The bright blue lights of the second layer came into view as Ethan assigned all of his three free points to Mana, bringing it up to 18. It was still the lowest of his stats but to be fair, he just started feeling its limitation so he probably wasn’t too far behind.

Well, he hoped, at least.

Ethan slowly climbed down and this time, he was careful but he couldn’t help but notice the change since the last time he’d been around; the space seemed to be a lot livelier than it had been barely a couple of hours ago.

Roars were quick to reach his ears. Flashes of light occasionally flared up from under the mushroom canopy and he could make out some movement in the sparser areas deeper into the cave. Though he was a bit far to see the details.

Ethan hurried down. He had to take cover before he was noticed.

His boots hit the wet ground with a squelch and Ethan didn’t waste time. He quickly made his way to the cover of the mushroom-trees. The water monitors he had killed were mostly gone. Only splatters of blood, shredded scales and chunks of viscera littered the space and from how it was spread out across the area, the dead lizards had been fought over before they were devoured.

Ethan’s claws were out and ready as he prowled through bushes. The odor of blood and smoke was strong, but it barely stood out from the earthy and musty smells of the underground forest.

It took less than a minute for him to find his first target and once again, it was a monitor lizard.

Ethan crouched and took in the surroundings for a moment before he focused back on the reptile. It was chewing through a piece of something and from the red glistening gashes along its back and from its partially missing tails, it looked like it had just gotten out of a pretty big fight, which would make his dagger testing a lot easier.

It was also only level 31.

After making sure once more that nothing else was nearby, Ethan grabbed the dagger with his right hand while he kept his claws manifested in his left, fireball ready to shoot. Slowly and carefully, he moved around the reptile and its meal until he was behind it, then he stepped forward and out of cover.

First test: quick stab then use everything I’ve got to kill it. See if the timing of the stab matters.

Ethan made it halfway through before the reptile lifted its head and flicked the air with its forked tongue. A yellow slitted eye landed on him but before it could react, he rushed forward.

He had to bring it down before it could call for reinforcement and as expected, it did something he was ready for.

The reptile shot a jet of pressurized water at him but he easily sidestepped it and stabbed at the lizard’s extended neck. The dagger sunk into its throat with a soft crunch, piercing through the thick scale.

It barely did any damage.

A trickle of blood seeped out as he pulled the dagger out and before the monster could retaliate, Ethan jumped backward, creating some distance between him and his opponent. He doubted the dagger even got through the muscle but that did not put a damper on the smile that stretched across his lip.

The wound was glowing blue.

The monitor’s jaw snapped at him, but he was already too far. The light stuck to its throat moved along with it, leaving a surreal and ethereal after-image as it followed the beast.

It was like it had been magically marked, and seeing the magical effect, Ethan felt comfortable moving on to the next phase of the plan.

He lobbed a [Small Fireball] at the reptile and waited a beat for the explosion to take place before he rushed forward. When the smoke and dust cleared, he found the monitor staggering as it tried to maintain its balance. There was no Prime wand manifestation, as far as he could tell. But considering the state he had found the monster in, it might be out of Essence. After all, that was the only explanation he could think of as to why a Prime wand would disappear, considering their use consumed Essence.

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The monster shook its head and hissed, smoke rising from its scales as it tried to orient itself to face its human opponent, and before it could fully recover, Ethan held a hand barely a couple of yards away and sprayed its head with a concentrated gout of scorching fire.

The death confirmation came through a few seconds later. He got no levels, but that wasn’t too surprising. It seemed like he had to seriously push himself to level at this point, and easy fights weren’t netting him much but then again, that wasn’t the goal of this little experiment.

It stayed.

The hazy ball of blue light was still lingering on top of the blacked and smoking scales. It flickered for a bit, and it seemed to be glowing a bit brighter now that the flames have been extinguished.

Or maybe it’s getting stronger because the monitor’s dead?

He’ll have to make sure his own spells were not interfering with the dagger’s magic but for now, he observed.

The blue light pulsed and grew smaller and brighter over the next few seconds. Ethan expected something to happen, but after reaching a certain brightness, there was a longer pulse that he even felt in his own body, and then the light dispersed. In its place there was no spellcore. No primagems, as far as he could tell, only fragments.

I guess it’s not guaranteed to form spellcores or primagems.

That wasn’t the end of the world. At least now he knew that he didn’t really have to fight with the dagger. But maybe there were other variables he could test when he gets the chance. Would multiple stabs increase the odds? Would a faster kill without disturbing the dagger’s magic change things?

Ethan leaned over and collected 59 fragments into his Prime wand before he made himself scarce. The fireball was most certainly heard and he wanted to know what he was dealing with first.

Once he was a bit further away from the site of the fight, he crouched and watched for curious third parties as he continued his train of thoughts. A final blow might also have an effect, but he wasn’t trying that unless it was against something small. Like the lizardlings. Trying to fight large monsters with such a small dagger was an exercise in pointlessness. He might as well try spitting on them.

Ethan exhaled and waited. A couple of minutes later, another water monitor showed up and wasted no time to sink its sharp, massive teeth into its weaker cousin.

Level 37. This must be their territory or something. There really are a lot of them.

Well. He was going to have a lot of targets to work with. He just hoped the dagger wouldn’t take too long to give him something.

Ethan gripped the Harverster’s Dagger tighter and readied himself. This time, he might have to throw it to the side once he scored the first hit but even if he got nothing out of it once more, this fight might allow him to unlock the Prime wand’s second form.

After all, it was only 72 fragments away.

***

Ethan stood panting over the lizard as the blue light he scored in its flank pulsed. The other sites he managed to hit were normal, which meant the dagger’s magic only worked on the first stab.

Good to know. Now come on. Come on come on.

This one had been a bit more difficult to bring down and it had made a ruckus which is why he was in a rush to get the heck out of Dodge. He’d already collected his fragments, putting him all the way up to 277. Not enough for the Prime wand’s second form, but he was really close.

The magic of the dagger pulsed one last time and Ethan was ready to be disappointed, but to his surprise, a small glowing bead of dark gray hit the soft soil with a barely audible thud.

Ethan grabbed for it and was ready to retreat, but he’d taken too long.

Out of the bushes a party of five lizardlings came out and without a word, their archer lifted its bow and shot a flaming arrow at him. Effortlessly, Ethan raised a hand and blew the blue glowing projectile away with a gout of concentrated flames as the remaining lizardlings stepped out into the clearing.

Ethan lowered his right and rolled his shoulders. He considered running and taking them out one at a time for a second, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He would take a couple of hits, sure, but that was what [Enduring Brawler] and [Child of Flames] were for. Plus, he did want to test the effect of conforming to his true path.

A grin spread across his lips. He will not be stopped. He will burn through everything.

He had a juggernaut’s wand. He should try doing some juggernaut things, so before the lizardlings could spread out and surround him, he shot a [Small Fireball] in their midst and rushed forward.

After all, he needed a lot of fragments and a target for his new dagger, and he just got delivered a whole batch of them.