Ethan quickly had eyes on his first victim, barely minutes after stepping out of the tunnel.

He was going to watch his back—just in case Amanda had any ideas—but the sooner he got the third form and unlocked whatever Ember had alluded to, the sooner he’d be able to take a break, rest up, and hopefully recharge his Essence.

Ethan eyed the level 35 monitor and summoned his horns. He had a point of Essence, but he wasn’t sure if the boost of the horns required any. He was under the impression that the running part might require some, but not the boost.

He probably should have tested it beforehand, but he’d been in a bit of a rush to get out of the tunnel and carry-on with his self-imposed schedule and now was as good a time as any to find out.

Ethan looked down at his claws. He hadn’t ignited them yet, but they did feel thicker. Tougher. There was a thrum he could feel running through them, though he’ll be more sure once he ignited them and tested his fire output.

He turned his attention to the monitor as it tore through a lizardling’s corpse. It would be nice if he would always have access to the horn’s boost. It would be even nicer if he could access both the horns and the lance, too.

That Ethan had remembered to test and, unfortunately, it didn’t seem like he could have both out at once. Though he hoped it would be an option, eventually.

Ethan exhaled and focused back on his current hunt.

No fireballs unless I want everything in the area to hear us.

That left close-range flames and claws as his main weapons. He’d have to get close.

With that settled, Ethan surged from cover and rushed the large reptile. He was halfway to his prey when the large yellow eye turned to him just as he ignited his arms, but while Ethan expected it to shoot him with water, it raised its head, opened its jaw, and let out a loud ululating hiss.

Ethan drove his claws into the monster's throat. The talons met the tough, thick scales and tore through them like a hot poker through wax. Blood sprayed while the lizard’s call was cut off. It stumbled under the impact of Ethan’s attack, and when he tried to rip his claws out, there was a small resistance as deep-blue scales surged around the wound and smoothly spread to cover the rest of the monster’s body, but if the reptile had been planning to immobilize him by encasing his claws, it was sorely mistaken.

Ethan comfortably ripped them out in another spray of blood and as more calls began resounding all around him, his fist met the lunging maw, delivering a burst of intense fire that made the creature shriek right before he pointed at it with his palm and drowned it in an inferno of concentrated fire.

Glancing at his Prime wand’s stat, Ethan grinned.

The horns are definitely boosting my magic, and it’s not eating in the Essence. Perfect.

***

Amanda watched the young man exit his tunnel and climb down the soft cliff before he started creeping forward into the blue-lit brushes.

Any other time, tracking the small figure would have been difficult, but her new eyes made it trivial. She could see him clearly. See the mana rushing into his arms. See the haze of power around his horns.

It was definitely a striking manifestation for a Prime wand, and she knew it was. The rippling magic around them matched every other Prime manifestation she’d seen. Not the color, of course. There was a certain ripple in the air that surrounded such manifestations and even though she was still new to this new sight, she could pick up the similarities. She noticed them in the summoned scales of water monitors. In the throat of mystic toads. In Ethan’s horns. In her own eyes as well, though that wasn’t as easy to see.

Amanda wondered what her new eyes looked like. She’d give anything for a mirror. She’d tried seeing her own reflection in her own dagger, but it was too foggy and wavy to see much aside from the purple.

Barely a couple of minutes later, the first water monitor was dead, but the damage was done and from what she could see, Ethan’s Harvester’s dagger gave him nothing for the encounter.

What a ripoff.

She’s yet to get anything out of hers. Well, there was one modifier, but it was useless to her.

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Amanda sighed and focused back on the scene below her. The first reptiles had already arrived, and it seemed the young man intended on facing them.

He couldn’t see the swarm approaching. Otherwise she’d bet he’d be running right now.

Maybe that’d be enough to put him down.

Amanda refrained from biting her nail as she watched and considered her options. He was now fighting the newcomers, but he clearly underestimated the reptiles’ numbers and from her discussion with him as well as from observations, it didn’t seem like he was aware of the rift that kept spawning the damn things.

He might become a pain in my ass. But is that worth escalating things?

There was a flare of dust and fire. Chunks of monitor lizard went flying, as if to answer her question.

No, it wasn’t worth it. As long as she steered clear of him and of his people, they could coexist. He didn’t seem the sort that’d be interested in leading or in politics, and she’d rather not have him gunning for her. Though if things went sideways, she had a couple of half-baked ideas for suitable responses that didn’t require her fighting.

Because she was very much aware she couldn’t fight someone like him directly. Same went for the people he’d been hanging around.

“And that damn cat. How is there a level 50 cat watching over them?”

Amanda was pretty sure that thing had noticed her, which is why she’d made herself scarce and resolved to stay from them.

What if he does become a problem, though? How could I handle him?

Amanda re-tied her hair as she watched the fight down below. She might not have to. His impulsive actions might be the end of him, if she got lucky.

Amanda chuckled and shook her head. As if her life would ever be that easy.

No, Amanda needed to think of contingency. Solid ones. She needed to get her own people under control and keep them away from him. No more disasters like the Lance fiasco.

“Fucking dumbass,” she cursed under her breath.

She hadn’t known of the little racket the security guard had been running, of course. She’d been too busy scouting, leveling, and trying to find worthwhile allies. If she’d known, she would have killed the moron herself along with anybody else who’ve had a hand in what happened.

What a stupid idea. Jeopardized everything for barely a 100 fragments. Died for it, even.

Amanda continued watching the fight from her perch atop of her own tunnel exit. Well, not her own, but the one she used most often. She beat her wings and looked longingly at them while the fight raged ahead, creating a thin mist over the area as fire and water clashed.

Maybe at tier-3 I’d be able to more than just glide with them? It would make so many things easier if I could just fly past the swarm and past the rift. The exit must be past it. Unless it was within it?

She watched as Ethan was slowly being pushed deeper and deeper into the cave. Slowly approaching Diego’s hunting grounds.

Another problematic variable that just kept leveling…

As Ethan filled the space around him with bright fire, Amanda’s eyes widened. Not because of the bright flames, but because of a potential solution to some of her problems.

Yeah… that could work. If things went sour, of course.

Amanda continued watching as she planned out her next steps. She was suffering from mana-exhaustion and she needed the rest, so she might as well watch one of the strongest individuals of this group.

At least he’s a loner. And I doubt he’d get along with Diego. Much less Savannah.

It would be perfect if they went at each other’s throat. All three of them. Amanda would then take over the rest, but she didn’t believe in luck.

She created her own opportunities.

For now, we need levels, and we need to conquer the rift.

She couldn’t see the jagged tear in reality from up here. It was much deeper into the cave. Past the corner. But the sheer amount of monsters it was releasing…

If those rifts are common in the new world, then they are a resource that will be fought over. Finding and controlling them will be key, she thought as she continued watching the young man running.

***

Ethan pumped his arm and ran as the wall of hissing reptiles chased after him.

Fuck fuck fuck. Where do they keep coming from?!

He was all for rushing into the fray and living up to his wand’s theme, but there were way too many water monitors to take them on. Especially now that he was out of Essence.

Ethan raised an arm and shot a fireball without looking back. He heard the angry hisses behind him as he jumped over a wood long and ignored the ache from all the fragments he was missing out on. Above him, water-jets of pressurized water flew past, adding to the humidity of the space and bathed his surroundings in the bright blue lights of the mushroom trees.

The problem was, he was cut off from his exit. He either had to find another way up, or he was going to be forced deeper into the elongated cave.

Where the hell are the exits?

Ethan scanned the walls, but he couldn’t see any. If he could just find one, he could lure the dumb lizard within and roast them.

There!

Ethan finally saw a small cliff that led up into a familiarly carved tunnel and swerved toward it. He was out of breath, but a wide grin stretched across his lips that quickly turned to pain as a jet of water hit him in the back of the shoulder and forced him down. Ethan rolled and jumped back to his feet, surging toward the tunnel while the cacophony of broken trees, hisses, and missed water-jets filled the air.

Finally, he stood at the entrance of the tunnel and looked back. Dozens of reptiles gnashed their teeth and chased. Ethan was ready to aggravate them so they would follow, but there was no need.

The first level 40 monitor was already climbing.