NOVEL NEXT Interlude - Free Bonus Chapter
It was a simple day, one of glory and dodging dangerous monsters that hid in the shadows. I just had to be faster than anything hunting after me. All was going fine and dandy until I went for a snack and got baited. Hook, line, and sinker, I was screwed. My life had always been about finding the next bite, the next big thing, and chasing after it. Nothing could wriggle away from me.
Life was great when I had control. Now I had to beg and pray the kid didn't forget me. Each minute we were separate, feeling like days. Is this what it was going to be like? Is life just a game for him? I was a fighter, for crying out loud, not an entertainer. He showed me off to everyone to make them laugh at me. They all saw the truth immediately. I only had the basic two stripes of a fighter, proving I lacked any experience.
I hadn't earned a new level in so long. I became stagnant with my life, stuck in the past as a has been, and trying to relieve what I did in my youth.
From there, life became darker than the abyss. Praying for sunlight and a fresh bite, not for the flakes that generated magically in my home, but for something favorable and juicy. To live outside the box, to say hello to someone. To move on from what I became, even willing to give up the past.
The child gave me that chance and more. Before, I only knew of warmth and cold, of hunger, and of day and night as time passed on. Now, I know of those with an extreme and even more emotions; the loneliness grew as deep as the trenches.
The boy brought me with him on adventures, of showing me joy when slapping a hand for a high-five. When I did it, he filled my ears with laughter! The laugh was so contagious; I wanted to join in with him as we looked at flowers. He showed me what I had missed all my life because I stuck to my home, afraid of venturing out. Now with him by my side, an angel, protecting me, I could see the world above and what the heavens held.
Then those small delicate hands held out my first proper meal, one that was only meant for the creatures that lived in the heavens. Instinct kicked in and I spat at it instantly, forgetting that I wasn't a creature of heavens but born of the depths below. My foolish actions caused my meal to fall to the ground, an insult to my angel's gift. I gulped in anguish as it withered on the ground where I could not reach, and in my desperation, my air sucking brought the meal back to me and it landed in my mouth.
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The half-gnome laughed at me and brought more. I feasted on so much food that I thought my stomach would explode.
I wanted more bugs.
I swore in that moment I would become a guardian to defend this angel, this half-gnome with eyes brilliant and observant. His eyes were the best at spotting our next meal and adventure. Each adventure out was a splashing good time.
That's where my journey began. I knew nothing in my previous life, ignorant about my floating around passing the days. Every day, I trained with the one called Triangle, determined to make him smile like he made me smile. I relished in the hugs, hoping my appendages were large enough to wrap around him when fear claimed his body.
I don't know which of us needed the hugs more. I like to believe I did, because they were the warmest and softest things I've ever known. They chased away the dark trenches I knew, shining light in my life… but as the light grew, so did the shadows of heaven.
As heaven darkened with monsters and more threats going after my angel, I knew I had to do more. I had to evolve. The trenches left their stripes on me, and I would use my darkness, my home of dark waters, to fight back these monsters. I trained any moment we were separate, so I was ready to work with him.
In secret, I sucked in items from his workshop desk into my mouth and took them into my home. From wires, metals balls, and other scrap I created a target training area. The great Ma'am Q even gave me roots I could grow on my own to help me increase my speed. It was up to me to increase my accuracy. I practiced my camouflaged and reaction speed with bits of floating herbs and rocks from his potion desk.
I was his guardian, and one who listened to him, unlike some other oafs around.
The orders that came from Triangle constantly changed.
"Eat it."
"Blast it."
"Aaaa!"
"Stream - oh no waterfall!"
"Garden hose!"
They all meant the same thing, just spit a lot of water and don't stop. Our aim wasn't the best initially, but with time, I gained more control and the heavens honored me.
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[You've learned a new spell: Water stream II.
You've spitballed enough that it's now a little stream. People are watching and entertained by this - or at least one person is.]
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My goal was to make the ability evolve into a Waterfall attack. To become powerful enough that no one took advantage of my young angel. To be a higher class fighter than anyone around. Compared to my brethren in the sea, I was a Ranger, no longer an archer. I was the best fighter among them.
I could evolve more. I was beyond stripes and was ready to shoot for the stars.
"Goldy! Try it on!" Triangle called to me as he pulled me out of my home.
In his small, fruit juice stained hands was a tiny green hat. "You'll look so cool in this hat. It's called a beret."
Putting it on, I heard him laugh, and I smiled. My life was grand.