Calm down, I ordered my heart. It pounded so loud in my ears, I couldn't think. But excitement pumped my blood faster and faster, so it wouldn’t listen. After all this time, I finally found a pyrefly. And not just one – three! By god, I wasn't going to leave without a wing. My steps were silent over the water, and the breeze rushed the tall cattails enough to mask the slight shhing sound they made as I crept through the plants.
Levi's thin body slipped over the surface of the water and around the thin green blades, staying even with me. My emotions influenced him, causing him to practically shiver with glee. That and he was hungry. Since he couldn’t take a bite out of ChoCho, he accepted a pyrefly as a back up option.
Terre and Karmin waited in the trees a far distance back. Terre offered to get me a pyrefly, but I turned him down. I came out here to show Dad I could do it by myself, not hide and wait for someone to hand it to me. No, I was going to do this by myself.
I paused, sensing movement ahead. Water rippled under my feet, influenced by the river flow twenty feet away. I crouched low, peaking through the swaying plants. Shadow and sun spots danced over the green long leaf-blades and the straight stems topped with long brown bars. The constant movement of everything — the plants, water, and sunlight — was both a help and hindrance. It masked me, but also made it harder to spot my prey.
Barely visible through the gaps, the three fist-sized pyreflies clung to the brown flower stems, half-circular bodies swaying with the plants’ movements. Their wings fluttered, indicating that the nocturnal creatures were still awake, probably caused by the feline monster that walked through the cattails earlier.
If only the pyreflies were asleep right now. I could shoot them and they'd be none the wiser. But it was because they flashed fire when their sleep was disturbed that I noticed the pyreflies at all. I wasn't going to complain about that.
They didn't seem to sense me. Grabbing them and drowning them in water would be the easiest way to kill them. Although pyreflies lived along river banks and other wet places, they were actually fire elements – which was why their butts glowed like rainbow fireballs when they lit up. But I didn't know if water ruined their wings. It would suck to go through all this, only to bring back unusable products. It was better to be safe than sorry, which meant that I couldn’t simply drown them all and call it good.
I sent a mental image to Levi, sharing my attack plan.
He stuck his tongue out in acknowledgement and dipped below the surface of the shallow water, his thin body completely disappearing among the cattail shoots.
I took out my bow, nocked an arrow and waited for Levi.
The water rippled, lifting my body up and down, but I kept my arrow pointed at my prey. I wanted this wing. I needed this wing. I needed to show Dad I wasn't a failure. No, more than that, I needed to show myself I could accomplish the things I wanted, even when nothing went the way I planned.
My eyes narrowed as I sent my awareness down into the water. It spread out, creating a map in my mind of everything that happened below the surface of the water. The tiny particles drifting in the current. The algae swaying on smooth rocks. The occasional fish hiding in nooks between rocks. The flow of the water itself. Everything was in movement, ever changing, ever flowing. It was chaotic and peaceful, two sides of the same coin.
Levi swam through it all, as fluid as the water itself. He slipped right up under the pyreflies and lifted his nose until only the thinnest layer of the water covered him, barely kept together by water friction. Then he sent me a signal, indicating he was ready.
With half of my attention on what was happening below the surface, I focused on what was going on above. The tension of the bowstring felt like nothing when I pulled the arrow back. It was definitely time to upgrade my starter bow. Not only was it not powerful enough to deal with most of the monsters I dealt with now, but my own strength, after leveling up, was too much now. But my old bow should be enough to do this one last hunt. The bow resisted as I stretched it to the brink of its capabilities, trying to eek out just a little more power.
And foremost pyreflies shifted, bothered by the neighboring cattail's bulb brushing against it. It crawled up the bulb, bumping into the second pyrefly. The second one wobbled and flared its wings, revealing the abdomen beneath as it struggled to keep from falling off the cattail. The exoskeleton on its abdomen was transparent, showing all the guts inside. Faint rainbow fire flickered over the see-through exoskeleton, as the second pyrefly bumped its wings against the first in agitation.
I loosed the arrow. It whistled sharply through the cattails and pierced the second pyrefly's abdomen. The force knocked the monster right off the cattail.
Levi exploded out of the water. He grabbed the pyrefly's head and sank below the surface. As he did, he wrapped a bubble around the body, trapping air around the wings. The head in Levi's mouth, however, was exposed to the river water. He sank to the bottom of the river and started dragging the struggling pyrefly around weeds and into deeper water.
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Rainbow fire flared over the bodies of the two remaining pyreflies. They jumped into the air, swirling until their colorful blazes mixed, creating a larger flame. Just two together made a three foot fireball. Imagine how big the fire would be if I was against a normal grouping of twenty pyreflies? Ugh.
The pyreflies rushed at me, their spinning fire singing the cattails. The leaf-blades blackened and curled, and some caught on fire, sending up small lines of smoke.
My bow disappeared and I gripped the familiar sword handle. I twisted to the side, and the pyreflies shot right passed where I just was. As I rotated around the cattails, I dipped my fingers into the river. Water clung to my fingers. With a quick swipe, I spread the water across my blade.
I landed on my toes just as the pyreflies spun around and came charging back. Just days ago, I couldn't keep up with their speed no matter how I tried. Now, they were just right. Not too fast, but they didn't come across as slow either.
I flicked my hand up. Water exploded out of the river, creating a sharp spike. The pyreflies divided, swerving around the water spike on each side. A sharp sizzle hissed as the conjoined fire hit the water spike and split in two, leaving each monster with their own smaller ten-inch fire. Before they could rejoin their flame, I grabbed hold of all the water around me. The river resisted my hold, but I forced it to obey. The whole level of the river rose under my feet, taking me with it. Up and up, it went until the cattails were completely covered and I didn't need to worry about tripping on them.
The pyreflies startled and flew up so they weren't drowned. But they didn't run away. I was weaker than them, so I wasn't considered a threat to them. Their mistake. A week ago, I'd have been scared. But after all the hugely powerful monsters I faced the last couple days, even the ones that I didn't actually fight, I wasn't worried about two little bugs. Not to mention, I wasn’t on the top of a mountain anymore. No, this was my element.
Before they could rejoin their fire, I pushed off with my toes and slid across the water. The foremost pyrefly flickered and spun around, sending out a fire flare at me. I lifted my hand, water collecting in a shield. It was barely in place before the colorful fire hit. The water sizzled and evaporated from the intense heat. Burn pain flashed through my hand, hot and fast, as the elements canceled each other out and I passed through the intense steam. I winced, but didn't hesitate as I grabbed my sword two handed and slashed at the pyrefly.
It jumped out of the way, and my water blade passed through the fire trail. The water hissed and the trail of fire went out. Instantly, I cast Bubble at the end of my sword. The evaporating water caused enough pressure that it detonated the water bomb. It exploded, blasting the monster three feet away. It did a lot of damage, but the fire monster was still flying.
My senses screamed in warning, and I flipped to the side just as the second pyrefly closed in, fire blazing. It passed by me so close, a black streak marred my shoulder pad and the skin underneath screamed in pain as the heat from the pyrefly's fire permeated my shoulder. Even though it barely touched me, it was enough that my HP bar dropped. I hissed, as the act of simply breathing pulled on the newly damaged skin on my shoulder.
Ding! [+101 EXP]
Ding! [Daily Task: Kill Two Monsters Complete.] The system messages popped up, trying to distract me, but I didn't let it. It was enough to know that Levi killed his prey.
The pyrefly joined the injured pyrefly and rubbed against it, sparking a large fire.
Gah. They were so much easier to handle alone. Even when their fire was small, it was crazy hot. I created a geyser up under them, aiming to split them apart again. The pyreflies dodged to the side, keeping together this time. Determined to catch them, I turned the geyser into a wave, trying to crash it down over their head. The pyreflies flew around it, and shot at me, swirling their rainbow fire bigger and bigger.
I grabbed the water below my feet and forced it, creating a tidal wave between me and the pyreflies, arching the top to create a canopy over me. The monsters flew up and over it, then stalled, unable to see me from the angle they were at. I grabbed the stray water droplets falling through the air with my hydrokinesis and shot them at the pyreflies. The little water drops turned into pale blue blurs, so fast I could barely keep up.
The water drops peppered the pyreflies, hissing and steaming in rapid succession. Although the water evaporated with each touch, it also extinguished the flames where it hit. The fire around the pyreflies's bodies tried to rekindle, but my attack was faster and doused the fire before it relit. Soon, the monsters struggled just to fly with their wet wings. The fire connecting them couldn't withstand the torrent and disappeared.
Ding! [Gained Ability: Water Bullet.]
The frantic pyreflies shivered in agitation, and turned towards me like they were ready to kamikaze on me.
Levi burst out of the water over my head, his mouth open wide. A long thin stream of water shot out and he slid across it, right at the pyreflies. They didn't have time to respond before he was on them. He bit the most injured monster around the head, the momentum taking it with him. He crashed into the river and dragged the flailing bug under.
The remaining pyrefly startled and turned to flee.
I lunged at it, swinging my sword and ignoring the way my burned skin pulled. The soaked monster couldn't fly fast enough to escape. Everywhere it turned, I blocked it with a tidal wave or my sword. Every time it rekindled its fire, I doused it. Even so, I avoided damaging the wings. It took longer to kill the pyrefly and I got burned a couple more times, but I finally cut off its head. With quick hands I caught the body before it hit the water.
Ding! [+101 EXP]
Ding! [+101 EXP]
Ding! [You have Leveled up!]