Chapter 19(Small Ripples)

Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and appearance+ Monster Sources)

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CHAPTER START------

---Floor 18 Safe Zone...

After chatting with the Loki familia expedition team Yang quickly set up his camping equipment and walked down to the lake to wash up before going to bed. Before long an hour passed leaving only Finn and Riveria awake awaiting his return. They were currently discussing strategies for the possible monsters on the lower floors that they would be traversing the next day. As they were crafting their strategies they heard a tent rustle and to their surprise, Lefiya came out of the tent looking a bit worried.

Riveria: "Lefiya are you ok?"

Lefiya: "Uh, yeah I just, had trouble sleeping that's all. I think I'm gonna go take a walk and clear my head."

As Lefiya quietly walked towards the lake with a crestfallen expression Riveria and Finn could only watch helplessly.

Finn: "It can't be helped. Advancing as fast as he did will catch people's eyes and make others feel bad about how long it took them to get where they are, that's what prodigies do after all."

Riveria: "Prodigy? Where did that come from?"

Finn: "Well what else would you call him?"

Riveria: "Mmm, yeah that seems like the right thing to call him, if you're calling him a prodigy then other people will definitely want to recruit him. Hephaestus isn't someone they can afford to piss off so we should be extra careful."

Finn: "Agreed, let's get back to planning. We can worry about him when we aren't in the dungeon."

Riveria: "Mhm let's."

As the 2 adventurers focused once more on the sheets of monster information between them Lefiya was slowly walking towards the lake with her mood grim. She hadn't been able to sleep because her thoughts were clouded by Yang. 'It took me years just trying to catch up to Ais and now he just runs past me in 2 weeks. This doesn't feel fair. And he acts like it's the most normal thing in the world probably just to annoy me, ugh I wish I could level up that fast then I'd be strong like Ais and she would see me as an equal, all I have to do is find out his secret. Advancing that fast isn't natural he has to be hiding something' Lefiya thought as her face slowly shifted from a grim depressed look to one of mischief with a soft smile on her lips.

As she approached the lake to her surprise just above some bushes she could see Yang's head poking out above the shrubs on the shore. Seeing her chance to try and press him for information she quickly put a smile on her face and beelined toward him. Step by step she saw his image grow as she got closer until she broke the tree line and froze. Fortunately, he was dressed in shorts with his back to her, what made her freeze was the fact that the lake began at the tree line. She had no space to walk any further and he was 10ft in front of her. 'WHAT!? He can stand on water'. As her thoughts rang in her head Yang turned around having heard her moving through the bushes and spots her.

Yang: "Hey Lefiya what are you doing here?"

Lefiya: "I came for a walk to clear my head, I thought you were in your tent."

Yang: "Oh I haven't been back to the campsite yet. I kinda got distracted testing my new power and all that."

Lefiya: "So you can walk on water now? Is that it?"

Lefiya asked still in a slightly surprised voice.

Yang: "Mmmm, not really, I could do that since the first time I leveled up. But my water element is stronger now. Still can't really do much because water and earth are physical elements so they take a lot to control. I can control my fire element more now at least and my cryo techniques are better but nothing too useful so far I guess. Lightning, wind, and fire are what I normally use so they feel natural too..."

As Yang kept rambling mostly to himself Lefiya was frozen stiff as she retreated into her thoughts.

'He can actually use that many elements. Everyone thought his title just came about because his magic was Elementalist FIRE or something, controlling so many elements. No wonder he could fight so many monsters by himself, he really isn't normal'

Lefiya: "Um are those all the elements you have."

Yang: "Yeah that's all. No light, unfortunately, trust me I tried for a week to use it but I just couldn't."

Lefiya: "Oh, um, can we go somewhere and talk for a bit?"

Hearing these words Yang's face lit up in a broad smile. He felt as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders as he was thinking of ways to ask her that exact question.

Yang: "Yeah sure just follow me."

Yang slowly walked up to her and extended his hand for her to take it as if to pull him up from the lower lake onto the shore she stood on. Lefiya quickly extended her hand to pull him up only to release a small scream when he instead pulled her down towards the water.

Lefiya: "Kyah!"

Her scream stopped abruptly as she noticed to her surprise that she was standing on the shimmering surface of the lake as it reflected the light of the crystal on the ceiling. Clutching onto Yang's hand as if her life depended on it she looked up at him still shocked only to be met with a large grin.

Yang: "Heheh sorry couldn't help it but let's head to that rock there."

Yang points to a large flat rock nearby further away from the shore and releases her hand as he begins calmly walking towards it before stopping as he noticed she was frozen.

Yang: "If you get too far from me you will fall in, my range isn't large yet."

Hearing his words Lefiya quickly caught up to him and they both stepped onto the landmass. As they sat on the landmass Yang dangled his feet over the edge into the cold lake water as Lefiya sat on a rock just behind him looking out at the lake.

Lefiya: "You really should warn people before doing that, I thought I was going to be pulled into the freezing lake you know!"

Yang: "Haha sorry sorry but I got the idea at the last moment and couldn't help it. Besides, you got to walk on water so it's a win-win right."

Lefiya: "Mmmm, I still don't like how you did it but that was pretty cool. It's freezing out here you shouldn't have your feet in the water."

As she spoke Yang turned around and took a longer look at her now that she was no longer in the shrubbery. Lefiya wore a long-sleeved top and long pants that were loose-fitting clearly meant for sleeping and had her familiar yellow color.

Yang: "Cute, but that's really not good clothes for being out here, just give it a moment and you'll be fine."

As Lefiya blushed at his words she began forming a question but the words were quickly caught in her throat when she suddenly felt warm and comfortable. The blistering temperature of the lake no longer affected her as she felt as if she were walking in the sun.

Lefiya: "Um, thank you, but how did you do that?"

To her question, Yang simply responded by pointing at where his feet met the water for her to see the water bubbling a bit around his feet.

Lefiya: "Ohh, heating your body, thanks. Uh, I actually came to ask you something. I've been level 3 for a week now but it took me 3 years to get here." Lefiya kneads her hands in her lap as she struggles to form the courage to ask what she wants the most, eventually scrunching her face and deciding to get it over with. "How did you get past me in 2 weeks? If it's not too much trouble I'd like to know. There's someone who saved me and I'd like to be strong enough for her to see as an equal one day. Can you please help me?"

Seeing what appeared to be a hint of sadness in Lefiya and hearing it in her words Yang remained silent for a moment before responding.

Yang: "What would you give up to be stronger?"

Shocked by his words Lefiya could only sit in silence before thoughts flooded her mind. 'Does he want money? Is that all it's gonna take, that's not hard right? I'm sure if I told everyone they wouldn't mind helping me pay him. WAIT!!! He keeps looking at me like that and Tione keeps teasing me. Does, does he want that?! NO!!'

Lefiya: "If money is what you want then I can pay, nothing else, however."

Lefiya was now visibly uncomfortable as she refused to make eye contact with Yang. Noticing her behavior and what she said Yang realized his mistake and began to clear the misunderstanding.

Yang: "I can't remember my past, where I came from, relatives. Nothing. Are you willing to give up all those things for power?"

Lefiya was stunned by this revelation. She suddenly felt guilty about her thoughts towards him moments ago. He hadn't meant anything as she thought and she almost reacted poorly to him because of it.

Lefiya: "No. I can't just give up memories of the people important to me. Why would I even have a reason to fight if I don't have people I care about?"

Yang: "Exactly, that's my situation now. So don't be jealous of power if you don't know the cost. I don't know if I asked for this but now I'm stuck with it, power is all I really have left so it's the path I decided to walk the moment I woke up not remembering anything about the world."

Lefiya: "If you don't remember anything, then why do you fight?"

Yang: "I have a feeling there is something in the dungeon I need to find, that's all. I don't have any deep reasons there is just something I'm looking for and it might be in here. Also, just between you and me. Magic is amazing and I'm pretty sure everyone would love to fly. If I can fly at level 3 imaging when I get to higher levels hahaha hahaha."

Lefiya: "Yeah flying sounds awesome. Walking on water really was a great feeling. Your magic is really versatile. Everyone was able to sense your magic when you were flying away from the goliath you know."

Yang: "Really, is that normal?"

Lefiya: "Maybe if you were a higher-level mage like Riveria. But for a level 3, it should be impossible."

Yang: "Huh, didn't even realize you could all feel it."

As Yang recalled events of the day he remembered that the adventurers did look ready for his sudden arrival on the 18th floor.

Yang: "What floor is your team trying to get to?"

Lefiya: "Well we hope to get past the valley floor, that's floor 36. It changed according to the maps a lot when the dungeon changed. The floor used to be a mountain environment but now it's a valley with sheer walls that monsters crawl down from the forests above to attack you. There's no place to hide and even if you do climb to the forest above it only gets worse."

Yang: "How does it get worse."

Lefiya: "Finn says some giant monsters live up there. The guild says that's why the monsters hunt adventurers in the valley. It's where the big ones can't fit. The forest has some HUGE! trees."

Yang: "Hmm maybe I'll visit someday and see what those big monsters are. Is there anything interesting before that?"

Lefiya: "Yeah well the water levels are connected by a gorgeous waterfall. It's like 1KM tall and flows through all the floors. I guess that means you could skip some floors if you dove into the water huh," she says before pouting at Yang

Yang: "Hahahaa, Nah I wouldn't do that. I'd rather not miss any monsters. I cleared as much as I could on my way down here because of my hunter skill so I need to make sure not to skip any floors."

Lefiya: "Oh, that's, actually really smart."

Yang: "Yeah and I can't afford to miss materials either, my weapons are special so Hephaestus needs to figure out what materials they need. Better to be ready after all."

Lefiya: "Is that why you joined her instead of a combat familia? You know my goddess Loki would gladly accept you. Then you could join our team and come with us."

Yang: "Hmm, as tempting as it is to spend more time with YOU Lefiya. I prefer to fight alone because of some of my attacks and, well, my last team didn't end so well. Besides only Hephaestus can use the weapon designs I made so leaving might make it so I can't ever get the weapon I want."

Lefiya: "Hmm, yeah that makes sense. But you can always just join us to go to the lower floors sometime you know. I'm sure everyone wants to know what THE ELEMENTALIST can do. And I'm sure Loki would always welcome you."

Yang: "I'll remember that in case I need some help in the future. Hey Lefiya can I ask you something a bit more personal?"

Hearing his more serious tone Lefiya got a bit more serious as she was unsure what he wanted to ask.

Lefiya: "Uh sure what would you like to know?"

Yang: "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Lefiya's entire face turned beet red as she heard his question. She hadn't expected him to be this direct with his intentions.

Lefiya: "N-no I don't." Completely betrayed by her stutter and blush, she tries her best not to be flustered.

Yang: "Would you like to go on a date, um, when we are both back in the city of course. I don't know the rules of dating from different familias but If this is ok how about it?"

Yang asks a bit nervously as he truly didn't know the rules and didn't want any problems, but, he also thought she was cute and what's asking a girl out compared to fighting a blue dragon right?

Lefiya: "Um, sure. We won't be back to the surface for a bit you know. We plan to clear monsters for a week then turn back for more supplies. We cant all have magic storage to hold unlimited supplies."

Yang: "Hahaha it's not unlimited, at least I think it isn't. But yeah I need to get new gear made and resupply potions anyway so I should still be there. I'm actually considering coming down here to train a bit instead of leaving the city. My Hydro element is better since I leveled up and this lake is just what I need."

Lefiya: "Oh, ok well I'll see you when I get back for our date. Also if you're gonna train down here go to the far shore so the explosions and fire don't bother the village."

Yang: "Yeah don't worry I already planned to do that. We should probably head back to camp now. Shall we?" Quickly Yang gets up and extends his hand to Lefiya.

Walking back across the lake leading her by the hand they quickly reached the tree line and as they climbed up Lefiya couldn't help but ask.

Lefiya: "How come you held my hand to cross this time, earlier you didn't?"

Yang: "Oh that's simply because I wanted to. That's all."

Lefiya was stunned by the forwardness of his answer as she watched his back moving towards the camp before slowly following behind him as they went into their tents to sleep for the night.

As Lefiya and Yang went to bed Riveria and Finn could still be seen studying the monster information.

Riveria: "Well it seems like he cheered her up don't you think?"

Finn: "Yeah, wonder what they talked about."

Riveria: "Well she shares a tent with me so I can ask. How about we pack up and get some rest. I think this is as well as we can prepare considering how random the dungeon is now."

Finna: "Yeah let's get some sleep. Goodnight Riveria."

They quickly pack up as Finn walks to his tent as Riveria enters her tent with Lefiya and quickly begins to question the younger girl.

END CHAPTER------