Book 6: Chapter 80: Thorn

Book 6: Chapter 80: Thorn

Elijah couldn’t stop grinning, and for a variety of reasons. The first was the most obvious – they were finished. The Trial was done. Sure, they still had to decide whether they wanted to embark on a quest to slay the Lightning Emperor – which seemed like an issue that was well above his paygrade. He was all for fighting for truth, justice, and all that, but going up against Yloa seemed a lot like a suicide mission. Someone else could worry about Transcendent threats to the multi-verse. He had all he could handle with Earth’s problems.

So, functionally, they had no other challenges before them. Now, all they had to do was wait until the end, collect their rewards, and go home. With how much Elijah missed Earth – and everyone in it – the notion of a homecoming definitely came with all sorts of good vibes.

The second reason for the smile on his face was a little closer. Kurik kept muttering about piles of crystals while fiddling with his key. It was a decidedly human – or dwarven – moment that reminded Elijah just how close he’d come to his companions. They’d spent months together, and he’d learned most of his friends’ quirks. And they’d accepted his as well. It left him feeling warm and fuzzy in a way that very little had since the world’s transformation.

Finally, Elijah’s happiness could be attributed to the fact that he’d made significant progress regarding his progression:



Name



Elijah Hart



Level



115

Archetype

Druid



Class



Animist



Specialization



Connection



Alignment



N/A



Strength



247 (131)



Dexterity



135 (119)



Constitution



252 (142)



Ethera



184 (146)



Regeneration



215 (137)



Attunement



Nature



Cultivation Stage: Adept



Body



Core



Mind



Soul



Iron



Whelp



Jade



Novice



Looking at his status left Elijah with a sense of serious accomplishment. The Wild Infusion upgrade hadn’t just combined three buffs into one, but it had also increased their potency by a significant degree. It was a long time coming – the previous Essence line of buffs had become almost negligible in their effect – but that didn’t mean an additional fifty points in Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution wasn’t an enormous boon. He only wished his Regeneration and Ethera had experienced similar growth.

Of course, his Connection specialization continued to show benefits in that he received two points every level to each of those last attributes. So, in the past five levels, he’d gained ten points to Ethera and Regeneration. In all, his attributes had reached a very acceptable level, though he wasn’t certain just how much of a benefit they offered.

That was largely because, as he’d established before, it took time to acclimate to the infusion of power. Ethera, Regeneration, and Constitution were pretty static, and Elijah wasn’t sure if he could control them at all. However, getting the most out of his Strength and Dexterity would require a lot of practice. That factor meant that his effective attributes were probably lower than the numerical value, just because his continued progression meant he never quite had an opportunity to settle into his new power.

He intended to change that when he got back to Earth.

But then again, he expected that he’d be even busier then than he was within the Trial. Not only did he have responsibilities at home, but he’d also promised to help in Hong Kong. And he hadn’t forgotten that most of the world’s population was still balanced on the edge of a knife.

No – he probably wouldn’t have much time to train and acclimate to his attributes. Instead, he’d have to get used to adjusting on the fly.

In any case, as happy as he was with his updated status, Elijah was far more interested in the next notification:



Congratulations! You have achieved the requirements for the evolution of the spell Shape of the Guardian. Please choose a path:



Shape of Thorn



Shape of Eden



Shape of the Ravager



Evolve the Guardian form by incorporating powerful aspects of control.



Evolve the Guardian form by focusing on defensive capabilities.



Evolve the Guardian form by embracing primal rage and focusing on bestial strength.



Caution: Some existing spells may be absorbed into the new form.



But that wasn’t all. He quickly saw another notification that undercut some of what he’d just read:



Warning: the following spells/abilities have been absorbed by Shape of Thorn:

Guardian’s Renewal

Shield of Brambles

Snaring Roots

Iron Scales



“Damnit,” he muttered.

“What?”

“Some of my spells were just absorbed into the new one,” he stated. It seemed that Shield of Brambles and Snaring roots had been replaced by Natural Thorns and Domain of Vines, and he had to admit that the new versions sounded better – assuming they were just as strong. Often, he forgot to even use Snaring Roots because his enemies had outpaced the effects. The same was true of Shield of Brambles, which he always had active, but rarely had an effect. So those being absorbed wasn’t a huge loss.

Nor was Iron Scales, which had become progressively less effective as his opponents grew more powerful, a huge loss. Besides, Scales of Bark sounded like a straight upgrade, considering that it would always be active.

The big loss was Guardian’s Renewal, which had saved his life more times than he cared to count. Sure, Unchecked Growth seemed like it might be an upgrade, but it was difficult to tell for sure because of the different terminology. Guardian’s Renewal had – falsely, as it turned out – claimed complete healing. The new version would increase his Regeneration by a significant margin.

But it was too late to toss around regrets or second guesses. Every evolution of a spell was supposed to be an upgrade, so he had to trust that Shape of Thorn would follow that general rule.

“It’s fine,” he said. “Let’s see what this looks like.”

With that, he embraced his new spell. As was the case with Shape of the Guardian, Elijah felt himself growing. His arms and legs lengthened, and his musculature became more pronounced. When he looked at his attributes, he was more than pleased to see that his Strength and Constitution had increased by an additional fifty points compared to Shape of the Guardian. In addition, his Dexterity and Regeneration had grown by twenty-five each. He couldn’t stop himself from looking at his new status:



Name



Elijah Hart



Level



115



Archetype



Druid



Class



Animist



Specialization



Connection



Alignment



N/A



Strength



342 (131)



Dexterity



160 (119)



Constitution



342 (142)



Ethera



184 (146)



Regeneration



250 (137)



Attunement



Nature



Cultivation Stage: Adept



Body



Core



Mind



Soul



Iron



Whelp



Jade



Novice



Before, the Shape of the Guardian resulted in an increase of forty-five points to Strength and forty points to Constitution. Shape of Thorn sent that number skyrocketing to ninety-five and ninety points respectively, adding the bonuses to Dexterity and Regeneration on top of that. It was an incredible amount of attributes, and Elijah immediately felt the difference.

“Bro.”

“What?” asked Elijah, his voice rumbling.

“You look...awesome.”