TTIGRAAS: Predator

Chapter 47

I woke up and almost felt like I was underwater for a moment, but what I was surrounded by was a bunch of thick blue goo...

I was surrounded by slimes, with one particularly large one directly on top of me, who all collectively were trying to send me calming feelings. It helped a bit, but the nightmare I had would take a lot more than calming thoughts to dispel.

Wait... where did all these slimes even come from?

My little house was packed with them, deep inside the sealed cave.

I felt around a bit with Universal Perception, trying to figure out where they came from... Honestly, most of them felt like they came from Veldora. So they must've wandered here, in search of me. But why?

[[Your distress was projected through your aura, attracting the other slimes to you. It is a natural instinct for slimes to gather and protect each other in times of danger.]]

Guess I have to keep them now... I couldn't shoo the things off when they just wanted to help.

I tried to gently wiggle my way out from under the largest slime, but as soon as I moved, so did it. The slime seemed insistent on keeping me squished 'safely' underneath its body.

Okay... this is not working.

Not wanting to harm any of the slimes with how tightly packed together they all were inside, I just used Spatial Domination to escape to the outside of my home.

I decided to take a look at myself, but I wanted to look with my eyes. I felt like I'd really been letting go of my earthly self recently... Both for the better and worse. What better way to remedy that than a quick look in the mirror.

As I inched my way up to the mirror pool in the cave, illuminated by the soft glow of magicrystals all around us, I was slowly introduced to... Shizu. I had that sharp womanly look, just a bit younger... Like a little, young-teenage Shizu.

Albeit, with a notable increase in beauty, the resemblance was still uncanny.

I fell away from the mirror pool, in a shock and with a surge of guilt creeping into me. Shizu's students had been taken from me, and I felt like who I saw there was a punishment for that.

If I still had those breathing reflexes, I would've been hyperventilating. Instead, I felt my form bubbling and writhing beneath my skin. My body responding to distress in more and more of an inhuman way.

Staring at Shizu's face again though, it reminded me of something else. I needed, badly needed; to get her mask back. Yuuki had broken it, and I needed to find the pieces... wherever they were.

So, without a moment of consideration, I used my teleport gate to go back to Englesia.

What was Englesia... I reminded myself. The destruction still raged around me, even after days, maybe even weeks. I couldn't be sure exactly how much time passed.

[[Six days have passed since Walpurgis.]]

Thanks, partner. I liked Raphael... They were so refined, yet human. It was refreshing to feel like I was talking to a person. Say, could you help me search for the mask?

[[If they are here, we will find them. Considering the presence of enemies in the surrounding lands however, a time-limit is advised. Three hours should be satisfactory?]]

That makes sense... Good idea. Thank you for looking out for me.

I felt some small memento from Raphael, a little positive sentiment. It was unusual, but nice.