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

Ike clenched the skill tight. Bright light swirled around his fist, and the skill poured into his body, warm and right. He drew it into his core and circulated his aether, unable to entirely quash his nervousness. The last thing he needed was to get bloated right here, in the middle of a dangerous dungeon. But the number one thing he needed right now was a defensive skill.

If I get bloated, I'll deal with it! Ike tensed, preparing.

Softness washed over him. Relief. His muscles unwound without his will. Ike dropped to his knees, then slumped to the ground. Relaxation washed over him in waves. Every piece of him felt so loose and comfortable, that he couldn't even bother to move.

"Ike? You okay?" Shawn asked, looking down at him.

"Uh—yeah. Yeah. Just…give me a moment." Ike started to move, then stopped. He just didn't want to try to move. It felt so good to just lie here, so why would he stop?

"You sure?" Shawn asked. He patted Ike's shoulder. "You feel different."

"I do." With some effort, Ike willed himself to move. His body responded sluggishly. Its size hadn't changed—he hadn't grown bloated—but something else had. He touched his forearm. His body distorted, soft flesh moving aside easily at a touch. Even his bones swayed, distorting from the push.

"What?" Shawn asked, startled.

"It's a new skill. A defensive skill," Ike said. Turning to his core, he examined his aether flows, then cut off the one that he hadn't seen before. The softness of his body returned to its normal levels. He stood, rolling out his shoulders.

"Weird," Shawn commented.

"Weird is good. Unexpected things like that could win me a battle, if my opponent doesn't see it coming." Ike looked at his hands and clenched them, thinking. There had to be some way he could use this new property of his body to attack, but he couldn't come up with one right now. Anything that involved using bodily force to attack—stabbing, slashing, punching, kicking—was right out, since his soft body would give way rather than add force. But something magical… if he cast Tempest, for example, then used his soft arm to swing the attack around his opponent's weapon and land a hit directly on their weak spot…

Ike nodded to himself. There was potential. It wasn't the strongest offensive skill ever, but then, it was meant to be a defensive skill to start out with. The fact that he could also use it offensively at all was a bonus.

"A defensive skill that lets you fall down?" Shawn asked, confused.

Ike laughed. He shook his head at him. "You'll see. Don't worry about it."

"I'm worried."

While Mag and Wisp finished cleaning up the bugs, Ike experimented with his skill. He turned it on and off until he could do it instinctively, and tested the limits of the flexibility. At its current level, he could only displace his bones by an inch. Any further than that, and his bones began to creak and ache. It was a bit of a struggle to stay on his feet or walk around with the skill active. The skill made his whole body soft, with no distinctions. While it allowed him to take less damage, it made pretty much anything else he wanted to do harder.

Ike twisted his lips. It was the opposite problem of Lightning Dash. He needed to limit it to just the area he wanted to activate it in for it to be its most useful. For now, I can just turn it on and off rapidly when I need it, but when I have some time in the future, I should work on constraining it to just where I need to activate it.

At last, Mag tilted his head back and horked down the last of the giant centipede. Wisp had long-since eaten all the grubs and retreated to the wall to digest. Ike walked forward. He took the center of the floor. "Mag, you might want to leave."

"Huh?" Mag looked at him. He hesitated a second, then spread his wings and flapped up to one of the shallow caves on the wall.

Ike knelt. Activating his cleaning skill, he pushed it outward. Aether scoured the floor, washing away white gunk, green ichor, and decades of refuse and biological build up. Underneath, a shining gemstone floor appeared, glittering in a beautiful sky blue. Delicate wires formed the shape of a magical formation. The mana root shimmered under the floor, visible through the translucent gems. As the mana poured out, it ran through the formation, powering, but not activating, whatever spell laid in the gem.

"Whoa, pretty," Wisp said.

"Mine," Mag whispered, his big eyes reflecting the blue of the enormous gem.

Ike chuckled. "Good luck digging that thing up." Turning to Wisp, he nodded. "I think it's part of the trial. It's giving me trial vibes, anyways. Think we should activate it?"

"Sure, why not? I mean, if nothing else, we should be able to turn it back off again. If it's a part of the trial, then we need to activate it. And if it's not… it's here for a reason. And it's a gemstone. You picking up what I'm putting down?" Wisp asked, waggling her brows.

"Treasure," Ike replied, nodding. He lifted his hand high, gathering his aether in it. He slammed it down, stimulating the center of the magic formation with his aether.

Bright blue light surged down the wires. Where it passed, the wires began to glow. One line after another, the entire formation lit up. When the final wire lit, the gem itself began to glow. Blue light blasted out from beneath Ike, all but swallowing him up.

"Whoa." Ike winced, lowering his hand to block the light.

As he did, the floor began to crumble beneath him. Ike dropped. His eyes widened, and he lunged for the edge even as it broke up.

"Ike!" A thread latched onto his shoulder and yanked him up. Wisp hauled him up to the wall, holding him casually, one arm wrapped around his waist. She shook her head at him. "You almost died."

"Was it a trap? Hell of a trap," Ike muttered. Most traps didn't advertise themselves with bright blue gem-colored floors. But then, maybe it was a trap that activated if he activated the formation wrong. If it was really a treasure room beyond this formation, then that wasn't so far-fetched that it might be trapped.

"I don't think so," Wisp said slowly, uncertain.

Ike extended his aether as well, feeling the spell beneath them. Wisp was right. It didn't feel like aggressive or dangerous energy. Instead, it felt… transformative. Like a transformative skill. Maybe it is part of the trial, then. "Huh."

A sharp object poked out of the darkness where the gem had been. It hurtled upward, racing toward Ike, Wisp, and Mag.

"I take it back. It's a trap!" Wisp shouted.