Once they got running again on Saturday morning, Pax mulled over the discussions they’d had about his evolution choices. They’d managed to sneak in brainstorming sessions while running or during meal breaks. It became their second most entertaining topic, after recounting Amil’s experiences getting repeatedly hit with lightning.
Pax was just glad he’d had some time to decide, instead of being forced by circumstances to make his choices under pressure. With Incedis and Eldan chaperoning them, they were safe enough traveling across the Wilds, which meant Pax didn’t immediately need the powerups. The choices he made were permanent and would drastically affect his future as a mage. He would take all the help he could get making the decisions.
Both Incedis and Eldan had insisted that he should stick to choosing individual evolutions and avoid doing anything with combining skills or spells until they had time to scour the ruins for more information on how that worked for light mages.
He’d tabled that for now and revisited the choice on how many things he should evolve. After much discussion back and forth, the others all agreed that he needed to level at least one of his evolved skills to the second level. With the 25-point cost, he could only afford one.
And instead of saving the remaining 16 points toward another evolution, they suggested he choose at least one other level 1 skill to evolve because of the inexpensive cost and potential boost in power. But which spell or skill? No one could agree.
As the morning passed with his second round of nature training, Pax’s mind kept probing at the decision like a sore tooth. At least the practice with nature was much more relaxing and allowed him to think compared to the other elements.
Pax was definitely not looking forward to the second round with magma planned for tomorrow. Maybe he would ask Incedis to switch to ice instead and then lightning on Monday. Since they hoped to arrive Monday evening, he could delay another encounter with magma until he had access to the training rooms. That sounded like a much better plan.
When he took his next break from processing nature mana, Pax took his shield back from Amil and used Incedis’ growing rod to add the nature spell to the mirror. He handed it to Rin so she could cast the spell on Dahni when he was ready.
“So, did you finally decide on your evolutions with your extra time this morning?” Rin’s tone held a touch of jealousy as she took the shield from him.
It took Pax a minute to realize why, because she wasn’t normally jealous about all the spells he had access to. “Wait, did you want to try using my Sanctuary Wand one of these nights?”
She gave him an incredulous look that made him feel silly. “If you're asking if I would like to have a few extra hours to think through my build, go over my gains, make plans for the future, or just get a few extra moments of peace—” She scowled at him. “Yes, Pax. Yes, I would!”
Pax flushed as he noticed his other friends looking very interested in the conversation as they ran in their formation.
“No one can use it while we're running,” Incedis spoke before Pax could offer Rin a turn with the wand. “Currently, Pax's study of his light manual takes precedence. He needs to learn how to help us all unlock our secondary abilities.”
“I know that.” Rin’s shoulders sagged, but her running pace didn't falter. “Taking a break just sounds so heavenly right now. I think we've all leveled up our Endurance and other attributes at least once on this hellish run that will never end.”
“We’ll arrive at the ruins two days from now,” Tasar spoke up from his position at the front. “The run will end.”
Rin groaned at the literal rebuttal, but the corners of her mouth turned up.
“And once we've arrived at the ruins, there will be more opportunity for Pax to share the wand with you,” Incedis gave Rin an encouraging nod. “He obviously can't use it all day and night. He doesn't have the mana reserves for that. I expect you'll be able to come up with a reasonable schedule that lets everyone have a turn and gets the maximum benefit out of the legendary artifact.”
Now his friends were grinning at each other, eyes alight with ideas of how they'd get the most benefit from the wand.
“I would, however, make sure not to mention you have it where anyone can hear. It is an artifact that even the lowest soldier would lust after, not to mention the officers in charge of the rebellion. I can easily see them confiscating it for the good of all.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Seriously?” Disappointment and outrage filled Pax’s one-word question. “Are you saying we're going to have to continue hiding everything about ourselves? Are the rebellion leaders and members no better than the empire’s?”
“You know better than that, Pax,” Incedis shook his head. “They are infinitely better, or we wouldn't have done so much to help them. But that doesn't mean they're perfect. There will still be greed and the desire for power. We just have to hope that we can work together long enough to topple the corruption in the empire and replace it with something that’ll keep us all alive afterward.”
“And they're realists,” Mage Eldan gave them all a pointed look from where she ran at the front of the formation, and they quieted. “They might confiscate one of your powerful artifacts, but you can guarantee they would use it to help overthrow the empire. All of us are very aware that we have no other choices. We succeed, or everyone dies.”
Pax joined the others in nodding their understanding. Even if they tried to take things from him and his friends, it would be for the purpose of saving them all, not padding their own purses. At least for most of them.
“So, are you going to answer my question?” Rin glanced over at him after their focus had returned to their running and the others had fallen quiet again.
“Oh, that’s right. My evolutions.” Pax reviewed what he’d worked out this morning. “I'm using today to decide between evolving my Extrasensory Sphere or Universal Mana Shaping to the next level. As for which of my level one skills to evolve, I've narrowed it down to Aeroshift, Primordial Golem, or Flashbang. I could do all three, but I'm worried about dropping my future evolution points too much. What do you think?”
“My vote is still for the Universal Mana Projection evolution,” Rin spoke up before anyone else could. “It’s got to be a way to use mana outside your body without the aid of a spell structure. Can you imagine the possibilities? Especially now that you’ve got eight elemental types?”
“It would be a boon to your work helping other mages improve,” Incedis nodded his head in agreement.
“I know, but the Revealing Sphere would be so amazing to use when exploring the ruins. Imagine the secret hiding places it could uncover.” Visions of finding forgotten treasures filled Pax’s mind.
“We’ve got Horrid for that.” Amil gave Pax a placating look. “And she’s been improving, too. Not to mention all the rebels with their own skills and spells who are exploring every nook and cranny of the ruins. But you're the only one who can manipulate all the mana types and help other mages.”
Pax sighed. “I know that. I was just excited about going treasure hunting. It shouldn't take me long to earn more evolution points, so maybe for my next choice?”
“If you don't decide to save 100 points when you see the next choices for your Mana Projection evolution,” Rin gave him an apologetic look.
Pax shook his head and grumbled because Rin was right. He moved on, knowing he'd make the more rational decision even if it didn’t sound as fun as the other. “What about my level 1 choices?”
“Actually, would you consider evolving one of your level-two skills, even though it costs two points instead of one?” Tyrodon’s quiet question came from behind him, breathless with the effort of their continuous running. “I think you should consider Instinctive Runes. You have access to all the elements. If you could develop an instinctive sense for rune design, you might rediscover powerful runes.”
The others shot thoughtful glances at Tyrodon, obviously considering his suggestion. Tyrodon’s pace faltered for a moment at all the sudden attention.
“With all of the Taming and mana work I'm going to be doing, I don't know that I'd have much time for crafting.” Pax wasn’t sold on the idea. “We've kind of left that up to you.”
“That's just it. There are no runes for the secondary mana types unless we find some in the light headquarters. Normally discovering new runes is difficult and a time sink, requiring tons of experiments. Which is why you should consider the evolution. A boost to your instinctive understanding of runes might make all the difference in discovering runes for the secondary elements. Then you can pass the knowledge on to our mages. I can carve the new runes, and once they unlock their secondary elements, they should be able to power them. Plus, since you're unlikely to level your Runes skill very much, you're not sacrificing many future points by evolving it, just the initial two.”
By the end of Tyrodon’s explanation, Pax was nodding along, envisioning how much better their powered equipment could be with actual lightning runes instead of a mishmash of air and flame ones they used now. They were so expensive because of the extreme skill and coordination needed between mages and crafters to make them work.
“Fine, I'll level up Runes. Now I just need to decide between my level 1 spells.”
After more discussion, they convinced him to choose two. After everyone explained their favorites, they left him to decide. Pax did another round with the growing rod to give himself more time to think.
He wanted to evolve Flashbang because he felt like he had no direct attack spell to use should he find himself in an emergency. He was still glad that he chose the Overcharge spell, but couldn't deny regret over not choosing a powerful lightning attack like Amil constantly lusted after.
Pax wanted the Golem evolution for similar reasons. It would improve his tanky creature, who could absorb damage on his behalf and give him more time to respond during a battle.
That left his Aeroshift spell, which he'd pretty much already chosen, regardless of the others' ideas. It was just so powerful. He could use it to escape danger or take his enemies by surprise. Its fundamental problem was the short range and large amount of mana it took. He was hoping the Aeroshift Reservoir would help with those problems.
As he felt the growing rod touch his shoulder, Pax pushed his musings aside and focused on greeting the foreign mana with his own mix of nature and light. He would tell everybody his final decisions tonight, giving himself the rest of the day to let the decision and various ideas simmer in his thoughts.