Chapter 11: Level Up

Location: Waterfall Love Gem (level 1)

Party: Shuichi (level 100), Nikolai (level 30), Livia (level 37), Kelchie (level 35), Yonie (level 36), Juanita (level 34), J.C. (level 32), Mike (level 31), Haewon (level 33), Yukie (level 31), Jieshi (level 30), Shiki (level ?)

Enemy: Steeling (level 4)

“Yah!” Juanita shouted as she launched her twin tambourines at the flying metal phoenix, hitting it directly in its underbelly. Although its tough outer skin should have protected the Steeling from the attack, Juanita was at a much higher level than it was. The monster came crashing down to earth, and Juanita approached it cautiously and retrieved her weapons.

Just then, there was a rustling in the bushes behind the Mexican teenager. She quickly grabbed her tambourines and whirled around, ready for a fight. But it was only Haewon, who walked from behind an overgrown bush calmly. The Korean American waved to her friend and called, “How are things going with you?”

Relaxing at the sight of a familiar face, Juanita struck a dramatic pose and spun the weapons in her hand. “Victory is mine!” she proclaimed.

Haewon scratched the back of her head and said, “Yeah … I would hope so. None of these monsters are stronger than level ten and all of us are over level thirty.”

“Aw, do you always have to ruin my fun, Haewon?” Juanita pouted, her outstretched hands slowly wilting down to her side.

“Nope, but somebody has to be the voice of reason in this group, right?” she retorted jokingly, folding her arms in front of her chest with an amused grin on her face.

“Yeah … I guess,” Juanita mumbled in a low voice, looking completely bummed out. But she suddenly brightened up and exclaimed, “So, what are we doing, just standing here like idiots? We should be fighting and leveling up! Let’s go, Haewon!”

“Go where?” the younger of the two inquired, raising an eyebrow. Shuichi’s older cousin sure had some mood swings!

“Uhh, I don’t know … but I’ll figure it out soon!” Juanita replied, grabbing Haewon by the sleeve of her outfit and dragging her along. “Come on! We’re going to be so prepared for the next battle!”

“Let go of me! I can walk!” the Korean American bellowed.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Waterfall Love Gem, Kelchie and Livia had decided to team up against the monsters that dwelled in the clear spring near the area’s entry point. Neither of the two had been successful in encountering any forest creatures to fight, so when they met up Livia suggested that they try their luck at provoking a fight with the water dwellers.

A heavy sigh escaped Kelchie’s lips as she flopped down on the soft green grass surrounding the lagoon. “There are no monsters anywhere!” she complained, glaring up at the clear blue sky. “This sucks!”

“Maybe we just need to work a little harder before we can find something to fight against,” Livia offered as an explanation.

Kelchie snorted and rolled her eyes. “Oh, right,” she muttered sarcastically. “And how are we supposed to do that?”

“Leave it all up to me!” the weasel-turned teenager chirped in response. “I know exactly what to do!” And with that, Livia loaded her rifle and fired at something underwater. At first, the only movement in the pond was from the ripples surrounding the spot where Livia’s bullet had pierced the surface. But a few seconds later, a monster leapt into sight: a purple electric eel with red fins, about two feet in length, its tail crackling with lightning. A metallic gray flying fish that had ice blue spikes growing over its body and sharp teeth that hung over its maw soon joined it.

Enemy: Electreel (level 7), Killer Fish (level 5)

“Finally! Something to fight! It’s about time!” Kelchie huffed, jumping to her feet and grabbing the silver staff that lay at her side. “And there’s two of them as well!”

“I’ll get the flying fish!” Livia shouted to her partner. “You take care of that creepy eel-thing!”

“That’s just fine with me!” she hollered back, holding her weapon tightly. Kelchie was about to use it to bash the Electreel over the head, but then had another idea. Remembering that Shuichi had told them about certain special abilities each of them had, she decided to test out her own power: alchemy. Bending down and setting the staff aside, Kelchie clapped her hands together and pressed them to the earth, concentrating hard. Her strength drained away; but before her very eyes, a bow and arrow made of grass and earth started to form.

“Whoa, Kelchie!” Livia cheered, delaying her attack on the Killer Fish to watch the blonde. When the fish monster spat out a burst of water at her, though, Livia snapped back to attention and fired at the creature, defeating it instantly. With a dying shriek, the Killer Fish floated on the surface and then dissipated.

“Oh, this is awkward,” Kelchie remarked as she picked up her makeshift bow and arrow, examining it closely. After fumbling to hold it correctly for a moment, she pointed her arrow at the eel and got ready to strike.

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up at kill it!” Livia screamed, hopping up and down impatiently.

“Hey, this isn’t as easy as it looks!” Kelchie snapped back, turning to the weasel girl with an irritated look. When she turned back to the Electreel, however, she found herself face-to-face with an oncoming lightning bolt. Dodging it quickly, Kelchie released the arrow and let it fly. Soaring through the air, it struck the creature squarely in the forehead. With a high-pitched screech, the Electreel shot off one last thunderbolt at Kelchie before it died. She saw it coming, though, and she raised her bow in front of her body. Much to hers and Livia’s surprise, the bow disintegrated when the lightning bolt struck it.

“Hmm …” Livia mused. “I guess that the things you create from your alchemy aren’t meant to be indestructible. Too bad.”

“Forget about that! Let’s just go fight more monsters!” Kelchie shot at her. “We should have more chances to battle in the forest. Why don’t we go there?”

“There was nothing to go up against the last time we went there!” Livia argued in response. “Oh, forget about it! Race you!”

“Hey!” Kelchie protested when the weasel girl darted past her. “No fair! You got a head start! Get back here!”

“Nope, nope! You have to catch me first!” Livia sang, throwing a glance over her shoulder.

Kelchie was starting to get annoyed and she let out a strangled scream. “Aaahhh!”

On the opposite side of the level where Kelchie and Livia were at, Mike swung his sword at nearby trees with one hand, trying to get used to the weight. He knew that it would be easier to handle if he used both hands instead of one. But he needed his other arm free to block any oncoming attacks from monsters, flying debris, and misaimed attacks … and Nikolai.

Just then, something flew out of a nearby bush and stuck him in the back of the head. Surprised from the sudden blow, Mike collapsed and hit the ground. When he sat up on his knees and caught sight of the offending object, a closer examination revealed it to be only a chunk of rock.

“Mike! You lazy jerk! What are you doing just lying there?” a very familiar voice shouted.

“It’s you? Why’d you throw the rock at me?” Mike complained as Nikolai popped out from behind a tree, which had several cuts on its trunk.

“Because you’re a jerk!” Nikolai replied, crossing his arms. “Where have you been? Huh? And what were you doing?”

“I was here this entire time, practicing!” Mike held both arms over his head, just in case Nikolai decided to whack him.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” J.C. and Yukie made their presences known at that point.

“What are you two doing here, huh?” Nikolai inquired, looking none too pleased. He didn’t like Yukie and J.C. much.

The feeling was mutual with J.C. “None of your business!”

“Yeah! We were just learning how to control our powers!” Yukie added, inadvertently telling Mike and Nikolai what they had been up to anyway.

“Right … I’m sure you haven’t made much progress with that, just like Mike.”

“Nikolai! You’re killing my already low self-esteem!”

“I thought that your self-esteem was non-existent!” Yukie interrupted, unable to resist the urge to add in his own two cents.

J.C. rolled his eyes and groaned. “Come on, people, let’s go find everyone else!”

Enemy: Lilia (level 5)

“Aw, only a level five?” Yonie complained jokingly. “That’s no fun!”

“Well, deal with it because they’re probably not getting any stronger than this,” Jieshi told her.

The two were facing down a strange creature that appeared to be a living water lily. Every once in a while, the yellow flower would pop up and a strange mushroom creature would stick its head out to attack. Then it would duck back to safety.

Not having strayed too far from the waterfall and lake that they first appeared next to, they had spent most of their training time battling against water monsters.

“Ones that are this weak aren’t worth my time,” Yonie scoffed. “Hey, you take care of it!”

“Hey, what do I look like? Your personal lackey?” Jieshi grumbled, but he took a step forward anyway. He placed the tip of his staff in the lake and called out, “Thunder!” Several bolts of lightning shot out and traveled across the surface of the creek, electrifying everything in it. Not only was the Lilia fried, but almost every other monster hiding underwater was too.

“What a creative way to use water as a weapon,” Yonie stated. “Good for you that water conducts electricity.”

“Water does not conduct electricity,” he corrected. “It’s the particles in it that do. Otherwise, water is a poor conductor.”

“Whatever.” Yonie waved his remark aside. “Let’s go find Shuichi and fight something that’s actually worth our time.”

At the heart of the Waterfall Love Gem, Shuichi and Shiki were waiting for the rest of their party to arrive. Slowly but surely, the others came by group by group.

“So,” Shuichi started, “how was training?”

“It was great!” Juanita answered immediately. “I didn’t know I could actually control the direction that my tambourines go in!”

“And I can now attack without hurting myself!” J.C. added.

“Good for you,” Nikolai muttered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Shiki pretended not to hear. “Does that mean you guys are ready to fight now?”

“I am so itching to move on!” Yonie responded, balling her hands into fists. “Take us away, Shuichi!”

She giggled. “You got it!” The lupine teenager then turned serious and closed her eyes. The whirlwind of light and energy surrounded her and her friends again and transported them to their next destination.