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366. Premeditated Self Defense
🕑 Added 2025-04-18 14:00:23 +0000 UTCIke funded Wisp’s snack attack at the local monster-parts shop. The best part was the shopkeeper’s face as Wisp stuffed down a huge chunk of toxic-to-humans meat and complained about the toughness of the flesh. He only got to enjoy it for a moment, though, because the shopkeeper quickly recovered and stepped in to Ike.
“She’s a beast, isn’t she?” he asked quietly.
Ike nodded. He glanced at the shopkeeper. “Is that a problem?”
“Not at all, not at all! Friend? Companion?”
“Friend.” Ike nodded at the shopkeep. “I ran into a fellow who was rather anti-beast on my way into this city. Man by the name of Som. Gave me the wrong impression, I guess?”
The shopkeeper winced. “Ah… yes. There are some who are… shall we say, strong believers in human superiority? But that isn’t the case for most of us! The city has always welcomed beasts, as long as they cooperate with human law. Although the human-only types want to cast them as bloodthirsty monsters, they kill more rarely than humans, proportionately, and from what I understand, man-eating is mostly a myth. It’s really a quite hideous belief system those misguided fools stick to.”
Ike glanced at his bloodthirsty, man-eating spider friend. “Really, it truly is.”
“Yeah. Just because some beasts eat humans and crave the flavor of man-flesh, doesn’t mean we all want a big juicy cut of human steak,” Wisp complained unconvincingly.
The shopkeeper frowned at Wisp. Ike chuckled, trying not to let a nervous tone get into his voice. “She’s a little feral. Not used to cities, been alone for a long time. Her sense of humor is a bit…” He grimaced.
The shopkeeper laughed. “Oh, it’s alright. We get those kinds all the time. A long time in secluded meditation’ll do that to anyone.”
“Secluded meditation makes people crave human flesh?”
Ike glared at Wisp, chuckling awkwardly for the shopkeeper’s sake. “Sorry about that. Her sense of humor, am I right?” Still laughing, he pushed Wisp toward the door.
“I had more things I wanted to eat!” Wisp complained, as they came out into the sun.
“Well, maybe you could eat them if you stopped talking about man meat,” Ike informed her.
“It was just a joke! I was joking,” Wisp said, shaking her head at him.
Ike sighed. “Not all humans find it funny when people joke about eating them. And also, was it a joke? Was it really?”
“It was mostly a joke. At least half a joke. Maybe… fifty-one percent of a joke?” Wisp grinned at him.
Ike sighed again. “Wisp…”
“Nah, nah, it was just a joke. Speaking of jokes, where’s that Som guy? This girl’s getting hungry.”
Ike decided not to acknowledge her insinuation and instead raised a hand to his eyes, scanning the horizon. It had far less range than his usual gaze did, what with buildings and streets winding off everywhere. Here, it didn’t matter what Rank you were, because you couldn’t see any further than a mortal anyways.
What his eyes couldn’t see, his aether could. Ike expanded his aura, pushing it out around him. Many passerby glanced over, sensing his reach, but no one commented on it in particular; it wasn’t uncommon, it seemed, for mages to use their aura to see further in the city. There were plenty of mages around, most of them below his Rank, though a few were stronger. He found Som, his aura trembling in a not-distant alley. A powerful aura burned beside him, likely Rank 4. Rank 4, but not frightening to Ike. If anything, it felt weak. Something he could easily overcome.
He frowned, pinching his chin. He hadn’t seen his rank in a while, mostly due to breaking out of the System when he’d absorbed the storm back when he was fighting Llewyn. Was he still Rank 3? He felt like he’d know if he’d reached Rank 4, but who knew? Maybe it was a subtle thing. Maybe it was something that could creep up on you.
Then again, he’d beaten people above his Rank before. Rank wasn’t everything. It could be that this guy was just a weakling Rank 4, easy to beat even at a lower Rank.
He looked at Wisp. “Found our friend.”
“Oh, did you? Good. I was just getting bored.” She lifted her nose, sniffing around, then turned in the direction Ike had sensed the two auras and stared ahead, a fresh hunger shimmering in her eyes.
Mag fluttered his arms as if they were wings. He looked at Ike. “I wanted to go shopping, too.”
“We can go shopping after we beat up Som and his buddies,” Ike reassured him, patting his head.
Mag hopped away, covering his head with his hands. “Don’t touch my head. We’d better. I have a much nobler goal than that spider’s useless gluttony.”
“Gluttony makes me stronger,” Wisp asserted, with absolutely no proof.
“Yeah? Does it?” Ike asked.
“If I eat strong things, I get stronger. It’s obvious. Even you humans understand it. Don’t you have that saying, ‘you are what you eat?’ It’s just like that.”
“I don’t think that’s how that actually works. I think it’s just a figure of speech.”
“Yeah? Prove it,” Wisp challenged him.
“Prove that it doesn’t work? How am I supposed to do that?”
Wisp pointed at him. “Gotcha! Haha, superior spider logic wins again!”
“Thank you for sharing your wisdom, Professor Wisp. Thank you for sharing your insights. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”
“Yes, yes, as you should. Recognize my superiority in all things, but especially philosophy and mental prowess,” Wisp declared.
“In fact, that’s what I value most about you. Your intelligent and subtle takes on delicate subjects,” Ike said, nodding.
Wisp nodded proudly. “That’s me.”
“What kind of bullshit is this,” Mag complained.
Ike nodded at him. “You see the two of them, too?”
Mag nodded. “I was watching him earlier in bird form. He hasn’t noticed me at all yet.”
“Oh, really?” Ike murmured. A plan started to form in his mind. He looked at Mag. “Go back to bird form and hang out in the air. I’ll call you if I need you.”
Mag nodded and took to the air.
Wisp tilted her head. “Do you think it’s that hard of a fight?”
“Nah, but you know. Premeditated self-defense. It never hurts to be prepared.”
Wisp beamed, enthusiasm gleaming from her every pore. “That’s what I’m talking about!”
