NOVEL NEXT 244. Big Hits
Relin's fist smashed into Ike's shoulder. As it struck, Ike activated the skill. His shoulder went limp as her fist hit, and the rest of his body followed. The shockwave from her punch traveled through his body, and the limpness traveled with it. He was only limp where he needed to be to absorb the force of her punch, rather than full body limp.
It hurt. It hurt more than going limp would. But it hurt far less than taking the blow would normally, and he took very little damage overall. His bones creaked, and he had minor bruises, but they all cleared up quickly under his healing skills. He jumped in place and shook his limbs out. "Whew!"
There was absolutely no lethargy, though. That was the important part. He'd defended against Relin's hit, took almost no damage, and was still in great shape. If I take a big enough hit, I'll still need to go full limp, but for anything less than a huge hit, I'll be fine.
Relin looked him up and down. "What did you do?"
"I took it," Ike said.
"I saw that. The technique, though. What was that?"
"You haven't seen it? It was hidden in this realm. One of the monsters in the underground area had it," Ike informed her. "It makes me go soft. I just changed that, so I only go soft a little bit at a time."
She frowned, then raised her brows. "You made that skill useful?"
"Yeah?"
"Impressive."
Ike hesitated, then nodded. He felt mildly insulted, but couldn't say why. At the same time, he was sure Relin hadn't meant to insult him, but the sensation clung nonetheless. I suppose it's a statement that's hard to respond positively to.
He dusted off his hands. "What's left to do?"
Relin spread her hands. "We've done everything you considered. Do you have anything else?"
"Uh…" Ike thought for a moment. He shrugged. "I can't come up with anything."
"More weapons?"
"If you have anything in mind, I'm all ears. Oh, did you guys reequip yourselves? I don't want you guys to be in danger if the walls get breached."
Relin gave him a look. "If the walls get breached, you're the one who loses. You shouldn't worry about us."
"Do I lose? Do I die if the castle is breached?" Ike asked, suddenly worried.
She nodded, then shook her head. "You lose, but you don't die. But if the castle is lost, you won't be able to become king anymore."
"Oh. That's fine. As long as I can keep training, that's all that matters," Ike said. If he died, that was one thing. But if it was just for kingdom… he didn't even want to be king. No, staying alive but removing himself from becoming king, that sounded ideal, in fact. He could get as strong as possible. Strong enough to wrest the other half of Mag's skill from whoever received it.
"At first, anyways. At the end of the trial, whoever wins has the right to pardon or execute all the other members of the trial, if anyone survives. And if no one wins, everyone is executed, regardless of if some contestants survive the trial. It's really a special case that someone without a castle is able to survive the trial, rather than the other way around," Relin explained.
"Then it's even more important that you and your men have good weapons. Someone's got to hold the castle!" Ike said firmly, clenching his fist.
Relin chuckled. "We do have weapons. There were plenty of extra materials, and you mentioned it earlier, so we went ahead and reequipped ourselves. We will hold the castle to the last man."
"No. Hold the castle with all your men," Ike said firmly, looking her in the eyes.
Relin straightened up. She snapped a salute. "Sir, yes, sir!"
"None of you are dying, either. I need all of you to fight, not die! Call one of us if you're in danger. Even if it's Shawn. He can run and get one of us…" He glanced over his shoulder. "Though he's usually glued to me."
"Understood," Relin said, devotion shining in her eyes.
After all, if the castle was central to his success, if the castle was the thing that allowed him to determine his own fate, he couldn't give it up. That was the most important part of this trial. He couldn't put his fate in someone else's hands. He didn't trust any of them. Nor did he want to trust any of them. Depending on someone else to not execute him and his friends? That wasn't his style at all. He trusted himself not to execute those who helped him. He didn't trust anyone else not to execute those who had helped. In the slums, it had been every man for themselves. If he didn't look out for himself, no one else would. Giving up the ability to control his fate meant resigning himself to death, and he refused to do that.
Therefore, Relin and her men were truly the most important. As the ones manning the castle's defenses, they were the line between success and failure. If they fought to the last man, they might all go down without Ike hearing. If they fought to save their men, then almost certainly, someone would survive to reach Ike, Wisp, or Mag. It wasn't out of the goodness of his heart. It was out of the practicality of Relin and her men surviving that he said as much.
And yet, looking at Relin, he somehow felt that she hadn't seen his actions in the same way that he had. He opened his mouth to explain, then shut it. Ah, well. There's worse misunderstandings that could go around.
Ike looked around. "If we're all set up, I'm going to go check on the other castles."
Relin nodded. "Don't be gone too long. The next round starts soon."
"Don't worry. I'm pretty quick," Ike bragged, though at the same time, he felt the emptiness of it. I'm quick, but that's all. I need to get faster. Until I'm the fastest, with no one to dispute my claim.
With that, he took off, racing through the woods toward the next castle.