Elysium

Level 2

MAREN

 Two

“So, what’s your name?” I asked the cute little fairy.

“You must name me,” she answered. She spun around and her wings twitched in delight. “I will finally be named. And by a beautiful mage!”

I laughed nervously. I wondered if they were all programmed to see mages as beautiful creatures.

“What name do you want?”

“Anything that my master gives me.”

“Wait… I’m your master?”

“Of course!” Her wings fluttered excitedly.

“Well… Okay then. I’ll name you Faith.”

I watched her spin and twirl and sparkle in delight for a whole minute. Her wings even turned a fiery red color. When she finally calmed down, she landed on my shoulder and giggled.

“I love my new name. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, what should I do next?”

“Oh, you must kill those Puffy until you reach level three.”

“Excuse me?” I snorted. Puffy?! What kind of creatures are Puff—

“Those furry, round, white things bouncing all around are Puffy. They’re easy to defeat. Just hit them twice or three times with your staff and they’ll go poof! If you impale them with your sword or arrows then one hit is enough.”

It took a while for me to absorb this task.

“What?!” I exclaimed when I finally grasped the situation. “They expect us to kill those cute little creatures?”

“Just because they’re cute doesn’t mean they’re not deadly,” a voice came from behind me. “It’s wrong to judge things from the way they look.”

Before I could retort, the guy had already dashed away with a sword unsheathed. I could guess that he was a Champion. He didn’t exude an air of a mage, a shaman, and especially not of an artisan. When he came close to the white blobs, they gathered around him. I still can’t imagine how those creatures could do any damage.

“Oh well. It’s time to find out.”

I strode toward the white creatures, confident that I could ward them all off with two ready weapons on hand.

The knight was already gaining distance but I could still see a couple of the creatures hanging onto his outfit.

But I had more important things to worry about. As soon as I stepped on their turf, the Puffy, cute as they may be, showed how menacing they were. Fangs bared, furs on end; they were ready to attack the intruder in the nasty brown clothing.

“Crap.”

That was all I managed to say before getting a bright idea to start running. But the more I ran, the more I lured. I started screaming like a little child. When a Puffy got too close, I would hit it with my staff to send it flying. But that didn’t kill them. I had to face them head-on if I wanted to get this over with.

When I finally got tired of running, I turned around. This must have surprised the creatures because they stopped and we stared at each other for a minute or two.

I drew my sword and started swinging it like crazy when the Puffy started moving again.

I cut one in half. Then another, and another. After getting a lot of nasty bites, I finally got the hang of it. The creatures were aggressive but not that smart. They only went for the closest body part (which was usually a foot). So if I could defend my feet while slicing them in half then I will survive.