Chapter 20: "A Fiery Meeting!"

"Whaaaa!" Alaylle smiles happily as she checks out one of the stores in Geffen. "So much magical things for sale here! Everything looks so mystical and mysterious and scaaaary!"

The shopkeeper sweatdrops at Alaylle's enthusiasm. "Umm, Miss? Could you not talk so loudly in here? You're frightening the customers."

Alaylle blushes deeply and quiets down as she browses. At the moment, Alaylle is in one of the darker stores in Geffen. Bad lighting, creepy pictures, and various preserved monster parts, from jellopies to Deviruchi horns are for sale. Of course, Alaylle is completely oblivious to the atmosphere of the store. Instead, she is looking over some of the mushrooms for sale, playing a guessing game of "poisonous or non-poisonous" with her monster encyclopedia letting her know if she was right or wrong.

Alaylle stops her little game when she notices a familiar-looking red mushroom for sale. 'Hmm… Oh! That mushroom! That's the type Amber eats! Well… I am visiting, so it is customary to bring a gift…' She checks the price. 'Oh… 50 zeny… expensive for a mushroom!… But, I think I can afford that…' She picks up the mushroom gently and brings it over to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper looks at Alaylle warily, seeming to want to get the happy, brightly clothed girl out of his store as fast as possible to restore the shop's atmosphere. He takes the zeny for the mushroom and quickly ushers Alaylle out of the store as fast as he can.

Alaylle looks startled at being ushered out so quickly, but once outside, she pokes her head back into the door and calls out, "Thank you!".

The shopkeeper covers his face with his palm and hopes that girl never comes back again.

'Wow! The shops in Geffen are so wonderful! Such service' Alaylle smiles happily. 'Well… okay! I've chewed enough grass on the roadside… I should spend this day off in Ambernite Field!'

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"Amber! I'm here!" Alaylle calls out as she enters Ambernite Field. After waiting a moment and not getting a response, she sits down and thinks this over. 'Do Ambernites even have ears?' She imagines a picture of an Ambernite and… sees no ears. 'But… I thought Amber was hearing me yesterday…' Alaylle gets to her feet. 'I'll ask Amber myself if Ambernites have ears!'

Alaylle walks northeast of the entrance and quickly spots Amber crawling north at her usual snail's pace. "Amber! I'm back!"

Amber slowly turns her head and sees Alaylle. She then starts to turn around to crawl towards Alaylle… only… Alaylle manages to catch up to Amber before she can complete her turn.

"Here Amber! I brought a gift!" Alaylle happily puts the red mushroom on the ground next to Amber.

Amber spots the red mushroom and starts eating it with teary-eyed happiness.

Alaylle checks Amber's shell while she eats. "Aahh… good! Your shell looks good! Umm… Amber… by the way… Gaaahh! I forgot my question!" Alaylle sighs and then brightens. "Oh never mind, I thought of another one! Why don't you roll to get around? I mean… the crawling must take forever!"

Amber finishes eating the cap of the mushroom and looks up at Alaylle. She then flattens herself against the ground.

"Oh… it's tiring?"

Amber finishes off the mushroom and nods.

"Hmm…" Alaylle thinks this over when she suddenly hears footsteps. She turns around and waves hello. "Hello!"

A mage blankly stares forward with unfocused eyes. He ignores Alaylle's greeting and turns strangely towards Amber. He stares at Amber and then starts casting a spell.

Amber quickly recognizes the spell targeting her and goes into her shell. She quickly starts rolling towards the mage.

"Eyaaahh! Noooo! Don't hurt Amber!" Alaylle quickly hops to her feet. "Hey! Aren't you listening? Stop!"

The mage ignores Alaylle and simply continues casting his spell.

'Oh no… what am I supposed to do?' Alaylle frantically tries to think of some way to help Amber. 'Wait! Mommy told me something about a situation like this!'

oO(Neyrilla's lesson number 2)
Neyrilla sits down next to her daughter while she holds the padded wooden practice sword. "Let's see… ah yes… this lesson is about range and speed." Neyrilla quickly taps Alaylle on the head with her sword. "Looks like I'm in range to attack you right now."

Alaylle giggles as she is tapped on the head and nods.

"Basically…" Neyrilla stands up and holds her sword offensively. "Range is how far you can strike with a weapon." She takes a step away from Alaylle and swings again. This time the tip of the sword taps Alaylle's head. "Still in range here." She steps towards the edge of the training room center and then strikes again, this time hitting air. "Not in range anymore, right?"

Alaylle nods.

"Well… how about now?" Neyrilla suddenly dashes at Alaylle and comes to a stop right where she was during the second strike and taps Alaylle on the head.

Alaylle blinks her eyes. "Woooow!"

Neyrilla smiles at Alaylle. "This is one of the reasons why movement is so important… But! Sometimes it's better to stand still. You shouldn't worry about that for now… that's something you are better figuring out later on. Just remember, sometimes the best way to dodge is to stand completely still." Neyrilla lowers her weapon. "So… what did you learn?"

Alaylle thinks for a moment. "Whether or not an opponent can hit you or not depends on their range and speed and your own speed!"

Neyrilla smiles gently at Alaylle. "That's it in a nutshell." She thinks for a moment and then nods. "Oh yes… don't forget… a magic user's spells might not look like it, but… they also have a range. If you can get out of that range while they are preparing their spell, you will dodge it just like a normal attack."

oO(End memory)

Alaylle quickly shouts out to Amber, "Amber, instead of bashing him, roll away!"

Amber quickly turns around and rolls away from the mage.

The mage completes his spell, but Amber is far out of range. Lightning bolts strike the ground several feet away from the mage, but hit no Ambernite. The mage walks in a strange way, sometimes tripping himself with his own feet, in the direction Amber rolled.

'Amber's current speed… that would mean…' Alaylle brightens. "Amber, try charging now!"

Amber quickly turns around from her far distance and hits the mage dead on with her spinning shell.

The mage doesn't even flinch, but still gets knocked over by the charge. For some reason, it quickly pulls out a fly wing and teleports off.

Alaylle quickly runs over to Amber and starts checking her shell. "Are you okay?"

Amber comes out of her shell and nods slowly, then bows her head towards Alaylle.

"Oh no… no need to thank me! I'm just glad you're alright!" Alaylle looks over to where the mage was. "But… I wonder what that was all about…?"

Suddenly, a merchant with the same vacant look slowly walks towards Amber with his axe drawn.

Alaylle pulls out her chain. "Hey! No hurting Amber!"

Amber defensively goes back into her shell, ready to roll away from the merchant.

The merchant doesn't respond to Alaylle's words, but instead looks at Alaylle's chain and Amber curled up in her shell. He goes right up to Amber, but makes no signs of striking. He then walks away in the same strange way the mage does.

Alaylle blinks her eyes in confusion and then looks down at Amber. "Does this make any sense to you?"

Amber pokes her head out of her shell and shakes her head no.

"Hmm… all that rolling must've gotten you tired… I'll carry you for a while so you can rest and not get attacked, okay Amber?"

Amber nods and tucks herself into her shell, and Alaylle gently picks up Amber.

Alaylle walks over to a tree, and spots a red mushroom growing at its roots. She carefully picks the mushroom and pokes it into Amber's shell. "Hmm…"

A male acolyte with a biretta on his head and sunglasses covering his eyes spots Alaylle and runs up to her. He quickly stares into Alaylle's eyes.

Alaylle blinks her eyes in confusion. "Umm… hello!"

The acolyte suddenly stops. "Oh, you're not a bot. Yo!"

Alaylle smiles happily. "I'm Alaylle Rabbien! It's nice to meet you!"

The acolyte raises an eyebrow at Alaylle's enthusiastic greeting. "Heh. I'm Talien Rahl, just call me Talien, or the Assholyte."

Alaylle sweatdrops at what Talien just said. "Uhmm…"

"Don't worry, I'm only mean towards rude people and the bots."

"Ahh… uhm… just what are bots?" Alaylle inclines her head.

Talien crosses his arms. "Simple question… complex answer… Bots are lifeless automatons that mindlessly hunt down monsters for their master's profit. The owners say it "saves time". All I see is mindless mass hunting that will probably drive these Ambernites extinct in a few months. And so, I'm here hunting these lowlifes."

"Aahh… oh! I saw some people with blank stares in their eyes… they didn't respond to me talking to them… and they walked funny too! They tried to hurt Amber here!" Alaylle lifts Amber's shell slightly higher.

"Yeah, that's the way they usually are. Some spout gibberish when you speak to them, though. Amber?" Talien looks at Amber's shell.

Amber sticks her head out of her shell for a moment and nods.

"Heh. You named an Ambernite Amber. Cute." Talien lowers his head slightly and shakes his head.

"Can I come with you for a while? I wanna see the bots while Amber isn't in grave danger."

Talien shrugs. "Sure. Don't mind having a bit of company." He looks around and spots the merchant that walked up to Amber before. "There's one… it's walking in zigzag circles." He runs over to the merchant and Alaylle follows while carrying Amber.

Talien stands right in front of the merchant. "Are you human or bot?"

The merchant mindlessly continues moving in its strange way towards an Ambernite. Once in range, the merchant pulls out his axe and hefts it high, ready to strike the Ambernite.

Talien quickly pulls out his swordmace and deflects the axe strike with it. "Yup, it's a bot."

The merchant mindlessly keeps trying to hit the Ambernite the exact same way, paying no attention to how Talien is blocking his axe strikes.

"Darned bot, burn!" Talien takes out his buckler and quickly slides his swordmace against it, sending sparks flying at the merchant bot. He quickly swipes his swordmace through the sparks and the swordmace ignites for a moment as he slashes at the merchant bot. The merchant bot is shoved back by the impact and seems stunned. Talien quickly pulls a blue gemstone out of his pocket and throws it at the bot. A warp portal opens up underneath it and warps it away.

Talien puts away his buckler and swordmace. "Heh. Have a nice trip to Lutie. I hear it's nice and death-chillingly cold this time of year." He adjusts his sunglasses and turns to Alaylle and Amber. "That's one down, many more to go."

"Aahh…" Alaylle and Amber look at each other for a moment.

"I won't bore you with the rest of my work… But hey, check out the Prontera Parish in the Prontera Church sometime. I think it'd be a good thing for you." Talien grins and adjusts his sunglasses as he walks off in search of the next bot.

Alaylle looks back down at Amber after Talien departs. "Hmm… looks like things are getting pretty hairy here, huh Amber?" She thinks for a moment, and then brightens. "I know! How about I train you? That way, you can fight off the bots, and maybe get strong enough to roll for longer periods of time!"

Amber pokes her head of out of her shell, thinks for a moment, and then nods.

"Waii! It's decided then!" Alaylle smiles happily.

End of Chapter 20
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Chapter 21 Preview!

Alaylle: "Hold iiiiit! It's Omake time once again!"

Alaylle: "I'll be taking a break from Ambernite field to rest in Geffen!"

Alaylle: "There, I find a really neat diversion!"

In the next Chapter: Omake 2: "Ragnarok Online Monsters!"

Karian: "Yeah! It's the latest thing!"
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