Ike charged toward the tree. He activated all his skills. Lightning Clad, Lightning Grasp, Lightning Dash. He closed in on the tree in a flash of purple-white light.

Bark flew and wood creaked. The tree swung all its branches at Ike, almost tipping over. Its freed roots braced its weight against the ground’s surface, while the still-buried roots dragged at the deep earth. A tree’s worth of wood plunged toward Ike.

Ike looked up. With his enhanced senses, the branches seemed to move in slow motion. He held his ground, waiting, then leaped. He grabbed onto the first branch and hauled himself up. Jumping off it, he darted to the next branch, then the next. In a blast of white light, he reached the rear of the tree. It bent away from him, reaching toward where he’d been. Ike stood on the back of the bent tree, looking down at all its branches.

“Missed me,” he taunted it, then leaped down and darted a few steps into the trees.

The tree turned. It groaned and creaked as it stood back upright. Its branches quivered, and it lunged for Ike again.

Ike watched it come. As slow as it moved, it would be easy to flee, but he didn’t want to yet. He’d led it away from the puppets, so there was little risk of more defenses activating. Plus, if the other defenses were as slow as this one, he could escape them with little effort. The sky was already cloudy and threatening lightning. If he left now, he lost an excellent chance to figure out how to activate Lightning Caller without spending a few minutes running around spamming all his skills.

I’ve got my mana right there, too. He glanced at the puppet and the cloud of mana around it. I can replenish my mana after battle. No reason not to play around a little bit, test out my skills.

Besides, this thing isn’t an overly-bloated low-Rank monster like that spider Wisp and I fought. It’s poorly suited to fight me, but it’s powerful. There’s a good chance this thing actually has a skill orb.

Not sure what kind of skills a giant tree has that I could use, but we’ll find out.

The tree swung back upright and immediately slammed down, trying to pin Ike between its trunk and the ground. Ike used the momentum of the strike to launch off its body high into the air, pulling his legs up over the sweep of the branches. He jabbed his sword into the sky and sent a pulse of mana upward. Lightning chased his mana, flying up into the clouds.

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The clouds darkened. Light flickered in their depths. Thunder rumbled overhead.

We’re getting close. Ike dropped back down. He touched down on top of the tree for a second. All the branches instantly closed in on him, trying to grip him like a giant hand. He leaped off again and landed with a flip in the forest, not far from the tree.

His mana ran low, the quarter-full dwindled down to scraps. Ike cut down his skills to only Lightning Dash. He’d already seeded the clouds. Now, he only had to wait.

The tree smashed at him over and over again. Ike danced around it, waiting while the storm grew darker. On the cliff, Loup yawned and laid down.

A jolt of electricity passed through Ike’s nerves. He jerked in midair, startled, and looked up.

Seeing its opportunity, the tree lunged. It swept its branches in all directions. They closed in around him like a net.

Ah. So that’s what it feels like. Ike gazed past the branches, watching beyond the tree. The storm clouds were black, blocking out the sun. Lightning flickered in the cloud, and a rumble of thunder warned of the strike to come.

The branches bore down on Ike. At the very last second, he threw himself through the branches and landed on the ground outside. Lightning cracked down, so close the thunder blasted out at the same time the white light overwhelmed his vision. A hissing whistle sounded behind him. Aside from that, the tree was silent. No more did wood creak or bark snap. He stood, looking over his shoulder.

The tree had been cleft in twain. Two blackened halves laid on the ground, smoking and whistling. It twitched once, then fell still.

From its heart, a little green orb popped out of a nook in the wood and rolled over to Ike’s feet. He knelt, picking it up. Already, a grin spread across his face.

Skill orb, get!

Carrying the orb, Ike walked over to the puppet. He took a deep breath to replenish his mana. All the mana he’d boiled hung in a thick cloud near the puppet without flowing away. At least that’s nice. I don’t have to absorb it at the exact same second. Though I get the feeling that it’ll dissipate if I leave it for too long.

The black goo ran dry around the time Ike’s core hit half full. He plugged the puppet’s knee again and retrieved his pan. Tucking it in his belt, he headed back up to Loup’s side.

Loup stood. She sniffed him, then sat down, waiting for him to pick the next direction.

Ike looked up. Looks like rain. Ha. But it’s also late. I should head back. He lifted the orb again, then grinned. But let’s find out what this is, first.

He clenched the orb tight. Absorb!