# 013

"And, what are you?" I quietly ask the anomaly that I just spotted up ahead of me.

Run as much as I want. Head for the densest mana I can find. Wish, hope, and pray to find something, anything. But, it's all for naught. Nothing but slimes. I passed a handful of other kings, but let them go because my bag was already full with just the one core. I even spotted another queen but left her in peace out of respect for my pet.

And, then I found something strange. It's a slime, but not one I've ever heard of, and I've heard of them all. It's pink for one; all slimes are clear with a hint of blue. The larger they are, the more apparent that blue becomes. Her size is odd too. She's larger than the common grapefruit-sized monsters, almost half the size of Queenie.

But, her mana signature is the real wild part; this melon-sized ball of jelly feels at least ten times stronger than Queenie herself. Mana signatures aren't a perfect way to grade monsters, but they do give you a general idea of whether you should fuck with something or not.

"What do you think, Queenie?" She's afraid. Not of the slime, but for me. "Unfortunately, that was a rhetorical question, sweetie. I am going to fight her, and I am going to make her mine. I hope you don't mind having a little sister."

Masking my magic from the monster, I start layering protection upon protection on myself. Even more so than when I had to face the wargs, I was in a rush then and had to settle for what I could cast on the run. Now, I get to take my time and do them right, turning myself into an unstoppable killing machine. Hopefully.

I'm just sneaking up on the beast when Jen chooses the worst fucking time to scry me. She's been doing so off and on all day but, with my mana sense wide open, I've detected them each time and shut them down with a spike of mana. After last night, I just do not want to be reminded of her.

"Great fucking timing Jen!" I shout and charge the now alerted monster. "You don't have a core! What in all the hells are you?" The answer is gods damned fast.

If I hadn't taken my time to buff up properly, it might have killed me in a single lunge, as it is, my hair is now shorter on one side of my head.

"Yes! Fight me! Fight me all you want, but I will still make you mine!" I'm ready for her speed now and can counter-attack as she flies past, but trying to cut her is like trying to cut steel. "What are you? Hahaha!" I break into wild laughter and start lacing my blades with every element I can, looking for something, anything, that can damage the beautiful little thing.

Lightning seems to work best, but that's not saying much. So, it looks like I'm in for a battle of attrition. Good! I needed a real fight, and it looks like this strange pink slime is going to give it to me.

...

"Ready to give up yet?" I pant out at the tough little beast. "You know it's just a matter of time until you're mine. I can feel you weakening, but I was smart enough to add a couple of mana potions to my bag after running into those fucking mutts. Oh, you don't like that, do you?"

She lunges for the bottle as I dangle it out to tease her with it. But it was all a ploy to get her to leap again, she's been playing it smart after seeing that I'm a match for her speed. I needed the second that she'll be airborne to down the potion though, I don't miss the opportunity to hit her again as she flies past though.

"Just fucking SUBMIT!" I hit her with... well, it's less taming spell and more pure will aimed to bind her soul to mine. "You will not fight me!" I shout and launch a lightning bolt from the tip of my sword straight at the slime while it's dazed by the attack on its soul. "You. Are. MINE!!!"

The beast screams in my mind as I overwhelm the last of its resistance. Feeling it fall under my complete control, I drop to all fours, unable to stay upright for a second longer.

"Queenie, Guard!" I breathe the order before passing the fuck out.

***

"Cole! Wake up, Cole! This is your Mother and you will get your ass up!" Mom's amplified voice coming from the communication crystal jars me from my slumber. "You have to move, Cole. A king slime is headed right for you, Queenie won't be able to stop it."

"Gods dammit!" I roar and drag my tired ass up off the ground. "Can't a man just pass out in the middle of the fucking woods for a few minutes?"

"You've been out for over an hour." She laughs. "Jen says she's sorry by the way."

"Jen can bite my ass." I snap back and start walking for the king. "Come here, you little fucker! Disturb my nap will you?" Cross-slash, stab. Another dead king. "Queenie, carry this thing. Which way is home? I got all twisted around during the fight."

"About sixty degrees to your right." Mom replies after a second. "Now, get your ass and that new slime home. Jen can't keep the scry up much longer, so I want you to check in every ten minutes until you get here."

"Yeah, yeah." I wave dismissively at the scry. "Come on... what should I call you? Empress more than fits, but Queenie is the only royalty in my life. So, how about Rose? That's just on the nose enough to annoy Mom."

"I'm still listening you know." I just laugh at her aggrieved tone and start for home at a jog until my muscles loosen up enough to run.

...

"You crazy little bastard!" Mom crushes me into a hug as soon as I get home.

"Hey, watch who you're insulting there." I tease and let her get it out of her system, even though all I want is to collapse into the tub and just soak my sore muscles for a month.

"Shut up." She snorts out a laugh.

"I am so sorry, Cole." Jenny starts, But, I just hold up my hand to silence her.

"Shut up. I am still pissed at you." She takes a step back from the coldness in my voice. "Brand new fucking monster that I'm trying get a good look at and you choose the second worse time to spy on me. Two minutes earlier when I was in the middle of buffing up and I would be dead right now!"

"That's enough, Cole." Mom warns.

"Whatever." I exhale loudly. "I'm going to take a bath, I feel like shit. Queenie, spit that out and come work on my muscles. There's another one in my bag too." I slip out of the backpack and hold it out to her.

"Thanks." She takes the bag from me. "But, when did you start dealing with kings like most people deal with commons?"

"Today." I say over my shoulder. "One got in my way when I was running, it lasted about as long as the one you saw. Saw a handful more of them out there, even spotted another Queen." She perks up at that.

"Alright, go take your bath." She waves me off. "Jen, start breaking these down for use in the wands. And, Maddie... quit drooling." I have to laugh when I hear that.

...

"Feel better now?" Mom sets a sandwich in front of me when I sit down at the table an hour later.

"A little." I mumble around a mouthful of cold cuts. "Sorry for snapping earlier. Rosie decided to get a little revenge in with a psychic scream right before the bond snapped into place. I've still got a bear of a headache from it."

"Seriously?" She looks at the slime sitting by my chair with renewed wonder. "Just what in the hell is she?"

"No idea." I shrug. "Other than tough and fast, that is. How much of the fight did you see?"

"We all saw most of it." She confesses. "Jen came running to find me right after it started, Maddie and the girls were with me at the time."

"Then you know that my swords didn't do crap, it was like trying to cut metal." I sigh and reach down to pet the odd little thing. "Even lightning was only marginally effective, and I tried everything. She's smart too, like people smart. If she hadn't fallen for that taunt at the end there, the fight would have lasted even longer than it already had."

"I saw how she kept adapting to your tactics, but is she really that smart?" Mom stares down at Rose with a raised eyebrow.

"She says yes." I answer for the slime. "I've been translating while we talk, hoping that she'll pick up the language. Queenie's no slouch in the language department herself, but it still takes hours of reinforcement just for her to learn a single command. But, I get the feeling that Rose will be able to communicate with us."

"Well, shit." Mom curses. "You just joined a very elite club of tamers, then. Truly sapient monsters are damned rare, and even harder to tame."

"Yeah, she's a little spitfire, alright." I lift her onto my lap, she's heavier than she looks, a bit more than Queenie even, but not nearly enough to match her toughness. "I would apologize for taming you, girl, but you were so beautiful that I knew I had to have you as soon as I saw you. Heheh. You egotistic little thing." I laugh when she responds with 'Of course you did, just look at me.' Or, something along those lines, that's the feeling she gave, at least.

"You're getting along alright then? That's good." Mom reaches out to stroke the slime. Rosie can't hurt us now, that is branded into her very soul. But, as a thinking reasoning being she could cause all sorts of trouble if she wanted.

"Now that we aren't trying to kill each other, she's calmed down a lot." I chuckle. "She's still a bit grumpy about the whole thing, but I get the feeling that she was really, really bored out in those woods."

"Must be pretty boring to live in the woods with nothing but lesser slimes around." Mom nods. "Queenie is pretty bright, but I can't imagine her being my only form of companionship."

"I sense little more than annoyance for the regular and king slimes." I say after probing Rosie through our bond. "And, I don't know... disappointment for queens. She sorta gave up on them -wow, that's a lot of winters- a long time ago. It's hard to say for sure, but she's at least as old as you."

"So, she's still young then." Mom laughs. "Alright, you still look tired. Why don't you go lie down on the couch while I get dinner ready? And, girls..." She turns to the doorway where everyone is gathered. "I know you have questions and want to meet Rose, but just let them be for now."

...

"Thanks for dinner, Mom. Rosie liked it too." The slime got curious about what we were eating so I gave her some of mine. "Is it alright if I let her explore while I make an early night of it? Apparently, she doesn't need to sleep; lucky girl."

"That's fine, just have her stay inside the courtyard, and out of my pantry." She adds with a laugh. "And, you girls try not to annoy her too much. She's a person, not a pet, and will be treated as such. Understood?"

""Yes, Mom."" All four of my sisters answer in unison.

Getting up from the table, I leave Rose to her fun, and head to the privy and then bed.

...