Aarav had managed to pull himself over to his initial potion experiment and looked at how best to proceed.

Aarav began funnelling Mana into the water, trying to combine it with the liquid before he poured it into the glass that held the sand and herbs, and it just kept rolling off. He pushed harder, trying to bond the Mana to the water and get it to mingle, but the Mana kept passing through this time. It was like trying to attach steam to oil, and it just kept emulsifying instead of binding.

Would he need to try a different approach? Okay, let’s do this one more time. This time instead of trying to force the weaves of Mana to bind to the water, he just weaved the Mana into a lattice. Then threaded it around and through the water. The water parted around the weaves and slid past but was still contained within it. Now it was partially bound to the water. So far, he had poured 100 of his meagre 562 Mana into the weave, and nothing of note had happened.

He needed more.

Another one hundred Mana went into the weave and then another. Now the weave was all-encompassing. The water was barely visible through the weaves. It also seemed to become exponentially harder to hold it all in his mind—a headache of epic proportions formed where his brain was supposed to be. He can’t have it much longer. Even in his mind, his voice felt strained with its pressure. Water sloshed in and out of the weaves. The gaps were too small for solids, but the liquid passed through quickly. He was trying to hold water with a sieve, and he needed to tighten those gaps to keep the water going through the Mana.

Another one hundred Mana, and still the gaps were there. He poured another hundred in, and now, on top of the headache he already had, the Mana deprivation headache formed and doubled down on his aching brain. Aarav strained, getting close to his limit, but the sieve idea hadn’t worked. Aarav needed to let go and allow his mind to relax and his Mana to replenish. Still, he couldn’t just let go after putting in so much effort. Maybe just a little more could make it work?

He put in the final sixth-four MP, some having recovered through this ordeal. But it was not enough. He was exhausted, his mind strained and about ready to implode his Mana sitting at zero now with a trickle coming in from the potion he had taken. He felt blind from having to head with the intense ache in his head. One good thing came from it, though:

Your Skill Pain Resistance has increased to Level 8!

A clear indication if he even needed one that the pain was beyond what he could just take. Aarav thought fondly of a time when he would not have to feel pain at all unless he wanted to if that was possible. Or just a way out of this situation and the pain it brought.

He was just about to completely let go when he heard a surprised cry, which almost made him lose the Mana weaves entirely as well. But what if the yell was Haemish telling him he was about to kill himself? The cry had been remarkably feminine, though if that were Haemish, he would have another weapon in his teasing-Haemish arsenal. That thought brightened his mood a little, but he was still straining hard.

There was the gasping intake of breath, and Aarav immediately began to regret what he was doing. He had read a book back in the day that talked about using Mana like weaves and thought the idea sounded perfect, and this was not the way to work with it here. Aarav sighed as he tried to relax the tension. The weaves nearly slipped, and he quickly snatched them up to avoid fatalities.

“Resh! What on Blore are you doing!? Where did you learn that!?” Oh, that was not the reaction he had been expecting. “Be very careful how you let go of that, and you have to unravel it first and very carefully!” Haemish’s voice was a little awe, and the majority panicked.

“Why? What did I do? I was just trying to infuse the water with Mana!” Aarav protested without any bite. He was in a very precarious position, it seemed. Aarav took a deep breath. “Okay, what do I do? Explain it to me step-by-step.”

Haemish also took a calming breath. “Okay, the thread is made of Mana, right? What you have to do is simply undo the weave, the opposite of what you did to make it. Just take it one thread at a time.” While Haemish’s voice was calm on the surface, there was a deep-seated fear there. The woman that had come in and yelled seemed more confused than anything looking at the weave as if it were impressive but nothing more. She was more focused on the thing that was controlling the weaves, something she had never seen before and had given her quite the shock.

She sensed the tension from Haemish and didn’t say anymore. Considering how Haemish was speaking to Aarav, they knew each other, and there was no immediate need for alarm. “I assume this is what you wanted to show me?” Haemish nodded but didn’t take his focus from the weaves.

“How much Mana is there in that?” He pointed to the weave.

“About five hundred and seventy or so.” Aarav replied.

Haemish visibly relaxed. “Okay, great, you can just let it go. It will dissipate on its own, though I have never seen a weave like that created from so little Mana.” Aarav likewise slumped in relief and let go of the weaves. They cracked, and Aarav had the unpleasant sensation of static zapping him but otherwise, nothing more. Both men sighed before nervously laughing.

“Uhh, sorry about that, Haemish. I was trying to infuse the water with Mana as I was trying to make the potions I left unfinished.” Aarav said, “Hello, how are you? I am Resh!” Aarav said as he introduced himself to the woman that had yelled upon entry. “I know that I look more like a monster than a person but no need to yell.” He was getting used to the reactions he received from people. He shouldn’t be surprised. People in this world tracked monsters, and monsters hunted people.

“Ah, I am so sorry for my initial reaction. Your appearance startled me, and I have never seen anything like you to speak Darfan. No, not Darfan, actually speak any human language.” Her voice still sounded like she couldn’t believe the words were coming out of her mouth. “Also, the bones.”

Aarav looked down at his legs and arms that were sticking out of his head. “Yes, I see that it might be a little disconcerting, and I am working on my appearance a little to be less startling. As you can see, it is a work in progress.”

“Resh, I thought you have the torso and skull now. Why are you not using them? You could have a humanoid form, and from what you have told me, that was your initial goal.” Haemish asked.

“I don’t have enough weight to be able to do it. I need to be at least three times bigger, so that was my next question. When do we eat?” Aarav’s smile was sharper than his teeth and the two humans looking at him flinched a little.

“I should probably get something a little less intimidating for a mouth, though the skull had teeth, so I believe that once I can use that, I should be easier to look at.” Aarav’s expression was hopeful as he hopped off the stool teetered on his new feet before grabbing onto the side of the counter and steadying himself. “Haven’t quite got it figured out yet.”

Marasa was still a little lost for words but tried something polite, “Wow, impressive, how do you know Darfan, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Aarav did, but there was no harm in talking to the woman. Haemish must have a reason, and he always did. “I heard Haemish and the other’s speaking it, so picked it up from them.” That should be enough.

“We met yesterday...” Haemish said. “You are telling me you learned the entire language on a single day from what my men and I said?” It seemed Haemish was curious, but more pressing questions had clouded his mind.

“Yup, I am a very clever Slime!” Aarav said pointedly, not willing to elaborate. “Anyway, it’s just a language. There are so many of those. I wanted to ask you, Haemish. What other languages are there in this world? I would very much like to learn them as well if you would indulge me.” Haemish looked sceptical, but there was nothing more he could say without calling Aarav a liar. It seemed he was not willing to do that just yet. He looked at Aarav as if to say, ‘keep your secrets for now’ Aarav couldn’t be sure, though.