Skill Hunter -Kill Monsters, Acquire Skills, Ascend to the Highest Rank! 138. Your Grandpa

All the way down the mountain, the kid ranted at them. He let loose a expletive-filled tirade that would've been at ho in a seaman's tavern, let alone coming out of a captured child's mouth. Ike tired of it at about the quarter mark, but resisted the urge to double-handed throw the child and ran on. Just until the bottom of the mountain. Once we're out of Mont's territory, he can go his own way. He cut his eyes at Wisp, who gave him a beleaguered stare back.

At the bottom of the mountain, Ike set the kid down. "Alright. If you're so sick of us, then go."

The kid suddenly stilled. "Huh?"

"You heard . If you're so sick of us, go."

"What about the mages?"

Ike shrugged. "Easier for if I'm not caught red-handed. Look, kid. You either improve your behavior and co with us, or you take a hike. I don't care which. I'm looking after you as a favor to Mont, not for your own sake."

The boy squinted at him. "But I'm valuable. ga-valuable. You're just going to ditch infinite riches?"

"You're worthless to , so yep. I am. Have fun in the woods." Ike walked away. I'm not going to sell you, so you're worth zero gold to . I'm not going to put up with your bad attitude because you're valuable, when you have no value to .

Wisp laughed at the kid and followed after Ike.

The kid sat down. He crossed his arms. "This is just a ploy. You'll be back."

"See ya." Ike waved and walked on.

He felt for the kid, but there was a limit to empathy. And it wore through sowhere around the two hour mark of the kid's endless tirade. The kid obviously had no intent to extend good intentions toward him and Wisp, so why would he bring such an unhappy camper along? The kid could go make soone else miserable, for all he cared.

The kid watched him go. He stared. "You're serious?"

"Dead serious," Ike said, without looking back.

"Byeee, have a good life!" Wisp sing-songed, waving a jaunty farewell.

"No. This is a joke. An act," the kid repeated to himself.

The forest closed in behind Ike and Wisp. They didn't hesitate or look back.

The kid sat there for a few more beats, then jumped up and chased after them. "Wait, wait, wait!"

Ike turned.

The kid caught up. He drew alongside them and braced his hands on his knees, panting. After a mont, he looked up. "You—you really don't care about—"

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Ike took a deep breath. He kneeled, eting the kid's eyes. "Listen. You can either live as a valuable object, bought and sold. Or you can live as a person. If you want to live as an object, go find soone who finds you valuable and be as obnoxious as you want. But if you want to co with , I'm going to treat you like a person, and in return, expect you to behave like a person. I understand that you've been through a lot. That for a long ti, you've been treated as a thing, not a person. But I'm going to treat you like the human being you ar…appear to be. And that ans that if you behave poorly, you'll be left behind."

The kid pouted. "Sounds like I was better off as—"

Ike interrupted him. "But in return, you get to choose your own fate. Your future. Where do you want to set down roots? How do you want to grow? What do you want to have for dinner? You'll be a part of that discussion from now on. As one of us. As an equal."

"Hmm." The kid thought for a minute. "You know, those last people were awful, but that's not all I've experienced."

"No?"

"No. I was a sect's sacred treasure for a long, long ti before that. And when that sect was sacked, I beca a lot of people's most valuable artifact. I passed through a lot of hands. Lived in a lot of sumptuous settings. Velvet cushions. Beds of gold. Silk clothes and rings on every finger." He looked Ike and Wisp over, then sighed. "But it looks like you two can't afford any of that, so sure. Let's give this being-human thing a try."

"Excellent." Ike turned away again.

"Wait!"

He paused, on his last nerve.

The kid held his hands up. "Carry ."

"People walk on their own two feet," Ike returned.

Wisp laughed. "That's bold, coming from soone who got carried out of the Abyss."

"I did not. I climbed on my own," Ike said with a frown.

"No, I ant…" She waved her hand. "Never mind."

The kid turned to Wisp. He gave her big, puppy-dog eyes. "Mommy, uppies?"

Wisp raised a single brow. "Spiders are known to eat their young. Wanna try it?"

He jolted. Moving quicker than Ike had seen him move yet, he ran over to Ike and hid behind his leg. "Save !"

"She isn't actually going to eat you," Ike said, sighing.

Wisp frowned at Ike. "We're treating him like a person, aren't we? I eat people."

"Hey," Ike said, but he grinned a little.

The kid looked from one to the other. He backed away a few steps. "Are you two okay?"

"We're surviving, anyways." Ike tossed the kid a nod. "What's your na?"

The kid hesitated. He looked at his hands. "Placid Lake's Mountain Spirit."

"That's a label, not a na," Ike said.

"That's all I have."

"Just call him Lake, then," Wisp opined, from slightly further ahead down the path.

"Not everyone is fine with using their label as a na," Ike told her.

"What? It's a cool na," she said.

Ike stared at her. I thought Wisp had done the best with what she was given. Will o' the Wisp really doesn't have much going for it na-wise except for Wisp. But now, I'm wondering if she just picked the last word because she thinks the last word of a title is always a good na.

"What?" Wisp asked again.

"Nothing." Ike turned back to the kid. "Do you like the na Lake?"

The kid shook his head. "It isn't a na at all."

"It's a cool na."

"Right. So, what do you want to call yourself?" Ike asked, ignoring Wisp's interjection.

The kid thought for a second. "I was once traded to a sect far, far away. I didn't speak the language, but I rember they called Shan."

"Shawn's a good na," Ike said, nodding.

"No, it was…" the kid hesitated, then nodded as well. "Shawn."

"Yay! Shawn! Can we get going before the sun sets?" Wisp called from ahead of them.

"Yeah, yeah." Ike nodded for Shawn to follow him and hurried after Wisp.

Shawn took a deep breath. He looked over his shoulder at the mountain looming over them. From here, the landslide was a bare wound on its side, bright brown against the darkening forest.

"Thank you," he whispered, then chased after the other two.