“Moment of truth,” mumbled Ethan to himself.

  He was still resting, and it hadn’t been more than thirty minutes since he sealed the exit leading down into the swarming mushroom forest behind him. Now that he finished up the bulk of his upgrades, he had a few tests to take care of, the first of which was to see if his Prime wand could allow him another Enhancer form. And he did have one form he wasn’t using, though it was at a higher-tier than the Prime wand itself.

  Still worth testing to see if it’s any different from my regular wand and if it doesn’t work, I can try moving [Claws]. That one is still tier-1 so there shouldn’t be a clash between tiers.

  Ethan mentally dragged [Breath Gland] and slotted it into the empty Prime Wand, and it clicked in place, but he couldn’t celebrate.

  As soon as the spell was set, a groan escaped from his throat. It was as if he just tried to swallow something too large, and he could feel it move and stretch his insides as it tried to make its way down. The spell wasn’t really moving, but it was pushing to make a space for itself, somewhere deep in his chest or soul.

  Still, a pained grin stretched across his lips as he saw the updated stats of his Prime wand.

  Prime Wand of the Juggernaut:

  Tier: 1

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

  Spell Form: [Breath Gland]

  Essence: 1

  Cast Setting: Sequential

  Capacity: 1

  Cast refresh: 5s

  Mana regeneration: 1 (6%)

  Prime Bonus: +5 to all

  Spellform Bonus: +5 Spirit, +5 Mana

  Fragments: 112

  Ethan removed the spell and breathed out in relief. He hadn’t tried triggering it, as it really did feel like he was pushing his soul too much and didn’t want to risk worsening his mana exhaustion, but he could always move things around. Ethan could set [Claws] as a form, then use [Breath Gland] in his tier-2 wand. He’d lose [Scorching Enhancement] on the claws until he upgraded the Prime wand’s capacity, but he could assign it to [Breath Gland].

  It might be able to breathe fire. Like a dragon.

  Ethan grinned. He was definitely testing that setup before he headed back up. Next, he considered his spell tokens for a second. With this new possibility, it wouldn’t be a waste to get another Enhancer-spell. Something with more oomph than just a [Breath Gland].

  Ethan couldn’t suppress his excitement. He had thought of cracking the spell tokens later when he found his allies, but he was resting anyway and he still had time, so why not?

  Two tier-2 and one tier-1. What do I want? An Enhancer tier-2 for starters, that’s for sure. But what’s after?

  He still wanted a more direct healing. He wanted more resilience and, if possible, some way to not get mana exhausted often. A way to detect enemies before they could sneak up on him was up there on the priority list as well.

  So… enhancer-spell for the first tier-2 token. A general-spell for the tier-1, because I just want healing from that one, which leaves another tier-2.

  Ethan hummed. Most of his needs would probably be met by Enhancer-spells, aside from the healing, but he still should remember he didn’t have infinite slots for them.

  Unless I can slot more than one in the tier-2 wand as well? I don’t think I tried that…

  A quick check told that no, he couldn’t. He could replace [Claws] with [Breath Gland], but he couldn’t have both.

  Ethan tsked.

  That might be a future upgrade, though. The prime wand can handle multiple forms, so it might be a possibility…which means I should hurry up and push the wand to tier-3. See if I get a new upgrade that would allow me more forms.

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  That would be perfect for him. If he could have his wand support multiple forms, he’d be able to stack up Enhancer-spells and reap their benefits and become a real-life juggernaut.

  Ethan glanced at his stats and felt a twinge of excitement and a bit of worry. He hadn’t gained back the crown, even though he just gained four levels.

  They’re bound to need some rest as well. Otherwise, that’d be complete bullshit.

  Ethan nodded to himself. He’ll finish up with the spell selection, then he’ll go up and take a nap, then back to grinding.

  Still undecided on the last spell-token, he decided to start with the first one for an Enhancer, the tier-1 token for a general spell, and then he’ll decide on the last token depending on what he got.

  Select an enhancement-class tier-2 spell from the list below:

  Beetle’s Mandibles: Summon a pair of mighty mandible to rend and immobilize your opponents

  Feathery Wings: Summon light and powerful wings that empower wind-based magic.

  Reptilian Scales: Summon resilient scales to shield you from physical attacks (Inert).

  Greenwood Antlers: Summon antlers to empower your life-attuned magic.

  Minotaur’s Frame: Reinforce your bone and muscular structure. (Inert).

  Ethan leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand as he studied the options with a smile on his face. “These are a lot better than what I was offered back when this all started.”

  The options were intriguing, to say the least. Clearly, specialization was becoming a large component of the options offered to him and he didn’t miss the new “inert” tag being added to the description. He wasn’t sure of what it was exactly, but he thought it might mean the Enhancement spells couldn’t cast spells, which would make sense in the case of [Minotaur’s Frame], though less so with the scales. He didn’t remember seeing the keyword back when he read the tier-0 [Scales]’s description a few days ago, but then again, it might have something to do with specialization.

  Now I’m really looking forward to upgrading [Claws]. I bet there’ll be some pretty cool options once I get there. For now… what do I want? Not the mandibles. The wings are very tempting and it would have been an immediate pick any other time, but the wind-based magic stuff is not that relevant to me at the moment. As much as I want to have wings and use them to drop on monsters with the lance, the remaining options are just better.

  [Reptilian Scales], a strong contender. [Greenwood Antlers] which didn’t mesh well with his theme of fire and destruction, and [Minotaur’s Frame], the second top contender.

  Damn. These are really good options. I really hope it’ll be possible to have multiple forms in the future.

  Ethan rolled his shoulders and focused. Another read-through made him narrow down his selection to two options: the scales, or the frame.

  Frame is good. Toughness and more strength are amazing… but the scales seem better. I know they have a limitation with the description being specific about the type of damage, which probably means they aren’t that great against magic, but they’re tier-2. I’m sure there are higher tiers and better options in the future to strengthen them. And if an inert enhancement form still allows me to use modifiers, then I could mix the scales with [Scorching Flames], and that should be plenty when it comes to magical defense. And I won’t be naked in less than 24 hours.

  Ethan looked down at his hole-riddled and burnt pants, then at his big left toe that had begun peering at him from the tear in his shoes.

  I’m sure the frames are great… and I hope I’ll get them again in the future, but I think I’m going with the scales this time.

  Before he could doubt himself, Ethan confirmed the selection, and sighed with relief. He didn’t set the new spell in the wand just yet, though, and instead moved on to the next selection.

  Alright. Give me something good.

  Select a general-class tier-1 spell from the list below:

  Light Arrow: Shoot an arrow made of light.

  Detect Life: Sense living organisms within range.

  Light Flare: Create a flash of light to temporarily blind your enemies.

  Ice Bolt: Shoot a bolt made of ice.

  Gust: Summon a gust of wind in a direction of your choosing.

  Well. [Detect Life] is great for sneaks and skulkers, but I still don’t see a damn healing spell. How rare are these things? And I’m pretty sure I saw Gust before…

  Ethan shook his head and made his selection. He wanted a detection spell, and he got it, so might as well get that over with and move on to the third and final token.

  Now. Another Enhancement spell? Or something else? What else do I still need?

  Ethan began counting on his fingers.

  Better healing. Do I need modifiers? Not really. They’re great, but they’re not the highest priority right now. Another general spell?

  He grimaced. He didn’t want to waste a tier-2 token to yet again not get a healing spell.

  I honestly would rather get a great enhancement-spell that I might not be able to use right away than something barely useful. Like [Whisper].

  That really hadn’t been a great choice. Though he believed he had done better since.

  Screw it. Give me another enhancement.

  Select an enhancement-class tier-2 spell from the list below:

  Draconic Arms: Summon powerful clawed arms capable of great elemental affinity.

  Raptor’s Eyes: Summon sharp eyes to see from afar and detect the most minute of movements.

  Lion’s Legs: Empower your legs and feet for might and speed. (Inert)

  Mana Heart: Greatly increase mana regeneration and delay the effects of mana exhaustion (Inert)

  Spiked-tail: Summon a prehensile, long, and heavy tail studded with bone-spurs.

  Ethan shook his head, but he couldn’t do much about the smile on his face.

  This will take a while.

  Still, he was grateful. Having great options to pick from was a pain in the ass, but it was still a great problem to have.

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