noct

244. Big Hits

Relin’s fist smashed into Ike’s shoulder. As it struck, Ike activated the skill. His shoulder went limp as her fist hit, and the rest of his body followed. The shockwave from her punch traveled through his body, and the limpness traveled with it. He was only limp where he needed to be to absorb the force of her punch, rather than full body limp.

It hurt. It hurt more than going limp would. But it hurt far less than taking the blow would normally, and he took very little damage overa...

243. Surge of Strength

Ike and Relin carried huge bags full of caltrops and carefully scattered them across the field. Ike noted the locations where they’d spread their traps carefully. As long as he memorized their locations, he could safely fight in this field, while tricking his opponents into the traps. As long as they’re able to be injured by traps like this. He snorted at himself and shook his head. No point being so pessimistic about it before it happened.

“Heyo. How’s it going?”

242. Preparing For the Next Round

Ike showed Wisp to the river. She quickly set about making herself at home, testing the various trees’ strength for use as the primary poles of her future web. He watched her work for a while, but when he realized he was useless, he set off back to the castle. For a while, he helped the smiths with making the traps. He couldn’t forge metal or work with their heavy tools, but he could bend thick wires around one another to form caltrops. With his strength, it didn’t even hurt his fingers...

241. Reinforcements

There was a round room just off the battlements with arrow-slit windows pointing in all directions. Ike had no idea what the purpose of it was, but it was big enough to fit the four of them, and it had a table, so he snatched a tapestry off the wall and splayed it out over the table, back-up, to scribble a quick map of the area.

“Here’s what I saw with Mag,” he said, pushing it toward the group.

There were three main features scrawled on the map. One was the river, where he�...

240. Smells Like Bacon

It had seemed simple to Ike. If he couldn’t cut through the pigwoman, then why bother cutting at all? There was more than one way to skin a cat… or in this case, cook a pig. If he couldn’t butcher her, why not fry her?

Holding his breath, he looked at the pigwoman. She looked rough. Her skin was blackened, and her hair was frazzled. The smell of crispy bacon filled the air. In fact, it even smelled like burned bacon. The pigwoman’s fat leaked out of her wounds, running down her ...

239. It's Electric!

“Yeah? What do you need?” Wisp asked.

“Listen…” Ike explained his plan to her. At the end, he paused. “And can you get Mag over here? We’re going to need an extra layer of distraction.”

“You going to be good on your own for a bit?”

“I can handle her for this long.”

Wisp whistled. “Whoo-ee, big boy. You were just complaining about your swords being short a minute ago, and now you think you can handle her?”

Ike narrowed his eyes in Wisp�...

238. Now or Never

Ike struck.

His blade flashed upward. A fierce wall of sword energy flew out. All the power he’d gathered surged, pouring into that one strike. It raced toward the spear and cut into its shaft.

The giant pine split in two. It flew upward, both pieces falling apart from one another. The halves were still bound into the spearhead, but loosely, and now the whole contraption was off-target. It hared off to the right and slammed down into the forest, totally missing the castle.

237. A Whole Regiment

Ike raced toward Wisp’s voice. The boarmen loomed in the forest, each at least as large as the one Ike had dueled. This time, he wasted no time. Ike activated Storm Clad and tightened his grip on the sword. The closest boarman turned toward him, but too slow. Ike leaped into the air. In a flash of purple lightning, he cut the boar’s head clean off its throat.

The second he activated Storm Clad, all the fatigue he’d accumulated up until that point vanished. The surge of aether wash...

236. The Monsters Attack

The earth shook. A huge shadow loomed in between the trees. All the other boarmen had been piglets compared to this monstrosity. His form rippled with muscle. His serrated tusks thrust feet from his trembling jowls. Bristles jutted up from his face, and his beady eyes were shot with blood. His nose was wrinkled in rage.

Those bloodshot black eyes landed on Ike, and the boar let out a long, slow huff. Somehow, all its pent-up rage echoed in that huff. It pawed the earth with one of its l...

235. The Monsters Arrive

The members of the Old Guard ran to the ramparts. They stood in a sharp line, waiting for something. Relin stepped out in front of them, hands behind her back. She looked them over. “You all know what to expect. Prepare yourselves for death, and fight with everything you have!”

Ike cleared his throat. “Actually… can you guys operate the weapons on the battlements? We’ll be the ones out there fighting.”

Relin startled. She looked at him. “Are you sure? If you die, the...

234. What Now?

Wisp cleared her throat. She looked down at the crowd gathered outside the gates, deliberately not looking at Ike. “What happens if I don’t bring the boss out?”

“We’ll leave. And you wouldn’t want to miss out on us. We’re the most powerful mercenaries in this whole region. If you don’t recruit us, you’ll lose for sure!”

Ike raised his brows. That’s pretty sketchy, even if I put aside this trial’s usual level of deceptiveness.

He leaned in tow...

233. Castles in the Ground

The third castle, like the second, was still rising when he arrived. He gazed up at it, hands on his hips. Was it Rufus, or was it Vi? Either way, he had to be on his guard. Compared to Scar, he trusted them far less, and likewise, they trusted him less. They might attack as soon as see him. He didn’t expect negotiations to go as easily as they did with Scar. No, rather, he didn’t expect negotiations to go well at all. But it was nonetheless worth trying. Even if they said no, they might ...

232. Second Castle

The second castle wasn’t far, when he was running at the top of his speed. He didn’t bother activating Lightning Dash, but it didn’t matter. Now that he was Rank 3, his ordinary speed already cut the distance between the two castles down to almost nothing. He reached the castle’s gates before the castle even finished pushing up out of the ground. The towers shook and stone ground as it rumbled into the sky. Standing at its foot, Ike watched it rise. He had to admit, it was impressive....

231. Fortifications

“Good morning. How’s it going?” Ike greeted the final two members of Relin’s troupe. By elimination, these two had to be Mars and Nett, though he had no idea which was which, just from looking at them. One was a tall woman and the other was a short man, and at a glance, he couldn’t guess their jobs, either. Maybe they’re fighters. So far, all the others had been builders, fixers, engineers, mages with skills in support. Relin certainly looked like a fighter, so maybe thes...

230. How Do You Work?

“So… how do you guys work?” Ike asked.

Fflyn blinked. “What?”

“You’re part of this trial, right? Like that young man I had a conversation with in the dinner trial. What are you? How do you work? Are you a spirit, like, I don’t know, a mountain spirit of some sort? Some kind of land-bound spirit?”

Shawn peeked over his shoulder. “He isn’t a mountain spirit.”

Fflyn smiled mysteriously. He lifted his fingers in front of his mouth and crossed them i...

229. Castle Standing

Sunlight beamed down. Ike blinked it away, supremely unused to bright sunlight after so long in the centipede caves. He stepped out onto rough-hewn stone. The blocks were worn down the center of the path, where hundreds of people had walked before him. There were little flattened pits here and there along the battlements where guards had stood, and strange marks where something had once been bolted in. Maybe a spell formation, or some kind of mage ballista. Now, they all stood empty. Nothing ...

76. Dying Again

Colin stood over Levi. He grabbed at the pieces, lost. “Levi. Levi!”

The familiar sensation of blood and life leaking out of him came over Levi. He tried to smile, but couldn’t. It’s alright. I’ve done it before, he tried to say, but his lips wouldn’t move.

Darkness descended. A wave of relief washed over Levi. This time was final. He’d never have to do it again. The world might not end, though he wouldn’t put money on that. Either way, Vox had no more rea...

228. A Trap

The sharp object surged toward them. It filled up the entire cavern, its sharp tip centered on the cave, but if they stood still, it would crush them as it passed anyways.

Wisp’s arm tightened around Ike. She ran up the wall and threw them both into the first cave she came to. The object hurtled past, surging up toward the ceiling of the cave. It pierced through and went going.

Behind the sharp object, a huge… something flew up after it. It moved so fast it was a blur...

75. Kill is Mine

Kai stared at Levi. Levi stared at Kai.

“…So, are you betraying Vox, or are we both fighting him together?” Levi asked.

Kai thought for a moment, then nodded. “Let’s take him out.”

“Oh, really?”

“I don’t like you, but he’s delusional.”

“You think I’m not delusional? Kai!” Levi clasped his hands to his chest, touched.

“I never said that,” Kai replied flatly.

Levi stepped up beside Kai. He sobered. “He’s still too p...

227. Absorb!

Ike clenched the skill tight. Bright light swirled around his fist, and the skill poured into his body, warm and right. He drew it into his core and circulated his aether, unable to entirely quash his nervousness. The last thing he needed was to get bloated right here, in the middle of a dangerous dungeon. But the number one thing he needed right now was a defensive skill.

If I get bloated, I’ll deal with it! Ike tensed, preparing.

Softness washed over him. Rel...

74. A Question of Scale

Levi slashed open the giant’s jugular. Blood blasted off, so fiercely pressurized that even Levi, fully braced between the Spinal Cord and Handy, flew off. He tumbled across the ground, pushed along by the firehose of blood. Levi rolled with it rather than fighting it. When the force petered out, he completed one more loop and came to his feet. He stood at a distance, wary. He’d slit the monster’s throat, but it had a lot of blood. Just by the volume of its body, it would have longer to...

226. Drop, Hop

Wisp plunged. Ike waited, his sword at the ready. Shawn’s weight clung to her. He’d always been on the inside before, but from the outside, it was far clearer than he’d expected. Her expression grew strained, and her muscles and tendons stood out on her body as she struggled to hold Shawn’s weight. The air shimmered around her, too, as if it were on the verge of collapsing under her and Shawn’s combined weight.

Down below, Ike circulated his aether. He strengthened his body an...

225. Centipede

Mag reached the centipede grubs first. He transformed into his beast form in midair and swooped the grubs, snatching up fistfuls in his claws and flapping back up into the air. Seconds later, Wisp struck. She tossed webs left and right as she landed, the silk blanketing the squirming grubs and binding them up. Midair, she transformed into her spider form, spindly legs, bulbous body, and all, and directly started chewing through the grubs she hadn’t bound up.

Beating at the air, Mag ho...

73. Sometimes, You Have to Get Down on the Ground and Roll in the Dirt

Hand-over-Handy, unhooking the Spinal Cord just to hook it in higher, Levi crawled up the giant’s back. Down below, Kai slashed at its feet. He darted in and dealt a heavy blow to its pinky, one clearly meant to sever the appendage. At the last second, the giant flinched back, and his blow just split the boss’s toenail instead.

The boss roared in pain.

Levi glanced down. “Honestly? That’s worse than losing the toe.”

The monster’s back tensed. It bent its knees, t...