But for a Slime

Chapter Ninety Four

Joe woke with a luxurious stretch, the dim light of morning still dark and only the massive gas giant leaving any kind of light to see by. He frowned, finding himself alone in bed then castigated himself for being annoyed by it as he’d been the one to tell Kilniara to not do so. He still sighed then laughed at himself, allowing himself to wallow for a bit in his memory and joy of being able to hold her in his arms as he fell asleep, realizing it was … amazing… I can see why … yeah… alright, focus!

Joe turned his thoughts towards mana and magic, once again practicing mana emission and control as well as manipulating his points. As he did so, his mind wandered over how both Kilniara and Gwenvair had expressed mana, and Joe frowned with the realization that he hadn’t really seen the boys practicing mana either. Huh… should I talk with them? Learn from them as well? Kilniara seemed to emit it mostly from her chest, but Gwen… ooh! Oh! Gwenvair… she emits mostly from her hands! His thoughts returned to when he’d seen his first ‘real’ magic spell and how the mana had surged around her, but also was emitted from her hands to form some form of sigil. Joe paused in thought, attempting to retrieve as much of the memory as he could but then grew frustrated as the memory had grown hazy with time. Maybe… ask her to cast it another time… watch carefully?

That thought had him consider attempting to emit mana from various parts of his body, and he quickly decided to add that to his repertoire of practice, emitting mana from his major sense organs: eyes, ears, nose, and mouth; as well as emitting mana from major locations on his limbs: palm, fist, fingers, wrist, elbow, knees, ankle, heel, toes, and his entire foot. He did so for quite some time, seeing many applications he could use, possibly, as his imagination ran wild, although he still wasn’t sure at all as to how mana actually worked. As his imagination ran wild, he soon came up with scenarios where he might want to emit mana from any portion of his body, and soon setup an exercise plan where he worked the major locations of his limbs and his sense organs daily. As for practice at random locations on his body, he cycled through them on a weekly basis, spending a single day on each limb, one day on his head, and one day on his torso. He decided he would start with his torso and settled into his mana practice, alternating between all his practices he’d set for himself.

Joe spent the morning, probably close to two or three hours, and he didn’t stop until the light in the room brightened with the sun peaking over the horizon. With that, Joe sat up, sighing with relief that the sun was finally up. While it was nice to be able to sleep in so much, lying in bed for so long wasn’t enjoyable. Gonna have to maybe set up some kind of practice room in the house. That … might be nice!

Joe washed himself at the more elaborate washing basin but smashed his hand on the guys’ door until he heard the two boys wake with a groan, “Up and at ‘em. Time to head out.”

After waking them, he turned back to the bed and spent a bit of time repacking his backpack. It had become quite disorganized over the weeks and so he spent the time waiting for the boys to get up doing so. Only a few moments later, they were out in the courtyard working hard, Garnedell in silence and Zilnek with quite a bit of grumbling.

They worked hard for almost an hour or so before heading in to enjoy a meal in the common room. They ate quickly then headed out towards the dungeon as Joe had always planned. When they left the inn and got outside into the streets, however, they found it oddly empty, the streets almost devoid of anyone. Those who were walking the streets did so rapidly, as if on important chores with limited time. Joe found it disconcerting. Zilnek and Garnedell, however, were very jumpy.

“What’s going on?” Joe asked after a few blocks.

Zilnek and Garnedell said nothing, and Joe looked back at them but they said nothing, “You guys know anything?”

Neither spoke, although both did shake their heads. Joe frowned and turned back to the street. As they walked down the streets, three or four people as individuals suddenly came out from a corner, scattering up and down the streets and immediately turned into several different alleys. Joe frowned, slowing but didn’t stop. Several moments after them, a crier came from the same side street, calling out to everyone.

“To all citizens of Coushar. The representative of overlord clan Bunarl has come, gracing us with his great presence. A great holiday is called upon the city. This holiday is given to all citizens. Stay at home. Rest.”

Joe blinked at seeing the crier and the crier also stopped, looking at Joe with some surprise. The man then grew angry and stepped up to Joe imperiously.

“The city is in holiday for his glorious presence, the representative of overlord clan Bunarl!”

Joe blinked, nodding, “And?”

This seemed to enrage the man, “Go! Home!”

Joe paused, glancing around, “I have no food. Shall I go home and starve?”

The man smirked at that, “Possibly. You should have prepared.”

Joe quirked an eyebrow at that, almost replying angrily before bowing his head instead, “Then, of course. Thank you for warning me.”

The man sneered before turning away, “You should have learned your place earlier.”

Joe took a deep breath but said nothing, watching the man leave. Garnedell and Zilnek stayed behind him, holding themselves stiff in uncertainty as they struggled to remain as small as possible so as to not draw attention.

Joe turned to watch the crier walk down the street, once again shouting out his news. Joe did not move, but neither did the crier turn around. After a few moments, Joe then decided to return to the inn, but he waited for a few moments before walking back to the inn. When the crier made it to the corner of the street, he turned to look at Joe, and nodded with a sneer to see Joe returning the way he’d come. Joe continued to walk another few steps before stopping now that the crier was off the streets. He glanced around, found an alley, and headed into it, bringing the others with him. Once there, Joe paused, deep in thought. Finally, he sighed and threw up his hands in frustration.

“How are we supposed to prepare if no news is given until the day he has come. Dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

The two boys remained silent, allowing Joe his space, and thoughts. His thoughts twirled, twisting between the wisdom of just ignoring it and the righteous anger over the injustice of people starving because of the selfish arrogance of an asshole. He knew it was dumb to react to this, and it wouldn’t be smart to antagonize the leaders of the clan whose city he was staying in but his anger flared. He spent several moments in thought. They want us off the streets, so… His thoughts whirled for a bit but then he came to a realization. Hey… off the streets then… that’s what they said, so… to the dungeon?

“Could we just go to the dungeon?” Joe asked the two boys honestly.

Garnedell looked up at Joe but Zilnek laughed, “The dungeon! Ha! Yeah, sure!”

“Really?”

Garnedell chuckled, laughing in surprise, “I… yeah. I’m certain we could do so.”

* * *

Garnedell boggled to see Joe willing to disdain the commands of an overlord clan. Zilnek’s shock was more than he could handle but Garnedell took a moment to carefully consider Joe’s question. He was certain that Joe could easily disdain a simple overlord clan, but Joe’s real question was if it would be too much a slap in the face for the overlord clan. While his knowledge of politics was slim, Garnedell remembered some stories from his father speaking of extremely powerful adventurers who the clans gave a lot of leeway to. His thoughts considered it before he finally replied, quite certain that even the greater clans, even the greatest clans themselves would likely be quite respectful of Joe. Greater clans gave leeway to adventurers even with four digits, and they begged five digit adventurers to join their clans. An eleven digit, like master, even greatest clans wouldn’t dare touch him.

Garnedell smiled, laughing at the realization of master’s power, “I, yes, am certain we could do so.”

Master nodded, and they then turned to head to the beginners dungeon. Garnedell looked at Zilnek and grinned brilliantly. Zilnek smiled as well, barely holding back his laughter as well. To have an eccentric master! Garnedell giggled softly and marched after Joe, proud with head held high.

They strode through the empty streets with purpose without concern and soon reached the beginner dungeon’s defensive wall. When they reached the wall gate, the entrance was empty. Joe strode through the entrance and paused, seeing the inner courtyard empty. Joe looked around, blinking with some surprise but then simply shrugged and headed towards the dungeon entrance. Garnedell coughed, holding back his laughter and Joe glanced back at him with concern. Garnedell shook his head and waved away the concern so Joe moved on. When they were just about to the entrance, a shout came from the wall surrounding the dungeon entrance and everyone turned to face the guard. The guard suddenly paused with some concern when he realized who it was and Garnedell smirked.

“Hey! You ca… oh! Eccentric. You… wish to enter the dungeon today?”

Joe nodded with a slight bow, offering respect to the guard, an oddity that Garnedell had noticed of his master. Joe easily offered respect to those less than himself, but was almost never so respectful to those of high status. Or… not… it is something else… but… it seems like… Garnedell’s smile grew and opened to an outright smile when the guard glanced at Garnedell, noticing his smile. Joe replied politely.

“I was hoping to, yes.”

The guard paused at that, fearful of denying the eccentric before finally simply bowing, “I… you… please enjoy your time, eccentric.”

Joe bowed cautiously as he responded, concerned, “Are you ok?”

The guard smiled, “I am fine, eccentric.”

Joe nodded more certain, “Excellent. Then I will be inside. If there is any need, please call for me. I will remain on the first floor so you can easily find me, OK?”

The guard quickly bowed, relieved, “Thank you, eccentric. I appreciate it.”

Joe smiled and bowed his head before turning away, “Thank you! Bye!”

The guard called out his own good bye and soon all three were walking down the spiral to the first floor. Garnedell struggled to hold it in, but finally laughed softly after they’d twisted round several times, Zilnek joining him in laughter. Joe looked back at them, confused, and their laughter only grew. Today… is a fun … this is a good day!

* * *