Ethan grunted and slowly lifted his arm. After a couple of minutes of observing the injury, he decided to leave it as is. It wasn’t bleeding. And he didn’t really want to walk around shirtless. The temperature here wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t too warm, either. Though as he took in the state of his once white t-shirt, he hoped he’d eventually find cloth-cleaning spells.

That would be neat.

Well, if it starts bleeding I’ll tear a strip off my shirt. But for now it seems fine…

Stepping closer to the dead spear-wielder, he poked the weapon with a foot. Nothing happened. Then Ethan leaned over, reaching for the spear with his clawed hand. As he touched it, it dissolved into golden smoke and a notification popped up.

Wand #1: 1 fragment collected.

Looking down at the two lizardlings, he found nothing else he could test his collecting ability on. He doubted a loincloth would dissolve into fragments, and honestly, he didn’t know if he wanted it to.

Ethan stepped toward the exit and slowly, carefully, looked down the hall. He didn’t intend on leaving yet. He had a couple of things to check. But he needed to make sure no more of these lizardlings were on the way.

It really looked like a castle. Corridors of stone stretched out on both sides. Light came down from a few spots where the roof had caved in, and as he listened, he neither saw nor heard anything.

Actually, it was eerie how quiet everything was. No birds. No running water. No wind. Just… silence.

Ethan shook his head and retreated into his spawning room, then loaded his menus. Specifically, the side quest.

Side quest: Reach level 5

Reward: 1 stat point. Trait: Universal tongue.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. Does that mean he couldn’t understand what those lizardlings had been saying? Actually, were they monsters? He recalled the wand selection menu saying that enhancer wands were the default for monsters, but these had spears and daggers. Clearly armament wands.

Did that mean they weren’t monsters? Or did it mean monsters could select something other than enhancer wands?

The questions kept piling up. For now, he had a point to assign.

“Alright… The Might stat seems related to strength. Toughness is straightforward as well, and so is Mana. Which leaves Spirit… Maybe that’s for his wand’s strength? Or some sort of resistance?”

One thing was clear: whatever he decided to boost, it wouldn’t be a waste. Every one of these stats seemed important.

Ethan hummed as he eyed the stat points. There was something that had started bugging him a few moments ago, and it was time to deal with it.

Considering the early-bird rewards and this new side quest, the tutorial might be some sort of competition. Or maybe it was just gamified objectives to reward their effort. Either way, Ethan fully intended on taking advantage of every leg up he could get. If this was all a competition, he needed to find an edge. Some way to push himself ahead of everybody else.

Should he prioritize one stat over others? Focus on collecting spells? Clear every side-quest? How about wand fragments?

A quick check showed him the options available to him.

Wand #1: [Form: Claws][Sequential: None]

Class: Enhancer

Tier: 0

Unique Trait: None

Cast Setting: Sequential

Capacity: 1/2

Cast refresh: 5

Mana regeneration: 0.01s (1%)

Stat Bonus: +2 Might +2 Spirit

Fragments: 2

Available wand upgrades:

[Tier: Increase by 1 - 25 fragments]

[Stat Bonus: Increase by 1 - 5 fragments]

[Cast refresh: Decrease by 0.25 seconds - 1 fragments]

[Mana regeneration: Increase by 0.04 - 1 fragments]

Ethan sat down on the stone floor as he eyed the wands upgrades.

First things first, he had a target. Increasing the wand’s tier would allow him to use his modifier-spell. But that wasn’t the only interesting option. He was curious about the cast refresh one and most intrigued by the mana regeneration upgrade.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

So mana regeneration is handled by the wand, and the upgrade would speed it up?

Noticing the percentage right next to the value then back to his own mana stat, Ethan theorized he was currently regenerating 1% of his reserves every second, which was probably very low considering his mana stat was at 1.

Taking a second, he focused on his clawed hands and closed his eyes, looking for any clue about this regeneration business.

One second.

Ten seconds.

When he closed in on a minute, he thought he felt it. A tingle that ran from his hand up his arm.

“Or maybe I’m imagining it.”

In any case, Ethan needed to collect more fragments. The more upgrades he had, the better his wand would become, and that would be another way for him to gain an edge over the competition.

There was no way he will squander this new opportunity.

“Alright. I’ll focus on side quests and collecting fragments for now. For the stat points… Well. The lowest is Mana. Might and Spirit are getting boosted by the wand, and that leaves Toughness.”

Could it help him with his current injury? Maybe. Would it allow him to take bigger risks and speed up his progress? Probably.

It’ll really depend on how effective every Toughness point is. I’ll have to test it.

The other option was the Mana stat. Glancing down at his claws, he wondered; would they disappear if he didn’t dismiss them? If not, if they could sustain themselves as is, he might not need the extra mana right away.

Yeah. I can’t afford to be incapacitated, he thought after a few seconds. If Toughness allows me to shrug off injuries or not even take them, then it’s the most important stat right now.

As soon as Ethan confirmed his choice, warmth filled his muscles, sinking into his flesh and bones. After a couple of seconds, Ethan could swear the stab wound was less painful. Even when he moved his right claws and slowly raised his arm the injury only protested, it didn’t prevent him from moving the arm.

“Nice. One or two more points and I bet it’ll feel even better.”

Ethan stepped to the exit and stealthily glanced down the halls. He inhaled, then exhaled, then nodded to himself.

“Alright. Time to go exploring.”

He slowly crept out, looking left, then right, then back to the left.

That’s where the lizardlings had come from. If a new patrol was coming around, he should know about it. Maybe he’d find their camp as well. If there was such a thing nearby, he’d be better off knowing about it.

Quietly, close to the wall, Ethan made his way down the corridor, weathered stones crunching under his feet. Hand on the cold wall, he slowly looked around the corner only to find stairs leading down. A lit torch was on the wall facing the steps.

Looks like another corridor.

With extra care, he went down the stairs, hands against the right wall. Then, slowly, with every sense on alert after he made sure nothing was coming from the left, he peeked down the right corridor and instantly snapped his head back.

He hadn’t been fast enough.

Screeches sounded down the corridor, and the sound of clawed steps became louder and louder as Ethan climbed the stairs two steps at a time.

I can do four. Probably. Maybe. And why are they so hell bent on killing me?

No sooner had the patrol seen him than their weapons appeared in their hands and they’d begun running.

Ethan waited around the first corner after the stairs. The footsteps slowed, but he could still hear the lizardlings speak in their scratchy tongue.

Any second now.

A tip of spear poked out of the corner, inches away from him. The signal.

Ethan surged forward, and his left claws shot straight toward the first lizardling’s throat, tearing into it. Blood splattered and gurgling filled the hall while he jumped back, dodging the stab of a second spear.

You have defeated [Lizardling - Level 3]

You have reached Level 3. 1 stat point awarded.

Ethan immediately put that into Toughness as he continued sliding backward while the three lizardlings approached.

[Lizardling - Level 2]

[Lizardling - Level 4]

[Lizardling - Level 4]

Heat sank into his flesh once more, and the pain of his injured arm lost more of its bite. He could lift his arm. He could even flex it, though that did cause some pain.

He made that discovery as the second spear wielder rushed him. Ethan dodged right, pushing the spear away with his left arm. With an open palm, he punched up into the lizardling’s chest and sunk his claws in. He groaned at the pain in his bicep, but it wasn’t enough to stop his movement. He tore his hand out then jumped back, creating some more distance.

You have defeated [Lizardling - Level 4]

At this point, the two lizardlings shared a look. Ethan knew what would be coming next, so he rushed forward.

“Can’t have runners.” That meant reinforcement, and Ethan would be screwed.

The higher level lizardling raised a dagger and made a screech. The lower level lizardling turned and ran.

Ethan cursed under his breath as he came to a stop from a safe distance from the lizardling’s panicked swipe. It swiped at him again, but when that didn’t work, the dagger-wielder took another step backward.

It’s stalling. Shit.

Ethan feinted forward, earning him another panicked—and expected—slash, then he exploded forward, right hand reaching for the dagger while his left went for the lizardlings face and throat.

A couple of seconds later, Ethan let the dead lizardling down.

You have defeated [Lizardling - Level 4]

You have reached Level 4. 1 stat point awarded.

Ethan grit his teeth. The runner was too far to catch.

Change of plans.

Ethan quickly bent over the three dead lizardlings and collected his fragments. Because he did it in quick succession, the notification grouped the total, instead of peppering him with notifications.

Wand #1: 4 fragment collected.

With that done, Ethan rushed up the corridor. As he passed his spawn room, he glanced back, but nothing was coming just yet.

One more in Toughness. Then I can start investing points elsewhere.

Ethan did that without stopping – at this point, the pain was more of a soreness than anything else. He needed his limbs, especially if he was about to be fighting even more stabby lizards.

Ethan grinned. At least, once this was over, he’d be sitting on a small pile of fragments. He was gonna have a lot of spending money. And he was only a level away from his first completed side quest.

Ethan turned the corner and something moved. His clawed hands shot up as his eyes widened—and he barely stopped himself in time.

The man in front of him, on the other hand, only smiled before a flash of light shot out of a pointed wand.