“This is fascinating…” mumbled a frowning and focused Amelie. Her wand hovered right above Ethan’s forearm while green filaments crawled on and through his flesh and bones like some sort of ghostly lasers. Only moments ago, they’d been significantly thicker—closer to glowing ropes—as they’d put back his fractured bone into place before healing it.

“What is?”

Amelie was hunched over his forearm, as if trying to see through his skin. Any other time, this would have made him uncomfortable, especially considering he still hadn’t managed to find a shirt, but Amelie didn’t seem to care at all about him and was completely focused on his arm. “Your bones. They’re dense. A lot denser than mine or Gerald’s. How come? Was it the body reforging thing at level 30?”

She straightened up and winced as she extended her back before wiping the thin film of sweat off her brow. The observation part hadn’t been too taxing, but healing had taken a lot out of her and Ethan didn’t mind answering her questions. She’d just done him a favor and saved him at least a couple of hours if he’d tried to heal his arm by himself.

“I think so, yeah. It was painful and I think I passed out at some point, but that could have been it. The other option might be the high Toughness. Also… did your spell change or something? Wasn’t it like some green smoke before?”

Amelie gave him a triumphant smile that faded when she brushed back her now missing lock of hair. She sighed and twirled her wand. “I upgraded it to tier-2 and even got a reward for it, just like you said. This spell is a bit more difficult to use, but it gives me a lot more information and control. As for bone density…maybe. I’ll have to test with the others. How high is your Toughness, if you don’t mind me asking?”

That seemed a bit more private, but Ethan didn’t mind. He went to check his status, stilled for a second at an unexpected change he saw, then answered. “35.”

“Jeez… Yeah, that might do it.”

Ethan heard her, but he couldn’t help but recheck his status. While he was up here recovering, someone had already taken the crown away. At least, that was his interpretation of the disappearance of the little decoration.

He wondered if it was the previous owner who claimed their crown back, or if this was a new challenger, but whichever case it was, it made him itch to get back down there. His arm was still painful and sore, but it should heal up pretty fast now that the bone was set.

I need so many fragments. For the Prime wand… and the regular wand.

Ethan was looking forward to it. There was something intoxicating about having his efforts be rewarded so quickly and so well. There were no doubts and no waiting for phone calls. No history to make him fail, no matter how hard he tried. He just had to find the biggest monster and beat it up and voila. Levels and rewards.

“Liz said you’re looking for someone. Family?”

Ethan was brought out of his musing and glanced up to find Amelie staring at Ember with her arms behind her head.

“Yeah. Sort of. You?”

A troubled look entered her eyes, but she nodded. “Yeah. But we think they’re fine. They’re the outdoorsy and survivalist type, so I’m expecting them to handle all of this much better than us. ”

Ethan nodded, then glanced back at the other three. “Liz and Gerald?”

Amelie eye flicked sideways toward him. “Why didn’t you ask them?”

That caught him a bit by surprise. It’s true that he could have been a bit more social and asked, but everyone’s been mostly focused on survival and if he was honest with himself, maybe not knowing much about them would have made difficult decisions easier.

After a couple of seconds, he shrugged. “Simpler that way. Or at least, that’s what I thought at first.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Amelie sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to give you shit. We’re all going through it right now and we’re all trying to manage. Liz’s parents passed when she was young and she’s estranged from her remaining family. Got a couple of close friends she wants to find. Gerald has a brother in Alaska, and a mother in a nursing home.”

They both stared at the cat for a quiet moment. “Hopefully all of them are all right,” he said after a while, then he nodded to the healer. “Thanks for the heal. I really appreciate it.”

Amelie grinned at him and gave him two finger guns. “Don’t mention it,” she said right before she headed back to her team.

Checking back on the others, Ethan found that Audrey was on watch duty, while Liz and Gerald chatted about something he couldn’t hear. For a second, he thought of sitting down and learning more about them. Enjoying that feeling of camaraderie for just a bit, but he couldn’t afford to slow down and, frankly, he just wanted to get back down there and find the exit. He wanted to explore and challenge himself. He wanted to test out the new dagger and see how effective it would be.

Still, a small part of him worried that his allies might be taking things too easy. He wanted to emphasize the dangers down below, but it wasn’t his place to rush them or pressure them.

Well, at least they’re leveling. Hopefully, they’ll keep it up.

Now, before he could head back down, he had one last person to talk to.

Ethan approached Ember before Amelie could corner her again. He quickly found out that she had come down from the mushroom tree’s skirt and was instead sitting on a boulder right under that same tree.

“I’m heading back down there,” he told the cat while sending some flames her way. A small bribe to keep her in a good mood. “Do you want to come along?”

The cat peered at him, then her black and orange eyes flicked behind him to the group. “[No.]”

Ethan blinked while the cat yawned, then nibbled a couple of times at the fire before she laid back on her stomach and twirled her tail.

“Why?”

“[I agreed to a task here.]”

Ethan raised a brow at that, but he didn’t argue. He felt a bit of relief, even. Audrey might not be super excited about having the elemental still around, but this also meant the cat was taking its protective duty seriously. With that out of the way, Ethan moved one to the next subject and skipped the question he had about the cat’s nature, whether it was an elemental in cat form or a cat with elemental powers. He could always learn about that some other time. There was also the question about why it had been Ember who showed up and not whatever the lizardlings had been trying to summon, but again, that would be better to ask when he’d be getting some rest.

“Do you know how to recharge the Prime wand? I’m assuming you have one as well.”

Ember continued swishing her tail, eyes half-lidded.“[Time. And purpose. Have you unlocked all of its forms yet?]”

“No.”

Ember closed her eyes and continued twirling her tail as she yawned once more before she put her head down on her paws.“[Do that first, then. Things will become clearer when the wand awakens.]”

Ethan stared at the sleeping cat for a moment. Awaken?

He wondered if this had anything to do with the true path stuff and whatnot.

Is it going to be some other quest or a vow?

Ethan shook his head. For now, he had an actionable goal, so he thanked the cat—who ignored him—then moved back toward the tunnel. He’ll figure it out. It needed time and purpose? Well, time he had no control over, but maybe the Essence would replenish faster if he acted in a way that mirrored the declaration he made.

Right before he dove back into the tunnel, Ethan paused. Then he turned back toward the cat. “Do you know what a primagem is?”

The cat’s eyes instantly shot open. She even stopped swishing her tail. “[Where?]”

A thrum of excitement ran through him as he put his hand on his newly acquired dagger. That meant they were valuable, and he hadn’t made a mistake taking the enchanted weapon.

“It was listed as a choice for a reward. I didn’t take it.”

The cat growled before it closed its eyes again. “[Take it the next time you find it, then. You’re going to need them soon.]”

“What for?”

“[Everything. Spells. Wands. Traits. Trade. Now, let me sleep.]”

With his question barely answered, Ethan finally stepped into the tunnel and made his way down to the deeper biome. Flames licked up his right arm, accelerating its healing while he considered the last few hours.

He wondered what these primagems looked like and how he could use them, and as his steps echoed in the dimly lit tunnel, Ethan set himself a goal.

He wasn’t coming back up unless he had all three forms of his Prime wand unlocked and ideally, he’d pick up one of these primagems. He was curious to find out what the fuss was about.