Scorching Ascension - 1.90: Insufficient funds (Unedited)

As he confirmed the selection and waited for the spell’s transformation to finish, Ethan considered the primagems he had left.

Primagems: 

Low-grade: 3x Water, 2x Crystallization, 1x Hardening, 1x Last Breath

I guess I still have plenty of Water primagems left, for whatever that’s worth. But I’m out of the Lifeforce and Draining primagems I wanted to combine with the claws, so maybe I should wait a bit for that upgrade… As for [Scorching Enhancement], I can’t think of any great combination with what I have left though to be fair, it’s not as if I had any inklings of what the scale upgrade had in store. Still, with such a limited variety of primagems, I bet my upgrade options wouldn’t be that impressive, so maybe I should wait here as well.

Ethan hummed, then turned his attention to the other issue he was facing. With the scales now upgraded, he had plenty of tier-3 spells at his disposal in case any new threats or issues showed up. Unfortunately, the upgrade itself was causing him some doubt at the moment.

Ethan eyed the new scale spell now sitting in the Prime Arcanum. It was tier-3, so activating the scales was not going to be fun, not until he upgraded Arcanum. But that wasn’t his main concern. No, what worried him at this moment was whether this water theme was going to be an issue or not.

When Ethan selected the spell, his decision had been heavily influenced by the draconic part of the spell. The set bonuses were nothing to scoff at and he wasn’t passing on them. Now though, the fact that this new set of scales had some heavy water-themes attached to it was worrying him a bit. It could become an issue in the long-term. If he didn’t address it, that is.

His Path was supposed to be about being a burning juggernaut and all of that, and while he felt water did not conflict with the juggernaut part and maybe even complimented it pretty well, it certainly seemed like it would clash with the burning aspect. 

Ethan gave a sidelong glance to the cat sleeping a few paces away, then scratched his bare shoulders.

I mean, if the water stuff turns out to be a problem for my Path, I can try for a lateral upgrade. That should be easy enough. With enough fire or heat themed-primagems, I bet I could move the spell away from the water affinity. Or, if the water in itself is not an issue, then I might be able to combine it with heat. After all… scalding water’s a thing. And so is molten rock.

Ethan didn’t hate that idea, and now that he considered this alternate angle, he couldn’t help but wonder… What were the limits of such heat-themed combinations? Fire and Earth could be lava. Air and fire could be some sort of incredibly hot wind. Maybe he could even combine it with some more esoteric aspects with the help of primagems. Like mana-burning fire.

Those possibilities eased his worries a bit but still, the issue was not resolved. Could this affect his Path? Could a Path be negatively changed in such a manner? 

As soon as he asked himself the question, he sensed it, deep in his chest. A response to the question. Not a rejection of what he was asking, but more of an affirmation. It took a couple of seconds to interpret the feedback, but once he did, he felt he’d gained a bit of an insight in his own Path.

It’s all about my own momentum, first and foremost. The burning part is important, of course, but there’s no Path without the juggernaut aspect.

In a way, this told him that so long as he lived and breathed those principles and didn’t stray too far from the burning part, he’d be fine. But to be safe, he decided to confirm with someone who’d been living and using the magic of this world for longer than he did. Ember. The ever-napping cat. But before he woke her up, he had some testing to do.

It was time to put on some new scales.

With a flex of will, Ethan activated the spell and instantly doubled over as his tier-2 Arcanum struggled to channel the spellform. But just like a while ago when he’d used [Mana Heart] on a tier-1 Arcanum, the ache was at its worst for only the first few seconds, and as he took a few deep breaths, the discomfort slowly mellowed down.

I need some more upgrades. As soon as possible, he thought, shuddering as the spell finished covering him up. Once he felt the strain abate, he pushed himself off of the ground and took in his new look and frankly? It was worth the spiritual pain.

Gone were the burnished red, round scales. These new scales were of metallic, light bronze with greenish edges that made Ethan think of the algae. They were slightly smaller than the previous set of scales, but much more densely packed. And while the previous set of scales had been rounded, these new ones had more of a triangular edge to them that made them seem sharper and as he looked down at his extended arms and stomach, Ethan was sure these were much more resilient than any set of scales he’d worn so far. Even before his Toughness and set’s bonus came into play. 

Set bonus (2 forms): +5 Toughness and +5 Spirit  per form.

Set bonus (3 forms): +10 Might per form.

Set bonus (4 forms): Elemental re-alignment unlocked. Affinities available: Fire, Water 

Now, what is this?

Focusing his attention on the new mental switch he could sense, Ethan triggered it, and when he felt the switch ask him whether he wanted fire or water, he selected fire.

A rush of comfortable burning energy rushed out of his chest and down his new scales and nearly instantly, he noticed the air begin to ripple around his limbs. Summoning his Claws, Ethan called his fire out, and his hand turned into a raging bonfire in the blink of an eye. Ethan’s eyes went wide as he took in the flames. 

What… the hell?

The spells were the same, and so were his traits. But all of a sudden, it was as if the flames had turned eager to obey and execute every one of his will. The flames roared like a wildfire and when he cut them off, the heat lingered around the area and looking past his hand, he saw Ember looking at him, frozen.

Ethan’s lips slowly stretched in a wide smile and a chuckle escaped his throat. Flipping the switch to water this time, a cool, comforting cold spread around his limbs, and after a couple of seconds, it almost looked like his scales were glistening.

Oh this is cool. This is amazing.

He was going to do some testing with this soon, but for now, he dismissed the interface and after taking one last admiring look down at his new defensive spellform, Ethan stepped closer to Ember and quickly resumed what he’d been worried about.

The cat, now back on her side, listened to him, occasionally twitching an ear, and once he was done, she yawned. “[I’m not an expert by any means, and you’ll be better off asking higher-tiered people than me once you have the chance, but I don’t believe using a water-themed spell would hurt your Path. High level practitioners use all kinds of spells. They don’t limit themselves only to the spells that match their Paths, so a water spell here or there isn’t that bad. Sure, there’s a little conflict there, but it’s not as antithetical as someone on healing Path using mainly Rot as their instrument. It’d be a problem if you suddenly decided to drop all of your fire spells and vowed that from now on, you’re only fighting from range and drowning your opponents. But as you just said, most—if not all—aspects can be combined one way or another, so as long as you keep true to the heart of your Path, you’ll be fine.]”

As Ethan digested what she’d told him, Ember got up and stretched, arching her back before looking up at him. “[Are we leaving or do you still have things to do?]”

Ethan looked away from his available spells and concentrating on the link between them, he responded. “[Just got a couple of things to look through. We can head out in a thirty minutes or so.]”

Yawning again, the cat fell down on her side and went back to her nap, while Ethan found himself  a spot nearby and sat down.

Well, at least I have a [Water Jet] spell I could use, though I’ll leave it aside for a moment. 

Ethan liked these new possibilities. He’d have to learn a bit more about what combinations were possible and all that, but for now, he didn’t mind the water-theme of these new scales. He’d already said in the past that he needed some other elements in his arsenal in case his fire was completely countered. While water had not been his first pick, it’d be a good fallback for whenever his flames were countered. Sooner or later, that was going to happen.

Plus with a water-spell on hand, staying clean would be so easy.

Etan paused. Could he drink magical water? 

He shook his head and pulled up his interface. He’d have to figure that out some other time. 

For now, let’s see about some upgrades, shall we?

First things first, Ethan pulled up the two upgrades he was most interested in.

Prime Arcanum: [Tier: 2 to 3 - 2000 fragments, 250 Essence, 1 riftcore (tier-2)]

Lesser Arcanum of the Fire Elemental: [Spell Form: Increase by 1 - 2500 fragments]

Ethan sighed and leaned back against the ground.

Well. That freaking sucks. I can’t upgrade either. I’ve got…. Around 1400 fragments and 46 Essence. Nowhere near enough for either of those.

Ethan stared up in the sky for a while and after ten minutes or so, he took stock of his own body. He was feeling good. The exhaustion had receded, and with the main upgrades he wanted still way out of his price range, nothing was preventing him from collecting the riftcore and getting on with his day.

Jumping to his feet, Ethan approached Ember and told her to get ready as he fixed his mind on the connection he felt to the world around them.

It was time to get out.