226. Drop, Hop

Wisp plunged. Ike waited, his sword at the ready. Shawn's weight clung to her. He'd always been on the inside before, but from the outside, it was far clearer than he'd expected. Her expression grew strained, and her muscles and tendons stood out on her body as she struggled to hold Shawn's weight. The air shimmered around her, too, as if it were on the verge of collapsing under her and Shawn's combined weight.Down below, Ike circulated his aether. He strengthened his body and activated River-Splitting Sword, pouring aether into the skill as he raised his sword into position. Storm Clad swirled around him. Lightning flashed and wind raged.

Wisp struck down. Just as they'd predicted, she shoved the centipede's body down, pushing all the gunk out into the other part of its body. As they hadn't predicted, the sudden poof of displaced material shot Ike directly into the air. He flew upward, slightly surprised, storm and aether swirling around him.

Shawn laughed. "Oh my gods, that was amazing. Do it again!"

Ike flipped around in midair. He kicked off the wall behind him and hurtled back down toward the centipede. It reared up, baring its teeth at him, but too slow. It was truly too bloated to seriously fight back. Frustrated, the centipede roared.

The roar buffeted Ike, but it wasn't enough to knock him off track. He plunged into the still-plump half of the centipede's body and unleashed the downward slash of the River-Splitting sword. Storm energy had gathered on his blade, and now, it unleashed with the slash. The blade cut through the centipede's body, splitting the puffy part wide open. A second later, lightning cracked after it, searing into the wet ichor inside the centipede. The ichor boiled. The centipede screeched again, this time in pain. It thrashed, and ichor splashed everywhere. Ike tensed, but couldn't avoid the wave of ichor that smashed into him. Horrifically thick, stinking ooze sunk into every inch of him.

"Gross!" Wisp shouted.

"And this is why cleaning skills are important," Ike said smugly, as he swiftly activated his.

"Oh, right." From within the folds of the centipede's deflating body, a squelch sounded as Wisp activated hers. A thin thread burst out of the depths, and Wisp flew out of the centipede, flying on her line.

Ike hopped back, giving the mother centipede some room. It thrashed and screeched, but there was nothing it could do about the hole in its side. From the moment they found a way to cut its overly soft flesh, it was all over. Before long, its thrashing weakened. It sagged to the floor with a meaty thump, splashing into its own ichor.

Ping-ting-ting. A skill orb bounced out of the centipede's depths and rolled over the floor, all the way to Ike's feet. He bent and picked it up. Warily, he examined it. None of the bloated monsters from the Abyss had dropped skills, but they had been artificially bloated. This one, which had become naturally bloated from living in such ideal circumstances for so long, apparently didn't abide by those same rules. But what kind of skill could a monster so helpless have?

Like Wisp said, I can always sell it. So resolved in his heart, Ike sent a ping of aether into its heart to examine it.

With the soft thud of bare feet, Wisp landed beside him. She leaned in, so close her breath fogged on the orb. "What is it?"

"I'm looking! Patience," Ike urged her. There were no deformities in the skill, so it ought to be perfect. He sent a pulse of aether into the skill to check its contents.

A sensation of softness came over him. Softness, mixed with toughness. Ike grimaced. "I guess that tracks."

"What? What is it?" Wisp asked. Mag came up behind her. Back in his human form, he plucked the last of the dried white goop off his clothes, scowling the whole time. He craned his neck to see the skill, curious despite his annoyance.

"A skill that copies the qualities of the centipede's body. The softness and strechiness of it."

Wisp blinked, then squinted. "Wait. Does that mean it's a skill that makes you fat?"

"It—" Ike paused. He looked at the skill. "Probably not…?"

"But you don't know, do you? Maybe it makes you mega chubby."

"I wasn't going to absorb it, anyways," Ike grumbled, hiding it in his palm.

Wisp tilted her head. "Why not?"

He gestured at her. "I don't want to be super fat, or whatever you said."

"But what if it just makes you soft and sleek? What if it just makes you as hard to puncture or slash as the centipede was?" Wisp asked.

Ike glanced at the skill. He raised his brows. Actually, I was just thinking that I needed a defensive skill. But is this it…? Is this the one?

"You're thinking about it. I can see it," she said, grinning. Sёarᴄh the NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Oh, shut up. You just want to see if I get fat," Ike accused her.

Wisp's jaw dropped. Her eyes opened, big, wide, and innocent. "Would I do that? Ike. Would I try to coerce you into absorbing a skill to see if it did something funny to you?"

"Yes," Ike deadpanned.

Wisp put her hands to her chest. "I can't believe you don't believe in me. How rude."

"Uh huh." He raised a brow.

She giggled. "But it would be super funny if you bloated up like that centipede."

Ike shook his head at her. "The truth will out."

Bored, Mag wandered away. He jumped into the air and took bird form again, swooping down toward the centipede grubs once more.

Wisp's head snapped around. She jumped up. "Hey! Those are my grubs! I put them in my web for a reason!" She chased after Mag, transforming to be able to gulp down grubs faster.

Ike watched them go, chuckling to himself. He glanced down. That pattern he'd noticed in the floor earlier was more visible now, and it only grew more visible as the two beasts fought over grubs, so there was no reason not to let them gobble up the baby bugs. Cupping his hands to his mouth, he shouted after them, "Don't forget to eat the big momma!"

"I'm getting to it!" Wisp replied, slightly annoyed.

"You're getting to it? The big one is mine!" Mag declared. He flew into the air and charged over to the big centipede at top speed.

Wisp watched him go. "Oh no," she deadpanned, chewing a big mouthful of grubs.

Ike looked at her. You think the grubs are tastier, don't you?

Wisp caught him looking and chuckled knowingly, then scampered off into the webs she'd cast earlier to slurp up more bugs.

Snorting, Ike turned back to his skill orb. He frowned again, considering it deeply. He didn't want to get super fat, but he did need a defensive skill. If this skill just gave him the centipede's resistance to attacks without bloating him, then it was exactly what he needed, and he should absorb it without hesitation. But the chance that it would completely ruin his body…

No, no. If I think about it, the centipede was bloated because it was sitting on the aether vein, right? And in fact, the other bloated monsters didn't have skills at all. So I think I can assume that the bloatedness was unrelated to the skill.

But if I'm wrong…

Ike looked at the skill in his palm. It glowed faintly, glimmering in the low light. He twisted his lips. Be totally bloated to the point I can't move, but have a defensive skill I desperately need. Or maybe just have a skill, and not become ridiculously bloated. Ugh. It's a gamble, but… He pressed his lips together, then squeezed the skill tight. Argh, whatever. Let's go for it! Skill, come to me!