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

Centipedes rushed at them from all direction, so many that Ike couldn't tell whether there were any directions without the creepy crawlies. Powerful auras emanated from every direction, surging toward him. His stomach clenched. That many Rank 4s? We're dead.

Beside him, Wisp glanced his direction. The same uncertainty flashed over her face. "We struggled to take on that first bug. Do you think we can take them all on?"

Ike pressed his lips together. "No."

"You have a plan?"

He hesitated. Twisting, he looked up, then bent and peered into the other holes the fat white centipede had carved. "I think so. Here, take Shawn. I'll carry Mag."

"You'll what?" Mag asked, fluffing up.

"I don't have time to explain," Ike said. He tossed Shawn to Wisp, who caught him and put him on her back. Ike snatched up Mag, carrying the bird boy under his off arm. He gripped his sword in the other hand and extended his senses in all directions, closely tracking the approaching centipedes.

His brows furrowed. He pointed ahead of him. "Wisp, put up some webs in that direction. Enough to slow them down by about… ten seconds."

She saluted. Lifting her hands, she filled up the tunnel with thick white webbing. In a few seconds, so much web filled the tunnel that Ike could no longer see through it.

He closed his eyes, extending his aether again to check on the advancement of the centipedes. Their feet beat against his senses, rushing closer with every passing second. He counted down time, waiting, his breathing even.

From behind the webbing, a huge pale figure loomed. It slammed into the web and stopped, then drew back its head and struck again. The first layer of webbing snapped. It charged forward another few steps, only for the webbing to entangle it again. Enraged, it thrashed, and as much as it tangled, it also tore the webbing. Only one layer of webbing remained between them and the bug.

"Ike," Wisp warned him.

"I know," he said. He looked in the opposite direction. Come on. I felt you. Show your face!

From out of the darkness, a second centipede appeared. Unlike the tangled first, this one charged them at full speed. Behind them, the first centipede snapped through the last of the webbing.

"Ike!"

"Now!"

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Ike jumped upward. Wisp followed him. They both leapt into the hole that the now-dead centipede had chewed in the roof to sneak-attack them. Below them, the two centipedes crashed into one another. They reeled back, stunned.

Ike tossed Mag aside. Letting out an oof, the boy landed in a pile of limbs in the horizontal portion of the tunnel. He drew his sword and activated Storm Clad at its utter, full strength. He held nothing back. Every scrap of his aether poured into the skill. At the same time, he activated Tempest. He pushed the skill into his sword, and drew back the blade into the downward strike of River-Splitting Sword.

"The Weight of a Mountain," Ike muttered.

Shawn hopped onto his back. "I'm with you."

Wisp shot a thread onto his shoulder. "Take my aether." Extra energy poured into him, supplementing his own.

Ike plunged. He slammed down onto the two centipedes. Tempest blasted ahead of him, wearing into the top of the first's head. His blade struck through. Bearing the weight of the mountain and all the strength of River-Splitting Sword, plus the boosts of Storm Clad and Tempest, it struck through the centipede's head. Screaming out in pain, it tried to flinch back, but too slow. His strike bit through its head, severing its brain, and it died.

The second centipede saw him coming. It jerked back. Tempest grazed it, and so did his sword strike, but he didn't land the hit. The centipede hissed in pain and thrust forth again, biting at him.

Something in Storm Clad clicked. A piece of the skill he'd never activated before suddenly leaped to life. Armor of ice, wind, and lightning coalesced on his arm. The centipede's mandibles closed on his arm and crushed down, but failed to bite through. Lightning discharged from Storm Clad and blackened the centipede's face. It hissed again and reared back.

Ike, too, backed away. His arm bled wildly, the muscles completely bitten through. The white bone shone from within the wound, and even it was scored from the bite. His Body Regeneration Art knitted his wound back shut, but slowly. His aether had almost fully discharged in that single attack. There were only scraps left to close the wound. Nonetheless, he raised his sword. He put his bad arm behind him, glaring the centipede down as if he were still at full strength.

"Fuck off and die!" Wisp dropped out of the ceiling. She bit down on the weakened part of the centipede. Fangs appeared from her mouth and pierced the part Ike had wounded. Thick, purple poison pumped into the bug. It squirmed, trying to break free, but she continued to bite down. Angry, it thrashed its head. She smacked into the walls left and right, but still clung on.

"Wisp!" Ike shouted, but couldn't find it in him to tell her to stop. She was their only hope, right now. If she gave up, it was over for all of them.

With a final smack, the centipede knocked Wisp free. Hissing in fear, anger, and pain, it retreated into the darkness.

Wisp slowly climbed to her feet. She rubbed her head. "It'll die soon enough."

"Good." Ike nodded upwards. "Let's go. We need to get out of here."

"Yeah. We can't fight any more of those."

In the distance, the sound of endless centipedes rushed toward them. Ike hopped back into the upward tunnel, and Wisp scuttled up the wall after him. The two of them herded Mag along, and the four of them hurried away, leaving the dead centipedes behind them. As they retreated, Wisp lifted a hand and fired layers of webbing behind them.

"Buy us some time," she commented.

Ike nodded. They both knew it would buy seconds, at best, but it was better to have some warning than nothing. He clutched his arm. It slowly healed, but as it did, it sucked away the last of his aether. He pressed his lips together.

Mag wasn't wrong. This is deadly dangerous.

They ran on, fleeing through the tunnels.