Author’s Corner: Today is a happy day. World Seed just hit #50 in the Active Top 50 sites on RRL. As such, have a chapter!

After I repeated the Empower Soul process using all six cliff tigers, I confirmed with Celeste that there was no danger in leaving the bodies here without their souls. To be honest, I was still worried about potentially unleashing a zombie plague. There are reasons that most games label soul magic as something that should not be tampered with lightly.

Once I was done, I noticed a change in Yo. His entire body had begun to shake, and with my Aura Sight I could see as various elements all rushed into his body at once. From what I had learned, this should be the moment where he evolves into a mimic slime. As such, I was not in a hurry to leave, and simply sat on a nearby rock as I waited for this change to complete. I had considered putting Yo into my grove, but the influx of mana could make the process fail, and he’d end up absorbing a lot of my grove even if it succeeded.

Unlike Yang’s evolution, this process lasted for over two minutes, the giant blue water slime shrinking down and changing to a clear green color. The last change, though… had me a bit worried. Yo’s slime core, which was a medium grade Seed of Water, developed cracks along its body before shattering. Instead, a tiny green pellet, almost invisible in its body, appeared within it.

The slime which had once been big enough to occupy an entire office was now smaller than most dogs. It also no longer held a strong water aura, and had the same kind of mixed aura as anything else. With Celeste’s help, I began recalling all of the facts about mimic slimes that I had learned in the past.

First of all, their evolution to slime person can happen at any time, not dependent on levels. The only deciding factor is their intelligence, which can be improved in two ways. You can either slowly increase a slime’s intelligence by training it, or have it absorb other creatures. However, these creatures have to have died recently enough to still possess their soul, so that the mimic slime can copy it fully. Before it evolves, it can learn the form of any number of items, but can only retain the form of the last creature it devoured.

Mimic slimes can only learn the forms of primitive items, at the level of gunpowder firearms or lower. They can’t replicate technology or runic magic enchantments, but can replicate arcane enchantments. While they are able to mimic blades, they’re much better suited to mimic blunt weapons instead… what else…

Ah, the only other thing I could think of right away was that mimics are far more durable than normal slimes. They possess a degree of magic resistance, and their core is far smaller than a typical slime’s. That will come in handy eventually. For now, I pulled out a simple staff from my grove, and set it in front of Yo. Yang had been mass producing these lately, and had been proud of her ability to make them, so I should use some before they fill up my grove.

The small green slime moved over in front of the staff, as if staring at it, before its body slowly began spreading over it. The slime gunk soon covered the entire staff, and I watched as the wood inside began dissolving, as if under some kind of acid. I shuddered in memory of my own experience with slime acid, but this seemed different. Rather than melting down the body, it was the aura that was being consumed. The body dissolving was simply a side effect.

Within moments, the entire staff had been consumed, but in its place was a translucent green staff of identical size and shape. When I reached down to pick it up, it felt a bit slippery, and wobbled slightly. Probably needs to absorb more items to get texture and firmness down.

Now that Yo has evolved, all of my companions should be around level 20, though we each have different skills. The closest two are myself and Yin, since she can utilize Wind Affinity as she flies around and fights. There’s also Yang, the crafting bird girl, and now the mimic slime Yo. I wasn’t really sure how the party would stack up, but it felt really neat to have everyone with their own roles.

Anyways, back on track! I still need a bit more experience before I can head back and sell my Technomancy skill for gold. I strapped Yo to my back, since there wasn’t as much reason to keep him in the grove now, and walked along the mountain some more while hunting cliff tigers. The next group I came across was dispatched a bit more easily, now that I knew their attack patterns. All I had to do was create a few plasma death bundles and wait for one to pop up before zapping it.

After I was done killing them and earning their delicious experience, I had Yo absorb the body of one so that he had the ability to turn into a living creature that was not a slow moving mass of goo. The process went pretty much the same as it had with the staff, and when it was done, a tiger made of slime was walking along beside me. Every now and then it would dive into the earth using the cliff tiger’s ability, as if playing around, but it would always come back up when it was done.

Since I only needed the two groups to get all of the experience for what I wanted, I went back to the town while running alongside Yo. Cliff tigers were roughly just as fast as wolves, but I thought it looked cooler to have two cliff tigers running side by side, with one being black and the other made of green slime. As usual when I approached the city in an a creature form, the guards immediately went for their weapons. I barely had time to change back before they had guns pointed at me. “I’m a druid, don’t shoot!”

They froze momentarily, still with their guns pointed, before sighing and putting them away. I had Yo turn back into a staff and strapped him to my back before calling out Yin and Yang. “We going all the way back to the other city, or is there a Skill Shard place here?” I asked the ever helpful Ai.

Celeste spoke up from the companion bracelets. “There’s a Skill Master Guild in the capital, but not here. You’ll need to make the flight back.”

I let out a groan as she said that. “Is there something nearby there that we could use to work on your aura?”

“Well, you could hunt dozens of wolves, but that would take ages. Assuming you don’t want to go back to the forest, so your best bet would be to head east after you leave the city. The rock beasts are weaker, but move in larger groups. These are monsters, so expect them to have resistance to your Earth Manipulation.”

I nodded my head as she said that, and walked through the city with Yin and Yang. Like usual, Yang was hugging my arm and pressing her twin peaks against me. I swear, I did not walk slower in order to enjoy that… it was just awkward walking with someone attached! Yeah, that… though the giggling AI didn’t seem to believe me.

“Hey, I ship Falenel and Yang.” She said in my head, with a wide grin on her face. “Besides, it’s fun to watch you get all flustered like that.”

It’s not fun for me! Let’s just get going. Sooner we get there, the sooner we can get your body and soul gem or whatever That got her attention, and as soon as we were out the other side of the city, the three of us flew off into the distance. This time, I pulled out my handy plasma pistol as well as one that had appeared in my grove when I absorbed Legion, and simply used those to blast whatever I came across. Since I had already gotten my plasma bolts working, there was no need to go through the extra trouble of using them while flying.

The extra buffer experience could only help me, so I saw no point in wasting the chances they gave me. Yang frowned slightly every time I killed something, but she knew it was necessary. Although she liked to remain a pacifist by nature, she accepted that I was by no means a pacifist. Fighting meant experience, experience meant I could stay alive with how the world was changing.

Aside from a few brief pauses on the way back to fight some wolves and leave a trail or scattered bodies(when I managed to hit them) in my wake, the flight back to town was a rather boring one. Every now and then, Yin would literally fly circles around me to play around while Yang was just happy to fly alongside me. As for Yo… well, Yo was a staff, and remained a staff the entire time, not much to report.

When we arrived in the city, I had the two of them walk with me again, since there wasn’t a need to send them back to the grove. First stop, the Skill Master’s Guild to sell my soul, then to find where I can buy a Deus Ex body. Walking around, I followed the mental map provided by Celeste to arrive in front of a large cylindrical building, maybe ten stories with large glass windows all along its side. “Well, it’s flashy at least.” I said with a shrug as I entered.

Inside, there was a stunningly attractive elf receptionist behind the counter. “Hello, and welcome to the Skill Master’s Guild. Are you here to make a deposit, or to purchase?” She asked with a practiced business smile.

“Uhm.. deposit.” It took me a moment to recover. I swear, I need to build up a resistance to hot girls, or my life will soon be ruined.

“Very well. What level of skill are you interested in depositing?”

I thought about it again… I could get twenty five gold if I stored my advanced Mana Signature skill… “Don’t bother, Falenel.” Celeste spoke up beside me with a smile. “You don’t have enough buffer for that one yet. Just stick with an Intermediate skill for now.”

I nodded my head, and looked to the receptionist before speaking. “Intermediate level.”

She smiled again, before pushing a button to call down an elevator. Well, it acts like an elevator, but it is just a metal disc in a large glass tube. “Very well, please proceed up to level four. An attendant will help you through the process.”

I walked over towards the elevator, but since Yin and Yang wouldn’t fit in it with me, I sent them back to my grove for now. Instead, I just watched the scenery as I went up floor by floor. “How much more buffer would I have needed to store an Advanced level skill here?”

“About twice as much as you have now, at least. Advanced skills take up a lot more aura space than Intermediate ones.” Celeste spoke up from next to me, before I arrived on the fourth floor. This time, the attendant was male, and approached me as I exited the elevator.

“Good day, sir. I was told you are here to deposit an Intermediate level skill. Is that correct?” I nodded to him after he asked that. “Good, good, right this way. Is this your first time visiting the Skill Master’s Guild?”

“Yeah… haven’t had the chance to do so before now.”

“Not surprising, not surprising. Most people have a concern with selling parts of their auras away to others. However, our guild is entirely safe, and will provide a full guarantee to any customers.” I nodded my head again as he continued speaking. “Did you make sure to have a sufficient space in your aura to store the skill, or will you be needing us to provide you with it?”

They can provide the buffer? I asked inwardly to a certain AI, who smirked back at me. “They can, but if you have them do so, the amount of money you will get drops drastically. The skill itself only accounts for a fifth of the price, while the rest is the experience that comes with it.”

That was interesting to know. “I already took care of it.” I was here for the money, and by god I wanted the money!

“Alright then, right this way. Since this is your first time, don’t worry. You’ll experience a minor discomfort while our Skill Master extracts the skill, but that is completely normal. All of our workers have been trained to perform the procedure with as little inconvenience as possible.”

I could see this being quite a big business in some areas. Maybe it was because elves had a superstition about auras, but it was unfortunate that there weren’t very many customers. The attendant led me to a room with two comfortable looking chairs with a small metal stand between them, and instructed me to sit down in whichever one I wanted, before going off to fetch the person who would actually perform the extraction.

“Almost there…” Celeste was excited as she appeared in the chair across from me, and I could tell that she was looking forward to getting a body of her own. Hearing my thoughts, she nodded. “A Deus Ex can have their AI implanted before the soul is put in, they just aren’t able to level up or use magic until they have the soul. Until then, they are similar to a low quality android. But still, a body of my own!” She smiled widely as she said that, but soon had to vanish from her seat as another young man walked into the room, carrying a fist sized blue crystal.

“Ah, hello, sorry if I kept you waiting.” He spoke politely as he sat across from me, and placed the gem into the metal stand. “Don’t worry, this will be over quickly.”

Out of curiosity, I asked him a question. “Is the size of the crystal important for storing the skill?”

The man blinked at me a bit, seemingly confused by the question before it registered. “Ah, yes. Though the purity is also important. A stronger skill needs a larger crystal. The one Legendary rank skill we have here takes up a crystal the size of an entire room. I imagine if anyone managed to store a Godly skill, it would be the size of a small building. Now, sit back and close your eyes.”

After following his instructions, I tried to relax a bit, which was much easier after I dismissed the Aspect of the Bird. “Ah, a druid? Well, that’ll make this go a bit more easily, since you should be familiar with your aura. Now, relax, and focus on the skill you want to store. I’m going to put a thread of mana into your body, but don’t resist it.”

As he spoke, I could feel the presence of another mana entering my aura. It was a bit uncomfortable, but I let it in while focusing on my Technomancy. “Good. I’ve got a hold of the skill now….” There was another uncomfortable feeling, like something was shifting around under my skin. “And… there.” With that, there was a momentary stab of pain, like having blood drawn, before the various feelings all subsided. “Hmm... looks like Technomancy, Intermediate level 3. Everything checks out.”

When I opened my eyes, I saw that a blue screen had appeared above the crystal, but couldn’t read what it said since it was facing the other man. “That’ll come to a total of two gold, and sixty silver.” When he spoke this time, he pulled out a few coins to hand them over, which I gladly accepted. This was my ‘get Celeste a body’ fund.