You shouldn't have a problem leveling up some more in the fjords. The first couple opponents there brought me up to level 16, working my way down to the bottom of the mountain trail got me to level 17, and crossing to another beach and swimming over to a beach with some black ring members almost brought me up to level 18. It was a little tough trying to take out a few level 21 imps to get the last 4k experience I needed, but after I switched my creature from a warrior head (level 6 Rush Attack / Fatality) to a ranger head (level 2 Fireball), it was much more helpful (once I found a mage head I switched it to that).