Chapter 10: The first weighting

Thomas got down to his underwear and stared at the scales. They were his old enemy. His old impossible roadblock. The source of much disappointment and a bit of happiness from time to time.

Logically, he knew not to expect much after just a single day of the diet. No diet had ever given him the results on the first weighting. Yet, he felt like he should weight himself. A small nagging feeling had kept him up all night, and he had barely gone to the bathroom to do his business before coming back to the scales.

He breathed in deeply, and stepped on them. They were an old model, so, the first weighting was never accurate. He didn't look down. Instead, he got off the scales, and stepped on them again.

Bending his head to look down, he watched as the numbers spun on the screen. Finally, they stopped. His eyes were ready to bulge out of his sockets. 108 kilograms and 600 grams. Four hundred grams less than before. He smiled, and looked at Karl the slime, who was still trying to eat the couch.

"Karl, I lost weight," a bubble rose from the slime, which then deflated. Karl couldn't speak, per se. But the slime still gave him signs that he had heard him, if not understood him.

"Yes, I think that is great as well," the dark-haired man said, and he got off the scales. He took a piece of cloth and wiped the scales and then took them to stash them in the wardrobe.

"I will definitely lose weight this time. Just you watch, Karl," Thomas called to the slime from the bedroom. He heard a bubbling sound. Suddenly, he was worried about his couch.

Rushing back to the living room, Thomas stared at the couch. It was covered in the slime. More than that, it looked eaten. With patches of it missing.

"You will get sick if you eat fabric," the receptionist told the slime. "Anyway, I am going to go take a shower. When I come back, you better be waiting at the kitchen table."

Thomas decided that the security deposit, one that would never be returned to him anyway, could be used to pay for the ruined couch. He collected his clothes for the day and a towel, and went inside the bathroom.

After a quick shower, he dressed in the bathroom, and got out. Karl was still on the couch. Thomas sighed.

"Karl, breakfast," the dark-haired summoner spoke, and got more bubbling sounds as a response.

Deciding to change tactics, the receptionist went to the fridge and opened it. Nothing much stood out. He already knew that Karl didn't like cooked meat. He figured that cut meat was also off the slime's menu. So, he took a cucumber, and walked towards the slime.

"Rise, Karl. See the cucumber? Follow the cucumber," Thomas waved the vegetable in front of the slime's eyes. The blue orbs blinked up at him, and the slime began to fold into itself.

Soon, it was Thomas sized and shaped. It wobbled after the cucumber and the receptionist placed the vegetable on the table. Then, he busied himself with preparing his own breakfast.

He had boiled and peeled his egg last night, so, now he just needed to cut it up. Plus, he got some ham, the slice of bread, the six almonds and the eight cherries at the ready. Adding to that was a half cucumber. The other half going to the slime, which gobbled it down without a second thought.

After Thomas ate, he went and brushed his teeth. Then, he picked up his two other meals from the fridge, and placed them in boxes, which went into a bag.

Looking around, Thomas saw that there was nothing else to be done. He tapped Karl on the shoulder, noticing that his fingers stung a little at the touch, and the slime turned to him.

"We need to go to work, come on," the brown-eyed man urged. The slime blinked at him, but didn't move. Thomas looked down at Karl's hand, and offered his.

"Don't burn me, now," he asked of the slime, and the slime placed its hand in his. Thomas felt a pleasant feeling akin to applying cream on his skin, and tugged the slime up.

During the walk to the guild building, they got weird looks. Most people will point at Karl and giggle. Thomas, with more than a little embarrassment, realized that to them, Karl was naked.

"Karl, create some clothes," Thomas hissed at the slime. He took his shirt between his fingers, and waved it. "Like this. Get dressed, Karl."

Karl blinked at him, and then the liquid that made him up surged forward. Soon, he had on the same clothes as Thomas, albeit they were blue and made out of slime.

"Good job, Karl," Thomas pointedly looked up ahead. The realization that people had seen him naked, albeit indirectly, dawning on him. He bit his lower lip, and prayed that no one that knew him had seen Karl.

"Hey, Thomas. What is with the mob?" The receptionist turned around, to see Harold walking alone towards the guild hall.

"This is Karl. He is a slime summon," Thomas told him. More than a little proud that he had managed to get even Karl out from the rune.

"Do you want to be a summoner?" Harold asked, eyebrow high.

"Yes, I want to be an adventurer," Thomas told him.

"Well, depending on how good your training goes, you might get a spot on Golden Leaf party. We have been looking for a fourth member for quite a while. Summoners are good mob control," Harold then clapped him on the shoulder, and their ways split.

Thomas looked at the back of the healer with wonder. There would be a test. One that would be harder than the standard test he would go through to get his summoner license. And, yet, he knew that he could make it.

"Thomas, of the Golden Leaf Party," Thomas tested the title, and found he quite liked it. He made another step forward, and entered the building.