Leveling Up, To the Amethyst Caverns

Aura opened his eyes. Bright light was streaming through his windows. The previous day was hectic and tiring, but time waits for no one. He crawled out of bed and made himself breakfast. As he was eating, Lydian came out as well.

"Morning. Last night sure was something, right?" Aura asked.

"Sure was, there's so much new information I need to wrap my head around."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. I'm going to level up Puppet now, do you want to watch?" Lydian nodded. Aura dragged over a large box that was holding the jade he had ordered.

"Oh, is that what the jade is used for?"

"Yup." Aura opened up the box and unwrapped the packaging. What were previously normal rough blocks of jade became shiny green. He picked up a piece and handed it to Lydian. "Do you feel anything?"

"It feels cool and refreshing, it also feels like there's something swirling around inside."

"This jade has been infused with mana and is now spirit jade. It's extremely valuable and has a variety of uses, the most basic of which is a battery for mana."

Aura summoned his Leafy Marionette and put a few small pieces of spirit jade in front of it. Upon seeing the jade, it instantly became excited. "Come on Puppet, these are for you."

Puppet grabbed the closest piece of jade, and it began to shrink at a rate visible to the naked eye. It's eyes curled up in contentment. It grabbed a second piece as soon as it was done with the first and started to absorb that one too.

[Leafy Marionette gained 11 exp]

[Leafy Marionette gained 12 exp]

[Leafy Marionette leveled up!]

[You leveled up!]

After finishing with both spirit jades, both Aura and Puppet had leveled up. The level of a monster trainer is the same as that of his highest level monster. As Puppet was Aura's only monster, when it leveled from 1 to 2, so did Aura. He opened his stat panel to check what changed.

[Aura - Monster Trainer]

Race: Human

Level: 2

Health: 11/11 (+1) (Healthy)

Constitution: 5

Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Defense: 5

Mana: 22 (+2)

[Currently Contracted Monsters]

Leafy Marionette - Level 2

[Leafy Marionette - Aura]

Type: Wood/Mystical

Level: 2

Health: 22/22 (+2) (Healthy)

Constitution: 8 (+1)

Strength: 4

Agility: 3

Defense: 3

Mana: 35/35 (+3)

[Skills]

Leafy Costume...

Puppet Strings...

As expected, there were increases in Aura and Puppet's stats. Typically, stats increase by 10% each level, as they had here. A monster trainer's basic stats don't increase with level, they become stronger through soul techniques such as the one Aura used back in Whitewood Forest.

Aura felt much better now that he leveled up his monster. Even though it was only 1 to 2, it's a start, and becoming stronger is always a joyous thing.

"Did it level up? It looks the same," Lydian asked.

"It did, monsters don't change how they look until they evolve, and Puppet is nowhere near evolution. Don't look down on him though, Puppet is strong enough to fight above his level with his Puppet Strings skill, which attacks the soul."

"Awesome! I can't wait until I have my own."

"Yes, I'll be helping you contract your monster right now. To find you your perfect monster, we'll be going to the Amethyst Caverns." The Amethyst Caverns were a fairly famous location. Many people used to go there for sightseeing before The Awakening, marveling at the beautiful crystals embedded in the cave walls. After The Awakening, it became a breeding ground for large amounts of earth type monsters. The caverns covered an incredibly large area, crisscrossing through the mountain range, and it boasted a large density of monsters, making it an ideal hunting spot for many monster trainers. The monster Aura wanted to get for Lydian happened to live within the Amethyst Caverns.