Ascension of the Primalist [A Tamer Class, LitRPG]

'Do you still think that was a good idea?' Seth asked, still lying on the ground, trying to catch his breath.

'We could’ve won,' Nightmare muttered with a low growl, his ribcage gulping up and down. 'It got a hit in on me for free at the start.'

Seth blinked and lifted his head from the ground, unsure at first that he’d heard Nightmare correctly. That’s unexpected.

The direwolf never usually admitted a mistake or showed any criticism toward himself. He’d typically blame external factors—enemy attributes, the environment, their cowardly tactics. But this time, he was reflecting on his own error: using Shadow Step early on had left him vulnerable against the imp to counter him with its superior Agility.

'I won't let that happen again,' Nightmare grumbled, raising back on its paw. 'Start another fight.'

Seth sighed and pushed himself up. "Let's at least wait for our Wells to be—" He froze mid-sentence, his eyes going wide as he scanned his Well. It was already seventy percent full. How? He’d used half of it in its punch, a bit less than a tenth for Shadow Step, and almost a sixth for both casts of Huntbound Rush. That meant it had filled up by forty-five percent in barely a few minutes. "The regeneration rate here is insane!"

'Even better,' Nightmare snarled. 'Summon that tiny demon again.'

Seth frowned. "Why are you so pissed? We lost against a High-Iron, for the gods' sake."

'I’m the one who got blasted by that huge lance of flames,' the direwolf retorted, avoiding his gaze. 'You saw how it hit me and changed your approach. That's not fair.'

"Hey, you're the one who rushed in first," Seth answered with a shrug, throwing his hands up. "Maybe next time, don’t charge headlong at something twice our Rank. We could've kept our distance and worn down that imp's Well first. Or do short clashes like we did against that Warrior with the ax in the Rift."

Nightmare lowered his muzzle, thinking for a few seconds before answering, 'Yeah… let's try that!'

"Good." Seth nodded and returned to the orb, putting a hand on its surface while infusing aether inside. A message appeared within the crystal artifact.

Delay before the next fight: 5 minutes 36 seconds.

Well, that gives us time to finish filling our Well, he thought, showing the timer to the direwolf through their bond. And also to learn that other spell.

Reaching into his Endless Pouch, Seth pulled out his Intermediate Identify scroll before stroking its ironish seal with his thumb. For the past day, he had thought about using it, but he never found the right moment after his match and reunion with Elena, Jenna, and Devus.

As he crushed the seal and squeezed the scroll, aether surged through his hand and dove into his chest. The parchment crumbled into dust and at the same time a heat flared within Seth's Well. Inside, new grooves began etching themselves into existence, intertwining with Identify's existing ones. The carving process continued for a minute like for Huntbound Rush, steadily expanding until the spell reached half Fog Shroud's size.

Time to test it, Seth thought, channeling aether into the old and new lines. The process felt sluggish compared to before, taking him nearly five seconds to complete the task. The moment he finished, he glanced at his hand.