Academy - The Hero's Promenade

Once every Monster had completed the Halcyon ritual, Headmaster Castellas shared a few disingenuous words of encouragement, then left to do more important things. That left Shale, Howler, and Talara to guide the new students through the remainder of the Hero's Promenade.

Hex followed blindly behind Yolo and his siblings, ignoring their excited theories on how many worlds they'd get to visit, what Heroes they'd battle. They passed more gardens and trellises overflowing with colorful flowers that might have been more beautiful under different circumstances.

Level 1.

Not only a slime, but a Level 1 slime.

The scroll clutched in his hand felt more like a superheated rod of iron for all the pain it was causing.

A boney arm wrapped around him.

"Hex, Hex, Hex," Skel said as he swung him from side to side. "You look downright downtrodden. What Level did you get?"

Hex shot him an angry glare.

"That bad, eh? Well, the good thing about Levels is that can only go up!"

How is he so cheery all the time? Brains is currently in a magically induced coma and all it takes is a dip in some silver water to make you chipper again?

Hex tugged away from his grasp. "Easy to say when you're looking down from above."

"Oh, come on. I'm not that high up. Only Level 12. I'm sure there are some higher than me."

Proxima clattered up beside Skel from where she'd been eavesdropping a few steps back. "There certainly are, she said, wearing a proud smile.

"You?!"

"Is that so surprising?"

"Do you want the honest answer or...?"

Proxima punched him in the arm and stomped away.

Skel rubbed the spot, feigning injury. "Probably could have gone with a different tactic there."

"Look," Hex said. "I know you and everyone else are all excited and everything, but I just need some time."

"Oh. Yeah. Sure, mate. Whatever you need." He sped his pace to catch up with Proxima, but turned back. "Just know you can talk to me, alright? Whenever you're ready."

Hex nodded and slowed his own bouncing until he'd slunk back to the tail end of the group. He could see everyone from here, which didn't make things any better.

Dracala flittered around with her new bat friends. She hadn't even come to speak to him yet, probably because she rightly assumed he'd got some horrid level and knew to keep her distance.

The other slimes hopped along, all content with their Levels. Skel hung an arm on Proxima's shoulder, animatedly begging for forgiveness.

The other Monsters seemed so upbeat, so energized by the trip through the Halcyon and the contents of their scrolls. And here, I haven't even opened mine yet.

The contrast was stark from the initial, mostly silent walk to the Hero's Promenade while everyone contemplated the zombie illness.

Eventually, they came to another circular clearing, nearly identical to the one with the Halcyon—right down to the Humanoid guards around the border. Instead of a giant bowl in the center, though, this one featured an immaculate, carved limestone platform. A thin line of blue stone ran along the ground from the center and down another path with a locked gate.

I wonder where that goes.

A short column stood at each corner of the platform, rimmed in gold, topped with a sphere. A set of three steps led up each side of the platform. It bore no sculptures or symbols, but was smooth—clearly meticulously cared for—buffed to a silky shine, as if a single defect might render it worthless.

And while the platform itself may very well have been worthless—even in its perfection, the item housed upon it certainly was not.

The lazurite stone glowed in infinite swirling streams of blues, aquas, teals. It took up almost the entire platform, which could have held every single Monster in the first year class.

Unlike the marble base, the stone was imperfect. Sharp edges and chipped corners littered the misshaped surface. A large fissure even ran down one side near a large divot that looked as if someone had taken a pickaxe to it and removed a sizable chunk. But the imperfections made the stone even more beautiful. The way the colors danced across the edges and hid the holes.

It felt almost alive.

Shale stepped up onto the platform after allowing them to observe the lazurite in reverent silence for a few moments.

"I imagine you all probably figured it out by now," he said. "But you stand before the Altar of Heroes. And, of course, the primary lazurite stone. This..." He placed a hand on the stone. "This is the reason we're here. Every time we step through the World Gates and bring back Heroic Energy, we're helping fuel this stone. And this stone, in turn, literally holds the world together. Without it, the land would shred to pieces, the seas would drain, the skies would burn."

Skel scoffed somewhere nearby. "Not to mention it conveniently gives all the Humanoids magic."

Shale glanced nervously at one of the guards standing at the periphery of the clearing, but the orc continued staring straight ahead, his spear in its vertical resting position.

"Without which," Shale quickly said, "the Rift would never have been closed and none of us would be standing here now."

Talara joined Shale on the platform, giving him a nod as she came to his rescue. "While the Heroic Energy doesn't give us any special abilities like the Humanoids, it still benefits us. Even to this day, the Rift wants to open. During your time at the Academy you will likely feel more tremors and quakes like the one a few days ago. They'll be much stronger up here than many of you are used to. The lazurite stone is the only thing in all of Pentory preventing a cataclysmic event. And it's our responsibility to aid in keeping our world safe."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

She fluttered up and landed on one of the sphere-topped columns. "I encourage anyone who would like to come up and touch the stone. Even though we can't use the power within, you can still feel its presence and understand the scope of what we're fighting for."

Every single Monster filed into lines up to the platform, even Skel. No one wanted to miss the opportunity to be this close to the primary lazurite stone.

Most likely, we'll never be allowed here again.

Hex got in line with the rest, the qualms over his assigned Level temporarily forgotten. He was mesmerized, eyes glued to the glowing stone.

When it was his turn, Hex reached out an appendage and touched the stone right on the giant scar across its surface. He expected to be nervous and hesitant, but instead felt empowered. Talara’s right. The Energy within the stone tingled along his goo. Tendrils of power trickled like veins through him. His gooey center twirled in somersaults of ecstasy. Confidence surged in his spirit.

Then it all dissolved as he pulled away.

Is this how Humanoids feel all the time? Or at least, whenever they carry Heroic Energy with them?

In that moment, he would've given anything to hold on to that feeling. But now he was back to being himself.

Hex.

Only a slime.

By the time Hex was back at the Monster dormitory and tucked into bed, the taste of Heroic Energy had long faded and the memory of the Halcyon had resurfaced.

He rolled over and wrenched the too-itchy wool covers around him, exposing his back side to the cold night air.

Really? Come on, stupid blanket.

He stretched an appendage and pulled them back into place.

Everyone else was asleep by this point, several snoring.

All this stupid magic in the world and no one has figured out how to use it to end snoring yet? He wondered if Humanoids snored. Probably not. They’d have figured this nonsense out.

He rolled back the opposite direction. Light from the dual moons shone though a window.

Sighing, he got out of bed and snuck outside, carrying his Leveling Scroll with him.

I'm not going to sleep anyway. May as well get this over with.

A brisk nightly breeze blew, making the dark field of grass look like an ocean. Hex clutched his scroll and bounced toward the fence that bordered the field. He didn't want to read his starting stats too close to the dormitory in case...

Well... He just didn't.

He leaned against a fencepost and held the scroll in his hand. He stared for a while at his stylized name on the red ribbon around it.

Hex.

For some reason that helped put things in perspective. It was a minor miracle he was here at all. A few days ago, I thought I'd never leave my village. Now here I am... Even if I'm only Level 1, so what?

The 'how' he got here had been torture—he tried not to think about that—but if not Hex, the Level 1 slime, he'd just be Hex, the slime in BrokenTree village.

He reluctantly tugged the end of the ribbon, and it fell loose. One end remained bonded to the parchment so it wouldn't get lost. The scroll uncoiled horizontally.

The contents on it were perfectly visible, as if he held the document in direct sunlight. Except it was night.

His name was featured in the top left in large, fanciful calligraphy like on the ribbon. Beside it, a miniature image of a slime squished up and down animatedly like it was bouncing along. He touched it gently, but nothing happened. I've never seen anything like that before.

Next to the strange moving picture was a light blue symbol indicating he was a male Monster, and the text: 'Level: 1 / Class: Unassigned.'

Unassigned? Does that mean I can eventually get some sort of specialization? He filed that thought away for later.

Below his name stretched a skinny red bar, a yellow one, and a blue one. None of them were labelled in any way.

How am I supposed to know what any of this means?

If he'd opened his scroll immediately, like everyone else, he'd have been able to compare and ask questions. But that probably would've made him feel even more incompetent.

The bottom section of the scroll consisted of a list of various symbols with numerical values beside them. Again, they were unlabelled, but at least these were somewhat more intuitive to figure out.

The sword clearly stood for an attack or power stat. It had the number 2 beside it.

Next was a shield. Defense makes sense for that one. Also a 2. Ouch...

There was another symbol that could have been a simplified book, but it was hard to tell. That was a 3.

This is what you get for being Level 1, Hex. It's better than all zeros.

A boot with a wing sprouted from the heel, most likely represented some sort of speed or dexterity. It had a 5, which almost made him laugh, thinking of how clumsy he often was. That must mean my strength and defense are REALLY bad. Somehow, this was still not his highest.

What does this eye mean? Vision? That was oddly specific compared to the others. But it was his best category, whatever it was, sitting all the way up at 7.

Hex slouched back against the fencepost. I mean... It could be worse. Some of these are actually higher than I expected for Level 1. It's all relative, though. He had no idea what these numbers looked like for a Level 2 or 3 slime or other Monster.

He was fairly certain different species would have different base arrangement of stats. It makes sense based on natural physical attributes. There was no way a Level 1 slime and a Level 1 wolf would have the same speed. Same went for the strength of an equal Level golem.

There was a lot of open space in this section of the scroll, though. Some of the stat icons were even placed in odd locations, not all in a neat column. It's almost as if there are some missing.

He unrolled the scroll further to reveal a skill list to the right. These were separated into Active Skills and Passive Skills. He had one Active Skill called 'Bounce.' No other details or description accompanied it. There was one additional Active Skill and two Passive Skills, but they were all in a language he couldn't understand.

They must remain incomprehensible until I reach whatever Level they unlock. He hoped more would appear as he gained Levels and a Class. Four total skills for the rest of his life would be a bit of a letdown.

The last portion of the scroll contained an inventory, which was currently just an array of empty grey boxes.

Except for two things.

The first was a small image of the scroll itself. And the second...

His eyes widened. I completely forgot.

The second was an image of a blue gemstone with the text '(full)' over the bottom right corner.

Hex reached into the goo pouch where he'd tucked the gem from Rupert's axe. Sure enough... It was glowing.

The blue light illuminated his body and the surrounding ground a few feet in every direction. He cupped his hands over it, trying to dim the light.

It only partially worked, tinting the light a dull green. He tucked it back into his pouch, which seemed to have a much better result.

It hadn't been glowing before. He'd never seen it glow the entire time he had the axe. Why would it start now?

Then it dawned on him.

It's not just a decorative stone.

It's lazurite.

When he'd visited the Altar of Heroes—when he'd touched the giant lazurite stone—it had charged this little gem with Heroic Energy.

He vaguely remembered the blonde human boy saying the axe was valuable—right before he'd strung him and his friends up in the woods. Made at some forge with a fancy name.

But this... I wasn't expecting this.

Too bad it's useless to me.

He could potentially trade it or sell it for something better if it was truly that valuable.

Or would I get in trouble for having an item that was meant for Humanoids? No one had questioned him about having the axe before, but not many had noticed. He'd kept it in his bag or tent most of the time. And now that the lazurite glowed, it'd be hard to hide what it truly was.

It was too risky. And besides, he didn't really like the idea of losing his one piece of home and connection to Ruben.

Best to keep it secret for now. Maybe I can ask Florimell for some advice. He knew he could trust her.

It left him with a lot to think about. His stats, one skill, and accidental theft of the Humanoids most important resource.

No big deal.

He rolled up the scroll and rebound it with the ribbon. Then he hopped back toward the dormitory, crawled into bed, and closed his eyes.

But he did not sleep.