Luna broke to the surface of the water. She attempted wiggling off the tadpoles, but their grip was too strong. Not even her kicks proved to be useful.

“Master! Help me!”

“Okay! J-Just hang in there, I’m coming!” Sunny stuttered.

Panic, filled with anger. He had no legs to walk, no arms to swim and no creatures nearby to control. He felt powerless. Weak. Absolutely pathetic. He had no way of helping his dying friend.

Then suddenly…

Thump!

He bashed his head into the wall!

“Get your shit together, Sunny! This is not the time of feeling bad! If you don’t do something now, they kill Luna!”

Green waves of energy began to gather around him.

“I wonder… if I can heal with my essence, if I can help wounds regenerate, how much can I speed up this process? The process of life? If I use enough essence on one of these mushrooms, maybe I can control its growth, lead it into the lake and pull out Luna!”

His thoughts were more focused than ever before. As the wave of essence touched the mushroom it began to shine. The energy of life pulsating through its veins was magical, making the mushroom overflow with spores.

But to Sunny’s disappointment, the mushroom did not grow, not even a tiny bit.

“Damn it!” He was just about to give up when something wet touched him from behind.

They were the spores he generated. They got stuck on one side of the gem. Dozens of them.

“Wait… could it be…”

A revelation!

“Energy… though it has no form or matter, it’s still energy! When that spider redirected one of my attacks, I felt a burst when it hit me. It was so powerful, the small roots got torn apart. That was energy!”

He changed the directions of his essence wave. He aimed above the lake, where Luna fought with the tadpoles.

“The world consists of energy. When I use essence or influence, I’m actually using the energy of my surroundings. My body is an intersection between waves of power. I can store up on and change the directions of this primordial flow.”

More spores were getting sucked to him. They formed a cloud, which slowly lifted up Sunny. He was, quite literally, surfing on the waves of this world.

“So cool!”

“Master! I can’t fight them off anymore!” Luna shouted before being dragged deep underwater.

“No worries, Luna! Your hero is here!”

Nearing where she was, Sunny slowly weakened the flow of energy. The tiny spores fell off, creating a dazzling spotlight on the surface. It made seeing underwater possible.

When he got above Luna, he closed the gate of energy, which made the spores quit pushing him. The cloud disappeared.

“Take this, you ugly bastards!” He let out a war cry before dropping into the water, crushing one of the tadpoles as he sunk to the bottom.

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“Mwastr!” Luna mumbled with newfound hope.

“Stop talking! You’ll waste your remaining oxygen!” He then turned to one of the tadpoles. “Now then, let’s dance!”

The tadpole’s tiny eyes turned blue as Sunny took over its body. He used its tail as a lasso, grabbing a bunch of its mates and slowly crushing their heads.

“I wonder, now that my influence has two points, can I control two beings?”

He looked around in search of a greater being. At first, it looked like they were alone, but after squinting his eyes and focusing more… a blue blob, almost identical to the water’s color, revealed itself.

“It’s that slime from before! But it’s so weak! Well, whatever. Show me what you got, Mr. Slime!”

The blob lit up with a faint blue light as Sunny took control.

“I knew what to command to give to that tadpole, but you? Uhhh, just do your most powerful attack!”

The blob made a small gesture that looked like a nod. Then it began rapidly growing in size. Soon enough it was so tall its head got above water.

“Whoah! You’re amazing Mister Slime!”

It made a weird charging sound before letting out a strong stream of water.

Splash!

The slime shot it out with such force, it blew through the tadpoles’ bodies. Those caught in the middle of this powerful attack were completely eradicated. Only a small confetti of blood remained of them.

Using the moment to her advantage, Luna kicked off the remaining enemies and swam to land.

“Yosh! Luna is saved, that’s one task complete.”

He ordered the slime to charge another attack.

“However, you guys have seriously pissed me off! So just to make sure this never happens again, I’ll teach you a lesson in pain!”

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Those not fast enough to run were put down by the slime’s water stream. With each kill, the lake turned a bit redder. Sunny observed with a cold stare as most of his tormentors got eradicated from reality.

“This might seem unnecessary, but you never know. This world seems hell-bent on killing me and my friends. I either take precautions or die a painful death. And unfortunately for them, I don’t like pain.”

With the last visible opponent gone, Sunny ordered the slime to bring him to land. The slime got on him, devouring the gemstone into its body. Then it slowly crawled out.

“Are they dead?” Luna asked.

“Yep.” Sunny answered.

“Oh, Master! Thank you so much! I thought I was a goner, but you came and saved me!”

“Hehe, yeah! I’m awesome!”

“Yup!” Luna hugged the now spat-out gem.

“We have to be more careful from now on! I’m unfamiliar with this place and you’re only safe in the air. One mistake and we’re dead! I’m surprised we managed to survive this somehow.”

As it was now out on land, the slime slowly shrunk to its original form. Sunny decided to keep it around. Being just level zero, it was already the strongest member on his team.

“I could send it away to hunt us food! Luna, what do you want to eat?”

The question caught her off-guard. She looked away with melancholy in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“You didn’t know?”

“Uhh, you’re a vegan?”

Spores calmly flew over them. They cast a blue light, almost identical in intensity to the gemstone’s pink.

“Sunny.”

“Hell yeah, that’s me!”

“I don’t have a mouth.”

“Huh?”

On closer inspection he realized: there really wasn’t anything. White fur covered her entire face besides two big black eyes.

“I don’t have a real mouth. I had one when I was young, but I lost them when I grew wings.”

“That’s impossible! How do you eat then?”

“I don’t. Before I turn from a worm into an adult, I have to eat enough food to last for a week. But that’s how long I live. A week, as an adult. What I do in this short amount of time is up to me. Whether I mate or just go around, observing the plants… I’m free. For a few days.”

Sunny didn’t understand. He checked her description out of pure disbelief.

[ Description ]

[ Silk moths are friendly beings. They are usually harvested while still a worm for their precious silk. Those few who make it into adulthood live for about one to two weeks. During this short amount of time, the females lure males with a strong chemical. After mating, they become useless. ]

Sunny felt his world crumble.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Master. I wish it wasn’t this way.”

Wavering for a second, he took a deep breath, recollected his thoughts, and forced a smile.

“Yosh! Then it’s settled.”

“Huh? What exactly, Master?”

“When I named you, you gained a soul and consciousness.”

“Yes, for better or worse.”

“So all we have to do is figure out how I can upgrade you and extend your lifespan!”

“Huh?!” Luna raised her tiny head.

“You heard me right! I won’t let my best friend fart out her soul after only two weeks! We have so much to do! Or do you want the easy way out and leave me with all the hard parts?”

Her eyes widened. A hint of hope sparkled as she began to believe: there was a way. After all, she believed his friend.

“Ah, crap!” She chuckled. “You figured out my master plan! Now I can’t die and I have to stay with you forever!”

“That’s what I like to hear!”

Luna hugged the little crystal.

“Thank you, Master!”

“Heh, it’s nothing… really…”