Training as a Slime(72)

After being exposed to all the attention, Cori felt an emptiness in his heart upon leaving the classroom. A deep sense of loneliness engulfed him, alienating him from the rest of his fellow trainees. The weird void gnawed away inside him as he tried to find a space for lunch. He thought about Sam and the rest of the people he met along the way, yet he felt there was an intangible distance and lack of connection. "Are all souls the same?" he pondered idly and took out the star gem and pulsing heart for observation in an isolated corner full of blooming hyacinths.

Meanwhile, the slave mark on Kareem's neck burned under his scarf sensing distress from Cori's body. Kareem barely bearing the pain, promptly excused himself from the class to search for the disorientated slime. As the distance closed between him and his master, the intensity of the mark weakened.

"You!" Kareem shouted in anger but suppressed his voice midway so as not to frighten his master, and asked concerningly, "Are you okay?"

Cori: "Huh?"

Kareem: "It's alright to say you're not alright. After all, you're far from home, in an alien place."

Cori fell into deep silence, his eyes blank and wet.

Kareem snapped his fingers in front of Cori's eyes as the slave's mark further seared his neck. "Cori! Argh!" Kareem said in a fit of anger. Frustrated with the current situation, he sat down and brought Cori into his arms to comfort him. Though unwilling, he was left with the choice of either calming his master or facing the excruciating pain of suffering. 

"Why is the tutor hugging and stroking me? This feels kind of weird but also oddly soothing..." Cori thought as his tears started to flow unconsciously and released his pent-up emotions.

"How long do I need to comfort this guy? Oh my heavens, why is he crying? I can't believe I'm doing this, but why is he so nice to hug? Are all slimes this huggable?" Kareem thought as the slave mark ceased to aggravate.

While the two were caught in an awkward embrace, Alice, being an opportunist, managed to sneakily record a video and snap a few photos of the whole situation to add to her personal collection. The sudden flashes from the backpack startled Kareem, causing him to accidentally drop Cori to the ground with a thud.

"Ouch!" shouted Cori and Kareem in unison as the mark gave the wizard a first-hand sensory experience.

"Stop hurting yourself! Please think of me too! When you get hurt, the slave mark will burn me too," the grand wizard complained with a slight blush on his embarrassed face.

"So he did not genuinely care about me," Cori thought despondently as the slave mark began to light on the wizard's skin again.

"With or without the mark, you're not alone. I know it's a difficult time for you, I'm just a summon away," the wizard said cooly hoping it would calm his master down.

"Thanks, I feel better now," Cori said although the mark betrayed his feelings.

"Here, you can have this for lunch," Kareem said remembering the breakfast inspired by Cori's home planet. He gifted him a bubble tea and satay set and comforted him, "I know you are homesick, and you are feeling all sorts of emotions. I hope this will temporarily ease your burden."

"Thanchew Kareem!" said Cori bursting into tears and snot, moved by the wizard's generosity. The grand wizard felt a cool sense of relief all over his body while the little slime enjoyed the meal. 

"When you stare at the void, the void stares back at you," said the wizard noticing the star gem glittering under the sun, "Cori, do you understand the difference between the condensation of these two manna?"

Cori nodded, "The star gem contained the power of the abyss and the other contained the power of the heart."

"Great, this makes it easier. The abyss or the void has the power to manipulate the heart. And if your heart is not strong enough to withstand its call to use its power, you will become lost and drown in it. I'm not sure where you found your wand but when its power combined with yours, it condensed into the black liquid in the star gem. If you're unable to control its desire, you will be manipulated by its power instead. Luckily, your dao was able to just barely contain its power," Kareem explained and with a flip of his index finger, the star gem disintegrated into magicules.

"It appears that its power had a huge influence on you. Your homework is to research on both powers and how to better control them. I have to return to class now, enjoy your break and remember... if you ever feel sad, summon me," Kareem said as he stood up, struggling internally with whether he should comfort the little slime or leave straight for class.

Cori looked at Kareem mid-way through his meal and assured him, "Thank you. I feel a lot better now, don't worry. By the way, can you enchant the bubble tea so I can have an endless supply?"

The grand wizard sighed, "You ought to find Trainer Swordwork to make you a proper cup suitable for enchantment."

After the two bade an awkward farewell, Cori returned to his meal happily munching away. "No wonder I was so upset, it must have been my stomach," he said to himself ignoring his issues.

Kareem on the other hand, kept thinking about the enchanted cup of bottomless bubble tea, mainly due to the slave mark. Yelling out in class in frustration due to his lack of sleep and the obligation to fulfil his master's request, he became determined to find a way to end the demeaning relationship even if it had to be in a roundabout manner. Looking at the rows of slimes in front of him, he was once again reminded of his master and became even more aggravated and added a criterion for finishing the class- the slime had to explain the physical manifestation of the manna to him and if the explanation was sufficiently satisfying, they make a break for lunch.

Sad to say, none of the slimes were able to leave on time and had to face his barrage of critical preaching.