Ike wandered over, mingling with the crowd. He didn’t want to draw the girl in the rose dress’ attention, but at the same time, he was curious what she was doing with Silver. For that matter, why’s she even in the Outpost? She should be up in the upper city, not out here on the very edg...
2024-04-24 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostFor the first time in several months, Ike stepped inside the wall. He made a beeline for the monster-parts-buyer. The chill of the room cooled his skin, a welcome relief from the late-summer heat.
Behind the counter, Lea startled at the sight of him. “You’re still alive?”
“You...
2024-04-23 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostIke woke up to the gentle light of dawn and the twitter of birdsong. He sat up, rubbing his head, and looked around. Silver snoozed on his bed in cat form, and, half-propped up in the corner, Orin snored away, one arm slung around an earthenware jug. Ike chuckled.
“He really did live up t...
2024-04-22 14:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostAbsorb!
The skill burst with light. Power swirled around Ike, then poured into him. Instantly, heat overwhelmed him. He took a deep breath, struggling to restrain the mana rushing through his body. It burned in his veins and struck his core with a sharp, piercing force. Ike pushed ...
2024-04-21 23:56:48 +0000 UTC View PostThat night, they sat around the outdoor fire, sharing Orin’s roasted redbird. Ike chewed quietly, musing on his change in situation as he ate, surrounded by two members of a Rank 3 party. A few months ago, I was a powerless slumrat barely scraping by. Now I’m a hunter, with monster kills ...
2024-04-20 16:29:14 +0000 UTC View Post“Rise. I’ll teach you the sword skill.”
Ike squinted at Silver, then looked at the ground all around him. “Where’s the skill orb?”
“After your body adapts to the motions, then you get the orb,” Silver said sternly.
“That doesn’t make any—”
Sil...
2024-04-19 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Absorb!”
Light shone around Ike’s fist, but only for a moment, far shorter than the Salamander Healing orb had shone, and much, much shorter than Lightning Dash. The light poured into Ike’s arm, and a surge of mana reinforced his core, but only a small one.
He checked his ski...
2024-04-18 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostNight settled slowly over the forest. Ike laid on the forest floor, buried in leaves. He watched the bone pile.
Nothing yet. The owl had yet to hunt.
Ike breathed slowly, absorbing the mana in the forest as he waited. He practiced the forearm technique whenever he had enough mana to b...
2024-04-17 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostNight fell. Spring peepers, crickets, and cicadas sang from the long grasses along the edge of the water. Fireflies blinked along the shoreline. Overhead, a bat swooped, snatching up mosquitoes and other waterbugs. A family of deer wandered up to the water to drink and graze. The mother lifted he...
2024-04-16 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Who are you? Why are you looking for me?”
“Orin sent me,” Ike said quickly.
Silver’s eyes narrowed. He flicked his wrist again, and the water’s pull grew stronger. A whirlpool opened up behind Ike. Immense force pulled him toward the whirlpool. “What does he want?” 2024-04-15 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
With Cara and Orin’s help, Ike carried the monster parts back to the shop and exchanged them for gold. The monster gave fewer gold than the Salamander, but he’d expected that. Walking away with thirty gold in his pockets, he mused over everything he’d learned.
He’d cleaned up the li...
2024-04-14 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe mantis swung. Its claws hurtled toward Ike’s neck from either side.
“Now!” Ike shouted. He dropped to the ground and shut his eyes.
A bright flash filled the room, so bright his eyelids turned pink. The mantis shrieked. Its claws slammed home, but not into Ike. They buried d...
2024-04-13 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostGrumpy, Ike looked up. “What now?”
An old lady smiled down at him. Cara tilted her head, grinning a little. “Orin managed to recruit you for this one, huh? After ending up with Joseph’s crew…it’s like you seek out the worst jobs.”
“Ha…haha,” Ike said sarcastically....
2024-04-12 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostAs he walked, Ike looked at his arms. The axe swing had only had his own strength behind it, not any mana-enhancement. The Lightning Grasp skill enhanced his hand speed, but not his arm strength.
I can’t remain in this state, using Lightning Dash and Grasp, but not enhancing my whole ...
2024-04-11 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostBack in the outpost, Ike finally dared to stop. He stood, wiping his mouth, and looked behind him. The road back to the slum stood empty, save a few stray hunters.
He let out a sigh of relief. They hadn’t chased him. He was safe.
What was I thinking, mouthing off to that girl? <...
2024-04-10 15:00:46 +0000 UTC View PostA shrill scream cut through the silence. The bandits whirled, taken by surprise. Wraiths rushed toward them. Black robes whirled as they closed in on Ike and the bandits.
The instant the bandits turned away, Ike activated Lightning Dash with every scrap of mana he had left. He leaped over t...
2024-04-09 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostIke sped along the wall. The dark forms chased silently after him. He ran faster, the Salamander’s tail banging against his back. Without any visible exertion of effort, they followed. The forms drifted on a wind only they could feel, one that blew them closer and closer to Ike.
The neare...
2024-04-08 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostAt daybreak, Ike headed out. He flashed his badge at the gate, and the guards didn’t look twice. Following the path from the day before, he found his way back to the Salamander’s pit. Sandra’s axe sat beside the body where he’d left it. Hefting the axe, Ike chopped another segment off the...
2024-04-08 02:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: I've changed the title from "With Lightning Speed" to "Skill Hunter." Sorry for the inconvenience! The next few chapters will be tagged with both, but future chapters will only be tagged Skill Hunter. Thank you for your patience!
Heat under Ike’s rear woke him. He startled, patting a...
2024-04-06 16:43:39 +0000 UTC View PostThe skill orb that had rolled out of the Salamander’s mouth burst with light. A pulse of mana travelled up his arm and into his core, reinforcing it. His whole body tingled, pins and needles bursting out.
Rare Skill Obtained: Salamander Healing
[Name: Ike | ...
2024-04-06 00:56:26 +0000 UTC View PostBack into the kitchen. Levi led Amythest out behind the kitchen, into the store room, right next to the refrigerator. He pulled up a chair and helped Amythest to a sit. She slumped in the chair, exhausted.
Levi patted her on the shoulder. “Deep, slow breaths, okay? It’s okay to sleep. L...
2024-04-05 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostRed clouded up from the Salamander’s mouth. Ike tumbled down a hot, humid tube, falling toward the Salamander’s stomach. Barely conscious, he lashed out and pressed out with all four limbs, clawing into the soft tissues of its throat. His razor was gone, vanished somewhere into the Salamander...
2024-04-04 23:08:21 +0000 UTC View PostAs the others closed in on the Salamander, hopping down ring after ring to rush in, the smaller ponds trembled. One after another, they erupted, but this time, more than water flew out. Small red salamanders, about as large as kittens, burst out with the water. They slapped down onto the ground a...
2024-04-04 02:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostIke leaned against a wall, watching the gate. Hunters and adventurers wandered in and out, flashing their badges. He tapped his fingertips against his arm, impatient, as the faint light of dawn grew brighter and brighter.
At last, the party wandered into view, Joseph yawning and stretching,...
2024-04-03 02:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostAs the sun set the next day, Ike headed into town, a fresh bag of bodies over his shoulder. Three silver clinked in his bag, the results of the previous afternoon’s and this morning’s hunting. In two days, he’d made up for all his years of work under his uncle’s thumb. Ike still struggled...
2024-04-02 02:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostAfter selling the corpses off to a farmer and spending a night in his stables, Ike headed back toward the slums, wary of spending too long away. The danger of triggering his uncle’s suspicion was too much to risk. All the way back, he kept practicing forcing Lightning Dash through his hand, hol...
2024-04-01 02:48:40 +0000 UTC View Post[Welcome to the System]
The panel vanished, and aside from the filth and the lightness of his body, no evidence remained that Ike had activated the System at all.
Ike’s eyes widened. He grinned. Everything could come true now. All his dreams. Becoming an adventurer....
2024-03-30 19:43:59 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: RELATED NOTE to my pursuit of perfection: If anyone wants to be beta and get access to EVERYTHING I've written so far, lmk! This does come with a caveat: You have to have actual critical commentary that's useful to me and from a reader's perspective, aka my choosing criteria is going to be b...
2024-03-29 02:47:47 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Hello, everyone! This is my new work, the one that's taking the place of GML. I wanted to get the first chapter out to you, so that you can decide if you want to stick around for the ride. I'm not sure when it's launching on Royal Road, so spread the word if you're enjoying it. For now, I'm...
2024-03-27 21:13:48 +0000 UTC View PostLinnea clapped sarcastically. “Congrats on reaching the second floor! And it only took three hours.”
“Oh, shut it, you,” Oz murmured, too pleased to be bothered by it. He turned his hand around, admiring the gold ring around his wrist. The gold light quickly faded to black, becoming...
2024-03-19 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post