You have gained +5 Luck! Good Luck!
Aarav was now walking away from his first class, not flying, walking. Some of the other students gave him odd looks and once again the Slime lamented his decision to become a fairy. He could have chosen anything else but this is what he decided on. Somehow he would have to make this work.
As he walked toward his next class he started looking through the multitude of messages and notifications he had received on Skill Level ups, Weight and Volume increases and so many others.
Aarav had been neglecting his capabilities for a week now and while he had been enjoying his first week with new friends and the Academy that was no reason to neglect his natural abilities to strengthen him while he did other things, especially when he was so far behind everyone else at the moment.
After all, Aarav was no stranger to feeling weak and powerless in this life or the last. Perhaps now there was time and a good chance to adjust that.
You have gained 250g of Weight!
You have gained 44.64cm3 of Volume!
…
You have gained 250g of Weight!
You have gained 44.64cm3 of Volume!
He had limited himself to this much each meal for the last week, enough to satisfy him but not enough that he wouldn't be able to fatten up and remain inconspicuous. Aarav did wonder how he didn't use up any of his Weight or Volume moving around but then he decided there were greater mysteries to solve at the moment. That was something would have to come later.
After a week and his height, width and cheeks taking the brunt of the hit it was becoming harder and harder to justifiably continue to remain this size. His weight was once again reaching the 10 kilogram limit and he didn't want a repeat of what happened the last time.
Aarav had a look at his Weight and Volume Stats:
Unit
Volume
1,682.68
cm3
Weight
9,423.00
g
Density
5.60
g/cm3
He could already the heaviness so it would not do to keep adding Weight without Consolidating. He just needed to make sure that any Strong Consolidation could be done overnight.
Consolidating 9,423g of Weight and 1682.6cm3 of Volume and 5.6g/cm3 into 2,733g and 448.03cm3 and 6.1g/cm3 would take 22hr 26min. Would you like to Intense Consolidate now?
Ah, crap. I can't do it with that kind of time frame! Aarav had left it too long. If he tried it now he would be reduced to a goop state for a day! The only solution he could come up with was to try for a sick day. One day was all he needed but then was he willing to miss the rest of his first day?
For now he should look through everything and then decided after that.
Your Skill Bird's Prime Eyes has increased to Level 30!
Your Skill Sharp Mouth of Consumption has increased to Level 24!
Your Skill Sharp Mouth of Consumption has increased to Level 25!
Congratulations, your Skill has reached the Second Plateau Level 25! Your Skill Sharp Mouth of Consumption has evolved into Insane Mouth of Consumption. You can now Consume 5X% Faster is you use your Insane Mouth of Consumption! Not only is speaking possible but your voice will sound more natural that before! Voice becomes more melodic and appealing as Skill level improves! You mouth shape and colour begin to adjust to your form as well!
Your Skill Ears of Echo Location has increased to Level 21!
Your Skill Ears of Echo Location has increased to Level 22!
Your Skill Smell of Watery Soil has increased to Level 20!
Your Skill Smell of Watery Soil has increased to Level 21!
All of Aarav's senses had gradually been expanding over the last few days. He had noticed it only in passing but it was still nice. His mouth had received the greatest boost with him now being able to smile a little without sending people running. Not that they had before but it was the principle of the matter.
Your Skill Strong Odour Alteration has increased to Level 22!
Your Skill Strong Odour Alteration has increased to Level 23!
Your Skill Strong Camouflage has increased to Level 22!
Your Skill Strong Camouflage has increased to Level 23!
Unfortunately, not much else had changed. Without his strongest Skill Intense Consolidate which was his quick fix to getting reasonable stats it was going to be very difficult to get thing moving in the right direction for him. He also really need to gain some experience and evolve again, remaining as a Copycat Slime was not going to help him much. Fire Slime was sounding pretty good right now considering the last lesson's test.
Back to the original question, do I skip lessons on the first day and Intense Consolidate now or wait? Did I even really have a choice? If he decided to wait the weight would be too much for him and he would spontaneously Intense Consolidate anyway, he would have no control over the time or location and not eating wasn't an option either, for whatever reason Aarav still needed to eat, despite not being a regular living organism.
Fine, I am going to take the rest of the day off and get this done. Aarav quickly moved him bulky self through the grounds to his dorm with little incident. However as he entered the floor of his room he was accosted by Lucile.
Great! Just what I need right now!
"Hi! I wanted to speak to you after the class but you had to visit the Headmaster and then when you came back I was talking to someone else and couldn't just leave them." Her expression changed from happy to slightly concerned. "Is everything okay with you?" She looked at Aarav's body and for the first time Aarav realised that there was a size difference between them.
Over the last week with the weight he had gained most people did not realise the difference in size but he was a very chubby and large version of this small creature. She would notice but as nice as she was Lucile would not poke holes in it or his feelings. "Oh, looks like it is nothing much, the machine might not work perfectly with species other than Humans." It was a lie of course but what else could he come up with? He was mentally drained from everything that had happened and resigned to Intense Consolidate now, he was not in the best mental frame of mind.
Even as he said the excuse he could see that Lucile did not believe him and suspected something was up with his size and bulky appearance but chose to leave it alone. "I am here to speak to if you have a problem, please do not hesitate." Then her smile returned and she added, "us fairies have to stick together! You might be a little different from any of the fairies I have seen but we meet new and different people all the time!" She realised what she said a moment later and gasped comically raising a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide in shame and embarrassment. "Sorry! I didn't mean to say you were too different, you are a really nice different!"
Aarav felt guilt rise in his chest. The gravity that he felt with this girl was still there but somehow this reaction and her assuming that he was a fairy soured it somewhat. "Hey, no offense taken! I promise, you have been nothing but kind. I am just really tired at the moment and honestly don't understand half of what is happening to me sometimes. I will absolutely take you up on that offer of conversation and friendship if it still stands."
She nodded eagerly happy to move on from her lapse. Aarav didn't think it was a big deal and honestly, she was really nice, nothing he had said to her was untrue. However it was one of the least important things to him right now. "Oh! Lucile, why are you here, aren't you going to your next class?"
The day was segmented into four sections. Early morning was Magical Theory in its various forms. Late morning was for Practical Magic so that was what was on the agenda next. Then lunch and Melee Training followed by the last segment of the day Ranged Training. For the first few weeks that was the program after which depending on specialisations people could be broken off into separate groups for dedicated training of their focus.
The first few weeks were critical to make sure you got into good places for the rest of the year. That was probably why Lucile was looking at him like she had swallowed a lemon. A really, really sour one.