Fire exploded out of the monitor lizard’s jaw, but Ethan didn’t have a lot of time to consider the impact of his attack as his body was wrenched to the side and slammed into the ground like an uncoordinated chew-toy.

As soon as he’d begun pouring his flames into the lizard throat, the powerful jaw had clamped down on him like a vice and twisted. The lizardling thrashed with pain, dragging and wrenching Ethan’s arm along with its powerful body as it did, but Ethan grit his teeth and endured the pain. His claws dug into the softer tissues within the reptile as he screamed with pain, hoping his arm wasn’t about to be torn off. A terrifying crack resounded through his bone and body but thankfully, the lizard’s thrashing was already slowing and a handful of seconds later, it finally dropped on its stomach, and the notification rang in Ethan’s ears.

You have defeated [Water monitor (I) - Level 42]

You have reached Level 33. 1 stat point awarded.

Congratulations. “Hidden quest: Reach the highest level of your group” completed.

One magical item token awarded.

Ethan dismissed the messages. On his knees, he gently dislodged the sharp teeth out of his arms, then slowly dragged his mangled arm out of the jaws of the beast. The air was acrid in his still painful throat, but he couldn’t dally. The notifications and rewards were nice, but he couldn’t celebrate just yet. Not when he could barely feel his fingers.

Ethan forced himself to take longer and deeper breaths as he slowly stood back and took in the state of his arm. He slowly lowered, then ignited his right claw and pulled his flames up to cover the torn flesh and everything else that wasn’t as straight as it should be.

Instantly, the nauseating pain lessened. The healing flames didn’t fully smother the agony, but it definitely helped.

I’m gonna need to set these…

Ethan wasn’t sure if he could heal the arm by himself or if he needed to head back up and find Amelie. The damage was not life threatening, sure, but it was extensive.

First, the broken bones. His forearm, elbow, biceps, and shoulder were all fucked. Some were most definitely broken, dislocated, or both. The pain from that alone was barely being held back by the flames and by his Toughness and the latter—even though it was quite high—had not been enough to prevent the lizard’s teeth from shredding and gouging his arm pretty badly.

He couldn’t see bones, thankfully, but it will take a minute to heal, which he didn’t have.

Ethan looked up and drew his lips in a line.

At first he thought he was hearing things, but now he was sure. Hissing and crackling noises were getting close to him, and he needed to get the hell out of here. He considered disappearing into the area, but after thinking on it for a second, he decided to climb back up and out.

At least, in the safety of the cave, he could take the time to recover and if they still followed, he might be able to drop the tunnel on their heads with [Small Fireball]. Plus, in case he couldn’t heal himself quickly enough, he could get a hand from Amelie.

Probably should also tell them about the level of monsters down here.

Ethan moved toward the fallen lizards to collect his earnings. Liz and her group were going to need to pick up the pace if they wanted to have a shot at surviving down here.

He got the first batch of fragments and was about to head to the second when Ethan froze and grew excited. Right next to a large lizard’s still smoking corpse, a round blue-colored bead was lying on the churned soil. Right next to its open jaw.

Ethan picked it up, finished collecting his fragments, and briskly made his way up the cliff. His right hand was not liking the movement at all, but the flames helped him push through the pain and within a few seconds, he slipped back into the tunnel.

Ethan coughed, breaking the monotony of his echoing steps in the purple-lit tunnel, then pulled the flames tighter around his mangled arm so they wouldn’t burn the mushrooms and moss lining the walls of the tunnel. He was going to be in here for a few minutes, and he didn’t need to asphyxiate himself.

He’d done enough self-damage for the day.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Ethan got as far as he could from the tunnel exit while keeping eyes on it, then sat down and began examining his arm. He slowly exhaled and gently prodded at the most painful areas. The lacerations around his biceps were slowly patching themselves up already, but after some gentle testing, he believed something was broken near his forearm. His elbow and shoulder were both dislocated as well. Maybe something was broken in them too, but he couldn’t tell. Not yet.

Shit. This was going to hurt.

Ethan gripped his biceps with his left hand and winced when the tough claws touched the wounds. He took a few quick breaths and twisted and pushed upward. There was a crack and click as the shoulder was put back in place.

Ethan groaned, panting, then before he could over-think it, he gripped his forearm above the breakpoint and pulled down.

A groan-curse escaped from his gritted teeth. The pain was unbearable, but it will only get better now. There was still a break in his forearm, but he wasn’t sure what to do about that one. Would it heal by itself, or did he need a splint or something stiff?

Ethan glanced down the tunnel and was glad to see nothing was coming at him. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes as the pain flares slowly receded. Both his elbow and shoulder were still screaming at him, but now that they weren’t dislocated, healing them should be easier and if the break refused to patch itself up, then maybe he could go see Amelie.

We’ll see. I’d rather not have to head back up just yet, but if healing a break takes too long, then it’d be dumb to pass up the faster heal. If she can heal breaks, of course.

Ethan blinked. That was an odd thought for him. Relying on strangers like this.

Was he part of a team?

Ethan considered for a second, then shook his head. No, he didn’t feel like he was really part of their team. Not that he had anything against them, but he felt more like a temporary contractor. He preferred to keep things that simple. For now, at least.

Enough stalling. Time to see what I’m working with.

Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled down an oddly cold and wet bead of glass. He glanced down at it, then up at the prompt that popped in front of him.

Assimilate [Breath Gland (Tier-2)] from spellcore?

A wide smile stretched across his lips, then it broke out in a chuckle that quickly turned to a groan as his injured arm protested the movement.

That looks like an Enhancer-spell. Something to cast spells out of one’s throat?

It was perfect, though he didn’t have a wand for it. Not yet, at least.

Speaking of… what’s going on with the Prime wand?

Prime Wand of the Juggernaut:

Tier: 1

Form: [Lance of the Juggernaut - In use]

Essence: 1

Stat Bonus: +5

Fragments: 169

Available wand upgrades:

[Second Form - 300 Fragments]

I’m close to the second form. Only need 130 fragments or so. It would be amazing if I could get it done before I had to go back up, but we’ll see. Oh… I should also get some fragments for the other wand. I still need to buy [Gout of Flames] to see if that gets me another hidden quest. And I need more mana regen.

The to-do list kept getting longer, but Ethan didn’t mind that. He felt good about the progress he was making.

He rolled the bead in his fingers. There was a lot he could do with this little spell, though he would have to replace [Claws]. [Scorching Enhancement] coupled with the wand’s fire manipulation’s trait would allow him to breathe fire at his opponents and it wasn’t as if his hands would be empty. He could use the lance as a weapon.

The explosive effect needs Essence though… and that’s not replenishing. It’s still stuck at 1.

Ethan rolled the bead once more, then, not wanting to risk losing it, he assimilated it.

The spell dissolved into a clear blue light, then sunk into his chest.

Next, Ethan checked his remaining notifications. Specifically, the hidden quest. As he perused his interface, he noticed a small change that drew another smile on his face. A little reward for having reached the highest level in the group, he assumed.

Right next to his name, on his stat page, there was a small crown. It was silly, but he kinda liked seeing it.

Let’s see what kind of magical item I’m getting for this achievement.

Select a magical item from the list below:

Shardpurse: A soulbound wallet to hold your fragments.

Spellblade robes: A set of clothing enchanted to be highly resistant to the user’s own magic.

Dimensional pouch: A low-grade pouch with a spatial enchantment to increase its storage capacity.

Harvester’s dagger: A low-grade dagger that improves the odds for the formations of a spellcore or primagems.

Fire primagem: A low-grade gem holding the concentrated essence of fire.

Ethan blew out his cheeks and glared up at the tunnel ceiling. “Can you make my choice easy? For once?”