A blazing, blinding fist caught the claw-wielding lizardling in the face. It howled with pain as its scales and eyes immediately seared and bubbled from the intense heat held in Ethan’s fist, right before he grabbed it and dragged it in the way of the second lizardling’s spear. A speartip of blue light burst out of the burnt lizardling’s chest, and Ethan let go before he sprinted forward, ignoring the notification that dinged in his ears.

The spear wielder thrust once more, eyes squinted from the bright glare coming off Ethan’s right claws, but it was easy enough to dodge. His claws went for the throat once more, like a ball of raging fire, but it was parried at the last moment by the terrified lizardling, knocking it off course.

What hadn’t been parried was the knee coming at the lizardling’s nethers.

Its clawed legs left the ground for a moment before it crumpled to the ground, and Ethan cut into its neck.

You have defeated [Lizardling - Level 14]

You have defeated [Lizardling - Level 12]

You have reached Level 14. 1 stat point awarded.

Lesser Wand of the Fire Elemental: 11 fragments collected.

He stood there panting, while the tunnel began filling up with more calls. Ethan looked down at his right hand as he considered running or staying. He was boosting the flame, trying to keep it close to his claws, creating an extra-hot and bright effect. He could push it a bit further, but then his mana regen wouldn’t be able to keep up and it would get even harder to keep the flames under control. Whenever he tried to pull it closer to his claws and concentrate it, he could only keep it stable for a few seconds before it blazed outwards.

Still, he was slowly getting better at it.

The calls were getting closer. Ethan looked back at where his safe boulder was. His slow and steady progress might be too slow. Then he looked back toward the tunnel stretching around the corner ahead of him. And all the fragments and levels that came with it.

Ethan dismissed his claws, added the new point into Spirit, then applied a stat bonus upgrade to his wand. He considered going for another mana regen, but held off for now. Those were getting expensive.

[Stat Bonus: Increase by 2 - 10 fragments]

The shouts were getting closer. Ethan waited for the upgrade effect to finish sinking into him as he listened, and then a lizardling poked his head out of the corner. Ethan caught it by the throat and dragged it out, using his leg to trip it and bring it to the ground before stomping on its throat.

You have defeated [Lizardling - Level 11]

Lesser Wand of the Fire Elemental: 6 fragments collected.

Enough for another upgrade, but the lizardlings were almost upon him. The sensation of cold smoke sinking through his flesh was fading, but it wasn’t over.

Come on. Hurry.

Two lizardlings finally stepped around the corner, followed by one more. Then three. Then two.

Ethan took a step back as he eyed the small crowd. Spears and daggers flashed, while familiar long tails and claws caught his eyes. Ethan took another step back, glancing behind to make sure he wasn’t being sandwiched, then back ahead.

A nervous grin stretched across his lips, and he felt a bead of sweat trickle its way down his back.

At least they couldn’t surround him.

Ethan’s upgrades finished right as a level 17 lizardling opened its mouth and spoke in a strident voice. “Intruder. We will feast—”

Ethan summoned his claws, and the lizardlings recoiled from the raging blaze which surrounded his hands. The flames were intense. Much brighter than they’d ever been, thanks to the three new Spirit points.

Strong enough that they began licking up his shoulder sleeves and underarms.

Shit.

Ethan pulled the flames back and made sure his t-shirt wasn’t on fire. There were darker spots, but that was it.

I’m going to need a change of clothes soon.

Turning his attention back to the small crowd ahead of him, Ethan couldn’t help but feel excited.

His claws and flames were stronger than ever, and a volunteer had just stepped forward to let him test them out.

***

Ethan kept his ears and eyes peeled as he tried to catch his breath.

Well. As much as he could manage.

Blood had dried around his eyes from a deep cut on his forehead. His right ear was ringing from a surprisingly powerful tail whip that might as well have been a literal whip. His stomach, chest, right thigh and foot were flooding his exhausted mind with their pesky pain signals.

It would be better in a few minutes. Maybe an hour or two. Ideally, he’d also find something to eat. All of this strenuous activity was making him hungry. And sleepy. But he wasn’t about to fall asleep in the middle of enemy territory.

He’d made that mistake once, and he wasn’t doing it again.

He wiped his eye, scratching the blood away, and took in the bodies littering the narrow tunnel with satisfaction.

This has been worth it. “Definitely,” he said, then spat some more blood out before lifting his left arm. The spellcore bead was cold to his touch. But… not regular cold. The sensation was somehow seeping into his flesh, but it wasn’t painful. At all.

Assimilate [Extended Enhancement (Tier-1)] from spellcore?

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He knew what the spell did. It was from the tailed lizardlings. It had whipped its tail at him and, believing he was out of range, Ethan had only leaned backward. The lizardling’s tail then suddenly gained half again its length and got him right over the ear. When that lizardling died, Ethan had found the spellcore right next to its tail.

It was difficult to miss. The bead shone softly with a reddish-brown hue that kept changing and dancing as he looked at it.

Well. No need to hold on to this. I can clearly use it.

Ethan accepted the prompt, and the bead popped into a small cloud of smoke that sunk toward his chest.

Now I need more capacity in my wand.

Ethan checked all the notifications he’d gotten from this little ordeal.

You have defeated [Lizardling - Level 19]

…

You have defeated [Lizardling - Level 15]

You have reached Level 15. 1 stat point awarded.

…

You have reached Level 18. 1 stat point awarded.

Lesser Wand of the Fire Elemental: 73 fragments collected.

Worth it. Very much so. He was only two levels away from finishing the current side quest, and he was now sitting on 84 fragments and 4 stat points to assign.

Ethan loaded his available wand upgrades and rubbed his hands together. It felt good, having this many options. Though maybe he should save up for the tier-2 upgrade as well. It might unlock some new upgrades, on top of the inherent boost to stats.

Then again, it wasn’t as if he was going to run out of opponents in this area. This fight alone had netted him 73 fragments, so he should splurge on some upgrades. With more power in his wand, he could cut through stronger opponents easier and faster. He’d be able to afford the tier-2 upgrade in no time.

You have to spend fragments to make fragments.

“Capacity and more mana for now,” he mumbled to himself. “As for the unassigned stats points I’ve got… Well. They’re all pretty damn important, aren’t they?”

If he was to rank them, he’d have to put Toughness at the top. That one just straight-up made it so he wasn’t bleeding out right now. Might and Spirit were crucial as well, allowing him the strength and power to put his opponents down, even when they were higher level than him. Which left Mana, which might be the least impactful at the moment, but it wasn’t something he could neglect either.

“Alright. One each, again.”

Ethan made his stat assignment choices, then confirmed. As he waited for the weird and slightly uncomfortable sensation to finish, he made his choices for the wand upgrades.

[Capacity: Increase by 1 - 10 fragments]

[Stat Bonus: Increase by 2 - 20 fragments]

[Mana regeneration: Increase by 0.40 - 10 fragments]

[Mana regeneration: Increase by 0.40 - 20 fragments]

Ethan waited through the changes, and when they were done, he ignited his right hand and held in front of him. Then he pushed the fire as much as he could.

It was like holding a flamethrower. Fire surged around his arm, licking all the way up to the small tunnel’s ceiling, and that wasn’t the end of it. Mana was being sucked through his wand and into his chest at a prodigious rate, easily counteracting the raging fire his wand was producing. He could maintain this… forever. If he wanted.

Ethan stopped the spell and frowned. Could he maintain spells for that long? Was there some sort of mana fatigue he might run into?

“I’ll have to test that later… But if it’s possible, I can’t be exhausting myself right now. Alright, that’s it for the wand upgrades. That leaves me with 24 fragments. Good haul. Now… I just need a small break, then I’ll check what’s left in the tunnel. After that, food and a nap.”

He had to find a safe spot to sleep, and he was most certainly not trusting the human camp. Maybe once he’d gained 10 or 20 more levels. Then he doubted they could do anything to him, whether he was awake or asleep.

Before taking a final glance at all of his progress, he slotted his new spell into his wand, then pulled his stats and grinned. “Whomever it is that’s holding the highest level at the moment, you better enjoy it while you can. I’m on my way.”

Name: Ethan Voss

Traits: [Universal tongue, Enduring Brawler]

Level 18

Might: 14

Toughness: 11

Spirit: 15

Mana: 6

Unassigned: 0

Lesser Wand of the Fire Elemental: [Form: [Extended][Flaming][Claws]]

Class: Enhancer

Tier: 1

Unique Traits: [Lesser Wand of the Fire Elemental - In use]

Cast Setting: Sequential

Capacity: 3/3

Cast refresh: 5

Mana regeneration: 1.6s (26%)

Stat Bonus: +10 Might +10 Spirit

Fragments: 24

Tokens: None

Available spells:

General: None

Armament: None

Enhancement: [Claws (Tier-0) - In use]

Modifiers: [Flaming Enhancement(Tier-1) - In use][Extended Enhancement(Tier-1) - In use]

Side quest:

Reach level 20 and upgrade your wand to tier-1

Reward:

1 trait from a list of tailored options.

1 tier-1 spell token

5 stat points.