noct

208. Into the Fortress

The darkness swallowed them whole. When they next opened their eyes, they stood at the edge of a broad field. The sun shone down, and there wasn’t a hint of the fortress in sight.

“What the hell?” Ike muttered, looking around. In the distance, he could see other human figures, but they were too far away to make out anything else about them. There was no sign of his friends, not of Wisp, Mag, or even Shawn. He stood alone.

A voice sounded from overhead. It reverberated over t...

58. Where Was I?

A man strode forth from the oven. Dressed all in black, he stalked into the center of the square. Black boots, black trousers, black shirt, black coat, black cloak. His face blended into the shadows of his hood, and black gloves clad his hands. If he hadn’t spoken earlier, Levi wouldn’t have been able to determine his gender by looking at him.

“You, who are harbingers of the apocalypse. Die here, by my hand,” the man boomed.

“Gods, really?” Levi asked.

“Truly. ...

207. Arrive

Ike sensed the entrance before he saw it. A dark presence pressed on his senses, deep and foreboding. Coldness overcame him, even though they walked in the same bright, sunny day as before. Shivering, he ran his hands over his arms. What is that?

“Here!” Mag gestured them toward that cold, dark sensation.

Ike hesitated despite himself. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and his instincts screamed for him to flee. He turned to Wisp. Did she feel the same w...

57. Reunited at Last (And It Feels So Good)

The cannibals charged. Kai drew his sword, pulling the impractically large thing from over his shoulder with an overly-choreographed ease.

Levi charged out of the bush, racing for the cannibals. He grabbed the nearest one by the shoulder. Before they figured out what was happening, he stabbed them in the back. They gasped and fell, but Levi didn’t watch. His eyes were on the figure behind Kai. He broke out into a smile. “Reunited at long last! Slombie!”

The slombie turned. I...

206. Deeper

Mag led the way. Ike and Wisp followed. They didn’t need to discuss it, but both of them kept their eyes open, watching the forest around them for any tricks or traps. For all that, Mag led them right. He didn’t bring them to a monster’s den, or try to hop off a cliff where they couldn’t follow. The more earnest he was about it, the greater Ike’s anxiety grew. Was the thing he was leading them toward so dangerous that he didn’t need to trap them? Or rather, did he not want to trap...

205. Skill?

Ike held up a skill. He grinned—and then his face fell. A starburst of white pierced through the middle of the orb. Imperfect.

The Magpie King sidled up close to him. “You wanna know where to find the other half?”

“Half?” Ike was in the middle of tossing it away, but he held it back at the last second. He raised a brow, interested.

The Magpie King nodded. “That skill was considered so powerful that the clans over here split it into two. They hid both halves of th...

56. To The Village

The three of them continued on. Whenever they came across a cannibal patrol, Levi and Isa swiftly dispatched them. Levi added the lucky ones to the small army shambling behind them. By the time the cannibal village appeared through the forest, there were at least fifteen zombie cannibals following along after them.

Levi paused. He turned back. “Okay, here’s how it’s going to go. Zombies! Scatter.”

The zombies groaned. They wandered off, shuffling through the forest.

...

204. Dragon vs Storm

The blade and the dragon crashed. Dark purple and bright white light flashed. The white light instantly flared. It totally overwhelmed Ike, blotting him out to a shadow.

“Ike!” Wisp shouted, worried.

The white light flickered. Dark purple flashed through. Ike appeared from within the bright light, his teeth bared, sword meeting the dragon head-on. He battled it back, pushing it away.

The dragon roared. It drew back its head and struck again.

“Ha! Two can play at ...

55. A Wonderful Day for a Massacre

Levi took the lead. The Armalgam fidgeted on his back, eager to be used. Colin hurried after him, while Isa trailed, as usual. Still, she pressed her fingers to her lips, and every now and again, licked them thoughtfully.

“Cannibal village, time to die. Cannibal village, heads will fly. Cannibal village, won’t you be mine…” Levi sang along to a mysterious tune, sometimes humming rather than continuing the verses. Colin bobbed along to the tune. He knew he didn’t know it, but t...

203. I've Got This

Facing the projection, she threw her sword away and bared her clawed hands at it, as if to catch it bare-handed. In the next instant, her body shivered and bulged. A bulbous abdomen burst out from behind her, and four more legs arced out from her body. In the blink of an eye, a giant spider stood where Wisp had.

Ike instinctively flinched, but forced himself to keep looking. Wisp looked confident, but he didn’t understand why. Last time he’d checked, he was still stronger than her, ...

54, A Day with the Cannibals

Levi woke up to the warm light of the morning sun. He yawned and stretched, rolling over, only for his face to land in something soft and plump. Levi stiffened. Eyes still shut, he grabbed the thing. “Could it be? The legendary lucky awakening?”

“Er… Levi?”

He opened his eyes. Colin blinked down at him, his leg caught in Levi’s grasp. Isa sat on the other side of him, yawning widely. She gave him a smug look and laughed. “If that was my leg, you wouldn’t be calling...

202. Give Me Your Gold

The winged boy in red darted down at them, baring his formidable claws in their direction. Ike and Wisp drew their swords and charged. At the last second, Wisp rolled over the ground instead, throwing herself under the boy’s strike. Ike met it head on, while she jumped back up behind him. Leaping off the bones, she struck at his wings.

His wings glowed with red light, then turned to steel. Her sword bounced off the shiny feathers harmlessly. He swept his wings toward her, using their ...

53. Out the Other Side

They squeezed through the darkness for what felt like a small eternity to Colin, and about fifteen minutes to Isa and Levi. At last, they stepped out into a distant part of the forest. Isa led them on through the forest for another hour, before she finally led them over a hill and into a small gorge beneath it. There was a large tree in the gorge with a hollow at its base where it had long ago rotted away. The three of them cleared the leaves and wet rot out of the tree, then curled up in the...

201. Valley of Bones

At last, Ike shrugged. “I don’t think we can get through that undetected.”

“What’s telling you that?” Wisp drew off her wolfskin.

Before them spread a broad field. The field dipped and sank, rose and fell, but every single inch of it was covered in pure white bleached bones. All of them human. All of them very, very dead. A field of sharp-angled, pure white, as far as they could see.

With one exception. In the center of the field, silver, gold, and gems glittered...

52. Hiding Out

Past the cannibal village stood a vast forest. The three of them sped into it, the cannibals on their heels. Isa took the lead, sprinting along with the familiarity of a local. Left, right, left again, and then a hairpin turn at a rock outcropping that led them down a narrow pass between two rock faces. Levi held out his arm, and the Armalgam skittered off, along the top of the pass. He followed Isa into the valley lighter, without his favorite undead.

The fastest cannibals followed the...

200. Into the Forest

The water churned. Dark and dangerous, it swirled and eddied. Even in the depths, it still yanked Ike and Wisp every which way. The two of them clung to one another as they descended. They bounced off rocks and were churned over the bottom. Ike held his breath, eyes clenched shut. His chest began to burn. I need air! But…

An immense presence loomed over the surface of the water. It was within Rank 3, but it was incredibly powerful for Rank 3. Without a doubt, Ike knew he woul...

51. The Wall

The wall of cannibals rushed toward them. The three of them rushed toward that wall. In the lead, Levi threw his hand forward. The Armalgam perked up on his back. It grabbed onto him, swung back, then threw itself forward, spinning sidelong like a loosed Ferris wheel with blades and killing intent. It crashed into the crowd. Blood spurted, and heads flew. Handy snaked out, grabbing onto a passing man by his head. It used him as a pole to swing the rest of the Armalgam around. The man’s neck...

199. Magpie King

“Who dares enter the territory of the Magpie King?”

Birds rose out of the trees, so thick and dense that they blacked out the sun. Their shadow eclipsed Ike and Wisp. The beat of their wings pulsed against their skin and rattled the surface of the water. The envelope of the parachute trembled with their wingbeat, threatening to collapse in on itself.

“Storm Clad!” Ike shouted. The storm swirled around him. Wisp flinched back, her grip slipping. Ike pushed it over her as we...

50. Floor Three

The tunnel arced up. Light shone at its end, bouncing off the walls to faintly reach them.  Although many of the previous areas had been dimly lit, the light that shone down ahead of them appeared bright, full of warmth and vigor. Maybe a little too much warmth and vigor, in fact. As they approached the top of the tunnel, heat bore down on them. Levi wiped his brow. He squinted toward the light. After so long in dim and dark settings, even that much light was too much for him. “Is ther...

198. Across the Mountains Again

They quickly crossed the mountains. The desert was a bit hot, but largely uninteresting. Flat. Dry. Immense. No one lived there, and the majority of animal life seemed to agree with that assessment. Ike and Wisp ran at speed, trading off Shawn as they ran. Sand flew up behind them, drawing a singular line through the empty wastes. The sun burned down, shimmering in waves all around them. When the sun fell, a deep chill replaced the searing heat. The three of them ran on, through day and night...

49. This World's End

A/N: For those subscribed to both tiers, look forward to Skill Hunter returning tomorrow!

Levi stared at her. He frowned, then tilted his head. “Man. After all that buildup, I really thought it was going to be something dramatic.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “It’s more than just that. I’ll take it that you’ve heard of the apocalypse. Which takes us to Kuja’s theory. As he watched his fellow fishmen lose their minds, as he felt his own slowly deterio...

48. Death of a Boss

Kuja’s body sunk deeper into the water. His head vanished under the surface of the water. All at once, the earth below him gave way, and he fell backward, sucked into the depths.

“Wait, stop—ah, dammit. Well, one’s better than none.” Levi looked at the arm he’d grabbed, then at the hand toward it. Green-black energy still swirled around it. He waved his hand, dismissing the undead energy back into the air. He hadn’t needed the beam, in the end. Better to dismiss it, so he ...

47. Fish VS Necromancer

The fishman and the necromancer clashed. Muddy water flew. The two of them punched at one another, meeting one another head on. A second before their fists met, Levi dropped to the ground. Kuja’s fist flew over him. From his prone position, the Armalgam slashed at the fishman’s wrist.

Blue blood flowed. Behind Levi, Kuja’s punch hit the ground. A deep hole opened in the ground behind him. Water gushed into it, filling it with darkness.

Levi rolled over. Mud immediately coate...

46. Water Boss

The water churned. A huge shadow loomed in the mists, obscured by the darkness and the low clouds. Beneath their feet, the ground trembled. Waves washed over it, and the earth itself shook. Puddles of water welled up on its surface, and the consistency grew soft and muddy.

Levi craned his neck forward, but from here to the next flag, and from where he stood to where the mist closed in behind them, there was nothing but sloppy, wet path. “We’re fighting on quicksand, then. But don’...

45. Frog Legs Are a Delicacy But Have You Tried Frog Arms

Levi and his undead frogmen charged. Compared to the living frogmen, their numbers were few, but unlike the living frogmen, they felt no pain, nor were they bounded by the limitations of their bodies. The living frogmen hesitated to strike them, but they didn’t hesitate to strike their once-allies. With his fresh frogmen zombies on his side, Levi quickly turned the tides on his side of the path. The frogmen retreated, rushing into deep water. His zombies lurched after them, but Levi snapped...

44. Swamps Don't Have to Poison You

The mist clung close to them, growing into a thick fog. Levi squinted ahead, struggling to see the next tree. He glanced at Isa. She walked on, confident of the route. Shrugging, he followed her.

Something splashed nearby. He whipped around. Something flickered in the water near them, not a shark fin, but large enough to be one. It vanished before he could get a good look at it. He flicked his fingers and called the Triple Shark to investigate. It swam over, but found nothing but a stra...

43. Fishing with Live (?) Bait

V-shaped ripples closed in on the slombie. Fins poked through the surface of the water at the apex of those Vs. A tail slapped the surface of the water, and then a fat green-and-brown shark with snaggled teeth and long catfish-like whiskers leaped out of the water, jaws agape.

“A catshark. Those are nasty,” Isa commented.

“What is that, half catfish, half shark?” Levi gestured, sending his mana out to the skeleton. The skeleton’s eyes glittered as he took direct control....

197. Onward

Ike, Wisp, and Shawn walked on, leaving the city behind. Ike clapped. “So, where are we going?”

“Somewhere good for training,” Wisp said immediately.

“Right, which would be…?”

She thought for a second. “The place where I grew up has a lot of beasts, and many warring sects. It’s higher realm than this area, but as long as we don’t go around conquering cities, no one’s going to bother us. I think we could both level up if we went there.”

“Oh yea...

42. Floor Two

Day passed into night. Levi took a break to sleep, while Isa and Colin watched the lone unblocked entrance. When day came again, Levi dusted himself off and climbed to his feet. “Alright. That’s enough farming. Let’s keep moving. Go get our hands on some loot!”

“Won’t that man have taken out the first level’s floor boss already, though? The one who walked off yesterday. He had plenty of time to do it,” Isa pointed out. “It doesn’t respawn that quickly.”

Beami...

196. Relics

This time, when Ike woke, he woke alone. He yawned and stretched, then slowly climbed out of bed. As opposed to the previous time he’d woken, he felt perfectly refreshed and reinvigorated. Some of the energy from the root lingered in his body, absorbing into it slowly. He walked to the window and peered out.

Sunlight spread over the town. It glittered on the bits of quartz stuck in the rock walls of the other homes. An empty street stretched before him, idyllically quiet. Ike sighed, ...