“Let’s do the stats first… They might help with the pain and hunger.”

Ethan eyed his current stats for a moment, noting how low his Might and Spirit were. They were being raised by the wand, which was all nice and good, but the wand stats should be a bonus, not his main source of strength.

What if someone could disable his bonus somehow? Neither Might or Spirit were above 5 points. Mana was barely better at 6 points. The only one that wasn’t as worrying was Toughness, and clearly enough, it needed a boost considering the state of his left arm.

Glancing down at it, he noted how it had deflated a bit, but the reddish purple still looked far from healthy, and any twitching muscle sent a wave of sharp pain. Still, he didn’t let that put a damper on the little haul he was sitting on.

“18 points. Damn.” Ethan grinned. The amount of stats he had to play with was incredible. He shook his head and brought his focus back to the matter at hand. “Alright. 4 in Toughness to bring it up to 15. Then bring everything else to 10, which leaves me with…”

Ethan moved the points around but refrained from validating anything. After a few seconds, he tsked. “I can bring Spirit and Might to 10, which puts them at 20 with the wand boost, but Mana stays at 9. I could take a point out of Toughness, but…”

He looked down at his mangled arm, then nodded to himself. “10 in the Mana stat will have to wait.”

Ethan confirmed his choice. As soon as he did, dust was kicked away from his feet in a wide circle. His dirty—and frankly, stinky—clothes ruffled from the breeze while a myriad of comfortingly uncomfortable sensations sunk into his flesh.

It reminded him of something once said to him. Something about bad-tasting medicine being the most efficient.

Ethan doubted that. But the muscle tremors, the bone burning, and the electrifying cold running through his flesh promised to make him stronger. More resilient and better equipped to deal with the monsters of this place.

He would endure it with pleasure.

When the transformative effect was over, Ethan leaned back against the cave wall and sighed with relief. He tightened his fist, feeling strength running through his veins, and when he summoned his claws and their flame, he noted how much longer and tougher-looking they seemed. The talons themselves were at least five inches long, while his hands had grown thicker and darker, allowing him to exert more strength through them.

His left arm was also looking better. The purple hue was still present, but the pain was easier to ignore. It had deflated a bit, as well. Ethan believed it might get back to normal in a few hours, which was… mind boggling.

He glanced out of his tunnel for a moment to make sure nothing was sneaking up on him, then started with the trait-token.

Select a trait from the list below:

Enhancer Specialist: Enhancer wands provide 10% extra stats.

Lucky Harvester: Improve chances of finding a spellcore on a dead opponent.

Child of Flames: Your flames protect you and accelerate your recovery.

“God… dammit.”

Ethan sighed, then shook his head. It was a great problem to have, for sure. The traits were all great. The same argument still held from last time, but that didn’t make the choice any less difficult. Still, with the traits persisting even though he didn’t select them, he felt safe ignoring [Enhancement Specialist] for now.

It was still a great option, but he also still had only one wand.

[Lucky Harvester] was interesting as well. It might not be that impactful, considering how unlikely it was for a spellcore to appear, but the value was there.

“They must be worth something for trade, as well. For sure.”

Ethan hummed and turned his focus to the new option displayed. [Child of Flames] was, frankly, too good to pass up. He needed more resilience and faster recovery, and he already had a lot of fire stuff going on. [Child of Flames] was a great fit. It would allow him to be out there more, fighting toads and collecting fragments.

Ethan mulled it over for a few more seconds. It was just too good.

Well. See you two next time, then. I’ll pick up [Lucky Harvester] next, if the System doesn’t throw something too good to ignore once again.

Ethan selected [Child of Flames], then confirmed his choice.

Flames burst all around him, making him flinch for a second before he smiled. The flames were a soft orange, with bright gold undertones. They danced and seeped into his skin like a healing balm and then, gently, they faded away.

Ethan took his shirt off and pursed his lips at its sorry state. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t white any more.

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Next, Ethan summoned both claws and, keeping them to his side, he turned the heat on. Flames roared upward, easily taller than he was, and the comforting heat seeped into his arms and sides. Ethan closed his eyes and enjoyed the blissful relief. The pain in his left arm slowly melted away, replaced by a warm sense of vigor that coursed through his body. Opening his eyes, he examined the flames for a moment, and his eyebrow quirked up.

The flames looked… realer.

Before this new round of upgrades, the fire had been thin and somewhat transparent. Now it looked more physical. Almost like flowing liquid.

Ethan didn’t want to cancel his flames, so he let them dance. The fire was reducing the pain in his arm and maybe accelerating its healing, but his arm still didn’t look that great. He noted that the heat wasn’t difficult to endure, either. Same for hunger and thirst, which thankfully would give him time to look into some wand upgrades and a spell selection.

“Spells first. Modifier or Enhancement spells? Wait… can I use regular spells with this wand? Probably… right?”

He hadn’t tested that. He had none to test with, but was that worth using his token for?

“What’s the best scenario for an Enhancement? I’d get something nice and useful, but if I’m understanding things right, I won’t be able to use it with [Claws]. Only one Enhancement-spell can be set as the wand’s form. But it could be something crazy. Like wings. Or whatever that toad used to shoot its laser.”

Because that was the only explanation of how he’d gotten fragments twice from the same monster.

“For modifiers… No clues. I could get anything, and I should be able to use it. So that’s the safest pick. For spells, I might finally get something to hit from afar. Or a healing spell. Assuming the wand can cast it, which is something I need to actually figure out.”

Both options were really good, so he wasn’t going to regret either. As for picking which…

Ethan turned off his right claws and dug into his pocket for a couple of seconds. When his finger touched cold metal, he grinned.

“Head for a regular spell. Tails for modifier,” he said to the universe, then flipped the coin and let it drop to the ground. He peered down at it, then shrugged. “Heads it is.”

Select a general-class tier-1 spell from the list below:

Whisper: Send a telepathic message into the mind of a target you see within range.

Firebolt: Shoot a bolt made of fire.

Summon Illusion: Summon an illusion within range.

Stonedart: Shoot a short dart made of stone.

Gust: Summon a gust of wind in a direction of your choosing.

Hmm. [Whisper] and [Summon Illusion] are great to lure out targets. [Gust] is… interesting. I wonder if I can combine it with the flamethrower to add a kick to the fire. For range, [Firebolt] is the clear winner, especially if my wand’s unique trait can help me control it or boost it.

Now. What was it going to be?

He liked the utility spells. But he also needed to do something about his range weakness. Any other day, [Firebolt] would have been the obvious choice here. But what if he managed to re-create the [Firebolt] spell with his own control over fire? He was getting better at it.

That could be a hidden quest. It would be a challenge, if it’s even possible.

Not selecting [Firebolt] right here was a bit greedy on his part… But it would put his back against the wall and push him harder to recreate the spell.

He liked that idea.

And if it doesn’t work out, I bet I’ll get other opportunities to get the spell later.

Ethan stared at the remaining spells for a few more moments, feeling more confident by the second. He could do it. Probably.

“Screw it. It’s worth a shot. Which makes this a choice between illusions or a quick simple message.”

Luring out enemies would counter his weak range a bit, at least until he picked up something stronger for range attacks.

[Whisper] will probably work against monsters and lizardlings, and it would also be useful to coordinate with trusted allies. I also like how simple to use it seems; the illusion spell could potentially do more, but it would take work. Planning. Imagination.

Ethan grimaced. He really wanted the simpler options.

Whisper (Tier-1) added to General spells.

Next, he quickly looked through his available wand upgrades, and opted for one more mana regeneration upgrade, as well as an increase of capacity so he could test [Whisper].

[Mana regeneration: Increase by 0.40 - 30 fragments]

[Capacity: Increase by 1 - 30 fragments]

With that done, Ethan glanced at his remaining available upgrade and frowned.

Can’t upgrade the capacity and regen anymore, huh. I guess I need to upgrade the wand to the next tier soon.

Finally, he slotted the [Whisper] spell into the wand. It didn’t place it along the default chain with [Claws]. Instead, a new line showed up with “Sequential” spelled in front of it, and that’s where the new spell was slotted. Now he just had to find a target to test it on.

“Aaand we’re done. Damn. That took a while,” Ethan said as he stood up.

He glanced down at his left arm, and his eyes widened as he took in the changes. It was still a bit red and blue in some spots, but it looked a lot healthier. It went from quite literally scalded to a bad sunburn in barely an hour.

[Enduring Brawler], [Child of Flames], and Toughness. This is just… incredible. I bet I could eat that toad and not die. But I still don’t want to live through whatever those toxins would do to my stomach.

Ethan stepped out into the forest once more and cracked his neck. “Time to find some lunch.”