"I HAVE TO WHAT?!" the blonde girl's shrill shriek echoed over the plains. The sound alone caused a few mantis to turn their heads towards the sound and hop about in confusion. Who would be that loud? In their turf of all places! They must destroy it! They attempted to trace the sound, scythes clacking menacingly. However, being the bug brains they were, they soon forgot about all that.

"Caaalllm," Carazai said, putting her hands out in front of her to the shocked girl who had been shouting, "It'll go down in a couple hundred hits. I'll help you!" She seemed to be trying to use the hand gesture as a calming one. The girl in front of her panted in a mix of fury and dismay before she looked fretful.

The she-novice wrung the front of her blue cotton shirt in her hands, her tiny dagger still gleaming in one of them,"You mean I have to fight it all by myself? But what if it gets me!"

"Cat," the Knight chuffed, "It's got one of the weakest attacks I've ever seen. Andre eggs hurt worse and you've seen me kill plenty of them!" Her armor glinted in the light. Dragon wings cast a shadow on the ground, cooling the sand beneath them as the plains sun beat down on the pair.

Cat rubbed her nose, softly, and sighed, "FINE," she turned around and slammed her blade into the 'face' of the Increase Soil who was quietly bubbling behind her in amusement. After the blade struck, its manner changed swiftly.

Spirals of sand beneath Cat stuck upwards, clipping her hard. She yelped, stumbling back from the attack in fear. A giant red 1 shone over her head causing a wail to echo from her mouth. Scrambling to her feet she turned tail. She ran in circles around her friend, the soil advancing on her slowly from behind. It randomly shot new bolts of earth from below, occasionally scaring Cat witless, and at other times actually taking a hit point.

"It's going to get me! Kill it!" She shook her arms hard, flailing in fear of being killed. Carazai shook her head, crossed her own arms, and sat down hard. She looked at Cat like she was insane for being scared of what was essentially a living dirt clod. One hit point damage? Really now...

"No," she said sternly, "Just keep hitting it, you'll heal." Cat tripped up slightly and she scoffed at her continued run. Cat stopped hard, skidding softly in the dirt beneath her feet. Sniffling in fear, but listening to her friend, she turned and resumed attacking the monster. It hadn't given up chasing the girl for its revenge. How dare she touch him as he burbled merrily along!

After a while of pummeling, sweat was oozing down the girl's face from the effort of attacking and healing. She was getting bone tired, and this was taking forever! The numbers over the Increase Sand's head showed she was barely making a scratch. Seriously, 10 damage per hit? She was going to be at this forever. It felt like hours had gone by in the first place, and that might mean more were ahead...

A small rustle and clank from behind announced Carazai's presence as she finally stood up. A broad grin slid over her face from beneath her favored sunglasses and Majestic Goat. Her feet slid into place ito the sand as she stepped forward into an attacking stance, "Bored?"

"HECK YES! HELP!" Cat flailed, and missed a beat. The monster's sand, as it moved over itself, seemed to mock her. She growled and lunged after it again, striking it for a critical hit of 15.

Dragging her sword high over her head, Carazai slammed downwards. The blade cleanly sliced through the sand, dispersing the last of it. The power from the 500 HP attack threw Cat back from the sheer force. Thwamping into the ground, Cat bounced slightly. Regaining her senses she rubbed her bum, wincing in pain. Encountering the ground backwards was rarely any fun.

"Ouc-" she started, but was interrupted by the sound of a faint mystical bell. Her blue eyes darted upwards just in time to see her first Job Angel, "OH MY GOD." her eyes were round as saucers at the happening.

Carazai chuckled, leaning on her sword and smirking, "Yep, you've got stuff to play with if I'm not mistaken." Cat groped at herself, before realizing it was all in her head. She'd read about this happening in an ancient scroll, having images appear in your head after hurting monsters. She screwed up her face in concentration and forced each point into the box she felt needed it. Using up her skill points, her muscles seemed to grow slightly stronger from their previously lanky state. She grinned, her brain growing sharper and stood up, a few more hit points making themselves known along with a grace that lent to speed.

Her ego was boosted by all of this, and the new ability to finally sit down, Cat promptly turned and scrambled across the desert. Carazai panicked hard as the girl started dissapearing over a rise in the sand.

"GET BACK HERE CAT!" She yowled in dismay, clanking after the girl and thanking the Gods for her AGI stat. She was rapidly catching up, and that was lucky for her friend. Cat didn't know the dangers of this area!

Cat grinned over her shoulder, "Nyah nyah! I'm going to get another one of those Soils an-" She was cut off as something large, solid, and annoying hit her. Or rather she hit it, pissed it off, and then she got hit back. Red numbers flashed behind her eyelids, huge ones that screamed out 475 points. She flailed uselessly with her arms for a moment, and managed to get a hit into the creature before she went down. 1 hit point, a single one. Worthless. Her eyes blurred, her sight turned dark and she met the ground hard.

Carazai sighed as she saw the angry Mantis perched over his fresh kill looking as pleased as punch. A small dark creature floated over Cat with a scythe, proclaiming her death. Wandering over, the Mantis, brave as can be, hopped over and slammed at the new person! It was shocked to discover a second later it was now dead, and someone had gotten an Emerald off his corpse... Ah well, back to be reborn and go out again! The life of a monster was a cruel rerun, after rerun, after rerun.

A shadow slid over the dead body, and Carazai nudged Cat's corpse with a toe, "I told you not to run off."

A small floating kitten soul appeared near her head, "Is that me?" it asked in a tiny voice of awe. It was adorable and apparently embodied what Cat wished she could be. A tiny, 3 inch tall, kitten. Although in this form it was quite see through.

"Yes you idiot," Carazai scoffed at her soul's general direction. She couldn't see it yet, she needed a few more points towards her INT stat, but knew the direction from the little question.

"Oh..." Cat paused, and then in a tiny voice said, "I'm sorry." Even in spirit form one could see her drooping. Digging around in her pocket 'Zai calmly pulled out a Yggrasil leaf and tossed it onto the body. A warm glow emanated from it and spread into an oddly scribed circle of light. A winged being appeared over the girl's body, and with an angelic burst of song, raised her from the dead. Her soul was sucked back inside her body, and she stood up, ready to fight.

As soon as the light disappeared however, her brand new strength went with it. She felt dizzy, and collapsed again onto the ground. Her hit points were so low she could see a red light in her head like a blinding headache!

"Owie," she whimpered, touching her arms and inspecting the bloody marks the mantis had left on her skin. They were fading slowly from time, but they still stung. Apparently being revived didn't mean she was healed. Carazai leaned forward. An slid an arm under her own and pulled up. With the helpful nudge, she was helped to her feet.

"Yell this with me okay?" Carazai eyed Cat solemnly and Cat nodded, "The magic words are 'at go two'." Cat looked amused at the choice of words for a warp code but didn't mention it. Both of them sucked in a breath, Cat's was noticeably more pained and weak, and called out loudly together.

"AT GO TWO!"

Two pillars, bursts of blue light, showed where they'd been a moment before. A disgruntled and newly reborn mantis hopped over the area. He dot dot dot'd. He recognized this place. Ah well...

[THE END.]