Chapter Seventy Seven
The spy master for Gunlan huddled within the tree tops deep in the forest outside the city, eyes staring towards the city barely visible through the trees in the distance. There was little he could do here but hide, hoping to never catch the attention of the tide master. It had been close several times, and he found his calm aplomb rubbing raw, his ability to keep himself composed eroding under the tension of staring down at the forest floor carpeted in monsters for Great Bell after Great Bell. He cursed under his breath then quickly ended the curse before it could escape his lips. While he could not lie to his master, Second in Line for Patriarch of Galgandar, it didn’t change the fact that he had to be very cautious of his choices so as to be able to refrain from lying.
That left his mind free to curse and scream at the folly of his master. He sighed and turned to accomplishing the task he’d been assigned. He had a good dozen or two cores in his pouch, almost all of them useless, to be honest, but his master rarely thought of anything practical nor did he care for his servants when giving the command. His eyes scoured the monsters below him but still found nothing suitable.
He had three goblin cores, two mukfrogs, a snow, four or five lightning elemental cores, seven slime cores, and several others he could not really identify. The last was likely useless as there were almost no elementals around the city of Coushar, let alone lightning elementals. His best bet was if he could find an elemental or a slime as they were the easiest to feed, but he wouldn’t find an elemental, of that he was rather certain. He could only hope for a slime.
He leapt from tree to tree when he was certain the tide master was otherwise occupied and scoured through the monsters. He did find a goblin and stalked it for a good half a Great Bell, certain he would find nothing better. How am I going to do this? Need to capture it, then shove the three goblin cores down its throat. Can’t let it chew ‘em, so where…
The spymaster trailed off with elation, a small slime, an impure, muddy brown and tan, slithered its way through the trees off to the side of the goblin. He smiled. No need to capture… He looked at the slime and tracked its movements, sensed for the tide master carefully, then leapt from tree to tree until he was in one above the path of the slime. He watched, waiting.
Soon, the slime arrived near the base of the tree and the spymaster pulled out the core pouch, readying himself. As it came into range, he looked down into his pouch and dug in, pulling out the slime cores. He had seven, then grimaced as he looked at them. Seven… that would be an eight core… that is too much. He glanced towards the city, unable to see it from here, but deeply concerned. My wife… and kids. He raged within his mind at that folly that his master had sent him upon and worried for his family even as he enacted plans to bring about the destruction of the city.
If I use all seven, that’s … an emperor slime! That… His thoughts turned to his options and knew he could not lie. How… his thoughts turned to his options and quickly took out a message crystal. He hated doing this, but it was one of the few guaranteed ways to protect himself. So… how many… a five core… champion slime. That would do it. Six is too much. The Matriarch would fail against a boss slime, but if I only use but a four… that would be a champion… that could be stopped. The Matriarch can… right? The eccentric… should be able to… He settled his nerves and prepared.
Begin message, statement and complete sensory memory only.
He dug into the pouch and took out the seven slime cores, the only useful ones for this plan, and studied them carefully. The plan had been explicit and he’d considered it deeply and carefully. Choose a monster and empower it as greatly as possible to threaten the city. He would have to use all seven cores, unless… I …. Can do this… He searched through the cores, picking out the four worst cores, to be certain that the slime would be at its absolute weakest. The three strongest and best quality cores he kept in his hand and prepared. He then stopped and pulled out another two or three random cores from other monsters. Can’t… show anything…
He then placed the cores in his left hand while holding the message crystal up in his hand carefully. He breathed deeply, cautious. He began to speak his carefully prepared message.
“Reporting. I have found my subject, a slime. I will empower it immediately,” the spymaster took a step away from the tree trunk and then began leaning towards the tree trunk, “My target is an impure slime and I will do so immediately.”
Just before he completed his message, he made sure to over balance towards the tree trunk, the cores clasped in his hand carefully. He then quickly ended the message
“End message.”
The magic of the crystal took over, ripping the memory from his mind, taking everything from the time he began the message. He forgot searching through the cores. He forgot taking the cores into his left hand. He forgot the message. He forgot his actions. He forgot how he’d been unbalancing himself towards the tree trunk and that he had several cores in the closed fist of his left hand. The memory core ripped his memory out in a split second, faster than he ever could understand.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
When he came back to himself, he was already falling towards the tree and his hand jerked out without thought, hand opening up to slam against the tree. He jerked when he felt the cores crush against his hand and three cores tumbled out of his hand. He stiffened in worry and looked down, watching as the cores fell to the ground. His eyes widened when he recognized one of them as a slime core.
The spymaster stared on in horror even as he struggled to find some response, but it was too late. The three cores tumbled to the forest floor, one crushed under foot, but the other two landing in the body of the slime itself. The spymaster cursed silently.
The slime dissolved the one incompatible core, destroying it, but the other core was a slime core and it eagerly integrated it into its own, quickly growing into a great slime. The spymaster dug within his bag seeking out another message crystal but found nothing and cursed. He followed the slime, desperately thinking of options but ultimately found himself unable to escape his duty. Finally, in a deeply frustrating moment, he threw the last four cores into the slime as well as the message crystal, then fled. The message crystal dissolved quickly, all evidence destroyed. The other four slime cores integrated poorly. A boss slime was born.
And the spymaster fled to his next task, while begging and hoping the boss slime was enough, but that the city would somehow still be safe. Please… please… don’t make me do this next thing…
* * *
He sped through the streets of Coushar, deeply agitated. He was a no name deeply lacking in any status or position and had been sent to Coushar simply to make sure the coverage of the Aelthron cradle was complete. He was never expected to return home until after his several decade service was complete and he’d prepared his successor to take over his service. But the news of ranged infusion… The news had shaken the city. It had also been completely disregarded by him, but as he heard the news again and again. Too much verification… too many sources… His clan had always taught him to verify. As great as his clan was, it could not afford to come at every call. He slithered through the streets, remaining as inconspicuous as possible until he’d reached the great Gate plaza. However, he froze in the shadows of the plaza, cursing under his breath when he saw the great plinth collapsed within the plaza. The Gate had been closed. He remained at the Gate plaza for a time before finally returning to his home.
* * *
“Military advisor. We have retrieved one of Joe’s ‘arrows,’ sir.”
The military advisor turned to look at the clanner low caste who had come in, bowing before him while holding the arrow up for his inspection. He took the arrow and considered it carefully. He extended his senses into the arrow but felt very little but the residual mana from a working. He frowned with a sigh and turned back to the clanner who’d brought it.
“I am unable to discern anything reasonable beyond mana use. Do the clan mages or crafters have anything to report?”
“They report similar, although they paint a picture of an odd mana formation in the head of the arrow. It seems to hold some formation or structure of mana, large and possibly… a sphere. That is all we are able to understand of its structure after deteriorating so long. But we are uncertain of its function. Several crafters argue it holds a passing similarity to a mana storage of some kind, although only some few crafters argue this. Most claim it is unknown. It is a rather intricate shaping, however.”
“A mana shaping?”
“Yes.”
The military advisor scowled in anger and frustration, “A mages work, then…”
“Yes, advisor.”
The military advisor’s ire grew slightly before he finally sighed in frustration, “Can we at least duplicate it?”
“No, sire. But some believe they have found interesting clues.”
The military advisor snorted, “They always find interesting clues,” then he sighed and dismissed the clanner.
“Disperse half to the mages and half to the crafters. It is outside the ken of the warriors.”
“Yes, advisor,” the clanner bowed and backed away before fleeing from the room.
* * *
Joe woke with a groan. The sounds of excited whispering came from the main room echoing into his room. He shifted, hearing the sounds of the other four talking excitedly with each other before drifting off to sleep again. He drifted in and out, hearing the sounds of laugher and joy a bit, then falling into sleep again to awake to hear excited discussion what felt like moments later as was the case when drifting in and out of sleep. Later, the sounds shifted into excited quiet discussion between the girls, the boys seeming to have left for the evening… or maybe they… Joe drifted off to sleep again, his mind too exhausted to continue his thoughts.
Later, his sleep returned to him uncontested, a deep sense of peace infusing him as he felt the bed shift and Kilniara cuddled into his side. His sleep was deep and some of the best rest he’d ever had although he could tell that Kilniara had some difficulty sleeping as she continually shifted in the bed, even swapping sides once or twice, obviously having risen to go to the bathroom or some other such thing during the night before returning to bed. Despite all that movement, Joe found his sleep to be incredible, this being the best rest since having arrived on the planet far from home.
Unlike most of the other nights, he didn’t wake in the middle of it, although he did wake earlier than he was normally used to, finding Kilniara snuggling into his side. He smiled, sighing deeply in contentment before dropping his head back onto his pillow softly so as to not wake her. She’d cuddled into his side, her head on his arm and surprisingly, her head did not seem to bother his arm. It was something he’d noticed before but never really thought much on it, but his perfect rest roused his confusion a bit, and he glanced to his left. Her feathered hair actually cushioned her head a couple inches above his arm, and he smiled. Huh… her feathered hair is cushioning her head… and maybe lighter bones? She is a bit lighter when I hold her than I expect… hollow bones? Avian... maybe?