Wish Fulfilled

When the Slug Sage appeared, the Red Slug, which had been terrified by the black flames and split into countless pieces, gathered itself together again and re-formed its body.

The Red Slug was noticeably smaller now, by about a third.

The black flames had clearly done it considerable harm, burning a third of its body to ash. A moment longer, and its entire body might have gone up in smoke.

The Red Slug hurried to the Slug Sage's side. Facing Long Ye, it still seemed to tremble.

Long Ye studied the two slugs, one large and one small, one white and one red. Something struck him as odd.

As far as he knew, every slug in Shikkotsu Forest was part of the Slug Sage's divided body. Some had minds of their own, but they were still under her control.

This Red Slug, though, did not seem so simple.

Until now, Long Ye had doubted the Slug Sage would even appear for its sake.

There were too many slugs in Shikkotsu Forest. This one was no more than a drop of water beside a bowlful. Whether it lived or died should not have mattered much.

Yet the opposite had happened. The Slug Sage had appeared at once to stop him.

Its strikingly different appearance and utterly different abilities led him to suspect that the Red Slug was something special—perhaps unique to the Slug Sage and all of Shikkotsu Forest.

Slugs were not suited to combat. They were medical summons, and their ability to divide existed largely to keep them alive.

But this Red Slug clearly possessed formidable combat abilities.

Granted, it fought by inflicting something like negative "buffs," absorbing and weakening its opponents' power. For creatures whose abilities were generally medical, though, that was extraordinary.

"I'm sorry for intruding unannounced. I