Ike bounded through the trees. Ahead of him, Wisp arced through the trees. She neatly shot thread and swooped from branch to branch, moving with twice the speed and half the effort. Ike struggled to keep up at times. Without Lightning Dash, he would have absolutely fallen behind Wisp. Even then, he had to charge forward at full speed. Wisp, on the other hand, leaned back and glided, relaxing on her way through the trees.

“Wisp,” he called.

“Huh?” Wisp asked, not really paying attention.

“I heard that monsters… or rather, beings who use aether, can only cast the spells they’re born with,” Ike said.

Wisp laughed aloud. “Oh, did you.”

“But… You took in that human skill, so I guess that’s bullshit?”

She shook her head. “No, no. Well, yes? Monsters only use their inborn skills because they’re stupid, not because they use aether. Sure, it’s easier to use the skills you’re born with, but that’s just a universal truth, not something related to aether. If a monster has intelligence, they can do whatever humans can.”

“Oh. Makes sense,” Ike said. I should have expected humans to not fully understand monsters. After all, this is Tana’s explanation, not Silver’s or Wisp’s.

“You humans just make up bullshit because you’re pathetic weaklings without any inborn skills,” Wisp said, shaking her head at him.

He threw his hands up. “Hey, hey. Why am I catching strays?”

Wisp looked at him from the corner of her eyes and chuckled. A mischievous grin stretched across her face.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ike said. He shook his head, but he laughed a little, too.

A shadow crossed over the sky. The sunlight darkened. Ike looked up sharply. “What was that?”

“Nothing good,” Wisp muttered. “Be on your guard.”

Ike nodded. This far into the Abyss, the monsters were doubtlessly powerful. Far more powerful than the monsters he’d faced so far. He was Rank 2 now, with the improved skills that came with it, but he’d only just absorbed aether, and he wasn’t used to using it yet. Ike touched his hip, where Rosamund’s head still hung at the ready. I might need to absorb my mana back, if this turns out to be a tough fight.

Hopefully I can still absorb mana. I should be able to, since aether is the universal energy, but I haven’t checked yet. We’ll find out.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

He glanced up mid-leap, searching for the shadow caster. A raven circled high overhead. Its wings eclipsed the sun, and once again, a shadow passed over them. The raven crowed. It tilted its head, and their eyes met. Intelligent black eyes glinted in the sun. It tilted its wings, then dropped down on him and Wisp.

“Incoming!” Ike shouted.

Wisp threw a bolt of spider’s thread into the trees and vanished. Ike waited. He watched as the raven dipped toward him, drawing closer with every passing moment. The raven bared its claws and closed in.

Lightning flashed over Ike’s body. He darted to the next branch.

The raven slammed down onto the branch Ike had stood on moments ago. It croaked in surprise and pain.

Down on the ground, Ike was shocked by the size of the raven. From its shadow, he’d gathered that it was large, but up close, it was even larger than before. As big as the owl, at least, if not larger. A far fiercer aura emanated from its body, one higher than Ike’s own. Pitch black feathers let off an oily sheen.

Ike whirled. Drawing his sword, he did an about-face and burst at the raven.

The raven cawed in surprise and leaped into the air. He swung at the raven’s feet, but only scored a scratch in its claw before it flapped out of reach. The raven clenched its foot shut and flew higher.

“Yeah, get outta here,” Ike muttered, staring after it.

The raven opened its pitch black beak and belched out a ball of crimson fire.

Ike didn’t hesitate. Massing aether in his fist, he released an aether-powered Shockwave Punch at the dropping fireball. A huge green shockwave burst from his fist all at once. It smashed into the dropping fireball. The fireball slowed and broke up a little, but kept dropping.

Let’s go! If one did damage, enough should destroy it! He swung with his left and right, unleashing shockwaves into the fireball. The fireball hovered in the sky, held in the air by his punches. With one final punch, Ike broke the fireball into tiny, smoky bits.

“Haha, take that, dumb bird!” Ike shouted.

The raven circled around, its beak wide. Fireball after fireball flew from its open mouth and rained down on the forest.

“Huh? They aren't even landing close to us,” Ike said.

“It’s cutting us off! Come on, run!” Wisp shouted from ahead.

Ike jolted. Craning his neck, he caught sight of the arc of fires through the forest. Holy shit. Jumping to, he sprinted off after Wisp, away from the closing circle of flames.

Overhead, the raven cawed mockingly. It soared on the thermals it had created, tipping its wings effortlessly to chase after them.

“Oh, shut up,” Ike complained. Lightning sparked to life around him as he dashed off. In a few dozen steps, he caught up to Wisp.

She swung along on her thread, an annoyed expression on her face. “I hate birds.”

“Why?”

“They eat spiders,” she complained.

“Oh. Yeah, I guess so,” Ike said, nodding to himself. He glanced up. “Aren’t you stronger than that thing?”

“Yeah, but bird.”

Ike chuckled. “It’s like me and spiders.”

“What? You’re afraid of spiders?” Wisp asked, perking up.

“Huh? No. Me? Afraid of spiders?” Ike scoffed.

Wisp’s lips curled upward. She grew her four additional limbs again and waggled them at Ike. “Oooh, spiders.”

“Stop,” Ike grumbled, rolling his eyes. “Are we fleeing for our lives, or what?”

“I can do both,” Wisp said confidently.

With a caw, the raven hurtled at them. Ike spun around, lifting his sword again. On either side, the flames closed in.