Gold light shot up around Ike. Lightning flashed around him, interspersing the gold with purple. Ike grinned defiantly up at them as he Ranked up, from Rank 1 to Rank 2.
Up on the top of the cliff, Tana gasped. “Gold and purple…?”
Ike stared the men and women in the eye. At Rank 2, he could definitively tell that they were lower Rank than him. A few had strange, nebulous-feeling Ranks that didn’t feel right; maybe Rank 2s or 3s who had fallen back to Rank 1 from lack of mana. But none of them actively had more Rank than him.
“How—how did you Rank up?” one of the men demanded. He stared into Ike’s eyes, and a second later, his eyes widened. “You aren’t using lunam?”
“He isn’t—how?”
“What? No way!”
“You can’t Rank up in the Abyss without lunam!”
Ike’s eyes glittered. Ohhhh. I’ve found a crack. Rather than threatening them with reality, isn’t it easier to disarm this trap by incentivizing them with it, instead? Besides… I bet I can make a quick buck right here, right now.
Ike stepped forward. “That’s right. I just Ranked up in the Abyss. Without using lunam. Are you willing to risk angering the city lord—the city lord, who has not made a move to stop me this whole time, who doesn’t appear to care about this army at all—in order to regain your Rank, or even Rank up?”
The men and women looked amongst one another. One or two stepped back, strongly shaking their heads, but the rest stood at the edge, considering it. Not fully persuaded, but not willing to give up on the opportunity, either.
Well, they’re hunters, after all. Hunters and mages. When it comes to advancing and Ranking up, Rank never comes without risk. The only way to advance is to fight monsters of equal or higher level. The only way to get stronger, is to put one’s own life at risk. When considering that these are all people who have advanced and Ranked up to this level while living under that philosophy, it’s not that surprising that they’d consider taking the risk of the city lord’s wrath for a chance at regaining their strength. Especially when I’ve gone unpunished this far. Especially when we are a large mob of anonymous people, whom the city lord surely cannot punish all of.
It's not that any of this is absolute truth. But this is the way they’d think.
Abruptly, one of the old men jumped down the cliff. Grumbling under his breath, he rode down the dirt incline and walked over to Ike. “I’m in. What do we do?”
“For twenty gold, I’ll teach you,” Ike told him.
The man’s nose wrinkled, but he instantly handed over the gold. Ike palmed it. Interesting. He’s willing to give me the gold that easily? I’ll have to charge more next time. He leaned in to the man’s ear and whispered, “Just stand in the smoke and breathe it in. If you can still process mana, you should be able to absorb it the same as you used to.”
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The man’s eyes widened. He walked into the smoke and took a deep breath. His eyes grew even wider, and his aura shot up. From the base of Rank 1, he quickly climbed to the middle of Rank 1.
“It works!” he shouted, startled.
The crowd perked up. Still hesitant, they nonetheless edged closer to the edge of the cliff.
A woman hopped down. Ike walked to the edge of the puppets to greet her. “Fifty gold and I’ll teach you the secret.”
She grumbled, but reached into her pocket. “So? What is it?”
Ike told her as well. Her nose wrinkled in distaste. She harrumphed disbelievingly and walked into the smoke.
One breath. Her eyes went wide. She took another breath, and another. Her eyes darted to the man, and the two nodded at one another. Her aura, too, rose rapidly.
Ike nodded at the rest of the people on the cliff. “The first to come get a discount! If you aren’t in the first three, start gathering wood! I’ll require wood for entry from the rest of you, on top of the price of entering the mana field!”
The men and women fought amongst one another. One burst free and charged down the cliff, followed closely by another two. Ike waited patiently. A woman in the back of the three suddenly shot ahead and reached Ike. She slapped fifty gold into his palm.
“Thank you very much. You two, I’m sorry, but I’m going to require wood on top of the entry price,” Ike said. He waved the other two away.
One of the men stepped forward firmly. He crossed his arms. “You are going to let me in.”
Ike raised his brows. “No.”
“Do you know who I am? I—”
“No.”
The man’s jaw opened and shut. No sound came out. He stared at Ike, eyes bugging out.
Beside him, the other woman who’d missed being third giggled, a big grin on her face. Tana stared in shock from the top of the cliff. She shook her head just a little, warning him against it.
Ike shooed him away. I’m stronger than him. He doesn’t even have the wobbly aura some other people here do. I don’t give a fuck about Abyssal’s internal politics, so who cares? I’m not going to stay here. Whatever petty revenge he tries, I can just walk away from it. “Wood, please. I’ll talk again when you come back with wood.”
“You don’t know what you’ve done,” the man growled low in his throat.
At Ike’s side, Loup growled, her hackles raising. The man flinched back, startled.
“Correction. I don’t care what I’ve done,” Ike replied swiftly. He waved his hand. “If anyone has wood, I’m willing to let more people into the mana field!”
The man glowered at him. Ike ignored him. When he realized Ike wasn’t going to budge, he stomped away, still fuming. Under his breath, he muttered, “You’ll regret this.”
Ike watched him go. His heart pounded instinctively, but his mind was clear and firm. He wasn’t afraid of the man. He had no reason to bow to his demands.
Once, he would have wavered. Bowed and scraped. Fled, rather than face down confrontation. But he wasn’t the same boy who’d barely survived under his uncle’s fist. He wasn’t the same kid who scraped hides and gave up his wages to survive. He was as strong as his uncle now. Maybe even stronger, depending on how well his uncle had reached Rank 2. He had Unique skills. Powerful attacks. Incredible speed. The complete version of Lightning Clad. He looked up at the men and women at the top of the cliff, and felt no fear.
I’ve grown stronger. I have no need to act the way I used to. Now, I can stand proud. Turn down those who think they can step on me.
A small smile played over his face. He took a deep breath, and felt the mana flow into him. I’ve changed. But I don’t think I mind.