Ethan got up from the ground and did some stretches while he went through the options of his final selection.

  [Draconic Arms]. Amazing. But I might have it as an upgrade to [Claws]. Probably, even. The area changed by [Claws] grew when it was upgraded to tier-1. Will that always happen? If it does, [Claws] might become something like this.

  Ethan didn’t fully dismiss the option, though he much preferred to unlock it himself, so he moved on to the next item.

  [Raptor’s Eyes]. It’s pretty great as well. It might not allow me to see magic, but it should be a lot easier to detect and see stuff without being caught unaware. Then again, I just got [Detect Life], which knocks this one’s usefulness down by a bit.

  [Lion’s Legs] is solid as well. [Spiked-Tail] is trash if I’m grading on a curve and that leaves the best option for last, hands down. [Mana Heart.]

  Ethan took a deep breath and ignored the lingering smell of burnt flesh. It didn’t bother him much, at this point, and instead eyed the description of the enhancement-spell.

  If this reduces the time I need to rest, then it makes the choice automatic. Plus, now that I know this exists, I just can’t ignore the possibility that some other participants have gotten something like it, which means I’m bound to fall behind them no matter what I do. After all, they can just keep leveling and training while I’m forced to let my body recover from the mana usage.

  Ethan hummed. The problem was that both the scales and the heart were inert, which made him hesitate a bit, but the pros still outweigh the cons.

  Ethan confirmed his choice of the [Mana Heart], then, with a quick switch through his elemental wand, he slotted [Detect Life] and triggered the spell.

  A pulse of shimmering magic spread out of his extended claws, eliciting only a mild discomfort from his chest. It spread into the surrounding space, making contact with every surface and lighting up the mushrooms with a soft green light that matched his own. A second or two later, the color faded, and it confirmed to Ethan that only he and the mushrooms lighting up the space were alive.

  Next, he moved [Claws] to the Prime wand, and slotted [Reptilian Scales] in its stead. Instantly, he got his confirmation.

  [Extended Enhancement] is not compatible with [Reptilian Scales]

  [Small Fireball] cannot be used without a spell-casting form.

  Damn. So inert does mean the form can’t actively cast spells. What do I do now? I still have control over fire through [Scorching Enhancement], but I’ll lose the fireball until I can do more forms or until I upgrade the Prime wand to tier-2 to handle the new forms. How much does the capacity increase again?

  Ethan brought up his Prime wand upgrade and quickly found what he was looking for.

  [Capacity: Increase by 1 - 100 fragments, 10 Essence]

  Ethan raised his brows and nodded. It wasn’t as bad as he expected. He had the fragments already, he just needed the essence and then he’ll be able to slot [Small Fireball] and switch it up with [Detect Life] when needed, at least until he figured a way to have more forms.

  Though I’ll have to do some testing… The Prime wand allows for higher-tier spells than itself, but considering the pressure I felt, using powerful spells through it might exhaust me faster. If not worse.

  More factors he had to keep in mind, but he could test such things at a later time. For now, he wanted to see the scales.

  Ethan felt at the Lesser Wand of the Fire Elemental and triggered the slotted form.

  A rush of dense mana coursed out of his chest and spread out like a wave across his body. His skin tingled for a moment and tensed, and as he looked down, he saw the smooth scales spread across his chest, each rounded and dovetailed atop the other. They were around half an inch wide, rust-red. and Ethan felt like he could control their coverage but for now, he let them spread across all of his body.

  Eats up a lot of mana, though.

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  Ethan looked at his arms, touched his face, and realized his hair had been covered as well. He glanced down, then checked under his pants and chuckled.

  I got the doll treatment. I guess that works if I ever lose the pants. Now… Can I take this stuff off of my face?

  Slowly and in the same manner he controlled which hand the claws would appear on, Ethan slowly willed the effect to be dismissed and it only took him a couple of minutes to regain his features.

  He was about to test one more thing, then recalled he was still wearing clothes. Flammable ones. So he took them off.

  Alright, should be fine now, he thought as he kicked out his remaining sock.

  Ethan inhaled, then activated [Scorching Enhancement], and the rust-red scales instantly darkened. Air began to shimmer across his arms and chest, and the gaps between his scales began glowing orange. Ethan raised an arm and summoned a gout of flame and it surged, same as it did with his claws, but this time he felt he could summon more. Much more.

  His whole body could be wreathed in a corona of fire. As long as he could pay the mana cost.

  This was a good call. And this still boosts my Spirit stat, but not Might. Spirit and Toughness. Makes sense, I guess.

  Ethan dismissed the fire and the wand, then quickly put his clothes back on before giving them a wistful look. Their days were numbered.

  One more test.

  Ethan swapped the scales with the [Mana Heart], and unfortunately, received the warning that [Scorching Enhancement] was not compatible.

  Dammit.

  That meant he had to choose between the heart or between his flames.

  Ethan frowned and looked through the menu of both wands. Was that it? He wanted to use the heart. It was just too good. It’ll allow him to extend his hunting sessions without suffering from mana exhaustion too fast. But he also needed the flames, and so he had to have the claws or the scales in his Elemental wand.

  But the heart was tier-2. His prime wand couldn’t—wait.

  Ethan paused, and a thrum of moderate excitement ran down his spine.

  Unless [Mana Heart] manages to work on the Prime wand without being too taxing?

  It was worth a shot. So Ethan moved [Claws] back to the Elemental wand, shelved the scales, and slotted [Mana Heart] in the Prime wand. He groaned at the weight of the spell in his chest, then after a couple of quick breaths, he activated it.

  A thump spread through his chest and instantly, some of his exhaustion was washed away, like gunk under a power-washer. A soft, tingling flow of mana rushed into his chest from his surroundings, and a grin spread across his face. The spell felt heavy in his chest and he’ll have to see if that would be detrimental, but he could use it like this.

  This could work.

  Ethan observed his own state for nearly a minute, waiting for pain or something of the sorts. A quick peek at the Prime wand told him the heart single-handedly boosted his Mana stat by ten, though he couldn’t see the effect on mana regeneration.

  Damn… My stats are going to soar once I start upgrading the Prime wand.

  With that part of his load-out decided, Ethan took a quick moment to test [Breath Gland] a bit more. He expected [Scorching Enhancement] to get booted, but it didn’t. Instead, Ethan felt a well of potent energy at the back of his throat, and when he exhaled, the air rippled with heat, and a few flecks of yellow flames escaped into the cold and humid air.

  Damn. This one’s so cool. And kinda stealthy, too.

  The [Breath Gland] boosted his Spirit and Mana. It was a powerful spell, though it would fit better as a secondary form and not his main.

  With all of his tests done, Ethan slotted [Claws] back into the Elemental wand, along with [Extended Enhancement] and [Small Fireball]. He could swap the latter with [Detect Life] whenever he needed, as he recalled his conversation with the others about the sequential mode and its inconveniences. The selective mode would allow him to cast whatever spell he wanted whenever he wanted, but the time penalty was just not worth it and even if he could improve the cast refresh as he had enough fragments in the Elemental wand, he didn’t want to spend anything just yet.

  He wanted to unlock the tier-3 update and see if he could get more forms, and this time, he wasn’t getting every upgrade before he upgraded the tier. He hadn’t gotten anything for that the last time. So unless it rained fragments soon, he was getting the tier-3 upgrade as soon as possible.

  Alright. I think I covered everything.

  Ethan was excited to see how effective his new spells would be and as he climbed up the tunnel, he almost switched the claws with the scales once more as he was really tempted to test them and see how resilient they were. The problem was that they burned through mana like crazy, and he didn’t want to exhaust himself too fast. Just in case.

  Next time I head down, I’ll use the scales. I’ll miss [Claws] and the fireball, but if I’m as tough as I think I am, the lizards won’t be able to do much to me, and I’ll be able to burn through everything. Just like the path says.

  He was going to need a lot of fragments, and he couldn’t wait to head back down and collect them. But there was no denying the fatigue that filled his muscles and mind. It had been an incredibly long day, and stats could only do so much before the body just needed some rest.

  Sounds of battle trickled to his ears as he slowly neared the exit and as he stepped out into the fresh air of the higher cave, he recognized the water monitor’s hissing and ululating calls in the distance.

  I guess there’s more and more of them out here.

  “What’s up?”

  Ethan’s head snapped to his right to find a man in t-shirt and jean-shorts sitting at the foot of a boulder, legs crossed. Next to him was the largest monitor lizard Ethan had yet seen. As for the man, well… he might be the record holder.

  [Human (I) - Level 39]

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