We sat together in front of the puddle of slime goo until I felt our emotions slowly quieten through the bond. It was late in the day already, but we weren't too worried. The city was close, and we all craved a real bed at an inn.
Eventually, Vespera got up and said: "I think the goo is getting sick of us."
We chuckled at the absurdity of it all. Such a serious moment and conversation, and it had been all in front of a hole in the dirt filled with dead slimes, slowly drying in the sun.
"Come on." The demon pulled me up. "Let's test your skill."
"How do we want to do it?" I asked. "Just my mana pool or do you two want to contribute?"
"I'm at around half," Vespera said. Turning to Elyra, she asked: "You?"
"My mana pool is still almost empty. Even though it will not make much of a difference, I think we can all contribute and see what happens."
With that settled, I approached the hole and squatted beside it. The girls grabbed my arms as I thrust them forward, activating the skill. The mana flowed freely through the bond, with almost no resistance, fueling the skill. The light brightened, enveloping us and the goo, but there was not enough mana to turn it into an iridescent rainbow like it had back in the city.
Still, I felt the changes. When the spell finally wound down, and the light retreated, what was left was a perfect translucent cube made of some sort of unknown crystal. It was cold to the touch, and rather heavy.
"Any of you know what this is?" Vespera asked. "You, spacer boy? Anything from your memories?"
"Lots of things, actually, but I don't think even an engineer could recognize a random crystal at a glance."
"If I remember correctly," Elyra interjected. "There are appraisers at the guild."
Hearing this, the demon was already departing. "Good, we were heading there anyway. Let's go."
I let myself be dragged by her enthusiasm, and we made good time. Elyra trailed us a way back, still brooding over her own things, something that the demon wasn't going to let stand for long. She let go of my hand and went to drag the little downcast angel, powering through her protests and pulling her along, making her sway left and right as they giggled and chased each other through the grassy plains near the city.
Soon, however, the fresh and vibrant colors gave way to stomped mud.
"Aftermath of the tide. The city is close," I warned the girls. "Look vigilant. We have company."
They stopped their shenanigans at once. Elyra's hand lingered on Vespera's, as if reluctant to let go, but the sight of other guild workers forced her to go back to pretending she was just a slave. With a snap of magic, collars and chains appeared around their necks, and I led them inside through the small door in the walls.
"They are still repairing the damage to the outer wall," Vespera said. I turned around, and saw that she was two paces behind me. Her voice had been a whisper, barely audible. When she saw me, she grinned. "Do you like my new trick, spacer boy?"
This time my eyes widened. Her lips hadn't moved at all!
"Elyra doesn't know yet," she said playfully. "Look. I'm going to spook her."
"Boo!" she whisper-screamed through the bond, while outside she pretended to look around everywhere.
Elyra yelped, almost jumping out of her skin in fright. "W-what?"
"Shh," the demon said through the bond again.
This made the angel turn around with a puzzled expression, that bordered on a frown. "Vespera?"
The demon grinned and brought a finger to her lips to tell her to be quiet. Elyra's frown deepened, bordering on annoyance, and she mouthed: "how?"
"Vespera figured out how to use the bond to talk," I said, trying the magic myself. Now that I knew it was possible, it was surprisingly intuitive.
"Testing," the angel said. "Can you hear me?"
"I can," Vespera said. "You probably need to shout if you want Sol to hear you, though. He's kinda old. Did you spot those two strands of white hair on his head?"
"Ha, ha," I deadpanned. It was strange, talking while walking and pretending we were in utter silence. It sent a thrill through my body, one that was echoed through the bond. We felt like undercover agents and we were having the time of our lives. "You call me old, but you two are at least fifteen thousand years old."
"How do you know?" Vespera asked, outraged.
"The System said it," I countered.
"No it didn't," she replied immediately.
"It did," I argued. "When I broke your curse."
"Shit, you're right." the demon conceded.
"Hey Vespera," the angel said, after patiently waiting for our banter to die down.
"Yes?"
"Good job figuring out how to talk through the bond," Elyra said, sending warmth and pride through the bond along with the words. "I would have never realized it could be used like this."
"You would have, eventually," the demon told her. "I am sure of that. You're plenty smart, cat-angel."
"Regardless," she countered. "I am glad you did it so quickly. I very much disliked being forced into silence when inside the city."
"She's right," I said. "Good job, Vespera."
I felt a spike of mischief.
"Call me a good girl," said the demon.
"Hey!" said the angel soon after.
I grinned. "You both are good girls."
"Mm, yes, I like it. Not always. But sometimes." Vespera said. "Don't get too used to—oh? It seems like you scored a critical hit on Elyra. Look at her, she's squirming! Angel! You look like you're about to piss yourself. People are watching and they don't know we are talking to each other!"
This only made Elyra go even redder in the face as she tried to hide her embarrassment.
"You tease," she complained after a while.
"Yep," the demon shamelessly admitted.
"Anyway," I said, bringing the conversation back on track. "I'm happy we can talk now. It makes the city… bearable."
The demon hummed in my mind. "It really does, doesn't it?"
◈◈◈
We stopped at the apothecary before going to the guild, so that he could get his ingredients and mark our gathering job as complete. He was pretty happy with how we handled the stuff, after which he asked us for our feedback on the higher quality potions we bought from him.
"We didn't use them yet," I told him.
"Ah, I see. Do let me know when you do."
"Why?" I asked. "Is it a new recipe or something? Don't tell me you've been using us as lab rats."
"Rats?" the man said, recoiling as if struck. "I would never! But alas, while it is not a new recipe that I used, it was a new one for me."
"You made them? I thought you were just an apothecary and not an alchemist."
The man shrugged, adjusting his lab coat. "It is a common misconception to think that the two professions do not overlap. With proper skill management, however, such lines can become blurry. I pestered my master so that he would teach me the recipe and let me try, but I have yet to hear feedback from our customers. You see, most people do not use high healing potions unless strictly necessary. Not all people can afford them."
"Neither can we, but if I had to choose between being broke and cancer, I choose broke."
The man cocked his head at me as if I was spouting nonsense. Who knew? Perhaps there was no cancer here. Or there was super magical cancer! I wasn't going to take any chances.
"Besides," I said. "I personally don't like scars on my skin. Nor on my slaves, if you catch my drift."
The man looked at me, face unmoving save for his eyes which blinked twice before the light of understanding began to shine through. "Ah," he muttered, exhaling. "I take it you have not used it yet, then?"
"I haven't encountered anything that my Vitality couldn't take care of yet. As for her, it doesn't matter when she takes the potion, right? The scars will fade even if we wait a bit? I'm not exactly swimming in gold coins to use a potion when she's not injured."
"They should fade, yes," the man said quickly. "I do understand that some of… you… do care about showing off your slaves. I realize now that perhaps the potion I gave you might not be up to the task. Please, as an apology, take this salve. Apply it to her scars, and they will fade within two days."
I nodded at the man. "Thanks," I said. "I'm glad you realize that testing new production methods on me wasn't the smartest idea."
"Ah, well, uh," he stammered. Leaning in, he said: "It had been my master's idea. But now that he's not here, I have some leeway. I personally would have tested the potion on a slaved monster—not a sentient one, mind you."
"Why didn't you?" I asked.
"We are not swimming in gold coins, either. Or so my master says. I am just an apprentice."
I nodded. "I see. Well, I'll remember this favor, mister…"
"Lee."
"Oh, another one for the three letter club."
Lee's eyes widened. "You know of the club. Wait, do you know Ted? The dwarf foreman?"
"Oh yes," I said. "I was just about to go see him to collect some money he owes me."
"He owes you money?" the man asked, dumbfounded. He took off his glasses, two big round spectacles really, and wiped them nervously on his lab coat before swallowing. "I should say, I am happy we sorted out our problems. No bad blood between us, right?"
I looked at him hard for a moment or two, debating with myself how to play this. In the end, I decided to be nice. It always paid off to be nice to nice people, or to already intimidated people.
"All good," I said. I made to leave, before stopping and turning around. The man sighed, no doubt expecting that things might not be all good after all, but I placated him with a gesture. Taking off my backpack, I rummaged and fished out the cube made from the slime goo.
"What is that?" Lee asked, leaning in almost against his will.
"How about you tell me? See, I was about to go sell it to the guild, but I figured since you and I are building this nice relationship, we could work out a better deal?"
The man was salivating. "Of course, of course. It would be an honor. I did not catch your name?"
"Sol," I said as we shook. "Proud member of the three-letter club myself. It's a pleasure."
"No, Sol. No. The pleasure is mine."