I feel the soft breeze of the ocean, the warm sun shining down on me as waves lap gently against my tail. Wait, how did I get here? My master moved me while I was asleep? But... he's nowhere to be seen. Why am I not surprised? This must be another test. I groan. Land... why must it be land? Talk about rising to a challenge.
I glance around. It looks like I'm on a small, deserted island—just sand and a few palm trees, crossed together like an X. Huh. I wonder if there's treasure buried there. Maybe I should come back when I evolve. Right now, this tiny body is a problem on land.
I shift, struggling to move. It's so much easier in the water. But I can do this. I press my tail down, my body rocking with the effort, and I tilt over. Ugh… Land, one day I will conquer you.
I sigh, grudgingly. There's only one way to go. Let's roll.
I try to roll over, and sand sprinkles off me. Must get to water. Must keep rolling until I'm submerged.
Then I hear whistles, an unfamiliar sound. Another creature has joined me. Friend or foe?
Suddenly, I'm in the air! What the?!
I'm spinning in the air, the world tumbling around me. I'm flipping from side to side, feeling the pressure on all parts of my body as I'm tossed around. As I rotate, my dizzy eyes glimpse a few white baby seals.
"Hey! Put me down right now!" They're adorable, but not when I'm their toy.
They dare to clap their fins and keep bouncing me around. The audacity. The shame. Oh, I think I'm going to be sick. I can feel last night's krill threatening to come out. My stomach growls, and I can feel the puke in my mouth.
The seals must have sensed it, as they drop me like a hot potato, shuffling back, out of my firing line. Bwah!
They whistle to each other, nod once, then race away.
"Oh, no you don't! No one does that to me and gets away with it!"
I chase them, my fury fueling me. My puke is washed away in my wake. They are getting smaller as my tiny fins can't keep up. I grit my teeth and force my tail to slice through the water. I pick up speed. Yes! No, they stopped and waited for me. Then, before I know it, I'm back in the air again. They use their tails this time to bounce me around. A familiar figure approaches, gliding gracefully on the water. It could only be one person. Finally, salvation.
My master clears his throat, casually watching me get bounced like a beach ball.
"Are you having fun there?"
"Of course, I love waking up being tossed around," I reply, rolling my eyes and grunting as the seal's tail hit me.
"In that case, I'll leave you to it," he turns around.
"Alright! I was kidding. I'm not having fun at all. This is a day-mare!"
He pauses, turns around, and I swear by the sea I see a tinge of amusement in his eyes.
He whistles, and the baby seals stop playing. They drop me like a rock and swim toward him. They happily accept his company as he pats them on their heads. They roll over, and he scratches their bellies.
"That was your warm-up, now training begins." He gets up and flies to the shore.
The baby seals turn their gaze at me, and their adorable doe eyes hardened to beady. They're giving off some intimidating vibes now. I couldn't help but back away, my body trembling.
I laugh nervously as I tremble.
"Can't we just be friends? Let's not do anything rash."
They remain silent, circling me like a bunch of sharks. I gulp, not liking where this is heading.
Then one seal whistles. The one behind me charges at me, tackling me from behind. My body is sent flying out of the water and crashing down. My head is still spinning from the impact as they swim towards me. Another whistle, one advances, and I barely avoid its tackle. With another whistle, I get hit again. My body aches everywhere, including places I didn't know I had. Think! There has to be a way to get out of this vicious cycle. What would my master say? That's it! My master had hinted at the whistle before he left.
Once I hear that annoying sound again, I immediately shift my body and head-butt anything white. Thud! A hit! At long last. Confidence surges in me as the whistles kept coming and I kept dodging and head-butting.
"Aaargh!" A wave of air bursts out. I did it again! I look around to see the damage only to find the seals have disappeared. Huh? Where did they go?
Darting up, I break through the surface. They can't be too far. Surprisingly, they're in a bubble floating to the shore, smiling happily and waving at me.
"Hey! No fair!"
I rush to shore. My tail slices through the water.
I finally reach them, fuming to see my master rubbing their bellies.
"Master! Why did you intervene? I had it under control. I was finally winning."
But then, my vision starts to blur. The world tilts, and before I can protest further, everything goes black.
***
The aroma of air-cooked krill tickles my nose. My mouth starts watering as I wake up.
My master writes on a scroll as I chomp on my delicious dinner. He looks up at me.
"I can hear you're awake. Ready to hear your results?"
"Oh, I definitely would have leveled up heaps," I mumble with my mouth full.
He shakes his head, then with a flick of his wrist, my dinner floats toward him.
"Let's work on your table manners first, shall we? Try not to talk with your mouth full. It's unrefined. You will be attending banquets in the future."
I was about to retort while chewing, but he kept staring at me. I gulp. Then nod. With the flick of his wrist, the krill returns to me and I leap up swallowing the whole cluster, chomping happily away. Burp!
"Okay, I'm done eating now. You can tell me how awesome I was," I grin, puffing my chest.
With a sigh, Long Fei unfurls a parchment.
Courage: Level 2
Elemental Power: Level 3
Physical Power: Level 1
Strategy: Level 1
Agility: Level 1
Speed: Level 1
"Yes! I knew I did better today. Those adorable baby seals didn't know what hit them. Wait, I increased two levels with Elemental Power? Is that why you stopped me?"
He scratches his chin thoughtfully, then takes a deep breath.
"Partly. I brought them back before they were hit by the blast. I promised their mother they would return unscathed. It would probably only bruise them, but a promise is a promise. You clearly went past your limit."
I recall passing out. Oh... so he does care about me.
"How come my courage only leveled up by 1?"
"You think I didn't notice you backing away when the baby seals became serious?"
If my fins could reach, I would hide my embarrassment.
"What about the other scores? I thought I did better today."
"You did, that's why you leveled up. Since you were training with adorable baby seals, I think it's a fair assessment."
"They're not that adorable, more like smiling assassins," I mutter, glancing at the ceiling.
What does it take to level up quickly? I want to evolve already.