Chapter 437 : Island Report

Even after eating enough food that would've bloated her if not for her stomach being its own storage space, Vee didn't choose to immediately evolve. She had a bit of admin she wanted to resolve while she'd been out of commission, and she also needed to catch up on the island's state while we were away. From my perspective, things hadn't changed much, but Vee was insistent on getting a full progress report.

I guess I chose the right spider for the job; she's really taken this role passionately.

The same could be said for Sylbera, her maid-assistant who dutifully kept up with the energetic spider's pace and offered help wherever she could. Vee was effectively giving her a list of chores to handle while she was away, and the look on Sylbera's face indicated how seriously she was taking it.

There was also a progress report on the goblins, who were now fully integrated, and Yuzz had been filling her impromptu role as their leader and representative remarkably well. However, Vee must have sensed trouble in the air, and soon we found a seedy underbelly in the goblin's operation—an illegal kitchen!

"No! Please spare the gloop!" Glooz cried out, falling to his knees as Sylbera confiscated the large cooking pot on Vee's behalf.

Unfortunately for Glooz, his protests fell on deaf ears, and even his fellow goblins weren't supporting him, having now fully converted to the wonders of real food. For whatever reason, despite now having decent levels in chef and skills to back it up, the goblin Glooz insisted on recreating that foul concoction by any means necessary.

"I don't understand, you cook well, Glooz. Why make the nasty gloop?" Yuzz asked, trying to reason with her fellow goblin.

"Gloop is not nasty, it just misunderstood! It needs time to ferment and evolve into its true form!"

"I like the sausage you make more than gloop…" one of the goblins finally admitted.

"Yes, sausage tasty. Very crispy," another goblin agreed.

The rest of the goblins called out other various foods that Glooz had been taught, apparently against his will, as with each utterance, he seemed to be taking powerful emotional blows. The more the goblins tried to reassure him, the more pained he seemed, as if rather than compliments they were spitting on his face.

"Leave him, he is strange goblin, he will get over it," Yuzz sighed.

And so the illegal kitchen was thwarted, and the island was saved from the horrors of whatever the fermented evolution of gloop was going to be.

Vee checked on her crops, got a progress report on the buildings from Leon, and even received a safety report from Vanessa, of all people! To say I was shocked would be an understatement, but Vee apparently ran a tight ship, and I wondered how her evolution would change that.

With that, everything was out of the way, and all that was left was for Vee to find a safe spot to hide in. Borrowing my previous idea, she created a stabilized [Rift Door] which would keep her safe and sound throughout the duration. Of course, Sylbera and I were going to keep the entrance guarded, just in case.

"Okay, so I'm going to ask about your [Dungeon Master] application and try to get it expedited, maybe even suss out the reason for the delay. Anything else I should bring up?" Vee asked.

"Uh… That's definitely the big one. I mean, I'd love some advice on where to find a gold slime core, or any of my missing slime cores, but I don't know if Mother would know any of that."

"Worth a shot anyway. Maybe I'll ask her about your Time Slime."

"Now that is a good idea!"

Vee chuckled and shook her head. "Anyway… Thanks again for the help. Hopefully everything goes well, and I'll see you on the other side."

"Yup, I'll make sure the island is still here when you're done."

"Honestly, I trust Sylbera more than you to keep it running… After what you did in the throne room, I'm expecting to find a crater, or maybe a black hole when I come back."

"Don't be silly. If I do anything dangerous, it would be far away from the island."

Vee chuckled again, albeit with a hint of nervousness. With that, I waved goodbye to her as she went through the [Rift Door] and closed it behind her.

I wonder how long she will be stuck in there for… Last time for me was ten days. Surely it won't be for a month, right?

At the end of the day, how long it took didn't really matter too much for me. Even if I was keeping my primary core on the island to act as a guardian, I could still explore if I really wanted. Not only could I create a long chain of [Sub-Cores] to reach out into the ocean, but I also had the option of possessing one of my [Sub-Cores].

Well, that's assuming that it still works on a separate slime network. But I don't see why it wouldn't?

With that done, I found myself heading to the center of the island, which was occupied by the rather massively growing Logan. I reached the tree and doused the soil with nutritious [Mulch Slime]. My actions awakened the tree, and he seemed delighted by my presence.

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"Ah! You've finally returned, it's good to see you again!"

"Sorry, I've been busy with labyrinths and whatnot. I had hoped Sylthaeryn would tend to you, but then we ended up sending her to Keld to act as bait."

"It's not a problem. Honestly, while I appreciate the gesture, I prefer getting tended by you. Even if you aren't an elf, you are the one who gave me life, so to speak."

I nodded and spent some time catching up with Logan. Of course, he wasn't totally neglected, as I still had Pi situated right next to him, serving as our island's nexus and providing support through [Nature Magic]. It appeared that he was close to reaching a new maturity level and that, in another month or two, he would be able to connect to another home tree.

Obviously, the Feirelle forest would be our target rather than Caelthal directly, as that would add an extra layer of security before reaching our island. I also couldn't help but wonder how they would react to the little community we had built here, run by civilized monsters.

I need my [Dungeon Master] qualification before then. Otherwise, how will I be able to convince them that the goblins are safe and won't succumb to evolution madness?

I had no doubt that the elves had experienced that tragedy far longer than the humans, especially with the horrific consequence of having to put down their [Bonded Companions] that had finally lost their minds. As one of the highest-tier monsters on the island, and with two Emblems relating to rulership, I theoretically should have no problem keeping the goblins, and any other monster, from going crazy by having them join our island.

Speaking of humans, I received several messages from Sylvester informing me that Keldenar was particularly interested in hearing more details about our experience, especially regarding reaching the final reward tier.

So we did beat him… Ha! Slimes really are the best.

Of course, I realized it was more likely because I had [Soul Sight] and he didn't, but I was still chalking this up as a slime win. I left a message saying I'd visit sometime soon, after I'd de-stressed from spending so much time inside the snow globe. Although the real reason was that I wanted my [Personal Rift] to recover, and I had a burning curiosity about what my reward entailed.

With nothing pressing to take care of on the island, I finally pulled out the ancient book and giggled with delight at what mysteries I'd learn. Logan produced a small tree house in his upper branches, and I made it my home as I fully relaxed and slimed out.

I was going to be cautious around the book to make sure I didn't damage it with loose slime, but it looks like it's not normal in the slightest.

The book itself was effectively a magical item and thus was immune to normal methods of damage. I could throw it in the ocean, and it would be fine, and even a volcano might not destroy it, not that I'd put that to the test, nor would I try to see if it could withstand [Acid Slime].

I excitedly opened the book and was relieved to see it was written in [Universal Language]. If it had been one of the secret languages, then I would've been in some trouble.

That reminds me… I should get Sylthaeryn to study the secret elven language for me, and then I can copy her notes.

Despite literally being their language, not many elves actually bothered to learn it. [Universal Language] was just far too convenient, so only historians or powerful elven leaders made the effort. However, it was a requirement for High Elves as apparently the council meetings were all spoken in it. Not to mention other secret records and whatnot.

I quickly left a message for Sylthaeryn in [Core Storage] and got back to starting my book, which was a very interesting experience. Other than the Riftmancer's diary I'd gotten from the elves and some of the monster encyclopedias I'd read at the adventurers guild, I hadn't exactly been much of a bookworm. It was understandable, given that the system installed most of the information in your brain whether you liked it or not.

That goes double with me and [Skill Deconstruct]... I wonder if my "brain" wasn't a highly complex slime core, would I even be able to retain it all? Or would my head explode from the sheer quantity of information crammed into it?

The unfortunate side of this information being in book form was that it was sort of left up to personal interpretation, and thus up to me to learn how to apply its knowledge. The start, in particular, was very rough to read, with mostly vague conjectures and theories about hypothetical uses and reasons for compressed space. I had been starting to doubt whether I had picked the right reward, but as I progressed, I finally had some meaningful, hard numbers to work with.

The creator of the book had actually started calculating coordinates by hand and how they would be represented in compressed space. I studied each calculation and formula with fascination, already trying to speculate on how I could incorporate this into my own use, or, better yet, my custom version of [Triangulate].

At first, I was blown away by the author's passionate obsession with figuring this all out manually, but then I stopped to ponder why they had done so. Wouldn't it have been easier to do this with the help of the system? However, the answer soon dawned on me as I continued reading.

He didn't have [Dimension Magic]... That's why he had to do it all manually!

I was shocked. How had he figured all of this out without even having the right affinities? This seemed far too much for an ordinary individual, and I couldn't help but wonder if this was evidence of why he needed to be smited. And then I began to question whether he created the snow globe himself, without actually possessing the affinity, or if he had simply studied it after the fact.

Did he write this book while imprisoned? Am I reading the ramblings of a madman?

The last question was a definite yes, whether it was written before or after his fall. Still, his thirst, no, his hunger for knowledge was terrifying, and I was left speechless as I continued to read further.

When I finally finished my first read of the book, I had hoped I would have gotten a skill or some kind of system reward to help me with the next steps, but that wasn't the case. I sighed and put the book away, as I would need to read through it probably several times to fully grasp all of what it contained.

It's a good thing I'm a stupidly fast reader, thanks to all the processing power my primary core can handle. Actually, maybe I should have some [Sub-Cores] read along with me next time? Then afterward, maybe we can somehow compare notes?

My [Sub-Cores] were remarkably capable, even if they had felt a little more restricted after the unfortunate accident of the floating island's forced evolution. Whether that was my fault or Gramps was still undecided, but ever since then, it was plainly obvious that they no longer had full freedom.

Although with the personas… Is that a way to break their chains?

I was extremely curious but at the same time hesitant, as that last incident had put my head on the chopping block. Maybe it was best not to explore that idea until I had more understanding of the system, and my custom system spells were my first steps on that endeavor.

But before that… It's time to get some well-deserved sleep. Let's see if my dreams can help me digest this lunatic's book.