"Please, let us stay here!"  

The leader of the Royal Slimes, Blisos pleaded. He was relatively big, and his form kept changing.  

"I will let you stay here, on a few conditions," Lucius said. Immediately, Blisos perked up.  

"What are your conditions?" He asked. 

Lucius went over to a shelf and brought over an animal skin, which contained all of the rules and laws that Lucius established. He handed it to Blisos, who read it over. 

"And if we abide by these rules, we can stay?" He asked. 

"Yup," Lucius answered.  

"Great! But one problem..."  

"What is it?" 

"Where will we stay?" 

"Well," Lucius started. "That won't be too hard. Now, answer this: do you have an ill relationship with the wolf-race?"  

Blisos shook his head. "We haven't interacted much, but most of the time, we just ignored each other." 

Lucius nodded. "Do Royal Slimes have any special traits?"  

Blisos looked surprised. "You haven't heard?" 

This time is was Lucius' time to shake his head. "Sorry, but can you explain?" 

"Ah, no problem," Blisos said. "Us Royal Slimes can shapeshift. We can disguise ourselves as our, less intelligent cousins, the normal slimes, and we can become basically fluid. We can get to the bottom of any body of water..." 

He stopped once he saw the look on Lucius' face.  

"You can get to the bottom of Sorus Bay?" Lucius asked eagerly. 

"Yeah... why?" 

"Well," Lucius started. "Baylight is a relatively new town. We were built to house a tribe of wolf-men, but it ended up becoming a permanent home for them. But we can't do many interactions with other towns because we don’t have much money." 

"And...?" 

"I'm assuming that at the bottom of the bay, there are very valuable things down there, especially fish. We can use that to improve the town in many other ways. So, will you help us?" Lucius asked. 

"Of course. You're the town chief, don't you make the decisions?"  

Lucius smiled. "I do not consider myself as a leader of this town. It is more of the leaders of the races that come here that are the leaders. I am only a human. Balos is the leader of the wolf-people, and he is the one that has full control over the Wolfpack. They will follow me but will go against me if Balos commands it. You are the leader of the Royal Slimes, and they will follow your word. I have no absolute control over anyone in this village. So, I ask again, will you help..." 

Lucius paused as he saw Blisos. There were tears in his eyes as he listened to Lucius. 

"Uh..." 

"I have never met such a selfless leader like you! I will follow every order you give me! I, Blisos, will reside in Baylight Village and will help you in any way I can!" 

What the hell.  

"Yeah yeah. Anyway, we will take care of housing soon," Lucius said and got up, grabbing his gun and his sword. "Tell the rest of the Royal Slimes." 

Blisos thanked Lucius one last time and headed off to the rest of the Royal Slimes. 

Lucius sighed and walked out.  

Time for more back-breaking work... 

Balos howled. The wolf-people assembled. 

"As you may know," Lucius said. "We have successfully defended against the humans that were attacking the Royal Slimes and they are safe." 

A small cheer went up.  

"However," Lucius said once they quieted down. "They were in the same situation as you guys once you came here. Wounded, hungry, exhausted, and traumatized. So, we must do the same to them as I did to you. We will build houses for them, right now." 

Immediately, the wolf-people broke off and collected wood, mud, sap, and started building. Since they have already learned how to build and were fully recovered, the whole process took only four hours to build the houses. 

They used the area that Lucius cut down earlier to create the houses. Part of the wall was broken down and extended to enclose the addition to the village. Lucius wired in lights, instructed the Royal Slimes how to use them, and created a ton of furniture.  

But while they were busy, Lucius didn't realize that the Royal Slimes were also busy. They were diving to the bottom of Sorus Bay and bringing things up. There were lots and lots of fish, but there was also a few old coins, crystals, and metals. 

Lucius stretched his arms back and looked down at the village. It was twice the size now, and the walls were reinforced with the help of the Royal Slimes. Even though they used the same mud-sap mixture, the wall was higher, harder, and stronger than before. 

Then, Lucius walked back to his workshop. Now, since he had successfully harnessed electricity, he could create a lot more things. 

First, he needed something that could melt metals and keep them melted. He was started to run out of Fire Crystals since he burned through them like cotton. 

(AN: See that pun there? Clever, eh?) 

So, he thought of an idea and quickly put it to work.  

First, he created a massive length of Brightmetal wire. He braided them and then lined the inside of his metal tub with it.  

It was simple, and when he turned on the generator, it produced enough heat to melt metal and keep it melted. That way, it would be very convenient to use the metal when it came to projects. 

After his simple creation, Lucius went out to his garden. 

Like before, he hasn't gotten much time to tend to his flowers. He brought his katana and trimmed the dying leaves, giving space to the sprouting ones.  

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Also, his plants were becoming fully grown. Some had no apparent purpose to Lucius, but some had berries and fruits that Lucius did not dare to eat.  

There were no invasive species to kill of his plants, and even though he was busy, he made sure to keep his plants well watered. The fruits of his work were shown. 

(AN: Another pun. Very clever on my part.) 

Then, Lucius walked out dropped in his bed. 

----------------------------------------

 The next day was the weekend. Lucius groaned as he slammed his fist into his alarm clock, and, unintentionally, smashed it into bits.  

"Ow," Lucius said as he groggily sat up. His hand was red but otherwise unharmed. His alarm clock, however, had a less kind fate. 

I need to go pick up a new one today.  

Rousing himself, Lucius stepped on the cold floor as he made his way to the bathroom. As he walked by his little sister's room, he panicked for a split second. There was no noise coming from her room. 

Didn't Mom take Tenia to Florida? For a wedding or something? Lucius remembered. 

Tenia was Lucius' little sister. She was a small fifth grader that kept her hair in two pigtails, and the glasses on her face made her look like a normal Asian child.  

The reason why they didn't interact much at all was because they had different family opinions. When Lucius' mom and dad divorced, Tenia wanted to go with her dad, whereas her dad didn't want the hassle of kids. Lucius was fine with it—he didn't like his dad much anyway. But when it was clear that Tenia didn't want to go with their mom, Lucius had to practically drag Tenia away from their dad. 

He still cared for her, but they rarely talked. 

Well, I get the whole house to myself this weekend! Lucius said with glee. He stepped into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. 

Is... that me...? Lucius wondered, amazed at what he saw. 

His once scrawny biceps were now thick and packed with muscle. His body was stripped of all fat and was now extremely lean from all of the hard, dirty work he had to do in the other world. 

Amazed at his transformation, Lucius brushed his teeth and went back to his room. 

His katana rested on his table, untouched. Lucius picked it off his stand and took out the sword out of its sheath. 

His hand wrapped around it like it did in the other world. It was a little lighter, but when Lucius swung it, it whipped through the air very fast. 

Then, he went through his forms. He went into Quick Draw stance and slashed at the air many times. 

I guess my training is applicable here too, Lucius thought. Now I want a rematch with that muscle junky! Lucius remembered the time when he got knocked out when he was defending Ilane.  

Well, no need to rush things. It'll happen on its own, I hope. 

After exhausting himself, Lucius put on a T-shirt and cooked breakfast. 

He found himself instinctively quickly cutting vegetables without cutting himself, using the perfect amount of seasoning, and identifying the bad parts of meats and vegetables with such speed that it surprised him. Cooking every day with the wolf-people taught him a lot. 

I got all of these skills from Zenos! That's amazing... 

Lucius handled his knife with such skill that it was comparable to top-level chefs, but Lucius stayed modest. He didn't go on social media and just gloat, even though he felt like it. 

"Riiiiing! Riiiiiiing!" His phone rang. Lucius swallowed his food and walked over. 

"Hello?" Lucius said.  

"HI LUCIUS!" Came a very, very loud voice from the other end, whom Lucius recognized it was Kron. 

"Jesus. Don't scream like that. You nearly gave me a heart attack," Lucius said. He heard Kron laugh on the other end. 

"Whatever. Anyway, are you free today?"  

"Yeah... why?" 

"Can we come over?"  

"Who is 'we'?" 

"Me and Ilane." 

"Oh, yeah. I think it'll be fine if you come. I'll be the only one home for the weekend anyway," Lucius said. 

"Great! We'll be there in half-an-hour." 

Oh boy. Time for my house to get destroyed, Lucius thought grimly. He cleaned up the best he could and waited for their arrival. 

Just as Kron predicted, they arrived in thirty minutes.

"Ding dong!" Rang Lucius' doorbell. He got up from his couch and opened the door. 

"Yo," he said as he saw Kron and Ilane. 

"Ah, I haven't been here in such a long time," Kron said as he looked around. "Nothing has really changed though." 

"I like it. It's cozy," Ilane said. They took off their shoes while Lucius closed the door behind him. 

"Now, what did you guys come here for?" Lucius asked, looked at the time on the oven. It was 8:00 AM. 

"I don’t know. Just to hang out, I guess," Kron said. He walked into Lucius' room. 

"Hey, is that a real katana?" Kron asked and rushed over. 

"I've always wanted one. Where did you get one?" He asked eagerly. 

"E-Bay," Lucius asked. 

(AN: If there is a problem with using a real companies name, just message me or leave a comment. I'll take it down quick.) 

"Oh," Kron said, looking a little deflated. "I thought it would be more climatic." 

"What did you expect? Me going to Japan and killing a samurai and taking their katanas?" Lucius snorted. 

"Actually, you aren't wrong," Kron said and pulled the sword out of its sheath.  

"Careful—it's sharp," Lucius pointed out. 

(AN: Another one. I'm on a roll) 

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Kron said. "When I was a little kid, I used to take some kendo." 

"Bet you haven't handled something this real," Lucius said. 

"True, but I have some experience." 

Not that much though, Lucius thought. 

"Why do you even have this?" Kron asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"I don't know. My mom ordered it earlier, and it came at six in the morning. It's just been here for today. I have no idea why my mom wants it though," Lucius lied. 

"Mhmm." 

"Anyway, you guys want food?" Lucius asked. 

"Sure. I haven't had breakfast yet," Kron said. 

"Same for me too," Ilane said. They walked to the kitchen. 

"So, what have you guys been doing these days?" Lucius asked while frying eggs. 

"Nothing new. My brother is constantly gloating about being the head of the class. It made my mom too proud, and now, she expects me to be head too," Kron snorted.  

"You know you aren't going to be that," Ilane said. 

"Yeah, well, no need to remind me," Kron said. 

Lucius set the bowls of the fried egg in front of them. 

"When did you learn to cook so well?" Kron through a mouthful of egg. "This is better than my grandmothers, and she cooks eggs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner." 

Lucius shrugged. "My mom has been teaching me. Plus, I have to cook for my sister every day." 

"This is delicious!" Ilane exclaimed. "It is perfectly fluffy, and it doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth." 

What are you people? Food critics? 

Lucius poured himself a glass of water from the fridge.  

"Yeah yeah. Whatever. It's just food. If you aren't going to eat it, I will." 

This shut up the others for a little bit as they savored his food. 

"So, how long are you guys staying?" Lucius asked. 

"Oh, we just came and you're trying to kick us out?" Ilane put on a fake pout face.  

"We might stay for five hours or something. That's what I told my mom, anyway," Kron said, grinning. 

Five hours?! 

After pinching his nose, Lucius said, "You guys are crazy." 

"That's also what my mom says." 

"I wonder why?" 

They spent the next few hours playing vid games, board games, and watching T.V. non-stop in Lucius' room. It was a while into their fun until he heard the sound of a door open in another room. 

Immediately, Lucius shut off the TV. 

"What are you---" Kron started. 

"Shhhhh!" Lucius interrupted. He pressed his ear to the door, which was shut. 

He didn't hear anything, but his neck was tingling with anxiety.  

"Did you guys hear anything?" Lucius whispered. They shook their head. 

Lucius returned to the door. 

Maybe I'm overthinking this. Maybe time in Zenos made me a lot more paranoid than I wanted-- 

Then he heard voices outside in the living room. 

"Are you sure there's no one here? I thought I heard something," he heard a gruff voice say. 

"Nah. I saw them leave the house. And I'm sure there's no one else left here, because, well, why would they?" 

Robbers! Lucius exclaimed in his head. 

He turned around to see Kron silently taking the katana out of its sheath. 

"What are you doing?" Lucius asked. 

"If they come in here, I can beat them. I know what I'm doing!" Kron said, looking determined and scared at the same time. 

Lucius noticed the fear in his eyes. Not many people have been in a life and death situation, and Kron clearly hasn't been in one like this before. 

"Give me the sword," Lucius said. 

"No! I know what to do!" 

"No, you don't. Give me the damn sword!" Lucius whisper-screamed. Kron saw something in his eyes that wasn't there before and he hasn't seen ever in Lucius: threat. 

Almost scared to the point of fainting, Kron handed the katana to Lucius with a shaky hand. Lucius nodded and grabbed the sheath, returning the sword to it. 

"What are you doing?!" 

"Watch and learn, Mr. Kendo," Lucius said stood by the door, putting the sheath at his waist. He bent his knees and leaned forward. It was the Quick-Draw stance. 

"Hey look, this room is closed. Let's go in," a voice said directly outside their door. Lucius didn't even flinch as he stared at the door, determination in his eyes.