Syl-Chapter 247: Considerations

"A pink core, huh…" Llewel whispered curiously. "I haven't seen one since I was asked to brew a regeneration elixir. Usually, I only see pink slime nowadays."

"It's a very tall ask," Paeris commented disparagingly.

"Hey, if Syl is going to be risking her life, it's the least you can do," Vee refuted. "Besides, what else could you offer her? She's a slime!"

Vee doesn't really know how valuable they are, but I'm still glad she's sticking up for me.

Paeris snorted in response, "Well, I wouldn't know what to offer a slime, but any monster would be privileged to be bonded to an elf. I think offering to be companioned to one of our prestigious tamers would be glorious compensation."

"No. No way," I rejected immediately.

The elves seemed a bit startled by my firm and instant refusal.

"You say that when you've got a bond yourself?" Llewel asked.

"I took an oath to the gods that I'd never use [Order] on Vee," I explained.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want any brainworms controlling me," Vee said.

"I see," Llewel replied, seeming quite startled.

"That's quite a commitment," Loreleia commented. "I can understand your apprehension after what transpired previously. But do know that should you wish such a connection, it can be arranged. However, I will still seek out the pink core as requested."

"Thank you," I replied.

We chatted for a little longer before the three elves stood up to depart and left us to discuss our decision amongst ourselves. I was really grateful that it looked like they wouldn't be forcing us into a rushed decision.

However, at the door, Loreleia stopped and made one final comment.

"Regardless of what you choose, whether you leave or stay, I'd ask that, at the end, you abandon that look. I do not wish to know that my daughter's visage is wandering around the world."

I nodded, albeit reluctantly. I didn't want to anger her, but this appearance had undoubtedly been my primary persona for so long now. That meant that if I returned to the guild, I'd be unable to use it.

Now that I had the complete elf profile, I could easily create my own one, similar enough but different enough to my liking. However, it would undoubtedly raise some questions about why I had changed. If I kept it too close, I'd risk angering Loreleia and perhaps her entire branch.

I definitely want to keep friendly relations with the elves. Who knows? Maybe I'll need their help one day. Or, if I've got nowhere to go, I could always live here since I've proven that I won't go mad. Hell, if they swore an oath, I might even be willing to consider another [Companion Bond].

When they finally left, and I disconnected the telepathic connection to just Vee and myself, she let out a long and tired groan.

"What a crazy situation!"

"You're telling me," I chuckled. "What's your thoughts?"

Vee paused to think a bit and sighed, "I think it's probably worthwhile? I mean, I think you're getting ripped off only asking for a single slime core, but having allies with the elves sounds like a good idea."

I nodded, "If, for whatever reason, we needed a place to hide safely, the elves could probably provide it. Especially these ones, since they know we are souls. I don't know if the humans would be so accepting if they knew the truth."

"But, on the flip side, you'd be making enemies with those Outeatus humans," Vee pointed out.

"I honestly don't give a rat's ass about them," I replied bluntly. "They've tried to kill me multiple times now—they're firmly labeled as enemies of mine."

"True, but you'd also be making enemies with whatever group of elves was against the Feirelle elves," Vee added.

"That I'm a bit more worried about," I admitted. "But if we assume they are a small faction, and we reveal their betrayal, I'm sure we'd have the rest of the elves on our side."

"An excellent point; I don't think the rest of the elves would be too fond of allying with a hostile human nation trying to get access to their big magic tree."

"Although that's also worrying… Why would they risk such a big thing just to take down the Feirelle elves? Do they have such confidence in dealing with their human collaborators after the fact, or is there something bigger at play?"

"It sounds like you've already made up your mind," Vee teased.

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I sighed, "I'll admit that I'm definitely curious about the whole thing. Although I'm not too happy about pretending to be her dead daughter."

"Honestly, I don't think she was too happy about it either. But I guess she's pushing her feelings aside until this matter is resolved. She did ask you to stop using the form after the fact."

"Yeah, that's another issue I'll have to deal with eventually. But do you have any objections?"

"Not really?" Vee replied. "I guess I'd like to know that we can teleport in case of emergencies; I don't want to be in anti-teleport rooms and then stuck to die a horrible death. If that freedom is restored, then honestly, you'd be the biggest one at risk."

"Well, like you pointed out—I'm pretty good at taking a backstab or two."

"Boo! Terrible joke," Vee giggled. "But yeah, any assassin would be an idiot to try to stab you in the back. You'd just turn around and eat them."

"That reminds me, I'll need to add some better food to my list of demands. My slime mass is dreadfully low," I sighed.

"Either that or ask to do a bit of monster hunting or something and get it yourself," Vee suggested. "I suppose it depends on how tight of a leash they want to put on us."

"That might be out of our hands, considering that Sylthaeryn literally ran away. They might be forced to watch us closely because of that."

"It's a little sad. She sounded like a bird stuck in a gilded cage," Vee replied somberly.

"Promised adventure and instead used to plot her people's downfall. Extremely scummy. Quite frankly, I want to deal with them just because of that."

We chatted a bit longer until we had nothing more to discuss about the subject. We both agreed that this sounded like the best plan for now, and we wanted to have some powerful elven allies in the future.

After that, we continued with Vee's magic training. Vee had still not broken through her Mana aura, and I'd still not have gotten my discount. I was even wondering if I should request elven tutors on the subject, as maybe they could coach Vee through it where both Trixie and I had failed.

"Be the rock… Be the rock…" Vee chanted over and over.

We'd tried many different visualizations in the past, but I kept returning to the original one that worked for me. I had proven it true for myself, so I had confidence in it.

"Ugh… This feels so wrong," Vee commented.

Huh… That sounds new?

"Don't give in, keep pushing!" I shouted excitedly.

"Are you sure? This is some serious call of the void shit going on here," Vee replied nervously. "I feel like you're telling me to jump into the mouth of a starving beast!"

"Once it's done, it's all over! Keep pushing! Trust me!"

Vee kept trying before letting out an exasperated sigh and collapsing.

"I can't do it!" she cried.

"You were so close!" I tried to encourage her. "Just one or two more pushes, and you might finally break through!"

"Ugh…" Vee groaned. "I trust you because, holy hell, you're sending me some positive vibes through our bond, and I know you want to complete your quest. But wow… That feeling was bad!"

"I was surprised you suddenly started making progress," I replied. "I thought I'd misheard you initially; you've never made it this far! What changed? A sudden epiphany?"

Vee was silent for a bit as she tried to think. I could feel her trying to clear away the muddied thoughts as she puzzled out a reason.

"It might be the room," Vee eventually replied.

"The room?" I said, looking around. "What about it?"

"Okay, so you know how I can't teleport, and the whole room feels like it's the same spot?" Vee asked.

"Yes?"

"Okay. So, ever since I got my [Spatial Sense], I have pretty much left it on constantly. It lets me be prepared for ambushes, lets me be ready to use [Blink], err, [Warp] at a moment's notice, and so forth—there's literally thousands of benefits!"

"Yes, yes, rub it in that I don't have it yet," I grumbled.

"Well! I think that's what was stopping me from visualizing outside my perspective!" Vee replied excitedly.

"I don't understand."

"When I use [Spatial Sense], it's sort of like a graph. I'm at the origin, zero-zero," Vee tried to explain.

"I have no idea what a graph is," I grumbled.

"Do they not have geometry here?" Vee questioned.

I shrugged.

"Agh!" Vee cried out in frustration. "Well… I'm at the center, and everything around me is related to that point. That's how I sort of see things when using [Spatial Sense]. So I have a very solid image of where I am; it's literally plotted out for me and my senses."

I nodded, now sort of understanding what she was trying to explain.

"So you can't imagine yourself casting from the rock because you're at this origin point?"

"Exactly! And I kept thinking maybe I should go about it by changing my coordinates to where the rock is. That's sort of how [Blink] and [Warp] work."

"Which is definitely not how that works," I replied. "I'm surprised you didn't mention this any sooner?"

"Well, until I was in this room, I honestly sort of forgot I was even doing it," Vee explained. "Like I said, ever since I got it, I've left it on permanently. It's become such a part of my life that it might as well be breathing for me. But now, even though I have it on, this room won't let me use it. Everything is the origin point."

I couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of it. Who knew that being trapped in an anti-teleportation room would lead to such a revelation.

"It's almost like we should thank the elves for capturing us," I joked.

"I dunno if I'd go that far. I'm sure I would have realized what I was doing… Eventually…"

I shrugged, "Well, regardless, I think you should keep pushing! If we can get you through this last hurdle, maybe I'll finally get my dimension affinity discount!"

"Yeah! Then we can really put our heads together!" Vee cheered.

"Assuming I don't also get lost in the whole coordinate thing you complained about," I joked.

"Worst case, you could spend a skill point to get to level two," Vee replied. "It might be worth it with how slow [Dimension Magic] is to level up… I would've if I had skill points to spare back then, but I only got them very rarely from [Apex Hunter]."

I looked at my skill points.

<Skill Points remaining: 18>

"I only have eighteen left!" I moaned.

"That's plenty!" Vee yelled.

"Yeah, but Gramps adjusted my experience distribution. I'm going to be stuck at my current Elementalist level for quite some time. What if I need these points for something important? I need ten points to uncap a skill!"

"What if, what if," Vee scoffed. "What if the tree explodes tomorrow, and we all die? What good will your massive savings be, then? Bah. I don't understand why you're so hesitant." ƒгeewebnovёl.com

"I literally spent three trait points and skill points yesterday," I explained. "And I'll need to spend another of each to unlock my next element. And I still need to buy [Dimension Magic]! And who knows what other traits or skills related to it!"

"You've really got points on the brain," Vee giggled. "But fine. I won't tell you to spend a point to get to level two."

"Thank you! Now, let's let that void call you so you can break through your Mana aura!"

"You're not meant to give in to the call of the void, Syl!" Vee moaned.