“You’re vile!” Aclysia yelled. “A vile human, unworthy of sunlight and forgiveness! When your Spark enters the heavenly Trunk, I wish that the gods recognize the evil you have committed today and condemn you to the deepest layers! Just above the Hellroots, your twisted, lying soul shall dwell, until you have cleansed yourself of this deep immorality! Liar! Vile liar, hurter of all I hold dear!”

Maltos sat quietly, a few metres removed. His hands were folded above his parallel thighs, his eyes closed, and his head was lowered to signal his acceptance. The old Monk knew exactly what he had done and had been prepared to face the consequences from the moment he made his resolution.

Insults and eloquently formulated wishes for greatest misery kept on flying through the large room. They were still inside the temple. At this hour, none but Maltos would have been around. Recent weeks had seen that changed, due to his personal interest in the trio. The important bit was that nobody had seen Aclysia and Reysha come in. The truly important bit was that nobody could wonder why they had lugged an entire cow into the temple.

A cow Apexus was currently dissolving inside him. The slime was not humanoid in the slightest at the moment. The translucency of his membrane was complete, as it had stretched thin in order to accommodate the chimera’s body as it expanded. Each bit of dissolved bovine was converted into more slime, used to dissolve more bovine. By now, what remained of Apexus’ true body at the end of his starvation was just a skeleton grafted onto a blob encapsulating a semi-digested animal. It was not a sight for those faint of heart. Yet, Aclysia had her arms wrapped around her darling’s neck, fully disregarding how nightmarish he appeared.

Korith and Reysha were sitting a few metres removed. The shortstack leaned over to the redhead and asked, “Should we… say something?”

“Nah, let her get it out of her system,” Reysha waved off with a grin. While her curved lips indicated amusement, the gaze she directed at the kobold had a glint of murder in them. Blue surrounded by black, the unnatural colouration of her sclera only increased the effect. Korith could feel a shiver up her spine. “We’ll have lots to talk about.”

The cow was eventually dissolved down to a clump of bones and internal organs, small enough to be pulled into the slime’s midriff. Consolidating back down into a humanoid, Apexus was soon left at his usual tallness. The membrane returned to its usual colour, hair grew back out, fox ears were completed, nails returned, and various other segments regenerated. At the end, Apexus stood there, a deflated version of himself. He was still low on biomass and practically all of his muscles were broken down to their bare minimum. Some were gone entirely. Apexus had to resort to his old mode of moving, manipulating the slime itself, to support his slow steps.

Opening his mouth, Apexus created a series of cracking clicking sounds. He rolled his jaw, while the speaking plates under the roof of his mouth properly snapped into place. “I’m stable,” he said, moving his mouth in accordance with the syllables. There were none around to fool, yet the habit had to be maintained.

“Any requirement for you to stabilize is in and of itself a grave sin that canno-“ Aclysia continued her chastisements, only to be silenced by an intense hug. As intense as Apexus could muster at that moment anyway.

“I agreed to it,” he reminded her. “It had to be done. It will have to be repeated.”

“…What do you mean by that?” Aclysia asked, her voice hollow. The idea that her darling would have to go through this again made her feel a great emptiness that was slowly filled with shock and cold rage. She trembled. “Why would you ever go through that again?!”

“I almost broke at the end,” the humanoid chimera reported. His eyes landed on Korith. “I’m sorry for jumping at you.”

“I… I want to say it wasn’t that bad, but it was actually pretty scary,” she looked around between the tiger girl, the metal fairy, the teacher, and the humanoid slime. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on already? Why is Apex a liquid?”

Reysha snorted at that question, oddly formulated as it was due to the stressful situation. “We’ll get to ya in second, Korith,” the tiger girl guaranteed, playing with the grip of her dagger. “I’d like to know first – why are ya here in the first place?”

“Because Mal- oh you… aren’t asking me…” Korith’s voice became very quiet towards the end, realizing that Reysha was staring at Maltos. Same was true for the slime and the metal fairy.

Maltos opened his eyes. “I had brought her here to tempt Apexus into committing a mistake,” he confessed openly, causing both of the lovers of the slime to growl. It was difficult to say which one sounded more animalistic. Usually Aclysia was the definitively more protective of the two, but the extremes to which this had been taken, combined with the old Monk’s decision to break his word and involve Korith, had pissed off Reysha enough that her lax attitude was compromised. “I also brought her here to force your hand.”

“We told her nothing to protect her!” Aclysia declared. “Our identities and purpose for remaining here are filled with danger. It is unwise to be involved with us, so we wanted to keep her out!”

Korith’s eyes went wide. She felt a bit happy that they were thinking of her that way. There was another feeling. Something that had grown every day they kept quiet and was now making its way to the surface.

“Should that not be her choice?” Maltos asked, calmly. “There is virtue in wanting to protect those close to you and there certainly is virtue in wanting to make sure none are damaged from what flows out from your personal affairs. However!” he raised his voice only to rob Aclysia of the opportunity to respond ahead of time. “However, to decide on someone’s behalf that they are better left ignorant, that is a sin. You clearly wish to travel with her, so give her the choice.”

“You could’ve advised us on that without dragging her squishiness here,” Reysha growled.

“I have agency, you know!?” Korith exclaimed, surprised at her own aggressive tone. The anger of being kept out, anger that had grown larger as they had grown more friendly with each other, finally burst out. “He didn’t drag me anywhere! Maltos told me what Apexus was going through and that I might get attacked. I knew that, okay?! But I still haven't the faintest clue what is happening. By the Hoard, can someone tell me what is going on already?! Can I PLEASE just gather some information?”

Aclysia and Reysha were torn between rage and guilt. Apexus, in his centre, said to the kobold. “I’ll tell you everything.” He carried the metal fairy over to where the tiger girl and Korith were sitting and lowered himself onto the floor as well. Once his legs were crossed, he turned to his teacher for a moment. “He is right that you should have the choice. I loathe this situation, though.”

Closing his eyes again, Maltos remained where he was. ‘You need a nudge to trust the average person again,’ the mentor thought, knowing they would not see it his way if he said it out loud. ‘An opening to step out of your routinized secrecy. At the very least those whose presence you cherish, you should learn to share the truth with. Unspoken secrets are burdens to the soul.’

Tail slapping on the ground, Korith waited for Apexus to start his story. Once he did, the scaled limb soon calmed, as she listened eagerly to his tale. The mystery of his origin, how he functioned, how he evolved bit for bit, how he came to know Aclysia and Reysha, the tale of Gizmo, the hunt of the Inquisition, Apotho’s release, and how they had ultimately ended up where they were, chased by a demon.

“We didn’t want ya involved,” Reysha said, aggressively digging dirt out from underneath her blood red nails with her dagger, “because we have no idea what happens next. Best case, we kill the Deathhound here and then we still have three others and an insane warlock on our tail.”

“And those may still be a lesser worry than the demon he summoned last,” Aclysia added. They had a rudimentary understanding of what Jolene was by now. The ruler of a Hellroot was a demon among demons, an infernal deity lacking the privilege of creation. “Travelling with us is bound to be an existence under a hanging sword.”

Korith, having heard all of that, said “I still want to, though.”

The trio looked at each other. “Did I say this with the wrong words?” Apexus wondered out loud and tried again. “We are hated by a man who eats cities.”

“I got that,” Korith assured him. “I still would want to travel with you.”

“I must stress that this would be most unwise,” Aclysia said.

“I… Well, my tale is pretty boring compared to yours, but I hadn’t set out to become an adventurer because I thought it’d be the safest thing to do, you know?” Korith responded, wringing her hands nervously. Now that the anger had faded, she was back to her normal, slightly awkward self. “I’m doing this for Hoard. It’s fine if my life is dangerous.”

“Pretty big difference between dangerous and stupid,” Reysha remarked, rubbing her left arm. “I’d know, I skirt that line all the time. I’m a moron that way.”

Korith grabbed Reysha’s arm, pressing against the taller woman’s side. “I don’t mind being a moron, as long as I’m happy,” she said. “I’ve been travelling for two years. I’ve worked with a bunch of people in that time. Many were pretty nice, some were… scum, I guess is the word. With you three, I feel just right. I mean,” she glanced at Apexus, “I was attracted to your looks… I’d still like it if you looked… you know… like you usually do… but I like you three! I like you as you are! I’m willing to live in stupid danger to travel with you.”

Silence ensued after that confession. About ten minutes passed, before Reysha started giggling. None were truly confused when the volume of her amusement kept rising. Insane giggling filled the hallowed temple, bounced off the blank floor, and echoed all around. “You’re pressing a pair of enormous distractions against me there, squishy,” the tiger girl informed the kobold.

The tips of Korith’s pointy ears turned red, when she realized just how intently she had been pressing against Reysha. Pulling back so quickly the ‘pair of enormous distractions’ jiggled, the kobold blushed more intensely as she stammered, “C-can we have a s-s-serious conversation please?!”

“I think we had that,” Reysha grinned and raised an eyebrow questioningly at her partners.

“Yes,” Apexus agreed.

“Affirmative,” Aclysia also nodded.

Korith tilted her head quizzically, “I don’t follow?”

“There’s nothing left to say or confess,” Apexus explained. “If this is what you want, then come with us.”

“Really?” Korith asked, wagging her tail happily. Her expression was radiant, in spite of the lack of strong light around. “You mean it?”

“Not that we’ll go anywhere soon,” Reysha shrugged.

“About that, I would like to talk about the next step in your training,” Maltos chimed back into the conversation. Three pairs of eyes, filled with remaining annoyance, wandered to focus on him.

“Why would we desire to continue your lectures?” Aclysia asked.

Even if it ended well and had been done with friendly intention, trust had been breached. At his core, the mentor felt no shame for his action nor anger for their lack of thanks for this lesson.

“Because you need me,” Maltos stated flatly. “Exposing your secret, even with the best of intentions, was not my call to make. I understand that, Aclysia. I did it with the best of intentions, yet your reservations are justified. Regardless of what you want to confide in me with, we have a shared goal. If you do not believe in the purity of my intentions, at least believe that I would want to see the demon chasing you vanquished.”

Aclysia mulled over that, Reysha glared, Korith felt a bit out of her depth, and Apexus felt the strangest thing: relief.

Maltos had finally done something that was questionable. Every moment Apexus had spent with the old Monk, from his first teaching to the acquisition of the thatching material, Maltos had been too nice. Even this act, unsolicited as it was, was aimed at improving the slime’s situation. The manner he did this in though, breaking the trust, reassured the slime. What Maltos had done would have hindered any plots he had to endear himself to the trio.

“I trust you, teacher,” Apexus therefore said.

That put a mild smile on the old Monk’s face, revealing all the wrinkles that ran through his spotted skin. “I’m glad.”

Aclysia was taken aback, “Darling, he broke his word.”

“He did,” the slime agreed.

“Yet you trust him?”

“I do.” Apexus closed his eyes, finding what he truly thought. “It’s good if you remain cautious, my melody. I trust him, because I feel I can trust him. That is all there is to it.”

Reysha let out a long breath and then shrugged, “Whatever. Good enough for me.”

“You will dismiss the worry that easily?” Aclysia asked.

“I dunno, I’m still kinda pissed but it worked out and the big guy is happy, so I say we just ride this dune to the end,” the redhead explained her thoughts relaxedly. “What else are we going to do? Run the fuck away?”

Aclysia pressed her lips together. She retained her contempt for Maltos. Deep down, she understood that what he had done wasn’t entirely wrong, but the combination of the torture he had inflicted on her darling and the forced sharing of their secrets left a bitter taste in her mouth. “I will judge you,” she told the old Monk.

“As is your right,” Maltos nodded.

“…Alright…” Aclysia swallowed her resentment. It was kept at the back of her mind, but subordinate to the decision they had made. “If the rest of the group wishes to continue following your teachings, then I will oblige.”

Apexus and Reysha re-affirmed with a strong nod, leaving only Korith to give her opinion. Temporarily overwhelmed by the attention on her, the kobold needed several seconds to register what was asked of her. “I say, we do as he advises? Worked out great for me…” she tried to add that last bit jokingly, but her tone was a bit too meek to deliver it properly.

“Fuck, you’re adorable,” Reysha squealed and wrapped her arms around the shortstack. Cuddling her aggressively, the redhead elicited many an embarrassed noise from the kobold. The other two members of the quartet joined, leaving Korith in the centre of a big pile of overdue wholesomeness.

When the relaxed atmosphere had fully supplanted the remaining bitterness and even Aclysia had calmed down enough to look at Maltos with keen, rather than distrustful, eyes, the mentor revealed what he wanted to do next.

“I will not force Apexus to repeat this starvation,” he began. “I advise that you do so again of your own volition, to reinforce your control. My part in teaching you this, however, is done. Take a week to recover and hone what you have learned so far. All of you.” Maltos looked at each of them in turn. “Then, you should set out for the Dragon Isles.”

End of Season 3 Arc 1.