Back in our wonderfully gloomy cave. I'm with my favorite person in the world, eating my favorite air-cooked krill. There's no place like home.
The ancient scroll, which details my evolution process, floats ahead of my master.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you that apparently only I am allowed to touch that."
He raises a brow, giving me a side-ward glance.
"With any ancient scrolls, it's better not to touch." His brow furrows, nodding as he reads the scroll.
Now that I'm fueled up, I'm bouncing, trying to get my master's attention.
"Come on, you need to tell me my results. I trained a lot at the palace. I'm feeling better now. I'm well-fed. I can control my temper. You have to tell me my results."
Long Fei scratches his chin, pausing. He summons the air to furl up the ancient scroll, carefully putting it back in its cylinder. Then he takes a parchment from his sleeve and floats it in front of me to read:
"Courage: Level 20
Elemental Power: Level 18
Physical Power: Level 18
Strategy: Level 13
Agility: Level 20
Speed: Level 20."
"Yes, I've maxed out on speed and agility. Of course, I improved on elemental power since I now know how to use my blowhole. Physical power is almost there. Hey, how come I didn't improve in strategy?"
"You attacked the Queen of Merfolk. That's how you start a war, and going into rabid beast mode is not a strategy. You're lucky I didn't reduce your level. We seriously need to work on your strategy."
I tremble at the thought. I know my master can remove my air power. Can he reduce my level too?
"Now that you've recovered, show me what you've learned. What did the King and Queen of Merfolks teach you?"
"Oh, you're going to love this."
I swim to the far end of the cave, turn around, flip upside down, and spit at my master. The spittle suspends in mid-air just before it reaches him. Then his hair starts to wave as the currents in the water churn. His eyes sharpen. Uh-oh. I crossed the line this time!
Then with the flick of his finger, he sends the spittle back to me. The force of it throws me against the wall, leaving a crack. Dust and small debris fall from the ceiling.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"That is revolting. I never want to see you use that in front of me. I've spoken to you about manners. I can see why the King said it was an 'unrefined' technique." He shakes his head, his nose flaring.
Yep, that was the reaction I expected from him. Serves me right. This was an excruciating thrill. Definitely, not pulling that stunt again.
He takes a deep breath and the water currents around us settle. "That was unwise. This is why I said we need to work on your strategy."
I groan, getting back up. Even the Queen wasn't this rough, she just deflected it. No, she had the same reaction. She also bruised me with a barrage of my spit. Maybe it's a royalty thing.
"What other water element techniques did you learn? If that's the only thing you've learned, I will have to speak to the monarchs about their training regime."
I focus on my blowhole, a water tendril springs out from it. It gently waves, then whirls out of control, bouncing off my back and the walls. All of a sudden it stops. My master has created a tendril out of air, holding it in place.
"Let's take this outside. This is our home after all. How about I race you to the top of the chasm? I'll give you a head start. Let's see how much of your speed has improved. I'll wait until you're halfway until I start."
Oh, I got this in the bag. I focus on my new speed, flicking my tail as quickly as possible. I head out of the entrance, halfway, looking back, and my master hasn't left yet. Is this going to be the first time I win against him?
My heart is racing to a stronger beat, swimming like a dolphin to the top of the chasm. To my surprise, he's already there waiting. There's not a bead of sweat on him as I catch my breath, panting my heart out.
"What the—how did you?"
"I was wondering when you were going to get here." A subtle smile tugs at his lips.
As fast as lightning, he flies back 500 meters. "Okay, now attack me with everything you've got."
Then he takes out a book from his sleeve and starts reading. I miss this training. This is so much more logical than the Queen randomly smacking me.
Focusing on my blowhole, I let the water tendril fly out and attack him. He sends an air tendril to deflect it while flipping a page. I send a barrage of attacks and he deflects them all, without even looking.
So I start swimming above him, circling him as I keep attacking, and he remains standing in one spot as his air tendrils deflect. He has to have a weakness. There! I stop moving. And he continues reading. I move my tendril over him and flick at the book. He drops it.
"Yes!" I swim to him, beaming with pride as my chest puffs out. "I finally got past your defenses."
"Well done. You've got my attention."
"Why are you always reading this book?"
He hands it to me, flipping through the pages for me to read. I suspiciously look back at him. His face remains impassive. I wouldn't mind if he gave me such books when he got me to read.
"All the pages are blank!"
"Creativity often comes from nothing. I like to use my imagination."
"What has this got to do with strategy?"
"It made you attack the book instead of needlessly attacking me, didn't it?"
I mull over the lesson, recalling when I attacked the Kraken. If I paid more attention to the Queen's subtle tell, I would have figured out that it was a prank. He does have a fair point.
"While I was reading, and you were strategizing, I thought, it's time we go on an adventure together. There's this ruin that I wanted to explore. Maybe we might find some treasure there."
My ears perk up. Treasure? I can never say no to that.