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

Within Ike’s head, the two Ikes faced off. One, dressed in regal finery, gems glittering on his fingers, holding a noble, slender staff. The other, in rags, weathered and worn, clutching tight to a strange sword. The two of them stared at one another for a moment, then darted forward, clashing in a blast of light and steel.

Outside, the King and Wisp clashed. The King swung his staff in both hands. Wisp blocked with two of her own, only for two more hands to clobber the King on the chin. His face contorted in anger. Wisp laughed in his face and jumped back. He slammed the staff at her head, but couldn’t keep up with her footwork. She danced into the grasses, then vanished.

The King looked left and right, his brows furrowed. "Where are you, knave? Show yourself!"

"Right here, you blind fool!" A small black blur leaped out of the grasses, transforming into a full-sized human wisp just in time to smash the King on the other cheekbone.

Growling, the King struck at her, but his staff was too slow at close quarters. Wisp ducked it and hammered him for a few more blows, then jumped away again rather than push her luck. It wouldn’t be fun if she just one-sidedly hammered the King, after all. She learned more by maneuvering around him, trying new approaches and techniques.

The King was less threatening than Ike when he wasn’t using his overwhelmingly powerful magics. As it was, she was just beating up base-Ike. Still a considerable foe, with Ike’s physical prowess and speed, but none of Ike’s powerful skills. If he started to use his magic, she’d have to get serious, but for now, while she still had him mentally juked into fighting her in melee, she just had a particularly interactive training dummy.

"Catch me if you can!" she teased him, vanishing into the grass once more.

Inside Ike’s heart, the battle raged as well. Ike battled against Ike. Neither one of them pulled on their skills—neither was able to. Both forms of Ike were completely blocked from any skills, techniques, anything like that. Instead, they fought tooth and nail, fighting like dogs. No holds barred. No holding back. The kingly Ike battered down the other with his staff, only for the ragged Ike to hammer the King with his sword. There was no honor in their fight, nor humanity. They battled to the death. Neither would be happy until the other one was exterminated. Experience more on novelbuddy

But they were evenly matched. The fight swung back and forth. One moment, the kingly Ike held the upper hand; the next, the ragged one raged above. Both accumulated wound after wound. Blood dripped down their bodies, until it was nearly impossible to tell which one was which, save for the weapons they wielded.

Ike hopped back. Dropping to a knee, he took a moment to recover. He watched the kingly Ike with suspicion, wiping the blood from his brow as he caught his breath. The other Ike watched him with the same distrust, shaking his hair out of his eyes. They both stood there, racing to catch their breath.

This isn’t going to end. Not without both of us dead, he realized, gazing at the other him. They’d matched one another blow for blow, wound for wound. There wasn’t a victor to this battle. They would die together, rather than win alone.

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Ike stood. Across from him, the other Ike stood as well. He hefted his staff and prepared to rush back into battle.

"Wait," Ike said, holding up his hands.

The King hesitated. He eyed Ike, uncertain, but he didn’t attack yet.

"If we keep fighting, we’re both going to die. Surely there’s another way to resolve this," Ike said.

"What, like… talking?" the King scoffed.

Ike shrugged. "Sure, why not? We’re both Ike, right?"

"Isn’t that exactly why we can’t suffer one another to live? Only one can take control," the King replied.

Ike rolled his eyes. "Right, and I’m the original. So why would I make this offer, if I wasn’t convinced that neither of us will win if we continue?"

"The original," the King scoffed.

"Yeah, that’s right. You’re just some skill that stole pieces of me and made this weird, haughty version. But here I am, offering you an olive branch. So what do you say? Why don’t we talk this out?"

The King huffed and crossed his arms, but didn’t reject Ike outright. "What is there to say? I want this body. You want this body. Only one of us can control it. We fight to the death so that the interference stops."

Ike shrugged. "You’re a part of me. A piece of me that was corrupted by the skill, but part of me nonetheless. I’d rather work with you than kill you, and since you’re me, too, shouldn’t you agree?"

The King hesitated. He looked at Ike. "You know nothing, do you?"

"What’s that mean?" Ike asked.

"Why Brightbriar is conquering the regions… why any of this is happening. You don’t know, do you?"

Ike stepped forward. His hand tightened on the sword. "You know?"

It wasn’t impossible. The skill was talking. Sentient. It had taken pieces of Ike and cobbled together a rough personality. Who was to say it couldn’t have memory or knowledge?

The King looked at him for a long moment, then closed his eyes. He lowered his head. "I concede."

The world around them began to fade away. Darkness encroached the King, shadowing his form.

"What? Hey! You can’t just do that! Come back!" Ike charged toward the King, reaching out, not to harm him, but to pull him back.

The King vanished. Only a silhouette remained, and even that decayed with each passing moment. His voice echoed from the distance, sleepy, fading into oblivion. "There is too much to explain, and too little time. When you know more, return here. Perhaps I will reveal the truth. Or perhaps I will merely assimilate you, and then you shall know… anyways…."

"You—get back here—" Ike swiped at the darkness

A punch hurtled toward his face. Ike startled. Instinctively, he activated Lightning Dash and flashed backward.

Wisp froze, staring. A second later, she retracted her fist and hopped back. "Ike?"

"I’m back?" he replied, equally startled. He looked around him at the grassland, then down at his body. He was bruised and battered, but in nowhere near as bad a shape as he’d been back in the space within his heart. Brushing his clothes down, he activated the Body Reforging Art and quickly patched up his wounds. Man, Wisp must have really had to fight hard to survive. He gave her an apologetic nod. "Sorry about that. Thanks for keeping me in check."

"Huh? Oh, no problem. Hey, for a friend like you? I’d do it any time," Wisp promsed.

Ike narrowed his eyes. Something about the way she’d said that was a little suspicious.

Wisp smiled innocently back at him, not a single evil thought anywhere in her heart.

Yeah, right, he thought to himself, then snorted and shook his head. Whatever her motive, she’d helped him out massively. "Thank you, Wisp," he repeated.

"Yeah, like I said. No problem. How’d things go on your end? I see you can suppress the skill… is it permanent, something you can trigger any time… how’d it go?" she asked, a little too eager to change the subject.

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Ike’s brows furrowed. "About that…"