It didn’t take Ethan long to find the first candidate to test his new abilities. It actually approached him as he was washing up. But unfortunately, the fight had ended too quickly for him to get a good feel for the changes.

At least I know the fire’s defensive abilities got a bit stronger. Almost completely stopped the tongue attack.

Ethan leaned down and touched the badly burnt tongue of the toad with his bare hand. Not with his claws. Light detached from the amphibian’s appendage and sunk through his flesh, and a notification soon followed, confirming his new wand was part of his body and didn’t need to be manifested to absorb fragments.

Prime Wand: 19 fragments collected.

Ethan sighed and glanced down at his arms. Summoning the claws on his right hand, he dragged one of the sharp talons across his left forearm. He cut deep. Enough for the blood to spurt a bit. Then he took note of the time left in the main quests and covered the injury with his flames.

It was time to take some measures and get a better idea of his healing capabilities. From what he observed from the last fight, [Child of Flames] had grown a bit stronger, making his flames thicker and more vibrant. If his “body” upgrade had made his traits stronger, then both his trait’s healing capabilities should have been boosted as well. He just needed to confirm it.

I should have put my pants on first, though.

Ethan sighed, then began maneuvering his pants around his ankles, using only his right hand. They were getting too crispy, no matter how hard he tried to keep his fires away from them. Scorch marks and holes were multiplying rapidly, especially near the waist.

I need to find some fire resistant clothing soon. I don’t think my underwear will last long once the pants are out.

Just as he was zipping up the pants, his old phone, barely holding to the edge of his pocket, fell to the forest floor with a soft thump.

Ethan picked up and examined it for a second, wincing as he noticed the cracks on both its front panel and back. “What should I do with this?”

Turning it over in his hands for a few seconds, he decided to put it back in his pocket. It was an old model. Pretty small and light, which is why he mostly forgot about it and it still didn’t work, but he felt weird about throwing it, so he might as well keep it in his pocket.

If it got lost over the next few days, then so be it.

Ethan glanced down at the cut in his left arm. The blood was clotted and as he scratched it away to look at the wound, he found it had almost halfway healed. The edge had already fully closed up.

It’s been… only three or four minutes. Damn.

In the end, the whole cut closed up in around ten minutes. Fifteen for the scar tissue to heal away and disappear.

It was astonishing, honestly. But he’ll still have to be careful. This level of healing was perfect for an after-fight recovery, but it won’t be that beneficial to him in the middle of the action.

Still better than nothing, though.

While he waited for the water to dry off his skin, he loaded up his other wand and checked the upgrades. The air was chilly, but even though he was all wet, he didn’t really shiver. Sure, he wouldn’t mind some fire or a towel, but it really wasn’t at all uncomfortable.

Toughness will come in handy if I ever have to deal with extreme weather.

Ethan eyed the upgrades and as he looked through them, he saw a couple of options he’d sort of forgotten about; the spells he could learn and upgrade.

Available wand upgrades:

[Tier: 2 to 3 - 500 fragments]

[Capacity: Increase by 1 - 80 fragments]

[Mana regeneration: Increase by 1 - 80 fragments]

[Stat Bonus: Increase by 6 - 120 fragments]

[Cast refresh: Decrease by 0.25 seconds - 50 fragments]

[Learn: Gout of Flames (Tier-1) - 50 fragments]

[Upgrade: Flaming Enhancement (Tier-1) - 100 fragments]

It’s odd how [Claws] just upgraded by itself, while [Flaming Enhancement]’s upgrade costs fragments. Does it have to do with the tier? Or was it spontaneous because of the pressure my Spirit stat was putting on the spell?

Or maybe it was both. A combination of the pressure on the spell to upgrade so it could handle more power, and the fact that tier-0 spells are weaker.

Ethan would like to know, but he wasn’t likely to get that answer down here in the underground mushroom forest, so he moved on for now.

[Gout of Flames] can be learned, though I don’t really care about it as much. But I do have the fragments for it, and it’s worth it if it nets me a hidden quest.

Ethan hummed. “It might be a bit better than my own version, too.”

That was an exciting thought. He could learn from it if it was better, though his main goal was still to uncover another hidden quest.

Ethan nodded decisively. He would do that, but he had to get a move on. He needed to finish with the upgrades and get back out there. The timer was ticking, and he still had no clue where the exit could be.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Ethan put his hands on his hips and paid up the 100 fragments first.

Select one of the following upgrades for [Flaming Enhancement] upgrades:

Flaming spell (Tier-2) - Modifier-class

Scorching Enhancement (Tier-2) - Modifier-class

Flaming Claws (Tier-1) - Enhancement-class

Ethan crossed his arms and studied the options for a few seconds.

The first was apparently increasing the compatibility of the spell. It wasn’t limited to enhancements anymore, aka it would work on regular spells and on armaments.

Ethan didn’t care for that upgrade at all. It might be useful eventually, sure, but it was nothing he could use right now. It wasn’t something he could benefit from right now, and it paled compared to the next option.

Yeah. That’s a pass from me.

Ethan next tapped the second option, and grinned as he read the description.

Scorching Enhancement (Tier-2): Unleash searing heat and flames from your enhancement.

He was tempted to select the second option already. Compared to the first and the last, [Scorching Enhancement] felt like an upgrade. Still, he gave the last option a few seconds. It was a combination of [Claws] and [Flaming Enhancement], which would leave him with an extra wand slot, but it would keep the spell at tier-1 on top of locking both spells together.

Ethan didn’t want to lock his [Claws] to fire only, even though the element was becoming his specialty, thanks to [Child of Flames], [Lesser Wand of the Fire Elemental], as well as his pact.

He liked the straightforwardness of fire, but it might not always be the most effective weapon. For example, what if he—for no particular reason—needed to fight fire elementals? He’d be completely powerless. His magic would only be a meal for them. On the other hand, if he had a couple of different modifiers set aside for special cases, like [Watery Enhancement] or like… [Electric Enhancement], wouldn’t that be much more optimal?

“Yeah. Specializing with fire might give me an edge in some situations, but I don’t want to restrict myself too much either and in any case, [Scorching Enhancement] is the superior upgrade. It’s both a specialized upgrade, and it doesn’t exclude future variations to [Claws].”

Ethan confirmed his choice, then paid the fragments.

His wand manifested by itself, but there were no flames. A small cloud of gold appeared around them and began swirling around his clawed hands, then slowly began sinking into his claws. His hands glowed gold for a few moments. It felt as if they were being dipped in molten gold, but it wasn’t painful. It was as if his mind was telling him about the incredible heat, but he could only feel a comfortable warmth on his skin. Then the wand was dismissed, while the searing yet comfortable heat flowed up his arms and into his chest.

Flaming Enhancement (Tier-1) upgraded to Scorching Enhancement (Tier-2)

He looked down at his bare hand for a second, then took a deep breath and grinned. “Let’s see this upgrade, then.”

Ethan activated [Scorching Enhancement], and his breath caught in his chest.

The familiar and quick transformation started as it always did. His skin toughened, while his joints and musculature bulged to support the long claws. But while his flesh barely changed color with the tier-1 spell, his hand was now charcoal black and almost scaly. Cracks of glowing red pulsed beneath the surface while heat began to radiate out in visible haze that distorted the air around his hands and when Ethan willed the fire out, it surged out, violent and hungry, as if he’d just poured gasoline over an open flame.

Even though he was immune to the fire and heat generated by his own wand, he wasn’t impervious to their effects on his immediate area. Already, sweat began beading across his forehead as he marveled at the intensity of his new claws, eyes wide with glee.

Ethan felt like a superhero from some movie or comic he’d never had the chance to read.

Just as he considered experimenting more with his new power-up, the sound of a crashing tree shook him out of his wonder. He dismissed the claws and glanced toward the center of the cave segment. The source was nearby. Probably within minutes.

Ethan looked at his remaining upgrade, then shrugged.

I guess I’ll do that later. I do want something to test these new hands on. Plus, I do need some fragments for the Prime wand, so let’s see what’s going on.

***

Liz grit her teeth and cursed as she tore the arrow out of her thigh, back against a mushroom tree. It wasn’t anything Amelie couldn’t heal, but man, she just wanted a break. Behind her, Lance continued to speak.

“You four hurt one of my men. Bronson is still down for the count, and why? Because we asked you to help? After we saved your friend’s life?”

Liz stole a glance around the wet-smelling mushroom trunk and the archer waiting, arrow nocked.

“Bullshit,” spat out Amelie from behind Audrey’s tower shield. “We wouldn’t have had to knock him out if he let us go. We don’t fucking work for you, asshole. You don’t own us.”

To Liz’s right, hidden behind another tree, Gerald was sitting down, back against the giant mushroom stem, hands around the arrow still stuck in his guts. Liz worried, but aside from some paleness, she believed he’ll be alright. He just needed Amelie’s attention.

What do we do?

Liz lifted her crossbow as a new bolt finished forming. From further into the clearing, the voice of the coach reached her ears. “Whatever it is you folk are fighting about, go do it elsewhere! You’re going to draw the monster to our camp, for god’s sake!” he shouted. Behind him, a group of high schoolers still in gym clothing stood and watched. A few were excited but most were worried. A football team, by the look of it. Most had shields in their arms, while a few had bows and crossbows and they were lined up near the fallen tree, both facing Lance’s group and Liz’s.

“We have a camp you can join if you’re worried about your boy’s safety,” Robert called out. The shield-bearer in Lance’s party seemed confident. He didn’t even have the shield up.

Amelie laughed scornfully at that and called out to the coach. “They will hoard the kills and fragments for their own damn self and feed you scraps while calling it a favor. Trust me, you’re better off on your own.”

The clearing was quiet for a second, then Lance spoke again. “It’s sad that it came to this, but I can’t have you attack and almost murder innocent people and let you get away with it.”

What a piece of shit…

Liz tightened her grip. What was he going to do? Did he have a way of seeing them? Did he have something explosive?

She winced as she shifted her weight. What was happening back there? She didn’t want to risk poking her head out again. He could be waiting for it, now that he saw where she was hiding.

But if he misses the first shot, we can get him.

Liz paused, then strongly shook her head.

Nope. Not worth taking an arrow to the eye.

She slowly exhaled and took stock of the situation. Lance and his two cronies had levels on them, but her group had the numbers. They just needed a good shot. One good bolt.

Who am I kidding… the weakest of them is level 21 while Amelie just made 17. Lance is 23. We don’t win this.

As she considered her options, the heavy silence was finally broken by one of the high schoolers. “Fuck…”

She glanced toward the coach’s group and saw them all staring toward her right. The coach was mumbling instructions to his people, and they began rearranging themselves and backing away while he turned to Liz and Lance’s group. “Goddammit people. Something’s coming and it’s all your damn fault. At least help us clean up your damn mess.”

Liz looked to her right, but she couldn’t pick up much aside from Audrey and Amelie shifting away from their position. Whatever was approaching, it had been coming behind the two.

When they were finally close, Audrey whispered. “Use the distraction and leave? I’ll help Gerald.”

Liz considered that for a second, then nodded. “Yeah.”

It was for the best. They weren’t ready to tangle with Lance. Not yet. Liz exhaled and prepared to run when someone began cackling but the laugh quickly turned into a groan of pain.

“Gerald?”

Sweat beaded the man’s brow, but he still managed to grin through the pain, eye trained on the newcomer. Liz followed his sight and saw the bare-chested figure step out of the woods.

“Holy… crap.”

Human (I) - Level 30