The cat’s tail swished as Ethan finished off the remaining lizardlings. She was lying on her stomach, pupils narrowed in a line. Her flames were more agitated as well, flaring up in bursts over her back and chest, but soon enough, there was quiet in the cave and she seemed to relax. She put her head down and the flames quieted.

Ethan moved to the other end of the cave, away from the smoke and smells, and sat against the stone wall. He expected the cat to move or do something, but she stayed still.

Did it fall asleep already?

Well, he didn’t mind that. He had a puzzle to solve, anyway.

Declare your true path…

Was this some sort of resolve thing? Like a promise or an oath? Or was it about general life stuff?

Ethan wanted to delve into it deeper, but the gnawing emptiness in his chest and body was becoming too much to bear. He knew it was a mana-thing at this point, so he glanced down at his stomach and found the skin fully closed. Gently probing it, he found the area a bit painful, but not debilitating. Ethan turned off the wands and instantly, a weighted blanket was lifted off his chest. He groaned in relief, closing his eyes as he leaned against the wall.

Mana exhaustion is a thing. It might be related to my stats too. Maybe it wasn’t too taxing when I had low a Spirit stat but if that’s the potency of my magic, it would make sense if it exhausts me faster.

Thankfully, that might be resolved by this body reforging reward. Once he figured out the path stuff.

Couldn’t they make it simpler? I have no time to waste on this.

He didn’t want to be solving riddles right now. He wanted to find the exit of the floor. He’d hoped the lizardlings would be connected to it, but clearly, they weren’t. This had been worth it and he’d gotten a new ally out of it—potentially—but he’d made no progress on the main quest.

Ethan thought back on the raid and grinned. It had gone well, all things considered. Really well.

They hadn’t managed to stop him.

As Ethan recalled himself cutting through the wall, tearing into the barriers and forcing his way through the lizardling’s defenses, the air shivered around him, and his eyes widened.

He’d had that happen a few times. Especially when he’d been thinking of this new life and how he wanted to be.

Ethan looked down at the quest description one more time and whispered. “A path. A way of doing things?”

Ethan cleared his thoughts and looked up at the cave ceiling.

I will burn through every obstacle until I’m standing at the top. Wherever that is.

The air trembled around him, and his breath caught. He glanced up and saw the cat looking at him, still lounging on the floor.

He should think of a name for her.

Ethan turned his attention back to the quest. His heart beat loudly into his ears. Maybe he needed to say it? And what was the top, really?

How long would he climb?

Ethan shook his head. It didn't matter how long he needed to climb. He wasn’t going to keep the past or anything else chain him down. If there’s a ledge above him where someone might stand and look down on him, he was reaching up for it.

The idea percolated in his mind. His resolve. It didn’t need to be complicated or wordy. It was short, really.

It was something he lived by, in a way, since he was a child.

“I will not be stopped.”

Something whooshed around him, and the air suddenly grew tense. Electric. Whatever energy was coalescing around him, it kept building up. Both outside and within his chest.

It reminded him of his first interaction with the system.

Ethan had barely enough time to see the “side quest completed” message before more text appeared over it.

Body Reforging beginning in 3… 2…1

His body seized and his teeth clamped shut. The mysterious energy around him began pouring into his skin, sinking through his flesh and bones like molten metal. His veins bulged. His eyes watered while pain and spasm racked through his body.

Ethan gritted his teeth harder, tasting blood. He might have been smiling as well, he couldn’t tell. But this was a small price to pay for power, which was exactly when the process got worse.

A new wave of energy swelled in his chest. It reminded him of mana, but he didn’t feel it in his flesh or bones. No, it was… somewhere else. His soul, he imagined, and the pain easily eclipsed the one of his body.

Ethan felt like wax. Like he was being molten right before he’d be put back together, and next thing he knew, he found himself looking at the ceiling while his body and soul were thrown into the proverbial forge.

Worth… it…

Then the screams tore themselves out of his throat.

***

Ethan laid in a pool of his own stinking sweat, panting. He was tired, but the feeling was quickly fading as his new body finally finished changing and as his Toughness began to take over.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I need to go back to that pond and wash-up. And I’m starving. Again.

He slowly got up and took in the cave, winking his nose at his own smell. The cat was still asleep, uncaring about whatever happened to him.

Typical cat.

His claws appeared over his hand, larger than ever, and fire ignited. They were nearly ten-inch long now, and Ethan realized the mana fatigue was gone.

Looking down at the stab wound, he didn’t find it. None of the other wounds were present, either. Not the cuts, nor the bullet scar that should have been on the left side of his lower abdomen. He couldn’t see the exit wound and when he reached with his fingers for the entrance scar, he couldn’t feel the smooth scar tissue.

Ethan grinned.

Incredible. I wonder if this grew back my kidney as well.

He stretched his limbs for a moment and marveled at the strength and energy he was feeling. Was this all thanks to the body reforging? If so, he wanted more.

Ethan lowered his arms, and another whiff entered his nostril. This time, he almost gagged.

I’ll need some soap and water on hand for the next upgrade.

For now, he decided to spray his upper body with a small gout of flames. Maybe the fire would help with the smell. As the flames covered his upper body, he looked at his notifications and checked the timer on the main quest.

Main Quest: Gain access to the second floor within 5 days, 15 hours, and 52 minutes.

Congratulations. Side quest completed.

Prime Wand

Body Reforging

10 stat points.

The body reforging process was completed successfully.

The Prime Wand formation was completed successfully.

Right. The wand. And I guess I’ve got some stat points to assign as well.

Prime Wand of the Juggernaut:

Tier: 1

Form: None

Stat Bonus: 5

Fragments: 0

Available wand upgrades:

[First Form - 150 fragments]

“Damn. That’s a cool name for a wand.”

Ethan was grinning widely as he took in the details of this new wand and when he realized its stat bonus applied to all of his stats, he chuckled. “This is amazing.”

Though Ethan didn’t miss the not so small differences of this new wand. Its profile was very different from what he was used to, but then again, this wand seemed special. It was more… personal. He suspected the other stats and upgrades like mana regeneration and capacity would show up once he unlocked the first form and for that, he needed fragments.

Should have waited before collecting them from that sorry lot. I’ll look for something to hunt when I go wash up.

Next, Ethan turned his attention to his stats. He had 10 points to assign. His Mana was falling behind while both Might and Spirit were still pretty low, even though both were technically the highest thanks to the Wand of the Lesser Elemental.

“Two in Toughness for a clean 30 before the new wand boost. Four each for Spirit and Might. Mana will get something next time.”

Good enough. Next, he checked if there was a new side quest and found out that yes, there was one. In fact, two side quests were available. One was to unlock three forms for the Prime Wand and it would reward him with one tier-2 spell token, while the second quest was to reach level 40. The reward for that was another 10 points in stats and a trait.

Ethan rubbed his bare hands together in excitement as he began walking toward the exit. “We got a lot to do… um. What do I call you? Do you have a name?”

The cat looked up at him for a second, then put her head back down and flicked her ears.

“Well, the prompts said you were unnamed earlier. How about… Blaze?”

Ear flick.

“Paprika?”

Another ear flick.

“Ash? Enya? Kindle?”

The cat growled in her throat, and a clear sense of annoyance came through the link.

Ethan hummed. “Well, you came out of some sort of glowing charcoal. How about Ember?”

No ear flicks. It might be the closest thing to acceptance he was getting out of the elemental.

“Alright. Let’s go with that. I’m going to go wash up. You want to come along?”

The cat looked up and gave him a narrow-eyed look for a second before she meowed. “[You can go. You should be easy enough to find smelling like you do.]”

Then it closed its eyes and rolled itself in a ball, making sure to tuck her nose under her paw.

Ethan stared down at her, mouth open. That actually hurt a little. He turned away and shook his head. Why couldn’t he have found a dog instead?

At least I have all of these nice stats to comfort me. Plus, I should go check on the others soon.

He smiled at that. He wondered what kind of face the archer would have if Ethan showed up with his current levels.

Name: Ethan Voss

Traits: [Universal tongue, Enduring Brawler, Child of Flames]

Pacts: Ember - Feline Fire Elemental (I) - Level 50

Level 30

Might: 43

Toughness: 35

Spirit: 43

Mana: 15

Prime Wand:

Tier: 1

Form: None

Stat Bonus: +5

Fragments: 0

Lesser Wand of the Fire Elemental:

[Form: [Extended][Flaming][Claws]]

[Sequential:[Small Fireball]]

Class: Enhancer

Tier: 2

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

Cast Setting: Sequential

Capacity: 4/4

Cast refresh: 4.5s

Mana regeneration: 2 (12%)

Stat Bonus: +24 Might +24 Spirit

Fragments: 186