A couple days went by.
Dad kept teaching me all sorts of things about light and sound. The parts that dad couldn't explain to me, Great Sage filled in.
It was a bit of a pain but I think I managed to understand how light and sound waves act!
They carried energy, had Amplitudes, Periods, Frequency in which they occur, Wavelengths, and they had a crest of their highest points and troughs for their lowest!
Dad even spent an hour trying to correct me in how to say magicule!
It was... pretty boring but I needed to know all of this! I wanted to get the Skill!
[Magic Sense]!
I needed it!
But...
I'm not getting the grasp of it...
{Don't worry, little one. It's not easy for a creature born in less than a year to obtain such a Skill. Now, let us try again.}
O-ok!
I tried imagining magic moving throughout my body once again to see if it would work.
But...
It's too hard...
I-i can't...
How do you do this?!
I tried so hard to make the magicules move through my body but it just doesn't work! I can't make it work!...
It was always the gushing feeling but each time, I felt it going through me and then it just stopped...
Maybe...?
I tried thinking back to how I got the [Hydraulic Propulsion] Skill. I needed to first make the water flow through me before I was able to launch it.
I tried moving the magicules through my body in a similar way and...
{Oh? I think you have got a handle on it.}
R-really?! T-then!
I just have to keep doing this!
I kept at it for another hour keeping the magicules flowing through me like it was water. I was imagining something like the tub where whenever the faucet was flicked, more water would come out and how much it was moved changed how hot it was.
{Come on little one, you just need a greater feel for these things.}
O-ok...
I can feel it...
I just-
</Confirmed. Extra Skill [Magic Sense]... successfully acquired./>
I-i did it!
<Use Extra Skill [Magic Sense]? Yes or No?>
Yes! Use it!
I was so happy as soon as Great Sage told me I got it...
I began to immediately regret it.
I-it hurts... Why does it hurt?!
I don't like it...!
{Hm? What's wrong?}
It's hurting so much...
{Ah, I assume your body isn't built to handle the Skill yet. It may take some time to adjust to the Skill and the information it will provide you but once you get used to it, you will soon see the world around you.}
W-why does it hurt so much...
It felt like pain but it was just like I was having a brain freeze... I felt parts of my body were shifting to try and handle the amount of pain I was going through...
I could see things around me and see everything in detail but I was in so much pain that I couldn't focus on anything.
<Notice. Beginning synchronization with the Extra Skill [Magic Sense].>
H-huh?
<Successful. Extra Skill [Magic Sense] has successfully synchronized with the Unique Skill [Great Sage]. All information will now be managed by the Unique Skill [Great Sage].>
What did you...?
Oh...
Oh! It doesn't hurt anymore!
Thank you Great Sage!
I was able to look around now without any pain in my head! I could see the rocks around me, the light coming from the rainbow-colored rocks was all around and I could see it creating weird shadows around the place.
I could see in front of me, back, to my right and left! I could even see above my body like I was a bird! I could even see that I could make expressions with my slime body!
I could make question marks and exclamation marks! I could make a plus sign or a minus sign. I could shape it however I wanted it!
I tried morphing my body into all sorts of shapes, though most didn't stick after I prolonged them.
{Impressive. I didn't expect you would be able to handle the Skill so quickly. I would have expected another week before you could manage it all.}
Thank you so much! I can see!
I turned over to the voice.
{Get a good look at my grand appearance. Are you scared, little one?}
So cool...!
{Hm?}
You're so cool!
I should be scared but... he really was a dragon! It wasn't just any purple dragon either! He was black but his appearance shined from the countless rocks around. He looked like he could cut through anything with either his claws or with those wings on his back! I wonder how big he would look if he stretched them out to their full size!
Show me the wings! Show me the wings!!!
{Um...?}
He showed them! His wings weren't as black in their color and kind of reminded me of bats. It was lighter in color and had a similar color to his chest.
His eyes glowed like they were light bulbs, like they were staring into what made me who I was.
{Kakaka... KUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!}
His laughter was shaking the area again but now I could see that he was leaning backwards and laughing towards the roof of the cave.
{You do not fear my appearance but bask in my greatness! You truly are a unique creature to not simply fear me upon first glance!}
You are my dad though!
I said that but he didn't really fit into what I thought my dad would look like. I was imagining something more like a monkey. Though... Why was I imagining him like a monkey? He said he was a dragon before so why did I think he would look like one? I decided to keep these little thoughts to myself.
{W-well I suppose.}
He was looking back and I swear some of him turned a slight bit pink. Now that I look at it... there was a bit of light coming off of him as well. It wasn't from the rocks...?
Was that-
<Notice. It is likely his aura that is creating a light-like impression of the environment.>
Oh...! So cool!
{Yes! I am cool!}
Looking around, there was a somewhat rainbow-like wall that separated me from him. Was this what was blocking me before?
I touched it and sure enough a ripple came out like it was water and spread across the entire barrier before stopping.
Is this...?
{This is the seal that keeps me trapped down here. If it weren't for this barrier, you might have never gotten the pleasure of meeting with me.}
Oh...
I kept touching it and more ripples came out. It felt like magicules but there was something more to it that I couldn't figure out.
It's weird...
{It is not simply weird but powerful enough to contain me for a near eternity if required. So far, it has lasted two hundred and ninety years and I would likely die faster than this barrier would last.}
That's...
{Don't worry little one, if I ever die, I will be revived back into this world though not in complete perfection.}
But... you still die...
I remembered dying once, it doesn't feel good.
It will hurt a lot right?
{I do not feel pain, my death will be seamless. Do not worry whether or not I will suffer in agony but I wish that death would be more exciting than this.}
Exciting?
I tilted my slime body. What did he mean by wanting his death to be more exciting?
{I've been trapped in perpetual boredom for many years! I can't do anything within the confines of this barrier! My Skills are helpless and all I can truly do is move about my body and try to alleviate my boredom within the confines of this seal with anything that simply passes by.}
He bent his neck and moved it closer to the barrier to look at me.
{You, you are the most interesting thing that has wandered by this seal in those two hundred ninety years. One may say that you are the most interesting creature I've met since I fought the Masked Hero all those years ago.}
You fought a hero?!
{Oh, is that the part that interests you the most?}
I shook my slime body up and down. It was really hard to nod and shake my head without a head.
{You truly are unique. Very well, let me tell you the story of how I fought the Masked Hero.}
* * *
I spent a good few days listening to various tales from dad. He told me about the time he had fought the Masked Hero but then he had moved onto various other tales and stories about how he fought a wide range of powerful opponents.
He told me about how he fought a powerful vampire after he accidentally destroyed a rather interesting looking vampire city and there were other times he fought a giant in which magic did not work on him so it was a simple battle of might against might.
The Masked Hero was the only one who had dealt this decisive of a blow against him!
{There is only so much I can tell. I may ask you to tell me a tale of your own but you were only born into this world such a short time ago. I doubt there are any tales you could tell me, am I correct?}
Yeah...
I did have a few things in mind to tell him but they weren't anywhere near as epic as what he told me. Even then, they were blurry so I couldn't tell him much even if I wanted to.
I could try, maybe? Could I try making my own tales like those fantasy stories I've read? I had powers so it wouldn't be hard to try, right?
{Huh? Where do you think you are going?}
I'm gonna make my own tales and I'mma come back to tell you them!
{KUAHAHAHAHAHA!}
I nearly tripped over myself as I was wandering away as his laughter echoed throughout the cave.
{Very well! Return to me soon and tell me an interesting tale!}
I will!
I needed to leave quickly so I could tell my dad something interesting! I didn't have anything cool to show him yet!
I began wandering off and into the cave, but this time, I could make out everything in the cave. The grass here didn't look like grass at all but looked beautiful. These were the Hippokoot Herbs that Great Sage talked to me about before. I didn't know what they were before but now I could see why Great Sage was so interested in them! They were really pretty!
<Notice. They possess a significant quantity of magicules within them.>
I needed to eat magicules to live so I may as well eat these to make sure I don't starve... can I starve as a slime? I didn't really think about it before but I never really felt hungry.
Now that I think about it...
I always ate stuff but there was never any flavor to them.
I tried absorbing a few of the herbs but there was still no taste. I guess [Magic Sense] doesn't help with taste like it does with seeing and hearing.
It wasn't like I needed to taste but it would've been nice to taste again.
I wandered away from the herbs and made my way through the cave with my brand new ability to see and hear. There wasn't much noise besides a bit of water dropping nearby.
It took a bit of time before I came across the lake that I fell into before and I didn't realize how big this lake was. It looked bigger than the seal that trapped dad and I had fallen into it earlier. I must've really gone flying to hit the seal that trapped dad.
Looking around, there were a few ways past the lake but they would take too long to wander through. I decided to take the plunge and drop back into the water so I could shoot myself across using [Hydraulic Propulsion].
I sank a bit but things felt a bit different from the last time I was in the water.
Maybe it's because I have [Magic Sense] now? The water feels so much more differently.
I could feel the ripples around the water a lot better now.
Part of me wanted to play with the ripples for a bit to see how [Magic Sense] worked with the water but I wanted to create tales for dad.
Maybe...? Could this be a tale?
<Answer. It is possible to derive a story from new discoveries.>
But would dad like it?
I didn't want to disappoint him when I got back. Great Sage wasn't saying anything either so I didn't know what to do here. All I could really do was hope that I could do something interesting with this but what...
How do I...?
I tried splashing around in the water for a bit but it wasn't working. I kept myself near the surface using a bit of [Hydraulic Propulsion] but there was only so long I could stay up here at the surface for.
I kept scooting around the water's surface thinking something would happen but nothing happened.
It was boring...
<!>
What?
What's wrong?
Great Sage wanted me to stay here I think but why?
There wasn't anything to do here.
Right?
I kept spinning around on the lake for a bit waiting for something to happen but still nothing was happening.
I decided to chalk it up to Great Sage being wrong and began to try and move away.
</Confirmed. Skill [Water Current Motion]... successfully acquired./>
Huh?
I got a new Skill? Was it because I kept sticking around in the water?
<Notice. It primarily has to do with active usage of [Magic Sense] combined with [Hydraulic Propulsion] and unintentional active usage of magicule to move across the water's surface.>
This... I could tell dad about this then! I got a new Skill and I could show this off!
Hm...
Skills...
That's it!
Great Sage! Teach me about different Skills I can learn!
<...>
Great Sage?
<Notice. It is not within my capability.>
What...?
<It is possible for the Unique Skill [Great Sage] to detect the imminent discovery of certain Skills through the active cooperation with the Unique Skill [Path of Destiny], however, it does not grant the ability to teach unknown Skills.>
Oh... then... I just have to do stuff and hope you can detect I'm about to learn something?
<Affirmative.>
A-alright! I just have to do random things until something works!
* * *
Pew!
I shot a tiny squirt of water out of my body using [Hydraulic Propulsion] and into a nearby rock. The rock took it well so I needed a bit more pressure...
PEW!
The rock withstood that as well... I wanna see if I can get a rock breaker Skill!
Maybe I could imagine it differently?
I tried to pressure the water a bit more differently.
It was a bit awkward but I eventually unleashed a massive amount of water all at once that completely obliterated the rock.
How was that, Great Sage?
<...>
Nothing then...
I guess there's no Skill I could gain from something like that.
I thought there was something there as well.
I decided to move on and made my way past the lake. I traveled a few hours before I came across a rather large wall.
There were a few areas I could climb up from. It was like a few rocks were sticking out but they were high up.
I tried hopping up but I couldn't really reach.
They were too high...
Oh!
I began using a bit of [Hydraulic Propulsion] to launch myself up to the sides of the cliff that were too hard to jump up but I kept slamming into the wall. I did make progress but...
I took bits of damage each time I slammed into them.
<Notice. Elevation through this method is highly inefficient.>
In... a what?
<Inefficiency can be described as repeatedly accomplishing a goal through means which wastes large quantities of available resources and time.>
Um... no good then?
<Affirmative.>
Then what?
There was still quite a bit of cliff here that I needed to bounce up.
Hm...
... ah! Great Sage! How do bouncy balls work?
I remembered the harder you threw a bouncy ball to the ground, the more it would go up. I was somewhat like a bouncy ball so I wondered if that could possibly be done with me if I bounced down hard enough to launch me up.
<Notice. The material which bouncy balls are produced with allow for polymer chains. These chains are capable of being uncoiled and onced released, the chains fire and allow for the release of kinetic energy. The addition of internal liquids that cannot permeate the exterior allows for an additional boost in each bounce.>
Then I just needed to do those things...
I didn't know what polymer chains were but she said coil so I thought about how a slinky worked at first. The way it would bounce down the stairs...
I just needed to reverse the way it would go.
I began sloshing around water that was stored within me and kept moving it up and down. Soon enough, I began doing the same with the magicules to try and gain enough bounciness. Before long, I tried launching myself up and soon I went flying up.
A bit too high but I was still able to land on the next rock.
It was working! I just need to do this over and over to keep bouncing!
I kept repeating it over and over and used my slime body's muscles to push me up with each launch. I could control how high I was bouncing each time and how far I wanted to go!
It was just like jumping but this jumping was so much more springy! I was bouncing up and over!
Eventually I made it to the top!
I can't believe it worked! It was so much fun that...
What... is that?
Before long, I faced my first threat.