13 - I took possession

“What is that hideous thing?” Fenrir said, pointing at a blob of something that was playfully jumping around next to a stream of lava.

“It’s a slime!” Replied the elf. She seemed somewhat pleased to see such a horror. It was cute, seeing her so excited about something. Lately she had been growing quite restless and sad.

“I was not expecting something so disgusting. Weren’t slimes supposed to be small and cute and soft and all that?” he asked. His face was a mix of horror and disbelief. He thanked the invisible shield surrounding them right now for existing. Really, that thing looked like an amalgam of snot, sulphur and half molten stones. It also had green hues, somehow, despite all the terrain around here being black, red, or ash grey.

“Some are.” She replied nonchalantly. He hoped her definition of cute matched his, because this thing was everything but cute.

“Whatever. [Rivela i tuoi segreti] (reveal your secrets)” he said, trying to cast his detection magic without the interface for the first time. The result was unexpected, it was almost like an interface window had appeared in his mind, but he was feeling it rather than actually seeing it.

• Lava slime (sulphur variant)
• Level 4

It was both cool and rather disconcerting. Was the system still in his mind, still there although dormant? He hoped not, but then how could he get information like that?

It was me, sir. I interpreted the information and translated it for you. Defiant said, telepathically. Fenrir sighed in relief. It was good to see the ship was already making herself useful. On top of that, it seemed his chant in Italian worked really well, which was a pleasant thing to notice. So it was not the system that was in charge of interpreting the chants, in the end.

“Oh, thank you.” he replied. He turned his attention to the horrendous blob of gunk, and wondered what to do. He didn’t want to touch it, but perhaps he could experiment with his new magic on it. See if elements worked the way he thought they would.

“What do we do? Kill it?” he asked, but was already preparing to fire something at it. What if he accidentally stepped on it? Would the shield keep it outside or not? He had not implemented combat subroutines into it yet.

The elf did not reply. She too was probably wondering what to do. He hoped she didn’t want to keep it as a pet because she thought it was cute. That would be bad. The last thing he wanted was for her to turn his ship into a slime zoo. How did they reproduce, he wondered. Perhaps binary division.

“Are they dangerous? Why is it here?”

“It probably was the leftover magic. They should not be dangerous but… maybe you could practice your aim with it.” she said, before sticking out her tongue. Oh, so that was what she was thinking about.

Fenrir frowned and sighed again. He was relieved, but annoyed as well. She wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t need to be reminded of his terrible performance with arrows. He preferred guns. Or even better, starship automated defense mechanisms. Those were the real solution to problems, not stone age arrows. Mana or no mana.

“Alright. [Freccia gelida] (Icy arrow)” he closed his eyes and formed the required mental image. The better the image, he knew, the better the outcome. The chant helped as well, but a good image was the basis of good magic. And he had a perfect image of what he wanted, down to the molecular level. He applied the notion of quantum temperature, added a few tweaks to entropy here and there, and he was done. 

An arrow, as thick as an arm and two meters long appeared above his head. It was deep blue, so cold that it produced a thick mist that slowly drifted towards the ground, and spinning rapidly in place. Then, as he commanded, it flew off at impossible speed before lodging itself into the lava slime. The slime expanded as the ice and fire created an explosion of steam, and eventually exploded outwards. Fortunately the shield surrounding the two protected them from the debris falling from the sky.

“See? My aim ain’t bad!” He grunted. The elf seemed unimpressed.

Meanwhile, a small thread of green energy lifted itself from the dead body, or whatever was left, of the monster and started floating towards the captain. He observed the phenomenon with wide eyes, trying to understand what was happening. The thread then pierced his abdomen and got absorbed by his body. The point of contact stung a bit, then a warm sensation spread through his body.

It was sudden and unexpected, but it did not feel bad. Nor wrong, either. In fact, he felt better and stronger now. As if his mana pool had expanded a little bit, and he had gained some of the strengths and attributes of the slime he had killed. It sounded useful, as long as he didn’t transform into one of them at least.

I think I can create a spell that can transform you into a slime. But to be more accurate in the transformation, I would need to examine it better. Next time use a different spell to scan it more deeply.

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Fenrir replied. Was the ship being sarcastic? It had gained sentience barely an hour ago, and was already being witty like this. Granted, it was merely acting as she felt she should act, and since she only had access to his mind it made sense that her common sense was somewhat skewed. But she also had access to all the kinds of entertainment stored in her hard drives, right? Oh, crap, not that entertainment. 

***

“Perhaps it was due to ‘transcendent’?” Fenrir postulated. He was still musing about the strange phenomenon.

Maybe. I felt something activate when the life force emerged. You probably did it without realizing. The ship replied. The captain almost had the feeling she was looking at him with an air of superiority.

“Perhaps. I kinda expected to get something back for killing it, after all that is what used to happen in games.”

While he chatted, sometimes with his ship and sometimes with his beloved elf, the duo kept a steady pace and approached the end of the devastation.

They arrived at the edge of the molten territory. There was no smooth transition between here and the grassy fields that laid ahead. Instead, it looked almost the same as it was back at the ship, where the shields separated the fiery landscape from the greenery inside. They crossed the border, and dropped their personal shield. The air here was clean and cool, contrary to all sense and logic.

It was like the fires nearby didn’t exist at all. Even the sound of rushing lava, of ravaging fires and exploding rock did not reach them. And they were barely a meter away from the threshold.

“Finally! I was getting tired of that barren landscape.” the captain exclaimed, and sat down cross legged on the grass.

Lunora sat down beside him and munched on an energy bar while waiting for him to look at the map. The closest town, Smithen, was just a few miles away from here. They should be able to reach it on foot before nightfall, although once there he had no idea of what he would find. He had lived in space all his life, and everything was a new experience for him. Even here, for example, he took his time to feel the air around him, the cool grass beneath him and the warm sun on his skin.

He had tried his best to not think about it, but the landscape inside the fire zone was slowly crawling under his skin. Not only did it scream death, but it also reminded him of the view of the Earth he had from his room in the orbital ring. The red, the dark clouds, the dust. It was humans who had caused all that, way before he was even born. Perhaps he should have accepted it as normal, like everyone else in his generation, but he did not. He had seen the pictures, the historical records that showed how the planet was like when it was alive.

And now, right now, in this parallel world… he was standing on the surface of a planet that really was alive. He would find the bastard who turned the entire forest into a post nuclear war landscape and make him pay.

“I was thinking… language should not be a problem for me. But what about you?” He asked the elf. She looked at him with a strange face, but then she seemed to understand what he was talking about and smiled.

“Not a problem.” she replied. Good to hear. Then, the next issue was money. If they wanted to stay in town, they had to pay for it, obviously.

Some of the slimes he had killed dropped some kind of small crystals, smaller than a fingernail and slightly red hued. He hoped that, like any respectable fantasy world, they could be used as currency to pay for the lodgings. 

“Think they will be enough?” He asked.

“No idea. I’ve never been to a human town.” She replied. Well, it was no use worrying about it now, so he decided to head there first and think about it later.

“In any case, I have a plan in case they aren’t enough. Now, let’s rest a bit.”

She nodded, and then approached him to rest her head on his lap. She closed her eyes, and exhaled deeply. She must have been tired from all the walking, and all the difficult emotions that the place no doubt evoked in her mind. Once it was a lush, beautiful forest. Her home. And now it was a barren wasteland full of fire, lava and monsters. Considering what the place did to his mind, he didn’t dare think what it was doing to hers. Mental link or not, it was not easy. He had decided to move out of their hole in there exactly for this reason.

He looked down at her face and saw the little angel that she was. So cute and defenseless, he wanted to protect her and spoil her. He brushed her cheeks with his finger for a while, closing his eyes and enjoying the moment.

Sir? A message arrived, it was from Defiant. Ever since she acquired sentience, she has begun resembling a real person more and more as time passed. Right now her voice sounded entirely natural and was rich in emotion and expressivity. What a wonderful thing life was. Even a digital mind was capable of feeling, caring and loving.

“Yes?”

I detect a group of seventeen humans converging on my position.

“Are they hostile?”

Unknown. But they are preparing for a fight of some sorts.

“Keep me updated.”

Yes, sir.

***

The sun was setting below the horizon. For a brief moment, it flashed green as it set below the gentle hills in the distance before disappearing. The clouds above were bright purple, and were flying undisturbed through the air. The captain admired the view for a while, holding Lunora’s hand in his own. They kissed, and then they both turned to face the massive walls of the city just a few tens of meters from them. There was a queue to enter, but it didn’t bother them too much as it allowed them to see the sunset together while they waited.

Now that the moment was gone, however, Fenrir was beginning to feel rather annoyed at the wait. Lunora tried her best to keep him calm, but the wait was unnerving for him.

Sir?

“Yes, Defiant, go ahead.”

The humans have started attacking my shields.

“Damage?”

None so far. Their attacks and their magic is too weak to pierce the shields. Especially since I reinforced them with magic. The ship said with a little hint of pride in her voice.

“Nice. But, it seems they are hostile, after all. Take care of them.”

Roger

A few seconds after, seventeen threads of green energy flew towards him and were absorbed by his body. He looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the strange light, but everyone seemed completely oblivious.

The changes were many. But he had no time to examine them now. It was almost his turn. 

“Identification?” The guard at the gate asked when it was finally their turn.

Oh, right. Identification. He started to sweat a little, and wondered if now was the time to take out one of his newly made magic flashbangs from his backpack. But, almost in the nick of time, the starship contacted him again and gave him instructions on a new magic spell.

“Of course. [Storage]” He invoked, and a small blob of black mist briefly surrounded his hand before disappearing. As it lifted it revealed two identity cards, one for him and one for the elf.

“B rank? How come I’ve never met you before?” The guard asked.

“We’re from far away. We actually just arrived here for the first time.” Replied Fenrir, still a bit uncertain of what the guard was actually seeing in the cards. He had no time to read them, and reading your own identity card before giving it to a guard seems suspicious.

“All clear, mister Fenrir. Have a nice time in Smithen.” He said, and let the two pass.

“What happened?”

I took possession of the items of those deceased people. Apparently they were all adventurers, and B rank at that. I then rewrote the information on the card, which was magically encrypted by the way, and then created a spatial magic for you and I to store our stuff in it. I’m already using it to feed my repair nanites and repair the ship faster than you could even imagine.

“Did you have a hard time breaking the encryption? How advanced are the people of this continent?”

Not much, I fear. It barely took me 2 billion classical iterations before I managed to break it.

“Nice, good work!”