JAK --

Jak!

"Hmm?" I opened my eyes and blinked and rubbed away at the fog left from sleeping.

I sat up to see Tesla sitting at the foot of the bed. Back to her original small size. "What's going on?" I rubbed at my eyes again, thinking I wasn't quite awake yet, but nothing changed.

Watch.

Tesla jumped to the ground and sat down. I watched as she increased in size, getting larger until her head was on my shoulder level. She stood up and walked in a circle.

See! I got a perk from my Slime Body skill. It's called [Transmute Mass].

"Wow, That's amazing!" I said as I scratched her behind the ears. She pushed her head into my chest. I checked her Stratum to see the perk and see what it changed.

Name: Tesla

Level: 1

Race: Pictis(Mimic Slime Variant)

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 7

Intellect: 15

Wisdom: 8

Skills:

Bonded Companion - Level 27 - [Bonded Communication]

Camouflage - Level 9

Jumping - Level 5

Running - Level 10

Shapeshifting - Level 22 - [Forms]

Slime Body - Level 21

[Transmute Mass] - Mass can be changed to energy or energy to mass. Maximum energy stored in your body is limited by the level of Slime Body. Energy can also be used to repair damage to your body, but this expends energy and must be recovered through food consumption.

Storage - Level 8

Thievery - Level 4

"That's amazing! It can even heal you." I scratched her head again and looked back at the Stratum. "What are you doing to level up your Thievery, though?"

S...Stealing food. But not a lot! Last night I took what I needed to hit level 21!

Tesla had drooped a bit when I asked. I laughed as I wrapped my hands around her large neck. "That's probably the best way to level it up since you won't get in trouble. Please be careful." I heard as much as felt her start purring. She enjoyed having the ability to purr to express herself to others and kept it in her base form.

Tesla sat up, pulling me with her. "Woah! You're strong too. I thought you'd have trouble lifting me with your strength so low."

I'm increasing my muscle size and density. As my strength gets higher, my muscles will become more efficient too.

"Maybe you could carry me around once you get a little bigger."

Tesla nudged me back onto the bed and shrunk down and sat on the bed.

Ooooh, I bet I could! But let's go outside and practice more. You're getting close to getting a perk in strategy, tactics, and cooking!

"You only love me for my cooking." I said as I got up to get dressed for the day.

I love you AND your food, dummy.

"I was considering going to Athena's house before dinner and seeing if I could help to get those last two levels I need." I mused aloud.

--

We grabbed food on our way out and ate it while sitting in the grass. I used my Wind Manipulation to stop Tesla from stealing my toast. Eventually, I gave in and used the ability to toss her torn up pieces, and she jumped and ran all over for them.

I settled in to continue reading my book, "A Treatise on the Wars of Rune." But to help Tesla with her thievery skill, I set up a plate of food I was 'guarding,' and she was supposed to try to steal from without my noticing.

It was a challenge for me. The hardest part was actually reading my book. I managed to stop her about half the time with a well-timed cushion of air. Just before we stopped for lunch, I caught her nicking from the plate too late. She was stuffing mushrooms and bread into her pouch storage, and I had an idea.

"Tesla," She jumped, and it made me laugh, seeing her hair stand up on end as she hopped up a foot into the air. We had been doing this in silence to practice for the trip outside town.

I thought I had it!

"You pretty much did. I just thought of something as I saw you tossing stuff into your pouch." She bounded over and jumped into my lap. "Would you be able to carry stuff for us? Like our camping gear, potions, food. Those kinds of things?"

I can't think of any reason I couldn't. Could we test it?

"That's exactly what I was thinking." I grabbed her and held her up so she could sit on my shoulder. We headed inside to my room. The corner held a few piles of things we would need on the trip. I sat on the floor next to the crates of potions. The plan wasn't to take everything at once since we would be completing Jobs from the adventuring boards at The End.

Tesla increased her size by double until she was the size of a Felisian. I handed her a health potion, and she slipped it into the pouch. "Try running around the room, and changing size even more. Go slow, though. I don't want you to get hurt."

Tesla stepped back and shrunk herself down slowly.

I don't feel any changes at all.

She decreased her size until she was back to her original size, this was her minimum as far as I knew. She pulled out the healing potion, and it was the same size.

"That will be handy," I said as she increased her size again. "Let me grab a couple eggs, and we can try something else." I ran to the kitchen and grabbed two eggs before running back to my room.

"Try putting both of these in storage and then run around. Hopefully they won't break." Tesla looked at the eggs hungrily and licked her mouth before popping both into her pouch storage. She ran around and jumped off the bed, she increased and decreased her size. Nothing she did had any effect on the eggs.

I have one more thing I want to try.

Tesla ran out of the room, and I followed her. I caught a glimpse of her jumping out a window, and I headed out the door. When I came out, I could see her climbing up a tree just as fast as she could run along the ground. She ran along a branch right in front of where I was standing, and she jumped.

Incoming!

She hit the dirt, and I watched her form spread out onto the ground to absorb the impact before popping back up unharmed. She ran over and pulled out two pristine eggs.

Not a crack on either one. I don't think I could do anything to the things in storage, no matter how hard I tried.

"I think you're right. Can we see how much you can hold? You can eat the eggs." I laughed as she grabbed the eggs and popped them into her mouth. After she finished, she climbed up my clothes and sat on my shoulder.

Let's go!

A short time later and we came to the conclusion that Tesla could hold around 4 cubic feet of items, and the weight didn't matter as long as she could get it into the pouch. But since she could increase her size, it didn't matter anyway.

"This is going to help us so much!" I scooped Tesla up and scratched her neck as she purred. "You can show off to Athena and her parents tonight. Speaking of her parents. I should go and try to find them to see about helping."

Lunch first!

--

The walk to Norrin's work was different. The weather was excellent, and it was pleasant enough to take my time. At least, it was until we came across a group of humans leading a line of Fauns, Ogres, and Kitsune through the gate and into town. Each Demi-Human had their hands bound tight to their necks, and a rope threaded through a loop on their backs that continued through each other harness in the chain.

I watched as they all kept their heads down and tried not to fall to the rope's staggered pull. They barely made it inside before moving through a large doorway and out of sight. My mood dropped drastically. These people I've met and become friends with are great. I sighed. These bigoted humans are to blame.

Before I knew it, I was standing at the gate of the farm where I first met Norrin. I rang the bell and waited. Rul opened the gate and stepped right outside and looked at me.

"I'm here to speak to Norrin." I unabashedly pointed to Tesla and looked back at the large Ogre man. He nodded and held up a hand. Assuming he wanted me to wait, I nodded and moved to the side. He stepped back in, and I started playing with Tesla. Launching food using Wind Manipulation and having her chase it down was quickly becoming a game we played often.

Not too much later, and Norrin stepped out with a surprised expression on her face. She stepped up and bowed to me. "What can I do for you, Young Master Jak?"

I quietly responded while gesturing to Tesla, who had climbed back up my shoulder. "I'd like to help cook dinner if it is possible. I've been leveling the skill and would like all the practice I can get."

Norrin bowed again as two Humans passed by riding on a pair of Sooli. I handed Tesla to her, and she scratched her head before fishing out a small stack of the cookies Tesla liked out of a pocket. "I would like that, Young Master Jak. Would you mind waiting?"

I hesitated for a moment, I wasn't sure where she wanted me to wait. Trying to keep her out of trouble by limiting our speech to the appropriate public conversation was confusing. "I don't mind in the slightest," I responded.

"Head down the road and take the first left past the fences. You are looking for a house with a yellow door. You can wait in the garden." She bowed again and handed Tesla back to me. "Good day, Young Master Jak."

She turned to go back to the gate, and I caught her gaze as I started to walk away. She gave me a wink before slipping back inside. I halfway smiled before reigning it in. "I get the feeling she likes acting." I said quietly to Tesla while we followed the direction Norrin gave us.

She is a very smart person.

"You just like the cookies!" I said with a snort. "Let me have the rest of the cookies."

You wouldn't like them, they don't taste good.

"We'll use them to play with, you can still eat them." I whispered.

Fiiiine, I guess.

Tesla moved down my arm, and I moved my hand closer to a pocket where she deposited the cookies.

It was a quick walk to the turn Norrin indicated, and from here, the houses started getting smaller. I guessed that the houses lining the fence of the Sooli farm were all for the staff and slaves that worked there.

Three houses down, and we got to what I knew as a ranch style home with a bright yellow door. It was all one floor and had a gently sloping roof. It was probably half the size of our house. I walked up to the house and saw a gate to the left that led around back. I stepped through the gate and into the hedged back yard to see an open space with a decent-sized garden.

The garden was taking up most of the space, and what little was left was a small sitting area with hand-carved chairs that looked like they could fold down for storage. I sat in a chair, and Tesla moved into my lap.

I was quiet for a while. "This makes me both terribly sad and incredibly mad at the same time. Norrin is a vaunted tamer and animal handler. And Antragus is both a great warrior and a respected caravan driver. And yet they get stuck here in this small house with this tiny garden."

"Lena and Arterian's house is twice as big, and their garden is five times as large, and the only person that works in Lena."

What would you do?

I thought about it for a minute. "I'd remove the royalty, change the laws, and free all the slaves. Norrin and Antragus do have a home, and they don't look like they are mistreated. But the hiding, bowing, and scraping doesn't feel fair. They contribute to society. They aren't less than a person."

Tesla purred under my hand and looked up to me. You are a kind person, Jak. I'm glad I met you.

I smiled at my friend and companion. "I'm glad I met you too." I breathed slowly for a bit before asking. "Are you ready for some cookies?"

--

I ended up slicing the cookies into quarters using a stationary wind blade to make them last longer. We played catch with some of the quarters. I hid some pieces too, but they never seemed to stay hidden for long. Once we ran out of cookies, I started practicing making platforms again. I could hold Tesla up easily, so it quickly turned into a jumping game. I led Tesla around the garden and onto the roof, then back down to the ground a couple of times before Norrin came around the corner. I stood up when I saw her.

She looked at me with admiration as I made the last few platforms necessary to get Tesla onto my shoulder. "How old are you, Jak? " She gestured to the seats I just stood up from, and we both sat down.

"I'm 17, though I did have a birthday coming up."

"You look young for a human, I'd have guessed 17 or 18. But, Jak, you don't act like you are 17. You give off the feeling of someone many years older with your calm and respect for others." Norrin continued.

I shrugged, "I had to grow up fast back home. Did Athena or Wisham tell you anything about me?" She shook her head, so I continued. "I didn't know my parents. My parents were never married, and my mother gave me up for adoption after birth, so I was stuck in various childcare systems. Most often, it was group homes, but occasionally it was foster homes. I had to take care of myself from a very early age, and it kind of skews your perspective. I was always the small one, so I often was picked on or bullied. I spent much of my time reading and distancing myself from the other children."

"Wisham said you didn't balk at anything he said or did. The only thing that affected you was the Skuld, but he did say that was his fault for putting you in the situation."

I raised my eyebrows in mild surprise, "Did he?"

Norrin laughed lightly, "Okay, no, he didn't. Athena was the one that said it was his fault. She said he put you into the position without even checking if you had fought anything before."

"Yeah, but I'm fine now. And I'm working to not make that situation happen the same way."

"That attitude is precisely what I was talking about. You don't blame Wisham, at least openly. You are taking it into your hands to make things happen the way you want them to. That is admirable and not at all like the majority of humans on this plane. I am glad that you and Athena will be taking care of each other, it brings me a sense of calm to have you fighting by her side."

Me too!

Tesla stood up and jumped to Norrin's lap. "Oh yes, and I can't forget about you, Tesla."