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"Poisoned?" Ike whipped around. He stared back the way they\'d came. Clarina… her family poisoned us? Why?

He startled a second time. His hand went to his storage ring. He called forth the Unique skill.

It sat there, glittering in the palm of his hand.

Huh. I would have understood if they were after the skill orb. Or maybe they were, and they failed due to Shawn\'s intervention? Either way… He nodded at the boy. "Thanks, Shawn."

"No problem."

Before anything else could happen, Ike closed his hand around the skill orb and absorbed it. Energy surged through his body, but unlike Lightning Dash, it didn\'t overwhelm him. For a moment, the air left his lungs, and a wind battered him, and then it faded. He took a deep breath, in, then out.

"Wow. That skill was well suited to you. Clarina picked it well," Shawn commented.

"Weird how much thought she put into it, just to give it to for someone of poor breeding," Ike muttered.

Shawn sighed. "Are you still sore about that? You know she just got angry in the moment. It didn\'t mean anything."

Ike ignored him. He pulled up his skill list, checking it for new entries.

[Name: Ike | Age: 16 | Status: Nm | Rank: 2 [Abyss Dweller]]

Skills: Common: 11 | Bronze 3 | Silver 3 | Gold 2 | Rare 1 | Unique: 6

Common: All-Around Runner Lvl 8 | Razor Handling Lvl 9 | Spear Handling Lvl 4 | Axe Handling Lvl 4 | Sword Handling Lvl 9 | Bow Handling Lvl 1 | Primitive Crafting Lvl 9

Bronze: Sensory Enhancement Lvl 9 | Mana Manipulation Lvl 5 | Lunam Manipulation Lvl 0 | Aether Manipulation Lvl 1

Silver: Flurry of Kicks Lvl 4 | Chlorophyll Lvl 1 | Exsanguination Lvl 1

Gold: Shockwave Punch Lvl 6 | Ice Armor Lvl 5

Rare: River-Splitting Sword Lvl 9

Unique: Lightning Dash Lvl 9 | Lightning Grasp Lvl 9 | Lightning Clad Lvl 4 | Lightning Caller Lvl 3 | Body Reforging Art Lvl 1 | Tempest Lvl 1

"Tempest?" Ike frowned. It didn\'t sound like it had anything to do with his body. It wasn\'t an attack, or an enhancement. His eyes widened as a thought came to him. "Is this an attack spell?"

"Why do you sound so shocked?" Shawn asked.

"It\'s just… it\'s my first pure attack spell. Not an enhancement or a fighting technique, just a spell that attacks," Ike explained.

"Oh. Congrats!"

"I don\'t know it\'s an attack spell, I—" Ike cut off. He sighed. No time like the present to find out. Lifting his hand, he pointed his palm at a nearby tree and activated the skill.

Instantly, his aether surged. It streamed through his body, gushing out of his palm. Startled, Ike pulled it back, only to find he no longer had control of the aether. It moved at the whims of the spell, entirely beyond his paltry control. Wind gushed around him. It whooshed past his palm and swirled around him, flying and soaring. Ike\'s hair whipped around his head. He gritted his teeth and tried to clench his fist, but couldn\'t. "Whoa! Stop!"

"Lean into it! You can\'t kill the spell now that it\'s started. All you\'ll do is hurt yourself. Put all your mana into the spell and let it activate!" Shawn shouted over the raging wind.

Ike grimaced. He followed Shawn\'s advice. Instead of choking back his aether, he poured more into the spell. The tempest raged around his hands and all around him. There was no direction to it. No spin. Wind blew at random, not under Ike\'s or anyone\'s control.

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His aether drained and drained. His core slowly bottomed out. The wind grew so strong that he could no longer stand upright, but staggered slightly left and right with the wind. Ike gritted his teeth. Come on! This has to be enough aether. If it isn\'t, I don\'t have enough aether! You can\'t take aether I don\'t have!

Lower and lower. Ike trembled. A great cold ran over him, shivering over his skin. His core pulled to his gut. It wasn\'t as bad as when he\'d transformed his body, but it reminded him of it. He looked at Shawn.

"You\'ve got this. Just a little more," Shawn reassured him, but his face twisted in concern. His brows knitted in uncertainty.

Ike growled aloud in frustration. He pushed one last pulse of aether into the spell, then yanked his remaining sparks of aether back. The spell whirled away from him. Wind spun around him, viciously tearing off through the forest. A tornado carved the trees apart. It threw up clumps of earth and tossed stones into the air. Ike ducked as a stone blasted past his head. The tornado receded into the sky, slowly spinning down.

"Hell of a spell," Ike muttered, watching it go.

"That\'s awesome. Do it again!" Shawn said, clapping.

Ike gave Shawn a look. "I spent all my aether on that one. I can\'t."

"Oh." Shawn pouted.

Ike sighed aloud. He plopped on the ground and took a deep breath. Aether slowly filtered in. He crossed his legs and closed his eyes. "Wake me up when Wisp wakes up. I\'m going to recover some aether right now."

"Sure," Shawn said. He walked around in a small circle, then sat down. He laid on the ground and sighed. "Just when one finally wakes up…"

Time passed. Wisp snoozed and Ike meditated. At last, Wisp yawned and sat up. She looked around. "What happened?"

Shawn dusted himself off and sat up. "We got drugged. Ike got a new spell, and then he passed out."

"Oh." Wisp glanced around. She looked at her arms and legs. Glancing at Ike, she transformed into her spider form. She towered over Ike. Her shadow covered the entire clearing they were in. One of her legs hung limp, crumpled against her body, and a dark mark scarred her abdomen.

Shawn\'s eyes widened. "What happened?"

"An old injury. I haven\'t been able to use my full strength for years." Wisp stretched again. She rocked back and forth, pointing her rear in the air.

"Oh. That\'s terrible."

"Not for much longer."

A crack opened in the back of Wisp\'s abdomen. It tore open. A fresh, shiny Wisp squeezed out. The new Wisp was slightly larger than the old one. Her skin was fresh, without a single scar. All eight legs sat where they should.

Wisp scuttled around, feeling her new body. She wiggled around, climbing a tree, then jumping down. "Healed! Finally healed!"

"What the—you removed your own skin?" Shawn asked, startled and disgusted.

"It\'s called molting." Wisp grabbed her own skin and stuffed it into her mouth with her forelegs. With a few quick chews, she swallowed it.

"Oh. What\'s molting?"

Wisp looked at him. She tilted her head. "It\'s like, uh…"

"Like when all the leaves fall off the trees in fall, except if you eat them afterward," Ike said, opening his eyes. He looked at Wisp, then froze.

Wisp stared. After a second, she giggled. "You\'re afraid of spiders, aren\'t you?"

Ike closed his eyes again. "No."

"No…?" She scuttled over and pushed her foreleg-tip against his cheek.

Ike leaned away. He shivered involuntarily. "No. Please stop touching me."

Wisp laughed. She wiggled in place. Her spider form twisted up, spiraling down into a small form. The usual Wisp stood before Ike once more, though she now stood another inch taller than she had before.

"Is she gone?" Ike asked.

"She\'s right in front of you," Shawn said.

"Is she human?" Ike rephrased.

Two small hands clapped Ike\'s face. "What do you mean? I\'m never human."

Ike opened his eyes. He gave Wisp a look. "You know what I mean."

She grinned.

He climbed to his feet. "You were injured? Why didn\'t you say anything?"

"Oh, you heard?"

"I wasn\'t asleep. I was just gathering aether," Ike reminded her.

Wisp grinned. She shrugged. "Yeah. I was injured in a fight back in the Abyss. There\'s something deep, deep in its heart that even I can\'t take on. I couldn\'t sleep immediately afterward, because that thing was on my ass. By the time it left me alone, the sleep-to-heal thing refused to activate anymore. I was worried it might never happen, but it seems like getting drugged triggered it. Something to thank Clarina for."

"Speaking of, did you absorb that Unique skill I gave you yet?" Ike asked. "I know you ate it, but do you have the skill?"

Wisp gave him a thumbs-up. "Yep!"

"What is it?" Ike asked, excited.

She wiggled her finger at him. "You\'ll have to wait and see."

"What do you mean? Hey! Come on…" Ike sighed. He shook his head.

"Your aether refilled?" Wisp asked.

Ike nodded. "More or less. It\'s pretty rich here."

"There\'s a mana vein close to the surface. I picked this place for a reason." Shawn walked over. Ike was still sitting on the ground, so he climbed onto Ike\'s back and went limp.

"What? Why?" Ike asked.

"I\'m not going to waste my energy walking this time. What if you guys get drugged again? Carry me."

Ike looked at Wisp. He spread his hands.

She nodded at him and gave a thumbs-up. "It\'s good training."

With another sigh, Ike hauled himself to his feet. "Fine. Fine! Let\'s get going. Where to next?"

"Well, I think we learned a lot from this city. It was a good practice run, and we got two Unique skills and a handful of gems and neat outfits, but we could do way better," Wisp said.

Ike nodded. "Right. We got distracted halfway and destroyed some puppets instead of raiding the treasury."

"So I say, we take that knowledge and apply it. The first run\'s just for practice. We practiced, so let\'s go do it better. Hit the next city and wipe it out," Wisp said firmly.

"No, you\'re totally right," Ike agreed.

"That\'s all well and good, but what if the next city isn\'t besieged by puppets? What if a beautiful princess doesn\'t ask you to rescue her parents? What if it\'s totally different from this city?" Shawn asked.

"It\'s not too late to come up with a new plan once we\'re there," Ike reasoned.

Wisp nodded. She pointed at Ike.

Shawn sighed. "Fine, fine. No, you\'re right. You\'ve covered every possible reality. Either it\'s a target for thievery, or it isn\'t."

"Now you\'re getting it."

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Let\'s go, then."

The three of them walked off into the forest as the sun rose higher over the horizon.