Ethan raised an eyebrow at Ember’s question. “What if I don’t help them and let them fend for themselves? You’d rather come with me than stay with them?”

  The cat yawned. “[I have a pact with you, not them. And I’m not done exploring this world.]”

  Ethan snorted. “Exploring? When? All I’ve seen you do is sleep.”

  The cat’s ear flicked back and went into airplane-mode as she gave him a narrow-eyed look.

  “Fine. Calm down. I’ll help. I’ve been leaning toward helping them already as soon as I saw how they were doing. I’ll stick around, at least until the end of the tutorial.”

  The cat tilted her head, then began circling in place before she fell on her side and lounged once more.

  “[Good. Because I like them. Not let me sle—meditate.]”

  Ethan chuckled. “Right. I’m gonna go meditate as well, then. Last thing. What can you do with a primagem?”

  Ember opened a single eye. “[You got one?]”

  “Maybe.”

  Ember swished her tail and closed her eye. “[Maybe I’ll tell you, then. Eventually.]”

  Ethan stared at the cat and pursed his lips. “Fine. Yes. I got one.”

  “[I know.]”

  “Do you have to be annoying?”

  Ember looked up at him and tilted her head back, and it even looked like she was smiling. Ethan had never seen a cat look so smug. “[I don’t. But I like it.]”

  “Smartass. So what’s the primagems for?”

  “[When you upgrade spells or traits, a primagem can be consumed to unlock extra options. I think it’s useful for some other stuff, but I don’t know much about that. It’s valuable. Good for trade. If whoever you trade with doesn’t try to kill you for it.]”

  Ethan eyed the line in his interface. That was an interesting function. Though how was he supposed to use it for trade? Was there some sort of pouch he could use to store them instead of assimilating them?

  With a flex of will, Ethan tried to use the primagem, but nothing happened. Trying to summon it didn’t work either.

  Yeah, assimilating seems final. Like spellcores. As for using them, it seems like they’re part of the upgrade process for spells and traits, but they won’t trigger it.

  He glanced at this interface for a few seconds, then remembered something. He turned to Ember and whispered. “Hey. Don’t sleep. Tell me about the path stuff. How do I get Essence back?”

  From his little spar with Diego, he had gotten two points in Essence. But that could have also been a time thing. Ethan wanted a faster way to collect Essence, especially now that he knew the resource was needed for fighting and for upgrading the Prime wand.

  Ember yawned and tilted her head. “[Have you not figured it out yet? Fine. You just have to live and act true to your path. If your path is about drinking the blood of your enemies, you do that. If it’s about having the resilience of a mountain, you cover yourself with rock and take on your opponent’s attack. If it’s about barreling through obstacles and setting things on fire, you do that.]”

  The cat stared at him, and Ethan stared back. She had said so offhandedly that someone na?ve enough might think it was a coincidence, but it was obvious to Ethan.

  “How do you know?”

  Ember gave him another smug look. “[I watched your Prime wand form. I can sense it from here and I can sense it better through the pact. A path of fire and unstoppable destruction. I don’t know the wording or the details, but I know enough. I like it,]” she said, and for an instant, her fur had rippled with barely contained flames. Which brought another question to mind. “What’s yours? Also, do you have an armament form as well?”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Ethan didn’t see how the cat could use a weapon. He wasn’t sure how she could even use a wand.

  “[You’ll see. Eventually. For the wand… I’m awakened, so I get the three forms. Other monsters don’t. Their prime wand is focused on a single form. Which makes it more powerful.]”

  Ethan nodded. It was an interesting tidbit and explained why some of the most powerful water monitors still only showed scales as a Prime wand. A couple might have been different, but he hadn’t seen them yet, but such musings would have to wait.

  Ethan stifled a yawn, then got up. “Thanks. But jokes aside, I’m going to get some rest. Keep an eye out, alright?”

  The cat closed her eyes back and rolled her tail closer. She didn’t answer.

  Ethan smiled and shook his head, then went to find himself a spot to sleep. A minute or so later, he found himself a somewhat dry patch of vegetation and laid on his back. It took a while for him to fall asleep, but the exhaustion ended up overpowering the discomfort, plunging him into an uncomfortable but still restful sleep.

  It felt like barely one or two hours had passed when the screams and shouts woke him up.

  Ethan jumped up to his feet and blearily looked around and was met with a flash of orange light, and it took nearly five seconds for the image to become clear and when it did, he activated [Reptilian Scales], picked up the dagger he’d hidden under the clump of grass he used as a pillow and surged forward, cursing under his breath.

  “Fucking lizards.”

  A spray fire surged off the blazing form of Ember and washed over the yellow barrier summoned by a lizardling, while a horse-sized giant of a red lizard belched out a ball of fire at a singed Liz. Audrey leapt forward and interposed herself between the oncoming attack and the archer, shield glowing with blue light, while Amelie kneeled next to a screaming Gerald. Lizardlings were trying to surround the group like the vultures that they were, but they were being kept at bay by Ember.

  A quick scan told Ethan that this might have been a difficult fight for the team any other day, but the giant lizard tipped the scales a bit much into the attacker’s favor. Well, it wasn’t exactly a lizard, but it must have been what the lizardling had intended on summoning that one time, considering they could order the thing around.

  [Fire drake (I) - Level 43]

  It was a massive creature, and Ethan couldn’t help but think of tigers when he took it in, considering its form and proportions. It looked like a bronze-orange scaly feline, with horns and sharply-ridged back. The creature roared as its rider ordered it ahead, and Ethan decided to deal with them first.

  There were five lizardlings as far as he could see, and only one was above thirty. The one riding the drake. It had the same ceremonial looks as the ritualists he had killed in the past, and it seemed to be the leader of this little party.

  “Take out the weaker ones,” he shouted as he ran past a panting Liz, while Gerald struggled to get up. From this close, Ethan could see the nasty burns around his arms.

  Ethan did not stop running. He summoned the horns and felt a surge of power run through his scaled form as another barrier appeared, intent on stopping him. He ignited his form as he pumped his arms. The distance between him and the drake shrunk. He felt a rush of power build into his chest. Every stride was launching him further, making him hit the ground harder as the world blurred around him.

  This was the perfect time to test the horn’s second ability.

  As the lizardling leader pointed at him and as the drake’s throat began glowing, Ethan reached the barrier and had one last thought as he eyed the impressive horned drake.

  Too bad I can’t have my lance out at the same time as the horns. Yet.

  Ethan crashed into the golden barrier like a runaway train, instantly popping the defensive magic like a soap bubble. It might as well have been made of cardboard and did not slow his momentum in the slightest. The drake belched out another ball of fire and Ethan pushed the flames coating him further, fully neutralizing the drake’s attack, and when he was around ten feet away, he jumped.

  The lizardling summoned its bone armor when it saw him sprint at it, but the defensive form did nothing to stop Ethan’s arm from violently clotheslining the rider off of its mount.

  The drake bucked and twisted, biting at the air where Ethan had been, but the man’s momentum had carried him way past the beast already. His scaled feet skidded against the soft ground for nearly fifteen feet before he came to a stop. Ethan considered switching weapons, but the dagger was still in his hand and he had to mark his targets first and so he kept the horns and advanced on the dismounted lizardling.

  The creature wheezed, blood seeping out of its nose and mouth as it tried to get back up. Its armor was gone, and when it saw him approach it brandished a dagger and waved it weakly at him, but Ethan just slapped the weak swipes away and shoved his own dagger in the creature’s chest, and followed it up by a point-blank gout of flames.

  You have defeated [Lizardling (I) - Level 32]

  Lesser Wand of the Fire Elemental: 36 fragments collected.

  Lesser Wand of the Fire Elemental: 29 fragments collected.

  You have reached Level 39. 1 stat point awarded.

  Ethan collected his earnings and straightened back up as the agile drake prowled closer. He raised his dagger and grinned as fire wafted off his body, reveling in the powerful flow of mana coursing through him thanks to [Mana Heart]. “I hope you got something for me, little guy.”

  The drake growled in response, and pounced.

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