“Aarav, you have been at this for a week. Have you really made no progress yet?” Haemish yelled to the Slime, now looking much more like a human. The last week had seen a lot of progress, and Aarav was about to rub his mentor's face in it.

“Okay, here we go!” Aarav feigned, struggling to get his legs to cooperate. If Haemish hadn’t gotten bored and left Aarav to his own devices, he would know the trick. But Haemish had decided to rear his beloved pet Slimes instead of working with his devoted apprentice. Devoted might be a bit strong, but Aarav was committed now.

The stick was still keeping him upright, or so it seemed. Suddenly, the walking staff slipped from his grip, on purpose, of course, eliciting precisely the reaction he had hoped from the Potion Master. He reached for Aarav’s side with a gasp, no doubt planning to catch him by reflex when Aarav quickly righted himself. Not even a wobble! Then he bowed and took in the applause that was rightfully his. “One week, Haemish. You were right; all I needed was practice!”

Aarav was standing in the gardens again, where he had first practised with the joints. The week had gone into working his numerous joints. Followed by practising and then walking. Each movement in a single stride was mapped out precisely, then choreographed to perfection so he could apply Mana with precision and tug on the strings where he had to. At best, he had reached semi-competence, but he could walk like a human being again. It was so exciting. I have my intellect to thank for the quick improvement. It might be average for people here to have 100 Intellect, but it is good enough to start walking again for me. Not to mention his larger size and torso and head as well. So as not to startle anyone, Aarav had taken on a humanoid shape. His head now had eyes, ears, nose and mouth in all the appropriate places, with skin covering everything and Slime filling in the spaces between. He had gained more than the weight from the pastries. Instead of just twelve and a half kilograms, he was closer to twenty, having eaten more moderate amounts over the last few days.

Now he could confidently say he had the body of a four-year-old toddler with different parts from different animals all tacked on together. He was making it work, adjusting the various appendages to some semblance of a human. “There are some fairy folk that are smaller than humans, and they are fully developed but just on a miniature scale.” Haemish had said when he saw Aarav’s expression.

Aarav had shortened his arms and legs to have all the right proportions for a person. This was fun; he was tottering around like an actual toddler in just a week, not bad for seven days of work! Not only that, but walking was not the only thing he had gained in the past week. His skills had improved as well! Talents were put to good use during that time, and if he was honest, he felt like a different person.

Haemish had also been acting a little odd since that day. Well, more than his usual oddness. Aarav had tried asking him a few times if he was alright, but he received no concrete feedback. A wave of a hand of a shrug, nothing more. Conversely, the miniature Slimes had been doing phenomenally.

Aarav took a second to look at his gains in the last week:

Your Skill Zen Meditation has increased to Levels 15, 16 & 17!

Your Skill Natural Plant Healing has increased to Levels 20 & 21!

Your Skill Strong Odour Alteration has increased to Levels 20 & 21!

Your Skill Strong Camouflage has increased to Levels 20 & 21!

Your Skill Sharp Mouth of Consumption has increased to Levels 21, 22 & 23!

Your Skill Bird’s Prime Eyes has increased to Levels 28 & 29!

Your Skill Ears of Echo Location has increased to Levels 18, 19 & 20!

Your Skill Smell of Watery Soil has increased to Levels 17, 18 & 19!

Your Skill Tough Slime Skin has increased to Levels 15, 16 & 17!

Your Skill Body Language has increased to Levels 2, 3 & 4!

He had been neglecting Body Language, but he still gained experience inadvertently. The growth might have been more substantial if he had put a little more effort into it, but he could enjoy his gains.

Your Skill Language Connoisseur has increased from Level 90 to 94!

With a simple word or phrase from each language every day, the Skill just kept improving at a prodigious rate. He would soon be at a stage where all languages were instantly learned. He thought he wasn’t far from knowing languages to a passable degree immediately.

Your Skill Poison Resistance has increased to Level 2!

Ahem, that was some bad food. Aarav was so hungry and failed to realise that it had spoiled to such a degree that even the Slime couldn’t break it down before receiving the gift of poisoning. Luckily his Consume and Poison Resistance had worked together to get rid of it quickly.

Your Luck has increased by 6.2, 7.8, 6.6, 7.2, 8, 7.8 & 10.5! Your Luck is now 105.9!

Aarav’s Luck had just gone over one hundred today, so he was keen to see what that would mean for the future. Aarav wondered what Haemish had meant about stats slowing down after one hundred, and I supposed he would find out now. Luck was his second stat to exceed the barrier at one hundred, Intellect the first.

Your Skill Mental Map has increased to Level 3!

That was probably from wandering aimlessly through the palace corridors. Even though he had been to many places, he had refused to make eye contact with other people.

Your Skill Skeletal Presence has increased to Level 23 & 24!

That was nice. A little more lifting power and strength in the Slime legs would not go amiss. He had not been able to gain any experience with his wings or fins, which was upsetting, but he needed to focus on his legs anyway. They would all come with time. What did improve was his tails.

Your Skill Quad Worm Tails has increased to Levels 17, 18 & 19!

…which improved Reaction, bringing it up to a whopping ninety-four. It was a good week.

It was time now to address the elephant in the room. “Haemish, it has been a week. You are right. What in the world is bothering you so much that you won’t even say it to me? I think we have spent enough time together in the past days that you know you can be honest with me.” Haemish still seemed reluctant, so Aarav threw in an offer Haemish could not refuse. “I will be sure to get you those pecan pastries you really like from the kitchen. You know ones that Head Cook denies you?” Aarav swore he saw drool leak out of the corner of the man’s mouth. Woah, I had no idea this was one of my superpowers! Aarav leaned back and relished the moment he got Haemish to spill.

“You lied to me. You told me you didn’t know what the symbols were no your status. I know that it should not bother me because you obviously did not know if you could trust us at the time. Considering the form of our initial engagement. But for some reason, it truly bothers me, more than I can comprehend or surmount.” Haemish raised a hand to forestall Aarav’s protestation. “No point in defending your actions, you had good reason, and I know that. I need to sit with this myself and work through it. It is not you. It is me.” So some phrases really do transcend time and space and language.

Aarav just nodded in respect to the man’s wishes and continued their earlier conversation. “So you think I can pass for a cupid? I have the wings? That’s a type of fairy, right?”

“What on Blore is q pid?” Haemish asked confusion plastered all over his face. “You really are in an odd mood today, saying words I do not understand in the slightest.” Haemish’s had improved considerably, seeming more like himself in the few minutes since confessing. Aarav was happy to see that his initial language-related deception had not dampened Haemish’s friendliness towards him.

“Nothing, just something in a dream I had.” That was becoming a common excuse. Hopefully, it wouldn’t stick too much. They might think him a seer or some nonsense like that.

“You have very odd dreams, do you know that?” Haemish said, chuckling at the absurdity. Aarav brushed it off. “To answer your question, yes, you could probably pass for a fairy. You would need to adjust some of your proportions. At the moment, you look like a baby that ate too many pastries.”