Syl: Chapter 200 (Patreon)

Chapter 200: Explaining and Introducing

"All done?" Jasgra asked politely.

"I think so; thank you for letting us use this room for so long," I replied.

"Not an issue," Jasgra said with a dismissive wave and a chuckle. "Now, what class did you pick out for little Vee?"

She took a glance and must have used [Identify]. She must not have expected what she saw because the startlement on her face was on full display, but it almost immediately veered into what looked like amazement.

"M-mage? Vee qualified for a caster class? That's astounding!" Jasgra whispered but practically broke out into an excited shout at the end.

"Yes, I hope to teach Vee some magic," I answered honestly.

"Ahh, why wasn't I born an elf?" Jasgra sighed, shaking her head. "I heard how close you can be with your companions. To have a bond at this level already, I just can't help but be jealous!"

"Just to confirm, spellcaster classes aren't unheard of for a companion, right?" I questioned.

Jasgra shook her head. "Unheard of? No. Rare as hell? Absolutely!"

"Great. I didn't want to step on any toes in the guild," I replied.

"Not at all. I assume you changed her experience distribution to focus on her new class to speed up the teaching?" Jasgra asked, then slapped a hand to her mouth. "Ah... Sorry, that was rude of me. My curiosity got the better of me."

"No, it's fine," I waved off her apology. "I didn't change any distribution as I thought it required a different crystal."

Jasgra looked at me in disbelief. "You're gold-rank, right?"

I pulled out my guild tag and pointed to it.

Jasgra nodded. "Good, then my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. Your gold-rank tag has that feature. Just hold the tag in your hands and think about distribution ratios. You should get a visual representation to interact with mentally."

I nodded and pulled out the tag. Sure enough, something appeared in front of me. It resembled a floating rectangle with the number 50 on both sides. Above the floating 50 number on the left was a stick figure of a person, and on the right was a symbol of a sword and staff crossing each other. In the center of the rectangle was a protruding circle that looked like it could be twisted one way or the other.

Mentally I reached out to the knob and tried to twist it towards the sword and staff. It wouldn't budge. I thought perhaps I was doing something wrong, so I tried turning it the other way. This time, it twisted, and I watched the number on the left grow while the number on the right shrunk.

Looks like Gramps still won't let me change it away from my race. I grumbled and changed it back to equal distribution.

I noticed that there was a similar rectangle floating above Vee's head.

"I can change your experience distribution between race and class. Do you want it changed at all? It's currently set to equal," I mentally asked Vee.

"Hmm... My next evolution is far away. Perhaps I should change it to class to catch up to you?" Vee asked.

Before answering her, I checked that I could change the distribution to favor her class. Surprisingly, there was no issue with adjusting it, and I could go all the way to a 90-10 split. I tried the opposite, and to my surprise, I could not lower Vee's class below 50.

Looks like Mother really wants Vee to learn magic.

I relayed the info to Vee.

"Sure, set it to 90-10. It might as well be for now if it's that easy to change later," Vee replied.

I did so and nodded, turning back to Jasgra. "Thank you for the assistance. I had no idea.'

"Ha!" Jasgra slapped her knee with a grin. "I bet they told you about the Interface feature and forgot to tell you anything else. I hate that blasted thing, bars and crap floating everywhere."

"Sounds about right..." I grumbled. The interface was the first and only thing Lisa told me about my new rank.

"I'll just mention it, but the norm is to set the distribution towards their class for [Bonded Companions]," Jasgra began explaining. "Especially if they are still rather feral, as it gives one time to develop the bond and stave off any evolution-craziness. Not that it looks like that applies to Vee..."

"Vee and I decided to focus on her class, but thanks for the information."

"A pleasure to help. Thanks for putting up with my nosey curiosity!"

Vee and I waved goodbye and left the guild.

"You seriously need to explain this evolution thing? What's the deal?" Vee asked with concern.

"Okay, it's not actually that big of a deal for us," I said right out of the gate. "Normally, the further a monster evolves, the more power-hungry and crazy it becomes. I had it described to me as they fester an endless desire to grow and evolve further by any means necessary. "

"Holy crap..." Vee replied. "So, are we going to become mindless beasts?"

"No, as I said, it doesn't affect us," I immediately dismissed that concern. "I asked Gramps about it when I first found out about it, and he said they disabled that function for us and all the other [Experiments]. But yeah... It's a little concerning to hear about; apparently, it can even happen to the monstrous humanoid races like goblins and orcs."

"That's quite the bombshell you dropped on me!" Vee said excitedly, her enthusiasm bubbling through our telepathic conversation. "So okay... We're safe... Huh... I guess that explains why you were willing to give me a chance? Cause other than us [Experiments], any other monster will eventually go mad?"

I sighed. "Yeah... I had some goblins I got along with, but the idea of them eventually losing their mind and trying to kill everything makes me hope I never run into them again, as sad as that sounds. And... I'm not exactly comfortable about revealing the truth to anyone else. Not yet anyway..."

"Considering how I was attacked on sight, I don't blame you," Vee agreed. "Like... Why even bother? Everyone thinks you're an elf; you seem to have a good thing going on here. Not to mention, it's a hell of a combat tactic; I mean, you expect to kill an elf, and then bam! Slime monster! Certainly had me fooled."

"It's funny; my other friend who knows the truth said I should abandon all this and not even bother with the humans, elves, or dwarves," I explained.

"Well? What do you want?" Vee asked.

"I'm... Not sure. I'd certainly prefer if I could be a slime. I mean, I'd probably still use this form or something based on it to converse with people, but not being held back would be great. I certainly don't want to abandon the friends I've made here, but I also don't think I could just come out and say, 'Hey, I'm actually a slime.'"

"I see... Well, hopefully, things work out eventually!" Vee said optimistically.

I certainly hope so...

Vee was still complaining about food, so I reached into my storage to pull her out a snack. What came out instead was my hat.

"I'm not really a fan of eating hats..." Vee replied deadpan.

"I completely forgot about my hat..." I confessed and began trying to think about what had happened. "I think I left it on my decoy when we were having our staring contest."

"Then why is it in your storage?" Vee questioned.

"Well... It's a magic hat," I pointed out the obvious.

"Okay..." Vee muttered.

"It's attached itself to me. I can't get rid of it, and it appears back in my storage or on my head unexpectedly," I explained as I put it back on my head.

"I did think something was missing from your appearance," Vee admitted. "It's a very fitting hat."

"So not even you are immune to its charms," I sighed.

"Charms? What?" Vee asked worriedly.

"No idea... But it seems to make people think that I've always had the hat,"

"That's a teensy bit creepy... I hope it's giving you some amazing effect in return?" Vee asked.

"That's probably the most frustrating part; I have no idea."

"So... The magically appearing and slightly creepy hat is not beneficial. Why exactly are you wearing it?"

"Obviously for the good looks," I teased.

"I guess that's reasonable... I'll admit it looks good on you," Vee retorted.

I couldn't help but laugh at that.

***

Vee's little guild crystal must have been doing something, as most dwarves barely gave her a second glance. It was certainly a relief that she would be accepted as my companion. Soon, we found ourselves outside Thern's family home, I checked the time, and thankfully, it looked like we weren't too late.

"Well, this is our home while staying here. Assuming they don't kick me out for bringing a monster home," I joked.

"I'd say it looks nice, but I don't think I'm a fan of the entirely square aesthetic. Still a lot better than living in an abandoned mine, I'll admit," Vee responded.

I knocked on the door and heard Darmod respond shortly after. "Coming!"

He opened the door and smiled when he saw me. "Syl! It's good to see you. I trust your mission for ol' Flintheart was a roaring success?" he asked cheerfully.

"Even better than a roaring success, I'd say," I said, gesturing to Vee sitting on my shoulder.

Darmod noticed the addition and flinched a little. "Did you tame the monster living in the mineshaft?" he questioned.

"Yeah, her name's Vee, she's pretty great," I said.

"I see..." Darmod muttered, stroking his beard. "Well... Any friend of yours is a friend of mine. Welcome, Vee! Thern is going to lose his mind."

Darmod began walking inside with boisterous laughter.

"Why am I going to lose my mind?" Thern shouted from deeper into the house, clearly overhearing us.

"Our friend Syl here has a surprise for you!" Darmod shouted back.

"Did she bring back some more obsidianite or some other mythical artifact or something?" Thern questioned, sounding almost tired.

"Or something..." Darmod laughed.

We entered the dining room, where Thern sat alone. It looked like his mom was likely out doing some late-night forging again.

"Now, what did you do this time?" Thern asked before he noticed Vee.

It was a good thing he wasn't drinking, or he might have spat it out, to his shock and surprise.

"Bloody beards! You went and tamed the monster?" Thern shouted in question.

"Her name's Vee, approved by the guild and everything," I stated.

Vee waved one of her little front legs.

"Nice to meet you!" She said mentally, although I was the only recipient.

"Vee says hello," I relayed.

"I can bloody see that! Gods, how intelligent of a critter is she?" Thern asked.

"Very, one of the smartest I've come across," I answered. Other than Odark, it was true that I hadn't exactly met intelligence amongst them, although being an [Experiment] was possibly cheating.

Does Simon count? I wondered.

Thern sighed. "I see... I'm surprised you managed to get her to agree to the bond then, or you must have bribed the hell out of her! Then again, I don't know how you elves do all your taming; I've only read and heard that it's legendary."

"Well, I am giving her magic lessons," I admitted.

"Gods, a magic-wielding spider!" Darmod and Thern shouted.

"I didn't even know monsters could be taught magic unless they were a monstrous humanoid," Darmod said.

"The worst part is I completely believe Syl will be able to do it," Thern grumbled. "No matter what insane thing comes out of her mouth, she seems to do it with her full effort."

"So I take it Vee gets your approval?" I asked.

"If you're vouching for her, then sure! Although, I'm still going to be adding some warding around my room and bed!" Thern joked, although maybe with a hint of truth.

"Great, I promised Vee here some great dwarven cuisine, and she's been drooling ever since."

"I hope that's our food and not literally dwarves," Darmod teased.

"No way! I can't go back to non-cooked food anymore!" Vee protested mentally and shook her front legs frantically.

"Vee definitely wants real food. Not something that's all beard."

Both dwarves howled with laughter, and soon, Darmod began cooking up a storm.

"So, you mentioned something spicy to report?" Darmod asked.

I nodded and began explaining the whole mine plot, the bribes, the attack on me, and how they planted Vee. It was quite a long retelling, but thankfully, we had plenty of food to keep us all occupied.

Vee spent the time graciously devouring anything put in front of her while letting out mental squeals of pure joy.

Two dwarves, a spider, and a slime. What a strange gathering. I chuckled to myself.