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

Wisp led the way. Ike followed close behind, afraid he'd lose her slender form among the shifting grass. The grass closed in behind Wisp, tall enough that she vanished entirely in its sway. Ike, who stood head and shoulders above the grass, sometimes could only watch out for the shifting grass ahead to guess where Wisp might have gone.

She had always been short, but now, she seemed shorter than ever. He snorted, then paused and looked himself over. The nice robes from Clarina's place were a bit tattered and torn now, no longer as nice as they'd once been. They only hung to his mid-thigh now, with the trousers hanging over his ankles.

I've grown.

Somehow, he felt a twinge of sadness at that. He was getting bigger, but she never would. She'd be the same size forever.

Until she turns into a giant spider, he recalled, and shivered. Okay, yeah. Maybe I'm fine with the human Wisp being small. I'll never be bigger than her big spider self.

He chased after her, running at an easy pace. Mag glided overhead, occasionally eclipsing Ike in his shadow when he banked past. In the distance, a bank of mountains loomed, marking the distant boundary of the grasslands.

The sound of hooves echoed. Ike looked up, startled. From the distance, riders rode toward him and Wisp. He glanced at his spider friend. "They friendly?"

"Dunno. Been stuck in the Abyss for too long. They weren't here the last time I came through. They look tasty, though."

"Hey," Ike muttered. He extended his mana, testing the approaching riders. Most of them were at Rank 1 or 2, but the strongest among them reached Rank 3. Surprisingly, their horses matched their Rank. Each one was a beast, imbued to a higher Rank to match its rider.

The more powerful of the riders tested him in return. Their auras clashed against one another, examining each others' strength. Ike didn't back down, but neither did the riders, both of them coming to the same conclusion: that if it came to violence, they were evenly matched… but the riders had the advantage of numbers.

"What are you thinking? Do we run?" Wisp asked.

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"I think we stand our ground," Ike replied.

Wisp nodded. "Good. I haven't had horse in a while."

"It's always about your stomach, isn't it?"

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The riders reached them in a few moments. They circled around Ike and Wisp. The grass rushed around their horses, whispering around the great beasts. Their hoofbeats rolled like thunder over the hardpacked earth. Dust rose up after them, drifting over Ike and Wisp in a choking cloud. The two of them stood in the center, back to back. Mag retreated higher in the sky. He continued to circle overhead, but so high up that Ike could have mistaken him for an ordinary bird.

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Ike reached for his sword, but didn't draw it yet. He eyed the riders, waiting for them to speak.

The riders wore leather armor to match their horses' leather harnesses. Steel studs dotted both their and the horses' armor alike. They wore masked helmets with single long peasant feathers flowing from atop them. The helmets shaded their eyes, so Ike couldn't see anything past the darkness.

He examined them silently. This region had been overridden by puppets. Were these riders puppets, or not? He knew puppets would look exactly human, would feel exactly human. Even their mana circulation would move like a human's. Until he broke them open, he'd have no way to tell if they were puppet or human.

The riders stopped, loosely circling the two of them. Horse bodies blocked their exit in all directions, dozens of them packed in so tight that there could be no escape without moving through them. The riders clutched spears and javelins, not yet brandishing them, but ready to heft them at any moment.

From out of the group, one of the more powerful riders pressed forward, guiding their horse through the other horses. They stood over Ike and Wisp and looked down at them silently.

Ike gazed back. He waited for the rider to speak, calling their bluff. They would speak first, whether they wanted to or not.

At last, the rider broke their silence. A female voice asked, "Why do you go to the deadlands?"

"We seek an old friend," Ike replied.

"Old friend…" Wisp muttered. Ike glanced over his shoulder at her. She met his eyes and waggled her hand a little.

Ah. The nuances of Wisp's relationship with this person aside, Ike decided he'd leave it at 'old friend' for the rider. He stared up at her, waiting.

"Nothing lies beyond here. You go to death," the rider warned him.

"We know of the puppets. We're going to kill them if we meet them."

Her head tilted back. She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you insist upon going, we will not stop you. But no one returns from that place."

"What if we do?" Ike asked.

The riders raised their spears in concert. Ike found himself facing a sea of blades.

"No one leaves the deadlands. That is our mission," the rider replied.

So we can enter, but they won't allow us to leave. Ike nodded. "Message received."

"You still insist on proceeding?"

Ike considered for a second, then nodded. He was curious about that skill Wisp had brought up, and aside from that, he should know what a land fully populated by puppets looked like. He needed to know what he fought. He'd seen Shopkeep's city, but that had been a single city, and beyond that, corrupted by Shopkeep, who'd taken over the puppets. If Brightbriar had his way, what did the puppets look like? How did they live? Did they relive their lives, or live on, as if they hadn't been replaced? Or… was it completely different than Shopkeep's city?

The female rider glanced at the other riders. They exchanged a long look. Ike gripped his sword, ready to draw it at the slightest sign of violence.

She raised her hand. The riders lifted their spears and backed away. "It is our clan's way that you might go. But remember, you may not return."

"Understood," Ike replied. We either have to find another way out… or get strong enough to blast through these riders on the way back. He grinned to himself, not sure which one excited him more. He always enjoyed wandering the world and seeing new sights, but beating down these riders directly was also incredibly appealing. As the last of them rode away, Ike turned, watching them go.

"You thinking the same thing I'm thinking?" Wisp asked.

"No. You're thinking about horseflesh," Ike replied.

Wisp clicked her tongue. "Almost had him."

"I'm thinking about beating the shit out of them on the way back," he finished, turning to walk on.

"And then I eat them!" Wisp cheered. She took the lead once more, and the two of them ran on. Toward the deadlands. Toward the unknown.