With the swiftest stroke I’ve ever produced from my sword, I sliced cleanly through the mid-air slime and split its body in two.

It’s been nearly a week now since Viodel and I have been coming to the distant blue-skied land to hunt slimes, and the results of my efforts have already borne fruit!

By the 30th slime, I no longer held the sword awkwardly; I learned where to position it and at what level that position should be. I even started swinging it one-handed, but….that was quickly given up on. It was like the slimes took offense to my overconfidence and became aggressive—I swear I heard one growl at me. The reality was that the sword was heavy, and I was weak, and the slimes were quick, and oh my did it hurt when that slime smacked my sword away and began bouncing my head off the ground like a bouncy ball.

Anyways….by the 60th slime, I was able to predict their movements. It was initially thanks to their repetitive attacks, but even when the slimes started changing their patterns, I still could keep up; my eyesight had improved greatly alongside my reflexes.

At that point, I was sure I could beat a child in a dual. An untrained child, at least….

Viodel had always made sure to remind me that these were indeed slimes I was cutting down. I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me he could detect my happiness. Why? Because he was always there to rip it away from me.

Happy I killed a slime? A child could do the same but do it better.

Improved my sword handling skills? I looked like a chimp spinning a banana.

My reflexes had improved, and I was getting faster? His hand was at my neck, squeezing the life out of me as he laughed maniacally, saying, ‘If you’re so quick, why couldn’t you dodge this then?’

Viodel was a punk. All my homies hated Viodel. Did I have any homies?

….By the 100th slime, in other words, the one that now dissipated into white energy as I absorbed its soul, I gained my first true ability.

[Soul Absorbed]

[Soul Ability Gained: Dissolve- After having consumed a multitude of their souls, your body has become slime-like. You can now produce the same dissolving effect upon command]

This. This was what I was looking for.

“ALRIGHT!” I shouted.

This entire week resulted in nothing outside of my physical improvements. With each soul I absorbed, I either gained a slight increase to my slime resistance—which now sat at a whopping 50%—or I simply absorbed the soul, and nothing came of it.

It became clear to me that not every soul I absorbed would provide me with a skill.

Until this moment, I had been under the belief that only one skill could be obtained, and any further souls absorbed would simply serve to strengthen it or do nothing.

But now, a new line of thought formed in my head.

Two skills could be gained from a soul: The initial one that would grow stronger by absorbing the souls of that same species, and the final one that came after the 100th soul of a species was absorbed.

This idea was only strengthened further as another message popped up in front of me.

[Final Soul Absorbed: 100 souls have now been collected from the SLIME creature; none further can be absorbed. In-depth data has been added to the SLIME’S vision memo]

I’d like to see those disrespectful demons patronize me now! Wanna disrespect me? Catch a dissolve to your face! How you like that, huh? No, please don’t rip my arms off, it was a prank! Just a prank, your face will grow back! No! Aaaahhh!!!

Hmm….maybe I shouldn’t be too rash. They’ll come to acknowledge me soon enough.

I wonder what it meant by in-depth data? I suppose I’d just have to Omni Vision a slime to find out. This was good information, though. 100 souls were the limit of what I could absorb, and two abilities were what I would gain from each species.

Whether one would always be an innate ability like a resistance while the other was an active ability like dissolving stuff, I wasn’t too sure. But I’d love to find out.

As I was caught up in my thoughts, I heard the flapping of wings I’ve come to know as the end of my enjoyment.

“Who told you to wander so far from our usual grounds, you insignificant worm?” Viodel berated from above.

I’ve been called so many things over the course of this week that ‘worm’ felt like a breather from our usual routine.

“Well, was I supposed to wait for the slimes to come to me, you Queen-obsessed mongrel?”

Viodel grunted. “If you believe using my devotion to the Queen to rile me will have any effect then you’re as stupid as I had initially assumed.”

“Hah, your devotion landed you with supervision over her prisoner. Some reward that is.”

“You may be a useful asset to my Queen. Watching over you so you do not squander the opportunity she has given you is no laughable task, you ape.”

“Ahh, I see. Ok, ok. So you’re training your replacement is what I’m hearing. Because, I mean, it’s not as if you could ever match my usefulness to her.”

Oh yeah, that’s right baby. We fight back now. Remember that leverage I discovered before? It was like a blessing from Celine Dion—that was my placeholder name for the goddess I just couldn’t seem to remember the name of. It protected me from, well, death.

While yes, I still suffer a few….brutalities, both in the form of physical and verbal abuse, I’d like to say it was worth it. Call it a toxic relationship, but boy do I love seeing his face fill with rage as he storms over to me with his sword drawn and—wait, no, no! I don’t like it! Viodel, stop!

“Stop, Viodel, I was joking!” I screamed as the enraged demon raised his sword to strike me. He wouldn’t kill me, but he could do some horrendous, non-lethal things.

“No one could ever take your spot next to her! I was joking, I swear!”

My eyes were closed as I expected the worst, but nothing happened. I peeked open an eye to see Viodel grinning like an idiot.

Man, this guy was too easy. Second leverage obtained: You’re a mama’s boy.

“Hmph. As long as you understand, I suppose I could turn an eye to your blunder,” he said as he lowered his glistening sword and sheathed it.

I wanted a sword like that. Not this shabby excuse for a blade that I had. It looked like it could be broken by a gust of wind that was a little too powerful. Though, when our apparel was taken into consideration, our blades suited us finely. His intricately woven, silver crested armour versus my torn tunic that was basically a potato sack, and brown trousers that were basically two potato sacks sewn together.

Yeah….I suppose we could keep this arrangement until I obtained some nicer clothes. Ones that didn’t look like they belonged in a cold-cellar.

With the situation diffused, I stood to match Viodel properly.

“Why are you here so early though?” I asked. “You usually don’t come until the sun has dipped a little.”

He wiped the stupid grin off his face before replying.

“Right, right. I had a purpose in coming here, and it certainly wasn’t to see your face. There seems to be more human activity in these parts lately. More and more slimes have been making their way to the eastern forest. I don’t believe I need to explain the cause of this. We can’t train here any longer; there are many forests that house slimes, so I see no issue with this,” Viodel said.

Oh? How perfect. There was nothing I could gain from slimes anymore anyway.

“No need, Viodel. I actually just absorbed the last soul I’m capable of absorbing from the slimes. It’s about time we move on to something else.”

He tilted his head in confusion.

“Yeah, I just learned about it too. There’s a limit to the souls I can absorb from a single species. I just hit it, so training on slimes any longer would be useless. Get this, though, I got an actual ability from the last slime!” I said cheerfully.

You best believe I was expecting him to steal my joy from me once again and watch as he ate it like a voracious, fun eating….toad.

What? I couldn’t think of anything better, ok?. I’m not Viodel! Stop judging my word choice!

Much to my surprise, Viodel showed genuine content.

“Is that so? I see you may not be entirely incompetent after all. I’m impressed. Let’s not waste any time then; the Queen must know of these developments immediately.”

I felt an unwanted happiness at those words. Oh damn, this really was a toxic relationship. After experiencing the full extent of their abuse, such simple words of approval were like rays of sunlight breaking through the thick, grey clouds. I needed to get out! No more! Not the grooming!

Yeah, no, I’m good. The compliment was a nice change of pace, but it's a little hard to accept it when it came from the mouth of that….snake. Hey, that one was good, right? Maybe I’m not too bad at this after all.

***

As Viodel led me through the corridors of the castle, I realized this place was far more abandoned than I had previously assumed. The first few levels had smatterings of Lesser and Greater Demons—the red and non-human-like grey ones—but once we hit the seventh floor or so, there wasn’t a single soul to be seen.

Occasionally, we’d pass one of those full plated demons who carried the massive great-swords—these were the black-skinned demons who I seldom saw outside of their armor. I didn’t know what ranking they held, though. Viodel and the Queen were Higher Demons, meaning those guys weren’t, but I couldn’t think of another title they could have. If only I had some freedom to explore and analyze those plated behemoths.

The red velvet carpets and torch-lined walls of the corridors led us to grand, spiraling staircases that connected with more corridors. We traversed the castle this way, passing through empty hall after empty hall.

At the end of all our travelling, all the way up on the 27th floor, we arrived at a room at the end of a narrow hallway that had thick, steel doors.

“This is the bio-room. It is the Queen’s favourite place and the room you’re most likely to find her in.”

Viodel paused for a second and made a face as if he’d just remembered who he was talking to.

“I say this only to show our Queens diverse personality. Someone such as yourself has no use for this knowledge and should be proud to even set foot in there. Remember, you are not—”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Aren’t you tired of this constant belittling? Just because you demean me,” I said as I slowly reached for the door handle. “Doesn’t mean you’re getting back at those humans who mistreated you!”

I quickly swung open the door and raced to step inside, but it appeared my efforts were in vain. The back of my neck was met with a swift chop, and I felt every nerve in my body immediately shut down.

Geh~

I slumped to the floor in a fashion similar to the blobs of gel I’d been massacring for the past seven days.

“You imbecile,” Viodel said as he left my twitching body and backtracked in the direction we came from.

What I had said was not fact, but assumption. The Queen disliked me, sure, but it didn’t feel as cruel as Viodel’s hatred. Hers seemed to come from her race's innate dislike of humans; Viodel’s seemed much more personal.

So, of course, I teased him about it. What!? He bullied me day in and day out! I’m allowed to do the same back.

Entering the bio-room—with my body still shivering in shock from that attack—was like entering a completely different biome. There still were walls, which curved into a dome ceiling, and there was still a pathway beneath my feet, but there were trees and bushes and small ravines everywhere else.

Like a spell of magic, when the door closed behind me, I could suddenly hear crickets and the hoots of owls and the cries of other forest-life. Purple flames floated through the air and acted as sources of light; they casted a surreal appearance over the surroundings and tied the entire room together under a supernatural bow.

From the dark and wet of my cellar abode, I never could have imagined such a room to exist inside this castle. It was magical and the furthest thing I thought when thinking of demons.

The pathway I followed converged into a crossroad of sorts with three other branching paths. I chose to follow the straight line I had been walking. I was bound to run into her at some point.

My simplistic decision paid off quickly as I approached a small dome hut with five pathways branching out from the five open archways. At the very center, I saw our beautiful Queen stoke a flaming hearth. The smoke rose and filtered out from the archways.

“Had I not felt Viodel’s presence at the front doors, I would have torn your heart out where you stand,” the Queen said coldly.

Horrific, right? I was used to it by now. With how much she spoke of my usefulness, her threats have begun feeling cheap and empty.

Do I believe she will still tear my body apart if I disobeyed her? Absolutely. But that would only happen if I was stupid enough to disobey her. My jokes did get out of hand sometimes, though. I fear one day I’ll crack a wise one forgetting I’m not talking to Viodel—a real good wise one too because you know I crack ‘em hard.

Next thing you know, my intestines are on the floor because I said she looks like a hotdog.

Yes. For your information, that is a wise one, you weenie.

The Queen stood up from the hearth and made her way over to a desk that was covered in sheets with scrawlings and sketches. There was a stack of books with pieces of fabric sticking out to most likely keep her place, while there were a half dozen open books spread around her scattered papers.

She was researching something. Was it about how to remove the Gatekeeper's soul from me? The quicker she learned how to do that, the quicker I could be free of this place.

Now seated at her desk, the Queen turned to address me once again.

“What is it that brings you here? I suspect good news if Viodel brought you directly to me instead of waiting for my beckon. Have you discovered more of your capabilities?” she asked.

I nodded my head and began filling her in on all that I learned. It became clear that she had just as much knowledge about the Gatekeeper’s powers as I did. The rise of her eyebrows, the occasional grunts of intrigue, the wide eyes; this was the woman my life was being controlled by, everyone. Look at how cute she is!

Excuse me….minor hiccup.

Either way, she was quite fond of my developments and, just as Viodel had, she congratulated me on my success.

“Your discoveries are greatly appreciated. It angers me, but I know little about the Gatekeeper and his subjects. I only know what I’ve been told by a superior, and they only know what they’ve been told by another, and so on. Not many know the truth of the Gatekeeper, only that he is an existence akin to the Gods. He exists between the mortal realm and the beyond. I heard some of your human fables about the river and those who called you from beyond to cross it. That river, I suppose, is the place the keeper resides,” the Queen said.

I was suddenly reminded of the thief in that empty blackness. It was a place where I was not dead or alive. A place most likely in between the land of the living and the land beyond.

Was that memory thief the Gatekeeper? It was possible—I mean, everything was possible. He could’ve been that Celine Dion goddess for all I knew. Well, he was a man, so probably not.

The Queen continued. “What of this Dissolve ability? You didn’t mention what exactly it was capable of. Have you tested it out?” she asked.

I shook my head. Viodel was quite adamant about our quick departure from the woods, I didn’t have time to test it out.

“No, though I can guess at what it can do. The slimes consume food by passing it through their bodies and dissolving it; I’m sure the ability will be much the same. Well….I won’t be passing anything through my skin, hopefully. I’ll have to test it out before we can know for sure, but it’s safe to assume it’s something along those lines,” I replied.

“I see. Learn how to use it properly and continue with your culmination. You won’t receive any exterior help or guidance. This is magic not known to mortals. It does not resemble any of the magics the sentient races hold, so there is little we can do to aid you.”

This was a given that I had glossed over, but I supposed humans would have magic, wouldn’t they? So too would the demons and whatever other races existed. She chose to say ‘sentient races’ instead of just humans and demons, so I’m sure the term didn’t contain only those two.

“Is it possible for me to learn human magic as well?” I asked.

The Queen tilted her head speculatively. God, she was really cute. I needed to get out of here before my preferences were warped in favour of women with reptilian eyes and small horns protruding from their foreheads.

On closer inspection, she and Viodel had quite similar features. Almost as if they were siblings.

….Ok, I know how that sounds, but I only find the Queen attractive, ok? Not Viodel. I never said Viodel was attractive before, understand? Wait, did I?

The Queen's voice shook me from my thoughts.

“I’m not sure. Your human magic is….complex. If I recall correctly, there are two types. I know less about them than what I know of the magic you now possess. Asking me anything relating to your kind won’t bring you any results, just my annoyance. Don’t question me about humans again, manling.”

Oooooh, it’s sure been a while since I heard manling. Always a nice one. It was like calling a cat a feline. I was okay with manling, despite the condescension that always accompanied it.

“I won’t mention it again. That was my fault. I apologize,” I said.

Unlike with Viodel, I bowed down to the Queen. I could egg him on all I wanted but one slip up with her and my entire life would crumble.

“As long as you understand your mistake. Move along then. Viodel awaits you at the door.”

“Yes.”

I was just about to walk away when a ridiculous notion came to me. Before I could dispel the thought, I turned back to the Queen and asked my question.

“By any chance, what might your name be? I’ve only heard Viodel refer to you as Queen, and I’m quite curious.”

The question wasn’t inherently bad, but I was a prisoner. A human prisoner. The simple act of breathing was a sin in my case.

No, honestly. Back in the days where M-Scum watched over me, I was told to stop breathing loudly because it was bugging him. Have you ever tried breathing quietly? No, of course you haven’t, because breathing barely makes any noise! He could’ve just told me to die instead and would’ve got the same message across.

The Queen rose from her chair with a soft expression on her face. She walked over to where I stood and stopped directly in front of me. I had always been on my knees in front of her, so I hadn’t noticed that I was slightly taller.

She took hold of my hand and softly held it in her own.

Oho? Am I about to get lucky? All it took was for me to ask for her name, and that got me some action? Don’t expect the same results at your local bar, friends. This was a Kayn special. I must’ve been quite smooth with the ladi—

“REND”

Gaaaaahhhhh!

I fell to my knees in a shock of pain. Immediately after the Queen said that word, it felt as if my body was eating itself from inside out. My veins writhed like snakes trying to break out of my arm. My heart pumped so explosively I feared it would shatter my rib cage and burst through my skin.

There was no real damage to my body, I was just hit with the pain of 100 men all at once. It was remarkable that I remained conscious.

“This is much better,” the Queen said, staring into my bloodshot eyes. “I knew something was off during our conversation.”

Another surge of pain coursed through me and I was now on the cold, stone floor, shaking from my muscle spasms.

“When you’re in my presence, you’re supposed to be looking up at me. You seem to have forgotten that,” she said again.

She stared at my convulsing body and chuckled. Suddenly, as if there was none to begin with, all the pain left me. It was like being released from a chokehold; there was such excruciating pain and pressure inside my body, and then there was nothing. It was almost euphoric.

“It would be wise for you to remember your role here. You are my prisoner. I own you. Your life lies in my hands, and what I do with it is entirely up to me. I expect reverence from you, not equality. If you step out of line again, I will forgo any plans I had for you and will execute you in the most painful way you could ever imagine,” she said with a horrifyingly soft smile.

I was so ridden with fear that I couldn’t even get giddy about being ‘owned’ by her. Like a slave and master….though I would prefer it the other way around.

“I understand,” I said with a whimper. Despite having my life threatened so many times, this was the first time I truly feared what could be done to me. I had never felt such pain before, and I was sure there was far more in store for me.

The Queen chuckled again.

“Avarra,” she said.

I looked up at her, stupefied. Surely she hadn’t just told me her name after torturing me like that. That’s so cruel….

If you were going to tell me anyways, why couldn’t you just do so nicely!? I get you wanted to send a message, but did it have to hurt so much?

“Don’t look at me with those dewy eyes, it is not my name. Your new ability has to do with dissolving, a chemical function. If there was anyone who could teach you best how to make the most out of it, it’d be Avarra. Everything science-related is her field of work,” she said.

The Queen began walking back to her dome-shaped hut, her tail swaying with each step.

No, I wasn’t staring at her butt. You were….

“Go to her,” the Queen said again with her back turned. “I have informed her of your arrival just now, she will have work for you to do in return for her tutelage.”

And that was the end of our conversation. I didn’t seek to extend it whatsoever.

Raising to my feet, I quickly backtracked to the exit where I met Viodel outside the door. It was clear that he knew what occurred in the room as his mouth tugged to one side in a snide smirk.

“Avarra,” I said, ignoring any potential back and forth between us. “She wants me to meet with Avarra.”

The smirk quickly faded from his face and was replaced with pursed lips, and….were those beads of sweat?

“A-Avarra? Of course. That makes sense. You can find her on the 18th floor at the very end in her….laboratory,” Viodel said.

“Alone? I’m supposed to go and find her alone? Won’t that seem like I broke free from my captivity? You’re trying to get me killed!”

“I’m not!”

“Then take me there! Your Queen demanded it of you!”

She didn’t, but let’s be real here, this guy wasn’t going to question whether she did or did not. I’ve been seeing how far I could push my control over him, and I’m pretty sure I could get some good stuff from this. Like an upgrade to my room or food that didn’t resemble swamp water.

Viodel grunted and gritted his teeth. With a flip of his cape, he said “Fine, follow me,” and began marching down the hall.

I would be lying if I said his fear of this Avarra woman hadn’t rubbed off on me. It wasn’t just his unexpected discomfort when I mentioned her name that caused me to shiver as we made our way to the back of the 18th floor. It was the fact that the Queen decided to send me there after torturing me.

Did the torture bring Avarra to her mind? I didn’t like that! Viodel was only making it worse; look at him! He’s bloody shivering, and it’s hot back here!

I couldn’t help but notice this place’s uncanny resemblance to my cellar. The ceiling was low, and there was barely any light, the only difference was that it was hot as all hell.

“Okay, you can find her place from here. Just follow this hallway and you’ll come to her….laboratory,” Viodel said.

Why does he keep pausing before saying….laboratory?! It was freaking me out.

The ass didn’t even give me time to rebuttal as he fled immediately after saying that.

It’s not as if I had any other options. I followed the musty hallway for about five minutes until I heard—Kakekekeke!—and wanted to turn back.

What type of face-eating monster laugh was that?

The cackle came from an open archway at the end of the hallway. I could see torchlight spilling into the hall but couldn’t see much of what was inside—only a few bookshelves and a desk could be seen.

Ok, ok, maybe it wouldn’t be that bad.

As I came closer, I started hearing muffled screams and cries of pain. Those sounds would be followed by the skin-crawling laugh.

…..

It wouldn’t be that bad.

Finally, I reached the entrance of the room and could see inside. The room itself wasn’t very large, but there were six doors that potentially led to extensions of this one. This room itself had bookcases lining the walls where the doors didn’t, and rows of tables topped with vials in wooden holders and glass beakers suspended over bluish flames.

All the containers in this room had some sort of liquid in them, and every liquid appeared to be different. I had little interest in what any of them did.

What I had noticed first, but wanted to avoid the most, was the bottom right corner of the room. There, hovering over a wooden table with a Greater Demon strapped to it was a human with long black hair and a white, knee-length coat over top of her plain shirt and pants.

Both the demon and the human looked my way. This was the same type of demon that Smiles was, and I never imagined these creatures could show fear in their eyes. But oh boy did this poor soul show it.

The black-haired woman stared at me with excitement as some liquid squirted out of the syringe she held.

“Are you my new test subject?” she asked with glee.

I didn’t know what to say, so I just shook my head and started backing up. My back peddling quickly changed into spriting as I turned around and made a run for it.

There was a cackle behind me, and then a gate slammed down in front of me, blocking off my escape.

“No, no! Don’t run! It’s been so long since I’ve had a human to play with,” Avarra said.

I didn’t even look behind. I simply grabbed the bars of the gate and shook them as I screamed for Viodel to switch places with me.

Maybe I should’ve just let the slimes kill me….