It Started with Slime - Part 1

Chapter 104 - Limbs

"Yes!" then he promptly clattered to the ground, and this time the bone did not splinter and scatter all over the room. They held. "Yes!" Aarav yelled again, tears forming in his eyes.

"What's going on?" Rion burst through the door while Aarav was still celebrating on the floor.

"Wha-!?" yes, there were no words for the sight that met Rion's eyes. Considering the last time he had seen the Slime, it had been a blob in a glass tank, and the change in appearance was just too huge to accept readily.

"Yes! I did it! Look at these bad boys! Huh? What do you think?" Rion could only gape in wonder and shock at the limbs the Slime was now sprouting.

"Can-can you walk now?" Rion's mind managed to stutter out, and it seemed to have partially shut down.

"Umm...no, not yet anyway. I need to practice and get my bearings." Aarav replied, then tried to get up again.

Rion seemed reluctant to help. "Uhh, a little help Rion?" Aarav grumbled.

"Yeah, of course." and still didn't reach out.

Aarav lets a full ten seconds pass, seeing the big man struggling internally. "Rion, are you scared of skeletons?" the Slime thought this might be it.

"No! Why would I be scared of skeletons? That makes no sense." Rion seemed to get over whatever he was going through and helped Aarav up slowly—wincing when his skin came into contact with the bones of Aarav's arm.

"Uh-huh. Yeah, makes no sense, alright." Aarav muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" Rion loomed over him.

"Nothing, dude, chill out!" Rion just looked at him, confused. I keep forgetting slang doesn't translate.

"Don't worry about it." Aarav had more important things to worry about than this man's fears. He was going to walk if it killed him!

Unfortunately for Aarav, walking was easier said than done. Standing, Aarav stumbled and fell fifteen or twenty times before he could even stand steady. His walking experience as a human in his past life hindered his progress as he kept trying to stand like a human with flesh and muscle feet. Bones' had a subtly different balancing point, so he had to compensate for that. It was like walking on stilts or when your feet are numb from sitting on the toilet too long. Ahem.

Regardless it was more an act of balancing perfectly on his ankles with feet just extensions of the stump. He kept wavering about and couldn't get the weight centred. Huh, Aarav had never thought about it but being human meant having a pretty high centre of gravity. Balance was challenging without all the micro-muscles of the feet to maintain balance. Also, he didn't have any ear fluid to control his balance right now, so he would have to do it the hard way.

After the twentieth attempt, he braced himself against the wall with his bone arms and stopped. Maybe he should try to hold onto the wall for a bit, like the railing in physiotherapy sessions. Rion had left after pulling Aarav up for the fifth time. He seemed to get over his hesitation when he saw how much Aarav was floundering.

This Mankey was going to walk!

Using the wall as a crutch, Aarav pulled himself along one handhold and one step at a time. Reaching the door and turning the handle, he pushed it open and attempted to step outside.

"What on Blorenar is that!?" all Aarav saw was what looked like a young boy with mouth agape and staring at him. I am getting tired of the reactions I receive from even the most accepting people, which is annoying!

"This thing has a name!" even though Aarav still had a layer of brown skin similar to the King's; he had not extended that to the skeletal arms and legs he had sprouted.

"Haemish...!" the young child looked to Haemish, who stood next to him. Haemish reacted similarly to the boy. However, he was less shocked now that he had witnessed what Aarav was capable of.

"Wow!" was all Haemish could muster on sight.

"Umm. A little help here might be nice. Also, where is Rion? He was helping me earlier." Aarav replied into the deafening silence. "If you don't close your mouth, kid, you are going to catch flies!" Aarav hadn't seen any flies in the palace, but there were some in the forest, so it only stood to reason.

"Hmm, Resh, this is very exciting!" Haemish finally came out of his trance and leisurely over to Aarav. "You managed to walk!"

"Stand at least. I wouldn't say I've had any success at walking. Barely managing to stand upright right now. Hence, help!" Haemish moved closer, held those bone arms, and guided Aarav to sit in a nearby chair.

"Whew, that was exhausting!" Aarav huffed.

"Is the stamina cost high?" Haemish asked. The young boy still seemed content to stare unabashedly at Aarav.

"Umm, no, not the Stamina or Mana costs, more the mental exertion." Aarav replied. The blob sat on the chair, draping all four limbs over the armrests and bottom sides.

"I need to practise. A lot!" Aarav mumbled. But he was not disheartened. With the help of Mana, he managed to stand and gain control of his feet. Instead of simply relying on the structure of his legs.

Mana was what he used to control the individual bones and joints. Stamina was the baseline requirement for walking or running and other macro movements. He would need both until he gained tendons and muscles.

For now, Aarav was happy to have some semblanceof Human back. "Aarav, why did you stop with the arms and legs, though? Shouldyou take in the torso and skull before you start trying things out?"

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