Training as a Slime (99)

Cori opened the wooden door.

"Haven't you heard of knocking son?" the wysard said laying on the bed with his back facing Cori. Feeling the itch, his discoloured nailed scratched his buttocks for relief.

"I did and you told me to come in," Cori defended himself as he wondered if the wise man was wise or senile.

"Aren't you a defensive one," the wise man remarked. "Just take one of the tokens and leave," he said with a yawn.

Cori glanced at the token and noticed it was rather similar to the one the Duchess had given him.

"You're one of the Masters..."

"I'm just an old man, what Master. Tsk. I can't be bothered nowadays. Names are just words to stuff people into a category. A way to stratify others according to their belief system," the dishevelled grey-haired elderly stretched his body as he got up and brewed a cup of coffee.

"Why are there so many of them?" Cori asked.

"For a slime, you sure have lots of questions. Do you think you're the first person ever summoned to enter Hall777?" the elderly mocked. "This place is for learning and you're bound here until graduation... supposedly." The wise elderly air-quoted with his fingers and then inhaled the wispy steam from the aromatic drink. Sipping a little at a time to avoid burning his tongue. "You're not a very smart guy, aren't you?" he smiled.

"So what's this? A charade?" Cori asked concealing the anger brewing in his heart.

"Well, whatever you know, I know. So it looks pretty much like it," the old man taunted but Cori remained steadfast. His innocent eyes guising his real emotions.

"So what do you want to know? Since you're here to do the 'schoolwork'," he laughed.

"The truth is always uncomfortable...," Cori comforted himself trying not to get angsty. Cori's protective aura quivered like a flame in the wind as if reacting to his emotions.

The wise elderly mused, observing the ignorant slime's golden sheen switching off and on like a broken lamp. "A common slime with an uncommon encounter. What were you thinking old buddy," he thought.

Cori felt an intermittent quiver down his back, clueless about his malfunctioning protective golden aura shield. He boldly bounced toward the wise man, but the stench threw him off-guard. "How long have you not bathed?" Cori asked.

"As long as I can remember... is that all you have for me? You better return home if I were you."

"Home..." Cori muttered, his steps staggered, "How?"

"How do I know? That's easy, everyone who came to see me, came for the same reason. There's Dorothy, Peter, Wendy, Kagome, Alice... so many... initially. I am so tired of helping when everyone eventually decided to stay. Why not just stay here? You will have power, wealth, and everything you dream of," The wise one popped out an eye and held it over Cori.

With his protection down, every thought Cori had was exposed. He had never felt so transparent in his life.

"Weak, so weak..." the wise man shook his head. The slime in front of him was as helpless as a mochi without protection. Popping his eye back, Cori regained his mobility. In place of the old man, was an old woman instead.

"People used to nickname me 'Ditto' the slime," the wise woman shared without care. "After all who would remember someone old like him", she thought as she continued to ramble, "Your kind would have labelled me as a shapeshifter, Zeus or any other name that befits your imagination. You think you are brave to hide things from me?"

At this point, Cori was convinced he had met a mad person. "What... what are you?" Cori uttered as his face turned a pale shade of green.

"Traitor!" she shrieked pointing her finger at him, casting a levitation spell and slamming him into a cage. "Your little system won't work here," she smirked.

"Help!" Cori yelled continuously, but no one was there to help.

Somehow, the lock on the cage miraculously unlocked and Cori ran out of the house with all his might. Cori ran into the forest with all his might, hoping to lose track of the one-eye monstrosity. The slightly golden shield flickered and turned on, masking his vulnerable body.

The crazy old woman stretched out her hands, attempting to drag Cori back into the cage with telekinesis but her reach barely kept up with the slime who kept teleporting, increasing the distance. Tired, she retired back into her chambers, returning to her male form. 

With nowhere to return to, Cori, could only momentarily hide in the creek. A slight twinkle of laughter made its way up the river. Curious, he followed the sound and spotted a slime learning to fish from the fisherman.

Maintaining his composure, he approached both of them.

The young slime gasped as she saw Cori. Her eyes shone brightly as if she had met her prince charming. Shy, she swiftly hid behind the legs of the villager. "Son, what can I do for you?" the fisherman asked.

"Can I stay with you until the trainer picks us up?" he asked.

"Aren't you supposed to train with one of us?" the fisherman enquired.

"I... think I went to the wrong place, I'm supposed to train with the wise one," Cori said.

"The wise one is up in the mountain, you will need a map to get there. People are often confused by the road signs. You see, we have a witch but she's rather cranky. There are rumours that she eats children," the fisherman added covering his pupil's ears.

"That's like Hansel and Greta, " Cori thought. He had never felt so powerless after arriving in this world. Regardless, the ability the witch had was real.

"Here, follow this map," the fisherman tapped his system and sent the map to Cori.

System, "Map Update Detected, Install?"

"Yes," Cori thought and the map was automatically uploaded with an inbuilt "GPS" system.

"Thank you," Cori bowed.

The fisherman and the young slime bowed back and wished Cori a good trip.