Ascension of the Primalist [A Tamer Class, LitRPG]

The torch flame cast flickering shadows that danced along the rough-hewn walls as Seth ventured deeper into the mountain. The air grew heavier with every step, heavy with raw, untamed Earth aether that washed over him in near-tangible waves. Nightmare moved out of the necklace and walked beside him, the direwolf's paws making almost no sound on the stone floor.

The tunnel twisted and sloped downward, and after barely a few dozen yards, it opened into a small, circular chamber. At its center, bathed in the torch's glow, stood a broad, flat rock that looked remarkably like a natural altar. Resting upon it was a stone.

It was unlike anything Seth had ever seen before: roughly the size of his head, it was a deep, resonant brown, streaked with thick veins of unpolished quartz that seemed to pulse with a faint internal light. It continuously radiated aether that vibrated deep within Seth's bones. This has to be it.

Seth immediately cast Intermediate Identify.

Seth reached out, brushing his fingertips against the Essence's cool, surprisingly smooth surface. He carefully placed the torch in a wall sconce that looked like it had waited centuries for a flame. Then, focusing inward, he moved Colossus out of the teardrop necklace and the massive, brown-and-amber mottled rocky egg materialized on the floor beside the altar. Almost immediately it seemed to soak in the ambient energy, the shell acquiring a faint sheen.

Seth sat down next to it and leaned back against the altar rock. 'Alright, Colossus,' he murmured. 'Devour everything. Let's see if this place can make you hatch.'

He patted the egg gently before turning his attention inward. Time to train, he thought.

He retrieved the Iron Fists spell-scroll from his pouch. After taking a deep breath to steady himself, he closed his hand around the parchment and squeezed, breaking the gray seal. The scroll dissolved into motes of light that flowed into his palm and plunged into his body.

A familiar sensation followed, just as intense as always. Deep within his Well, Seth felt the burn as the new spell was forged, intricate grooves carving themselves into existence alongside those of his other spells. The process spread outward, forming a network of warmth trenches through his aether channels, traveling down his arms, and solidifying the spell's structure within his body.

The moment it finished, Seth flexed his hands. He focused, drawing aether from his Well and directing it into the newly formed grooves. When the spell flared to life, a layer of dull, greyish stone materialized and encased his hands and forearms up to the elbow.

It looks like iron ore, he thought before clenching his fists, causing a sound of grinding stone. And it feels… sturdy.

He threw a few slow punches at the air, testing the weight and restriction—minimal, thankfully. Then, he closed his eyes, sending his consciousness inward, scrutinizing the intricate network of the spell's grooves. They weren't too crude, but their complexity was far from those of Beastmaster Rage's or Phantom Punch's, which was expected for an Uncommon spell.

Still, Seth could feel the subtle reinforcement the spell provided: a small boost to his overall Toughness that fortified his entire body.

Not too bad, he thought. If I can get the quality up, maybe to Exceptional… that Toughness boost could hit double digits, and it cost less than a fifteenth of my Well.

With that done, Seth reached into his pouch once more, this time pulling out the heavy, leather-bound tome Professor Reat had given him earlier: Theory of Spells and Aether by Eldric.

The moment his fingers brushed the worn cover, a pulse of aether surged from within the book—yet before it could reach him, it struck an invisible barrier and fizzled out.

The nobles' broken seal, he realized before he slowly opened the thick cover.

The pages within had been yellowed by the time and were packed with tight black text and intricately drawn diagrams. He flipped to the table of contents and scanned it:

It went on and on, a lifetime of study of a man crammed into a single volume. Seth took another deep breath, the earthy scent of the cave mixing with the old smell of the book. He turned back to the first page.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Alright, let's begin.

The first day bled into the next within the timeless dark of the cave, marked only by the steady thrum of the Heart of Brown-Peak Mountains. Seth had devoured nearly half of Eldric's dense tome by that point, cross-legged on the stone floor, using his Lighter as a source of illumination while the Earth Essence radiated palpable aether beside him. He kept practicing the concepts, manipulating the rich ambient aether and trying to internalize the complex theories.

One main principle was something Elena had once tried to explain before; Eldric described the internal landscape of a Wielder—the Well and the aether channels—as acting like soft clay before awakening. Malleable and receptive. The moment one ignited a Class, or a Subclass, parts of this complex system hardened, becoming resistant to change, while others became more attuned, easier to sculpt for specific types of spells or affinities.

This new understanding had made Seth realize how incredible his Iron Revelation, Share, really was. Its intricate, almost impossibly vast network of pre-carved grooves seemed to act like a universal template, capable of shifting, adapting, and resonating to copy the structure of nearly any spell he chose to. That versatility was staggering.

And it made his progress of the current day feel trivial.

After he'd woken and eaten some food from his Endless Pouch, Seth had focused solely on Iron Fist. For nearly three hours straight now, he'd been pushing controlled streams of aether into the spell's grooves, trying to manually reshape them according to Eldric's theory. He had focused on the channel width, the precise angle of the turns, the depth of the furrows, the path it took in his Well and aether channels—all factors the Scholar claimed influenced a spell's efficiency and power. The cave's dense Earth aether had certainly helped, making the grooves more receptive than they would have been elsewhere, allowing him to manage some minor modifications. Yet it still felt as if he was far from being able to improve the spell's quality to Refined. It was like trying to sculpt granite with his bare hands.

With a sigh, Seth leaned back against the smooth rock of the altar, stretching his stiff muscles. Then he glanced at Colossus's egg. It rested near the Essence, pulsing faintly as it continued to absorb the surrounding aether. Nightmare lay curled beside it, occasionally nudging the shell or emitting low growls, attempting to teach the unborn beast how to communicate beyond simple words through Link.

Seth closed his eyes, extending his consciousness through their bond and into the egg. He sensed Colossus's presence more vividly now. He still couldn't see the beast clearly, but he managed to examine his Well and aether channels, feeling the texture of their power: the external energy from the Essence was being integrated into them, strengthening every ounce of flesh they nourished.

The unborn beast was using the very nature of the Earth affinity to temper his body.

Seth drew his focus back to himself, frustration growing in his chest as he contemplated another session of tedious groove-carving. Just as he was about to channel aether back into Iron Fists, a thought struck him. He remembered his climb in the Trial Tower, the fight against the Barbarian Gnolls, the battle with the Fishlord Lancer—all moments where his spells had spontaneously improved in the heat of combat.

Because of my core, he thought. That Kreytorus guy was probably better than me at this… Let's use his Legacy.

Taking a deep breath, Seth closed his eyes again, but this time instead of focusing on the spell's structure, he reached for the primal energy coiled within his core. He surrendered his body, letting the bestial instincts take over. He pictured the battle from the day before: the sheer scale of the Colossal Earth Guardian, the weight of its blows, the desperate struggle for survival. What if I had been facing this thing alone?

Seth's core stirred, then awoke with a now familiar, but-still-exhilarating surge. Waves of its mysterious energy flooded his system, sharpening his senses and heightening his connection to the world around him. He reached out, grasping the rich, ambient Earth aether swirling from the nearby Essence and channeled it into the grooves of Iron Fists.

The meticulous method he had used before was replaced by a fluid and intuitive dance. He wasn't forcing the aether—he was guiding it, following both his instincts and Eldric's knowledge to determine exactly where to push, where to smooth, where to deepen. With each passing moment, Seth felt his connection to the Earth affinity deepen, his control over aether manipulation becoming finer and more intuitive.

Hours slipped by in a haze of focused cultivation. Seth remained locked in the same rhythmic work, cycling aether through the grooves, adjusting the angles, smoothing the flow and reshaping bit by bit. Finally, fatigue crept in, settling deep in his chest dull and heavy as the drive from his core began to fade.

The stream of aether halted, and with a long breath, Seth opened his eyes. Every single muscle of his body ached, and a leaden exhaustion weighed him down. He flexed his right hand, slow and stiff; then, eager to see the fruits of his effort, cast Intermediate Identify.

It has reached Refined, he thought, a broad smile flashing on his face before he looked at his aether attunement by focusing on the three dots above his Arcane Power.

Seth's eyes widened. On top of his manipulation and sensing climbing a sub-Tier, his new Earth affinity had jumped up to Peak-Copper. It skipped Mid and High entirely, he realized glancing at the Heart of Brown-Peak Mountains. This thing is incredible.

He then brought back his attention to Iron Fists' description.

Seth frowned before stretching out his arms and shoulders, joints popping after hours of stillness. The Toughness should've only gone up to eight with the quality boost, not ten… Increasing my Earth affinity is definitely paying off.

He closed his eyes briefly and centered his breath. Even if he felt tired, he decided to eat and rest later. The remaining two days would certainly pass in a snap—he couldn't waste a single minute here with the Essence.