90. Punch Me Silly (Patreon)

Green light burst out from between Ike’s fingers. Power swirled into his body. He took a deep breath, circulating his mana again. The skill rushed into him. A faint discomfort ran through his body, and then it settled.

Ike raised his brows. That was all? How nice!

He quickly opened the System menu to take a look at his skills.

[Name: Ike | Age: 15 | Status: Nm | Rank: 1 [Abyss Dweller]]

Skills: Common: 5 | Bronze 2 |  Silver 2 | Gold 1 | Rare 2 | … | Unique: 7

Common: All-Around Runner Lvl 7 | Razor Handling Lvl 9 | Spear Handling Lvl 4 | Axe Handling Lvl 4 | Sword Handling Lvl 8 | Bow Handling Lvl 1 | Primitive Crafting Lvl 7

Bronze: Sensory Enhancement Lvl 7 | Mana Manipulation Lvl 4

Silver: Flurry of Kicks Lvl 2 | Chlorophyll Lvl 1

Gold: Shockwave Punch Lvl 1

Rare: Salamander Healing Lvl 9 | River-Splitting Sword Lvl 5

Unique: Lightning Dash Lvl 9 | Lightning Grasp Lvl 6 | Lightning Clad (Forearm) Lvl 5 | Lightning Clad (Calf) Lvl 5 | Lightning Clad (Thigh) Lvl 3 | Lightning Clad (Bicep) Lvl 3 | Lightning Caller Lvl 2

He raised his brows. A Gold skill, huh? It was the highest rank skill he’d seen in a while. Short of Salamander Healing, River-Splitting Sword, and Lightning Dash, it was the rarest skill he’d seen. In fact, if he looked closely at his skills, it was the strongest skill he’d gained on his own merit. Lightning Dash was stolen, River-Splitting Sword was gifted, and Salamander Healing he’d obtained with a party. Shockwave Punch was his, and his alone.

“You adapted to that quickly,” Wisp commented.

“I think I was well-suited to it,” Ike said. He rolled his arms out, then balled up his hand into a fist. Pulling back his arm, he activated the skill for the first time and punched the nearest tree.

Thump. His fist struck the bark. A small wisp of green energy bounced off the tree.

Wisp tried to stifle a laugh, then burst out all at once. “Didn’t you notice the otter charging its punch?”

“I was just, uh, you know. Testing if it was necessary,” Ike said, his ears burning red. He pulled back his fist and activated the skill again. This time, though, he drew out the skill’s circulation. The mana rolled over and over inside his body. It built up in his arm and fist, growing stronger with each passage of the circulation. Green shockwaves built up on his arm.

As the shockwaves built up, his arm began to shake. His bones trembled, and his muscles ached. Ike held on, pushing through the pain, until he could take it no more. With a shout, he unleashed the punch into the tree.

This time, the punch shattered the bark off the tree. The other shockwaves hit milliseconds later, one after another, drilling deeper and deeper into the tree’s wood. When Ike drew back his fist, a deep fist shape dug into the tree, surrounded by concentric circles that cut shallower and shallower into the wood. The widest circle dug the least deep.

“Imagine if I could concentrate all those shockwaves into the initial blow,” Ike muttered under his breath.

“It’d be seriously scary. Seriously!” Wisp said, nodding in approval.

He looked at his fist again. His knuckles bled, but quickly healed. His bones and wrist ached, all of them thrumming with the aftermath of the hit. His healing quickly healed the damage the strike had done, but Ike frowned at his hand nonetheless. The otter didn’t seem to be harming itself. Had he done something wrong? Or did he just need to level up the skill?

“What is it?” Wisp asked.

“Nothing.” Ike hauled the otter up over his shoulder and walked back to the clearing. He looked left and right. Seeing no other challengers, he plucked the whitefeather grass and tucked it in his pocket. Now I can use that black gunk with no worries. Actually, I feel like I might Rank up if I use it again.

Before I Rank up, though, I want to complete Lightning Clad. Even if it’s not necessary, I feel like it’s a good idea. He didn’t know where the sensation came from. His core? His gut? Maybe the pillars he saw in his dreams. But the feeling told him he ought to complete the skill set before his next Rank. Plus, it’ll be much cleaner to have one Lightning Clad skill than having six or more Lightning Clad sub-skills.

Hopefully I don’t need to level them all up to level 9 before I can merge them…

In his mind’s eye, he saw his running skills hit level nine, then merge into All-Around Runner. He sighed. They definitely all have to hit level 9, don’t they.

He patted his pocket. With the whitefeather grass, he should have no problem absorbing that much mana. Even without it, I’d be able to absorb that much mana. But with it…well, the quality should be higher. The cleanliness. It should be better, even if I’m not sure exactly what that does!

Ike patted the otter on his shoulder. “I have meat. I have rings. I have the grass. Wisp, is there anything else you want?”

“Hmm? No,” Wisp said. “I could hunt more, but if you’re tired…”

“It is getting late,” Ike said, nodding at the sky.

“Ah, well, in that case.” She turned to go.

“Wisp!” Ike called.

She turned. Cocked one eyebrow.

“Do you want to come back with me? To Ket’s house. We could all have dinner together,” he invited her.

Wisp laughed. “They would never let me in.”

“As long as you’re in human form, the barrier won’t activate, right?” he asked. Silver had been able to enter and exit many times. It was only in monster form that he couldn’t.

“Why would I want to?” she asked. She climbed up into a tree and leaned on a big branch, looking down at him.

Ike shrugged. He patted the otter. “Ket’s a real good cook.”

She chuckled. “Wouldn’t your friends run if they knew who I was?”

“I’d tell them not to worry. That you’re not dangerous,” Ike said firmly.

“I don’t know if that’s true,” Wisp murmured. She turned away, vanishing into the forest.

Ike watched her go, then sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck. Turning to Loup, he nodded. “C’mon girl. Let’s head home.” I’ll recharge my mana using Rosamund’s head tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll head out bright and early, and see if I can’t forcibly finish my Lightning Clad skills, and maybe even Rank up from the puppets.

Loup looked at him, her ears perked forward. She bounced in excitement.

The two of them headed through the forest, back to the town.