Liz had opened her eyes to the loudest roar she’d heard so far, and barely thirty minutes later, she already had managed to pick up enough fragments to unlock her first Prime form. Heck, she was only minutes away from unlocking the second, as long as the prices were the same as Ethan had told them.

  If I could even stop for a second, she thought as she took aim from her perch, just above the tunnel’s entrance. With a flick of her finger, her crossbow unloaded and blasted a water monitor’s brains off moments before it could get to Audrey and Gerald.

  Once more, they were holding the tunnel, shooting from above and dealing with the stragglers while Ethan thinned the herd out from below. The swarm had turned relentless over the last few minutes, and Ethan had been forced to back off and switch back to his controllable flames instead of the wings, just so he could hold off the creatures from overrunning them.

  Why? What is even happening?

  Something seemed to have whipped the monsters into a frenzy. Liz suspected the two mighty roars they’d heard had something to do with it. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder what her first form was going to be.

  Considering it’s about scouting… I bet it’s going to be related to mobility. Or my senses.

  The name of the wand was growing on her already. At first, she’d been disappointed and a bit embarrassed, but with every glance around, with every dodge and surprisingly accurate shot she made, she felt it fit.

  Prime wand of the Plucky Scout. Not bad. I’ll just not tell anyone about the plucky part. Now… How long are we going to hold this spot for?

  Liz channeled an [Exploding Projectile] into the blue glowing bolt, exhaled, and pulled the trigger.

  They couldn’t hold the area forever, and as she took a quick glance around, she saw a couple more tunnels being contested. One of which drew her attention more than the others.

  … Are those the high-schoolers?

  ***

  Flames raged around Ethan’s new claws, pouring out of the scales and talons like a blowtorch. Creating gouts of concentrated fire was seamless. Easy. As if the new [Draconic Claws] were both amplifying the flames and helping him guide them.

  Could also be the upgraded trait. Wand of the Fire Elemental is definitely boosting my control as well.

  A second moss-covered monitor ambled out into the clearing and screeched when it saw Ethan before it spat a globe of green-coloured water.

  [Swamp Monitor (I) - Lvl 57]

  Ethan didn’t intend on getting hit by this one either, so he flicked a wrist and sent a fireball to intercept it. He wasn’t sure why that water was coloured that way or what it would do, but he found it safer to vaporize it.

  Where are these swamp monitors coming from? And how come they’re different without being of a different tier?

  Either way, he wasn’t saying no to some extra fragments and maybe a level.

  The fireball detonated in a blast of intense orange flames, sending droplets of the foul water all around. Green acrid vapor rose out of the area in which the two spells met, and Ethan wrinkled his nose when some droplets hit his protective flames and sizzled, sending some of the vapor up his nose.

  Nasty…

  He didn’t know if it was poison, acid, or just gross water. He just didn’t want to be touched by it, even if his [Sapping Scales] or his Toughness could neutralize it.

  “[Do you mind telling me before you send such disgusting filth my way?]”

  Ethan glanced aside and saw the cat hop atop a water monitor’s head and bite down on its neck before summoning a point-blank jet of fire, punching straight through the scales.

  “Why are you not with the others?” called out Ethan as he sprinted toward the moss monitor. Usually the cat would stay around the weaker humans, watching over them and generally keep its distance, but right now, she was only a few paces away from him, in the thick of it.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “[They awakened their wands. They’re not cubs anymore and so, they need to rely on their own selves.]”

  Ethan tore the throat of a water monitor on his way to the big one and jumped to the left to dodge another lurid green orb before he stole a glance back and saw the freshly levelled team holding up the tunnel.

  He focused back on his opponent. The swamp monitor lunged, jaw glowing green, and Ethan took a step to the left and punched up at the oncoming maw, fist blazing with concentrated fire.

  The black, shining, talons met the summoned green-hued scale with an impact that made Ethan’s feet dig into the soft soil and for a moment, he thought he saw shock in the creature’s feral eyes before it disappeared into the storm of flames he summoned.

  A second later, the flames dissipated to reveal a smoking and burnt monitor. It wasn’t dead yet, but it's summoned scales were gone, and one of its eyes was burnt shut and from then, the monster was easy to bring down.

  You have defeated [Swamp Monitor (I) - Level 57]

  You have reached Level 48. 1 stat point awarded.

  A few yards away, the cat leapt into the air and blasted a group of lizards with a fireball. “Any clues about what those roars had been?” Ethan asked.

  “[Something we both need more levels before facing.]”

  “We? And what makes you think we can’t deal with it as we are right now?”

  Ember hopped on thin air and came to a stop on top of Ethan’s horns. “[Yes. We. I spared your life for meals and loot. I don’t intend on going home empty handed. As for levels, that roar had whipped even level 57 monsters into a frenzy. It could only be at a higher level to control all of these things. I’m thinking level 65 at the minimum. Maybe even a tier 2.]”

  Ethan looked up, unsure how to react to this new development. Not about the monsters and danger. No, that part sounded a bit exciting. He was more worried about the cat taking a liking to his horns and wanting to sit on them.

  And what’s this about loot?

  The cat jumped off and blasted another clump of monster before she landed once more on the soft soil. He was about to point out that they never agreed on loot distribution or anything of the sorts, but refrained. As much as Ember could be prickly and standoffish, she often provided answers. Hell, she just gave him the key to spell upgrading barely an hour ago and she’d helped protect the others.

  I don’t know about using the horns as a seat though, he thought as sent another fireball at the monitors approaching the tunnel before he shouted. “What kind of loot are you looking for?”

  “[Information. Spells. Rare primagems. Anything valuable, really. Enough to afford living comfortably and in luxury.]”

  Well, at least she knew what she wanted. Still, Ethan frowned as he sprayed his surroundings with fire, finishing off a few dazed lizards. “Didn’t I offer you spells and a primagem recently?”

  “[Those were neither rare nor valuable. Plus, if you get stronger, I could get my hands on something better.]”

  Ethan chuckled and glanced toward the deeper end of the cave. He couldn’t see much but glowing mushroom trees from this angle, and occasionally a flare of light of a random color here or there, but not much else.

  Can’t wait to get the wings back and go take a look.

  Ethan was about to ask what would be considered valuable when Liz called out to them and slowly, the two made their way back to the tunnel, clearing any monster too stubborn to die or too distracted to pay them any mind only for the three companions to come down into the clearing themselves, while Gerald rush to the side, running as fast as his feet could carry him.

  Ethan gave Liz a puzzled look while Amelie and Audrey took turns picking up fragments, eyes vigilantly scanning their surroundings as they did.

  “The coach needs a hand. The high-schoolers?”, Liz added when she saw the confused look he gave her. “Gerald went ahead and I just wanted to give you a heads up. After that… I think we should talk.”

  ***

  As he took stock of their state and numbers, Ethan was surprised the coach and the high schoolers had not lost any of theirs. True, they looked absolutely awful, many of them were sporting bruises and bloodied clothes, but they were levelling, and they were alive.

  Ethan ignited his right hand to burn away the blood as he felt at his own body. [Mana Heart] was still doing its thing, staving off the exhaustion and fatigue, and this swarm had allowed him to get a few points in Essence, though he will still need some more before he could afford the tier upgrade for his Prime wand.

  I can still go, he thought. And he would, in a few minutes.

  Ethan took a look around. The wave had finally abated, but it had taken nearly ten minutes of non-stop fighting for the monsters to stop coming at them. A few of the high schoolers were sitting, gasping for air, while their coach went around checking on them one by one. In the meantime, Liz made her way to Ethan, hurriedly hobbling toward him to get away from an irate Amelie. Audrey was already standing close to him, and Gerald was catching his breath, eyes closed.

  I wonder what he’d seen.

  The man had a different air around him ever since he’d woken up from his vision and as the others finally approached, he opened his eyes, and if Ethan hadn’t been with the man over the last few days, he’d think he was looking at somebody else. The steely resolve in his eyes as he looked at the coach and his students, the straight back, the confidence he exuded.

  The older man gave Ethan a smile as Liz scratched the back of her head, sheepishly looking away from Amelie while the latter examined her foot. As for Audrey, she was just resting an elbow on her tower shield, waiting to see what this was about.

  Gerald looked around at them, took a deep breath, then spoke. “I’m leaving the team.”

  Click here to join

  If you want to support me and read ahead, there's 10 advanced chapters.