Scorching Ascension - [Progression Litrpg Apocalypse]

Starting with the general upgrades, Ethan, arms crossed, bounced between the two options with narrow eyes.

He was very much interested in both. He wasn't sure if he could give the Prime Arcanum a title considering it seemed set to his juggernaut path, but even he could only have one active at a time, [Arcanum of the Fire Elemental] was such a great one that had to see what else he could get. Of course, he was also upgrading his current title. That goes without saying.

Without wasting anymore time, Ethan paid for the new title with the Lesser Arcanum's fragments and as he tapped his fingers on bicep, he waited as the interface loaded up the titles available to him.

After taking account of your performance, three options have been unlocked.

Select an Arcanum title from the list below.

Arcanum of Claws: Only the spell Claws and its upgrades as well as compatible modifiers can be used on this Arcanum. In return, the Claws spell is empowered.

Arcanum of Forms: The Arcanum supports one additional form over the limit. In exchange, no general-spells can be cast or slotted into the wand.

Prime Auxiliary: The Arcanum attaches itself to the Prime Arcanum, boosting all of the latter's capabilities, capacity, spellform limits, and mana regeneration, but rendering this Arcanum inert. Efficiency of transfer 75%.

Ethan eyed the three unique traits and whistled.

These are powerful…

He recalled the [Arcanum of Claws] title, and he wasn't too interested in it right now. But the other two were pretty great, though each had their downside.

The Arcanum of Forms would allow him one more form, which was amazing. But he wouldn't be able to cast general spells. So no [Small Fireball], no [Detect Life], and no [Whisper.]

Ethan grimaced. Every time he remembered that last spell, it hurt a little. He was sure he'd get some good use of it eventually, but that had happened just yet. He often forgot he even had it.

That's bound to happen with how many spells there are…

He shook his head and eyed the description of [Arcanum of Forms] once more. He might be able to work something out around the restriction, he believed. He could focus on boosting the Prime Arcanum's capacity and cast his general spells from there. Then again, he'd hit the same problem he was facing now, which was that tier-2 spells in a tier-1 Arcanum was not a fun experience, and both of [Arc of Force] and [Small Fireball] were tier-2.

Hmm… I guess I'll mull it over, he told himself before he turned his attention to the third proposed trait.

It was possibly one of the best traits he was being offered, but not as it was right this moment. Ethan was more interested in its future potential. It was not giving him any bonus as far as he could see, but it would take away the headache of managing multiple Arcanum. It wasn't bad now, but what would happen when he had two Lesser Arcanums on top of the Prime one? What about three or four? What was the limit?

His gut told him an overpowered Prime Arcanum could be much better than 3 Lesser ones, especially if ones was specialized in slinging spells. For one specialized in enhancer spellforms, he felt that while the title was convenient, it could wait for another day. Plus, the fact that 75% of the Arcanum's potential would transfer was too big of a downside at this junction, but if this trait could get better in the future, if it could be improved until somehow all 100% capabilities of an Arcanum merged into the Prime Arcanum? Then that could work. That could be worthwhile.

And who knew, maybe there was a way to push it above the 100% mark.

Ethan eyed the three options one more time, then selected the [Arcanum of Forms] and waited for the process to finish up. It was just the best option at the moment, and even though it might cut into his spells, it would allow him an extra slot for the next spellform a lot faster than waiting for a tier upgrade his Prime Arcanum.

And I could walk with an extra spellform right now. Though I might have to say goodbye to the fireball for a short bit.

Once the process was finished, Ethan checked the available title upgrades and, slightly disappointed, he nodded understandibly.

There was no new upgrade [Arcanum of Forms], which made sense as he'd just gotten it. Now he'd have to see whether the upgrade to the title would show up after he'd spent a while using it, or if it was linked to his levels.

He guessed he'd eventually figure it out. For now, he triggered the upgrade option.

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Arcanum of the Fire Elemental → Arcanum of the Fire Elemental (I):

Allows the user stronger control over fire spells, moderate control over natural flames, and provides a greater fire resistance.

Ethan read the description with a raised brow. It seemed like the restriction limiting his control to spell-generated fire had been lifted, and that he might have some measure of control over all fires? The resistance was heightened as well.

Not bad, all in all. He would still need to do a couple of tests, but it seemed like a solid upgrade.

I'll just need to be smart about switching the Arcanum titles around. For now, there's no rush. I'll see if I need to switch things around for a bit and clearly, the Prime Arcanum won't take one of these titles… so let's look into some Arcanum upgrades here before I move on to the spell token.

After those two purchases, Ethan still had 921 fragments in the Lesser Arcanum which would be just enough to get the extra spellform. Which, of course, was no chance. He wouldn't have gotten one of the general upgrades if it had put them under the 900 required fragments.

Ethan paid for the spellform capacity increase and closed his eyes as the modification took place, turning his attention back to the pressure in his chest.

It had deflated a bit more, but it was still around and as he considered it for a bit, Ethan wondered if he might be better served putting [Mana Heart] there instead of [Draconic Claws]. Maybe one was easier to stomach for the tier-1 Arcanum that the other? He'd test it in a bit. Right after he'd checked how effective the freshly upgraded title had become. But that could wait. He'd been patient enough, and Ethan wanted to open his present.

Ethan eyed the token, and revisited his earlier question. Was an enhancement-spell the best option here?

He leaned against the stone wall, and felt a luminescent mushroom squish against his back.

A tier-3 modifier or spell could be pretty amazing. The problem was, he didn't really know the pool of options and possibilities.

And while I might get a 'weight' related modifier, I don't think it'd be as potent as a dedicated enhancement. As for a general spell, it would not fix the weight issue. I need to get heavier. And I've seen something like that in the enhancement spells.

Ethan knew what he was getting. And once this tutorial was over, he resolved to do everything he could to try and find a list of spells somewhere. He hoped he wasn't missing out on some amazing spells in the other categories, but maybe once he fixed the weight issue—after getting some wings too, like Amanda—he would seriously branch into other types of spells

Ethan inhaled, then held his breath and activated the token.

Select a enhancement-class tier-3 spell from the list below:

Ripper's Tail: Summon a tail lined with flesh-ripping spines. Form Bonus: Might

Draconic Wings: Summon powerful scaled wings to fly and shield yourself from spells. Form Bonus: Spirit

Banshee's Eyes: Alter your eyes to perceive your opponents' fears and weaknesses. Form Bonus: Mana

Giant's Hide: Summon a thick and resilient hide to defend against physical and magical attacks. Form Bonus: Toughness

Rock Rhino's Skeleton: Empower your bone structure to greatly increase its weight and resilience. Form Bonus: Toughness

Ethan slowly exhaled, looking at up at the moss lining the tunnel's low ceiling. I hate you so much, he thought at whatever created the list of options.

Not everything was that amazing, thankfully. But two options called to him and even though he was very much aware he needed to increase his weight, it felt awful knowing he might be walking away from the wings.

They were defensive. They'd allow flight. And they were 'draconic' as well. Was there a bonus of some sorts if he had two enhancement-spells from the same family? Would he miss out on that if that was a thing?

Ethan trying to build some arguments for each. The wings would give him the option to use the lance from above. He could carpet-bomb the water monitors with his fireballs, and he could go check the rift with getting bogged down by monsters.

Ethan bit his lip. On the other hand, he still needed the weight, and the system had come through for that part, but it also dangled another spell that he really wanted in front of him.

He looked from one spell to the next for a few moments, hesitating.

"This sucks," he grumbled. Behind him, three of his companions were on their backs, going through the body upgrading process. Liz was the latest, but considering the rippling air around her, she'd join them soon.

Ethan turned his attention back to his impossible choice and couldn't help but shake his head and smile.

Wings or Skeleton?

Whatever he picked, he would still be leaving something amazing on the table. He just had to live with the fact that it might be a while until he got what he needed once more. Because, after all, he was not guaranteed to see the same options ever again.