I didn’t go to bed immediately. Before I could fall asleep, I needed to attend to my player advancement. To start with, I pulled up my skill and ability statuses for review.


    Available Strength slots: 40. Upgradeable abilities: none.


    Available Constitution slots: 29. Upgradeable abilities: none.


    Available Dexterity slots: 36. Upgradeable abilities: whirlwind, piercing strike, trap disarm, lockpicking.


    Available Mind slots: 44. Upgradeable abilities: mass puppet, windborne, astral shurikens, shadow blink, astral bite (Ghost).


    Available Perception slots: 24. Upgradeable abilities: analyze, conceal weapon, ventro, imitate.


    Available Magic slots: 75. Upgradeable abilities: draining bite (Ghost).


    Available Faith slots: 20. Upgradeable abilities: none.


    Upgrade items in backpack: 2 x upgrade gems.


    Ability tomes in backpack: piercing strike tier III, IV, & V, trap disarm tier III, lockpicking tier III, ventro tier III & IV.


    The first thing that became immediately apparent to me was that I didn’t have nearly enough upgrade gems nor ability tomes. Thanks to the elder form trait, I had a sudden surplus of ability slots that I was not equipped to use… yet.


    The second thing that struck me was the forty Strength ability slots that were languishing unused. On their own, they were enough to acquire an elite ability. I had no strength abilities, of course—largely because I lacked any strength skills.


    But that was no longer strictly true.


    At least not when I was in wolf form.


    If I understood the Game’s description of the primal variant of the tooth and claw skill, it was governed by both Dexterity and Strength. And that meant I could acquire Strength abilities for my wolf form.


    Definitely something to keep in mind during my next shopping trip.


    The Magic slots were for Ghost to use, and the Faith slots, I could do nothing about unfortunately. Still, the additional Faith attribute points meant a nice increase to the size of my mana pool, and if there ever came a time again to bequeath attributes to my followers, I knew it would be from Faith that I drew.


    I returned my attention to the text floating in front of me. It was time to refocus on what I could advance. Mind abilities first, I decided. I had two upgrade gems, and there was no question in mind that I had to employ them on my scion abilities, and unfortunately or fortunately, only two of them were ready for upgrade—astral shurikens and shadow blink.


    So be it.


    Picking up the first gem, I willed my choice to the Adjudicator.


    Ability gem activated.


    Creating ability tome…


    You have acquired a tier 5 astral blades ability tome.


    The ability gem vanished, leaving a small leatherbound book in its stead. Picking up the book, I absorbed its knowledge.


    You have upgraded your astral shurikens ability to sentient shurikens. The fifth tier of this spell grants your astral shurikens limited intelligence and semi-permanence. They now function as an extension of your will, and for as long as they exist, they can be controlled by your mind.


    You may summon a maximum of 4 shurikens at any one time. Each blade will remain manifested for a maximum duration of 5 minutes, during which time, they can be ordered at will. Note, your shurikens are not indestructible, and can be destroyed by your foes.


    “Now, that was unexpected,” I murmured. I’d been anticipating more bouncing shurikens, not mind-controlled ones—not that I was unhappy about the change. Being able to order my astral blades the way I did my minions, made them more versatile.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    “Right, on to the next,” I thought and activated the last gem.


    Creating ability tome…


    …


    Tome creation halted. There are 2 elite variants available for the shadow blink ability.


    Variant 1: shadow jump. This variant increases the range of shadow blink to sight range. You can blink to any creature you can see.


    Variant 2: blink. This variant halves the spellcasting time and removes the restriction forcing you to teleport to a location occupied by another creature. You can blink to any visible location within 100 yards.


    Choose your tier 5 shadow blink ability tome now.


    An involuntary sigh escaped me and not because I disliked the options on offer. On the contrary, I wanted both. And that was not possible.


    So, which to choose? I wondered.


    Bowing my head, I pondered the choices before me. Was the ability to teleport anywhere—albeit only within a hundred yard radius—more valuable than being able to blink an unlimited distance to any creature within sight range? One option offered greater versatility, the other near limitless range.


    Blink in combat would be amazing. With it, I could constantly change position, altering the angle of my attack. I could also use blink as an escape tool, to jump onto a nearby ledge, or into a shadowy corner, or simply further away from my foe.


    But I could already do those things with windborne and vanish.


    Yes, using windborne would be slower and more cumbersome, especially in combat. But truly, I was primarily a melee fighter. Changing position in a fight mattered less than if I were a ranged combatant.


    And finally, while I disliked basing my player progression decisions on short term goals, I could not ignore the fact that shadow jump would allow me to reach the overlord unhindered.


    And the void tree too.


    As long as I could see the Powers, I could teleport to them. Being able to do that simplified everything and let me bypass more obstacles than I cared to imagine. And as valuable as shadow jump would be against the overlord, I could see it being equally valuable against future foes too.


    Shadow jump is the one.


    Decision made, I communicated my desire to the Adjudicator.


    You have acquired a tier 5 shadow jump ability tome.


    You have upgraded your shadow blink ability to shadow jump. The fifth tier of this spell allows you to teleport to any living entity within sight range. Note, this applies only to creatures in your direct line of sight or within your mindsight range, and not to entities observed via other magical means like scrying.


    You have 14 of 170 Mind ability slots remaining.


    “Excellent,” I smiled, unbothered by the Game’s qualification. It was a minor one and would hardly affect how I used shadow jump.


    My mind abilities seen to, I turned next to Perception, but the only Perception tomes I had in my backpack were for ventro, and I was uncertain yet about the wisdom of upgrading ventro—especially, seeing as analyze was already ready for advancement to tier six.


    I’ll wait until I visit a merchant, I decided.


    Next, I turned to Dexterity. Thanks to some careful preplanning, I had ability tomes for all the abilities ready for advancement—piercing strike, trap disarm, and lockpicking.


    But do I really need to upgrade any of them right now?


    In the nether-infested sector, I could hardly expect to encounter any enemy traps or locked doors. Only piercing strike bore immediate consideration. The ability could be advanced to the elite tier, consuming twenty-five more ability slots in the process.


    Yet I found myself hesitating.


    Piercing strike was a human form only ability, and there was no doubt in my mind that when it came to pure combat, my wolf form was superior. That made a piercing strike something of a liability, and as yet, my investment in piercing strike was minimal—the ability was at tier two and occupied only five Dexterity slots.


    All of which begged the question: was it time to stop investing in piercing strike?


    It is.


    It was better to change tack now rather than later. Instead of advancing piercing strike, I would acquire another Dexterity ability, one that was usable in both human and wolf forms.


    I turned back to the trap disarm and lockpicking ability tomes. Since I was not going to spend my Dexterity slots on piercing strike, I saw no reason not to acquire them now, and as utility abilities, it mattered less that they were only usable in human form.


    You have upgraded your trap disarm ability to greater trap disarm. The third tier of this ability allows you to deactivate tier 3 traps.


    You have upgraded your lockpick ability to greater lockpicking. The third tier of this ability allows you to open tier 3 locks.


    You have 26 of 142 Dexterity ability slots remaining.


    That was my abilities taken care of. Now for Ghost’s.


    The pyre wolf had only two upgradeable abilities—astral bite and draining bite—of which only one needed advancing—the death magic one. I didn’t need to consult Ghost on the matter either since this was something we’d discussed previously.


    Closing my eyes, I willed my intent to the Game.


    You have upgraded Ghost’s draining bite ability to superior draining bite. The third tier of this ability allows your familiar to leech 30% of the damage she inflicts from a single bite attack, restoring her own health in the process. You and Ghost have 70 of 85 Magic ability slots remaining.


    Upgrade complete. Class points remaining: 2.


    Ghost’s Class has advanced to rank 13.


    Perfect, I thought. Now to spend my attribute points. Turning my attention inward again, I relayed my choice to the Adjudicator.


    Your Mind has increased to rank 174. Other modifiers: +12 from items. Available ability slots: 18.


    Phew, that’s everything, I thought. Closing my eyes, I lay my head down on my pillow and finally let sleep claim me.