– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 219, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 74 –

Terry washed his mana over the spore powder while simultaneously channeling it into his magic brooch.

"There you go," said Terry, and offered both his powder-infused mana and some of his cloak's shadow fabric to the shadow slime.

Terry hadn't been sure if he would find a suitable core in his dimensional storage. It wasn't just that slimes with aspects outside the core system were rare in Terry's native realm, but that this specific aspect was rare among all the cores in his possession.

Terry had never had a use for shadow-aspected blasts from his mana sublimator. Since the shadow aspect was not among his staple aspects for sublimation blasts, the only shadow-aspected cores he carried with him were the ones provided for his strange core summoning skill.

Those cores, however, were mostly focused on stronger creatures or those provided for tests by his uncle Samuel.

When Terry finally found a fitting core, he was so delighted that he didn't even mind how much mana the summoning took out of him. He casually accepted that the sheer quantity of required mana indicated this slime was beyond the first rank. High-level second rank or even higher.

Slimes were probably among the creatures which Terry had the most trouble of judging based on their cores and summoning. He didn't have much practice because they were unsuitable targets for his summoning spars. Most variants of slimes fought near-exclusively with mana-based abilities, which wasn't the type of opponent Terry often chose to practice against, given how much of an advantage his disruption domain and variants already gave him.

Terry observed the blob of black of goo absorb the mana and piece of shadow-fabric.

When he had first summoned the shadow slime, Terry had been worried that a higher rank slime might act differently from the lower rank tests they had performed before. Worried that it would be hostile like the non-slimes instead of neutral.

Fortunately, Terry's worries proved to be unfounded. His summoned slime wasn't hostile to him.

Still have to tame it and bring it from neutral to friendly though…

"Good." Terry smiled when he saw the slime continued accepting the diet of his mana and shadow fabric, which he could produce as long as he had mana. This was the first time that he added the spore powder to the mix.

I still have to test if it can move into the shadow cloak, so that I don't have to worry about bringing a pet to fights.

It stands to reason that a shadow slime can move into the shadows. Technically, the shadow fabric should count as shadows…

"Technically…" Terry muttered to himself.

Before I can test anything, I first have to tame my new pet properly.

Terry sighed. He was painfully aware of the days passing by. He wanted to establish some facts to get closer to the truth of what was going on. He just wished it wouldn't take so damned long.

"If this works out…" Terry watched the ooze of shadow and puckered his lips. "I think I'll call you Oz."

[Shroomling says, you should pet it,] interjected Bugsby. [She also said she'd be happy to show you… Movements? Dances? Massage? I'm not sure which rune would fit here…] He tilted his head. [Get closer to new friend with movement and closeness. Helps understand.]

Dances? Massage?

Terry raised an eyebrow. He had observed a few tamers in his realm. He didn't remember the martialists using any massages or dances. Whips and treasures, yes. Some of them outright battled the beasts until they submitted. It appeared the shroomans followed a different approach.

Terry inwardly shrugged. He would take whatever advice on taming he could get. If he had to massage a slime to get closer to the truth, then massaging a slime was what he would learn.

[Slime smells happy,] translated Bugsby for Shroomling.

I'm still not sure how I feel about such commentary…

Terry was fascinated by the way Shroomling and the shroomans perceived the world, but also weirded out. Slightly. The idea of smelling emotions was just too strange.

Then again, we're mostly used to identifying by sight. Reading someone's face or posture. To someone like the shroomans with bad vision, that might seem just as strange.

[I've decided to call it Oz.] Terry pointed out. Even though Bugsby had quickly grown proficient in understanding audible words in common language, Terry still added finger runes whenever he introduced new concepts or words. Words like the name for the slime in front of them.

[It?] Bugsby and Shroomling seemed to engage in a confusing exchange. [Not like us?]

It took a moment before Terry realized they were getting at the way he was addressing them in the beginning. He explained that 'it' was not appropriate to use with sapient folks.

[Shroomling says Oz is full,] translated Bugsby.

"Really?" Terry stared at the shadowy ooze who did not show any signs of stopping to gorge itself on his mana.

[Now just gluttony,] said Bugsby. [Not good.]

"Okay, that's enough, Oz," chided Terry and pulled back his mana. The gluttonous blob of goo didn't appear to be listening to him. It quickly moved to nibble on Terry's cloak.

I wonder if this is a waste of time…

***

Terry finished massaging his pet slime and let it down on the ground again. He observed the squishy creature slide slowly over the earth while wiggling… happily?

Terry glanced at Bugsby and Shroomling for some help.

[Oz is happy,] assured Bugsby.

Happily.

Terry subconsciously held his nape and observed Oz skeptically. He wasn't sure if he was really getting better at interpreting slime wiggles or if it was just a sign of guessing based on expectations.

Well, I hope I'm getting better, because eventually, I'd like to issue commands or get some rudimentary input.

I hope this isn't a waste of time.

Terry remembered how Siling had once described the input she was getting from soul spirits of lower intelligence like her original falcon soul Birdbrain.

"Back to the most important part," muttered Terry. He adjusted his external mana bubble to leave space around Oz and closed his eyes to concentrate on his mana sense.

He had fed Oz based on a diet of shadow fabric, and his own naturalized mana combined with the spore powder.

He had the shroomans help by speeding up the reactivity of the powder by… wiggling? Puffing? Honestly, Terry didn't know how any of this worked together, which didn't help to ease his nerves about the whole situation.

What's there to be nervous about?

Terry could hear his intrusive thoughts mock him.

Either you're finding out a clue about the greatest legend of your realm or you're helping to spread a terrible mana curse because you wanted to follow a hunch.

Don't forget that every hour spent here playing blob caretaker is another hour that folks are getting infected.

Another hour that folks are being turned into funghouls or simply dying out of despair.

Another hour that the curse threatens to overcome the expedition's defenses and turn them into victims like the rest of this cursed realm.

Nothing to be nervous about.

Nothing at all.

Terry barely held back the words to tell his thoughts to shut up. He wasn't alone. Bad enough that he always managed to make himself look like a weirdo in his own native realm realm. No need to make it a habit for other realms as well.

His thoughts failed to calm down. He tried to remind himself that acting without understanding the situation could very well be worse than not acting at all. However, the reminder felt hollow whenever his thoughts drifted to the cost that was associated with his experiment. Drifted to the painful price-tag of waiting while obstructing the researchers like Mercedes.

Already when Khaled had visited, there appeared to be a clear strain on harmony within the expedition with different viewpoints struggling and wrestling with each other for deciding what the expedition should do.

There was no way that the tension within the expedition would ease with time. Even less of a chance for the relation with the locals to improve while Terry stood in the way of the moon elves' hunt.

Every second that ticked by, the situation was growing more complicated. More tense. More explosive.

Terry forced himself to focus despite his intrusive thoughts. He tried sensing for any input from Oz, or rather for the link he hypothesized. A link of his naturalized mana established by the spore powder.

"Nothing," grumbled Terry. "I'm getting nothing."

He could sense the slime, of course, but he would have always sensed the slime, powder or not.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Am I wasting my time?

Terry was aware that his experiment hadn't had much time to develop, but he also felt pressed for time. He had held some trust in his outstanding mana perception and had hoped that he would be able to quickly catch a sensation… if there was anything to sense.

What if there isn't?

Terry exhaled his frustration sharply. "I can't sense anything."

[Of course,] interjected Bugsby.

Terry jerked his head around to stare at Bugsby. "What do you mean, 'of course'?"

[Shroomling said Oz has to spread mana,] explained Bugsby.

Terry took a deep breath. That just meant he was going in circles. He wanted to confirm his suspicion that the spore powder was the same that had been used by the Veilbinder. However, in order to do that, he now had to first get the slime to cooperate.

He had hoped the powder might help with the taming, but now he learned that he would need the slime's cooperation before having any way to verify if the powder was doing anything.

How by all that's mana did the Veilbinder figure this out?

If he figured it out. If he was even here. If—

Terry bit the inside of his cheek to prevent his thoughts from running away from him.

[Shroomling said you have to talk with mana,] said Bugsby. A sense of timidness was conveyed with the runic intent from his fingers.

Terry looked at his beetlefolk friend. He had noticed that Bugsby was somewhat shy in front of the slime. From his probing, he had discovered that Bugsby wanted to help, but was at a loss for how.

Apparently, Bugsby was used to quickly gaining the ability to communicate with others, including animals, but the slime had the beetlefolk stumped, because it didn't react to any of his learned means of communication.

Visual gestures? Ignored.

Chirps and other sounds? Also ignored.

Scents and pheromones? Nothing.

Touch and pressure? Still nothing.

It appeared that the slime was entirely reliant on mana-based communication, but the beetlefolk couldn't figure out how. Terry got the impression that his friend was distressed, simply because he prided himself in his ability to pick up languages.

The only mana-based means of communication Bugsby knew was the system of finger runes that Terry had taught him, and that was ignored by the seemingly mute slime as well.

Terry stared absentmindedly at Oz wiggling over the forest floor.

Wait…

Terry narrowed his eyes and activated soulsight. He still had to consciously remind himself to use the strangest of his perceptive abilities that stood separate from his mana perception.

He observed the purple glow that was the slime's soul, and he started again from scratch.

Mixing his naturalized mana with spore powder and shadow fabric. Feeding the meal to the shadow slime.

Massaging the slime according to Shroomling's suggestions.

Slightly tugging at the edges of his naturalized mana that had been absorbed into the slime.

Terry furrowed his brow whenever there was a slight change in the soul he saw.

A change in saturation.

In shape.

In consistency.

In movement.

In stickiness? Some kind of viscosity of the soul around the monster's core.

So many different factors…

Terry felt a headache coming.

Oh great, I've moved from interpreting slime wiggles to interpreting soul wiggles.

***

Terry bit his lip while looking at Bugsby. His beetlefolk friend had just suggested something that should have him excited, but he couldn't help but pause to consider it.

"You think you can help?" Terry repeated. He had just expressed his frustrations with trying to interpret Oz's wiggles, specifically his soul wiggles.

If the shroomans were to be believed, then the powder worked based on mana and it seemed that the slime itself communicated based on mana to begin with.

Right when Terry was wondering again if he was wasting his time, Bugsby casually interjected a potential miracle.

[You have an ability to share my senses?] Terry accompanied his question with finger runes to make sure there was no miscommunication.

[Yes.] Bugsby nodded. [Not all realms friendly.] He hung his head slightly. [Temporarily share senses with wildlife to help stay safe of predators.] He subconsciously preened an antenna. [Can also permanently grant sense to a friend, but every beetlefolk can only do that once. It's customary to grant it to our tree finder.]

Tree finder. That was the term for the person that helps a beetlefolk find a suitable magic tree to have children.

Terry did not feel comfortable with the idea of a permanent change. For one thing, he wasn't really sure he could become the tree finder for Bugsby. When hearing 'magic tree', he could think of a few examples.

Druid trees.

He considered if Dhruv or Emily might agree to help out Bugsby. From what Terry understood, the beetlefolk would settle down around their magic tree while the next generation would then strike out to find their own tree to start a family.

Bugsby is nice. Perhaps he could help cheer Dhruv up? The dwarven druid seemed lonely sometimes. I'm sure Emily would like Bugsby, too.

The elven forest? No clue.

What else? The Bodhi Tree?

Terry vaguely remembered the twin-pupiled cultists he had faced in Tiv. The otherrealm creature they worshipped was named a tree.

Not sure they would appreciate Bugsby trying to procreate with their god.

Terry suppressed a childish snicker, and forced his thoughts back to focus on what was important. The permanent granting of a sense sounded a bit… iffy.

It reminded him of the channeling by cultists, which, once again, didn't ease Terry's conflicted feelings about his entire situation.

How much could he trust his new friends?

How much could he afford risking for giving them a chance?

"Let's try the temporary version," declared Terry. Even that much already had him questioning himself. He assured himself that it should be fine, because Bugsby hadn't mentioned anything about opening his mind or lowering his guard.

Whatever Bugsby was capable of doing, he could have done that at any point in time since their meeting. He didn't have to warn Terry or ask for permission first.

Bugsby's antennae began glowing slightly and his mouth was pressed thinly in concentration. He lifted his hands to close his eyelid-less eyes.

Huh. I guess that ability is a similar headache to the vampire bat soul projection ring.

Being flooded with an additional set of senses is never fun, I guess.

Remembering the ring caused Terry to think of Ying. Think of how the poor man had been betrayed by the monster. Betrayed and used by someone Ying had thought of as a benefactor and a friend.

Terry's nerves were strained. His mana perception was stretched to its limits. Every fiber of his being was tense and ready to react to the slightest sign of something being wrong.

[Done.]

"Huh?" Terry blurted out. That was beyond anti-climatic. Whatever Bugsby had done, had barely left any sign of anything.

On the one hand, Terry felt relieved. He had been right. Whatever Bugsby had done, Terry would not have been able to prevent that mana ability from targeting him anyway.

On the other hand, that very fact also made him more wary. For a brief moment, Terry wondered if Bugsby had activated such an ability before. He didn't even know how it worked, but sharing a sense surely must be a form of mind-magic?

Had the beetlefolk read Terry's mind before?

Terry's eyes wandered back to the glowing antennae.

Probably not.

Unless that's a feint to misdirect? But then what about all the finger runes, the writing, and the language curiosity? If he can read my mind, then there was no point to any of that.

Wait, if he can read my mind, can he hear what I'm thinking now?

Terry was kind of glad that Bugsby was covering his eyes with his hands, because Terry was certain his own expression would fit all too well into his weirdo pattern.

BUGSBY!

Terry inwardly screamed, cursed, and thought all kinds of nonsense to trigger a potential listener, but there was no reaction from the beetlefolk to any of his thoughts. He continued probing in whatever manner he could think of, only to have his thoughts interrupted.

[Should we start?]

Terry cleared his throat. Bugsby had reminded him of why they were here to begin with. It looked as if the ability strained Bugsby and Terry realized he was acting inconsiderate.

Weirdo.

Terry activated soulsight and looked at Oz.

[I can see it,] confirmed Bugsby. [It's beautiful.]

Terry glanced at Bugsby.

[Oh wow!] exclaimed Bugsby with the intent of an excited child. [Is this me? This is so interesting.]

Terry couldn't help but feel more at ease when sensing the honest intent and curiosity. He took a deep breath and focused back on Oz.

He began moving through his different experiments to trigger the different soul wiggles while Bugsby was watching through his soulsight.

[I think… I get it,] signed Bugsby excitedly, clearly happy at being of help.

***

"Amazing…" Terry used the link with the mana inside Oz to issue commands while Bugsby helped him interpret the soul-wiggling responses of the slime.

The commands weren't anything complicated. Move forward. Stop. Change direction.

In a way, it reminded Terry of how he had used a shielded pebble to communicate with Ying while they had infiltrated the Lich Kingdoms.

It wasn't anything complicated, but it was still amazing to Terry. Not only was Oz understanding him, it was even listening to him.

Terry glanced at Bugsby and couldn't help but feel impressed.

Either this is the most elaborate con ever played on me, or this is just plain impressive.

A part of Terry hoped that Bugsby would choose to settle down in his own native realm. With the speed at which Bugsby was picking up languages, he could surely speed up the creation of language impartation scrolls for any newfolks his realm encountered.

As far as Terry knew, there were still no language impartation scrolls for lizans that could teach their language, even though the permanent gates to their realm had been around for years by now.

Now that Bugsby had not only his inherent gift of acquiring languages, but also increasingly mastered finger runes to communicate intent with anyone capable of mana sense, he could practically bridge any language to the mages capable of creating the required language impartation scrolls.

Focus.

Terry forced himself back to the crucial topic and the reason he had started all of this. He issued the most recent command aligned with Bugsby's help.

His linked mana tugged around and swirled until Oz understood.

Shadow-aspected mana leaked out the slime and spread into the surroundings.

Terry closed his eyes. His heartbeat accelerated when he could sense it. It felt numb and coarse compared to his direct mana perception, but undoubtedly, he felt something.

Terry gulped.

Then he stepped into the shadows.

"I still feel it," muttered Terry. With that sensation as a baseline, he could pick up on Oz's location. Pick up on his linked mana inside of Oz. Ask it to move.

Ask it to spread more mana.

Terry switched back to the regular plane and let Oz move to the shadows. The link was stable.

For a moment, Terry just stood there grinning, almost failing to stop Oz in time from nibbling on one of the shroomans' domesticated insects.

He had been excited during their wiggling interpretation sessions when Oz proved that the slime could hide in the shadow fabric of his cloak.

He was, of course, happy to see his hypothesis pan out. The Veilbinder had been in this realm. Finally, a fact Terry could anchor his thoughts to. There were many implications of that fact. The Veilbinder must have met the shroomans, which made their active involvement in a realm-dooming curse even less likely.

That fact also put a timeline on the curse. There was no way the Veilbinder would have left the curse rampage if it had been active during his visit. Coupled with the statements by the locals that they don't know about the Veilbinder, it told Terry that the curse had started after the Veilbinder had passed through this realm.

Together with the information about both Dalia's House and Thuzar being active in the dungeon protecting the folded space, it also implied that the Veilbinder had visited this realm at least twice.

Once when the Veilbinder had acquired the mana-linking spore powder. Before he had returned to Terry's native realm and dealt with the invading ruler of the shadow plane.

At least once more when the Veilbinder had left for his final sacrifice, before Dalia and Thuzar had investigated the dungeon guarding the sealed gate.

Terry's mind was itching to piece everything further together, but at this very moment, there was a single thought reverberating through his mind. A thought that had little to do with the curse or the mysteries of this realm.

Finally!

I can finally sense into the shadow plane!

Terry grinned from ear to ear.

***

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