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280. Quit Complaining and Work Hard
🕑 Added 2025-01-15 15:00:07 +0000 UTCIke clenched the skill in his hand and shouted, in his head, Absorb!
The skill, in its full form, only existed for a split second before it vanished into Ike. Even then, it exuded a monstrous aura, stronger than any skill he’d experienced so far. Even Lightning Dash couldn’t match up.
The figure grabbed at him, but before it reached him, a wave of powerful energy burst from his body. It pushed the figure back and sent them tumbling.
Before they could get up, Wisp, Scar, and Rufus all jumped on it and hammered it with their strongest attacks. No one needed to say anything. They had all came to the same conclusion without words. Ike, and this new skill he’d obtained, was their only hope of victory. They needed to buy time. Now that the figure was attacking instead of chatting, they had to fight. They either fought, or the figure killed Ike, which is to say, killed their only hope of victory.
Vi dropped from the sky and joined the melee. With the figure’s footing gone, and four of them beating it together, they managed to keep it grounded. Fire roiled around them, and gouts of fire spurted up from time to time, but the four of them refused to back away. Even as they accumulated burns, cuts, and bruises, they kept pounding it, desperately buying Ike the time he needed to absorb the skill.
“You think you can defeat me? You pathetic losers? You should give in and accept your deaths!” the figure roared.
Wisp landed a good punch right on his face. He jerked back, stunned. “Yeah, and maybe you should accept your death. Ever think about that, loser?”
The figure roared. As it roared, a blast of fire threw everyone back. It started to climb to its feet, only to fall back down. At some point, Wisp had stuck spider thread to its back and tied it to the ground. It growled again. Fire raged over its skin and burned the thread off, but too late. Ike’s companions had all jumped to their feet and surrounded it once more to continue the beat-down.
They hammered it, but their hardest hits did little. They could scratch its charcoal skin, but not deal serious damage. Meanwhile, their wounds only continued to accumulate. They couldn’t defeat it. Couldn’t win this fight. All they could do was hold on and hope that the skill Ike got was strong enough to tip the scales.
On Ike’s part, he immersed himself in the skill. He was aware of nothing but the skill. The skill was his whole world. Its power blasted through his body, scouring him down to the last cell. It was searching for something, something hidden within Ike, and it was determined to blast down every muscle, mana passage, and piece of his core to get there.
Ike fought back. He couldn’t let the skill destroy him. Not now. Everyone was counting on him. He had to control this skill, had to master it, had to absorb it. If he failed, if he was incompatible, he’d lose. Lose this battle. Lose for everyone. Everyone’s life rode on his success right now. He couldn’t let this skill defeat him. He couldn’t stumble now, at the very last second. His heart raced. Anxiety poured through him, and the skill raged harder.
His body trembled. He could barely hold on against the skill. It continued to fight him from within, doing nearly as much damage as the figure had. And still it looked for something. What’s it looking for? What does it want? Why is it—
Ike paused. He looked at his hands. What had he needed to do to get the skill? He’d needed to complete the trial. What if that trial wasn’t about becoming king, but was instead about besting the skill? Ensuring the candidates had everything they needed to master the skill when they received it?
The first trial was… finding hidden attributes in the race. Ike thought back to that race. What had the voice commended him on? Right… looking past the obvious, to see the truth beyond.
The second he thought of this, the skill stopped scouring him quite as hard. It turned its attention toward him instead, waiting to hear more and evaluate his story.
And then there was… uh… right, the fear trial. I faced my own fears, and then went back in to rescue Mag.
The skill watched his memory of the event and approved. Its attacks on Ike slowed, and at last, he started to feel power flowing through his body.
After that was the dinner, where I explained my thoughts on why mages need mortals. Not that I think I did a great job, but… I think I had the right idea, even if I’m not the world’s greatest orator.
More approval. The skill had turned about-face, and was pouring energy into him. His body healed. The damage the figure had done to him closed up, lessening by each moment, and all the little wounds and burns he’d accumulated throughout the battle, all the scrapes and bruises he couldn’t waste mana healing, began to close up and heal. New power ran through his mana passages, something he’d never felt before. It wasn’t a new energy type, like aether, but a skill; and yet, it felt like a new power. It felt as if his whole body, his whole being, was growing stronger by the moment.
And yet, the skill still waited. Ike frowned. What was the next trial? The centipedes? He brought to mind them clearing out the bugs, but the skill didn’t respond. He thought about his gathering all the other participants under him to defeat the castles trial, and it responded, but only a little. Confused, he started running through all his memories. We defeated the pigmen, then the big pigmen, then the burning guys, and that one just lasted forever. Then Relin asked me to—
The skill perked up at that.
Relin? I accepted her and the Old Guard, Ike thought. Was that what the skill wanted?
Warmth suffused his body. Golden energy surged all around him. The skill synchronized with him, and for the first time, he felt it all. All the skill’s potential. Its full power, unfolding within him. He took a deep breath and stood tall, waiting for the skill to finish.
Across the way, the figure shook off his companions. It dashed toward Ike. “I won’t let you!”
“You don’t have the right to disallow me,” Ike returned. The skill settled into him, and he threw his hand out, activating it.
New Skill Obtained.
(Legendary) [King’s Reign]
With a blast of gold light, so thick it was almost material, the skill activated.
