Chapter 286

"Even if can be dangerous if let grow unchecked, a slime is not a monster. By definition, a monster is a sentient creature that naturally harbors hostility towards mankind.

"Despite having the intelligence and the means to communicate, monsters see us as we do with cattle. That's why magical beasts are not considered monsters, because they are capable of understanding human speech and cooperate with us.

"The same applies to Evolved monsters that are called as such simply because they don't resemble animals anymore and because we humans need to put tags on everything.

"The slime is not a monster because it lacks both sentience and hostility. It's a mindless natural scavenger that preys mostly on small animal carcasses. The more they eat the more they grow in size, until they split generating two individuals that are the exact copy of the original one.

"Some researchers even hypothesize that all existing slimes have spawned from a single one over the millennia, but I digress. What matters to you for this exercise, is that all the slimes on your desks are identical and we have more to spare.

"So even if you mess up, you can get a replacement."

A snap of Vastor's finger made a slime appear on the desk in front of him. He quickly cast Scanner, making the slime deflate while its fluids spread inside the tank

Some students shuddered, imagining the same thing happening to a human patient in front of them.

"Is the Scanner spell harmful to the patient?" Lith asked.

"Ten points to Lith for his scientific curiosity and admirable work ethic."

Once again, each assigned point was a knife in the heart of those that despite having the same question didn't ask it, fearing it was a stupid one.

"No, it's not. However, some students get carried away in excitement and attempt to manipulate the life force with messy consequences."

At that point, Vastor taught them Scanner. Less than five minutes later everyone had mastered the spell and were using them to study their own test subject.

"Professor, my slime keeps moving around. Is there a way to hold it still?" Asked a boy.

"Sure, you just have to kill it." Vastor replied with a sneer.

"Do you expect a heart to stop beating or the blood to stop flowing to make your life easier? Consider the slime as an involuntary muscle."

Lith was amazed by the slime's composition. Despite being liquid looking, once seen through the Scanner spell it actually resembled a stack of gelatinous lego bricks. To move they would slide along each other, swapping their position like a treadmill.

Each brick emitted a red pulsing light that defined its contours, its individual vitality, providing a living map of the whole creature. Even if the bricks appeared to be capable of independent movement, after further examination Lith noticed a red pathway connecting all the nearby bricks.

He then used Invigoration to compare the two skills.

He hoped that just like clothes, the thin barrier between the slime and his hand wasn't enough to block his magical sense. Through Invigoration Lith could sense the creature's life force, its feeble mana flow, but no life force or any organ.

To Invigoration the slime appeared like a huge single-cell organism.

'Seems fake magic just beat us this time.' Lith was amazed and kind of frightened by the discovery that even Invigoration had limits.

'For now.' Solus eased his paranoia with her soothing voice.

'We can always master Scanner and evolve it into true magic. Also, who knows? Maybe it can teach us new ways of using Invigoration.'

Lith inwardly nodded, going back to use Scanner, but this time on himself to better comprehend what the spell was showing him. Unlike Invigoration, Scanner was unable to provide full-body imaging.

Everything appeared as a red blur until Lith focused his attention on his arm and then on his hand. Now he could see the muscles, the bones, the blood vessels as well as the nerves surrounding them.

Yet he visualized them as red lego bricks too. Some were smaller, others bigger, but all were connected by multiple glowing red strings the complexity of which made him dizzy. It was like studying a 3D railway map made with an erector set.

The intricacy of a single of Lith's fingers was way higher than that of the whole slime. Lith went back to examining the slime again, gaining a new understanding of how the creature worked.

Suddenly, Vastor clapped his hands, almost making him flinch in surprise.

"The first hour is over. Enough with the theory, it's time to put what you have learned to practice. I can tell you in advance it's a bad day for being a slime."

***

Griffon Kingdom, City of Xenatos, House of Duke Cailon

Eberst Cailon, twelfth Duke of Xenatos, was a big and burly man. Even though he had been born a noble, Eberst had voluntarily served in the army, quickly achieving the rank of Captain.

After the honorable discharge, he had never stopped training himself following a rigid schedule. With his 1.9 meters (6'3"), he was an imposing sight to behold. His pitch black hair and beard made him look authoritative, almost cruel.

Rumour said that he never cried during his adult life. Neither when his beloved parents died of old age or when his wife gave birth to his firstborn.

Yet now, while Lith was studying his slime, Duke Cailon was sobbing, shivering uncontrollably. There were no restraints preventing him from standing up from the chair of his own office and run for his life, yet he didn't dare to.

Not after his last attempts only resulted in a dislocated shoulder, three broken false ribs, and his index fingers more twisted than a pretzel.

Fear blocked him like the cruelest of chains. He couldn't understand how someone so small could also be so strong.

Lady Jirni Ernas was a petite woman, barely 1.52 cm (5') high. She was wearing her dark blue military uniform that emphasized her blonde hair held up in a ponytail and her sapphire blue eyes. She looked like a doll.

If the doll was Chucky's blood relative, of course.

"You are really making things hard for me, Ebert." Her tone was sad, almost sympathetic.

"Everyone at the precinct, even the chief of police, was so kind to break in less than a few minutes of interrogation each. I already have everything I need to convict you of capital crimes."

Jirni pointed at the several folders she had thrown on the desk of his own office at the begin of their conversation. Each one contained hard proof of how large sums of money, after passing through the hands of several figureheads and being laundered by shell companies ended straight in his personal accounts.

Each folder was a different source of income. Human trafficking, embezzling of royal funds for the territory, bribery, and so much more. Some of those papers weren't even supposed to exist, but in such shady business, it was common practice for the involved parties to keep some records as "insurance", in case something went wrong.

Duke Cailon accomplices had sold him. Some in exchange for a reduced sentence, others just to make Jirni stop.

A burst of pain from his shoulder made him scream.