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

"I still think I should've eaten him."

"I still think you're a glutton."

"That's got nothing to do with the tactical decision to eat him or not."

"Look, if he actually has backers with political power in this city, we just kicked a hornet's nest. We're way better off intimidating one coward into silence than fighting all his backers when they inevitably figure out we're the ones who ate—killed him."

"Yeah, but you aren't considering something important, Ike."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"I would have a fresh and delicious snack," Wisp said, crossing her arms proudly and nodding as if she'd just revealed a truth of the world.

Ike sighed aloud. "Didn't you already have one? Seconds ago?"

"Eh. He was old and tasted funny. Dark mages are free eats, but they always taste stale."

Ike snorted. "I'm learning so much about dark magic. You can eat dark mages for free, dark magic makes people taste stale…"

"Only the most important information about dark magic," Wisp agreed.

Feathers fluttered, and Mag landed beside them. "Do you still need me to fly around?"

Ike shook his head. "Nah, we're good. Overestimated that opponent. They aren't actually that dangerous."

"Oh, good. I want to see the town," Mag said, reverting to full human form. "Wisp isn't the only one who wants to eat things."

"Not people?" Ike checked.

"What? Why would I want to eat people when there's delicious nuts and seeds all around us?" Mag asked, confused.

"Yeah, Wisp," Ike said.

"Inferior creatures that aren't consummate carnivores."

He sighed again.

They were in a different part of town. At Ike's suggestion, they'd put some distance between them and Som. He figured he'd be better off further from the guy, one way or another. Easier to forget about someone who wasn't there, and on the other hand, if he did foolishly attempt revenge, it'd buy them a few minutes if he was further from them.

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Wisp had sprayed the spider thread with some corrosive poison before they left, so that it would slowly eat away at the threads and eventually drop Som. Conveniently, the poison would also degrade her threads, so it'd make it harder to trace it back to them. Easier for Som to keep a secret if there wasn't much evidence of anything having happened. He'd already need to explain why Arkoz was gone. Ike figured it wouldn't be too hard to explain away the loss of 'someone who could be eaten without worry,' but explaining that and getting trapped in a spider's cocoon together might be too much. The easier they made it for Som, the less likely he was to tattle, and after a moment of explanation why she should do that instead of just eat him, Wisp had been convinced to take Ike's side.

"There's some people here we're supposed to meet," Ike commented, mostly to himself. He glanced around, as if they'd just materialize, then touched the ring they'd given him. "Probably wearing a ring…"

"Unlike all the other mages here," Wisp muttered sarcastically.

Ike looked around. Almost every mage was wearing at least one ring, and several of them were wearing multiple rings. His enhanced vision could pick out the details of each ring, but even then, there were a lot of rings to look at. Just walking around and looking, it would take forever to find a particular ring. A needle in a haystack.

"…How about we look for Scar instead?" Ike suggested.

"Oh, right, she has a dragon friend! That should make her super easy to find," Wisp said.

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't take her dragon friend to the city. Or rather, I didn't get the impression that Ruby was too interested in city life."

"Aww."

He extended his aura, searching the city around him for any trace of Scar. Nothing came to him at first, so he wandered the city with the other two for a while, keeping his eyes peeled for any rings or any sign of Scar.

At last, something pinged on the very edge of his awareness. Ike whipped around, gazing off toward the direction of the sensation.

"What?" Wisp asked.

"I think I sensed Scar," Ike said, distracted.

"Oooh, neat. Let's go," Wisp cheered, excited. She lifted her head and sniffed the air, then turned and walked toward the same sensation he'd detected. Mag followed the two of them, chewing on a paper sachet's worth of roasted nuts.

In no time, they reached Scar. Ike reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder, turning her around. "Scar—"

She turned. For a second, she looked different. Ike wasn't sure how, or what, exactly, was wrong, but she didn't look quite like herself. Or rather, she looked like someone else? Someone he'd known a long time ago, but hadn't seen in a very long time.

Ike blinked, and it was gone. Huh? What was that?

Scar stared. Her eyes widened. "Ike! That reaction… Do you remember, now?"

"Remember what?" Ike asked, then raised his hands. "I don't know. Things are confusing."

"Confusing how?" Scar raised her hand. "Wait, don't tell me here. Come. There's a safe place we can talk just down this way. You can tell us everything, and I can connect you up with Master."

"Master?"

"Yeah, the guy who sent you the letter and gave you the ring and everything. Come on." Gesturing, Scar took off across the city, and Ike had no option but to follow along.

Seconds after Ike walked away, a figure walked up to the space where Ike had been. She turned her head left and right. "I thought I sensed him… Ike?"