15. Praying Mantises (Patreon)

As he walked, Ike looked at his arms. The axe swing had only had his own strength behind it, not any mana-enhancement. The Lightning Grasp skill enhanced his hand speed, but not his arm strength.

I can’t remain in this state, using Lightning Dash and Grasp, but not enhancing my whole body. I need to spread my Unique skill. Strengthen my entire body.

With every step, little spurts of mana rushed into him. Ike looked down. His foot crushed the little mantises, and mana burst into his core. Killing monsters gave mana. Right now, he killed monsters with every step. True, they were small monsters, but monsters nonetheless. Each one didn’t give much mana, but when he stepped on ten with every footfall, the mana added up. Right now, he had enough mana to try out expanding Lightning Grasp up his arm.

Ike turned his attention to the structure of Lightning Grasp again. Mana flowed through his hand in a smooth circulation, neatly following the shape of his bones and blood vessels. It accelerated toward his fingertips. Lightning flickered at his fingers, wreathing up toward his wrists. He held the image of the mana flow in his mind. Five mana flows rushed by. They sped up as they reached the extremities of his fingers, then cycled back into the center of his hand.

Five flows, one for each finger. But I only need two for my arm. One down, and one back up. In his mind, he pruned away the mana flows, cutting them down to the central two. More mana flowed in those two routes. The structure of the technique trembled. The thin strands of golden mana struggled to contain the two thicker mana flows.

Ike looked at those threads, curious. The thin golden threads were controlled by the skill itself, but if he copied the skill mentally, the threads came with it. Thanks to that, he could create a new skill. Is that because it’s Unique? I should try this with another skill, but… He looked at his arm. The gash slowly closed under the effect of Salamander Healing. Warm mana flowed to the wound shapelessly, supplying it with the energy it needed to close. Salamander Healing already covered his whole body, and beyond that, there was no ‘structure’ to the skill. The mana flowed organically, transforming into healing energy with no intermediate shaping.

I wonder if that’s because it’s a monster skill? Human-made skills had firm shapes, well-defined, with clean mana lines. Monster skills, created by instinct rather than research, simply accomplished their goal without structure or refinement.

Still, it meant he couldn’t try copying Salamander Healing to another part of his body to see if this was something he could only do with Unique skills. He shrugged. I’ll figure it out later, once I have more skills.

 The skill shattered in his mind, and Ike snapped back to the moment. Hmm. Two thick flows broke the shape of the skill. I need a different angle. He drew the skill back into his mind. This time, he only trimmed one flow from the skill. Taking the other four flows, he paired them into two sets of two flows each.

He let the mana circulate for a while in his mind, then nodded. I think it’ll work. Let’s give it a try.

Reaching out with his right arm, he circulated his mana in the formation down the length of his arm. It held for a single second, then broke.

Ike nodded. Good. A good start! Lightning Grasp had started like that, too. It would take repetition to turn it into a skill. At least now, he had something in his back pocket, in case he really needed it.

Back around the corner, across the lobby. He dismissed his thoughts to the back of his mind as he came up on the opposite hallway. Putting the axe away, he hefted the pole and approached the corner with caution. All at once, he whipped around the corner.

Little mantises crunched underfoot. To the end of the hallway, they filled the floor and piled up along the walls. He stepped forward, looking around. His brows furrowed. Nothing on this side? Nothing?

Motion at the corner of his eyes. Ike ducked. Blades whirred past, slicing through the very top of his hair. Putting a hand on his head, he looked up.

A human-size mantis clung to the ceiling, its blades extended from its attack. It chittered at him, then dropped down on him. A hundred pounds of exoskeleton hurtled toward Ike.

Ike whirled the pole around. He planted the butt on the floor and hugged it with his whole body. The mantis dropped onto the pole. There was a crunch, and it bounced off, dropping to the floor beside him.

Abandoning the pole, Ike drew the axe. The mantis struggled to rise, only to find itself rising into a blade. Once, twice, three times, hacking into its neck. The exoskeleton tore under the blunt blade. Ichor flew, staining the floor, the walls, even the ceiling. When the mantis stopped kicking, Ike stood. He wiped the splattered ichor off his face and took in the space.

Two rooms on this side of the lodge as well. Both doors shut. At the end, the hallway didn’t end, but turned back toward the center of the lodge. Ike looked at the end of the hallway, then took a deep breath and turned to the first door. Let’s handle this first, then figure out what’s down there.

He kicked it open. Three waist high mantises ran for him, hissing. With a swipe of his pole, he knocked them back. Two of them immediately charged him again, but the third fell back. It lowered its head and flared its wings, making a strange keening noise with its legs and wings.

That’s not good. Ike knocked the other two into the air and charged the mantis making the noise. It dodged nimbly to the side and kept keening. The other two jumped off the walls, slicing at him from either direction. Ike ducked, spinning the pole over his head. The two mantises flew backward again. This time, he chased after them. He stomped the one on the right as the left slammed into his back. Off-balance, Ike stumbled backward. He slammed his shoulders on the wall, crushing the mantis.

As he crushed the mantis, wood shattered. A claw bit through the wall inches from his head. It scythed down toward his shoulder.

Ike shoved off the wall, directly into a mess of wings and claws. The third mantis flew at him, flared out to its full width. He dropped the pole and went for his axe, smacking the little one away with his other hand. The little mantis flared its wings and flew right at him again.

Behind him, the big mantis lifted its claws again and slashed at the wall. The wall broke down. Bits of wood flew everywhere. It leaned through the wall and smashed at the wall below it.

Ike batted the little one away and whirled. Raising his axe, he slashed at the big mantis’ head. It raised its claws and caught his axe. They wrestled back and forth for a moment, until the little one slashed at Ike’s back again.

“Fuck it,” Ike muttered. He released the axe. The mantis clutched it close. It keened in victory.

“Don’t think so, motherfucker.” Ike drew his razor and slashed. The mantis flinched back, but too slow. The razor cut open its bulbous eyes. It screamed in pain and fury, and dropped his axe. The axe clattered to the floor on the wrong side of the half-broken wall. The mantis thrashed wildly. Claws blurred, flashing across the entire opening.

Dropping the razor, Ike snatched up the pole from the ground. Grabbing it with both hands, he lifted it high and drove it down on the big mantis. The mantis screeched and fell onto its back. Ike leaned through the wall and slammed the pole down on it again and again, until it stopped moving. The little one clawed at his back. Annoyed, Ike reached over his shoulder and threw it on the ground. It squirmed, screeching. Ike stomped it. Exoskeleton crunched. Yellow ichor splattered over the floor.

Sighing, Ike touched his shoulders. Blood ran down his back from the little mantis’ claws. His shirt hung in tatters. Mana flowed to the wounds, closing them, but there was no hope for his shirt.

He reached through the wall and retrieved his axe, then picked his razor up from the ground and put it back in his pocket. He peeked into the other room. A hole in the wall on the far side of the second room led into the hallway past the turn. A few normal-sized mantises paced around, but no more monsters threatened from that room.

Thank goodness. He gave the door a kick as he exited. Following the hallway around, he turned by the hole in the wall. There, at the back of the house, the hallway ended. The house’s rear door hung by a single hinge, and below it, a hatch gaped darkly in the floor.

Ike hissed a breath through his teeth. Going outside, he grabbed a stone and tossed it into the hatch.

Silence, and then the stone clattered. A flurry of motion from below. Two multicolored orbs lurked out of the shadow. An enormous mantis stared up through the hatch, easily twice as large as the previous largest mantis he’d faced.

The mantis lunged at him. A claw as large as a greatsword flicked at the hatch so fast that Ike felt the wind of the strike from where he stood above the hatch.

Ike stumbled back. He stared. Fuck no. I can’t beat that thing alone.

Unable to see Ike, the mantis hissed and retreated, rustling back into the darkness.

Leaving the hatch behind, Ike slogged back through the mantises. He pushed open the front doors and hurried down the stairs.

“How’d it go?” Orin asked.

“I cleared out the first floor,” Ike said.

Orin turned, eyeing the mantises crawling down the stairs after Ike. “Did ya?”

“Of the monsters,” he complained, then paused. If even the normal-sized ones gave mana, then they all qualified as monsters. “The large ones.”

“And the basement?”

“The fucking basement—” Ike cut off. Shaking his head, he sat down on the tree stump.

Orin clicked his tongue. He shook his head.

“I did my best. I’m only a Rank 1. That thing in the basement is—” He shook his head.

Sniffing, Orin walked over. He patted Ike on the shoulder. “Take a break, kid. Give yourself a few minutes and get back at it.”

“Is it not enough?” Ike asked, exhausted.

Orin pursed his lips. He stared up at the sky.

“It’s not?”

“Weeeell, the book’s kinda down in the basement, you know?”

Ike collapsed. He looked back up at Orin. “You’re a Rank 3.”

Orin waved his hand. “I’m old. I’m close to death. Tired. Look, kid. I don’t need that book. Letting you clean the lodge is doing you a favor.”

Ike gave him a dead-eyed stare. “You just don’t want to do it.”

“Weeeeeell…”

Ike pressed his lips together. He stared at the ground, fists curling.

Orin nodded. “Take a break, kid. Give it a rest. You can get back at it when you’re ready.” He walked away, leaving Ike on the stairs.

Is it worth it? Ike stared at his hands. The Salamander took a whole party to take down. That mantis wasn’t as powerful as the Salamander, and it didn’t have little mantises running around it, but even so…do I stand a chance? Alone? Just me?

Is the book worth it?

He put his head in his hands, then looked up. No. I can do it. I have to.

A shadow fell over him. He glared up. “What now?”