Boren smiled again, a little wider than before. I can’t believe I get to show Aarav my room and everything I have worked on. He tried to contain his glee, but it was just overwhelming him at this stage. No way he was going to miss this chance. After all, the guy had saved his life and shown him the city in a whole new way! How could he not want to show Aarav what he could do as well? He wasn’t just a burden, and he would prove it with this.

He quickly moved through the now very familiar corridors and past doorways. There was the tapestry with the battle of the five kingdoms. Down that corridor was his parents' room if you took another left at the end. Then there was- “Boren, slow down, I can’t keep up with you, and these corridors are confusing!” Aarav’s call stopped his internal thoughts as he looked confusedly at the Slime. Confusing? How can these corridors be confusing? They were so easy to navigate, this tapestry or that door with the mark in the corner, then the curved hallway and then that was the corridor with five doors. So easy! He wouldn’t say that to Aarav, though. He didn’t want the Slime to feel like he was dense. The guy had saved his life after all! That would be a disappointing way to repay him, wouldn’t it?

“Oh, okay!” Boren said over his shoulder, again finding it difficult to keep the excitement he felt from bleeding into his voice. “It’s just up here!” They kept speed walking, with Aarav lagging a little to Boren's annoyance, but then the creature was only a foot tall. Anything that size would be hard-pressed to keep up with a regular-sized human.

They continued to walk through the corridors of the northern part of the palace, now both his walking buddies, trailing him. They were too slow! Time was a-wasting! Eventually, they reached the door to Boren’s room which had a large bear carving on the front. Actually, it wasn’t just any bear. It was, in fact, Ursa the Blind, and she looked majestic in her glory. Now Boren could understand more about why his door was carved with Ursa’s image. She was the elemental of Earth. While he would eventually learn to harness and control the others to a lesser degree, he knew Earth would be his main element. Hence the comforting presence of Ursa.

Boren was in the process of opening the door when he heard Aarav’s sharp intake of breath, and he rounded the last corner. That was not the reaction Boren had expected, though also not uncommon. After everything the Slime and he had been through, he was under the impression that nothing could faze him. When Boren looked back to see what Aarav had gasped at, he saw the door itself that had caught the Slime’s eye, not the room beyond.

“Impressive, isn’t it? Some of the woodworkers in town are really great at what they do! And when they heard it was for the palace, they got really excited to I think they did an even better job than normal!” Boren said, also appreciating the workmanship of the door.

“Ye-yeah, that’s one word for it. Impressive.” Aarav said hesitantly, then he visibly mastered himself and said, “it is incredibly detailed craftsmanship for sure.” Boren nodded at his assessment. The individual furs of the bear could be seen in the depiction, and Boren could stare at it for hours at a time. When he was younger and couldn’t do any of the combat training, he now pursued it had been a little bit of solace in an otherwise dreary life.

Another servant passed them on her way back from the King’s rooms. “Prince, I was hoping to see you here! And with some friends!” She looked at Aarav and Ordric with a smile. Surprisingly, Ordric seemed to redden a little under his uniform. Hmm, why is he going red? Is it hot here? I don’t feel hot, but he is wearing a thick military uniform. Maybe that makes the difference? Boren noted that Aarav was smirking at the guard and Boren’s confusion grew a little more. People could be so odd at times. “Young prince, do you need anything? Can I get you some food or anything to drink? Perhaps for your guests?”

Boren smiled again at the woman, she was one of the regulars in the royal quarters of the palace, and like all the others, she doted on Boren. Boren just wanted to be treated like an adult! But it was too much to hope for with these people. Therefore he had let it go a while ago. “Yes, please, Pasha! We will have some drinks and food, you know best! Thank you! Oh, and if we are not here, then we will be with Mr Haemish!” Boren then continued into the room, and Pasha continued on her way. As soon as he was far enough away, Boren heard the telltale whoosh of her picking up speed. He was one of the slowest people in the palace he knew, other than Aarav, of course. Otherwise, no one would be able to get anywhere in this place. No one could afford to take twenty minutes from the kitchens to his rooms. It would simply be a colossal waste of time.

For now, he had no choice but to accept his lack of movement speed. Soon that would change. Very soon, if he had his way. “Okay, come on! We have delayed long enough!” very quickly, they were into Boren’s sitting room. It was a modest size, not like the one his parents had, but it was nice enough for him. Plush chairs and sofas furnished the room, with a few tables and ornamental decorations on a mantel above a sizable fireplace.

“You can sit here if you like, Ordric. We won’t be long!” Boren said to the guard. He simply nodded, not really interested in playtime. Boren knew his thinking and was not keen on sharing his work with someone he didn’t know or trust yet.

Off the sitting room were two bedrooms, one for him and one for any friends or guests he had. I wish I had cause to use it. He had never had anyone stay there. An idea popped into his head, but he squashed it down before it had time to fully flower. There was also a tiny kitchen for meals if he wanted them prepared there when he was hungry and a room off to the side where Boren had fun projects he enjoyed working on. Haemish wasn’t the only one that enjoyed tinkering!

“Over here! It will only take a minute, I promise!” Boren’s mood ratcheted up another notch as they approached what had been his playroom when younger. Now, it contained his various projects and assignments from his lessons. It was also the room where his tutors did his private lessons since he couldn’t attend the Academy. “Here it is!”

Boren presented his piece de resistance; many bars of various metals were arranged on the table. Different types but all the same size and shape. Boren brought forward a miniature hammer to strike at the materials. “Okay, listen to this!” Boren then raised the hammer up and tapped the pieces of metal, each one emitted a hum, but they were all at a different pitch. “Do you see?” Aarav shook his head, he seemed a little underwhelmed, and Boren’s excitement dimmed slightly, but he pushed on. “The density of each material is different, and that is why they make different sounds! Do you understand? And with the shape and form the same, the sound can tell us what the material is and its density! It is a way for mining teams to learn what metals are available in a specific area of a mine or if there is even any mining point!” Boren’s voice had gained momentum until, in the end, he was almost tripping over his tongue to get the words out.

“But I don’t understand how that is helpful. Can’t people just use identification skills to see what materials are in the stone around them?” Aarav asked like it was no big deal.

“Are you kidding me? Do you know how rare skills like that are? Maybe one in ten thousand people has something like that, and even then, they might not apply to the circumstance! Sometimes I forget that you don’t know things like that. Anyway, this isn’t the only thing I have been experimenting with. There is also this!” Boren brought Aarav over to another desk that had the feel of the Alchemical lab, just on a smaller scale.

“This is what I am most proud of.” Boren’s breathing had grown faster and deeper until he was almost hyperventilating. “This is a secret, so you have to promise me that you will not tell a soul about this!” Ok, so you know how our souls are responsible for holding all of our stats and abilities and other stuff, right?” Boren nodded patiently and waited to hear more.