his cells could use. He visualized the process in detail, mapping his form in his mind's eye—stretching the energy evenly, ensuring no part of him was left untouched. If he lost focus, if the energy pooled too heavily in one place, it could warp him, twist him into something inhuman. He couldn't let that happen. This wasn't just absorption. It was reconstruction. A forced evolution through sheer will. 

The pain was excruciating. His body was being rebuilt piece by piece. His skeletal structure reinforced, his tendons thickening, his muscles compacting under the pressure. His entire being was evolving, molding itself into something more. He felt it—his strength expanding, his durability sharpening. The energy was fortifying his flesh, turning him into something beyond human.

He was no longer just enduring.

He was transforming.

But even then, he wasn't full.

His eyes flickered to the second Tier 2 core.

One more.

He gritted his teeth and reached for it, pressing it into his palm. The energy surged again, but this time, he nearly lost control. His mind spiraled, his thoughts slipping, his sense of self wavering.

Then, in the chaos of it all, an old memory surfaced—

A sunlit street, the laughter of children, the faint hum of summer in the air.

Kade, sprinting down the road, legs burning, lungs gasping for breath, heart pounding against his ribs. Zeke just ahead of him, reaching the end of the block first, turning back with that smug grin.

"You're buying the drinks, Kade."

Kade groaning in frustration, checking his pockets, realizing he didn't have enough money.

Even though he lost the race, Zeke had paid for him anyway. He had felt so defeated then... but grateful for his good friend

The memory burned through the haze of energy overload, grounding him.

Zeke was out there. Probably evolving. Probably getting stronger.

Kade couldn't fall behind.

With a final exhale, he took control. His vision cleared. His muscles steadied. The resonance settled within him, no longer an untamed inferno but a controlled storm.

His body felt different. Stronger. Denser.

He had done it.

He had reached The Second Tier of Ascension: Fortifying the Flesh. 

Kade flexed his fingers, rolling his shoulders as the energy settled within him. His body felt denser, tougher—like every fiber of his being had been reinforced from the inside out. He clenched his fist experimentally, feeling the raw power simmer just beneath his skin, eager to be unleashed.

His eyes flicked to the Morningstar resting nearby. The last time he had wielded it, its weight had been a burden, forcing him to use controlled effort to avoid exhausting himself. Now, as he wrapped his fingers around the handle and lifted it, the difference was immediate.

Weightless.

He twirled it once in his grip, watching the spiked head arc effortlessly through the air. A slow grin stretched across his face. Damn. He had readjusted his strength completely.

Testing his newfound power, he swung the Morningstar in a wide arc. The impact cracked the earth beneath him, sending a ripple of force outward that fractured stone like brittle glass.

Then, an idea struck him.

A dumb, reckless idea.

As a kid, Kade admired comicbook heroes and there was one in particular—he who could fly by swinging their weapon just right. A childhood fantasy, a fleeting thought buried under years of realism, but now?

He glanced down at the Morningstar in his hand.

What if…?

The grin returned, sharper this time.

With a deep breath, Kade grounded his feet, gripping the Morningstar tight. He exhaled, focusing, then swung the weapon upward with all his might, just as he had imagined countless times as a kid.

The results were instantaneous.

The sheer force of the swing yanked him off the ground. His body shot into the air, momentum dragging him upward like a missile. His breath caught as he soared, a rush of wind blasting against his skin. For a moment—just a moment—he felt like he had done it.

Then, reality hit.

In his excitement he had forgotten he was still inside!

Instead of soaring through the sky like some mythic god, Kade crashed into the ceiling, more exactly, through the ceiling. The morningstar crushed through the concrete as he burst into the air unabated. 

Fast.

Way too fast.

The world turned into a chaotic blur as he flailed mid-air, his own strength betraying him. He barely had time to process before gravity decided it had seen enough of this stupidity and reeled him back down.

Hard.

He crashed into the ground like a meteor, stone and debris exploding around him as a crater formed beneath his impact. Dust plumed into the air, shrouding the aftermath of his failed experiment.

For a long moment, there was nothing but silence.

Then, from the middle of the wreckage, came a groan.

Kade coughed, spitting out dirt, and peeled himself off the ground. His back ached, his head was spinning, but somehow, he was still in one piece.

"Okay... maybe not like the superhero," he chuckled to himself, shaking off the dizziness. He glanced at the Morningstar, still crackling faintly with resonance energy

It hadn't been entirely a failure. He'd could feel it clearly, if the first time he evolved he had been three times stronger than his mortal self, and at the peak of Tier 1 he was already nearing six times his strength pre-evolution, he was now twelve times stronger, and considerably more durable.

He'd learned something crucial—his strength had no precedent for what he could attempt. The limitations of the old world were gone.

He could try anything now!