Accidental Ascendance

Years ago, during the debut, Cedric Montclair walked up to the stage, looking at his training dummy. His confidence was evident as he muttered some words to himself, probably friendly trash talk. Lily, Oliver, and Adrian, her childhood friends and fellow noble heirs, were bickering with each other, but she couldn't take her eyes off Cedric. He had a reputation as the rumored future strongest mage, and his presence was captivating.

"Who are you?" Lily blurted out, unable to contain her curiosity.

Oliver recognized him immediately. "OH! That's 'THE' Cedric Montclair!"

Lily's eyes widened in surprise. "The rumored future strongest mage?"

Adrian, not impressed, glanced at Cedric coldly. "So that's him."

Cedric seemed unfazed by their reactions, not even paying attention to anything they said. Lily nervously asked, "So what do you want?"

Cedric, now ready, smiled his unintentional sinister grin. "You will need to be a lot better to compete with me," he said before turning around and walking away, leaving them stunned.

"Did he just assess us and say we weren't even on his level?" Lily asked, still shocked by his audacity.

She couldn't help but think that Cedric was probably all talk. He had a reputation, but she had yet to see any real proof of his power.

Then, without warning, he started chanting an incantation that she had never heard before. "Those who dance in the clouds, answer my call and DESTROY my foes..."

Her eyes widened as a giant bolt of lightning struck. "Father, I have never heard an incantation like that," she said to Lord Cornale, her father, who was standing beside her.

Lord Cornale looked on with cold eyes. "Because there was no such incantation until now."

Confused, Lily asked, "What do you mean, father?"

He looked at her with a look of contempt. "Girl, if you can't see yourself ever being as strong as that child, then we must have his blood for our own."

"His blood?" Lily asked, taken aback by his words.

Lord Cornale turned away dismissively. "You will need to bring him into the family."

Her thoughts lingered on what her father had said. If she couldn't become as strong as Cedric, then her duty as the heir of the Cornale Family was to marry him and strengthen their family that way.

But as she looked at Cedric, she sighed inwardly. It's not like she didn't like him. He may seem stuck up on the surface, but she had seen him be genuinely kind to his sister, and his resolve to help those who served him was admirable. He was good-looking, but for some reason, she didn't think she could see him romantically.

As they neared the mountain pass, Oliver suddenly paused. "Wait....."

Cedric looked at Oliver concerned. "What's up?"

Oliver looked around for a short second before shouting. "Come out, I know you're there!"

As the words left Oliver's mouth, five bandits appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "Looky here, boss, some young travelers," one bandit proclaimed.

The largest man stepped forward, his skin a golden brown with a large beard hanging from his brawny face. "Seems they're carrying a heavy burden; let's help our friends out, boys."

Oliver stared with intensity at the large man. "A Gigatanoid...."

Cedric placed his hand on his sword. "A what?"

"It's a race of people that hail from the dragon continent. They are large, usually standing at 7-10 feet tall and outclass the human race in terms of strength," Oliver explained.

One of the bandits rushed at them, but before he could get close, a large flame engulfed him. "I'll handle these small fry," Lily said calmly, taking the lead.

Oliver sighed as he shook his head. "If that's what you want."

With grace, Lily took out the normal bandits with ease, almost looking like she was dancing with her fire.

Cedric seemed to be inspired by her magic. "Man, I gotta learn more magic; that looks so cool!" he said, a spark of excitement in his eyes.

In that moment, an idea crossed his mind, and he turned to Megna, his contracted spirit. "What kind of spells can we do since we are contracted?"

Megna put a finger on her chin as she thought. "Well, contracts are more like teams. We can't really do anything special besides fight together." Then her eyes widened with a sudden realization. "Oh, we can do that one thing. Uh, Soul Fusion, I think it's called."

Cedric beamed with curiosity. "What's that!?"

Megna smiled as she explained. "Well, our souls are connected, so we can take it a step further and soul fuse for a short time. It lasts for two days, and after we do it, we can't do it again for a whole month. I think the incantation was, 'Oh, soul that intertwines with mine forgo your ambitions as I forgo mine. Forgo self as I forgo mine. Become me as I become you...'"

Cedric, eager to try to remember the incantation, repeated after Megna. "Oh, soul that intertwines with mine forgo your ambitions as I forgo mine. Forgo self as I forgo mine...."

But before Megna could stop him, Cedric finished the incantation, and a swirl of light encased him.

Oliver turned around to see the scene unfold. "Cedric?"

As the energy dissipated, Cedric stood there, his hair now tinged with a hint of blue, his ears pointed, and his eyes much sharper than usual. He looked down at his hand and with a soft grin said, "Interesting...."

Lily looked at the giant bandit nervously. "You're tough....."

The giant looked at her and grinned. "Wish I could say the same, gir....."

Before the giant could finish his sentence, a giant rock slammed into him. As Lily turned around to see the source of the attack, she caught a glimpse of Cedric. Smiling, he let out a small giggle. "Interesting indeed."

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