While the screeching and roars continued to fill the blue-tinted mushroom forest, Ethan tried to talk himself into a plan he knew he was going to fail.

Eyes on the prize, Ethan. You need clothes. Also, the knife's tip has already cracked, and the rest is beginning to bend in a weird way. That harvesting trait would be great here. Might be even better than the dagger, considering it gave me nothing lately. Maybe it's because it's damaged? Anyways, that trait and clothes. That's what I need right now. Maybe the Enhancer Specialist too… that one's becoming very much worth it.

Ethan groaned in his throat. He hadn't even seen the new trait that was about to be offered and he was having difficulties deciding. If his last few interactions with the multiple choices given by the system were of any indication, he was about to be driven off-course once more. Something better than what he planned on getting would be proposed to him, and once more, he'd have to pivot and pick something else.

No plan survives enemy contact. Or something like that.

A quick glance toward the cat told him Ember was completely conked out, sleeping on her side with her mouth open.

Lucky litte furball, he thought at her, then consumed the free trait token.

Select a trait from the list below:

Enhancer Specialist: Each spellform reshapes you sharper, faster, stronger—for a moment, that's all you need. Every Enhancer spellforms provides 5% extra stats.

Harvester's Flames: Fire is not just destruction—it is purification, and in ash, value. Opponents vanquished through fire have a higher chance of forming primagems and spellcores.

Scorching Ascendency: The blaze tears through muscle and marrow alike, igniting something deeper. For a few short minutes, you're not just alive—you're incandescent. Gain the ability to buff all of your current stats by 30% for a few minutes. In this state, Essence is generated faster. Bleed for it, burn for it, and it will come back faster.

There we go, Ethan thought as he clicked his tongue, but a smile still crept across his lips. Once again, he was forced into a tough choice, but he didn't hate it. It was slightly annoying of course, but it was a great problem to have.

Now, what do I pick? A permanent boost in loot, or a trait that buffs my stats? For the latter, there's two options: 30% for a few minutes and faster Essence generation, or 5% stat on every spellform? Wait…

Ethan re-read Scorching Ascendency's description once more.

"It's not saying 30% on base stat. It says on current stats. So it's giving 30% to what's already being buffed by my spellforms and traits…"

Ethan lay back on the soft soil with his hands under his head. Between the two buffing traits, Scorching Ascendency was certainly more attractive. Sure, it was an ability that required time to recharge—which was still a bit unclear how long that would take—but the difference in stats was significant, and the extra Essence generation was nothing to scoff at. Plus, it somehow reminded him of that odd state he'd reached recently… Was that why he'd gotten this option?

Yeah. Between the two buffing traits, I'm taking the 30%. I'll still be getting Enhancer Specialist sooner or later, but it can still wait a little. Now, between Scorching Ascendency and Harvester's flames… Do I pick loot, or boost?

The looting trait was great, but it was greedy. It would be great in the long-term, but at his current level and stats—and taking into account the whopping 17 unassigned points he was about to assign—the 30% stat boost represented a pretty large chunk of stats. At least 50 points, he'd bet. It was for a few minutes, but it could make the difference between life or death. And it would keep getting more intense with every stat point he earned.

I can always get another dagger, or pick the Harvester's flames next time, but Scorching Ascendency is a no-brainer, I think. Whether it takes hours or days to recharge, it's such a huge buff that I just can't pass on it.

Ethan made his choice, and felt the magic flow in his body. He wanted to give the new trait a test, but that would be incredibly dumb. He needed to hold it in reserve for the big monsters still lurking around.

Which made him itch to get back out there even more, but while the [Mana Heart] allowed him to go for a long time, he still needed to rest a bit. Even a little 15-break helped.

Next, Ethan turned his attention to the last token, and a new menu popped up. He was supposed to get clothes here, but he doubted that'd happen.

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.

Reinforced tent: A robust tent to allow rest and sleep in the wilderness.

Speaking Stones (2): A pair of enchanted stones to allow communication between two users across up to a mile.

Longsight goggles: Enchanted goggles to see your targets from afar.

Right… forgot about the shardpurse. And it's most definitely more useful than the clothes.

Ethan stared at the prompt for a second, sighed, then selected the magical wallet. He'd still be naked under the scales, but at least he can organize his fragments more efficiently, which should allow him to quickly upgrade the new Arcanum when he'd get it, instead of having to funnel fragments to it.

A quick flash of light, and a little intricately carved deep-blue gem dropped out of thin air. As soon as Ethan touched it, a new prompt popped up.

Claim shardpurse?

Ethan agreed, and the gem exploded into a mist of blue and gold motes then sunk into his left hand, burning itself around his wrist, and when he looked down, he saw a ring of glowing blue symbols that quickly faded into his skin.

Collect all Arcanum fragments into the shardpurse?

Ethan agreed once more, and felt something twinge and move within his soul for a couple of seconds before a final prompt showed up.

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Shardpurse: 862 fragments

And now, it's all in a single place, he thought with a smile. Now, for the new stat points. I did say that everything was falling behind Toughness, so it's about time I remedy that. Let's see...

After eying the stats for a few moments, he decided to bring everything up to 25 aside from Toughness, which would cost him 16 points out of the 17 he had available.

Expensive... But likely worth it, he thought as he placed the points. As for the final one, he gave the one to Toughness. Because it was hist favorite stat.

After confirming his choices, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the process, but he refrained from pulling the stats up just yet as he still needed to move his spellforms around. Which he immediately got started on.

Prime Arcanum of the Juggernaut

Spells: [Detect Life], [Small Fireball], [Gout of Flames]

Spellforms: [Mana Heart]

Prime forms: [Lance of the Juggernaut, Horns of the Juggernaut, Wand of the Juggernaut]

Arcanum of the Fire Elemental

Spells: [Whisper], [Arc of Force]

Spellforms: [Scorching][Sapping Scales], [Extending][Draconic Claws], [Draconic Wings]

With that done, he finally took a look at his stats.

Level 51

Might: 41 (25)

Toughness: 66 (33)

Spirit: 41 (25)

Mana: 37 (25)

Ethan nodded appreciatively at the ever growing numbers. Soon, he'd go out and test what they looked like in practice.

Good stuff. Now, what's the new side quest?

Side quest:

Reach level 60

Reward:

20 stat points

1 tier-2 spell

1 tier-3 spell

More spells on the menu? Looking forward to that, he thought with a smile as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the lively noise of the cavern. Soon, he'd get out there and continue grinding.

***

Half an hour later, the duo went back to hunting, with Ethan trying—and failing—to recapture the odd state he managed to channel against the swamp monitor. They've only been bothered a couple of times when they'd been resting. Once by a little group of water monitors, and the second by a warband of lizardlings. Both had been dealt with pretty fast.

As he eyed the peeved and smoking crystal-studden cave monitor ahead, flames playing across his shoulders, he jerked his head to the right. The cat didn't even need to dig her claws into the horn to keep her spot. That tiny nudge was nowhere enough to dislodge her.

"Get off, Ember."

"[I want to see you do it from up close. Try again.]"

Ethan went to poke her with a talon as the reptile ambled toward them, and she swatted his scale covered digits. Ethan sighed and turned his attention at the creature ahead as he stepped forward.

"I haven't been able to recreate the effect without you distracting me up there. What makes you think it'll work this time?"

The cat did not respond, so Ethan exhaled and rolled his shoulders, then he tried to sink back into the odd mindset.

The monitor opened its maw and shot a clump of crystallized rocks, and Ethan summoned a wall of flames to ward it off. His control over the flames had become easier, and he could manipulate swathes of the element without much of an effort thanks to the upgraded title. Unfortunately for him, the creature facing him was still a monster with more than 50 levels, so the projectile punched right through the focused flames and slammed into his left shoulder like a swung sledgehammer. A sharp pain came next, followed by wetness as a bit of blood seeped out of the wound.

One of the sharp crystals had managed to punch through the scales.

Ethan cursed under his breath, wincing at the sharp pain as he focused some of the flames around the wound. He didn't feel like eating another of those, so instead of walking slowly to recreate the feeling, he ran, quickly eating through the distance separating him from the monster and at the last second he leapt and summoned the lance, then stabbed down.

The lance's tip drove into the stony scales for only a few inches, but it was enough to drag a screech out of the monster. Ethan dismissed the lance, unwilling to waste Essence on a detonation, and instead began tearing into the creature's face with his claws while blasting it with fire.

The talons couldn't cut well into the tough scales, but they most definitely could pop an eye or two, and the fire would do the rest, so Ethan let the flames roar.

He was frustrated, and he didn't think he was going to summon that state anytime soon so he'd rather not waste time here. He wanted to go explore, so he held nothing back, and a few minutes later, the monster fell, charred and smoking.

You have defeated [Cave Monitor - Level 58]

Shardpurse: 143 fragments collected.

Ethan hummed as his wings spread and unfurled behind his back. It was time to go exploring. Maybe get some more fragments and look into some easy upgrades. Then later, when he would in a better mood, he'd try again. After all, maybe that odd state had a cooldown, and no matter how hard he'd tried, he wouldn't be able to force it on unless he gave it time.

"[Don't fly too fast. It makes me sick.]"

Ethan glared up at the furball lounging atop of his horns. "Don't puke on my horns or I'll throw you in a lake," he said, then jumped.

He was ready to go see the rift.

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