Azalea PoV

Kelcie couldn’t seem to decide whether to blush or laugh at me even days after I had gotten drunk from eating too much dessert. Something I was determined not to do again, at least not in excess like that. 

I’d found a quick way to quiet her though. I could just lean against her neck while riding on her shoulder and she’d blush and go silent. It was incredibly adorable. 

After the expedition finally assembled and left Eidencrag, we made pretty good progress towards West End. 

Three days into our trip and most of the other adventurers coming with us had finally gotten over seeing a fairy flying around. Except for McLaggen and his party. All five of them were big, burly men, trying to push people around as if they were better than everyone else. 

McLaggen pushed his way towards Kelcie and I as we walked along, laughing together. Ryel was thankfully not around, practising one or more of her new skills no doubt. “Oh, look, it’s the little fairy and her pet.”

I giggled as Kelcie sighed. “You’re an observant one,” I said as I smirked at the Level 95 Warrior, “did your boyfriends tell you to say that?”

The irony of me calling anyone gay, when I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Kelcie, was laughable. I wasn’t homophobic in the least, but I knew it would rile him up. Kelcie laughed outright as McLaggen’s face went purple. 

“Now… don’t get me wrong here, I’m not judging your relationship choices. Just your strange behaviour towards us for whatever reason,” I finished. 

McLaggen pointed a thick muscular finger at me. “Now see here, you little shite, I won’t put up with your crap like everyone else does.” 

Sighing, I fluttered my eyes up at him. “Oh? And what makes you think we want to put up with your shite too?” 

Snorting, McLaggen attempted to do a fake laugh. It was really bad, he couldn’t act to save his life. “Because no one cares what a monster thinks?” He glanced at Kelcie, obviously hoping to see her reaction. 

Kelcie’s face went red as she glared angrily at McLaggen. “I know several people who care about her, thank you very much. Now, kindly leave us alone. We were enjoying our morning until you arrived and ruined it.”

I patted Kelcie’s collarbone in support as I smirked at McLaggen. The first day of the expedition, McLaggen had attempted to flirt with Kelcie, who eventually had to forcefully tell him she wasn’t interested, looking at me at the time for some reason. I felt incredibly proud and happy that she wasn’t interested in a douchebag like that. I shuddered as I watched him hit on any and all of the girls and women in the expedition. Only the humans, though. He seemed to have an issue with anyone who wasn’t human. Some of the women seemed to respond to him, but the ones who didn’t he tended to react badly to, saying that they must be lesbians. Even the ones who already had boyfriends received the same treatment.

McLaggen was walking in front of us, stepping backwards, giving me a great idea. I activated [Fairy Magic] and my eyes flashed purple as I whispered Trip, staring at McLaggen as I did. 

Suddenly with a loud, startled grunt, McLaggen tripped over, his arms flailing wildly, before falling onto his back. Everyone around started laughing at him as we walked past him. No one bothered to stop and help him back up until one of his cronies ran up to him. 

I heard him as he yelled at his party member that he didn’t need help to get up. I turned around on Kelcie’s shoulder, cackling at his red face and poked my tongue out at him. His red face went purple in anger as he glared at me, cleaning the dirt off his backside as he did. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to antagonise him like that, but he deserved it. The fact that he didn’t respect women telling him no was something I couldn’t stand. I just wished I was at a higher level to intimidate him into behaving. 

Turning back around, I leaned into Kelcie’s neck and ignored the feeling of McLaggen glaring at me. I sighed. “Sorry, Kelce.” 

Kelcie turned to look at me with a puzzled look on her face. “What for?”

I shrugged. “That guy has been bugging you. I wish I could scare him into leaving you alone.”

My friend blushed as she smiled at me, patting my shoulder gently. “I appreciate that you’ve been looking out for me, Azzie.”

Blushing, I raised an eyebrow in surprise, sitting up to look at her. “Azzie?”

Kelcie giggled and blushed. “You don’t like it?”

“I do,” I said slowly, “I guess I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all. You can call me whatever you want, just not late for dinner.”

After a brief pause with a puzzled look on her face, Kelcie eventually laughed at my joke. “You’re silly, Azzie, but I like you anyway.”

My heart fluttered as Kelcie laughed, her saying she liked me may have had something to do with it too. I snuggled into the curve of Kelcie’s neck, getting myself comfortable as we walked. 

~

“We’ve got another wave coming in from behind us!” I flew down fluttering around the leader of the expedition, reporting on yet another wave of undead attacking us. 

The Level 167 Battlemage Tyral nodded her acknowledgment. “Thanks, Azalea. Do you think you could hassle them? Make sure no stragglers break off to harass any potential innocents?” 

I thumped my chest in salute, before zipping off. “Yes, ma’am!” I shouted behind me. 

A thwump sounded out in front and to the right of my position as a large explosion flared to life, incinerating a dozen undead zombies that had been pushing the frontlines back. 

Everything had been relatively quiet and peaceful as we approached West End, some of the adventurers had started muttering about their time being wasted, despite seeing the destroyed town; the gits. The undead horde had suddenly appeared from several directions, shutting any doubters up. And now a third wave of the undead had appeared, from yet another direction. We hadn’t lost anyone so far, but it had been a close call for a few of the adventurers. Raya and the other healers had been working overtime to keep the frontlines up and continuing to fight. 

We’d been fighting for a good forty minutes with no sign of slowing down and, levelling rapidly, I had already hit over 350 Power Level. Thanks to my special skill and the amount of enemies to kill, everyone in my party was levelling quickly. Ryel was already level 16. 

> Our amazing leader has sent me to help fight the new wave front < I sent through the party chat. It was a bit like using a walkie-talkie but projected directly into our ears. 

> Be careful, please < Kelcie responded. 

> I’m safer in the air than you are in the frontlines < 

> I’m not the reckless little fairy with no support < Kelcie replied quickly, the warmth in her voice taking a bit of the sting from her words. 

> Hey! I resemble that < I giggled. 

> Fight now, flirt later < Callie sent across the party chat, wry humour colouring her words. 

I blushed as I heard Raya and Ryel giggle in the party chat. Grumbling to myself, I focused on where I was flying. As I approached where the fighting was the most intense, I made sure to cast my shield spell on myself. 

“Incoming!” I yelled down at my allies, firing a handful of [Telekinetic Bullet] attacks at the horde below. Dozens of bullet shaped purple lights flickered from my hands, slamming into the various undead creatures below me, dropping a few instantly and wounding many others. The brief reprieve I gave that section allowed them to swap out a badly wounded warrior with a fresher fighter. I grinned as a cheer went out among them as I flew past, and I waved cheerily to them before accelerating hard. I wanted to reach the approaching wave before it got too close. 

Firing a random assortment of either bullets or pulses, I blasted the leading edge of the undead horde, slowing them down as they attempted to find ways of catching me. Suddenly, a loud and very familiar screech echoed across the distance between me and the undead, and a giant Rok appeared, flying fast towards me. 

Giant Undead Rok 

Power Level: 702

I felt a moment of terror flash through me, freezing in my tracks as it screeched again, memories of the last Rok intruding on my thoughts. 

Shuddering, I felt the panic almost overwhelm me for a moment as my heart raced and sweat beaded on my brow. Squeezing my fists tightly, I glared at the Giant Rok. “No! I will not become monster poop!”

Flying directly at the Rok, I charged both of my fists with pulses, launching them directly at its face as soon as I was close enough. 

The giant undead bird screeched in anger and veered off to the side as both of my attacks slammed into it, causing it to shudder as the ripple of the shockwave effect washed over its dead feathers. 

As I turned away, I stopped my dash forward and activated [Telekinetic Bullet] as many times and as quickly as I could, all aimed at its wings. Dozens of small, purple projectiles leapt from my small hands and into the giant bird, tearing small holes and shredding parts of its wings. 

> Azalea! Are you alright? < 

Kelcie’s voice suddenly in my ear made me flinch in surprise. The party chat was useful, even if it was only useful short range. Get too far away from your party members and it stops working. 

> Yes, just taking care of a pesky Rok < 

> A Rok? Those things are dangerous! I’m coming to help < Kelcie’s response was immediate and predictable. 

> It’s okay, I can take it! <

> Azalea… please? < 

The pleading in Kelcie’s voice made me pull up short, narrowly avoiding the Rok dive bombing me. It screamed in pain as parts of its wings tore when it violently pulled up from its steep dive. 

> …Okay, I’m coming to you <

> Thank you < The relief in her voice was palpable. 

Spinning around, I kept a wary eye on my stalker as I flashed off towards Kelcie. I could feel her like a beacon in my mind, something to do with the party system, so I knew exactly where she was. I changed into my wisp form and accelerated as hard and as fast as I could, dodging the occasional rock or missile thrown my way from the undead. To my dismay the Rok was slowly catching me, but was still a ways off. 

Another explosion tore up the land and sky just to the left, and still being in my purple wisp form, I smoothly slid to the side to avoid any fallout. I shifted back to my fairy form and turned around to see the Rok quickly approaching. I fired as many pulses at the undead bird as I could, slowing it down as it neared me. 

I yelled out in frustration as my spells only hurt it minimally, “Die, you overgrown parrot!”

Suddenly, movement flashed over my head, and I saw a pink blur crash into the Rok from up above as Kelcie plummeted sword first into its chest. A shudder ran through me as the beast let out an unearthly wail, rolling to the side and flinging Kelcie off out into the open sky. 

Swearing loudly, I zoomed after Kelcie as she fell like a rock, her arms flailing wildly and eyes wide with fear, mine mirroring hers. 

With a quickly mumbled, “Enlarge”, I activated [Fairy Magic] and felt the familiar vertigo of the world shrinking around me. Thankfully I had learned how to fly while large like this. My heart was pounding, and with a loud thud, I slammed into the back of the girl I was beginning to fall for. Her falling for me was not meant to be literal, though. 

I swore again as I fumbled and nearly dropped her, and in my desperation I clung to her tightly and buzzed my wings as hard as I had ever buzzed them before. The normal, quiet humming turned into a loud thrumming noise as we began to slow. 

“I’ve got you!” I shouted, my heart still too loud in my ears to be quiet. 

The fear I had seen in her eyes calmed and shifted into a softer, warmer emotion that made my insides feel all funny. Kelcie smiled. “I know.” It was a simple statement but it made me want to squirm, I could feel a blush warming my cheeks as we stared into each other’s eyes. 

My keen fairy senses and years of flying alerted me just before we hit the ground. A cloud of dust and debris kicked up as we landed with a thud. I could see reluctance and regret in Kelcie’s eyes as we took a step back, our hands being the last to let go of each other. 

A screech nearby reminded me of the enemy Rok circling us, preparing for another dive bomb. 

“Okay, this is what we should do. You focus your bullets at its face, if it can’t see what’s happening, it might accidentally hit the ground. When it’s close enough, I’ll bring it down with my scythe.”

I dreamily stared at Kelcie as she talked, her lips moving up into a little smile, she was loving this as much as I was. My heart swooned, I knew she was a battle maniac as well. 

Kelcie cleared her throat loudly. “Azalea?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, no, that’s a great plan!” I enthusiastically yelled, trying to hide the fact I was blushing from her. “Better than mine!”

She frowned. “What was yours?”

I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck. “Well… you know, shoot it until it dies?”

Kelcie rolled her eyes. “Of course, I should’ve known to expect that,” She smiled. “Well, the thing’s about to dive, you ready?” 

Saluting, I enthusiastically showed her my ‘guns’, holding my fists ready. “Ready!”

We pulled off Kelcie’s plan flawlessly. I blinded it with my magic, and Kelcie helped it find the ground, violently. Hugging Kelcie afterwards in my larger form was all sorts of neat, and I didn’t want to let go. I got the impression that she didn’t either, but unfortunately, we had to. We could see other Roks flying around, causing issues with the adventurers. 

Luckily the wave that I had been sent to slow down had been easily repelled, so Kelcie and I went Rok hunting, destroying all the creatures that the other adventurers struggled with. Eventually after another hour or so of fighting, the rest of the undead had been destroyed or driven off. The real work of clearing the entire area would begin before it was completely safe again. 

After the area had been deemed safe by the scouts, the expedition set up a bunch of temporary houses for each party of adventurers. They were basically small portable buildings with a single room and enough bunk beds to comfortably sleep six people. 

~~~

Kelcie was upset about something, I could tell by how she sat while hugging her legs and knees, pouting. No one could accuse me of having lousy deductive skills. 

“What’s the matter?” I asked with concern. I flew over to the pouty girl and hugged the side of her face. She always seemed to like it when I did that. 

“I don’t want to be a girl,” she mumbled. 

“What.” I was honestly too shocked by her comment to even form the question mark in my question. 

“I said, I don’t want to be a girl!” She replied, much louder and clearer. 

“Oh, why not?” I asked curiously. I sat down on her shoulder but continued to hug her side. I reached up and wiped some tears from her face, and marvelled at their size compared to my tiny hands. It was almost like those animated movies about bugs, where the water drops were as big as their heads, although I wasn’t quite that small. Kelcie made a small hiccuping sound and leaned into my touch. Right, comfort Kelcie now, wonder about random stuff later. Focus, Azalea! 

“Because, I won’t be able to love y-girls if I’m a girl.” She answered, miserably, as she burst into full blown sobbing. I almost thought she was going to say something else then. 

“Oh, sweetie. You can love anyone that you want, no matter what gender they identify as. Okay?” I hugged her tighter after that. 

“Really?” She said, excitedly. “Like, really, really? But mum always said-“

“Your mum always said that you weren’t a girl either, how much stock are you taking in that?” I interrupted her. I hopped off her shoulder and activated [Fairy Magic], suddenly, with a whispered, “Enlarge,” Kelcie got a whole lot smaller. I accidentally ended up in her arms, I had misjudged the distance between us, but I didn’t mind, if she didn’t. If her radiant smile as she looked at me was any indication, she was quite happy where we were. 

“Yes, really, really,” I murmured, as I moved my head slowly towards hers, Kelcie widened her eyes briefly. She looked down at my lips, then my eyes, before licking her lips, eyes closing as we crossed the rest of the distance between us. Pleasure exploded through me as we kissed for the first time ever. One of us moaned, it might’ve been me. I was enjoying the kiss and our closeness too much to care. I also might’ve squeaked a little into her mouth, as I felt her arms encircle me, and pull me even tighter against her.

“Hey, have either of you see- never mind. Carry on.” I heard one of the girls, possibly Callie, clear her throat and bolt out of the room. We just continued to kiss sweetly.

~ 

Name: 

Azalea 

Species: 

Fairy

Age:

50

Gender:

Female

Class:

[Mentalist] (Epic)

Power Level:

399

Class Skills:

[Telekinetic Pulse] Rank 10

[Telekinetic Bullet] Rank 3

[Psychic Cut] Rank 9

[Kinetic Shield] Rank 8

[Mystic Lightning] Rank 4

[Orphic Instincts] (passive) Rank 6

Special Skills:

[Prior Life Experience]

Racial Abilities:

[Flight (Magical, Wings)]

[Manaborne]

[Superior Vision]

[Fairy Agelessness]

[Fairy Language Comprehension]

[Fairy Magic] Rank 9

[Basic Language Comprehension]

[Inspect]