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He tapped more and more of the puppets. His tapping rate wasn\'t sustainable—the first puppets regenerated lunam too slowly for it to be sustained—but he didn\'t mind. That was the whole point. When they ran out of the black goo, he\'d have fully weakened the city lord\'s army, or at least the portion he had access to. At that point, given how many rings we\'ve found and how much black gunk we\'ve stolen, I think we can consider the city lord\'s plans fully sabotaged.

"Hey, Ike!"

Ike looked up. Ket waved at him, beaming. He hopped down the cliff to Ike, ignoring the line. A few people glared at him, but quickly calmed when they saw his inverted eyes.

"Ket!" Ike greeted him. He waved him over. "How\'s it going?"

"I brought snacks." Ket held out a leaf-wrapped package.

Ike unwrapped it to find sandwiches full of herbed pulled meat. "Thank you."

"That\'s your otter meat. I\'ve enhanced it, as I promised." Ket looked him up and down, then raised his brows. "Tana was right. You\'ve Ranked up! That\'s incredible."

"Yeah, I guess," Ike said. He grabbed one of the sandwiches and took a big bite, clumsily re-wrapping the remaining sandwiches with his other hand. A delicious gravy mixed with the oily meat, while the herbs cut through the oil of the otter meat to elevate its gamy flavor to true deliciousness.

Ket laughed. "You have no idea. It usually takes people years to hit Rank 2, Ike. Sometimes even decades. You\'re considered almost too old to become a \'true mage.\' And here you are, Rank 2 anyways."

"What—years?" Ike asked, startled.

"Well, think about it. If you had to slowly gather the amount of mana you released in this field from the natural world, with no particular strong source… how long would that have taken you?" Ket pointed out.

Ike opened his mouth, then shut it. He nodded slowly. That\'s true. You need to have enough mana stored to use it all at once to Rank up. If you don\'t have enough mana, your core will deflate. If I didn\'t have this field, I have no idea how I\'d even go about gathering that much mana. There\'s probably items like this storage ring that could capture mana, or maybe natural areas that have dense enough mana… but it was convenient to not have to go looking for it, and simply absorb it all in this mana field.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Tana told me you had gold and purple light around you when you Ranked up?" Ket asked.

"Oh…yeah. I guess. I mean, kind of?" Ike said. It was just the lightning from my skills, so it doesn\'t really count, does it?

"You have a Unique skill, don\'t you?" Ket guessed, his eyes shining.

Ike looked at Ket from the corner of his eyes. "What\'s it to you?"

Ket chuckled. "Nothing. Gold light only appears if the mage has a perfect Rank up, or if they have a Unique skill. Or both."

"Maybe I perfectly Ranked Up," Ike said, shrugging.

"Maybe so," Ket allowed, his eyes shining. "I wouldn\'t be surprised. I knew you had it in you."

"You come to check out the operation?" Ike asked.

Ket looked around. "I am impressed, I have to say. I never thought to try cutting open the puppets. Didn\'t even think about what would be inside of them. How\'d you come up with that, anyways?"

Ike\'s mind went to a certain head languishing in his pack, and he shrugged. "Oh. You know."

Ket laughed. He patted Ike on the back. "Good, good. Play it coy. That\'s how a mage does it." He pointed at the spider webs around the edges of the valley. "I see your friendship with Wisp is still continuing."

"Yeah. She\'s pretty easy to get along with," Ike said.

"I\'m glad to hear it." He leaned in. "The king has taken notice of your little camp."

"Oh, yeah?" Ike asked. I probably need to be wary of the king. In this world where might makes right, the king must be the highest Ranked mage in the city. In other words, stronger than Ket, who\'s still stronger than me. He isn\'t someone I can ignore.

Ket nodded. He glanced around before continuing. "He doesn\'t like that you\'re empowering some of his loudest critics. I wouldn\'t be surprised if he sent men to shut this down soon. Keep your eyes open and be ready to run."

"Run?" Ike asked.

"He has four Rank 2s and a Rank 3 under him. Even if you\'ve perfectly Ranked up with a Unique skill, you\'ve only just Ranked up. All of his Rank 2s have been Rank 2 for over fifty years. They\'re high Rank 2s. You might be able to take a Rank 2. If multiple Rank 2s or the Rank 3 shows up, run for your life," Ket said firmly.

Ike took a deep breath. He nodded. "Okay. Thank you for the warning."

"I want to see my friends succeed," Ket said. He nodded and patted Ike on the shoulder. "Good luck. And don\'t be afraid to run. Retreating is the noblest of the formal strategies."

"Understood," Ike said. With Lightning Dash, I have enough speed to be confident in my running. I should be able to escape, if nothing else.

Ket looked around them. "Though, given how both sides are benefiting from your actions… the king may let your little operation ride for longer than I\'d have initially expected."

Ike grinned. "Then I\'ll keep it running for as long as I can, and take as much gold as I can get."

"That\'s what I\'m talking about," Ket said. He patted Ike on the shoulder again and walked off. "Good luck. And remember, living is the most important."

"I know," Ike confirmed.

Ket waved. He retreated, jumping out of the valley. Ike gestured the next visitor down, continuing to acquire Abyssal\'s accrued gold. I need to make a plan for those high-Ranked mages. Running away alone won\'t guarantee my survival. Not with a Rank 3 in the mix. Better to have a plan.

But how do I maneuver to ensure my survival with Rank 2s and 3s breathing down my neck?

Ike glanced over his shoulder. "Hey, Wisp."

"Yeah?"

"I had an idea…"