You have killed (1) Water Serendipity Turtle Level 31

You have killed (2) Gaseous Birds of Paradise Level 27

You have gained:

Level + 23%

Class Level + 21.4%

Spirit Level + 36.8%

Burst Attack Tier 6 + 10.7%

Helping Hand Tier 2 + 92.8%

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have reached Spirit level 7.

You have 1 unspent Spirit Attribute point.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

Helping Hand reaches Tier 3.

New effect: Increase your target’s Recovery by 200% for 1 Mana point. Permanently increases Recovery by 30%.

Nice!

So, Liz, we said we've round you up first, so your Spirit point goes to Stamina, no comments. I said, no! You ungrateful biatch… anyway, I see you've gained another inch not bad, lizard, not bad.

2-feet-1… you are starting to become kinda scary. You know?

Liz stopped pouting and started circling around herself, trying to look at her long tail.

And she kept circling… and circling and circling.

"Your lizard broke, dude," said Dikez.

"Yeah, I noticed."

Liz stopped at that, standing on two legs and sniffing toward Dikez's direction once, her eyes wide and weird.

Dikez flinched.

But she quickly lost interest, running in a circle again to pursue her tail again.

"Yup, she finally broke. Anyway… that was another fight out of this world, guys! You literally went through them!" Gabriel said, actually excited once the even higher excitement of the level up had passed.

Actually, looking forward to the next level-up had really become kind of a drug; it had felt so since he had received his Enhanced Senses Perk; the tangibility of that had changed the order of importance of a few things. He had not forgotten; getting back was still his first priority. It was just that he had his excuse of 'being hunted down for a life of torture' did actually broaden his horizon regarding how he had to achieve his priorities.

They had just gone through the second group of monsters, and they had yet to get out of the caverns, but the light was starting to show; daylight, not the dim kind released by the Manastones.

Gabriel was digging through his Mana just as fast as the team was plowing through monsters. He had used Helping Hand on Carla and Sig, as he had seen Olive do; the effects overlapped, magnifying their Recovery.

Helping Hand was useful but far too indirect for his liking. Well, it is a basic Skill, after all. I wonder if the Skills of higher rarity are any more direct, like, 'Heal such and such points of Life' or something.

"Yeah, let's go up; the open field is much better both for hunting and for sightseeing," and saying so, Sig placed another PacMan inside the destroyed flesh of the turtle.

I wonder, how many has he got of those?

"Keep sharp; we'll be starting to meet other teams in the open field. There are seventeen entrances in Turtle Island, each one reserved for a different party." Carla was warming-up, jumping in place, and shaking her arms and head while she said so.

"So, I suppose you are warming-up because we'll be starting a race?" Gabriel noted.

"Yup, turtle island is not exactly a big dungeon; it's just one really big open field, so we're gonna need to be fast, and we'll be explaining to you how exactly to be as effective as possible, and you could make a real difference especially with your Spirits, guys," said Dikez.

Gabriel and Olive shared a look.

The trip to the light was a short one, and as they finally reached it, the world opened up in front of them, a beautiful verdant world. The same could be said about the thinning air. It started pressing on them, mostly on Gabriel, but once again, instead of panicking, he changed his breathing pattern, beginning a period of acclimation to it.

Turtle Island looked like one giant bowl. All around its extremities, one giant, continuous mountain range hid its core from the outside view.

Everywhere they could lay their eyes, they saw a beautiful low land, marked by heights and depressions hiding parts of the field. A section of it, roughly a fourth, was blessed by a forest, characterized by tall trees all clumped together, obscuring the view inside.

Another part showed a massive wide stone layering which grew higher and higher, reaching all the way up to the mountain range. From its peak, a waterfall dropped all the way to the bottom, becoming one with the layering and forming a huge pool of water. The lake was at the center of a complex series of stone raises; Gabriel could already imagine the climbing needed to reach the lake behind.

They had come out from underneath the mountain range, and they were currently standing right at the edge of the green lowland; the forest was in front of them, at their left was the rocky lake, while at their right was, he couldn't tell what it was, the field disappeared into a huge rock depression. As if somebody had carved all the way through it with a massive spoon, layers of rock hiding it from the eyes, they would have to get closer to really take a good look at it.

"Alright!" Clara said, clapping her hands with a thunderous sound, forcing Gabriel to cover his ears. "We're here; let's start. Sig, if you would."

"Ok, ok. Now listen, I'll be brief. Plains, we shall find Fire turtles here, as well as a few different elemental snakes, scorpions, and, for you guys' pleasure, big ass lizards. Over there," he said, pointing at the forest, "we shall find mostly Wind creatures, like the birds from before, a few monkeys and frogs. There are water creatures by the lake that weren’t expected, serpents, fishes, and a few predatory birds from the mountains; those birds are the real danger there. They are nothing at all like the Gas Flappers. And finally, just so you know, but we'll not be heading there," he said, pointing at the gigantic depression in the earth at their right, "that's the domain of the Earth creatures; once again, turtles are not the real problem there; the troublesome ones are the Armored Tyrants, those bastards are too tough for us. So, if you see a fifteen-foot monster wondering, covered a slightly mossy natural armor, get the fuck away from it. They are as dangerous as a wyvern, about level fifty or more. Everything clear?"

"No?" Gabriel said tentatively.

"Alr- really? I have to repeat?" Sigmund asked, incredulous for some reason.

"Don't worry, Sigmund, it was all clear. He just gets tense, for no reason at times."

"No reasons? Didn't he just say level fifty or something? And should I believe that the monster does indeed wander around?" Asked Gabriel, just a tiny bit freaked out.

"Well… it does, but you didn't even listen to your part in this list clearly, then you'll understand that you really aren't in any big danger. Ok?" Sigmund continued.

"Alright…"

"So, Dikez's role and yours too, guys, will be that of looking for turtles, hit them, and make them follow you. Ignore everything else. Most of them are slow after all, and the slowest ones are those in the plain, the Fire-type, so we just need you to "tag" them then run here. Just don't engage any that another party has already tagged, or we're gonna have troubles."

"Wait! What if someone stole them from us?" Gabriel asked.

"If that happens, warn them, and ask them to let go, peacefully. If they don't and they don't outnumber you, then you can… you- maybe it is better if you let them have it, or at least that's in your case, guys… they might pick on you for your size, and probably levels too."

Sigmund massaged his chin.

"Dikez, maybe we should just make a team with all three of you, less scouting speed, but at least they won't be picked on, what do you say?"

Dikez thought about it a little, but Carla answered in his stead. "Well, we've been doing it like this since forever; it will just help you in securing the tag."

"Hey, hey! What about my image? I've never been one to need tagging support; what will people say about me now?" Said Dikez.

"Really, Dik? Your image now?" She retorted.

"Why don't we split them then? One goes with me, the other with Sig," he suggested, huffing a little…

Yeah, just talk about us in third person! "We're still here, by the way." Said Gabe with a grinning smile, "We might be tiny, but we don't really need that much support, right, Oli?"

"No, actually, they are right, we should follow one of them, or at least, I'd be fine on my own, but you Gabe, you really are in danger if someone decides to pick on us. So, my vote goes for splitting and going with you guys," she answered.

What a… Nah, she's probably right; she always is… I'm just being pedantic.

"Alright, then, let's split. You've convinced me…" he said, with just a tiny little pang of shame.

The trio of giants looked among themselves, then Sig and Dik launched at Olive, scaring the crap out of the girl, which immediately raised two poison-imbued hands in the air.

Ignoring her entirely, Sigmund was the first one to touch her shoulder. Then he burst into laughter.

"Oh, come on, dude! I put dibs on her yesterday!" Said Dikez.

"And we reached the conclusion that we would play it today if we needed, so your dibs, they were worth shit! Sucker!" Sigmund answered back. "And I need more healing than you all the same."

Olive took a breath to calm down. She had understood a little too late that it was just a game but had caught on pretty quickly. Gabriel was still dumbfounded.

Did they really go both for Olive at the same time… fucking hell, I'm worth nothing in their eyes!

Gabriel sighed; Liz did so at the same time when she saw the "imposing" figure which Brill had taken while getting ready to protect his human.

He was still bigger than her, not remotely as imposing as he was before in her eyes still, he almost doubled her length. He was much, much bulkier. Brill was big, roughly four feet, tail included, a tail much shorter than hers.

"It's decided then. Olive and Sigmund will be scout 1, Dikez, and Gabriel, scout 2. The plain is vast; I'll be waiting by that hill over there. Bring the turtles to me! I'm gonna do some pedicure in the meanwhile, have fun!" Said Carla, heading to the hill at the far northwest.

"Let's recap just once. Tag, the turtle, hit it, enraged it, whatever to make it follow you; run back to Carla's hill; evade other monsters, if they pave themselves in front of you, just kill them, then focus on the turtle. All clear?" Sigmund did not wait for an answer, "Let's go!"

They separated, Olive and Sigmund going toward the lake, Gabriel and Dikez heading toward the hole, a place really uncomfortable for Gabe's fragile nerves.

"Balls…" Dikez kept repeating.

"Dik, weren't we not supposed to get too close to that hole with the tyrant's things?" Gabriel said after a while.

"Wut? Oh, we're not going there; there's a concentration of depressions on the far right, there, you see? We're going to scout out some teams and see how many turtles they've collected, and their position especially," explained the young bartender.

"O...k. Sightseeing then, good enough… you sure those things won't ambush us?"

"What the- still thinking about the ATs? Don't worry about them, they are not fast enough to catch up to me, but more importantly, they really start picking their heads out when the sun goes down. We're really fine for now, trust hummie, trust!" Dikez said, completely sure of himself.

If you say so.

It took them not more than ten minutes before Gabriel's eyes could pick out some movement in the distance.

"I see something," he said, squinting.

A couple miles away, his trained eyes took notice of a huge turtle, making some erratic movements, likely fighting something.

The hills were covered in bushes and trees. Yet, a portion of it was clearly on fire.

After a while, he saw someone jump in the air, then flinging back down as if stepping on air.

"Yeah, that's definitely a fight; I think I see three people," Gabe said, "someone is like flying about."

"You can see them from here? Dude, you aren't that worthless after all."

Gabriel sighed, "Why, what did you choose as a Perk?"

"Pain Resistance, obviously, how would I ever really expect myself to survive during a real fight?"

"Pain Resistance? I thought tanks went that route… wait, why doesn't Carla have it then? She takes all the shit, and without Pain Resistance?" Gabriel realized.

"Yes, everybody who really wants to go melee style chooses Pain Resistance. Enhanced Senses is for scouts. Well, about Carla, she's a good girl. She just started out with something else in her mind but changed her plans after she realized she wouldn't make it," Dikez confessed.

"Wow, fuck ups do be brutal in this world. Hope I didn't fuck up too much already," Gabriel said. Honestly, his eyes wandering toward the lizard, sensing something, stopped. She launched him a look which could have said: 'son of a bitch, you were thinking I was a mistake, weren't you!?'

I would…! Never?

The lizard couldn't help herself but launch at him, and she wasn't three inches anymore; even though her bite was weak, she was still a two feet lizard now.

"Son of a-!" Gabriel shouted.

"Don't shout; they'll notice us!" Dikez shouted back, at which they did really turn toward them, despite the fight.

"No, we do need to bail… fast, faster!" Dikez admitted, grabbing Gabriel by his bag.

"See what you've done, Liz?" See? Tsk!

They left and headed for the inner parts of the plains, changing direction entirely.

They now knew that there was at least one more team with them, at barely fifteen minutes regular walking pace from them, which meant that they might have to change location, and yet those worries had to quickly be cast aside; as a fire tortoise paved in front of them.

Instantly, Dikez burst forward, engaging an entirely new level of speed, dashing at the turtle enveloped in his signature wind buff.

Holy shite! He can run!

Gabriel had to follow. He knew better than to remain alone in a place where everyone monster and sentient had roughly four times his levels.

And follow him, he did.

As he engaged the tortoise, the poor thing, bigger than the previous ones, they fought but resting quietly on the grass. It was of an intense amber color, a carapace of a darker red. It yawned but stood up as it noticed the giant running at it.

Dikez was about to strike, but he had to evade a pillar of fire coming at him at the last second.

It spits fire!

Gabriel had reached the giant, the heat lingering about in the air.

"Wanna try analyzing that thing? It reacted really fast," Dikez said to the human.

Gabriel nodded, "It says Level 42, Class level 35; the rest is obscured."

"A tier 3 barely; it might not follow us."

Gabriel stopped thinking about something, which the giant might not like, but he had to say it.

"We could… try and kill it ourselves. I know it's not what we've agreed upon, but-"

"You're right. That is exactly what we'll do. This thing is too precious to be left here. Look at it! It might even be a Fire - 3. The carapace itself would sell really well; at that level of quality, it's considered specialized material… we can't leave it like this, we have to take it down."

It seems I still don't know these giants well enough. But Gabriel grinned.

"I'm gonna get burned…" sighed Dikez, "please, start healing me up, and I suggest getting at least a few attacks in; they're gonna be of much value for you too. At this distance, the party function doesn't work."

"Heard that, Liz! We're gonna give it our all then!"

Dikez took Gabriel under his arm and backed away some. The tortoise had started acting up, looking more imposing, and standing tall on its legs.

"Alright, we need to formulate at least a semblance of a plan," said Dikez, "have you got any defining Skill other than your basic heal?"

"I've got a Burst Attack Skill. It strikes fast, even though it's rather weak."

"Ok, you'll act as a distraction then. You'll be attacking from behind when it becomes too enraged. I'll back away, and you strike once, if it turns your way, run around it but in the opposite direction of its turn. So, if she turns to the right, you run around its left side. Don't ever run at its face. You'll just turn into cinders! Clear?" Said Dikez, shaking him by the arm.

"Yes… yes, I think so."

"Good, then I'll approach. Go!"

Dikez launched at the tortoise, axes at the ready.

The young man could barely cast his Helping Hand on both DIkez and himself, the suffusing light managing to latch to the running giant, who thanked him by raising one of his axes.

Gabriel took a second longer, but he too started. He ran in a clockwise direction around the tortoise, trying to do so in a wide arc; Lizzy sat on his shoulder, readying her attack.

Try to give it your all. You've still got 8 strikes. If we play it right, you'll level up again. Hell, probably more than once!

The young man was eager to finally give it his all; if he expended all his points, he would be able to replenish them fully with the help of the party's potions; and thus do it again. As long as he survived, he knew he would make a tremendous leap forward in his levels.

He had just reached the tortoise backside when Dikez backed away from his assault.

That's it! Focus, Liz!

His spear at the ready, Gabriel channeled Mana into it, then imbued it with Burst Attack, and he struck; at the same time, Liz launched at it, in an enhanced headbutt attack, relying on her own Spirit Skill.

She rebounded right back, while Gabriel's attack struck true but only up to one inch of the spear's head penetrated the creature's tail.

A lament filled the air.

The tail moved erratically; thankfully, it was too short of hitting the man. Judging by its pressure, it would have done damage to him; thankfully, the tortoise was not fast.

But contrary to Gabriel's expectations, the tortoise did not turn away. Its skin and shell shined with a rainbow-colored film for a second before returning to normal. The tail dropped a few drops of blood before it stopped, and to his surprise, the little damage he did seemed to already start healing.

Holy shit!

He decided to hit again since he could see the tortoise started walking and trying to follow Dikez, which was waiting for Gabriel to make the beast turn his way.

Again then!

Once again, the two struck together. But something unexpected happened.

As the spear penetrated, not more than before, even though Gabriel managed to hit the same spot again, he felt pain.

At the height of his coccyx, his back received damage; it was as if something had struck him.

He could feel the peculiar wet stickiness of blood on his back. At the same time, the film appeared on the creature's skin and dissolved again.

And the same happened to Liz, which fell forward for a headbutt coming from nowhere, destabilizing her; the tortoise’s hind legs almost trampled her.

This bitch! It reflected it or something!

Once again, the film reappeared around it, yet the tortoise drove forward.

You won't advance, you bitch! You'll stay right here!

"Look at me!" Gabriel shouted as once again, despite knowing that he would be damaging himself, attacked the tortoise.

This time it was not a strike, though; it was a slash. Gabe backed away slightly then, raising his spear up, he put all his strength into a descending cut. At the same time, Liz jumped and bit the creature's tail tip.

He felt the attack on his backside, a gash from his coccyx to his left buttock. But the creature squirmed; enraged, it turned her head to the side and started rotating; all its attention now focused on the human.

"Try and catch me, bitch!" He said, turning counterclockwise, the tortoise already drawing in fire to breathe on him.

He barely avoided it but continued circling around the tortoise, whose rage and low intelligence did not help in making realize that it had fallen into their game.

Dikez took his chance to unleash all his combined abilities on the monster. He reached for her, and after a gentle kick on the back, he started tempesting her tail and legs with slashes to trigger the film. Before a few seconds had passed and it managed to draw its appendages back inside its shell, its right leg gave out, making it hit the ground with its considerable weight.

Gabriel took this chance to reach for Dikez. He knew it was his only chance to unleash everything he had and spend the most amount of Pool points he could to gain the highest possible amount of experience.

Dikez surprised him, though. He jumped on top of the shell and aimed to the still outstretched neck.

The enraged tortoise had started belching fire, pillars of it raising high up in the air, making the air insufferable. Gabriel had noticed, and he chose thus to settle for the tail; there was no film protecting it, so he struck and struck, even though the creature had retracted inside of its shell now; it was still stunned, producing no more "reflecting films"; it simply accepted all the damage.

Amid Dikez slashes, the tortoise had decided that its only chance at survival was that of showering the enemy in fire, refusing thus to draw its neck inside, so, surprising Gabriel, but not the veteran giant, it started rolling around. Dikez was ready, juggling her like a street artist running on a ball, while at the same time, it kept slashing at her exposed neck.

Pillars of fire leaving traces in the air.

Gabriel was at the back of her, and even then, he knew that his skin would have already started to boil if it wasn't for the leather armor resistance; he had no idea how he managed not to burn his lungs.

Probably magic, he thought, yet the breathing was getting harder and harder. He had yet to get entirely accustomed to the altitude. The heat, dissipating the oxygen, had made it exponentially harder to successfully draw in one full breath.

He was growing dizzy, but the assault was not yet finished, there was still life in the tortoise, and that was when finally, the tortoise had enough of the little pests attacking her tail.

Its leg shot out of its hold, hitting Gabriel full in the chest. He was launched backward and blacked out.