The examination of Bip went smoother than Mordecai had initially feared, it seems that Shizoku was embarrassed by her crush and was grateful to have Kazue to talk to. It was also the opportuime to verify his suspi about her having a forest guardian spirit as her patron, as the slime was the duit the spirit used to unicate and teach. Shizoku didn’t know the name of the spirit, it seems that no one did, and it took many shapes, but there articur grove oo if one wao try to initiate versation, though in Shizoku’s case it was the spirit who had approached her.

  As for the slime itself, it had a minor affinity for eating magic. Mordecai sidered it minor as the creature used it as a supplement rather than to sustain itself entirely, as Bip still o eat regur food too, and it was insuffit to entirely absorb spells. Iingly Bip showed no ination trowing bigger, and it had nothing to do with being a familiar, nor did he seem likely to replicate quickly.

  Most rare familiars provided some sort of special be to their master or have a unique ability they use. In Bip’s case, it provided its master with some of its magic-eating affinity, but it transted more into a magic-keeping ability, allowing Shizoku to resist any effects that tried to disrupt or steal her spells. The slime in turn fed orace amount of magic that a spellcaster leaked, and could turn his attention on any magiegatively affeg Shizoku and shorten their duration. Also, they discovered that he loved died honey, but that wasn’t much of a surprise.

  For Shizoku’s time, Mordecai settled on a scroll with a spell that created a shard of purifying ice, in addition to some of the died honey for her of course. It was not a particurly plicated spell, there was simply a different philosophical approapared to most bat-oriented purification spells, whially used fire, and thus was of i without being too valuable.

  “Thank you Shizoku. That was very useful, and Bip is a very well-behaved slime. Adorable too.” He gave the little green blob a gentle poke, making it jiggle a moment before he handed Bip back to Shizoku. “If you want to see the results, e ba a few months, if you dare.” Mordecai smiled with a challenge in his expression. “I have already suggested to yrandmother that she arraraining teams to e visit.” Mordecai was thinking about once a week or so would be good to have a fighting team visit from Azeria, and the same with Riverbridge. Both unities were a bit small to have rge numbers of freence warriors, but that rate would be maintainable if they rotated out guards and the like.

  His dungeon would also take less of a beating now that the semi-elites of eaunity had a ce to test him out. Traxalim and Aia were still a tier above, and teamed up would be a force to re with, but shy of some great wyrm taking offe their existe was extremely uhat he’d fay individuals strohan those two. Oh, there were probably a couple of individuals in each group between his desdants and the ones who’d run the dungeon, but now that a measure had been taken there would be little reason to send those individuals his way until the dungeon had a ce to get much strohey would find little challe.

  Kazue added her own invitation. “Oh, and you guys haven’t had a ce to chey puzzle path! Now that I have a bunch of iing pnts from mother, it should be even more rewarding, at least for those with a keen eye. I’m making sure to intersperse the levels with various useful herbs and rare flowers.”

  “Hehe, that would be cheaper thaing them from your mom. Akahana knows the value of the stuff she grows, doesn’t haggle, and the only time she gives credit is in an emergency.” Shizoku g him briefly, then down. “Um, but yeah. I’ll e back eventually I guess. And you won’t catch me off guard so easily ime!” The little kitsune waved at them as she turowards the corridor leading to the guest rooms.

  Mordecai gave her words a moment of thought, then looked to Kazue. “How much does the idea of haggling hurt your head? And you imagine having to keep track of stantly ging credit for a lot of people?” Everyone else had already headed off, so he felt free to talk about it with her here in the hall.

  The redhead sighed. “Yeah, I see what you are saying. Mom and I already kind of exged some hints about what we are going to be talking about.” She smiled up at him. “Aher one of us ever sidered bringing up our troubles with each other. Thank you for helping this happen, even if it wasn’t what you were pnning on.” Kazue shook her head in amusement at both herself and Akahana. “Of course, Mother wouldn’t want to worry her child over such things. While she was always happy to try and teach me her business, she was always careful to not try and burdeh ‘adult’ stuff.” She snorted. “Her and dad each, I think they’ve both been overcautious about overburdening others, especially each other. And as for me, I didn’t realize that there was something I should talk about. I always thought everyo like that, and I was just bad at dealing with it.”

  Mordecai leaned down to kiss her, then just held her for a little while before Kazue pulled back. “Alright, I’m going to go talk with her now. Off with you, go do your meditation.” Moriko had already gone off to get ready for hers, she’d wao take a bath and make a slow ritual of preparing herself.

  Mordeodded and gave Kazue a final kiss on her forehead. “Have fun love.” Then they headed their separate ways for the moment.

  There wasn’t a lot to get ready for his meditation, Mordecai just simply had to get ready for bed like he was going to go to sleep, which he sort of would. While physically visiting Ozuran’s realm would involve being strong enough to step directly into the shadow world and make a potentially dangerous trek, being a devotee of a god who had dominion over dreams had its advantages when one wao une. No plicated ritual, just the right mi wheering a dream state. It was a little bit harder for him than most others, as he had to work a bit to put himself into a sleeping state, but that is still far away from being hard.

  Once he was ready, Mordecai id down and closed his eyes, settling his mind into the right state to drift off into dreams.

  Ozuran pihe bridge of his nose and tried not to sigh too loudly. The two young women in front of him were supposed to be here to study, there had only been time to give them and their patriots a retively brief overview of what he expected of his church, but ihey were bickering. Again.

  “Zelda, you have to let me dye your wings blue! They’d look so awesome like that! You could swoop in all cool like, a shadowy angel of death!” That overly enthusiastic voice beloo Tsukiko, a seventeen-year-old, dark-haired kitsune whose ideas of helping were often ing to her friends.

  “Oh, absolutely not! You made my hair blue by act, I don’t trust you to mahe same shade on purpose. And besides which, I have to jure them, which you know I hate doing, and it’s not like the dye would stiyway when they dissipate.” Zelda’s natural hair color was a slightly metallic ptinum blonde, a result of her nephilim heritage and one of the many signs of that celestial bloodlihe eighteen-year-old did her best to hide. Of course, the girl’s obsession with how much she didn’t want to develop powers like maing a halo or wings are exactly why the power of her heritage was showing in that way, but it would do little good to inform the stubborn young woman of that.

  “Hmmph. you should listen to the Saintess of yod more! Obviously I carry his wisdom!”

  “Oh lord, not that stupid made-up title again. I’ve told you, Saintess is an awful, gy title! No one is going to take you seriously like that.”

  Tsukiko grinned impishly. “That’s what you think! I am also going to be the Seer of the Shadows! And I am sure I think of even more awesome titles for me! After all, I was the one he made the first tract with!”

  “Only because you were the st oanding and the demon was going to eat you! His e to our world was through me!” Zelda retorted. “And there is no way you are cool enough to deserve a title like Seer of the Shadows. Denied!”

  Had he told his family 50 years? Maybe a hundred or two would be better for Tsukiko. There were nights when Ozuran sed-guessed the value of having decided to establish his presen the new realm that he’d discovered through someone else’s act, especially given how small a group he’d had to select from to make tracts with and start building his es to that world. But it didn’t matter now, he was bound to the tract as they were.

  Then he felt a different sort of e being made, a visitor he’d not had in a long time, and Ozuran was about to split another sliver of himself off when he decided that there was a better idea. An interruption here would be more useful.

  Ozuran cpped his hands sharply, making both girls jump a little in surprise. “I apologize for interrupting your versation so suddenly,” which was not the same as saying he was sorry, “But I have anuest ing, and I would like you both to meet him.”

  Zagaroth