Skill Hunter: A LitRPG Adventure, page 23
Remembering the difference in Silver and Rosamund’s auras, Ike nodded.
“The toads. Why did you kill so many?” Silver asked.
Ike wrinkled his nose. He shook his head. “I only wanted to kill two. Rosamund tossed bait, and…” He explained the situation to Silver, up to the enormous toad showing up.
The man nodded before giving Ike a serious look. “It’s not good to disrupt the peace of the forest. You’ll anger the forests’ guardians.”
“Guardians… like that huge toad?” Ike asked.
Silver nodded. After a moment, he shrugged. “This time, it couldn’t be helped.”
They sat in silence for a few moments. Bugs cried. Bats swirled overhead. Little blips of gold light appeared here and there as lightning bugs fluttered from tree to tree.
“Where are you going now?” Silver asked at last.
“I’m… We are hunting a Fulgur-Loup. I want the skill they drop. Rosamund is… She refuses to leave me be.”
“Hmm. Beware. The Abyss is near the Fulgur-Loups’ territory,” Silver said.
“The Abyss?”
“A dark gorge, from which nothing returns.” Gold eyes turned to Ike, not hidden behind his usual smoked lenses. An unusual seriousness glimmered in their depths.
Ike raised his brows. “I’ll be careful not to fall in.”
Silver hummed. He stretched forward from his sitting position, transforming in the period between leaning and his hands touching the ground. A panther loped off into the night.
Watching him go, Ike frowned. Why did Silver come to me? To warn me not to overhunt? I already know better than that. I never would’ve killed all those toads if Rosamund hadn’t left me in that shitty situation.
After a second, he shrugged to himself. No one understood Silver, and he understood Silver least of all. Silver clearly thought it was important. That meant it was worth keeping in mind. More than that, and he’d have to ask Orin or Cara or someone else to help translate.
And… the Abyss, huh? Ike leaned back against his bedroll. He tucked his hands behind his head and stared up at the stars through the trembling leaves. A cool breeze blew, a portent of autumn to cut through the heat of the summer night. Abyss.
There were myths about the abyss. Fairytales. An unfathomably dark pit that swallowed up bad children who left the wall’s safe confines. The monsters would kill you if you got out, but the abyss tracked you down. Nowhere was safe. Not inside, not outside. The abyss always got its due.
Never made any sense to me. It’s a hole in the ground. It can’t exactly chase you around. But if Silver warned him about it… Ike sighed. There’s probably a big, deep chasm, not a fairytale “abyss.” I’ll make sure I don’t trip, but that’s the limit of it.
He closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep. With Silver and Rosamund’s handmaids nearby, he slept worry-free. It wasn’t as good as sleeping in a cave, but between the three of them, he had confidence that nothing would disturb his and Rosamund’s slumber.
Morning came. Light spilled over the horizon, spilling pink into the sky. Ike yawned and stretched. He rolled up his bedroll and packed it away. From his rations, he broke off a piece of hardtack and tossed it in his mouth. Stirring up the embers as he sucked on the tack, he restarted the fire and got water boiling. A bit of a tea brick went in the water. When it was good and brewed, he poured the tea into a metal cup and plopped the tack into the hot water. The hot water broke down the tack faster than his saliva could. He stirred the cup, forming a kind of loose porridge from the tea and tack, then ate it with a spoon.
“Disgusting. Commoners and their common foods,” Rosamund said, looking down on him with her lip lifted.
“Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve had it,” Ike replied flatly.
“There’s no way that tastes good,” she refuted him.
Ike shrugged and took a sip of the thick broth. It doesn’t, but what am I going to do, admit it? Lifting the cup, he offered her a sip. “Try it yourself, princess.”
She gagged. “I’d rather starve.”
“Sure.” Ike lowered his cup and went back to eating.
Rosamund stared at him. “You aren’t supposed to say ‘sure.’ You’re supposed to—”
“Have you ever starved?”
“What? No, of course not,” Rosamund said.
Ike snorted. “Might do you some good to try.”
“Are you calling me fat?” Rosamund gasped, aghast.
He squinted at her. “Where are you getting that from?”
“You told me to starve!”
“Yeah, so it’d adjust your bratty-ass attitude about food,” Ike returned, bracing his bowl-hand against his leg. He looked up at her. “Do it. Starve. And I mean starve. Don’t have an option, don’t do it on purpose, but starve because there’s nothing else to eat, because you’ve already plucked the grass and ate the bugs, and then you’ll appreciate food.”
“Your father ran the monster-processing plant. He’s one of the wealthiest individuals in the slum,” Rosamund countered.
Ike raised two fingers and lowered one. “Not my father, my uncle.” He lowered the other one. “He’s wealthy, yes. How do you think he got there? Not by raising a kid for free. I’ve worked for my own wages to buy my own food since I was old enough to hold a pen.”
“You surely don’t expect me to believe your uncle would allow you to starve. As a child, no less. Your uncle,” Rosamund scoffed.
“Don’t have to believe it for it to be true,” Ike replied flatly.
“Familial love and obligations—”
“Huh? What are those?” He paused, lifting his free hand to tap his chin. “Guess he’d waive me paying back full interest on my debt, sometimes. Send me home with a copper. Does that count?”
Rosamund simply stared at him, her brows furrowed. At last, she flicked her hair and marched off, back to her handmaids.
Expressionlessly, Ike watched her go. Only when she vanished into the tent did he grin. Scared off the brat. Score one for me.
The scent of fresh bacon emanated from the tent. Ike looked up, surprised. How are they cooking bacon in there? No—never mind. I don’t want to know.
While Rosamund ate, he checked on the hides. They were dried enough to use, so he pulled out his needle and thread and started stitching them into wearable goods. A few stitches at the wrists and ankles kept them bound to the limbs. He paired that with a toad-hide strip at the neck to bind it to his back and shoulders.
Ike tried it on. He swung his arms and jumped a few times, striking sharp, short movements like attacking, rolling, and blocking. The hide moved with him. Between the gaps at the large joints like the elbows and knees and the not fully dried hide, it remained supple enough to move easily but stiff enough to provide some protection. It slipped a little too far from his body at his hips and shoulders, but a few extra stitches would solve the problem.
I’ll fix that while I wait.
Looking down, he surveyed his soft underbelly. The armor’s great weakness was its total lack of frontal coverage. There wasn’t much he could do about that with the materials he had. If they grabbed a few more toads, maybe… But with Rosamund actively sabotaging? Yeah. Good luck.
Once I finish this bullshit hunt and dump her back at the outpost, I’ll come back out and grab those extra corpses. They’ll be a little fleabitten, but they ought to still be worth a few gold. And if Lea won’t buy them, I can always improve on the toad armor. Add a chest panel.
He glanced at the tent, but Rosamund and her handmaids remained fully ensconced within. Ike turned away. Hiding his arm behind his body, he lifted his hand and circulated his mana. Lightning leaped up on the surface of his hand. Here goes nothing. He turned his other arm toward it and touched the toadskin on the back of his arm. Ike tensed, expecting a shock.
Nothing. The lightning dissipated the second it came in contact with the skin.
Ike grinned. Perfect.
He took off the toad’s skin and added the few extra stitches. When Rosamund still remained hidden away in the tent, he pulled up his status menu out of sheer boredom.
[Name: Ike | Age: 15 | Status: Nm | Rank: 1 [Salamander Slayer]]
Skills: Common: 5 | Bronze 2 | … | Rare 2 | … | Unique: 4
Common: All-Around Runner LVL 3 | Razor Handling LVL 9 | Spear Handling LVL 3 | Axe Handling LVL 4 | Sword Handling LVL 4 | Primitive Crafting LVL 4
Bronze: Sensory Enhancement LVL 4 | Mana Manipulation LVL 2
Rare: Salamander Healing LVL 8 | River-Splitting Sword LVL 3
Unique: Lightning Dash LVL 8 | Lightning Grasp LVL 5 | Lightning Clad (Forearm) LVL 3 | Lightning Clad (Calf) LVL 1
He hummed to himself. Sword Handling is already pretty high. Seems like killing things with my skills gets me more level than simply practicing them in a vacuum. I wonder if I absorb something when I kill them? I should pay more attention.
Sensory Enhancement, Mana Manipulation, Salamander Healing, and my sword technique all leveled up too, but unfortunately I can’t practice my lightning skills right now.
He twisted his lips, then shrugged. It’s good to level my other skills, too. River-Splitting Sword is a powerful skill, even if it isn’t Unique. And the same goes for the rest of them.
Canvas snapped. Rosamund emerged from the tent. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
“Excellent. Here. Put this on,” Ike said, offering her the second toad armor.
She gave it one look and turned away in disgust. “Absolutely not.”
Ike stared at her. He looked at her handmaids.
They shrugged.
He looked at the toad armor, then Rosamund. I could talk her into it… or I could take her at her word and improve my own toad armor later. Ike shrugged to himself and slung the armor into his pack.
33
THE DEEPEST WOODS
Ike walked through the woods, following Orin’s directions to the Fulgur-Loups as best he could. He’d tried wearing the second toad armor backward, but the combined stiffness made it too stiff to move, so he’d put it back in his pack for now. I’ll improve the armor later. When I have the time to measure and cut it properly. Better to wait and make it properly later than rush and make it poorly now.
I’d stop and improve it now, but… He cast a look at Rosamund. The sooner I’m free of her, the better.
At this point, it’s probably better to think of this as a scouting run. Once Rosamund gives up and goes home, I’ll come back out and actually hunt. Right now, I’ll just learn everything I can about the Fulgur-Loups, so I’ll have a better chance of success later.
He patted his arm. It wasn’t a total wash, at least. He had the toad skin. Back at the outpost, he could refine it into real armor over the course of the next few days. Really, Rosamund had only made his eventual run at the hunt so much more likely to be successful. He smiled at her back, pleased with himself.
She turned. “What?”
“Nothing.” Ike stopped smiling and stared off into the distance again. His eyes landed on a dead tree, and he jolted. Quickly, he yanked out the book and checked Orin’s notes again.
Past the place we found those mushrooms, there’s a lightning-struck tree. That’s the sign you’re getting close. Mind the hole.
Ike leaned, peering through the tangled undergrowth. A dark, hollow line carved through the dead tree. Charred black edges surrounded the line.
“We’re close. Be on guard,” he said, snapping the book shut and sliding it back into his pack.
Rosamund rushed ahead. Her handmaids followed after her. The long-haired one glanced back at Ike, then followed after the other two.
Ike fell back. He let them charge ahead. Here goes the scouting run. She’ll probably try to sabotage me somehow, but with this much distance between us, I should see it coming. He rested his hand on the blade on his hip and waited, subtly tensing.
The forest darkened ahead of them, as if something sucked away the light. Overhead, the canopy grew denser, and so too did the undergrowth. Even so, the light that filtered through grew dimmer. Heavy leaf mold built up underfoot. Ike’s feet slipped a little on the damp decay as he kicked his way through the vines and small trees. Not even a deer path wound through the forest, as if nothing ever came back here at all.
Maybe I was wrong. Ike reached for the book, only for Rosamund to shriek.
Startled, Ike whirled, drawing his blade, but there were no wolves. Only Rosamund, clutching her handmaid.
What now? Sheathing his sword again, he crossed to her side.
Birdsong quieted. The dim light grew yet dimmer. The treeline abruptly fell away, and Ike found himself standing on the edge of a sharp cliff. Startled, he jolted to a halt. His feet slipped out from under him. Ike grabbed onto a nearby sapling and caught himself inches before he fell. Leaf mold spilled down, pebbles knocking against the wall. Down, down, down. Ike hissed a breath, gazing into the depths.
A gorge gaped. Shadow obscured its depths. The entire slums could have fit across it. Wind whistled down sheer stone walls. Any edges or gaps had been whittled down by the flow of ancient water to a smooth, rounded surface. The gorge extended far in either direction, so long no one could see its end.
Icy cold emanated from the gap. Without being told, Ike already knew what he looked at.
“The Abyss,” Ike murmured.
Backing away, he shook his head. He understood why Silver had warned him of it. The way it suddenly opened in flat ground was bad enough. Once he added in the slippery footing and thick undergrowth hiding its edges, he completely understood why there were so many myths about “a hole in the ground.” It’s no boogeyman, but it is treacherous.
“What are we doing here? This close… What if we fall in? The Abyss eats mana. It disables skills! Are you insane?” Rosamund asked, staggering dramatically away from the Abyss. She ran her hair back, still staring at the Abyss in shock.
“Fulgur-Loups live near the Abyss,” Ike said evenly. She knows more about the Abyss than I do. It’s more than just a boogeyman, it seems.
He turned toward it again. After a moment, he shook his head. I won’t abandon the hunt now over a boogeyman. I didn’t come all this way for nothing.
Her face crinkled. “You’re doing this deliberately. You picked this hunt to put me through hell! First the filthy toads in their disgusting swamp, now hunting near the Abyss, which no one can escape from… Are you trying to kill me?”
Just because you’re here to sabotage me doesn’t mean I’m here to sabotage you. Ike sighed. “If you want to go home, feel free. I’m sure your handmaids can guide you back to the wall.”
Her face twisted obstinately. She lifted her nose and marched off into the woods. “I won’t be scared off so easily.”
Ike shrugged at her back and followed her again.
Awooooooooo.
Rosamund whipped around, lifting her head. She ran off into the forest, toward the howl. Ike followed cautiously, letting her pull ahead.
Ahead, a dense stand of trees blocked the path. Rosamund gestured, and they bent aside.
A single wolf prowled through the woods ahead of them. Silver shot through its pale gray coat. The streaks combined into a pale fringe at the edge of its underbelly. The wolf gazed at them with dark eyes. It stepped quietly through the underbrush, head low, rear high, ready to pounce.
Wolves don’t hunt alone. Ike drew his sword, backing away.
Rosamund rushed in. She gestured, and a pink rose materialized before her. It flew at the wolf.
The wolf leaped to the side. It fell back, into the underbrush.
Rosamund flicked her fingers. Behind the wolf, the underbrush reached for it.
Startled, the wolf leaped out of the underbrush and charged directly at Rosamund. With a laugh, Rosamund clapped. Thick vines burst from the ground and wrapped the wolf, immobilizing it. She turned, curtsying at Ike. “That’s how you elegantly—”
The undergrowth rustled. Shadows closed in.
“Watch out!” Ike shouted, racing in. Did she not realize? Even if she’s a sabotaging douchebag, I’m not going to stand here and let her die.
From every side, other wolves leaped at Rosamund. Rosamund screamed, but only for a second. She looked Ike in the eye and grinned. Under her foot, a rose appeared. It burst into the sky, carrying Rosamund with it.
Taking their cue from Rosamund, the handmaids mounted their brooms and took to the air.
The wolves landed. With no quarry left to attack, they rounded on Ike.
Ike pressed his lips together. He backed away. Fuck you, Rosamund.
As they closed in, a last wolf stalked out of the woods behind the rest. Lightning flickered around its body. Its eyes gleamed with silvery light. It lifted its head and let out that same eerie howl as before.
Ike backed away evenly, drawing his sword. He faced the wolves, lifting his head to gaze at the brightest one in the back. That one has the skill I’m after. That’s the only one I need to fight.
The wolves charged. Ike lifted his sword.
34
STORM WOLF
The wolves leaped at Ike, who raised his sword. The higher wolf crashed into it nose-first and fell back, crying in pain. The lower wolf smashed into his ankles, throwing its weight against his body. He stumbled, his stance broken. Another wolf closed in, darting at his feet. Ike threw himself backward. The wolf lunged. Its blow missed him, but the two of them tangled together, stuck around Ike’s ankles. He kicked it away and jumped back again.
The wolves circled, trying to get behind him. Ike backed away steadily, keeping his sword between him and the wolves. He glanced up, checking on the big silver wolf.
It had vanished. Completely gone.
That’s not good.
Bright white light. A crack, so loud his ears rang. Force slammed into him. Ike stumbled again. Little tendrils of lightning struck the ground all around him.
