The next few days blended together, each one the same as the last. In the mornings, at the crack of dawn, he and Loup rose from their slumber and took to the forest. They hunted chicken until night came, then dragged their kills home for Ike to dismantle. He couldn’t stop himself from breaking them down, even though he knew there was little chance he’d ever sell any part of them.

At least he’d obtained better storage techniques, and found uses for some of the materials. Using a bone shovel, he’d dug a cave into the ground, and there he stored the raw meat. The cool of underground wouldn’t keep it fresh forever, but it kept it fresh for a little longer, so they wasted less of it. The hides he dried. The skins were remarkably less fragile than he’d thought they would be, and surprisingly versatile. Together with the bones, they made the walls of his hut. The taut, oily material kept the water out better than his oiled canvas tent. Unfortunately, they didn’t fold well, or else he would have replaced his tent as well.

He fashioned a number of chicken claws into an assortment of knives, then simply piled them up in the corner. Of all the materials, the claws were the easiest to carry and seemed relatively profitable. They were his priority pile, in the case he had to pack up camp and run for it.

Every morning, the rooster still crowed. Unobtainable. Distant, yet near enough to desire. Every day, Ike pushed further in his hunt, drawing closer to the source of those persistent crows. And still, all they’d encountered were hens.

As he fought his way through the monsters, his core expanded and strengthened, and he felt that shapeless thing in his core slowly take form. It felt firm, flat. He hated to borrow Rosamund’s words, but it felt like a foundation. His core was full with mana as well, both from the meat he ate and from the hunts themselves. Rosamund’s head still provided a steady stream of mana, though now he only used her head every few days. The longer he left it, the denser the black gunk became, the more mana accumulated in Rosamund’s head. He could put lunam in her head without releasing the black gunk, so there was no difficulty in raising the density of the mana.

Speaking of, that bunk about lunam making people go insane, or whatever seems to be total nonsense, Ike noted to himself. I’m still perfectly sane.

The page in Orin’s book that talked about lunam was pulled from another book. I wonder who wrote it, and why? Was someone trying to hide something about the Abyss? When it came to people who can freely enter and exit it, the city lord was the first person who appeared in Ike’s mind’s eye.

But then, the Abyss is inescapable.

Ike shook his head at himself. According to common knowledge, anyways. But common knowledge isn’t always true. I can’t escape it, but I’m only Rank 1. Higher-Ranks avoid it, because it’s ‘inescapable.’ How many higher-Ranked hunters or mages have fallen in the Abyss recently? They already know to avoid it.

But then, if a mage fell in, and easily flew out, the way those maids always did when they followed Rosamund around…

His eyes widened. That’s right. The maids! They’d been flying, but the second they crossed over the Abyss, the flight skills faded. The same with Rosamund’s own rose-stepping skill. His brow furrowed. He twisted his lips, trying to put it all together. Abruptly, he sighed and shook his head.

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I have some pieces, but I’m still missing some. I need more before I can put this together. For now, I’m just going to focus on getting stronger.

Speaking of getting stronger, he’d found more of the green skill orbs. All of them were embedded in the chickens’ legs. Their drumsticks or thighs, but always their legs. As he fused them into the first orb, the orb grew clearer and clearer. Now, only a small star of dust remained in its very center.

Ike pulled it out and lifted it to the sun. It twinkled, casting a green circle on the ground below. It might be more beautiful with that star in its heart.

He tucked it back away. Beautiful, but useless. He wouldn’t absorb it until the star was gone. If imperfect skills held him back from Ranking up, he couldn’t make such a mistake now. A sinking feeling rolled over him. What if I already absorbed an imperfect skill? Worried, he quickly pulled up his skill list.

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

Skills: Common: 5 | Bronze 2 | … | Rare 2 | … | Unique: 5

Common: All-Around Runner Lvl 5 | Razor Handling Lvl 9 | Spear Handling Lvl 3 | Axe Handling Lvl 4 | Sword Handling Lvl 4 | Bow Handling Lvl 1| Primitive Crafting Lvl 5

Bronze: Sensory Enhancement Lvl 4 | Mana Manipulation Lvl 2

Rare: Salamander Healing Lvl 8 | River-Splitting Sword Lvl 3

Unique: Lightning Dash Lvl 8 | Lightning Grasp Lvl 5 | Lightning Clad (Forearm) Lvl 3 | Lightning Clad (Calf) Lvl 2 | Lightning Caller Lvl 1

He crossed his arms, thinking. The Lightning skills are all fine, probably. The original orb was certainly perfect, and the skills I’ve based off of it…are based off a perfect skill, so they should be fine, right? I should ask someone, but who?

For now, I’ll just have to trust myself.

He moved to the Rare list. Salamander Healing was a skill Rosamund had described as a gift to the city lord, Lord Brightbriar, so it almost certainly was perfect. He didn’t recall seeing any defects in the River-Splitting Sword skill. For all that Silver was a bit of an oddball, he had no reason to harm Ike. Nor did he seem like the type to sneakily try to injure someone else. If he had a problem with Ike, he’d simply attack Ike outright.

He might have accidentally given me an imperfect skill, but I think I can rest easy that River-Splitting Sword is perfect, or close to perfect.

Down to the Bronze skills. There had been no visible defects in Sensory Enhancement. Plus, the owl had been bothering Silver for a long time, and on top of that, daring to bother Silver. It was high enough Rank that it was likely a few thousand years old. Old enough to have a good skill.

Mana Manipulation was another skill he had developed himself, and he was withholding judgement on personally-developed skills at the moment. Which only left the Common skills.

Given that I had a few level 2 or more Common skills when I became a Rank 0, I doubt that they matter much for Rank.

Ike nodded and uncrossed his arms. I think I’m good to go. If I have any imperfect skills, they’re barely imperfect. Rank 2, 3, maybe even 4 or higher. I can climb the Ranks as long as I keep growing these skills!

He patted the skill orb in his pocket. And adding new, of course.

Loup looked up at him. She lifted her nose and nudged his hand.

“Let’s go hunt one more today, girl,” Ike said. As little as he liked overhunting, the fear that the city lord had some kind of plan for him made him keep hunting, keep fighting. He had to get stronger. As fast as possible.

Loup opened her mouth in a smile, her tongue lolling out. She padded ahead of him, looking back at Ike expectantly.

Ike snorted. Someone’s having fun. He jogged on, following Loup.

A rooster cry cut through the forest, closer than ever. A shadow stalked through the woods. Bobbing, clucking…hungry.