Ike closed in on the sloth. Lightning chased him, and Loup chased the lightning. The sloth’s eyes glittered. It swiped at him again, its blazing-fast claws closing in on Ike.

Ike laughed. “You didn’t think that was as fast as I could go, did you?” He pushed off the ground and closed the distance in a flash. The sloth stared at him, startled, and then his blade found its throat. He sliced through and ran past. A spray of blood colored the air behind him. The sloth flailed its arms, but slowed down. With each pass of claws, it moved slower and slower, until it finally came to a halt, limp on the ground. A corpse.

Wiping his sword, Ike stepped closer. The chickens had taught him caution, with their penchant to leap back up without a head, but the sloth showed no sign of reviving. He nodded at Wisp. “There we are.”

Wisp climbed leisurely from her tree, clapping sarcastically. “Impressive, impressive. You really showed that slow-moving herbivore who’s boss.”

Ike rolled his eyes at Wisp. “Where’s the ring?”

“Only one way to find out.” Wisp cracked her knuckles and worked out her jaw.

“Right. Let me get out of your way.” Ike jogged from the corpse. Loup went to follow him, then hesitated and turned back to the corpse.

“You can join me,” Wisp offered the wolf.

Loup yipped. Leaving Ike, she trotted to Wisp’s side.

“Traitor,” Ike muttered jokingly. He walked away, hopping into a nearby tree, and kept his back resolutely toward the corpse.

Before long, crunching and squelching sounds came from behind him. The occasional growl and ripping sound mixed into the horrific wet chewing of Wisp chowing down on sloth. Ike watched the lake, enjoying the peaceful view. He sighed, eyes half-closing to enjoy the breeze. Ah, yes. A lovely mid-morning break. The cool breeze from the surface of the lake. The placid lake, with its gentle waves. Peaceful. Beautiful.

A loud, wrenching squelch-pop echoed through the trees behind him. Ike flinched. Gods. “I could have butchered it for you, you know. I could have cooked it, even.”

“That’s not as fun,” Wisp replied with her mouth full.

“It’s more fun, I would argue,” Ike pointed out. “I could even eat the sloth, in fact.”

“You could eat it now.”

“I disagree.”

Chewing sounds. Wisp swallowed loudly. “It’s pretty foul, anyways. You wouldn’t like it.”

“That’s what everyone says when they don’t want to share,” Ike returned.

“It really is pretty nasty, though. I’d rather eat another spider.”

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“You prefer cannibalism?”

“It’s no more cannibalism than it’s cannibalism for a trout to eat a sardine.”

Ike opened his mouth, then shut it. Valid.

Wisp walked up beside him. She wiped her mouth, then handed him a second ring. “There you go. Go learn more.”

Ike looked at the ring, then at Wisp. “You know, I bet Ket could find out even more if we had three or four rings.”

Wisp waggled her brows. “You don’t need to tell me twice. I’m down for you to kill me more food.”

“Hey, now,” Ike protested.

Wisp grinned. “I’ll help. Maybe. If I feel like it.”

“You’ll help me find it.”

“That’s right. I’m your hunting dog. Woof woof,” Wisp said, putting her hands together like a begging dog.

Ike stiffened. I have no idea how to respond to that. She’s incredibly more powerful than me. Obviously I can’t agree with her. She’ll kill me. But if I disagree, I’m countering a super powerful mage. What do I do?

Wisp leaned in, watching his face, then snorted a laugh. She poked his cheeks and giggled. “Laugh. It’s funny!”

Ike quickly laughed, then cleared his throat. “Let’s get going. Do you smell any other rings?”

“Not yet. We can wander around. I’ll catch the scent sooner or later. They’re everywhere.”

Ike blinked. “That common?”

“Su-per common.”

Ike raised his brows. “Well, then. Lead the way.”

Wisp laughed. She jogged away, gesturing for him to follow.

Ike fell in, grinning. “Here we go.”

The forest blurred by. The remains of the giant sloth quickly fell behind them, little more than bits of fur and bone at this point. As they ran, Ike turned to Wisp. “This one…was it needlessly bloated, too? Like that giant spider earlier.”

Wisp nodded. “Like they’ve been deliberately forced to grow large.”

He sighed. “So I guess there’s no skill orbs to be found here.”

“But… lots of these fun rings,” Wisp said. She shrugged. “You could find a skill orb. Monsters can develop skill orbs as young as a hundred years.”

“That’s true. It’s just rarer,” Ike admitted. He looked at Wisp.

Wisp waggled her brows at him. “That’s right. I definitely have skill orbs. Wanna try?”

“No, ma’am,” Ike replied quickly. There’s no chance I could defeat Wisp. She’d crush me in an instant.

“Pity. You smell like you have good skill orbs in you.”

“You can take skill orbs out of people?” Ike asked, surprised.

Wisp shrugged. “You can take skill orbs out of anything.”

“Wait, can you get skills from other monsters?” he asked, more wanting to confirm it than anything.

Wisp cocked a brow. “Yeah? Of course.”

“Is that unique to conscious monsters?”

Wisp shrugged. “I wouldn’t say that. It’s more common for us to survive the process, since we can consciously choose skills that match our mana and pathways.”

Ike ducked a branch, then nodded at Wisp. “How can you tell ahead of time, if a skill’s going to match or not? I met another monster who could do the same thing, but…I have no way of knowing what a skill is before I absorb it, let alone whether it’ll match my mana or not.”

She frowned at him. “You don’t send a pulse of mana into the orb before you absorb it? It’s just like if you’re trying to get a feel for anything. The first step is to send a pulse of mana into it.”

Ike’s eyes widened. Ohhhh. I should’ve thought of that. Why didn’t anyone mention it?

Wisp chuckled under her breath. “You’re self-taught, mostly, aren’t you?”

“Yeah?” Ike asked.

“I can tell. I’ve had the same reaction to a bunch of dumb things everyone should know. The people you’ve encountered probably just thought you already knew.”

“Will it tell me exactly what skill it is?” Ike asked.

“With enough practice, you’ll be able to tell. Early on, you’ll be lucky to get more than a feel for ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ skills. Practice enough, and you should learn the skill.”

Ike nodded at her. “Thank you, Wisp.”

“No problem.” She ran ahead, leaving him behind.

Ike laughed. He kicked off the ground and pushed himself faster. He couldn’t keep up with Wisp, but he wouldn’t let her escape, either. I have pride in my legs and my running speed. I won’t let her escape so easily!