Bieru doesn't seem overburdened by the modified Kobold type body, so after a couple blocks worth of distance, I decide to broach another topic I would like to know about. "While I've got you around, could you tell me a bit about Spirit Arms? I at least know how to make them, but tips would be nice if there's anything I'm missing."

She laughs aloud for a few seconds, then shifts the body she's carrying to her left shoulder. "So that's why you've just been carrying three of them around? Let's see, a sword, a carving knife, that looks a little weird on the spiritual level, and some weapon I don't recognize. Yeah, for starters, most Spiritual Races dematerialize their Spirit Arms when they don't need em." She flicks her wrist and a giant green and white folded fan appears in her right hand. She spreads it out as if showing it off, then tucks it away again. "Just put em in your soul to dematerialize them. They won't increase the size of your soul or get stuck or anything. It's some sort of intrinsic property they have that sets them apart from other souls."

I reach strands of spiritual energy out to the sword, butcher's tool, and rifle Spirit Arms on me, then try to drag them in. There's a weird sensation like pushing a finger against a soap bubble, then a sort of popping as they disappear. "I, suddenly feel like I'm going to end up as a walking arsenal like this. . ."

"Oh yeah, if your soul fragments can be used for that, then there's little reason not to make a lot. Ohhh, hey hey! Want me to make you one? My spirit arms have Spirit Burst and Spirit Lance. Both skills are good for fighting undead monsters. Spirit Burst pushes spiritual energy into the target, then erupts, so it's more damaging than Spirit Charge, and Spirit Lance deals equal spiritual damage regardless of whether the target has a body or not." It only takes me a moment to decide on that and nod. "Oh, but I guess you'll need to get some more of your fragments, and another weapon. I don't think those skills would work well for a magic staff."

"Those do sound pretty good, though I don't know if I'll end up fighting any undead soon. As for another weapon, I'll just forge one later. You'll probably be around a while, right?"

She sputters a bit, then looks at me with her eyebrows furrowed. "What'd'ya mean 'Pretty good'?! Spirit Arms can have all sorts of skills based on the one who attaches the piece of the soul to the weapon. Those two are GREAT. One of my friends only has the Cooking skill on his Spirit Arms. . . Wait, what do yours do?"

"Hhaaa~ Well. Guess I can't hide it after being asked directly. Weapon Absorption, Weapon Transformation, and Independent Growth. In other words, my Spirit Arms can absorb and become other weapons of the same type, and have a separate status for each form."

". . . Alright. I'm gonna have to commission a new fan and ask you to attach a piece of me to it. Cause that sounds insane. No wonder you only thought mine were pretty good." She shrugs and shakes her head. "What can ya' do? Random means some people just get all the luck. And to answer your other question, I'm down for hanging around here a while. Saaaay. Have you had your kids figure out what theirs are?"

I stumble to a stop at that. "I have not. That's gonna be, a lot to figure out. At least we can test it with the fragments." I give an exasperated sigh and start walking again. "Anything else I should know about Spirit Arms in general?"

"Mmm, well. You've probably already figured it out, but Spirit Arms recover themselves when damaged. You can speed that up by pouring spiritual energy into them. Uhhh. Tsk? I guess, they can also damage souls directly even if they don't have skills specifically for that? Though you can get the same result by just making weapons from spiritual materials. Beyond that, I dunno about anything that applies to all Spirit Arms. Some have weird special functions that don't even show up in skills though."

I consider asking her about the Dire Wolf Soul-Stone, but she'd probably think I was offering her another snack, and besides that. We're almost to Sergu's shop, so I let the conversation fall off there. I step forward faster to knock on the door. Despite the early hour, she answers fairly quickly. Today, rather than her normal white robe, she has long strips of dark blue fabric wrapped around herself in a manner that looks a little like bandages. "Hey Anima! What's up? Here to check in on Pendra? I started trying to teach him a little alchemy, and, . . Heey, you brought another woman over? What are you planning here~?" She wiggles while staring closely at Bieru. I barely hold back a laugh, then flick her snout lightly. "Hya! I was jus' joking!" She rubs her nose while looking up at me with slightly teary eyes.

"I know it was a joke. No need for the fake tears." I pat her head as a halfhearted apology, then point to Bieru. "This is Bieru, she's here to teach me about some spirit stuff. Also she's interested in your spirit stabilizer potions. Apparently the second effect does something like fusing pieces of souls together, so they'd be useful for ghostly creatures like us."

Sergu perks up and runs back into the building, leaving the door open. "Come on in, I gotta write that down!" I walk in and look around for Pendra. He seems to be weighing some ingredients with a balance scale on the counter. Bieru follows me in, then stops when she spots Pedra as well.

"How come they get wings?!" She points in a dramatic manner at Pendra. Then she points the the body slumped over her shoulder. "If you can put wings on them, why wouldn't you?!"

"Well, that body is bigger and bulkier. I figured it'd need much higher gravity resistance to actually fly? Didn't seem worth it. Doubly so for someone who already presumably has a lot of other skills." She actually pouts at me at that. "Fiiine, get the skill from some monster's magic stone, then come back by and I'll modify the body for you."

"Right, for that matter how does that even work?" She sets the body down and looks around for a moment before opening the mouth. "Do you just eat em? Doesn't seem like it for you since you don't have a mouth. But would that work for this one?"

"Nope. Use spiritual energy to open the chest up, then put the magic stones into the central bundle of the heart." I pop it open for her to show how it's done, and point to the heart. "I could probably remodel it to have the mouth lead to the heart, but I don't think that'd be a good idea with breath attack skills." She giggles, and closes the chest back up herself.

Sergu walks over carrying several vials in a little case with individual slots. "I still have four doses of spirit stabilizer from the other day, and I've been experimenting with different combinations and timings with the new mana types using the same ingredients. These three are single doses of other potions that seem like they'd be useful for you too." She points to a vial with a darker green color than the stabilizer. "This one is a spirit regen potion. It has three effects, I can read two, which are spirit energy recovery, seems like it slowly recovers SP, and spirit boost, which temporarily increases max SP."

She points to a faintly red version of the gel like potion. "This one is a spirit fuel potion. It only has one effect, spirit burn. When used, it consumes a small piece of the user's soul to greatly recover SP. So, good for emergencies, but bad long term." Finally she points to a noxious green potion with shimmers of black and white. "This one is, weird. It's called a spirit rebirth potion. It has five effects two of which I can read, spirit breakdown, which shatters a portion of the soul, and spirit accumulation, which draws loose soul matter in. Might not be something people should actually use. At all. Or it could be incredibly useful. No idea which way to go with that."

"I think, you should keep that last one under lock and key until your Alchemic Judgement levels up enough to read all of the effects. The spirit fuel is probably great for me though. I can just replace the consumed pieces with my fragments. Probably shouldn't overuse it though."

"I don't wanna touch that last one either. But I'd be happy to take all four of the spirit stabilizers. Wouldn't mind buying the regen potion either." Bieru retrieves her coin purse again, causing Sergu to stare at her a moment. "How much do they cost?"

Sergu suddenly seems uncertain of where to look while addressing Bieru, but manages to talk either way. "I usually sell the spirit stabilizer for four silvers each. Might bump the regen one up to five since it's a little harder to make?" Bieru pulls out a pair of gold coins and a silver coin, and hands them over. Then she immediately downs one of the stabilizers, before grimacing and sticking her tongue out a few times. "Wow, that was fast. Looks like you're not a fan? Taste is kinda iffy, and the texture is just horrible, right?" Sergu takes the spirit fuel and spirit rebirth potions out of the case and just hands that over to her. Then she looks at me, holding up the fuel. "So, did'ja wanna buy this now?"

"Not really in the habit of carrying that much money with me. So, maybe later." I pause a moment, then tilt my head. "I'm a little surprised you only have three new potions several days after learning the rest of the magic types." I look at Bieru's spiritual form, noting the gray strips in her soul seeming to spread out and lighten, and even the new black strip from the soul fragments she ate fading.

"I've made loooots of new stuff! But I've had a lot to test out, and I keep running out of mana. That's part of why I'm trying to teach Pendra." She points to the automaton in question. "Besides, not everything I do revolves around spirit potions. And even among the ones that are based on those, these are just the only three I thought would be useful for you. I mean, what good would a spirit scrambler potion that stirs up the soul do? How about a spirit decay poison with six effects that I can't read? Or would you like to test something I can't even see the name of?"

"Okay okay. Sorry for underestimating you." I hold up my hands placatingly. "Should I give you a second assistant who you can train in alchemy first and foremost instead of treating as a guard? Or at least try my Deep Scan on that last potion you mentioned to see if I can see the name with a higher ranked skill?"

Her wings pop up and she points at me excitedly. "That one! I can just keep training Pendra, he'll get the synthesis skill soon enough, but I dunno how long it'd take me to get to read that potion's name." She runs behind the counter to put away the two vials she's holding and grab a new one. This vial's contents are shockingly clear and colorless compared to the rest.

[Spirit Exchange Elixir] "Well. I got the name. But it sounds a little, extreme." Sergu pulls up a notepad and fountain pen. I sigh slightly. "It's called a Spirit Exchange Elixir. If I were to guess from the name alone, it'd let people swap bodies? Or it could just be a partial exchange? Like a transplant if one soul is damaged somehow? Everything other than the name is speculation though."

"Elixir?! I've gotta try the process I used for that on EVERYTHING else!" She bolts to the back room without so much as a farewell.

"Huh. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. She is pretty focused on her alchemy. Should we just let ourselves out then?" Pendra walks out from behind the counter to get the door. "Ah, thank you."

Pendra speaks up in his slightly rumbly voice. "Don't mention it. She'll keep it up till she exhausts herself, then probably take a nap. Gives me an excuse to take a break, at least."

I hum slightly, nod my head, and walk out. "Well, see you later then." After a moment Bieru comes running after me carrying her shiny new body. I turn to look at her. "Did you still need something?"

"Ack?! How cruel! Weren't we going to go on an adventure together?" I stare at her blankly. "Uuu, fine. Would you please go on an adventure with me? I'd be all alone if you don't, and I certainly don't wanna wait till my party gets out of the dungeon to test Fire Breath. They'll probably be in there aaaaaall day."

"I was looking for something to do when I met you this morning. So I suppose I'm good to accompany you. But, do you have any specific plans? You aren't going to haul that body around all day are you?"

"Course not. I'll drop it off in the room we're borrowing in the Guildhall. And leave a note for my friends so they know what's going on. After that, we can check if there's anything on the quest board. If not, lets just wander out into the wilderness. I'm sure we'll find something that way, even if it's just a few Lurugs or a Troll."

I start walking to the Adventurers Guild. "What's a Lurug?" She freezes a moment before moving to follow me, even though she starts walking it takes her a bit to collect her thoughts.

"Lurugs are, uhh. About as big as a dwarf. They walk on all fours, and their heads are almost half of their body. They've got big flat teeth and their mouths don't quite close completely when they're relaxed." That sounds horrible. Why is that a thing? "They're not usually as strong as they look like they should be. Oh, and they've got a lot of hair. That's why I thought of them, cause I think they'd burn a lot."

I don't really have a response to that, so I simply walk in silence until we reach the Guild. I look at the board while she runs upstairs. An extermination quest for Giant Toads? Surprisingly basic name. That's the only quest at a rank I could take that really catches my eye. Maybe most of the hunting and extermination quests have already been taken. I turn towards the desk to find a dwarf I don't recognize there. He has russet red hair cropped short in a style that looks like a buzz cut, and his beard is on the shorter side. Guess Rute has today off? "Hem, pardon me. How big are these Giant Toads?"

He leans over the counter to peer at the quest board. "F-Rank quest, so they're probably level fifteen or so." I stare at him, then tilt my head. "Eh? . . Oh, you don't know that even? Right, Giant Toads grow bigger as they level up. Around level fifteen, they'd be bigger than a dwarf, but not quite big enough to eat one. Their stats are pretty low for their size, but they're still pests. They'll eat practically anything under half their size."

Bieru cuts in to the conversation. "Toads huh? I don't wanna fight those. They're gross and slimy. How about this one?" She points to a D-Rank collection quest for leaves from a plant called a 'Saras Fern'.

"You're a higher rank than me? Your stats aren't that much better than mine. Guess you've been at it longer though. That aside, didn't you want to fight something?"

"Are you kidding? I'm a C-Ranker. But you don't see many quests that high in little towns like this. As for stats, I mostly fight with my Soul, so I'm actually several times stronger than you. Not that that is the only factor when it comes to Rank. It's about accomplishment. There are some A-Ranks you could probably beat in a fight since they focus on other things. S and above are abnormal though. Or rather, they're just freaks." She cackles about that for some reason, then shrugs. "And for a fight, a lot of herbivorous monsters like to eat Saras Ferns, that's why the quest is D-Rank, cause it's hard to say how dangerous the monsters nearby would be."

The dwarf behind the counter speaks up again. "If you aren't going to take the collection quest seriously, you shouldn't accept it." Bieru looks at him for a few seconds, then sighs and grabs my hand before dragging me away from the counter.

"Fine fine, we'll just go look for our own fuu~n." She leads the way out of the building, then out of town towards the north.

"Was that, okay? I can kind of understand ignoring a quest because you don't like the target. But giving up on a quest you wanted to do because the dwarf manning the quest board questioned how well you'd manage it?"

"I don't like guys who take things too seriously~" She giggles and lets go of my hand. "Besides, I don't really need the work. I specialize in fighting undead, which most people in the Bedhal kingdom can't fight very well. So those quests tend to have high rewards. And, if we just wander around, I'm sure we'll find something worth fighting."

"If you say so." We walk casually until we're a fair ways away from the town, then pick it up to a run. We end up drifting west towards the mountains as well. We end up wandering into a valley between the last and second to last of the northern mountains in the chain. In the middle of the valley is a farmhouse, and a field of tall black grass of some sort. There is a short stocky woman cutting some of the grass, about halfway up the plant, with a sickle and shoving it into a reed basket on her back. A female dwarf? That, can't be right. Scan.

Before I can process much more than that Bieru gives a random sounding shout as a greeting, causing Undra to turn and look with her sickle held up defensively. After a moment of squinting towards us she speaks up. "What're you two doing here? You'd have to wander well away from the roads to find this place."

"Just a couple adventurers looking for something to fight!" Undra seems to perk up at Bieru's words. "You haven't seen any big scary monsters, have ya?"

"Well, most monsters hate the smell of my crops, but I have been having some trouble with some slimes." She points towards one corner of her field where some of the plants are clearly missing. "I found their nest already, marked it with a sign too so you could find it pretty easy. Just didn't think I could take care of the big one in the group myself. I can pay you a bit to take care of em."

Bieru pouts, apparently not too interested in slimes either, but I speak up first. "I rather like slimes, so is it fine if I capture them?" Undra furrows her brows a bit, then shrugs. "Alright, and as for payment, if you're short on money, you could just give us some of your eh, black grass?" Deep Scan. [Shera Shera: A black herb that repels monsters, though under some circumstances monsters will instead be drawn to it] "I have an alchemist friend who might have some use for it?"

She stares for a few awkward seconds, then sighs. "Yeah, I could spare a small bale." Her expression is a little sour. Did I strike a nerve by talking about money? "To find them you just need to head back the way you came, then go left along the side of the north mountain till you find the cave with a red signpost over it."

As we follow Undra's directions, Bieru stares over at me. "Why'd you ask for grass? I'd think money would be better." Then she stares more pointedly and smiles. "So, you like slimes do you? Kinda weird, but you do you."

"Uhhh? Well. I mean, if somebody doesn't have enough money, taking an alternate payment makes sense, right? And if we sell it to Sergu it might work out the same?" At least, that's something you see in isekai a lot. Maybe it's sketchy to actually do though? "Anyway, I'm more interested in the slimes. One of my kids really liked them. Though they, died already. I suppose, they might have gotten that trait from me, now that I think about it?" She laughs, though I can't guess why.

It doesn't take long to reach the cave after that. The entrance is more than big enough for us. About fifty meters inside is a larger chamber with around a dozen slimes in it. Two of which stand out a bit. A white slime that seems to be lightly glowing, and a large slime in a slightly darker color than a normal one, with a core that looks like a model of dividing cells. Both of which are at the back of the cave on a slightly elevated ledge.

The Light Slime seems fairly simple, but the other one warrants a Deep Scan. [Big Conjoined Core Slime(2): A large slime that underwent a minor mutation while attempting to divide, causing the two cores to become fused] "Ohh, neato. Have to have that. Should I try to tame it? Naah, gotta kill it at least once. Maybe later?" All of the slimes shudder, and seem to turn to face us. "Oops. Guess I got their attention. Do you mind if I take the big one?"

"Well, you're the one who accepted the unofficial quest. So do what you like. I'll try to use fire breath to mop up the rest then." She takes a deep breath, focuses mana in her throat, then spits out a tiny fireball that only hits the closest slime. "Ow, hot! And weak. Barely even killed one of them. . . Ah well, I can always level the skill up to see if that helps." She waves her hand in front of her open mouth as if fanning her tongue.

The rest of the normal slimes start moving, crawling towards us. I hang back as Bieru rushes forward. The Light slime draws out its mana, feels like the level two light magic spell, Solar Bolt. Sapph flies up to the front, then emits light mana into the path of the spell, the bolt changes direction when it passes through the mana. Must be the Light Bending skill. Then she responds with a stronger, custom light spell that vaporizes half of the Light slime's body, causing the rest to ooze across the floor. She deliberately missed the core though. After that she flits around, picking off some of the weaker targets. {Generating Blueprint: Autotéras-Glowing Ferrofluid Slime Type. Component blueprint [Luminous Machine Core] Generated}

Bieru launches another fire breath into the mass of moving slimes, causing them to scatter. Then she pulls out her fan, spreads it and waves it hard while concentrating her vitality into it. The wind from her boosted fanning blows out the flames and pushes the slimes back.

I retrieve my gun and aim at the Big slime still hanging out at the back, to the side of its cores. It shudders just before I pull the trigger. I activate one of the level two Marksman skills, 'Burst Shot' which causes the bullet to spread out a bit. It impacts more like a shotgun slug than a rifle round, blowing a hole as big around as a quarter right through the slime. Bieru drops her fan and covers her ears with her hands while yelling something I can't make sense of. "Yuugloitz!"

{Language detected: Enlightened Cytosi. Begin tuning Voice Box (Y/N)} Yes? {Tuning Time: 15 Hours} "Sorry, didn't think that through." She grumbles something under her breath, and I stash my gun before drawing my staff from my back in its place. The big slime shakes vigorously a moment before jumping off of the ledge to approach us. "Still alive, eh? Shouldn't be surprised." Bieru snatches her fan back up, folds it, and starts clubbing the normal slimes with it.

I pour a hundred points of mana into my staff, then convert it to Light mana as I angle the tip towards the big slime. "O Light, hear my call. Consume one percent of the mana, shine down, pierce the target and repeat until the mana is exhausted. Hundred Needles!" A flurry of high speed pinpricks of light shoot forward just as the slime tries to leap towards us again. The focus from the staff, and the speed of Light magic ensure that most of the mana goes towards its goal. For a moment, the slime looks like a glowing pincushion before it looses cohesion and the light needles fade away.

[Level Up] [Strength+1, Vitality+1, Agility+1, Wisdom+1, skill experience increased] [Mass Production 2›3, Deep Scan 2›3] [Conditions met for Symbiotic Evolution. Allow the Ferrofluid Slime attached to yourself to Evolve?] I look around to make sure the fight is over before confirming. I can feel the Machine Core moving on its own from my arm into my torso. [Success, Ferrofluid Slime has Evolved into Neo Metal Slime. Strength+10, Vitality+10, Agility+10, Wisdom+10. Racial Skills [Digestive Body(Metal)] and [Metal Transformation] acquired] Oooh. I'll test those out when I have some time away from Bieru. And have a look at the core to see if it's different.

With that out of the way, I scan the Conjoined Core. {Generating Blueprint: Autotéras-Twin Ferrofluid Slime Type. Component blueprint [Binary Machine Core] Generated} After that, I gather up the cores and toss them in my basket. Then we head back to Undra's farm, she gives us a bale a little smaller than a twenty four pack of soda. Which I carry in hand as we head back, to make sure the slime cores don't try to absorb it to regenerate faster.