Lightning flashed. Ike unleashed a flurry of kicks at the man’s head as he ducked to grab his axe.

The man’s fist thumped down just on the inside of his axe. A pillar of earth blocked Ike’s kicks. In a few kicks, Ike demolished the pillar, but the man had already retrieved his axe. The axe-wielder sliced upward at Ike’s hips.

Ike sucked in a short breath and leaped back with all his might. The axe-wielder pressed the attack, pushing Ike back with a consecutive series of swings. Ike’s shoulders hit a tree. The axe-wielder’s eyes glittered. He sliced at Ike’s neck.

Ike jerked his sword up just in time to block. Their blades clashed in a shower of sparks. Ike pressed aether into his Lightning Grasp, deliberately bursting the technique. A jolt of electricity zipped from his sword to the man’s axe.

The man winced. His grip weakened, and the axe slipped through his grasp. He caught it before it fell from his hand, but it was too late. Ike kicked off the tree, throwing his shoulder directly into the man’s chest. Hiding his fist under his body, he charged Shockwave Punch. Two, three, four shockwaves vibrated up his arm.

The man elbowed Ike’s back. He dug in his heels, slowing Ike’s charge. “Dumb kid, you don’t—”

Ike slammed the punch into the man’s stomach.

Under the armor, the man’s stomach wobbled like a bowl of jelly. He coughed. Blood splattered over Ike’s back, staining the wolf’s invisible fur red. Ike didn’t relent. He slammed another two, three punches into the man’s gut.

Anger sparked in the axe-wielder’s eyes. He pulled his arm back and struck toward Ike with all his strength, ignoring the pain to lash out regardless.

At that moment, Ike jumped back. The axe sliced by his face, almost lopping off his nose. He cut toward the man’s arm, but the man swayed backward, as quick on his feet as a boxer. Again, Ike barely scored a glancing blow.

The man abruptly lurched to the side, losing his footing on a bit of moss. An opening appeared, straight to his heart. Ike lunged.

And plunged, straight down a foot into the earth. He stumbled, completely off balance.

The man grinned. He instantly recovered, his slip nothing but a fake, and cleaved into Ike’s shoulder.

Shit! There was no time to dodge, no time to counter. Ike poured all his aether into his shoulder, activating Ice Armor to its fullest burst. Ice built and built on his shoulder. The axe cut into him, but the ice slowed and deflected the blade enough that the man only dug a deep wound in his flesh, rather than shattering his collarbone and ruining his entire shoulder.

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Bleeding through the ice coating, Ike yanked his feet free of the pit and backed away. He eyed the pit warily. That definitely wasn’t there a second ago.

As if to confirm his suspicions, the earth closed up behind him. The ground immediately began crumbling beneath his feet. Ike jumped up and grabbed a tree branch, ignoring the pain to haul himself into the tree. The axe wielder sliced at his legs as he climbed. Ike swung with the blow, turning a savage attack into a bad flesh wound. He crouched on the tree branch and looked down at his opponent.

The axe-wielder made kissy noises at him. “Come down, kitty cat.”

Ike gave him a look, then stilled. His eyes widened, and his grip tightened on his sword. There was a strike in the River-Splitting Sword that he’d never been able to master. An attack that never made sense to him. A downward blow, at the mid-body range. The attack leveraged all of his strength, but that was it. It didn’t angle down enough to slice the thighs, or cut high enough to break guard. It was a strange, mediocre attack, one that never made sense to him.

But now, looking down at an attacker from the branch, he understood.

The axe-wielder backed up. He leaned left and right, getting a better angle, then threw his axe at Ike so fast it blurred.

Ike leaped off the branch. As he dropped toward the axe-wielder, he released the final blow of the River-Splitting Sword. His mantis blade sped toward the axe-wielder’s throat.

The axe-wielder jerked back, but too slow. The blade sliced into his neck, spilling blood out and down his chest. He grabbed at his neck with one hand and hammered down at Ike with his axe.

Ike kicked off the ground. For the first time the whole battle, he burst off with the full speed of Lightning Dash. His body became a blur, and the axe cut through nothing but his mirage. He darted back in, cutting at the man’s neck again.

The man’s eyes widened. He lifted his axe to block his neck.

Ike angled his blade, shifting it downward. He grabbed the man’s shoulder and stabbed up, into his ribcage. More blood poured out, staining his stomach and pants. He staggered, then fell onto his back. The axe dropped out of his hand.

Breathing heavily, Ike backed away. He wiped his face and looked down at the man. It didn’t feel real. Not yet. His whole body remained tense, still keyed up from the battle.

A loud explosion burst to his right, all but throwing him off his feet. He stumbled, surprised. Pushing his bandana back up, he looked over toward the explosion.

Wisp flew backward, out over the Abyss. She gestured and shot three strands of spiderweb into the forest. They caught on the trees. She gave a firm yank and flew back toward the forest.

The foppish man chuckled. He reached into his pocket and lifted a card inscribed with a spell circle. “I don’t think so.” A small pulse of mana pushed into the card, and a fireball flew toward Wisp.

Wisp grimaced. Her threads burned up, and the fireball plunged toward her.

“Wisp!” Ike shouted. He threw his hand out toward her.

Her eyes widened. She shot spiderweb at him. It latched onto his hand, and Wisp threw her weight against it. Ike dug his heels in and pulled back, and she flew toward him. The fireball burst behind her, throwing her toward him even faster. She slammed into him, and both of them hit the ground.

“Thanks for the save,” Wisp said, jumping back to her feet.

“Huh? Yeah. You’re welcome,” Ike said. He brushed himself off and climbed to his feet. He nodded at the foppish man. “What’s his deal? Why are you having trouble with him?”

Her nose wrinkled. “He’s a bullshit-eating cheater.”

“What?”

“So, listen to this bullshit…”