Chapter 10, Episode 1: Return from the Sea of Trees

Glen and I left the village and hiked for a while before we came to the lake that had been one of my landmarks on the way in. I’d been in a hurry then, but now I had the chance to appreciate the beauty of this lake, its crystal water rippling from the breeze and shimmering with the reflection of sunlight. Thanks to that breeze, the air tasted fresh. All around the lake, the banks were coated with fresh moss disturbed only by the small monsters that drank from its lapping ledge. Despite the innate danger this far into the woods, there was a serenity about the place, somehow. Maybe this was how the lake always looked when Undead monsters weren’t around.

“Now we’re close enough,” I said. From here, I could clearly sense the location and condition of the stone slime I’d buried in the ground. I could use Space magic to quickly travel to another stone slime, while making sure that there wouldn’t be any monsters waiting for me on the other end, all by communicating with slimes.

“Why didn’t you bury those slimes all the way from here to the village?” Glen asked.

“That would have been convenient,” I admitted. “But there were too many Undead around at the time.”

“Yeah...I guess you really didn’t have a chance to,” Glen said.

“Next time, I’d like to complete the line to the village. So, are you ready?”

“Yep. If any monsters come knocking, I’ll take care of them.”

“Thank you,” I said. “Here we go. Warp.” Controlling my magical energy to envelop Glen as well as myself, I cast the spell. In