Ethan let himself fall on his ass, panting, then pushed himself back just enough so he could rest his back on the crystal-studded monitor.
“Goddamn this bastard was tough,” he said, wincing at the muted pain he could feel across his stomach and back. Ember was lying on her side a few feet away, eyes squinted and mouth opened as she gasped for breath.
The smoking and ashy clearing had only two of the creatures, but the largest of them had taken nearly ten minutes to bring down.
“[At least you got something for it.]”
“That I did,” said Ethan as he raised the small bead between his fingers.
Assimilate [Crystal Dart - (Tier -2)]?
Ethan shoved the bead into his dimensional pouch, then pulled his notifications as gave the cat a sidelong glance. “Not showing any interest in this one? It could work with your fire, you know. Imagine those crystals when they’re hot.”
The cat yawned. “[If you get it one more time, I’ll take it off your hands. Now let me take a quick nap. Then we take a swing at more of these bastards if you’re still suicidal.]”
You have defeated [Cave Monitor - Level 55]
You have defeated [Cave Monitor - Level 61]
You have reached Level 49. 1 stat point awarded.
Wand of the Fire Elemental: 143 fragments collected.
Ethan opted to funnel the fragments into the regular wand. His prime wand was sitting with close to 800 fragments, and he had no way of spending them, considering everything cost Essence. And he couldn’t spend Essence just yet, as he had to save up for the tier-2 upgrade.
It might be better to try and get one more level to finish up the side quest. Getting my hands on those extra points would do me well, especially before we try tangling with the larger specimens. Considering how long it took to kill this one. As for the points I’m currently sitting on… let’s do something about that.
Ethan had been sitting on a few unassigned points, but now was as good a time as any to find them a new home.
Level 49
Might: 45(18)
Toughness: 77 (34)
Spirit: 72(18)
Mana: 33 (18)
Unassigned: 4
Toughness is carrying me through these fights, but I need the Might to catch up or it’s about to become a wet-noodle fight between me and the monsters.
The fire had been effective, but the claws had not cut through the monsters as easily as he’d hoped. The rock-like hide of the cave monitors might be the toughest he’d seen so far, and even through Ethan’s many bonuses, the fight had taken a while as both him and Ember chipped at the beefy lizards until it keeled over.
Mana’s falling behind too… Well, not really. It’s not getting as many bonuses as everything else, but my base stats are still pretty evenly distributed.
Ethan considered the number for a few moments, then decided to go with the healthy approach of giving every stat one point.
Gotta keep upgrading the wands and their form bonuses. That’s where most of my stats are coming from anyway.
Ethan took a quick look at his wands next.
I’m at 52 Essence… still barely halfway through. How the hell did Savannah manage to upgrade her prime wand so fast?
Ethan believed he might have the upgrade by the end of the day, but it was still shocking how fast the woman had managed to progress.
Then again, she wasn’t doing so well mentally. Probably never even slept since this all started…
Ethan glanced at the large body behind him, then eyed the tail for a second before he shook his head as he pulled the upgrades he had available in the Elemental wand.
Probably too tough. My teeth hurt just thinking about it…
With 443 fragments, Ethan could afford a handful of upgrades.
[Form Bonus: Increase by 16 - 300 fragments]
[Capacity: Increase by 1 - 80 fragments]
[Cast refresh: Decrease by 0.25 seconds - 50 fragments]
The extra capacity was bound to be useful, while the cast refresh seemed negligeable, but Ethan was almost sure he just wasn’t taking advantage of that property at all. It’s been a while since he’d selected a modifier-spell or a general-spell, and he was sure some wands were getting more out of the cast frequency than he was. Sooner or later, he would meet someone who could cast their spells blindingly fast.
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Ethan was looking forward to seeing what that was like. But not that he was complaining, of course. He had the stats, and they were allowing him to wrestle creatures much larger than he was. If he’d invested in some other strategy that allowed him fast spells, he might not be able to face creatures like these by himself. He’d have to hide behind someone or shoot from far away.
He much preferred this way of doing things.
Ethan took another gander at the wand’s profile and slotted in [Extended Enhancement] now that he had the extra slot.
I can’t wait to have another wand… the form bonuses are just insane.
Wand of the Fire Elemental:
Spell Forms: [Sapping Scales], [[Scorching][Extended][Draconic Claws]]
Sequential: [Small Fireball]
Class: Enhancer
Tier: 3
Spell forms: 2/2
Unique Traits: [Wand of the Fire Elemental - In use, Wand of Forms]
Cast Setting: Sequential
Capacity: 5/5
Cast refresh: 4.25s
Mana regeneration: 2 (5%)
Form Bonus (110): 55 Spirit, 27 Toughness, 27 Might
Fragments: 13
With that done, Ethan decided to close his eyes and rest for a few minutes. He’d never tried meditation before. Not willingly, that is. But maybe there’d be some benefit aside from giving [Mana Heart] and his body some rest.
Just a few minutes, and then, one more push to get the remaining Essence needed.
***
Ethan had never been a jogger. He didn’t hate it. He also didn’t love it. It was just something he never really worried about. Whenever Ethan had had to run before, it was either to run away from trouble or to trouble. Aside from that, it was to catch the bus because he really didn’t want to have to wait for the next one. Running for pleasure had never been on his to-do list, so Ethan was a bit surprised at not hating the current state of things.
“[I hate this. Can you slow down?]”
“You can go down and run by yourself. I’m already at 80 Essence, and I’m only stopping once I hit the 100.”
Ethan pumped his arms while Ember hung on for dear life atop of his horns. He’d tried to put her on his shoulders, but she was more uncomfortable to both of them over there. He had to move his arm and shoulders, to dodge, and cast his spells, so up on the horns she went.
“New group, heads up,” he called out as he jumped into a new clearing, and was surprised to see some of his old friends.
[Lizardling (I) - Level 48]
A bunch of lizardlings and their pet drakes were fighting swamp and water monitors and without decelerating, Ethan ran into them, clawing, kneeing, and sending fire at anything that moved.
He was a whirlwind of burning sharp edges, and most of the monster needed one or two attacks before they keeled over. Whenever one of them managed to retaliate or hit him with something, it washed over his scales, stinging or burning a bit but quickly enough, the scales sapped the magic out of his enemies’ abilities and within a minute, only one of the swamp monitors was still alive.
88 Essence. Fuck!
He just wanted the upgrade so he could just sit down and do everything all at once, but if this encounter isn’t enough to give him the last few needed Essence points, then he couldn’t keep postponing the side quest anymore.
But he had an idea.
Ethan eyed the remaining opponent and wondered; what would be the most juggernaut-y way he could take it down?
Wait… It’s not just ‘juggernaut’. It’s the path of the Burning Juggernaut.
[Swamp Monitor (I) - Level 57]
“Leave this one to me, Ember,” he said, shooing the cat away from his horns.
The elemental hopped off, annoyed, and stalked toward the foot of one of the mushroom trees. “[Fine…]”
Ethan took a deep breath, and ignited his claws as a rumbly breath escaped from the four-feet high monsters. It was massive. At least ten feet long, from snout to tail. Green glistening moss covered its join and back, and lurid green smoke wafted out of its mouth.
This thing looks venomous. Or toxic, at the very least.
Ethan shook his head and reminded himself of his plan.
Burning juggernaut. Can’t be stopped. Burns everything in his path. Even toxins and oversized lizards.
He took a step forward. Then another. The lizard hissed, and Ethan flared the flames around his claws stronger.
Burn everything. Burn it all.
The monitor opened its jaw and spat a green ball of murky water. Ethan raised one hand and pushed everything he had in his chest. Every ounce of mana was ignited, creating a pillar-sized gout of intense flames that lit up the clearing and banished every bit of shadow within a hundred feet.
The water was vaporized, then the vapor itself was burnt so only a scalding, rippling haze of heat was left.
The monster opened its eyes, having recoiled from the intense light and fire, but Ethan wasn’t done.
He had never stopped walking.
The air seemed to tremble as he kept his mind on his path’s mantra, but the swamp monitor wasn’t easily cowed. It hissed once more, then surged forward, sending clumps of overturned earth as it dragged its massive body with surprising speed at the small human ahead of it.
Ethan saw it coming, but something had stolen over him. The train of thoughts seemed to have induced some sort of trance. Or maybe it was his imagination, but he quickly ignored the doubt and focused on the feeling that permeated his being.
He didn’t care about the savage beast running at him. It wasn’t his problem. Its efforts will be in vain. He was a juggernaut, and he would not be stopped. It will move out of his way, by its own volition, or it will be burnt, and he will step over its charred bones as he keeps walking.
The monster loomed ahead of him and its teeth came down at Ethan, clamping over his shoulder.
It couldn’t move him.
Ethan didn’t blink and took one more step, and the reptile was dragged along with him as if it were weightless, which finally managed to surprise him enough to snap him out of the trance.
Ethan blinked and felt the weight of the monster drop on him. He grunted, and tried to recapture the fading feeling, but he knew he wasn’t getting it back. He glared at the fat lizard as it tried and failed to punch its sharp fangs through his scales, and shoved his black, burning talons into its chest before he cooked it from the inside out.
You have defeated [Swamp Monitor - Level 57]
You have reached Level 51. 1 stat point awarded.
Ethan took a quick glance at his prime wand, and grinned.
Essence: 103
I wonder what that feeling was? Would Ember know?
Either way, it was finally time to evolve the Prime wand and take a rest.
I wonder what the new side quest will be…
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