Ethan rolled onto his side and felt an uncomfortable jabbing in his ribs. Why is my bed so rock hard? What’s poking me?

Jerking himself upright he realized he was still in the cavern where he’d fought Ggoorgolax. His Exhaustion had gotten the better of him and he’d passed out amidst the gore of his battle.

Getting to his feet, Ethan swiped to bring up all the alerts he’d gotten since he had minimized them before entering the basin. 

A flood of notifications filled his vision, most of it combat log and experience gains, which he could ignore. 

Quest update: Is this the heart of the problem? Completed!

You have slain the corrupted bullywug shaman and their leader. You discovered they were attempting to summon their dark diety: Ggoorgolax. You must either stop the ritual in time or slay Ggoogolax. 

Progress:

Corrupted Bullywug Shaman slain: 10/10

Bullywug Elder Shaman slain: 1/1

Cause of corruption: Dark Ritual (completed)

Rewards:

150 experience points 

Secret Quest: Ggoorgolax Risen!

The bullywug mud shaman were sucessful in summoning their grotesque patron, Ggoorgolax. But you successfully slayed it before it could rise to the surface and dominate the marshlands! In its body you have found a crystalline heart that served as the catalyst for the corruption of the bullywugs.

Progress:

Ggoorgolax slain: 1/1

Reward:

300 experience points

Destroy the crystal heart of the frog god for further rewards. 

100 gold

Ethan surveyed the room around him. The mud and elder shaman corpses had despawned while he was sleeping, but the massive corpse of Ggoorgolax laid where it had fallen. Luckily, the viscera had disappeared though.  

Glad that quest told me exactly what to look for, otherwise I would have been hacking my way through the entire corpse looking for loot. 

He used the gash he’d created in killing the colossal frog as an entry point and began searching for the heart. It didn’t take long once he’d hacked through the rib cage to find the large crystal heart amidst the soft organ tissue. 

It didn’t look like any crystal he’d ever seen before. Only vaguely heart shaped, it had no clarity or sharp edges. It was a dirty brown color, like the mud the frogs lived in, but it radiated warmth. 

Ethan scanned through the room, looking for a spot to place the heart. He didn’t want to blunt or damage his axe if he missed and hit the rock floor. Finding no better option, he carefully wedged the crystal in the flesh of the dead god. If he missed, he’d at most only have to deal with more frog guts. 

Unsure what was about to happen when he struck the heart, he prepared himself for an explosion or some sort of blow back when he destroyed it. 

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His axe cleaved through the crystal on his first swing. Dark green light flared and a gust of air blew his hair back as the heart broke. When he inspected its remains, Ethan saw no dust or shards. Only three perfectly round gems of different colors remained. 

Ethan picked up the first one, a topaz. His fingers tingled like he’d gotten a weak electric shock as he inspected it. 

Shard of Lightning:

This gem can be used to teach the spell “Discharge (Level 1)”. 

Discharge (Level 1):

- For three seconds after spell activation, the caster absorbs all damage up to 30% of the caster's maximum health. At the end of three seconds, 75% of the damage absorbed is split between any attackers within 15 feet as nature damage in the form of electricity. 3 minute cool down. 30 mana. 

Holy shit. Ethan was amazed by the gem’s power. This would make getting swarmed by mobs a lot less dangerous, or it would be amazing for a tank. 

Eagerly he picked up the second gem, anxious to see what the blue one did. The blue stone was cold to the touch and frosted over. When he wiped it with his thumb it was a deep blue sapphire. 

Shard of Frost:

This gem can be used to teach the spell “Breath of Ice (Level 1)”.

Breath of Ice (Level 1):

- The caster inhales deeply, and exhales frozen air at all targets in a cone reaching 15 feet doing 35 damage. Targets are all slowed by 20%. 20 second cool down. 40 mana. 

The final one was not as clear a gem as the other two and was a rich brown color. The quartz also had more of a heft to it than either of the other gems  

Shard of Earth:

This gem can be used to teach the spell “Earthen Spikes (Level 1)”.

Earth Spikes (Level 1):

- Using a weapon or hands, the caster sends forward jagged shards of rock dealing damage to all targets in a line for 20ft dealing 25 damage and knocking them back 10 feet. If used with an elemental enchanted weapon the shards will gain additional properties based on type of enchantment. 30 second cool down. 65 mana

It wasn’t immediately clear which reward he wanted to take.

I know Thomas usually gets some spells, but I don’t know too many other Fighters who multiclass like that. Thomas was the Main Tank for the Raid Clan, Ethan had met him before with Arianna. He was something of a legend amongst the player base. Thomas always was a Guardian Fighter, whenever he died he took the Dive as many times as it took to get his class. He also bought spell scrolls off the auction house that Enchanters created. Arianna had told Ethan that Thomas liked to pull with an ice spell to slow his target and allow himself to position better. If players like Ethan, Arianna and his friends wanted to get home, Thomas took it upon himself to try to guarantee it.

Fighters didn’t usually put points into Intelligence or Wisdom and got fewer points per level in those stats. Of the three, the Shard of Frost was the least appealing, his axe already caused a slow and he usually aimed for heads to ensure a critical strike anyway. However if he could slow a group of mobs heading for a healer, then it would be more useful. 

If he was tanking, Discharge would have been an invaluable spell to know. The shield that would explode for damage would get stronger as he leveled and gained more HP, becoming incredibly powerful for defense and mob control. 

Earth Spikes, on the other hand, would give less utility in a group setting. David would get pissed if Ethan knocked around a giant group he was pulling. But for solo questing it could be incredibly useful. Especially with whatever his frost axe did as a bonus. 

Ethan sat down and placed all three stones in front of him. He debated all of them for a few minutes, trying to visualize how he could use each one. The quest text made it apparent that he could only choose one, but it wasn’t an easy decision. The benefits on all three were clear, but they also had downsides that he didn’t want to ignore. He also considered whether or not he wanted to continue learning spells or if he would only have this one. Over the last several months he hadn’t been put in this position before. 

Finally, he picked one of the stones and placed it in his hand. Concentrating, he felt warm energy flow up his arm and into his body. The other two gems crumbled into dust. 

Standing up, Ethan reached into himself to feel the arcane energy inside him. He’d had no reason to channel any mana since respawning, but with this spell he felt a surge of power similar to his Enrage. Unlike when using his Fighter ability, he felt in control. His emotions didn’t rage inside him, but he felt powerful. 

Combining his physical strength with his arcane power he slammed his fists into the rock floor. Instantly jagged stalagmites shot forth in a line. Each one sharper than a spear’s tip. 

You have learned Earth Spikes (Level 1). 

Satisfied with his decision, he waited for the rocks to return to the ground. After a minute of waiting, they finally crumpled into pebbles. The small line of rocks the only remains of his new spell.