: Fragment No. 2 :

Adventure

Ω Boundless Smiling Projection

Appearing once again with new surroundings, the young Wavemaster looked around in awe. He'd never gone to an area that looked like this before… It looked like a beautiful wilderness, with tall trees and bushy bushes all around them. The calls of birds could be heard in the distance, and the codes of letters, numbers and signs were flying through the air here, like in his favorite area. A wide smile came to his face as he took a step forward to look completely around.

"Oh, wow! This place looks beautiful!"

The Twin Blade also smiled, putting a hand on his hip and putting his weight on his opposite leg, "I thought you'd think so… I guess it's why I decided to ask you to come here with me…"

Elk just stopped, turning to face the other with a lightly blushing face, "B-But that doesn't… I-I mean, even a pretty place like that… just has to have a high level, right…?"

"Heh, you're right, I suppose… C'mon, let's see how far we can get without running into any monsters."

He nodded, following after Kite as they exited that safe square and wandered into a slightly larger area. A huge golden Monster Crest was spinning in the middle of it, and they'd just activated it. Elk gave a silent cry of fright, and Kite quickly unsheathed his blades.

"Damn… I thought we'd be able to get farther without running into anything…" Kite mumbled, charging forward as a monster with many eyes suddenly appeared. He glared at it, and it glared right back, "It's a Death Glare! Elk, stand back and wait to use First Aid!"

The younger boy stood back and nodded shyly, holding his staff closely.

Kite, however, jumped up and started attacking the huge eyeball monster. He used Staccatto, and spun around several times, doing as much damage as he could, but the end of the attack depleted only a seventh of the monster's HP. The largest eye began to roll back slightly, and he knew what it was doing. He quickly rushed away from him, only to be stopped in his tracks when it's spell was being cast.

"A-Ack… I c-can't…" he stuttered, struggling to move so he could dodge the spell before it started coming.

"Pha Repth!" Elk exclaimed, commanding a powerful Heal spell to happen, but it always took him a few moments to make it activate… Perfect.

Five burning red asteroid-like fireballs rained down on top of Kite, his HP going lower and lower each time they hit. The fifth one would have taken him down, but then Elk's Healing spell kicked in before it could hit. His HP was completely healed, and only a 3rd of it had gone down with that last fireball. Turning his head, he flashed the Wavemaster a wink and a smile of gratitude before rushing forward to attack again.

Elk blushed, but kept himself in check, "Pha Repth!"

The Twin Blade kept attacking, no matter how much damage he was losing. Upon being healed, he quickly used Staccatto after Staccatto, hoping that his weapon's bonus of Death would kick in soon. Apparently, Fate had another thing in store for him as the monster rammed him into the ground. If that had been a normal attack, it wouldn't have done much damage… but this monster also had the Death bonus. He was left with 365 HP from what he could tell, and he quickly yelled out a command.

"Elk, First Aid!"

"Right! Pha Repth!"

One more… Just one more… Kite thought, growling as he used one more Staccatto.

At last, Death had taken its toll on the Death Glare, and it was left with 390 HP. He smirked, knowing that he could easily take it down now, and he didn't even have to Data Drain it! Getting ready to use Staccatto one more time, he was interrupted when those asteroids began to rain down on him again.

Damn it! He didn't even notice as it was getting ready to use that spell! Falling back into the ground, he did his best to roll out of the way of the fireballs, only to get hit by two of them.

"Pha Repth!"

Thank the Lord that Elk was there… As he pushed himself up and looked around for the enemy, he suddenly heard a familiar scream. His eyes went wide as he spun around to face where Elk had been standing, only to see the Death Glare floating toward him.

"Elk!" he cried, running forward and trying to use Staccatto…

Damn it! I'm out of SP! Kite cursed in his head, doing the only thing he could think to do.

He jumped in front of Elk and began attacking the monster to get it down to 0 HP. Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as he'd thought it would. The Death Glare fell to the ground and disappeared.

Elk fell back into a sitting position, and Kite fell to his knees. They looked at each other for a moment, embarrassment on their faces.

"U-Umm… Th-Thank you…" the Wavemaster stuttered, smiling weakly with a light blush spreading across his cheeks. When the Twin Blade had jumped in front of him to save him from the monster, he felt that same warmth in his Heart as he had earlier back in Mac Anu, He really did protect me…

"Heh… Anytime…"

"K-Kite? Y-You didn't have to bring me along, you know… Why didn't you bring Wiseman… or Mistral?"

Kite shrugged, turning himself around to face the other and sit Indian style, "Because, I wanted to bring you. I don't regret choosing you to come along, Elk. You did a great job timing when to Heal me, and just because you attracted a monster's attention once doesn't mean that you'll do it all the time, right?" He looked up at the sky now, "Besides… I did promise that I'd protect you, didn't I? We've still got to get to the dungeon, so I do intend on keeping that promise until we get to the end, alright?"

Elk stared at him, touched by what he'd said. Nonetheless, he smiled and nodded. Getting to their feet, they continued through the Field, searching for the way that would lead them to the Dungeon. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Death Glare was the only type of monster out there in the field. As the younger stood back and Healed, the older charged into battle.

Eventually, they made it to the entrance of the Dungeon, and they weren't even low on supplies. Kite looked to Elk with a confident smile.

"You ready?"

"Y-Yeah…" Elk replied, holding on tightly to his Staff as they began through the walkway.

The dungeon was dim, but it was bright enough so you could see where you were going. The ground was a color between green and brown, the walls were dark, and purple markings were all around. Skeletons were dug into the walls, frightening him enough to start walking just a little bit closer to the Leader.

Upon entering the next room, they activated the next Monster Crest. Almost unexpectedly, it wasn't a Death Glare that'd appeared. This time it was a monster called Rainbow Tail, and it looked like it had the upper torso of a harpy and an oversized lower torso of a peacock. It let out a shriek as it stretched out and a tornado of Wood-based Magic suddenly came out of the ground beneath the two PCs.

"This one can't do as much damage as the Death Glare did, so try using Earth Spells, Elk!" Kite called over his shoulder as he ran in closer to the monster and began to cast a spell of his own, "GiGan Zot!"

Several boulders dropped down from the ceiling above the Rainbow Tail, causing the monster to take damage and focus it's attention on him instead of the completely off-guard Wavemaster.

"A-Ah... R-Right!" Elk nodded, raising his staff into the air, "OrGan Zot!"

Stone columns began to rise out of the ground beneath the monster, doing severe damage and getting it down by more than half it's HP. As the Twin Blade finished it off with another GiGan Zot, he turned to face his companion with a look of amazement on it.

The younger one blushed at the stare he was receiving, "Wh-What? I-Is something wrong?"

Kite laughed, turning red in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head some, "Eh heh… S-Sorry… No, it's nothing, but the thing is… Your Magic is really powerful! I didn't even know you had level 3 Spells…" He turned around quickly, walking in the direction of one of the other doorways, "L-Let's get moving, shall we? We've only just entered the Dungeon…"

Elk blinked, following after the other, but thinking with confusion, Was… Kite just…? He shook his head to clear that thought, No… He couldn't have… He was just giving me a compliment, that's all… right…?

As they went through the Dungeon, they ran into many Rainbow Tails through the first three floors, but when they got to the fourth floor, things got a little bit harder when Pumpkin Heads and Lich Lords started appearing. Status Problems and continuous Dark-based Attacks were galore, so the idea was that Kite went for the Lich Lords because they had Magic Tolerance, and Elk go after the Pumpkin Heads since they had Physical Tolerance. It was all over in a matter of moments.

The fifth floor didn't seem so different from the last… until they entered the chamber of which the Boss Monster stood. Elk had gasped and backed up a bit while Kite, as usual, cursed.

"A Data Bug… In a place like this…?"

This monster seemed to have once been a Lich Lord, but now it was larger and had several patches of visible code around its virtual body. It raised its staff into the air and Thunder Magic flooded the room, doing damage to the both of them.

"K-Kite!" the Wavemaster called, wincing as the lightning barely touched his cheek. He was actually doing a good job of avoiding the attack.

"Elk, just get back… Use First Aid!" Kite commanded, running forward and taking out a different type of Twin Blades, "Dark Dance!"

Attacking with Dark-based Attacks was a good idea, for Lich Lords were really bad against such. Whereas Elk stood back, as the Leader instructed, and cast the Healing Spell Phal Repth to heal the both of them to full health.

The Twin Blade would glare up at the monster, unable to see if it was losing any damage at all. Biting back a growl, he jumped back and then rushed back in to attack again, only to freeze in his spot and find himself paralyzed.

"Elk! A little help, please?"

"Huh? Oh! Yes!" Elk quickly healed his status problems with an item, and then looked to the L16H L0R12, casting a spell he hoped would work against it, "MeAni Zot!"

Claws of Darkness rose from the ground and scratched at the huge monster, doing enough damage to Protect Break it. Kite immediately activated the invisible bracelet that was around his wrist, pointing it at the Data Bug.

"Data—Drain! Haah!"

Suddenly, the huge L16H L0R12 was now a regular Lich Lord, and it scurried away from the two, trying to stay alive long enough to PK them. The older of the two, however, was not going to let it get away. He quickly ran forward and started using Dark Dance, taking the monster down in a matter of moments. Unfortunately, though, the monster had cast a spell that would cause a status problem… Charm.

Elk smiled as the monster disappeared, completely unaware of the predicament he'd be in if he didn't cure his friend soon. Suddenly, he blinked as the Leader began running toward him with his blades at the ready.

"K-Kite? What're you doing!" he asked in fright, flinching backward a bit.

"I-It's not me! I've been Charmed! Hurry and Heal me before I attack you!"

The Wavemaster scrambled through his bag, looking for something that could help. He smiled as he pulled out a Restorative, looking up, only to see that Kite was already upon him, ready to strike.

"A-Aaah!" he cried, activating the item and feeling himself fall backwards.

Kite quickly flung his blades out behind the younger player so he couldn't hurt him, but he'd lost his balance and wound up falling forward, landing on top of his companion.

Elk's face instantly turned red as he felt the contact of the older boy on top of him, and his Heart began to beat so rapidly in his chest that he was sure the other could hear it, or even feel it from where he was. He couldn't risk opening his mouth, for fear of what could come out of it…

The Twin Blade, also blushing heatedly, slowly picked up his head from his shoulder, finding himself looking directly into his deep crimson eyes. His own blue ones went wide, his face becoming redder as he suddenly found himself thinking of how beautiful they were… and how he wished he could just stare into them for the rest of the day.

"E-Err…" He mumbled quietly, in an embarrassed yet stunned way.

The younger one didn't want to move… yet, at the same time, he did. He didn't know what to do, actually, so he just laid there, gazing back up at the other.

"I…" Kite began, but then he shook his head to clear his severely clouded mind and slowly pushed himself back up, "S-Sorry…"

Well! That was awkward…

Elk, with the help of Kite's out stretched hand, got back up to his feet, and found himself holding his Staff and his hands tightly together in his lap, and staring down at the ground with that huge blush on his face.

"I-It's okay…" he tried to assure, but he couldn't even look at the Leader of the Party.

"Let's go, then… I'm sure that other way was the way to the Gott Statue…"

With a nod, from the both of them, they exited that particular chamber and went into the room to it's left, only to find a large statue floating in the middle of a golden-ringed circle with a treasure chest sitting before it. They smiled weakly at each other before Kite approached the chest and opened it, gaining three interesting items.

"W-Well… I-I guess that was it, then, huh…?" the Wavemaster asked, staring down at the floor again with a saddened look on his face.

"Yeah… and I've got to log out for a while, too. Homework, wouldn't you know…"

"Then… I guess this is goodbye…"

"For now…" Kite finished.

Elk looked up at him, blinking as the Twin Blade turned, but as he turned, he smiled and winked at him while tossing something to him. His hands, though holding onto the Staff as they were, caught the small object in the air. He opened them up, only to see a Yellow Candy resting there. His blush lightened as a bright smile came to his face. Looking up to thank the one who'd led him here, he noticed that he was already gone…

He was confused for a moment, but it didn't last. He hugged the small Yellow Candy to his Heart, sighing contentedly.

"Kite…"

Author's Notes:

LoL! Wasn't that cute! I kinda got that last idea from CCS, so... yeah. LoL, I just thought it'd be cute to add in there, especially with how Elk acts. Anyway, I was actually planning on holding out this chapter until I got 5 Reviews, but I thought What the hell? I've got 3 awesome Reviews already, so why not? Now, for you people who liked the first chapter, here was the second! Buuut! I do hope I get more Reviews for this one since it was more action-y and Blah. LoL!

THANK YOU, DOKUMO, INSANITOON, AND ROGUE AI! YOU GAVE ME THE STRENGTH TO CONTINUE THIS! And why do I not thank that person with the question marks?Well, that's because he knows I thank him every day for talking to me when nobody else does... LoL! Yes, that's my brother. xDD!

Now, now... Review? If you love me, you will Review this!