The toads leaped at Ike from all sides. Across the pond, the toads jumped at Rosamund and her handmaids. Rosamund shrieked in horror. “Get it off! Get it away from me!”

Ike put them to the back of his mind, focusing on his own battle. She said she could handle it. I’ll have to believe her. I don’t have another choice—I’m going to have my hands full with just this.

He lifted his sword as the first toad lashed out at him. A thick pink tongue shot from its mouth, almost too quick for his eyes. Ike executed the first step of River-Splitting Sword, slicing off the end of the toad’s tongue. It jerked back in pain and rolled onto its back, hugging its mouth.

That was too fast. Ike activated Sensory Enhancement. By now, he was mostly used to the overload, able to filter down to the most essential input.

As he activated the skill, Ike closed in. He finished off the toad with a slash to its soft underbelly, then whirled as another toad leaped at him. Several hundred pounds of flabby soft flesh hurtled down on Ike.

Ike raised his sword. He closed his eyes, temporarily cutting off Sensory Enhancement. For a moment, he stood in the clearing with Silver again, the gentle rush of the river in the background and the sun beating down.

“Why’s it called the River-Splitting Sword?”

Silver looked at him, then nodded. “Watch.”

He stepped into the stream. One, two, three, moving through the motions of the sword technique. With the last one, his eyes suddenly changed. Killing intent surged from his sword. He struck, slicing from the ground to the sky.

A wave of energy surged from his sword. For a moment, the stream split in two, revealing the river stones beneath.

The water closed back over the gap, splashing down to cover the stones. Silver hopped out of the water and nodded at Ike. “That is why. If you master this sword, you will be able to split an entire river, not merely a piddling stream.”

Back in the moment, Ike gathered mana on his sword, circulating the technique as strongly as he could. I don’t need to split a river. I just need to split a toad!

Ike’s eyes flew open. Sensory Enhancement kicked in again. The toad’s belly loomed, dropping toward him. He struck, sword flying from low to high. A slash of energy flew from his sword. It cut into the toad’s soft belly and into its guts, then stopped there, not quite severing it. Ike jumped back, narrowly avoiding the toad’s body as it bellyflopped to the ground in a splat of blood and gore.

A wet stretching noise caught his ear. Ike jumped to the side, barely avoiding as a tongue shot past. He whirled around, trying to slice the tongue before it retracted again, but this time, the toad had him outsped. Its tongue vanished into its mouth before his sword struck.

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From either side, toads jumped at him. Ike rolled to the side, letting the two giants strike one another. With a wet slap, they smacked together and dropped to the ground. One shook its head and turned, immediately targeting Ike again, but the other rolled around on its back, off-balance and confused.

Not one to waste his chance, Ike charged the downed monster. It rolled to its feet with some effort as he reached it. He cut at its jaw. If I can disable that, it’s out of commission.

His sword struck the toad’s rubbery, oily hide and bounced. He stumbled back as his arms flew over his head. Holy shit! Compared to the underbelly, the back is heavy armor!

The toad turned toward him. It crawled at him with surprising speed and clawed at him with its vicious claws. Ike backstepped, barely dodging the claw, only for a toad to swallow him up from behind. He fell backward, into wet, sticky darkness. A strong tongue shoved him deeper.

Not waiting to land in the stomach, Ike shoved his sword through the toad’s throat wherever he could reach. There was no technique or thought in the motion, just panic. He slashed left and right, then grabbed the edges of the wound and dragged himself out. His shoulder hit the ground, and he rolled the rest of the way out, getting his feet on the ground. He shuddered, wiping himself off. Thick, translucent goo sloughed off his skin.

Like the Salamander, but less heat. And more slime.

Even as the toad that had swallowed him died, two more turned toward him. Ike put his disgust to the back of his mind and lifted his sword.

A shadow passed overhead. Ike looked up, craning his neck. Rosamund’s two handmaidens carried her away, soaring into the sky. She sobbed, her rose dress stained with mud and pond water.

He narrowed his eyes. Dropping bait and running away? What kind of piggish teammate is this?

As she passed overhead, their eyes made contact. Rosamund stopped crying and stuck her tongue out at him.

Ike’s eyes widened. It was deliberate? She’s willing to go that far to force me to use the skill she only thinks I stole? What if I hadn’t stolen her skill? I’d be…probably okay, thanks to Silver, but still!

That’s it. After this, I hunt alone. Period. Unless it’s someone like Silver or Cara, who I know I can trust, I’m not partying up with anyone else. Not even if they threaten me with death.

The toads lunged, and he darted to meet them.

Leathery bodies piled up in the mud by the edge of the pond. Blood colored the muddy water. Ike fought on, covered in tiny scratches, sludge, and toad goo. Although Rosamund no longer stood over his shoulder, he resisted the urge to use any of his lightning skills. He didn’t know how far she could see him from, or what she used to keep an eye on him. No matter what, he couldn’t afford for her to realize he’d really stolen her skill.

The sun travelled across the sky. At last, the final toad hit the ground. Ike wiped his face and stared out over the mess of warty corpses, exhausted. Toad after toad filled the clearing around the pond, lying slumped all over one another.

He shook his head. “That’s a lotta bodies. Gonna take forever to break down.”

An earth-shattering thump shook the ground beneath Ike’s feet. Trees toppled nearby. Something enormous rumbled toward him.

He spread his stance, staring around him in fear. What the hell did Rosamund’s bait draw?

From out of the trees, a truly giant toad loomed. The underside of its enormous chin blocked out the sky. Its wobbly belly flattened the trees at the edge of the pond. Two enormous claws dug human-sized craters in the wet earth.

Ike looked at the toad, then at the pond behind him. “You can have the bait.”

With an earth-shattering ribbit, the toad locked eyes with Ike. In that moment, Ike became incredibly aware of all the toad blood splattered over his body, his sword, everything. Of the pile of toads he stood atop. Of the blood painting the water red.

He laughed to himself. “You’re not here for the bait, are you.”

Eyes shining with anger, the enormous toad lifted a claw to crush him.