The day passed as if nothing had happened. Haemish and Aarav continued to experiment with a bit of Slime in dishes. New samples had to be taken for this purpose as Haemish regaled Aarav with the tale of their attempts to save him. The skills Supreme Consume and Intense Consolidate were explained in slightly more detail than ever before. Aarav holding the secrets to his power close to his chest.

Boren was in and out most of the day. Not allowed to skip any more classes with his tutors, he was battered then healed, only to go through it all again in the afternoon. Apparently, it was a reliable way to improve physical stats. Aarav would take the boy’s word for it. Not willing to go through such brutal methods quite yet.

The one thing that Aarav did was to Supreme Consume until he got to the familiar Weight of 10 kg. He did not receive the message again and had not received any messages when he reduced his Weight below the threshold. It was either automatic, or he retained benefits even if his Weight fluctuated above and below the line. Either way, Aarav would need to run some tests before he found himself in a life-threatening situation…again.

Your Skill Supreme Consume has increased to Level 77!

...

Your Skill Supreme Consume has increased to Level 83!

“Right, I think I will call it a night for today. It will take a while to get the experiment back to where it was, but it should not be a problem, and now I know not to dump it all onto you if you decide to regress again!” Haemish said with a bit of mirth in his voice. Initially, he had been annoyed but then seen the humour in it. A week was nothing to him, Aarav supposed, so this was time spent on another failed experiment, so to speak.

“No problem, I will wait for Boren to get back, then we will head to sleep as well.” Aarav replied. The additional bulk was uncomfortable but also manageable. He would take some time to get used to walking around this large, but then evolving to a higher Tier would make it easier on him. So that was something to think about as well. He was also curious about what evolutions to expect now that he had encountered a fire aspect environment, namely the forge in the city. Was some sort of Fire Slime in the cards for him now? If so, he wasn’t opposed. It would round out his set of spells to have one from each element, which might also unlock something interesting. Who knew?

It was fully dark when Boren finally came back dripping with sweat and some suspicious red patch mottling his clothes. It was hard to believe that anyone would make the Prince bleed within the palace, even for training. Still, then the evidence showed it was likely the case.

“Hey Boren, what happened? Are you okay?” Aarav checked in with his friend.

“Yeah…just…a…particular…ly…in…tense…work…out!” Boren burst out, almost wheezing with each breath. “Crawl…ed…here….” Then he collapsed onto one of the stools in the lab.

“I was going to ask if you were ready to go to bed. But your body says no, and your mind seems to be saying yes.” Aarav said, and Boren nodded in agreement. “You have to clean yourself before getting into bed, and you can’t sleep all dirty and sweaty and tired. We need you to be clean first!”

“How about we get out of here and get to sleep? You look like you’re about to keel over from the exertion. And I am ready to let this food settle. I am much bigger than I was this morning!” Aarav said proudly, trying to show off a little. Only a Slime could appreciate how much his power had grown, but it was a win for the CopyCat Slime nonetheless.

With the additional Weight, Aarav was relearning to walk as he knew he would. This time it didn’t feel like he would collapse and pass out, unlike the guy who had just walked in. Aarav was surprised he didn’t have to carry the child.

***************************************************

The next day both Boren and Aarav woke well-rested. Aarav planned to spend the day experimenting and learning Alchemy with Haemish while Boren had his own training. This time Aarav was awake first since Boren had been incapacitated yesterday. The only way they made it back to the room was with him leaning heavily on Aarav and dropping to the bed when they got there. This was made more awkward because Aarav could barely walk and was about two feet shorter than Boren. Aarav wished he still had the magical walking stick Haemish had given him.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” Aarav walked into Boren’s room to wake him up. “Let’s go. We have things to do.” For some reason, Aarav was feeling remarkably perky today. Maybe it was getting his life back after almost dying. Perhaps it was the excessive potions that had been dumped on him. Aarav wasn’t sure, but it was great!

“Hello, Prince Boren!?” An unfamiliar voice spoke from the entryway of the Prince’s rooms. “Are you there, Prince Boren?”

Aarav stuck his head out into the central space to see a liveried servant standing to attention, looking straight ahead. When he saw Aarav, he started and then his cheeks coloured in embarrassment. “Mr Aarav, I presume you are needed, though I was only sent for Prince Boren. They have sent someone to your accommodations for you. I would appreciate it if you followed me along with the Prince!” A little satisfaction bled into his voice, perhaps at a job well done?

“Of course, if I can get in to come out, we will be on our way!” Aarav said, belatedly, “where are you taking us?” I probably should have asked that first. Oh well.

“To an audience with the King and Queen, of course!” The satisfaction was slowly growing. This might have been the most crucial assignment that guy had been given. Aarav felt sorry for him with his small dreams, but everyone had to start somewhere.

A simple nod was all Aarav gave before returning to rousing the Prince. By this time, the Prince was awake and groggily getting out of bed, but when he saw the servant, he was wide awake and walking with great poise and assurance. Aarav was used to the transformation by this point, but I was still a lot to take in.

**************************************

Five minutes and they were both following the man, then twenty minutes more, and they were in front of the King and Queen for what felt like the hundredth time in three days.

“Boren, Aarav, I shall permit you both to enter the Academy.” Aarav, who had been tense, relaxed at those words. He thought he was called in because they found some damning piece of circumstantial evidence to warrant locking him away. He wouldn’t put anything past that Queen, but he was okay. He really needed to stop being so jumpy all the time.

Meanwhile, Boren’s was the polar opposite. It was clear from the sudden glint in his eyes he was dying from holding in his excitement, and the King seemed to have been expecting it. He smiled quickly before resuming his serious demeanour.

“Boren, you understand that this is because of the sudden and unexpected situation we cannot afford to have any of our people training you at the moment. Therefore we will have the trainers at the Academy do it for you, Aarav. And you shall likely be placed with other students and have to learn alongside them.” Borowyn allowed another smile to flash across his face before dismissing them both. “You will need to prepare to start immediately. The year has already begun, and you will have to make up for a lost time. Lucky it is only a few weeks into the year, and I am sure Fenwin will work you both very hard to ensure you make up the difference. Good luck.”

The Queen had been scowling, but she acquiesced to her husband’s rule. Her stern look at their retreating backs made Aarav shudder. At second glance, she might have been trying to bore a hole through him with her eyes, and Aarav could get out of the room fast enough.

As soon as the throne room doors were shut behind them, Boren let out what Aarav could only describe as a squeal of delight. “This is going to be amazing! Can you believe us together going to the Academy? I never thought I would be able to meet other people from other countries and races and people our age! Well, my age, but you know what I mean…!” He didn’t stop until they were well out of the earshot of the laughing guards.