"So, Rain. Why did you choose water for your first monster?" Cerise tries to make small talk as we eat breakfast together in the cafeteria.
"My father is the Guildmaster of the Water Guild in my hometown, Tsulskia. He doesn't force me to choose a water monster, but I choose water because of that."
"So, your father is the Guildmaster too?"
"You too?" I exclaim, surprised.
"Yeah, my father is the Fire Guildmaster in my hometown, Tzuves. Unlike other guilds, the Fire Guild is hereditary. So my father wants all his children to have only fire monsters and become the next heir."
"Are you going to become the next Guildmaster?"
"Nope, it's probably my older brother, the second one. He is powerful and determined to become the heir. Meanwhile, the eldest sibling is my older sister, who loves to battle rather than anything else. She doesn't want to be bothered by the Guildmaster's works."
"Wow! What surprises me is not just you and me. Novelle's mother is also the Fiend Guildmaster, and her aunt is the Fairy Guildmaster in her hometown."
"Novelle too, having a grandfather one of the Elite-Four is one thing. Having both mother and aunt as the Guildmaster, it must be tough."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"What? You don't know? Having one of your family members who is a distinguished person already makes people have high expectations of you. Imagine your whole family."
I was shocked by her explanation. I didn't know she had it rough. No wonder she was quiet after talking about her family.
"Hey, here you are. What are you guys talking about?" Novelle asked as she suddenly appeared.
"Nothing," Cerise replied.
"We were talking about Cerise's father turning out to be Fire Guildmaster," I said. Smiling nervously.
"Oh yeah! That's wonderful," Novelle said. She smiles all the time and makes us realize something is going on.
"Novelle, what is going on?" I asked.
"My egg is already hatched, and it's a fairy monster."
"That's awesome, let us see," Cerise exclaimed.
She pulls her card, and out comes a cub with thick, white fur all over its body like a cloud. Its long tail is yellow, resembling a thundercloud.
"It looks like it's about to cry, just to become your monster," Cerise teased.
"Rude!"
"Haha," I laughed. "Do you mind if we scan it?"
"Sure, go ahead."
The MonsterDex scanned, and it chimed as it spoke. Rallas have electricity in their thick fur that can shock anyone who touches them. These monsters can also choose whom to touch by generating electricity as gently as possible in their fur.
[[Monster Data]]
Name : Rallas
Gender : Male
Type : Fairy
Attribute : Electric
Species : Kitten Cloud Monster
Height : 0.5 m
Weight : 9.5 kg
Abilities : Resist Cold & Heat
Prior Form : -
Next Form : Ralynx (Level 15)
[[Monster Stats]]
Level : 1
HP : 45
Attack : 65
Defence : 34
Sp. Attack : 40
Sp. Defence : 34
Speed : 35
"Wow! It says he could resist cold and heat," I said, as I turned to Cerise.
"That doesn't mean it is immune, though, my Galguana could still beat him," Cerise said.
"Why do you always sound like you want to battle a monster that just hatched?" Novelle said.
"Rain looked at me like-" Cerise said, cut off by the bell ringing.
***
"Before, I started the class. There is someone who will join our class from now on," Mr Levi said.
The door opened, and out came the girl with blonde hair like golden silk; she had beautiful, round eyes like a sapphire, and pointy ears.
"My name is Caelenra Thalassian. As you can see, I am an elf. Nice to meet you, everyone."
Mrs. Thalassian is from the elf kingdom. She was sent here as an exchange student. Please, everyone, treat her better, since we put our kingdom on the line," Mr. Levi said. His words made everyone feel uneasy.
"You may take a seat beside Mr Sapphire," Mr Levi pointed right to the empty seat next to me.
"Nice to meet you," she said after she sat down.
"Nice to meet you, too," I said.
"One more thing, last night, I was informed that all of your eggs have already hatched, so each of you now has a monster, including Mrs Thalassian. Therefore, the morning class will now end early so you can go on to the practical class."
Upon hearing Mr Levi's speech, the other students gets work up, they can't wait, especially Cerise. Battling the monster is all about being the Summoner.
"For this morning's class, we will have math," Mr. Levi said. The students' excitement quickly diminished upon hearing the word math, especially for Cerise.
"Seven years in this school, you're going to become the Summoner, but still, you're coming out as a decent human. So stop your groaning and open your book."
They toned down their complaints as they opened their books, just as Mr. Levi instructed. However, Novelle and the elf seemed to enjoy the math class right from the start. In contrast, Cerise stopped complaining but ended up sleeping for most of the class, prompting Mr. Levi to wake her frequently.
"Ugh, finally it's done," Cerise said, stretching her body after Mr Levi left.
"You know the class only takes one and a half hours," Novelle said.
"That's too long for me," Cerise said.
"Too long? You know, it's for your own good," Novelle said.
"What good? Why would we have to learn math? We are the summoner, it's not like we are going to start counting in the middle of battle," Cerise said. Novelle disbelieved after hearing it.
"Hahaha," I laughed so hard, then I said, "Anyway, where does the practical class take place?"
"Stadium, where we battle for the first time," Cerise replied.
"Oh, so you heard that part," Novelle said.
"What? You don't?"
"Wha- you!"
"Haha," I laughed nervously. As I looked at the class, I realized that the other students had already left.
On the way to the stadium where the practical class took place, Novelle and Cerise were still arguing, and I just looked at them from behind and didn't know what to do.
When we arrived, everyone was already there. Students from other classes were also present, along with several teachers. One teacher explained that during each practical class, we would work in groups of four students, each with different attribute monsters, while one teacher would supervise us.
One teacher announced the group assignments for the students. Thankfully, the three of us were in the same group, and Caelenra, an elf, joined us as the fourth member. Shortly after, another teacher approached us.
"Hello everyone, I'll be your teacher and also your supervisor for your practical class from now on," said the teacher who stands before us.
"I'll cut to the chase, in this practical class, students this year will be in groups of four to make things easier for teachers to teach them inside the school and outside to supervise," she continued.
"You mean, there's a time we go outside of the school?" Cerise asked.
"Yes, after all, your monster needs experience by defeating another monster, and if you are wondering, the place will be either the jungle outside the city or the city dungeon below the city," the teacher replied.
"When are we going to the dungeon?" Cerise asked, as she was getting worked up by the teacher's explanation.
"When the four of you are ready."
"Why group the student with all the different attributes?" Novelle asked.
"Good question, to put it simply, so the four of you can cover each other's weaknesses, outside the city, you will meet a lot of monsters with various attributes, but all of you have one, that's why you have to work together," the teacher replied.
"Were we put in the same group because of Grandpa Novelle's influence?" Cerise asked.
"Huh? I didn't ask him anything, though." Novelle said.
"But still there's a change in your grandfather's influence, right?" Cerise continued.
"But still I didn't ask him anything…," Novelle murmured.
"Actually, you three have been grouped because of your recent actions—battling one-level monsters without your teacher's permission. That's why I've been assigned to watch you closely," the teacher explained. The three of us fell silent in response to her explanation.
"Um… Mrs… uhhh…" Caelenra said.
"Huh…oh yeah, I forgot to introduce, my name is Lexi Riverra, I am the younger sister of your teacher Levi Riverra, you may call me Mrs Lexi, nice to meet you four."
I didn't know Mr Levi had a younger sister and yet a teacher, and I know I'm not the only one who thinks about that.
"So, Mrs Lexi, what do we have to do now?" Caelenra continued her question.
"This arena is infused with magic that allows monsters of levels one to five to gain experience simply by battling without needing to defeat any opponents; in other words, they can gain experience through practice," Mrs. Lexi explained.
"Only one to five?" Caelenra said.
"Yup, after that we go hunting," Mrs Lexi said. I got a little bit hyped up, can't wait to go hunting, I know Cerise will think the same thing, I don't know about the other two.
"So let's just start it before the class ends. I want you, Rain, the only male against the only elf, Caelenra, and Cerise against Novelle."
"Wait a second, you want me against her two-level dragon?" Novelle snapped.
"Well, yeah, she has already won against Rain's monster, and if against Caelenra's monster, which is a one-level nature monster, it'll be unfair."
"But… " Novelle stood there and couldn't get words out of her mouth.
"Well, for now, let's see the two of them battle." Mrs Lexi patted Novelle's back.
"So, your name is Rain, nice to meet you, looks like we have to start the battle now?" Caelenra said.
"It looks like it," I pulled my card out, summoning the Mermaphin. "Let me introduce myself, my name is Rain Sapphire, and this is Mermaphin, nice to meet you too."
She answers it by summoning her monster. "Nice to meet you, Mermaphin, this is Pionfle."
A plant monster emerged, standing on two feet. Its body was covered in armor made of petals, and it wore a helmet from which a flower grew. I could see glowing eyes behind the helmet, and the longer I stared at it, the more I noticed that its right hand, which had previously appeared to be made of plant material, suddenly transformed into a sword.
I pulled my MonsterDex, I pointed at her monster, and it spoke. Pionfle, the legend says, was the first Pionfle born from a flower and was amazed after watching two knights battle honorably. That is why it lives by the code of knighthood.
[[Monster Data]]
Name : Pionfle
Gender : Female
Type : Plant
Attribute : Nature
Species : Flower Knight Monster
Height : 0.7 m
Weight : 10.2 kg
Abilities : Pressure
Prior Form : -
Next Form : Chevalily (Level 30)
[[Monster Stats]]
Level : 1
HP : 45
Attack : 85
Defence : 70
Sp. Attack : 40
Sp. Defence : 40
Speed : 60
"It seems everybody is ready. I forbid you to knock each other out. The battle will stop until I say so. Start the battle whenever you want," Mrs Lexi said.
"Pionfle, use Leaf Blade!"
Pionfle sprinted toward Mermaphin. Both hands turn into blades, glowing in neon light. It reaches Mermaphin in a second and spins like a cyclone, striking Mermaphin.
Mermaphin thrashed in pain—it almost made her collapse, "hold your ground," I commanded. "Counter with Scratch."
Before Pionfle backs away, Mermaphin grabs her hand, without a second, using her claws to stab through her petal armor on her chest, leaving her bleeding. Pionfle cried as she jumped back as blood started to splatter.
"Pionfle, hang in there!" Caelenra shouted. "Used Leaf Blade once again!"
Pionfle, who had been kneeling, now stood up again. The hand that had previously clutched her chest to stop the bleeding was now transforming into blades once more. Pionfle is running toward Mermaphin but is no longer as fast as before.
"Mermaphin, stop her from getting closer, use a Water Gun."
From her mouth, she gathered water energy and shot a water ball. Mermaphin keeps shooting water balls toward Pionfle to prevent her from getting closer. At the same time, Pionfle, who is getting closer, keeps striking at each water ball that comes at her.
As Pionfle already reached Mermaphin and was about to strike. "Now, Mermaphin uses Scratch!" I shouted.
Both Mermaphin and Pionfle's strikes collided. They keep attacking each other, but none of those strikes hit one of them. After a while, Pionfle's strike gets slower, giving Mermaphin a chance.
As Mermaphin found a chance to strike, Mrs Lexi stopped the battle. "That's enough."
"That was a great battle. Now, head over to the healer; they're right over there," Mrs Lexi said. We quickly returned our monster to the card and hurried to the healer, who was standing near the corridor through which we had entered.
"You two are getting ready. After they come back, you two are going to battle immediately," Mrs Lexi said.
"Yes mam," Novelle said.
"But do we really need to wait for them to return before we can start fighting?" Cerise asked.
"Yes, so they both can learn something from your fight," Mrs Lexi replied.
"Ah, here they come," Novelle said.
"That was too fast," Cerise said.
"Yeah, when we came, everybody had already done so, ours getting healed immediately, and came back here quickly as soon as we could," I said.
"Alright, stop with the chit chat, you two get out your monster already," Mrs Lexi said.
Both Novelle and Cerise drew their cards simultaneously. For the first time, Galguana and Rallas exchanged glances as they emerged onto the field. Tension filled the tiny arena for a moment. The two-level fire dragon, Galguana, tried to intimidate its opponent with its imposing presence, while Rallas, the one-level electric fairy, calmly ignored the intimidation and took his time licking his fur.
"Novelle, you can take your one-level monster for the first move," Cerise said, smirking at Novelle. The provoked Novelle made the tension in the air grow palpable.
Novelle, feeling provoked, takes a deep breath to calm herself before making her first move. "Alright, Rallas, get ready," she said. Rallas, who had been licking his fur all this time, stops and steps forward, adopting a stance ready for a fight.
"Rallas, close the distance, then use Thunder Surge!" Novelle commanded as she pointed to the Galguana.
Rallas moved with incredible speed, a blur of white and yellow, closing the distance. Then, a faint wave of electricity pulsed from his body, washing over Galguana. The Galguana faltered, his movements becoming jerky.
"Galguana, could you move?" Cerise urged as she shifted her body toward the source of concern.
"So, you want my one-level monster to take another move, or do you have another idea?" Novelle smirked back at Cerise.
"Huh, you're not bad, Novelle. I underestimate you," Cerise said as she smiled at Novelle. "Galguana, use Fire Shot!"
Despite his paralysis, Galguana's determination remains strong. He gathers fire energy in his mouth, forming a red ball, and shoots it at Rallas. Rallas uses his speed to dodge each attack as Galguana continues to fire at him.
"Let's finish this, Rallas, Lighting Shock!" Novelle's command was firm.
Rallas gathered all of its electrical energy, transforming its entire body into a living spark. With a sharp cry, Rallas released a jagged bolt of electricity. The electricity hits—the strike didn't create a massive explosion; instead, it delivered a sharp, stinging snap. Stiffen Galguana let out cries, showing his strength; even though the electricity just hit him as blue sparks danced across his skin.
"Nice try, Novelle, attempting to finish this so soon," Cerise said, a slight, knowing smirk playing on her lips.
"Okay, that's enough." Mrs Lexi stopped the battle.
"Huh? What do you mean? I haven't defeated her monster yet; I haven't even hit it!" Cerise pointed angrily at Novelle and her monster.
"That's actually one of the main reasons I decided to stop the battles," Mrs. Lexi explained, crossing her arms as she continued. "Your monster is paralyzed, hardly moves, and your attack is no match for her monster's agility; it can effortlessly evade your moves. This isn't getting us anywhere."
"So, what's the other reason?" Novelle asked.
"The class is already over," Mrs Lexi replied.
"Wait a second, at least let Galguana hit him once," Cerise nags as she keeps pointing Novelle monster.
"Huh? As if I would watch her Rallas dodge easily again. The class is already over, and I need a rest, okay? I will see you in tomorrow's class." Mrs. Lexi is scratching her head, tired of answering Cerise's nagging. "Oh yeah, if you check your monster data in your MonsterDex, it is supposed to turn to level 2."
"That's true," Novelle confirmed. Caelenra and I also verified that our monsters have reached level 2.
"Good," Mrs Lexi said.
"Mine turned into level 3," Cerise said.
"Good for you! Well, I'll see you all tomorrow," Mrs. Lexi said. As soon as she said that, she turned around and left us.
[[Mermaphin grew up to Level 2]] [[Pionfle grew up to Level 2]] [[Rallas grew up to Level 2]] [[Galguana grew up to Level 3]]