Ike woke with the break of dawn. He sat up, pushing a heavy wolf off his chest, and stretched. Smacking his lips, he looked around, mind and vision still hazy with sleep.
Right. I forgot to ask Ket about my foundation.
He stared out the window into early dawn.
Oh we...
2024-06-24 14:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post“So? What is it?” Ike asked again.
Ket’s face turned serious. He put his hand on the rings again, and sent a huge pulse of mana into them. They all began to glow, then tremble. Abruptly, the first one lifted off the table, then another, then another. All the rings floated in the air, ...
2024-06-23 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThey ran around the forest that day, chasing after Wisp’s nose. One after another, the bloated monsters fell under Ike and Loup’s prowess, while Wisp ate the evidence, sans the rings. Ike collected the rings over one shoulder. Two, three, four, more and more rings piled up. Most of them had t...
2024-06-22 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostIke closed in on the sloth. Lightning chased him, and Loup chased the lightning. The sloth’s eyes glittered. It swiped at him again, its blazing-fast claws closing in on Ike.
Ike laughed. “You didn’t think that was as fast as I could go, did you?” He pushed off the ground and closed...
2024-06-21 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostIke sat in the tree, waiting. He leaned his head back against the trunk and dozed a bit, one leg dangling from the branch. Loup lay below him, completely flat against the ground. Wisp lounged on a thick branch. From here, he couldn’t see if her eyes were open or not. Her boneless pose and gener...
2024-06-20 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostLoup stopped at last. She sniffed the ground, then looked at Ike. Abruptly, she sat.
“Here?” Ike asked. He kneeled, looking for tracks, scat, or some other indication a beast had passed through. The reeds were trampled, and the undergrowth had been torn up. He stepped deeper into the fo...
2024-06-19 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostIke shook his head at Wisp. Giving up, he settled down and turned to the lake. “There’s some monster out there?”
“There’s lots of monsters out there.” Wisp reached to her hip. A small pellet appeared in her palm. She lobbed it out into the center of the lake.
Before the pe...
2024-06-18 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostIke retraced his steps and arrived at Wisp’s domain before the sun was high in the sky. He twanged a piece of the web and waited at the edge of the webs.
A smaller spider, about the size of a dog, crept up behind him. Loup whirled around and pounced playfully toward it. The spider darted ...
2024-06-17 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostKet was the first to break the silence. He laughed. “You spoke to Will o’ the Wisp?”
Ike nodded slowly. “Uh… yeah? She was pretty normal. I mean, she ate a bunch of spiders, but—”
“She’s a maneater. No one who sees her survives,” Tana said, startled.
“Hi,...
2024-06-16 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIke knocked on the door to Ket’s manor. “Ket?”
The door opened. No one stood in the hallway.
Ike blinked. He looked around, then peeked inside. I guess I’m being invited in? He stepped into the hall tentatively, ready to jump back out if something attacked.
Noth...
2024-06-15 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostPower flowed into his core. Ike evened his breathing, carefully regulating his mana. Unlike with River-Splitting Sword, there was little difficulty in absorbing the skill. It evenly merged into his core with just a shiver.
So… what did that give me? He called up his skills.
Ike charged toward the tree. He activated all his skills. Lightning Clad, Lightning Grasp, Lightning Dash. He closed in on the tree in a flash of purple-white light.
Bark flew and wood creaked. The tree swung all its branches at Ike, almost tipping over. Its freed roots braced its weight ag...
2024-06-13 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostIke yelped. He crashed to the ground. Instinctively, he reached for his ankle. His fingertips scratched against a rough vine.
A vine? Ike lifted his head, searching for the vine’s source. At the same time, he scrabbled at his hip for his sword.
The vine dragged him across t...
2024-06-12 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostIke crossed the forest quickly, familiar with the route back to the puppets. The day drew down around him, the sun nearing the horizon by the time he came to the cliff. He glanced up at the sky, noting how long it was until dark, then nodded to himself. I’ll tap one puppet today. If it work...
2024-06-11 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIke charged toward the wolf spider. The huge spider jumped, startled, but not overly concerned. It lifted a foot, aiming to squash him.
Ha. How the tables have turned.
A shadow fell over Ike. The foot hurtled toward his head.
Ike kicked off the ground. Lightning crackle...
2024-06-10 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostIke finished absorbing all the mana from Rosamund’s head and put it back away in his bag. The herb Wisp had added had notably changed the tenor of the mana. Normally, it felt dark, thick, almost, but this time, it felt light, smooth. Better. Almost like the mana he absorbed from monste...
2024-06-09 14:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Hey.”
Ike whirled. Spreading his legs in a desperate attempt to hide Rosamund’s head, he lifted his sword, pointing it toward the speaker.
A girl a little younger than him stood before him. Red eyes gazed into his. Her black hair was wild, her pale skin filthy. Her clothes were...
2024-06-08 14:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostIke checked the rest of Orin’s book, but found nothing else in the vicinity of the Abyss with a description that included breaking through metal or hard objects. He sighed, tucking the book away. It was possible that there were creatures that could bite through porcelain that weren’t listed i...
2024-06-07 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostIke held his breath. Staring at a hundred dolls, all lined up and perfectly still, he waited, watching them for any sign of movement.
Nothing. Not a twitch. Not so much as a blink or a breath. They stood, facing him, absolutely motionless.
He released his breath. Good. Just standi...
2024-06-06 14:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostBack out in the forest, Ike couldn’t help but feel safer than he had in the city. He ran a hand over the back of his neck. The air of defeat and self-destruction in there… I’m surprised Tana managed to grow up so normal. In the forest, everything wanted to kill him, but they were a...
2024-06-05 14:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostThe back garden of Ket’s manor had a gate at its far rear that let out into the back streets. Ike headed out, travelling light for the day. He’d left the majority of his gear behind. Today was a scouting run to find out how dangerous the monsters were around Abyssal. Maybe make a few kills if...
2024-06-04 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostIke sat back, patting his stomach. The chicken stew warmed him from within. An herbal flavor floated on his tongue, perfectly balancing the gaminess of the rooster. Whatever Ket had done, it had improved the total amount of mana in the stew. The rooster had already been rich, but the herbs accent...
2024-06-03 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Tana!” Ike rapped on her door with his knuckles.
“Yes?” she asked.
“Stew’s ready!”
“Oh! I’ll be right down.”
Ike retreated down the stairs with Loup, his mind still caught in his thoughts. He glanced over his shoulder at Tana’s door. Tana wasn’t ju...
2024-06-02 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostIke headed down the stairs to the kitchen, Loup at his heels. He came out into a cozy stone space. Herbs hung overhead in bunches. Bottles of oil and wine sat along the wall at the rear of the countertop. Ket worked over an open fire at the back of the room, stewing the chicken in a wine-based sa...
2024-06-01 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostInstead of the musty old building he’d expected from his first entrance, Ike found himself climbing the stairs of a fine manor up to the bedroom. A lush red carpet stretched under his feet. Narrow windows gazed out at the town, where moonlight silvered rooftops and faintly lit the streets. On t...
2024-05-31 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe closer they got, the taller the walls loomed overhead. A pair of guards stood outside the gate, each one emitting a Rank 1 aura. Ike eyed them, a little hesitant, then edged a little closer to Ket and Tana. Good thing I ran into these two. I would’ve had a hard time getting through the ...
2024-05-30 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAs Ket had said, the sun was low in the sky when he pushed back a branch to reveal the town. Ike startled, a little taken aback. Even though Ket and Tana had forewarned him that it was smaller than the enormous city and undercity he’d grown up in, it was still surprising to see how small it tru...
2024-05-29 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostNo way.
A thousand doll bodies lined up below him. All of them looked exactly as Rosamund had after she’d degraded, at least in their base form. Smooth porcelain. Ball joints. Their eyes shut, they stood in perfect ranks. Their faces differed, as did their hair, but they all wore...
2024-05-28 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostKet led them through the forest, Tana close at his heels. He followed a path that Ike would have never found on his own. It carved through the forest, twisting and turning. Sometimes, the ground beneath their feet was bare, well-trod by people or beasts. Sometimes, Ket wound his way through a kno...
2024-05-27 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIke stepped back. He let the two of them in, out of the storm. Loup looked at him, then lowered her hackles and quieted, falling in at his heel.
Tana lowered her hood, and Ket followed her example a moment later. Their strange inverse eyes gazed at Ike, while their oiled hoods dripped on th...
2024-05-26 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post