Skill Hunter -Kill Monsters, Acquire Skills, Ascend to the Highest Rank!

Ike walked around the stones and found himself standing at the edge of a volcanic pool. Water lapped at the edge of the pond. Heavy steam blew off the surface of the water, fogging into thick clouds as it wafted away. He tried the water with his toe. Heat seared into his foot. Instinctively, Ike activated his steel feet.

Mag looked at his foot, then at Ike. "Uh… are you okay?"

On Ike's other side, Wisp outright broke into laughter. "That hot, huh?"

"Hey, come on. I just fought some really hot enemies," Ike pointed out. He released the technique and tried again. It was hot, but not burning hot. Just warm. Just nicely warm-levels of hot. He stepped slowly to the first step, then to the second. The heat climbed up his ankles, then to his knees.

"I don't know. I thought they were average-looking, at best," Scar returned, stepping in just behind him.

Ike shot her a look. Wisp cackled and offered Scar a high-five, which she took.

Shaking his head, Ike walked on, deeper into the pool. The water was only knee deep right by the wall, though it deepened quickly into the distance. He looked around, then frowned. "Where's Ruby?"

"I'm right here," a deep voice rumbled. What Ike had assumed were large rocks shifted in the fog, and two glowing orange eyes blinked at him as Ruby lifted her head.

"O-oh. Sorry to disturb you," Ike said.

She hummed. "I was not disturbed." Those orange lantern-eyes closed, and her head settled once more.

Wisp hopped in with a splash. "Ooh, warm!" She giggled and ran off, kicking through the shallows.

Scar joined Ike in the shallows. She nodded at him. "So, you and Wisp?"

"What about us?" Ike asked.

Scar raised her brows, then waggled them a little. "You know, the two of you…? Is there a baby in the near future for us?"

Ike put a hand to his forehead. "Did you hear her, minutes ago? Absolutely not!"

"She was just joking," Scar said.

"Trust me, she was not."

"So… no babies?" Scar asked.

Ike sighed. "Listen. I wasn't lying when I told you I'm not interested in romance. Wisp is a…" he started to say 'little,' then remembered that she was much older than him. "—she's a sister to me. I trust her. She has my back, and I have hers. That's it. That's all either of us want from one another. I'm pretty sure she's not even attracted to humans, let alone me."

"We could find out? Hey, Wisp!" Scar shouted, before Ike could interject.

Wisp looked up. "What?"

"What do you find attractive in a man?"

Wisp wandered closer. She touched the side of her head. "Uh… small, submissive but smart—I want him to bring me a present, but also I'm going to eat him, so slow is also a good one. And smart, you know, for the eggs."

"What about face? Body?" Scar prodded, although there was a hesitation in her voice.

"If I had to choose, I'd prefer a shiny body over a hairy one, but I've always liked a bit of color. Not a lot, you know, but just enough so you know they've got a good strong venom. Then again, a strong set of legs and nice protective hairs wouldn't be too bad, either…"

Ike gestured at her. "She's attracted to spiders! Is it not obvious?"

Scar put her hands up. "What about humans?" she pressed.

"Humans? Gross. You only have four legs. Four! Gods, no. And the weird thing where you have a patch of hair up here and down there and nowhere else, what even is that? Nah."

Ike gestured at Wisp some more.

Scar sighed. "I just want a little bit of romance in my life. Is that too much to ask?"

"From Wisp? Probably," Ike said.

"Romance is for weak mammals who need to forge bonds between adults so they both raise a helpless soft-skulled potato for fifteen years. Superior arachnids need no such thing. When our babies hatch, they're already strong enough to take on the world," Wisp bragged.

"And get eaten by their mother," Ike pointed out.

"Only a few of 'em. Most of them get away!" Wisp replied.

Scar sighed. "I'm not even asking for romance for myself. I'm just trying to enjoy anyone's romance."

Ike gestured. "There's a lonely bird right there."

Scar turned. She looked at Mag, and her brows furrowed. "Too young."

"Too young? I'll have you know I'm centuries old. A true Magpie King! I'm powerful and ancient, fearsome and serene!" Mag proclaimed, hopping in the water.

She gave Ike a look. "Even when some beasts are centuries old, they're still children."

"Oh, I know. But, you know, you've got hundreds of years ahead of you, too. The two of you could start as friends," he joked.

"Don't be ridiculous. I don't want some featherless old hag," Mag replied, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

Scar sighed again.

Ike shook his head. "Yeah, that one's my bad. Sorry, Scar. Didn't mean to insult you like that."

"It's fine. I've certainly heard worse, from more serious people." She sat down against the wall and rested her head on the ledge, closing her eyes.

Ike looked at her, then walked on. He strode through the waters, letting them swirl around his legs. Except for the gentle lap at the water's edge, there was little motion in the water. The pool wasn't still, but it was close to still. Barely mobile, but mobile enough. Wisp ran around, sending ripples through the water. Mag followed him around like a baby duck, subconsciously tracing after Ike, even as he looked all around him. Shawn hopped off his shoulder and paddled into the deeps, probably going to talk to Mont. He gazed after Shawn, then left the mountains to their conversation. He wanted to talk to Mont too, but he didn't want to interrupt their conversation, either.

Instead, he wandered over to Wisp. She glanced up at him as he approached, just as small as ever. Not an adult. Still a child, even if only in her heart.

"What do you think comes after this?" Ike asked.

"Hmm? We work on that new skill a lot, get you stronger, and then we go to the capital city and fight Brightbriar. Seems pretty simple to me," she said.

He gestured. He didn't know what it was, but something Scar had said, something about this… it left him in a strange mood. "I mean after this. After we beat Brightbriar. What then?"

"Then… then we take over the region. I don't know, found a city or something. Form a nice mage collection of our own. And then…" Wisp's brows furrowed.

"Is that really what you want?" Ike asked.

She shook her head. "No."

"What do you want, then?"

She looked up at him. "I want to roam the world and kill things at your side. I want to be your battle partner until we both ascend into heaven as battle gods. I want to be the strongest spider there ever was. Strong enough to overpower you, and anyone else for that matter."

Ike chuckled. "Yeah. Me too."

"Well, that makes two of us," Wisp replied. She tilted her head. "Why'd you ask now?"

"Dunno. Something about Scar's questions… I just wanted to know what your plan was. What the future was, for you."

"Oh, is it because I talk about babies a lot? Don't worry! Even if I decide to have babies, it'll only be a few months and I'll be back. It's not the fifteen-year commitment it is for you humans."

"It's… I don't know. Just thinking about the future, that's all. What happens next. What comes after," Ike commented.

"Humans," Wisp replied.

"Yeah. Human stuff," Ike said, nodding.

She patted his forearm, smiling at him. "You know, I like you a lot, Ike. I know our time together has been, uhm, one-fifth of your life, or something, but it's a blink of the eye to me. Compared to the hundreds of years I spent scurrying around out here, then stuck in the Abyss, our time together is nothing. If I get bored of you, it'll be in a hundred, two hundred, three hundred years. You don't have to worry about me."

Ike blinked. He looked at her again, in a new light. It wasn't that she was a child. He was the one who was still a child. She was an adult who chose to be childish. One who chose to laugh and throw fits, who giggled and picked fights. But on the other side of all that, she was an adult. Mature. A woman. Someone who had made her choices, and lived with them for many hundreds of years. When she smiled with him, laughed with him, was able to act like a kid with him, it was because she trusted him. Because they were friends.

He patted her head. "That's right. I'm the one who's being foolish."

"Oy, mind the head," Wisp grumbled, smacking his hand away. She kicked water at him.
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"Hey!" Ike kicked water back. She ran at him and swept low, trying to take his feet. Ike hopped her low kick and danced away, even as Wisp charged in. The two of them sparred in the shallow water, fighting back and forth. Whenever one of them hit the ground, the other backed away and waited for them to rise again, before the melee could begin again.

"You can't fight without the Magpie King!" Mag shouted, and hopped into the air to drop down on Ike's head.

Wisp grabbed Ike's shoulder and batted the bird down into the hot water. "Get out of here, you dumb bird!"

"You get out of here, you eight-legged snack!" Mag snarled back. He shook the water out of his hair and hopped back to his feet.

Ike grabbed both of them by the shoulder and threw them into the steamy water. "Both of you get out of here! I'm the only one who's allowed in the spring!"

"Haaaa? You think you're strong enough to take on both of us?" Wisp asked, rounding on Ike.

"You're kicking me out of the bath? Fuck off!" Mag growled.

Both Mag and Wisp rushed Ike. Laughing, Ike fell back, barely staving off their blows. In the distance, sitting against the wall, Scar sighed. She shut her eyes and wiped the sweat off her brow. "Bunch of annoying fools."

Out in the center of the water, Shawn looked over his shoulder. He shook his head and snorted. "Still nothing but children."

"But you're not."