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

Ike ran through the woods. He headed toward Scar's castle first. If she was still fighting, he could offer his aid. She hadn't asked for any help, so he could only assume she was in fine shape to keep fighting, but he hadn't actually been monitoring her castle. Hopefully I wasn't neglecting my ally, but on the other hand, I can't throw away my own prep time, the precious resource that might allow me to overcome this next trial, to assist her. Mag didn't say she was on the verge of crumbling, so I'll have to trust that she was in good enough shape.

Before he even reached the castle, he ran into one of Scar's underlings, setting up some kind of log trap. He raised a hand, and the man waved back. "Everything good?"

"It's all good. We're working on the next round, you?" the man replied.

Ike gave him a thumbs up. "Already good to go. Tell Scar I came. And tell her to signal our bird if she needs any help."

"Your bird?" the man asked.

Ike pointed up. "Our bird." Without any further explanation, he ran off, this time toward Vi.

He hopped up into the trees as he reached her territory. The big monster was still running around for her, but she had it well in hand. She watched from the castle as her men waited in the trees. As Ike watched, she lifted a horn to her lips and blew a note. Her men launched ropes from the trees, tossing them to one another, forming a net in front of the giant boar that ran around their land. The net caught the boar around the ankles and threw it to the ground. Vi and all her men instantly launched toward the boar. A dozen sword attacks bit into its neck and shoulders. Thick blood ran. The boar struggled, fighting to reach its feet again, but they kept hammering at the boar's neck until it bled.

Vi looked up. From beside the boar's dead body, she met Ike's eyes. She nodded, then turned away.

Ike nodded back. Nothing changed here. Looks like she's still fighting on her own, but she's willing to cooperate if she needs it or if it assists her. He understood. He wouldn't step in if she didn't need it. For all he knew, she was in it to get stronger, too, not just to 'become king' or whatever. In any case, both she and Scar were in good shape.

Ike left her behind and ran toward Rufus' area. He didn't enter Rufus' territory, but just watched from a tree slightly outside the area. Rufus and his men struggled with the giant pig. It beat at his castle's walls. The stone shuddered, on the verge of collapse. They fired giant cannons into the pig's chest, but it barely did anything. At the back of the group, the old man chanted to himself. Light built up on his hands, slowly shimmering into a form over his head. Rufus and the others battled against the pig, desperately holding it back from the old man.

"Need any help?" Ike shouted.

Rufus glared at him. "Leave! Don't you dare interfere with the trial!"

"Well, okay then," Ike said. Shrugging, he sat back to watch a little. If Rufus didn't want his help, he wasn't going to force the man to take it. Just like he'd thought before, he was still pretty sure he could beat this trial with three castles remaining.

On the battlements with Rufus, he saw the mercenaries he'd fended off earlier. They stood around, somewhat listless, not really doing much fighting. One of them ran off, carrying an armload of cannon balls. Ike snorted. Seemed like Rufus had fallen for those men's bluff. Well, it didn't surprise him. Rufus had been one to take things at face value so far. He didn't seem to be the kind to particularly look deep into things. If anything, he seemed to be listening to the old man's explanation of how the trial worked, rather than looking at the trial in front of him and trying to figure out how it worked himself.

Ike shook his head. He turned and left, abandoning Rufus to his own poor life decisions. Someone like that could never be king, whether he wanted to or not. Not looking at the world in front of you and only listening to your advisors wouldn't help someone rule the world he lived in, it would merely lead him astray forever. Regardless of Rufus' intentions, he simply wasn't suited for rule.

Oh well, whatever. The trial will sort him out. And if it doesn't… it's not like I really care who runs this country. It's not my country. And if any king decides to get in my way, I'll pop him in the chin and do what I want anyways.

In a short time, he arrived back at his own castle. Everyone had returned to the castle, meditating and gathering mana for the next battle. Somewhere in the depths of the castle, the blacksmith struck his anvil. Daisy, the spell formations expert, wandered around the battlements, checking the spell formations and making small adjustments.

Ike paused for a moment, thinking, then headed up to check on Daisy. Wisp had said that Daisy's spell formations weren't great for webs, but maybe Daisy had something else in mind. He nodded as he approached her. "How's it going?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Pretty good. I've got the webs set up, but I also added a few ideas of my own. Want to see them?" she offered, smiling.

"Sure, let's see 'em."

She gestured. Pointing at the most forward formation, she explained, "This one works with three other formations on the front lines. Together, they'll summon an eagle projection to swoop at the battlefield, but you can only use it once before it's out of juice. There's these two as well. This one will set the field of traps on fire. Only use it after you've retreated from that field. And this one fires a beam directly forward. It's the last ditch for anything left in the field. After that, you gotta do what you gotta do."

Ike nodded. "Understood. And the rest of these are webs?"

"Yeah… well, the equivalent. They'll slow down anyone who gets too close. Buy you some time to counterattack," Daisy explained.

He patted her shoulder. "Thanks."

"Not long until the next wave. You should go rest," Daisy advised him.

"I got it." Ike waved and headed into the round room to absorb some mana. His stocks were fine right now, but they could always be better. He sat down near the wall and settled in to breathe. Mana began circulating. For a while, all was calm.

A roar shattered the quiet. Ike jumped to his feet and drew his sword. "Here we go. Round two."