CHAPTER SIXTEEN: TRAINING/SURVIVAL

I sink my head slowly in the water and paddle underneath the wave, the sea is calm and there are plenty of fish. I gently glide through the water with my wooden spear, the end split into many sharp points. I spot a big slow fish and thrust through it, then quickly head towards shore before any large predators show up. If this peaceful life could last forever that would be so nice.

The portal closes behind us and we emerge in a humid island, the sun above us shining relentlessly. The chiming of birds and howling of monkeys that swing through the vines in the tree overhead, “Be careful and watch out for enemies. I'm going to go through my skill tree for a while, so many were unlocked from maxing out!” I say, thinking about how much has happened since this morning. I quickly look through the many forms of Focus Slice that have turned into Demonic Slice. I can use healing spells, memory spells, and barrier spells. That will come in handy.

“It seems as if the day has just begun here, the air is slightly cold and a wind is flowing from my right side so we must be near the sea.” Juzo says, flipping through his skills, “No way a five hundred hit combo! Dragon Armor turned into Transformation, I can turn into a dragon now!”

“Flame Aura covers my body in flames, oooh Supernova uses half of my health but destroys everything in a five hundred mile radius and the final one uses all of my health and expands one hundred thousand miles and then melts everything at the molecular level. Woah crazy!” Azula holds her hand out and the flame that comes from it is a gleaming white.

“So pretty!” Eva says as she glides up into the air, “Don't look under! I can fly now and shoot a lot of different air skills, ummm I can become untouchable for a short amount of time and give that skill to allies. There's a whole list of buffs we can use now too! I'm going to see what's around us!”

“Okay be careful!” I yell as she flies around us and then high into the air.

“Transformation!” Juzo says and his body morphs into a humanoid dragon, “Ouch! Ouch! The wings can't get through because of the armor!” Juzo returns to normal and takes his chest piece off, “Transformation! Azula can you cut holes for my wings please?”

The massive black wings spread three times his body, “I'm on it!” Azula says as she holds his chest piece next to his wings and uses her finger to create a hot torch flame that melts through the armor, “Here try this.”

Juzo returns to normal and then straps on his armor, “Transformation!” His wings form through the holes and then spread out, “That's so much better thank you Azula!” Juzo gives a thumbs up and flaps his wings slowly, trying to get used to this new body. He flaps his wings faster and then pushes off of the ground and awkwardly flaps here and there, trying to get used to it. He falls straight down but eventually controls his body and flies in circles. His yells of excitement fill me with joy. Eva returns, “Ooh nice Juzo! Flying is so cool huh!?” They circle each other and then land on the floor.

“What does it look like from up there?” I ask, looking around at the lush jungle.

“It looks like we're on a massive island, like really really huge and there's a volcano so far away, almost like impossible to see even with eye enhancing skills. There's a large forest, then a desert, endless snow. and then a large valley and I don't know so much land and different terrain, I don't really know what to make out of it. There were no enemies in sight though!” Eva smiles and rubs her cheek.

“Okay good, we should focus on basic survival right now, food, shelter and water. Who wants to do what?” I ask, thinking what else we need.

“I can make us huts out of the surrounding bamboo, I'll make two so we each have a small home if that's fine?” Juzo blushes and then we all blush.

“That would be so nice! Then we get to sleep together every night!” Eva hugs Juzo tightly.

“Then I can carry you to bed every night!” Azula picks me up.

Juzo and I quickly give each other a thumbs up, “I'll gather rocks for a fire pit and a bathtub, I have the ability to spit lava now so we can have clean fresh water and warm baths and even have our own little cooking place.”

“Ooh nice! There were boulders down that way!” Eva points into the distance.

“Okay thanks! Did you guys want to set up here?” I ask, looking around.

“Right here is fine, the ocean is about two hundred feet or so.” Juzo says, taking his armor off.

“Okay! I'll get us fresh water!” Eva smiles and flies into the air.

“That leaves me with food, should I cut all of these trees down?” I ask, wondering how long we will be staying here.

“It's fine if you cut everything down we would be exposed to all of the elements if there's no trees to protect us. I'll make a perimeter too so don't worry! Everyone good to go?” Juzo picks up his Greatsword.

“All set!” Azula says, stretching her legs.

“Yup! All set!” Eva flies higher.

“Yeah I'll be back too.” I say, starting to walk towards the ocean.

“Okay break!” Juzo smiles and Eva flies off into the distance. Azula uses flames to fly as well towards where Eva pointed, “Transformation!” Juzo flies and chops nearby trees quickly as I use Feint to get out of his way and travel to the ocean quickly.

The soft sand below me and what seems like a wicked turn of events that led us here flash through my mind. I walk along the edge, the ocean seems to be endless, the small waves kissing the shore and receding back into the sea. I ponder over what food would be here, possibly fruits, maybe small animals. I'll try my shot at fish in the meantime. Somehow I know how to fish, I walk towards the treeline and find a decent sized bamboo stick. I use my sword to cut the edge in fourths, then I get two small sticks and wedge them in between them and use a bit of vine to tighten them. I carefully sharpen the points into spears, I hope the water is warm. This seems like a tropical island so I'd assume it is. I finally get to rest a bit, I guess this is me getting lost in my thoughts. I wonder how the level sixty is doing. Oh yeah time is slower here, or faster there? I take off my clothes and armor then set my sword on top, I hope no one sees me naked. I grab my spear and dive into the shallow water, it's crystal clear and so warm, like the shower at the inn. I swim a way out and dip my head under the water, I can see all the way to the ocean floor. There's coral reef and small colorful fish swimming around in a frenzy. I see a really large fish slowly swimming around, I pop my head back above the surface and take a deep breath. I dive down and focus my eyes on my prey, the fish doesn't even respond to my attack, I guess they don't have any predators in this area. All four spear points impale the fish, I use all of my strength to swim to the surface with it, “This is so heavy it feels like I'm carrying Azula or something.” I say to myself and laugh, holding the fish above my head.

“What did you just say!?!” I hear her scream in my head and a loud explosion in the distance.

“Umbra the Party Chat is still on.” Juzo gasps and then in a serious tone he says, “You should hide hahaha!”

“Azula calm down he didn't know! Azula!” Eva’s probably chasing her. I'm so dead.

“Aghhhhhhh! I'm gonna get you Umbra!” Azula screams, the sound of wind distorts her voice.

“Feint! Feint!” I use Feint to get to the shoreline and I quickly set the fish down on a bamboo leaf. I can hear Azula flying through the air with Eva trying to calm her down.

“Umbra you need to r-” Juzo lands next to me, “Hahahaha! You're naked!” He starts laughing and slapping his knee, then suddenly stops, “You're naked! You're naked and the girls are coming! Hurry put clothes on!” He throws a shirt at me but it's too late.

“Who are you calling fat! Aghhhh! You're naked!” Juzo covers me with his wing.

“What's happening?” Eva lands on the sand.

“Eva don't look he's naked!” Juzo screams really loud.

“Why are you naked!?” Azula wipes the blood from her nose.

“I was fishing, let me put clothes on!” I quickly stumble to put on my clothes.

“Well I'm gonna go back to doing my work, I'm almost done. I'll be turning off party chat.” Eva nervously smiles and then winks at Juzo and flies away.

A huge grin on his face, “Ugh yeah me too, I'll put the fish in ice for now.” Juzo pats my back and flies off with the massive fish.

“Well you saw me naked.” I laugh and scratch the back of my head.

“Yes, yes I did.” Azula shakes her head, and then starts to unstrap her armor pieces.

“What are you doing?” She unzips her jacket and takes off her shirt, revealing a black lacey bra.

“I'm going swimming with you, take your clothes off and I'll forgive you for the fish comment!” She smiles at me and I'm sure I'm sweating.

“I ugh I can't take my clothes off in front of you!” My face is probably really red.

She smiles and holds out her hand, a massive ball of white flame forms above her, “I said take off your clothes!”

“Okay!” I quickly undress while she stares at me and blushes. I cover my junk with my hands and walk backwards into the ocean and sink into the water, “No way.”

She takes off her bra and then her pants and black underwear, I feel like I'm going to pass out. She uses flames to push herself into the water and disappears. She pops up next to me, the beads of water falling from her hair and her body, her massive melons not being covered by a plate of armor float to the top of the water, “Umbra. You're drooling.” She chuckles and then wraps her arms around me, her wet body feeling so warm and soft, steam floating from her body. Am I dreaming? She kisses me so softly, “We've been through so much in such a short amount of time, it's crazy huh, how things changed so quickly. A normal life spending every day with the three of you would have been so nice.”

“The normal life we would've had, but honestly I'm kind of glad we're living this timeline, being strong enough to protect each other and others, it's better than dying by Wererabbits.” She holds me tightly and kisses my neck.

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“That's very true as well. We're still together and that's all that matters!” Her smile is so beautiful to me, the endless ocean and sky behind her, the reflection of the calm water in her eyes and for a moment I forget the whole kingdom is on the brink of destruction.

“I love you so much.” I kiss her over and over, each kiss becomes harder and more passionate. She wraps her arms and legs around me and I carry her to the sand, “Barrier.” I hold out my hand and place a barrier on the sand that we can lay on. I grip her thighs and set her down, our bodies and souls become one in a dance of fire and passion.

She splashes ocean water on her face and then washes out her hair, “Sorry! I um didn't really know that would happen!” I rub the back of my head, washing off as well.

“It's fine my love, that was wonderful, just wonderful!” She smiles and then walks out of the water, her body naturally drying her off, “I wonder how Juzo and Eva are doing?”

“Well, um.” The cries of passion are ringing throughout the rainforest, “We should give them some more time haha!” I laugh nervously as we put our clothes back on and take a seat in the sand.

“I was thinking of making trenches full of lava around our base just in case enemies show up at night.” She blows flame to warm her hands.

“That sounds like a great idea, it would give us lighting too. Even though we have skills that allow us to see in the dark, I wouldn't be used to fighting that way.” My hair is still wet but I can feel it starting to dry.

“This is a beautiful island, but I feel as if this is the calm before the storm.” She looks at the sky, “We keep saying these weird phrases, Familiars. As if we came here from somewhere else? A different world perhaps?” She smiles at me, “No matter what, let's go on endless adventures forever. Even if we have to give our left hand to obtain that power, let's stay together, You and Juzo and Eva just going on countless adventures and fighting every type of beast. Forever. Wouldn't that be nice?” She grabs a handful of sand and lets it fall through.

“We will go on endless adventures, so many. Too many to even count. I swear. We'll defeat the Dark Lord and then travel like normal Adventurers. Using mana limiters and just basic skills to fight. We will travel like new Adventurers as we were supposed to. It will be so nice, so very nice.” I hold her hand, it's so warm and strong. She rests her head on my shoulder and we stare out into the sea, lost in our thoughts. I wish I could pause time, live this moment in an endless loop. Forever. This is why I exist. She is the reason I exist. We sit there for the longest time lost in thought. She falls asleep on my shoulder and I play with her hair. I use a barrier as a pillow for us and lay down. I put a barrier around us and drift to sleep. It's been a very long journey.

I wake up to Azula yawning and stretching. She glances at my barriers, “My love, do you think you can use that barrier to dig holes?” Azula asks, biting her fingernail.

“Hmm let me try.” I take down the others, “Barrier!” I form a cylindrical barrier and plunge it deep into the sand, then close the bottom half and lift it up. A large hole remains. I place the barrier back and let it disappear, “Yeah it works, what did you have in mind?”

“If we made a large hole and filled it with clay and bamboo planks, then stone slabs at the bottom and filled it with water, then if I bury lava underneath the stone slabs it would heat the pool. Then we can relax!” She smiles and runs her hand through her hair.

“That could work. I'll help with it! We should start making the perimeter defenses.” I stand up and strap my armor on then equip my sword.

“Yeah sounds like a good idea.” Azula straps her armor on and clips her gauntlets to her waist. She takes a deep breath, “Juuuuzoooooo! Evvvaaaaa! Weeereeee goinnng tooo makkkeeee periiiiimeterrrrr deeefensseeeeees!”

“About time you two lazy bones got to work.” Juzo flies with Eva above us.

“Yeah! We already finished a long time ago!” Eva has a stern look on her face.

Azula looks at me shocked as I say, “But um the yelling?”

My face turns red and she glances at Juzo, “Juzo was teaching me how to do a battle roar!”

Azula snorts, “Really? That's so interesting!”

“Yeah I think we got it too! It took us a while but we got it! Go ahead and show them!” Juzo gives a thumbs up.

Eva looks at Juzo and gives a thumbs up and then turns to us and holds her fists in front of her, “Hmph!” She takes a really deep breath, “Rraaawwwwgghhhhhh!”

Her roar is soft and high pitched, “She's ugh still practicing, but one day she'll roar so loud even a behemoth will cover its ears in fear!” Juzo gives a thumbs up, “Hmph!”

Eva gives a thumbs up, “Hmph!”

Azula and I start clapping, “That was great! One day you'll roar so loud like thunder!”

“I believe in you!” I say, shaking the sand from my armor.

“Thanks you two!” Eva smiles and flies near the treetops, “Come look at our hard work!” She waves and flies back towards base.

“Let's go!” Juzo flies as well.

“Want a lift?” Azula warmly smiles.

“Yeah sure sure.” She holds out her arms and picks me up just like when the Lightning Ape almost killed me, this is nice, so nice. She pushes off of the floor and soars high into the sky and uses flames to gently float down towards base, the trees in a wide radius are all cut down, a fence of bamboo in the shape of a square is inside the circle and two huts spaced out on opposite sides. In the far right towards the beach the circle is filled with snow and three giant blocks of ice. To the left is a pile of bamboo, “Woah good work guys!” Azula sets me down and we look at how far everything is.

“So pool on that side?” I point to the left.

“Thanks! Yeah for water we just melt some of the ice blocks!” Eva smiles and puts her finger to her chin.

“Yeah and I put bamboo on the floors of the huts so you can walk around barefoot. There wasn't much material for bedding but once we hunt animals we can use the fur. I put them on opposite sides in case we get ambushed from both sides.” Juzo quickly winks at me, “It's like we're married and living together!” The four of us blush.

“Good job Juzo! It's like paradise ya know!” Azula stretches her arms, “Should we make a pool first or outer defenses?”

“Probably defenses because night will sneak up on us.” I say, trying to figure out how many hours of sunlight we have left.

“Yup! Defenses sound good!” Juzo walks towards the ice, “I'm going to clean out the fish and then leave it in ice.”

“I still have to get a few more ice blocks! See you two in a bit!” Eva flies off into the distance.

“Well how should we do this?” I walk with Azula to the side facing the rest of the island.

“Use your skill to cut a large crevice and then I fill that with lava?” She gives me a thumbs up, “Just don't use full power or everything will get destroyed!”

“Fine fine I got it!” I grip my sword, “Demonic Slice!” In the two seconds I cast the skill I feel tremendous power flow through my sword. I quickly swing downwards and the crevice is at least a few hundred feet deep and wide, stretching past the edge of the square.

“Well that worked!” Azula cracks her knuckles and then puts both of her palms out facing the crevice, “Lava!” A river of lava gushes from her palms, filling the large hole in minutes, the lava bubbling and making tiny popping sounds.

“Ooh so hot! Hehe!” I laugh at my own corny joke.

“Seriously? You're such a goofball!” We laugh as we head to the next side. We repeat the process until the whole base is surrounded by a outer layer of lava, “Agh! Finally we can make a pool!” Azula stretches her back as we jump over the wall.

“Yo! Outside perimeter is secure, I'll start cooking the fish while the girls make the pool.” I say to Juzo who is resting in a hammock made of vines and bamboo.

“Sounds good, I'll help with cooking. Agh we don't have a frying pan!” The frustration in Juzo's voice.

“That's what rocks are for!” Azula walks next to us holding a large flat rock. She punches the floor softly to create a small hole then fills it with lava and sets the rock on top of it, “See! Who needs items when we have burning hot lava! Laaavvaaaaaaa! Muahahaha! I will make my pool now! Fare thee well gentlemen!” She bows and then rushes to make her pool.

“She's so funny bro.” Juzo smiles at me and places small slabs of fish on the rock. They begin to cook and sizzle, the smell is so good.

“Yeah, this is really nice. Where did we even start saying bro? Where did that come from?” I laugh as the sun begins to set.

“Probably some 60’s surfing movie.” We look at each other puzzled but then laugh because we don't know what that even meant.

“Agh I love how we say things we don't understand.” Juzo puts the finished pieces on the far side of the rock.

“It's like we don't even remember who we are or something. I can't believe we're going to be here for five years. That's so long.” I let out a deep sigh, “I want to get stronger to protect everyone.”

“We'll protect each other, no matter what happens.” Juzo bumps my fist, “I will have your back through thick and thin bro.”

I hear a faint noise far off into the distance, my left ear twitches, “I'll be right back.”

“Everything alright?” Juzo stops flipping the fish.

“Yeah I thought I heard something. I'll go check it out just keep cooking I'm starving.” I smile and pick up my sword.

“Alright shout if you need anything and I'll come flying as fast as I can.” Juzo focuses back on the food.

I walk in the direction of the side away from the island. My ear twitches two more times at the sound of something metallic, maybe armor? I jump over the fence and look into the distance but there is nothing out of the ordinary. I hear the whooshing noise of arrows flying in the air and my body moves so fast to quickly block them with my sword. There's enemies in a bush on the opposite side of the lava, I wonder if my attack will work. I hold out my hand, “Barrier! Barrier! Barrier!” I make three layers of circles around the bush and squeeze my hand shut, causing them to collapse slowly. I can see five goblins screeching and squirming around in it as their bodies pop and blood fills the barrier. I let it sink into the lava and jump back over the fence.

The three are rushing towards me with their weapons in hand, “What was it?” Juzo asks.

“Small scout party of goblins. We might have to fight tonight, don't really know how many.” I motion towards the fish, “But we worry about that later. Food comes first and then we fight.”

“Okay fine I'll crush all of them!” Azula bumps her fists together.

“I'll go see how many there are!” Eva starts to fly.

“I should go!” Juzo yells, trying to stop her.

“No! What if your Transformation runs out? So no I'm going dummy!” Eva kisses his cheek.

“Yeah you have a point.” He scratches the back of his head and kisses her, “Be careful and if you need anything just scream in party chat!”

“Don't go too far okay?” I say giving her a thumbs up.

“You need me over there just say the word and I'll crush everything! Muahahahaha!” Fire flies from Azula's mouth as she laughs.

Eva gives a thumbs up, “Hmph! I'll be back!” She flies off into the distance.

“Agh the fish!” Juzo rushes to it and quickly flips the remaining pieces, a whole pile rests on planks of bamboo.

Azula sighs, “I'll finish the pool tomorrow, but as I was searching the forest I found a dead regular tree and made us log chairs!” She jumps over to her pool and then quickly jumps back with a pile of firewood and four logs in her arms. She places one down next to me, “A seat for my love, a seat for Juzo, one for Eva and a seat for me!” She punches another small hole in the middle of us and then jumps back and forth with bundles of firewood. She stacks a few large sticks in the circle, “I'll wait for Eva to get back! Fiiireeeee!” She has the most beautiful twinkle in her eyes, “Oh yeah look I made a small holder too!” She shows a makeshift satchel weaved from small vines.

“Thanks Azula!” Juzo gives a thumbs up, “I made this water gourd so we have water too!” Juzo shows a small water holder tied to his waist.

“I'm back!” Eva floats down and sits on her log.

“Nice Juzo! Fire time!” Azula lights the fire with her flame.

“Here! Eat up! Tell us what happened Eva.” Juzo passes each one of us a bamboo plate piled high with fish and a bamboo bowl of water.

“Thanks Juzo!” We yell.

“Thanks to all of us! We worked hard today hehe!” Juzo smiles and scratches the back of his head.

“There was a army of a couple thousand goblins, they'll probably be here by the morning, but that's not all! There's endless enemies headed towards us! As far as I could see with vision enhancing skills! Massive beasts and dragons and Lightning Apes! They're all rushing here!”

“That's bad.” I say blankly.

“We could head into the ocean and go around them?” Juzo suggests.

“I'll burn them all!” Azula yells.

“That's not it though! I thought about that too but as I went to look at the ocean it's falling into nothing!” The shock in her eyes show she isn't lying.

“What do you mean nothing?” Juzo asks, shoveling fish in his mouth.

“It looks similar to that Void attack Nekra used on Umbra, just evil darkness swallowing up the land.” She takes another bite of food, “This is really good by the way!” She smiles and eats more, “That is all!”

“I will burn them all!” Azula yells at the top of her lungs while waving a piece of fish. Juzo and Eva begin talking about the plan of attack while I finish my fish, “I will roast them! Muahahaha! They will all die when I look at them and say Supernova!” Azula pauses and the three of us quickly glance at her health bar.

“No you didn't.” I drop my food and scramble for my sword.

“I'll get Umbra you fly away Eva!” Juzo quickly scrambles for his sword as well.

“Azula what the heck!” Eva throws her food in her mouth and begins flying away.

“Oh no oh no oh no! I'm so sorry!” Azula has her hands in front of her face as her body begins to glow a shining white, “Guess you should just call me Nova now, because I'm super.” She laughs nervously and shoots finger guns at us, “Sorry! Sorry! You should go now!”

“Transform!” Juzo quickly picks me up and we speed off into the sky. The bright white light shines on her body and then erupts with devastating glowing energy and as the sun fades away it is replaced by Nova’s powerful beauty. We slowly catch up to Eva who is waiting for us, “We need to hurry!” The blast spreads like a massive bubble destroying everything in its path. We fly over the goblin army as the white light destroys it. The light stops at the edge of them but we've been flying for so long Juzo lets out a slight, “Oh no.” Before quickly descending to the floor. His Transformation runs out and we land on the ground really hard, creating craters beneath us.

“Well, looks like we fight.” I take a deep breath that just comes out as a deep sigh.

“We got this!” Eva hovers above us.

“This is intense.” Juzo grabs his sword and prepares himself for battle.

“Nova will meet us eventually!” I say reaching for my sword.

“Nova? We calling her Nova now?” Eva says, activating her buffs.

“Yeah she told us to and I think that suits her.” Juzo gives a thumbs up, “What's wrong?” He asks me.

“My sword? I can't find it.” I look around me but it's nowhere in sight.

“Is that it?” Eva points high above into the distance a giant Minotaur is using it as a toothpick.

“It must've flew as we landed.” Well looks like I need to use Barrier Magic.

“Let's go!” Juzo rushes ahead and chops smaller minotaur into pieces.

Eva summons a storm of tornado and I hold both hands up and focus my mana, “Barrier!” I create a huge crescent shaped barrier and throw it towards the enemies who get cut in half. There seems to be no end to them though, as a Behemoth lands in front of me. I block a punch with my forearms and then quickly kick its shin and it crumbles to pieces. The Behemoth roars as it falls to the ground. I shake my head in disbelief and then Jump to my sword. I chop off the Minotaur’s head and use the body to land back at the Behemoth. “Demonic Focus Slice.” I quickly swing to behead it.

“Look out!” I turn around to see a Behemoth fist rushing towards my face but it is blocked by a punch and sent flying into the distance.

“Thanks Nova! Are you okay?” I smile at her as she blushes, “What is it? Do you want me to call you Azula instead?”

Tears fall from her face, “I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!”

I go to hug her as another Behemoth shoots a beam of fire mixed with electricity, “Barrier! How rude can't you see we're having a moment!” I leave it in a floating bubble. I wrap my arms around her, “It's fine. We're all okay and that's what matters.”

“Thank you love, and yes Nova would be nice. I need to crush something! I'm better now. Thank you.” She kisses me and holds me tightly then rushes into battle.

That was the start of the battle that raged on for five years. At times one would sleep while the other three fought. Or one would forage for food and water while the others fought. It made us strong both physically and mentally. We needed it, for we are about to face the Dark Lord.