noct

76. Fighting a Tree

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 against the ground’s surface, while the still-buried roots dragged at the deep earth. A tree’s worth of wood plunged toward Ike.

Ike looked up. With his enhanced senses, the branches seemed to...

75. Defenses

Ike 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 the floor. A huge tree stood opposite him. It was as broad as Ike was tall, but barely more than ten feet tall. Huge, thick branches zig-zagged from the stumpy trunk. Each one was about as wide as a no...

74. Tapping Puppets

Ike 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 works, I’ll come back tomorrow to tap the rest.

The metal ring sat in his pack, next to Rosamund’s head. He’d been hesitant putting the two in such close proximity, but when he’d tried ...

73. Wolf Spider

Ike 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 crackled after him. He dashed under the giant spider. The monster’s foot struck the ground. It lifted it and found nothing. Confused, the spider turned, looking for Ike.

Under the monster’s body, I...

72. Spider Time

Ike 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 monster meat. Ike rubbed his core. Whatever that was, I like it.

Behind him, the squelching and cracking sounds slowed. Wisp walked up beside him, licking scraps of greenish-yellow ichor off ...

71. Definitely Spiders

“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 tattered, held together by more white spider thread than cloth. The shirt was too small, baring her midriff, and the shorts barely reached the mid-thigh. She looked at the sword leveled at her chest ...

70. Not Spiders

Ike 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 in the book, but he couldn’t set off into the forest in hopes of finding some random creature that would let him cut porcelain when he had an answer in his lap. After all, he had no idea when the cit...

69. Dolls

Ike 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 standing here won’t trigger them. Now to find out if there’s anything that will trigger them.

Because if not…

He crept toward the doll at the far right corner. Over ...

68. Hunting Around To Find Out

Back 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 all beasts. Straightforward about it. Back in the city, who even knew what kind of plots people would cook up to entrap him.

Yeah, I’d rather be out here. Hunting monsters.

He dr...

67. Back Into the Forest

The 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 he could. Maybe go find out how inactive the puppet army really was. Tomorrow, he’d decide whether to head out for the long term or not. He carried a day bag, big enough to carry back some monster ...

66. Morning in Abyssal

Ike 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 accentuated that richness and made it easier for him to absorb the mana. The unspeakable thing that built inside of him grew stronger, too, and he couldn’t be sure, but he thought the herbs strengthened t...

65. Dinner in Ket's Manor

“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 just some noble lady, but a princess. A princess with no real claim to the throne, true, but a princess nonetheless. For a slum kid like him, she was already someone he should have never met in his life...

64. Rooster and Herbs

Ike 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 sauce. He sprinkled a handful of dried herbs over the pot, then glanced up. “Hey. Hungry?”

“A bit, yeah,” Ike said. Beside him, Loup lifted her nose and sniffed, curious.

“Well, si...

63. Thinking

Instead 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 the second story, he picked the first empty room from the stairs and stepped into a sumptuous room. Thick carpets. Heavy drapes on the broad diamond-paneled windows. A deep four-poster bed with fine cu...

62. Entering the Town

The 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 gate alone.

“Welcome back,” the right-hand guard greeted them.

Ket nodded. He passed through. Tana followed, and Ike stepped forward after them.

A spear dropped down and blo...

61. The Town in the Abyss

As 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 truly was. It barely spanned further than the distance from his uncle’s villa to the far end of the processing plant. A stone castle dominated the far end of the wall, built atop the hill. The wall cli...

60. Below

No 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 the same uniform and carried the same two swords crossed on their backs. Ike furrowed his brows. “Why that uniform…?”

“It’s the uniform of one of the large sects on the far side of th...

59. In The Depths

Ket 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 knot of trees with seemingly no guidance, surefooted as ever.

Loup walked at the back of the pack, in no rush. She loped along, yawning from time to time. Mud stained her paws. From time to time, s...

58. Reunion

Ike 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 the cave floor.

“What are you doing in the Abyss?” Ket asked.

“I could ask the same of you,” Ike returned.

Tana looked at Ket. Quietly, she asked, “Who is this?”

“T...