For Vorfahr’s sake, why would anyone just attack a random monster they don’t know about when blue mages exist!

“Yoddha, you fool!” The staff-wielder shouted. At least one of them is thinking.

“If you had waited, we could have ambushed it with spells first!”

I take it back. I’m surrounded by idiots. Murderous idiots. Wait, are these the murder hobos father always talked about?

“Too late! Smash time!” The orc charged at me, smashing his greatshield against me.

I let my mana run through me once more, then expanded my cloud-coat to cushion the blow. I was sent flying towards the side of the crater, towards the side with the rogue. My weight left the ground with my expanded cloud-fur, and I rose out of the crater.

“My turn!” The rogue leaped onto me, and grabbed at my cloud-fur. He hacked at it with his dagger, inching closer to my body as he cut off the fur.

I released what little charge I had around me, hoping to catch the rogue in it. They detected the buildup first, and released their grip before I could release the shock.

As I rose into the air, the mage charged a spell, and the archer loosed an arrow at me. The arrow barely penetrated my cloud, and stuck itself into my thigh with a thunk.

I won’t last much longer. I don’t know what that mage is charging, but I doubt I’ll survive it, and I don’t have enough combat forms to spare. My mind raced as I tried to think of a way out of this mess. I’m not maneuverable enough in the air to avoid it. I can’t counter it with a bolt spell in time. Can I convince them I’m human somehow?

The only tool I have is my space alignment right now. What can I phase out that would convince them? A mana crystal would work, but it’s not obvious enough to notice. Dirt or trees are obvious, but they might not understand the implications from that. Damn it, I should have thought of this before now. There’s only one object in my subspace that’s big and obvious enough to work. Forgive me, Rhannu.

I phased Rhannu’s shed out of my subspace, and let it crash to the ground. The archer was the first to notice.

“Guys, wait! Something’s wrong!”

“What?” The mage yelled as she released her spell. It was too late to stop it. A violet orb manifested around me. At first I felt nothing, then an immense pressure weighed upon me, and I was sent crashing down.

The gravity spell didn’t kill me, but it would have if not for the cushioning cloud around me. I felt my bones crack, and yelped out in pain, coughing up blood with my anguish. The goat would be feeling that soon. Again, sorry little guy.

“It’s not a monster! Why would a monster have a shed?” The archer yelled.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s space aligned or something.” The rogue countered, brandishing his knife.

“But it tried to shock you! It wouldn’t have two alignments.”

“Baa” I painfully affirmed.

The rogue looked down on me, and frowned. “Baa twice if you can understand us.”

“You… Suck.” I groaned.

“Ah, crap.” The mage released her gravity field, and the weight upon me lifted.

“So no killing?” The orc frowned.

“No, you bloody idiot.” The ranger scolded him. “Are you alright? That was quite a fall, there. Can you stand?”

I got my legs under me, and lifted myself up, only to collapse again when a sharp pain in my front legs and chest forced me to the ground.

“I guess not.” The bow-woman frowned. “Can you heal on your own?”

I shook my head. I can transform again and ignore the injuries, but the goat will die if I’m not healed.

“Dustin, give them a potion.” The bowman ordered.

The rogue, Dustin I presume, narrowed his eyes. “They’re 5,000 gold each. That’s more than we’ve made all day.”

“Dustin, now.”

“Tsk.” Dustin reached into his sack and pulled out a vial with a deep red liquid with it. “Open your mouth”.

I obliged, and they poured the mixture of blood, life, and bone mana down my gullet. My legs and inside sizzled as it worked its magic, and within a few minutes, I was healed.

Dustin crossed his arms. “There, you’re fine now. I hope you’re happy.”

“Don’t be rude. It was our mistake, so we had to fix it.” The ranger stated as a matter of principle. “Anyways, what are you doing out here alone?”

I couldn’t respond in goat form, and I didn’t want to transform into Rhannu just to answer the question. It’s likely just the monster voice talking, but I don’t trust them or myself enough to take Rhannu’s form outside of a mana well.

“Can’t answer, or just don’t want to?” The rogue glared.

“Their business is their business. Come on, guys. We’ve still got a few hours of daylight left to recoup our losses.” The ranger turned, and simply walked away. The rest of the group followed.

I stared at the wreckage where the shed crashed to the ground. It was covered in mud and ash, and shattered beyond repair. Rhannu has enough spare wood to build another, but… I shouldn’t have broken this in the first place. I need a better way of proving my humanity.

Sorry, Rhannu.

---

I floated off in search of another oil toad to hunt, and came across another bubbly patch of oil. I waited by it for an entire hour, but it refused to come out.

I’m too impatient to wait here doing nothing. I could blow them up, but I don’t trust myself to hit it from afar, and don’t want to get caught in the blast again. I could try to shift into the Oleum Rubeta I already killed and dive in after them, but if I fail, my subspace’s exit portal would remain where I entered. Right in the middle of its oil burrow.

What other options do I have? I don’t think my Spiderilla form will be able to fish it out of its hole, and using a D rank to kill an E rank would go against the idea of coming here for training. The only other forms I have are Rhannu, a few non-monsters, the water-breathing Polypus, and…

The Giant Ostean Flytrap. Would that work? I know the scent it produces changes slightly to fit the tastes of the one smelling it, but the question is whether or not the toad can smell at all through the oil. The first Oleum Rubeta attacked me from inside of its oil, so it must have some senses that can penetrate, but I’m not sure which ones would work. It’s worth a shot, at least.

I shifted into the Flytrap’s form a few steps outside of the toad’s burrow, but kept my mouth closed. I’ll likely only have one shot at this, so I have to make it count.

---

Thirty minutes passed before my preparations were complete. I opened my mouth, and infused my saliva’s scent with mana. As it wafted through the air, I began to see the landscape it touched in vague shapes. It flowed through the air quickly, but slowed significantly as it penetrated through the oil, and stopped where it touched the ground. There were a few pockets of bugs in the air, but I paid them no mind as they came into me of their own volition. My target was there, in the oil. I can feel it sitting at the bottom of its pool, resting until nightfall.

But the beast stirred from its slumber. A scent so delectable, so tantalizing, it could not resist beckoned to it. It swam up its pool slowly, searching around for predators. But all that was there was a plant. What could it have to fear? They’d burned down what little plant life existed before in these swamp lands. Why would this one be different? The poor fool.

It rose from its pool, hopping over towards me. It was within reach of my vines, but still, I waited. It came within my neck’s reach, but still, I waited. Finally, when it peered its miserable little head down my gullet, I snapped my jaws down onto it. But it was fast, fast enough to bring its hands to either side to defend itself, fang against claw. As it struggled to hop back, I wrapped my vines around it. From here, its fate is sealed.

I manifested the space bolt I had been so patiently preparing. With its face directly in front of my jaw, there was no escape. It took the spell head-on.

The creature bent, twisted, expanded, but never broke. When the spell finished, the Oleum Rubeta slouched, no longer able to support its frame with its mangled limbs. It stared helplessly at me, and wheezed in agony. I didn’t need a mind bridge to know its thoughts. “Do it. Eat me. End me.”

I smiled a toothy, devilish grin. “Thank you for the meal.”