Wisp rushed at him. Ike jumped back, not wanting to attack. “Wisp, why?”

“Spar with me!” she said, swiping at his chest.

“No!” Ike snapped. He kicked off the ground. A burst of Lightning Dash took him over the entire Abyss, and he landed on the other side. “You’ll kill me.”

“I promise I won’t,” Wisp said, climbing up into the trees on the other side.

“Wisp, come on. What do you really want?” Ike asked.

“To fight!” She leaped across the Abyss, all four limbs spread out to grab Ike.

Ike drew the ball of thread from his pocket and threw it at Wisp. It smacked her in the face. She flinched. Jumping up, Ike met her in midair and grabbed for her shirt. I’ll end this quickly—

Four long, spindly black limbs burst from Wisp’s back and stabbed at Ike. His eyes widened. He reached out with Lightning Grasp, activating Lightning Clad at the same time. Lightning crackled over his body for a split second, then burst free, smacking into Wisp’s gut. She flew backward, into the dark crack.

“Wisp!” Ike shouted, startled.

A white thread shot from Wisp and wrapped around a nearby tree. She swung to the edge and hopped off, giving him a look. “I’m a spider.”

“I—I know, but I was still… I don’t want to see a friend fall into the Abyss,” Ike said, running a hand through his hair.

“You see me as a friend?” Wisp asked.

“Of course,” Ike said.

She chuckled under her breath and turned away, but couldn’t hide the big smile on her face. Pacing a few steps away, she threw out her hand, then whipped around so she pointed at him. “You!”

“Yeah?”

“You were an orphan, weren’t you?” she asked.

“Huh? I was raised by my uncle… why?” Ike asked.

Wisp nodded. She waggled her finger at him. “Ask me how I know.”

Ike rolled his eyes. “How do you know?”

“Because humans can’t absorb aether.”

Ike stared at her. She raised her brows at him, grinning like she’d just revealed something.

“I’m a human, though,” Ike said flatly.

“Are you? Are you sure?” she asked.

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Ike nodded. “I am. I was raised by my maternal uncle. Beyond a doubt, my mother was human.”

“And your father?”

“Human.”

“Are you sure? Do you have any proof?” Wisp leaned in, closing the gap between them. Her bare feet crunched on fallen leaves. “Have you ever met his family? Ever seen the man in flesh?”

“I—” Ike fell silent. He frowned. I never had any reason to doubt my father’s humanity. I look human. I feel human. I’ve never taken on a beast shape, or anything like that. But… no, I’ve never met my father’s family. Never encountered anyone who knew him, or was related to him. I didn’t think it was that strange. Mages often travel, and in the slums, you’re lucky to have a single family member around. But… He frowned at Wisp. “Why even bring this up? I’m human. I’ve never transformed. I’ve even learned magic the human way. You’re just talking out of your ass, as far as I can tell.”

Wisp clicked her tongue. She waved her finger at him. “Fool. You’re wrong. You know why?”

“Hit me,” Ike said, exasperated.

“Humans can’t absorb—”

“Right. You said that. But I just did.”

Wisp spread her hands. “Case in point!”

Ike put his hands on his hip and looked down at Wisp. An easy task, thanks to her small stature. “So? Maybe you’re wrong. Maybe you’ve just never seen a human who can process aether before. Just because I’m the first one, you’re trying to make me not a human.”

“Maybe you’re wrong. Listen. If humans could process aether, do you think Ket and all them would bother with lunam? I mean, sure. I get using mana instead. It’s smooth. Easy to handle. But why swap to a limited, hard-to-find resource like lunam, if you could just learn aether instead?” Wisp reasoned.

Ike opened his mouth. He closed it. His brows furrowed, and he pinched his chin. No… Wisp actually has a good point there. “W-well, maybe they just failed.”

“All humans, forever, ‘just failed?’”

“I don’t know!” Ike protested. His own words began to sound weak to him. He frowned, considering it for a minute. I don’t actually know much about my father. Or my mother, for that matter, but I don’t think her humanity is in question. But if it really is impossible for humans to process aether, then… then what does that mean?

Wisp caught the look on her face and waved her hands. “I guess it’s not fully impossible for humans. I’ve heard that there’s some rare bloodlines that can process aether, too. But compared to your dad being a beast, it’s way rarer for you to have a weird bloodline that can process aether. Especially if you didn’t know your parents. Those kinds of bloodlines are usually highly prized by mages. They wouldn’t let someone with a bloodline like that leave their city and just…run off, you know?”

Yeah. I can’t imagine some high-faulting mage picked up some girl from the slums and ran off with her. That does sound far less likely than my father being a beast. But… no, it still sounds ridiculous. “Wouldn’t I know? Wouldn’t I… have ears, or something?”

“I dunno.”

“Can beasts and humans even interbreed?”

“I’ve heard of it. Never seen it, though,” Wisp said.

Ike sighed loudly. He waved his hand. “So you really are just talking out your ass.”

“I mean, sure, but… it sounds pretty probable, doesn’t it?” Wisp asked, waggling her brows. She pointed at Ike again. “The real point is that you can do what humans aren’t supposed to be able to do. Forcing you to attack with it confirmed it—you don’t have a handle on aether yet, but you won’t explode if you use it.”

“That was an option?” Ike asked, startled.

“You understand?” Wisp asked.

Ike startled. He looked at her, then shook his head. Right. I get what she’s trying to say. The point isn’t that I could explode, but that humans aren’t supposed to be able to process aether. If I use aether carelessly, or use it in a way that makes it obvious I’m using aether and not mana, people might think I’m a beast, with all the baggage that comes with that. Regardless of my bloodline or status as a beast or whatever else, I don’t want to carelessly give human mages the impression I’m a beast.

“Right. I understand,” he confirmed, nodding.

“Good. Well, if that’s the case, then let’s go find your dog,” Wisp said.

“Wolf,” Ike corrected her.

Wisp waved her hand. “Whatever.”