The morning that came after was filled with the desire for something sweet, damn did that pie make my sweet tooth show up again - I'm not complaining. And so I brainstormed a few stuff back from my old world - like drop candy, jellyfruits and all those other stuff... I ended up locking onto those first two ideas, since I wanted to get some slime for a farm and exploit it endlessly.
But first, a little consultation - "Love, do you want me to make a sweets factory, and if so, what do you want?" My eyes narrowed and I tilted me head sideways, horizontal-vertical, no Idea, spin on horizon 20 degrees and a light tilt on the horizontal part 30 degrees.
She looked at me a bit taken aback... and also confused. I didn't present her options. "What do you have in mind?"
"Cherry drop candy, might as well automate our love, hmm?"
She chuckled. "Wouldn't that take away it's meaning."
"I will make a cherry farm than and then the factory. Our tree is sacred, just like our connection." I said, my voice low and romantic.
She just smiled sweetly, a light pink blush painting on her cheeks.
"I'm also going to make a jelly candy factory, like jelly cubes with different tastes, maybe even make a coffee jelly... Oh shit, that actually sounds good." My eyes widened at my own revelation, I have caught on another wave of ingenuity.
"Sounds good, but you do know that they can choke people? If not for them - for us." She said, sitting on my lap and putting her arms around my shoulders for support.
"Oh... I will just find out what makes them a pain and transform it into energy - recycling." I replied with a confident, almost blissful smirk.
She gave me a reassuring, proud smile, her eyes softening as they met mine. "I'm glad that fire returned."
"Heh, me too, love, me too..."
And so it was time to go, no reason for me to go to Axel, so I headed the opposite direction - toward Arcanletia.
The ride was as smooth as before, the clouds and landscape shifting. Soon I was on that same bridge, but this time I didn't slow that much, because I knew my roof doesn't press against the top of the arch.
Literally the moment the light of day kissed my forehead as I left that tunnel I saw a poor man being harrassed into joining.
"Mmm, as unpleasant as ever." I murmured to myself, even though I liked my stay here... minus the people.
I rode in, people were praising me for my achievements, waving as I rode past, even making way.
And so I went straight to the adventurer's guild of Arcanletia. Looking around, I could say that it was nearly identical to the one in Axel, except for the people inside, and the dragon skull, they don't have one. At least navigation is easy this way.
So I went to the receptionist's desk, a woman, who wearse black and white, with chocolate skin and crimson, but not the crimson demon type, greeted me. "Hello, how can I help you?"
"Good day, by any chance do you have quests with slime?"
She looked behind me and pointed. "Yeah, it's right there."
I picked up the parchment and read it, at some lake nearby have gathered a lot of blue slimes. "Perfect." I said, not even looking at the reward, I turned back to the lady. "How do I get there though?"
"It's simple-" And so she explained how to get there.
I gave her a thumbs up, folding the paper and putting it in my pocket before leaving with a wave.
The drive there was quite long, since I had to travel a long while through the city, I didn't care anymore about the streets, if there is an issue I can fix it and make the result better that the original.
Then I stopped at a lake, not even one slime in sight.
I looked down at the lake there were no movements, so I decided to change that. I picked up a rock and threw it at such an angle that it would skip. It managed earn me a score of 3 skips - not that good. Then I tossed another, and another, and finally I got the perfect stone, disk shaped, beautifully round edges and I threw it getting a score of 7 skips. In that moment though, something lunged from the water.
I grinned and jumped back, materializing the steam-suit around me. Before me stood a big ass slime, three times my size easily and next to it a little one. Adorable... Well, you know what that means - I pulled out a bottle. And lunged for the little one, but the big one stopped me, trying to crush me. I pulled out my steam sword and swung, cutting it in half vertically, well, as much as I can, my sword isn't big enough to cut through it all.
So I simply decided to stand there, and just overload it with kinetic and thermal energy till it boils or flies away, letting me grab the little slime. The slime didn't even dare to approach me, as if aware of what would befall it... Damn, this is sad, no real battle, where's my power fantasy?
I go to the little guy and not-so gently put him in the bottle. After which I just leave, going to the guild again to bring the receptionist lady the quest paper. Of course, since this is an alive being, I couldn't transform it into energy, otherwise it's as good a dead, I can transform lesser souls, but in the process of disintegrating the body and the soul, the soul could get messed up and not function properly, in term becoming dead and losing a whole lot of energy. Similar to chemistry, everything has a right place to be for it to be what it is and how it is.
She looked at me weirdly as I walked in, the bottle's top hanging out of my pocket.
"Uh... how did the quest go?"
"Failed succesfully and intentionally. Here you go." I said placing the parchment in front of her. "I'm off now... Have great many."
She was speechless, but despite herself asked. "Wait, what do you even need one?"
"For candy and glue of course, what other organism am I going to exploit to get gelatine and that sticky stuff?" I replied.
"Candy?"
"Yeah, that's what I said." I replied.
"Don't you know eating gelatinous slime is banned?" She asked, leaning on the desk.
"What's that?" I asked, unaware of the clasification, I have seen only poisonous deadly, and that blue thingy. Is it gelatinous slime?
"It's actually used to be a specialty of Arcanletia." She replied.
I raised an eyebrow inclining my head slightly forward and sideways. "Hmm, and why did it get banned?"
"Well, there were a lot of casualties involving it, people were chocking, cuz you know, slime is sticky, unless it's that lube slime-"
'Lube slime?!'
I held back a laughter and nodded along.
"there's also the incident that happened a while back, the hot springs were flooded with that stuff."
I suddenly burst out into laughter. "You are telling me the hotsprings were jelly at some point?"
"Yeah, but it did almost land father Zesta in jail."
"I don't know who that is. Could say he's an important religious figure, but I don't care much about that." I said. "I'm not making gelatinous slime though, I'm simply extracting the gelatin inside and making something more edible. Ever heard of fruit cake? The recipes I know use gelatin to make a gel that holds the fruit together, and that doesn't choke people. So don't worry about t he ban, people just don't know how to make shit." I say almost as if trying to curse at those I'm refering to. "I hate incompetent people."
She didn't need that info dump, and her face said it all.
"Did I say too mch? Alright, I'm off."
"I was just trying to make conversation." She said weakly.
"Good to know, if we meet again(probably not) I will be less serious about these stuff, farewell." I waved and walked away, Jel, yeah, that's what I called the slime, was still in my pocket.
As I got out there was some attractive(not for me, I got a lady)lady. "Svetislav! Please, could you give me an autograph, I'm your biggest fan."
I smirked. "Eh, if you want one." I took the parchment paper she gave me and was about to write my autograph, but then I saw it, this was an application, and she was looking at me expectingly.
I breathed a laugh through my nose inclined my head and gave her an empathic look, smilling. I folded the paper. "Next time bring an empty sheet, would ya? Besides, that good does it bring one to convert if they don't believe truly? Gods are affected by belief, you know?" I walked on Acat's track and then opened the door once I stepped on the platform. "Farewell." I said without much as a drop of hatred in my heart. When I think about it, these people just confuse me.
And without a moment of hesitation, I sat down, placed Jel in the passenger seat and put the belt on(very important) before driving off.
I thought on what I would make the gelatin factory look like, and also the candies... Hmm, pink ain't my color... maybe a brutalist styled tower, the slime on the top floor, getting fed, when it's big enough a pair of doors cut it in half and the dead half is used to make gelatin...
I looked at Jel, "you have no idea what's coming for you, buddy," my tone, half-joking, half-predicting its glorious future as the cornerstone of confectionary progress.
It didn't like that at all, wobbling and trying to break free from the bottle. Which I enchanted with unbreaking just in case. "No, you ain't going anywhere. Besides, you will live in luxury..." I giggled and laughed like whole-heartedly - it's so ironic, luxury, while being cut in half from time to time.
By the time I reached the desert, the sun was already leaning toward the horizon again, painting everything gold. Sadly it couldn't fix how bad the landscape looked, another reason why I should make a tower, maybe it would make it better. Cuz let's be honest, the only thing beautiful in this desolate land was, and still is, the oasis fortress, with it's greenery, flowing waters, and Eris...
The oasis glowed like a green jewel in a sea of red sand. As always, the sight made my chest loosen. Home.
As I rode in, Eris was outside, watering a flower in a pot. I could tell she has figured how to use my astral storage - that's good.
When she saw me, she waved, the smile on her facee making the entire trip worth it.
"Welcome back!" she called out
"Miss me?" I asked, hopping off Acat after grabbing Jel.
"Maybe," she teased. "Did you get what you needed?"
I held up the bottle, the little blob of blue inside still trying to escape.
She blinked. "That's a slime."
"Correction," I said, wagging a figner, "that's a gelatin source. Soon to be the base of an entire industry."
Eris tilted her head. "You really are unstoppable."
"Thank you."
She giggled, and so we walked back towards the house together, her hand slipping into mine.
"Did you run into any trouble?" she asked.
"Just bureaucracy. Apparently, slimes are banned. Something about hot springs turning into pudding and people chocking. So I ignored that and am making it legal again by being better."
She laughed gently. "Sounds like you."
Inside, the air was cool, I set the bottle on the table and sighed. "Alright, Jel. Time to design your future home."
Eris leaned on the counter, watching me with that amused, proud look again. "You're already planning.
"Always, I'm thinking... vats, candy presses, temperature regulators, flavor extractors. And of course, the safety system, pure gelatin, cuz people be dying can't make you do more work, you know?"
That warmed both our hearts. "That's thoughtful of you."
"Yep, and efficient." I looked out the window, a bit of the landscape is seed from beyond the oasis's walls.
I glanched back at her and smiled. "Although, I might name the first cady after you?"
She blinked. "Really?"
"Yeah. Something sweet, simple, and dangerously addictive." I said, thinking of my first project, the drop candies.
Her face flushed pink. "That's... actually cute."
"Good. Because so are you."
She rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. "You big sap."
I shrugged. "I prefer sweet genius. Now, let's get something done."
And so that's what we did.