“Are you sure you aren’t just showing off?” Caroline asked suspiciously.

After Alanna had accepted their Request, Thio had grabbed Caroline by the hand and Transported them out of the Guild Hall. In front of everyone to see. Being able to use magic of that sort must have created quite a stir in Guild after they left.

“Why would I need to show off?” Thio replied in his most innocent sounding voice, stepping forward on the grassy hill.

She gave him a long, disbelieving stare.

He had transported them just outside the north city gate. There were grassy hills surrounding them, and a extra-wide cobblestone road winding between them with heavy traffic. Thio had taken out a map and a compass, the map had been marked with the location of the Slypas, and was following it.

Caroline ran to catch up with him, while rolling her eyes. It was clear he hadn’t liked how Alanna had treated him. Rather than argue with her, he used action to prove his superiority.

Well, whatever. They were both being silly. Thio should have let her deal with the front desk, but instead he barged in like he’d owned the place. And Alanna should have been polite to a new person. Since they were both determined to be unpleasant, she didn’t feel sorry for either of them.

Usually she’d be more sympathetic to Thio, as she was never shy about favoring him. But she was feeling resentful about how he’d pushed her around with the Requests and tried to make her pick weeds. Even though Slypa were better, they were only slightly better. Since it was Doctor’s orders Caroline couldn’t outright complain, but she wasn’t above sulking and pouting about the perceived injustice of it all.

It didn’t take them long to find the Slypa infestation. Besides there being Beginner Adventurers already there, it was always really obvious when Slypa had taken up residence in a place.

Firstly, Slypa secreted a poison that got into the soil and mutated nearby plants. These plants were bigger and uglier than their base forms. If an area was left mutated too long it attracted stronger monsters, so it was important to get rid of the mutated plants as well as the Slypa.

Secondly, most of the monsters who ate the mutated plants died from the poison in them. Once their corpses were good and rotten, the Slypa would eat them. If there were no corpses, the Slypa would just eat plants, regular and mutated. Give a Slypa enough time, or have enough in one place, and they’d eat an area clean of flora and fauna.

As to the Slypa themselves… they were oval balls of goo with two eyes sitting on top of wobbly stalks popping out of their head (or where she thought the head might be). They reminded her a bit of slugs, but also of a creature she’d seen in a game called a slime. (The only reason she remembered the name was by association: Slypa left a trail of slime and she remembered the game monster was named after slime.) The difference is that slime were usually cute and round, and Slypa were ugly and googly eyed.

As they got closer, Caroline eyebrows rose.

“I thought this was a minor infestation?”

Thio was just as puzzled. Much of the hill was covered in mutated plants already. Other monsters had already been attracted to the place, their rotting corpses could be seen here and there. Some were already covered in Slypa, their bodies half eaten. With the constant influx of Adventurers killing them, the Slypa should not have affected the area to such a degree.

He hesitated. “Perhaps we should go back and repo—”

“Ah!” She grabbed his arm. “Let’s do that after clearing the Slypa and mutated plants. This is bad enough that leaving it like this could quickly turn disastrous for the Beginners.”

Caroline absolutely didn’t want to go back yet. Even if she was embarrassed to kill Slypa, it was better than nothing. If Thio decided to go back now, she was sure there’d be no adventuring at all for the rest of the day, or worse, he’d insist on weed collecting again.

Thio looked into her face and saw her pleading, wistful eyes. He immediately gave in. It was just Slypa after all, they couldn’t even bite.

“I suppose you’re right.” He finally conceded.

“Hurrah!” She pumped her fist excitedly and leap forward, running in a sprint.

“Hey!” Thio called out in alarm. When Caroline ran, she didn’t go by halves. She was already a good distance from him. Sighing again, he jogged to catch up with her.

Caroline had already starting pulling on one of the first infected plants she found. Luckily her new armor came with a pair of flexible but sturdy gloves that were resistant to thorn punctures and most poisons. When her tug did nothing, she took out a short knife from her travel pouch and hacked away at it until only a long stump remained. She grabbed what was left of the plant and pulled again.

And pulled some more. Sweat broke out on her forehead. After several more attempts she stopped and stared at the infected stalk in confusion.

Infected plants were usually weak and had a lose grasp on the soil. Getting rid of them was something anyone with a respectable amount of muscle could do. With her current strength, she shouldn’t have a problem pulling one out.

As she stood there wondering what had gone wrong, Thio caught up to her. He was breathing heavily and cast an Endurance Boost on himself.

“Is it not coming out?” He asked, having watched her efforts.

She nodded and scratched her head. “It shouldn’t be this difficult. Maybe another one?”

Walking over to a smaller, thinner plant she tried again. Even with both hands and feet firmly apart and tugging with all her might, this plant wouldn’t come out either.

Frustrated her efforts weren’t working, she kicked it.

“Has the infection mutated, perhaps?” Thio pondered aloud. That didn’t happen often, but it did happen.

“Hm, you might be right…”

“I’ll check.”

Thio cast Information and got:

NAME:

Long Brush

TYPE:

Northern Grassland Plant

STATUS:

[Infected]

[Fractured]

AFFECTS:

- [Infected] Weak Attract Monsters

- [Infected] Weak Poison

- [Infected] Weak Target Recovery Reduction

- [Fractured] Strengthen [Infected]

- [Fractured] Strengthen [All Reductions]

- [Fractured] Accelerate [Poison]

- [Fractured] Accelerate [Mutations]

“Holy sh—” Caroline cursed as she read the list next to him. “What’s this ‘fracture’ thingy? That’s not normal is it?”

“It’s not normal but I’ve never seen it before either…” Thio looked around and started casting Information on the plants nearby. Three out of five plants he picked out at random had the additional “fracture” status. As he did the calculations in his head, he got more and more worried.

Raising his hand, he cast Transport Item and retrieved his Mage’s Staff from work.

“Since when did you own a mace?” Caroline asked in confusion when she saw what he was holding.

Her question was perfectly understandable. It looked like a fancy ten sided mace, with an extra long handle and a leather grip in the center. Carvings with small gems could be seen running up to the top of the handle and on the very tip of the mace was small black gem.

“It’s my Mage’s Staff.”

“…how?!”

He laughed. “It doesn’t happen often, but when enemies get close I like to have a weapon to hit them with. Wood is fine, but metal is better, and maces are best.”

“Oh…! Why didn’t you bring it to begin with?”

“I didn’t think I’d need it.”

“But now you do?”

“Yes. Something is wrong here. I’d rather not be caught unprepared.”

She walked over and got a closer look at his staff. “It looks so cool! You should have shown it to me sooner!”

“I didn’t know you’d be interested.”

“Why wouldn’t I be interested? Even if I can’t use it, I’ve never seen one before...”

“Ah, I guess I’m so use to them I forget they’re not normal to most people. Would you like to see the other ones I own?”

“You have more?!”

“Yes. Except for the first one that is issued by the military, I made all the other ones. I keep them in my office.”

“Ooooh! I wanna see, I wanna see!”

He chuckled at her enthusiasm.

“What’s a Mage’s Staff do exactly anyway? I’ve seen you use magic without one so…”

“I can use magic without it, but my reach is limited and I’m drawing mana directly from myself when I do it that way.”

“I-is that so?”

Seeing her uncertain face, he kindly explained, “Mage’s Staffs decrease cast time, absorb and store surrounding mana for later use, increases spell reach and stabilizes spell power so it doesn’t lose impact on distant targets. A lot of Mages also include defense shields to protect against physical and magical attacks when we’re casting. The effectiveness of any of these qualities is determined based on materials used to make the Staff and the person enchanting it.”

Her eyes rounded. “Wow… that sounds really useful! Why doesn’t everyone use one?”

“Expensive to build. And to make it yourself, you need a high mana affinity and talent.”

“…oh… that makes sense then…”

“I believe there are Magicians in the Guild, yes? I’m told they use wands. They’re cheaper and easier to make, but their effects are obviously much weaker. ”

Caroline thought and then nodded slowly. Other than in the big cities, Magicians were pretty rare. You needed to know how to read and have enough money to buy/trade for spells. She could count on one hand how many Magicians she’d seen actually fight. Her Party was a muscle-fest so they never depended on magic…

Now that she thought on it, Magicians did have sticks with them. Did those classify as wands? Her mind wandered to a character with a scar on his forehead and she felt disappointed. The wands here weren’t anywhere near as fancy. No wonder she hadn’t noticed.

She shook off the disappointment and asked, “So if you brought your Staff here, does that mean you need to do some long range magic?”

“Exactly. I’m going to copy the Information from these places and take back a sample to the Institute too. Then I’m going to destroy as much of this stuff as I can… you were right, this isn’t normal and it isn’t safe leaving it the way it is.”

She tilted her head, eyes bright. “Ho ho! I’ve never seen you do attack magic, how exciting! Don’t let me stop you!” She clapped her hands and walked over to him. “This all right? I don’t want to get in your way.”

Thio gave a nod and then suddenly felt nervous. It’s not like he was doing anything he hadn’t done before, but having Caroline watch made him think he needed to put on a show to impress her.

He placed his Staff in front of him and began quietly murmuring a string of spells. Sparks flew off the gems and jewels in the Staff, creating a small light show. Caroline “Oh”ed and “Ah”ed happily at the fireworks, completely unaware that the pyrotechnics weren’t necessary.

Thio blushed slightly at his success, then he chastised himself for being silly and got down to business.

Glittering strings began flow out of his Staff and wrapped themselves around infected plants. By the time the strings stopped moving, it looked like a giant spider’s web had wrapped itself around everything nearby. Starting from the Staff, the strings began flicker with fire, spreading out to the very edges.

Much of what the “fire web” touched withered and died instantly under the heat, but those things with the Fracture status remained. Frowning, Thio modified the spell, strengthening the flame until it turned blue-white. He continued modifying the spell, adding or taking away various effects, until the Fractured plants disintegrated. It’s purpose complete, the fire web shattered into a wisps of smoke.

There was silence for a moment and then Caroline burst into applause.

“Oh my god, that was amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it!”

Despite the intensity of the fire, the surroundings untouched by the web weren’t even singed. What normal plant life that had survived the Slypa poison was completely unharmed.

“I-I’m glad you liked it.” Thio sputtered, ears red and then cleared his throat. “Let’s circle around the bottom of the hill and work our way up.”

“Ok! What about the Slypas though?” She pointed to some that were still absorbing a corpse. “I’m pretty sure I can kill them.”

Thio frowned slightly and then his face brightened with an idea.

“Hold still a moment.” He then took her hand and began muttering a spell.

“Gah! My feet are on fire!”

And indeed they were. She stamped them in alarm trying to put it out, but obviously this didn’t work.

Chuckling impishly, Thio explained, “It won’t hurt you. The fire will help you kill the Slypas. When you’re done, just clap your hands and say ‘finished’ and the fire will go out.”

Caroline stopped jumping, scowled, and pointed a finger at him in accusation.

“Rude! Warn me next time!”

“My apologies.” He said in a voice that didn’t sound the slightest bit apologetic.

Clucking her tongue, Caroline marched over to a Slypas and took her frustration out on them. With a single stomp, the ugly stalk-y eyed monsters popped like a balloon. They made a hissing sound as their goo-y innards melted into the ground, leaving only their shriveled eyeballs behind.

She stood there for a moment, shocked. Then she tilted her head back, hands on her hips, and laughed evilly. She was reminded of a movie with a big lizard that could shoot beams of energy out of it’s mouth. Roaring, she began stomping on Slypas and cackling like a madman as she went.

Thio raised an eyebrow but, seeing as she was having fun, didn’t interrupt.

They slowly made their way around the hill, Thio casting his modified fire web, and Caroline stomping on Slypas and picking up shriveled eyeballs as evidence (for the Guild). They occasionally met Beginner Adventurer’s, and in those instances, Caroline let them kill the Slypas. The Adventurer’s were just as impressed with Thio’s magic as Caroline had been, and often stopped what they were doing to watch.

They were about midway up the hill when they heard screams of alarm and panic above them. The infected, fractured plants were twice the size of the native plants, so they couldn’t see what was going on.

Before Thio could say anything, Caroline had charged straight into the danger. Furious at her recklessness, he followed with a scowl on his face.

“Caroline, you—” He began to lecture as he came up to her. She turned around and collided with his body, pushing him back into the cursed foliage so fast he felt dizzy. “Wha—?”

“Can you cover my hands in flames?”

“Why would I—?”

“Can you do it!”

“Yes, but—”

“Ok, you need to do that right now.”

“Why—!”

“There’s a King Slime!”

“…a what…?”

“Er! There’s a giant arse Slypa at the top of the hill!” She pointed behind her and up.

He followed where she was pointing and his whole body went stiff. Yes, there was indeed a giant “arse” Slypa. It’s eye stalks could be seen wobbling above the mutated plants. It was, thankfully, looking in the other direction. He hadn’t noticed it because… well, no one expects a Slypa to be towering above anything other than grass.

Grabbing the front of his shirt, she repeated, “Do that spell on my hands!”

His eyes narrowed and he started shaking his head. There was no way he was going to let her charge in there fists first!

“Acanthio Hillsdale Matthews!” She ground her teeth together as she spoke his name in full. “You will set my hands on fire or so help me God—! There are Beginners trapped by that Slypa! If that thing hasn’t killed anyone yet, it’s going to soon! Is that really what you want on your conscience?!”

When she saw his mouth go into a firmer line of defiance, she grabbed his shirt tighter and started shaking him. “I’m not going out there to die a heroic death, you idiot! Who wants “Death by Slypa” on their tombstone?! Not me! I’m just going to distract it, give the Beginners a chance to escape! The one who’s going to kill it is YOU, understand? You kill it!”

There was a tense pause between them, before Thio pursed his lips and gave a slight nod. Relieved, she let him go. He immediately began casting spells on her. Not just the fire spell, but every defensive and counter-curse spell he could think of as well.

She didn’t even seem bothered at the fact that her hands and feet were now on fire. She simply gave a thumbs up with a smile while shouting, “Follow me!” before running off again.

Straightening his shirt, he jogged after her.

Small Slypas were ugly, giant Slypas were uglier. They also stank of rotting flesh. If Thio and Caroline hadn’t been use to smelling monsters of all kinds, they’d have vomited at the stench. As it was, his face went into an even deeper neutral expression and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Caroline had been telling the truth. There were several Beginners running around like the amateurs they were, trying to slice, pierce, and at least one Magician waving a wand (or stick by Caroline’s definition) around and throwing pitable fireballs at it.

At first he couldn’t understand why they were still there, instead of fleeing as any sensible person would do. Then he saw an Adventurer dragging someone away from the battle and understood: the Slypa had somehow landed a hit on one of their party members and they were simply trying to distract the giant goo so they could get their injured friend to safety.

Though Caroline was far weaker than she’d been before, she could still move decently fast when she wanted. She’d already put her brass knuckles on and was hitting the Slypa on it’s side at set intervals. Each hit left a seeping scorch mark on the Slypa.

Even if it was bigger, the Slypa was still as stupid as one would expect from something made of mostly goo. It took several hits from the back before it realized something was hurting it. One woobly stalk turned around and looked for the source of it’s pain.

Caroline waved her hands dramatically to catch it’s attention.

“Hey, slush for brains! Over here!” One of the Slypa’s eyeballs gave a slow, confused blink. Impatient, Caroline gave it several solid kicks while she continued her insults, “You kannigit! You empty-headed food troff! Your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries!”

Thio stared at Caroline, dumbfounded. Exactly what was the point of insulting a Slypa? It’s not like it could understand!

To his absolute amazement, the other eyeball stalk turned around and gave his wife a shivering, rage filled stare.

“What, did I hurt your feelings?” Caroline yelled, running to the other side and kicking it some more. “You were born from a half-sneeze! You’re a sprout, an over-sized phlegm! Snot has more friends than you do!”

Apparently that was the monster’s limit, for it brought one giant eyeball down like a hammer, attempting to squish Caroline where she stood. Fortunately, it was a slow enough swing that she saw it coming and ran to avoid it. She blew a raspberry at it and raised a flaming middle finger (a gesture that only she and the Slypa understood), infuriating it more. Another eyeball came slamming down at her.

The Beginners saw the Slypa was now completely distracted. With a shout of relief, they gathered around their injured partner, lifted him up and immediately hotfooted it out of there. The Magician yelled a parting “thank you” to their saviors as they fled.

Thio had been momentarily distracted by the absurdity of a Slypa feeling insulted, but snapped back to himself at the thud of a giant eyeball crashing into the ground. Raising his Staff slightly, he cast several spells in succession.

He wasn’t sure how strong a Slypa of this size could be, so rather than risk it, he used the most powerful versions of the simplest spells that he knew. First he paralyzed it, then he set it on fire, froze it, and then he lifted it into the air and smashed it into the ground, where it shattered into a million gross ice-y pieces.

Then he set those pieces on fire, eviscerating the last remnants of the monster. Except for one piece; that piece he picked up, wrapped in a piece of cloth, and Teleported (to the Research Institute) with a note attached. Fun was fun, and business was business. There was no way he was letting something this unusual go without studying it later.

Caroline had been watching with silent awe. When the Slypa had hit the ground, the entire hill had been shaken. Probably people within a mile had heard the impact. She’d thought that fire web thing was cool, but watching Thio totally destroy the giant Slypa so quickly had been something else.

After clapping her hands and saying “finished”, Caroline was no longer aflame. She ran over to Thio and grabbed him by waist, lifting him up so that his feet dangled slightly, and spun him around.

“That was amazing! You’re amazing! I’ve never seen anything like that! You’re the Boss! The man! The coolest of the cool!”

When she set him down, he hobbled slightly trying to regain his balance, ears tinged red. There was suddenly a burst of applause around them, and they realized they weren’t alone.

The Beginners still on the hill had naturally heard the screaming too. They came over to see what was wrong, only to find Thio and Caroline already dealing with the giant monster. As Thio had a Mage’s Staff, the decided not to interfere. Even a low rank Mage was going to be stronger than any of them, so they doubted they could help and more likely just get in the way. When he’d set the Slypa on fire, roasting it like an ugly chicken, they’d all been silently thankful they’d stayed out of the way.

They all crowded around, asking who they were and what they were doing there. The Magicians (mostly women) in particular were impressed, giving Thio starry eyed stares of adoration. Hearing them praise Thio’s magic, Caroline puffed out her chest proudly. Wrapping an arm around him possessively, she boasted:

“Isn’t he great? Did you see that fire web stuff too? It was like, phoosh and phwaaa!” She waved a hand around to illustrate. “Oh! With that kind of fancy magic, his old nickname doesn’t really suit, does it? I can see why he doesn’t like it! Hmmm! Let’s go with the Mage King instead! Doesn’t that got some punch? Huh? His old one? Oh, it’s the Ice P—”

Thio, who’d been giving one word responses to questions from his admirers, heard Caroline and panicked. Before she could finish, he bent down and kissed her soundly, shocking their audience into silence.

When he was done, all Caroline could do was manage a giggle and feel weak in the knees.

Seeing the Beginners all staring at him, Thio calmly stated, “I advise going back to the Guild and telling them about the abnormalities here. This area is highly unsafe. If you see other places like this, or know of them already, make sure to let the Guild know that as well. Now, if you’ll excuse us…” He spoke his Transport Spell and vanished. Further astonishing the Adventurers.

It’d been a very professional talk and his blank expression would have almost been enough to make the Beginners think they’d imagined that passionate display of public affection. Except for one thing:

The entire time he spoke, his face was beet red. All the way down to his collar bone.