Skill Hunter: A LitRPG Adventure, page 49
“No,” Garrus agreed. He lifted his ice-bladed arms.
The two of them gazed at one another for a moment. Silence fell over the battlefield. All around them, the pale webbing drifted to the floor.
Thunder rumbled.
The two dashed toward one another, purple flashing toward pale white. Garrus punched at Ike. Ice coated his fist, and a wave of cold washed out from the strike.
Ike countered with his own punch. The shockwaves blew the cold wind away, but Garrus closed in and landed a heavy blow on his body, while his strike fell short. Garrus’s eyes widened, and he pulled back his fist to capitalize on the blow.
With all his might, Ike kicked off the ground and leaped backward. He landed on a remaining loose strand of Wisp’s thread. From his high ground, he coughed, barely swallowing back a mouthful of blood. He felt no pain, only searing cold. Ice coated his stomach. A hole was smashed out of his side, and frozen blood coated his body. Ike covered the hole with a hand, running extra electricity past it to warm up the ice. As the ice melted, the pain kicked in, and he hissed, barely biting back a gasp.
I can’t fight him on his terms. He’s a fistfighter, a close-range warrior. I need to fight in a way he’s not prepared to handle, not in a way that plays into his specialty.
Garrus looked up at Ike. He chuckled. “I’m surprised. You know how to take a hit, boy.”
“Is it that surprising?” Ike asked, buying time while Salamander Healing regenerated his flesh.
“Mages are usually pampered bastards. Noble kids, who were never spanked, let alone in a real fight. Who grew up with rich parents who paid off their friends. Buncha wimpy assholes. Lots of them would run screaming at a single hit like that—or, at least, be unable to jump back like you did,” Garrus commented.
“I’m just a slumrat who got lucky,” Ike countered.
“Ahhh. Yes. That tracks. Well… part of it doesn’t. Ranking up at your age without your daddy’s money to buy nice skills and daddy’s servants to hold down your beasts for you… that’s a surprise. But now I understand why you can take a hit.” Garrus clenched his, then pointed at Ike. “It almost makes me want to not kill you.”
“But the king’s money is worth more, huh?” Ike snarked.
“Well, there’s that. Mostly, I’m a man who likes a fight. This peaceful era is too boring. I need a battlefield to shine. And that means war.” Garrus tossed a nod at Ike. “So if you’re done healing, why don’t you come down here and give me my fight?”
Ike snorted under his breath. Caught me. His wound was mostly healed, so he hopped down. He circled to the right, trying to get a better angle on Garrus.
Garrus laughed and matched Ike’s pace, refusing to let him get the advantage. “And how did you capture the Will o’ the Wisp? Force that beast to make you such a neat trap?”
“I asked her,” Ike replied bluntly.
“Asked—” Garrus guffawed. He shook his head. “Gods, kid. We need to fight before I start liking you too much to kill you.”
Even as he spoke, Ike dashed in at full speed. Operating Lightning Grasp, he stabbed toward Garrus’s stomach.
The man grinned. “Come!”
100
ICE VS LIGHTNING
Ike’s hand struck home. Ice crunched under his fingers. He frowned. Huh?
Garrus’s coat fell open. Thick ice coated his whole body, preventing Ike from striking home. The ice quickly refroze around Ike’s hand. Garrus swung his arm downward, slicing the arm-blades toward Ike’s arm.
Ike surged his mana into Lightning Grasp. The lightning melted the refreezing ice, and he yanked his hand free, barely dodging Garrus’s blades. He backstepped. In his other hand, he swept his sword upward even as he backstepped. The upward strike of River-Splitting Sword flew toward Garrus’s arm.
Garrus laughed. “You think that pathetic thing can—”
The blade cut into the ice. The ice shattered. Ike’s eyes sharpened. His blade closed in on Garrus’s arm.
Blood sprayed. Garrus retreated, gripping his arm. A deep cut opened on the back of his upper arm.
Ike pressed the advantage. Lightning flashed after him as he closed in.
His feet slipped out from under him.
Garrus laughed and snapped his fingers. Icicles burst up from the frozen ground and stabbed toward Ike. The boy plunged helplessly toward razor-sharp ice. He worked his legs, but his feet found no traction.
Dammit, and I just slicked up my shoes for the web!
Something struck his upper back and yanked. Ike stumbled back the other way as the force dragged him out of the ice.
“Watch your feet!” Wisp called from the edges.
“Heh. A two-on-one fight?” Garrus asked. He backed away warily, eyes darting to the edges of the battlefield.
“Don’t blame me when you came at me with two men,” Ike said. He stealthily checked the floor. Sheer, pure-black ice coated the ground between him and Garrus. The mana-goop-mud had frozen solid.
Hmm. Less than ideal.
“Turnabout is fair play,” Garrus allowed.
Ice crackled through the ground all around Ike. Icicles burst up at him. He retreated one step at a time, then leaped up into the remnant web. Beneath him, the ice continued to spread, coating almost the entire mana field.
“Turnabout indeed,” Ike murmured. Now he controls the floor. Troubling.
From the forest, a dozen threads swooped across the battlefield. A rudimentary web appeared in a matter of moments.
“Thank you!” Ike called.
Wisp didn’t reply.
“A fool’s errand.” Garrus swept his hand. A wave of icicles pierced toward the webbing.
Ike charged in. With a Rank 2 body enhanced by Lightning Clad, it was easy to balance on the thin thread. Before the icicles could cut the web, he reached Garrus and let off a sideways slash. The man jerked back, retreating his neck before the slice. Forgotten, the icicles drooped.
Ike pressed the advantage. He launched Lightning Grasps, Shockwave Punches, and slashes at Garrus. Garrus dodged. Moreso than he had on solid ground, he moved gracefully over the ice. He moved faster than before but couldn’t corner as precisely. Leaping from one strand of the web to another, Ike forced him to turn over and over. He landed light strikes on Garrus. Any of them would have been devastating, if not for Garrus’s ice armor. Instead, his blows glanced off, or at best, cut chinks in the man’s armor.
Far from helpless, Garrus fought back with every step. He landed a few glancing blows on Ike. Lightning leapt from Ike’s body and coursed over Garrus’s limbs with every strike.
Overhead, storm clouds continued to gather. The sky turned from a cloudy gray to a bruised purple. Thunder rumbled.
Garrus dug his heels in and charged. The ice blades on his arms burst out. He sliced, cutting through Wisp’s lines. Ike cut him in return, but his sword glanced off Garrus’s ice-coated chest. Ike dropped to the ground. This time, he was ready for the slick earth. Although unable to move as gracefully as Garrus, he successfully skated backward.
“Heh.” Garrus clenched his hand.
The ice under his feet trembled. Icicles punched into his soles, surging upward.
Time slowed. Ike caught a breath. Utilizing the full speed of Lightning Dash, he gave a tiny leap up, landing on the top of the upward-punching ice. From there, he kicked off again. Compared to the slick ice, the roughness of the spiked ice gave him something to push off.
This is my chance.
Lightning crackled after him. He closed in on Garrus. His sword blurred out. He activated Lightning Grasp, and lightning chased down the length of the blade. His blade flew out more quickly than before, powered by Lightning Grasp, Lightning Clad, and the River-Splitting Sword all together.
Garrus’s eyes widened. He threw his hand up to block. His ice blade shattered before Ike’s sword. Ike cut on, swinging with all his might. His sword slashed through muscle, then bone. It swept out the other side. Garrus’s arm hit the ground. Garrus stumbled back.
Ike chased after him and lifted his sword again. His eyes locked onto Garrus’s neck.
The man stared at him in shock as the sword closed in.
The shock turned to a smile. Garrus clenched his remaining fist. “Gotcha.”
101
GOTCHA
Ike had enough time to tense before a giant icicle slammed into his gut. All the air left him. A horrible freeze pierced him through, all the way to his spine.
Fuck.
Garrus chuckled. He passed his remaining hand over his stub, freezing the wound shut. “It’s good you can take a hit, but you’ve gotta learn how to do more than just take a hit. If losing my arm means I win the fight, I’ll happily sacrifice my arm. Do you have that resolve?”
Ike gripped at the massive icicle. He pushed but couldn’t lift his weight off the pillar. His body sagged deeper, and he hissed a breath.
The lightning around his body dimmed as his mana diverted to Salamander Healing. Ike grimaced. He shoved at the icicle again. With his other hand, he put his knuckles to the ice. Green shockwaves shuddered through the ice. Even they weakened. His mana poured away, sapped by the ice and his healing technique alike.
“No… I didn’t think so. Well, it’s too late now.” Garrus gently rested the ice blade against the back of Ike’s neck. He lifted it up.
“Now! Lightning Call!” Ike shouted. He pushed all his mana into the Lightning Caller skill.
The stormy sky crackled. Garrus jumped back. White light and a shattering boom. Electricity coursed over Ike, feeding his Lightning Clad. He absorbed some of the excess as mana, and the rest slammed into him. Pain burst out. The freezing cold was replaced by searing heat.
Beneath him, the icicle, weakened by his shockwaves, shattered. Ike slumped to one knee, barely catching himself before he hit the ground. His knee thumped into mud. He hissed in pain, pressing a hand to his stomach.
“Missed me,” Garrus mocked. He dashed in.
Flames licked around Ike’s feet. The fire caught in Wisp’s spiderweb and spread across the entire mana field in an instant. The black goo set alight, and mana whirled around Ike. He took a deep breath, sucking it all in.
He looked up, a grin playing across his face. “Did I?”
Garrus startled. He jumped back, fleeing the flames. The intense heat from the burning goo wore at his armor, melting it down. His blades dripped with perspiration. “You planned this?”
Ike cocked a brow. “What do you think? Do I have the resolve to make a sacrifice if it means I can get the win?”
I didn’t plan this. I had no idea you used ice ahead of time. Sure, I had the idea that I could set the whole field on fire, but it’s luck that it was such an impediment to you. A field of flames is dangerous to anyone—I planned that much. It’s a direct counter to an ice user, and that’s the part I didn’t plan.
Heh. I’m not going to admit it, though. Yes. This was all part of my plan. For sure.
He pressed his hand against his stomach. His legs trembled, and his vision wavered. He was upright, but even he didn’t know how. Everything hurt. His mana poured out, all of it put to his healing. His stomach wound struggled to close, and he wasn’t even trying to heal the lightning burns yet. He kept Lightning Clad up, but it did almost nothing. It was only there to look imposing.
I should be dead. Why am I not dead? Is it because I’m Rank 2? A mage, and not an ordinary human anymore?
Ike breathed deeply. With every breath, he regenerated mana. Although burning a few dolls’ worth of goo had done little, burning the entire field at once gave him enough mana to significantly recover. More mana in his core meant more mana to pour into his healing skill. He committed all his mana to healing except the bare minimum needed to keep Lightning Clad going.
Garrus chuckled. He strode forward, raising his arms. “I have to admit, kid. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Yeah? Shows what you know,” Ike replied defiantly. He stood his ground, not wanting Garrus to know how injured he was.
“But you have to know what to sacrifice. This? This is more than an acceptable loss.” Garrus reached to his hip and drew a sword for the first time since their fight had begun. He spun it around and held it out one-handed. “You’ve gone too far. A rookie mistake. Too bad you won’t learn from it.”
Ike narrowed his eyes. He gathered his mana, pulling it away from healing for just a few moments. Lightning flickered over his hand.
Garrus sliced at his neck.
Drawing all his strength, Ike darted in. He reached for Garrus’s throat, activating Lightning Grasp individually for the first time since the fight had begun. Already committed to the swing, Garrus couldn’t escape. Instinctively, the man lifted his other arm to block. His stub lifted in front of his face. His eyes widened, and his mouth shaped into an O.
Ike gripped Garrus’s throat. The man swallowed. His veins throbbed against Ike’s fingertips. His arm struck Ike’s back, the swing too wide to hit Ike.
“Is this an acceptable loss?” Ike asked and tore.
Blood gushed. Garrus stumbled back. He dropped his sword, touching his torn neck. He looked up at Ike and laughed, soundlessly, just once. His knees struck the ground. He toppled over and went still.
Ike stood over him. He panted and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Blood still dripped off his hand and soaked down from his stomach. The burning black goo raced all around him, licking at his legs. He knew he had to escape it, but he hurt too much to move.
Spiderweb zipped across the sky. A strand landed on the back of his shoulders, and Wisp wound him up. She put him down on a little white platform over the mana field, then crouched nearby.
“You need this mana, right?” she asked.
Ike nodded wordlessly, too tired to speak.
“Rest up. I’ll watch over you. When you’re healed, we’ll go check them for skills.”
“Skills…?” Ike murmured.
“Yeah. Skill Orbs. Just like monsters. They’re old enough to have ’em,” Wisp said. She patted his head gently. “Just rest. Rest for now.”
Ike nodded. He leaned back against the web and breathed deeply, sucking in the mana. His heart still raced from the adrenaline, his muscles still tense, the hole in his stomach rolling with pain, but the exhaustion was coming on fast. His eyes began to close. Before he knew it, he was fighting off sleep.
“Go on. I’ll keep you safe,” Wisp promised.
Ike nodded numbly. His eyes shut.
102
AFTER THE KILL
Ike jolted awake. The sun hung low in the sky. Wisp sat nearby, her back to him, chewing on something. She glanced over her shoulder, wiping blood off her face. “You awake?”
“Yeah,” Ike muttered. He sat upright, feeling a bit lost. He blinked a few times and rubbed his face. It felt sticky for some reason, though he couldn’t say why. His stomach hurt, but not as bad as it had before his body had shut down for recovery. He lifted his shirt, looking beneath it.
A dark red scar marred the center of his stomach. A paler one streaked to the side of his abdomen. He patted his belly gently. It didn’t hurt too badly. Just a dull pain.
He took a deep breath, then startled and dove into his core, checking his mana.
It swirled around, about half-full. Better than where it had been sinking down to before he’d set the mana field on fire. He ran his hair back and looked down at the field.
Scorched puppets wore the remnants of uniforms and the scorched scraps of wigs. Their porcelain bodies stood in lines, as if nothing had happened at all. The ground was blackened. No goo remained. The earth cracked like a dried mud flat. In the middle, the remains of the two Rank 2 mages lay on the ground.
“Pity about the mana field,” Wisp commented.
“It wasn’t doing much for me anymore. Better to destroy it than leave it for the city lord,” Ike replied. Though it does mean I need to get out of the Abyss as soon as possible. I can’t sustain this rank without converting to lunam long-term.
“Yeah,” Wisp agreed. She swallowed, then climbed to a crawl pose. She hopped down to the ground. “Let’s go look at those skills!”
Ike glanced at her, then snorted. Yeah. Guess Wisp doesn’t care too much about the mana field. As a monster, she can process primordial energy directly, so she doesn’t need to care about it.
Primordial energy… Compared to adjusting to lunam or worrying about mana or solam, wouldn’t it be best to directly access the universal energy all monsters can access?
“But before that…” Ike muttered aloud. He climbed to the edge of Wisp’s net and dropped down to the burned earth, following Wisp toward the bodies.
She looked at him as he approached. “Got a blade?”
“We have to cut them open?” Ike asked.
“Yeah. Just like monsters. If they have orbs, those things could be anywhere… well, with humans, they’re mostly in the belly.” She pointed at the first corpse’s stomach, about where Ike’s core was.
“That makes sense. Skills are stored in the core,” Ike commented. He hesitated a moment, then shrugged and cut open monsters. What was the difference? These men were dead. They weren’t using their skills anymore.
He sliced open the first man’s belly. One small orb rolled out.
“Score!” Wisp cheered.
Ike turned to the second man. A quick cut, and an orb emerged from him as well. Kneeling, he scooped up both orbs and sent a pulse of mana into each.
Fire. The sensation of breathing.
He turned to the second. Ice. A chill over his flesh.
He nodded to himself. It makes sense. Fire orb, ice orb.
“I helped. I get one,” Wisp asserted.
Ike looked at her, then shrugged. It’s fair to say that I wouldn’t have won that fight without her help. “Sure. Which one do you want?”
“Fire!”
