I was pretty sure we were in the right place. The atmosphere of Taboo Spring was similar to that of the places where I had found Sylph and Gnome. Alice was concerned though. She sensed something I did not, the presence of the only Heavenly Knight I had not yet met: Erubetie. Alice expressed that concern by noting that things could get "annoying". That was generally not the word I would use to describe an encounter with a Heavenly Knight. Terrifying or intimidating were the words I would have preferred.
As I explored the spring area, which was a lot larger than I had expected it to be, I heard a voice. "Stay away", it said. "Humans must not come any closer to this place."
"Is that you, Undine?" I called out.
No answer. Alice had warned me that getting Undine and Salamander would not be as easy as the first two had been. If there was a Knight here, that could make things even tougher. So far, my survival in the face of the Heavenly Knights had been only due to either a desire not to kill me, or screwing around too much. What if this last Heavenly Knight was serious?
"That wasn't Undine's voice," Sylph said in my mind. "Close, but not Deeny's! But she's definitely here! Probably inside the spring! Heeeeyyyy! Deeny!!! Let's play!"
That didn't get a reply either. "Can't she hear me?" Sylph lamented. "Ok, Gnomey, let's do this together! Shout with me on three! One… two… hyaa!"
Gnome slapped Sylph yet again. Are those two really friends? I thought.
"She's probably in a cave inside the spring," Alice said, deciding to help me out this time. "If you dive in, you should be able to make it to the entrance."
"Will you be going with me?" I asked.
"I hate damp and humid places," she said. "I'll wait here. Get Undine's power and come back safely. Don't lose in this boring, humid place."
I still wasn't sure why Alice never wanted to come with me to any of the spirits' domains, but I always appreciated it when she expressed concern, something that usually didn't happen unless I started getting emotional about something.
I dove into the water, but instead of encountering what I expected, which was well… water, a great white light flashed. For a moment I feared that something had either eye flashed me or I'd detonated for some reason upon contact with the water. But when I ended up inside a cave the next second, I realized that it must be some kind of transportation magic. Was I teleported? Caves are always creepy, but this one was creepier than the last two I'd been in. Dark and damp. As I approached what appeared to be a puddle in the ground, it began to bubble and expand, until it settled into the form of some kind of slime girl.
"Human, why are you here?" she asked.
"I'm here to see Undine," I replied.
"Give me your semen," she replied in turn.
"Is that the price of admission or something?" I asked. "Or are you just not interested in why I'm here?"
As with the first slime I'd ever encountered, a tendril of slime shot towards my crotch in lieu of an answer. This one felt a lot more powerful. She was much larger as well. I attacked her tentatively to see if Angel Halo would get better results than my old sword. Sure enough, it did. Instead of the wound closing, it remained open and light-filled. If she was surprised, she didn't show it, because she took advantage of my closeness to engulf me up to my neck in her slime.
"Doesn't my body feel good?" she asked.
"It feels amazing," I replied. "But I'm afraid I can't stay, I have an appointment with Undine."
I summoned Gnome and began struggling. Getting out of slime isn't easy. It's not just about strength. If you ever have to escape from a slime girl yourself, one of the great difficulties is that she can move her slime around so that when you free an arm she just secures another part of you more tightly. Then there's also the problem of parts of her still being on you even if you do get free, which she has varying levels of control over depending on her power level and how far away you are. But I did get free, thanks to Gnome's assistance.
"What is that power?" the slime said in surprise. "Is that a spirit?"
I unleashed Death Sword Chaos Star, sealing her. "Why yes, it is," I said to the puddle form she had been sealed into.
I thought that I'd been attacked by entirely too many monsters on this journey. I was beginning to wonder if coexistence would ever be possible under these circumstances. I was strong enough to defend myself. Most humans were not. I was beginning to feel that Alice's "plan" that humans had to learn to protect themselves from her subordinates was unrealistic. There were just too many attacking too often, a disturbingly high percentage of whom wanted more than just to get a little semen.
I went deeper into the cave, thinking more depressing thoughts about the futility of it all. I was broken out of those deep ruminations by the same voice I'd heard outside the spring.
"Even though I said not to approach, you have come here. Why?"
"I'm here to see Undine!" I yelled into the darkness.
Suddenly, four slimes emerged. One of them addressed me. "Undine hates humans. She will not see you."
That was discouraging. Should I turn back? I discarded the thought for the moment, praying that this wasn't a hopeless situation.
"We don't get to play with too many humans down here," another said. "We'll make you feel really good before we eat you."
Uh oh, Carnivorous slimes. They wasted no time attacking. I'd give you a play by play, but the battle was too chaotic. It was like fighting with your swimming pool. My enchanted sword worked, but it was hard to tell who I was hitting. The slimes even mixed together in an attempt to enhance their ability to restrain me. I don't know whether I was winning or not, but we hadn't fought too long before they broke off their attack.
"I warned you, but you still came this far," the voice from earlier said. "In addition, you even turned your sword towards my brethren."
Now I felt her presence. This had to be Erubetie. One of the slimes confirmed it. "Now you've done it," she said. "Erubetie is going to deal with you. You're already dead. She's going to dissolve you into mush!"
The slime girls parted as a tower of blue liquid rose from the ground, taking the form of a woman. I sensed instantly that this was indeed the Heavenly Knight. My hands started shaking involuntarily. If she chose to kill me I was almost certainly doomed.
"You ignored my repeated warnings and came here anyway," she said. "This sacred area where my brethren live in peace. We took this spring that humans polluted. Cleansing it, we turned it into our sacred dwelling. Why do you humans continue to pollute this place?"
"I haven't come here to disturb you, or pollute!" I protested. "I'm simply here to see Undine."
"Undine feels the same as I do," she said. "She has no desire to meet with a human. For treading upon this sacred place, I'll have to punish you. Your body will be dissolved and eaten."
"No!" I protested again. "I just…"
"Whomever disturbs our home," she said. "No matter who it is, I will melt them."
I must have been changing. Maybe I was manning up, maybe I had resigned myself to my fate. Maybe I got even dumber. But once she had pronounced my death, the fear left me, replaced by grim determination. I was nowhere near ready to fight a Knight. But I had Sylph and Gnome. They would have to get me through this somehow. I decided not to attack first though. I summoned Gnome again and waited.
Erubetie apparently had more to say. "I dislike humans. Do you know why the slime race live here? Humans pollute the water, and steal away the environment for their own usage."
"I know," I said. "Some of us are trying-"
"Silence," she said with finality. "Your words will never change my opinion. You polluted this spring, and harmed the slimes living here. I'll need to give you your reward for those actions. I'll melt you away. Feel the anger and sorrow of our race as you dissolve into nothing."
A massive wave of what I could only assume came from her own body roared towards me, hitting me with tremendous force. It knocked me flat. The walls of the cave seemed to waver, or perhaps I was dazed.
"It looks like you are able to use a little bit of the spirit's power," she noted. "Why are the spirits lending their power to a human?"
"Because they believe I'm one of the good ones, I guess," I said, struggling to my feet.
"Their opinion is of only passing interest to me," she replied.
Another massive wave formed and moved towards me. There was no way to avoid it, no way to outrun it, no defense. Seeing my doom before me, I tried the only thing I could. I searched for my power, hoping that I could just grasp it and release it, that it might be more powerful than that wave. I closed my eyes and concentrated.
I heard a loud, deep boom. Had I done it?
"It can't be," Erubetie said in shock. "A human using that power?"
I had done it! I never felt my power, but somehow I had released it!
"No," Erubetie said. No? "This was your doing, Undine. Why did you protect this human?"
Undine emerged, in much the same way all the other slimes had. Don't any of these girls just… propel themselves normally?
"This human came to meet me," Undine said. "There's no reason for you to deal with this yourself."
"You dislike humans as I do, don't you?" Erubetie replied. "Well fine. If you say so, I'll let you deal with him."
With that, Erubetie sunk into the ground.
"Thank you for protecting me, Undine," I said gratefully. "But why did you do it?"
"Since Sylph and Gnome are obeying you, I deemed you worth meeting. I know that you wish for humans and monsters to get along. We spirits have the means to judge the human heart. Yours is worthy."
"Thank you," I said, truly grateful.
"This does not mean you have demonstrated your worth to receive my power," she said. "There are other tests to pass."
"Does this mean I have to fight you?"
She nodded. "I'm not nice like Sylph and Gnome," she warned. "If I deem you unqualified, you will meet the same fate Erubetie had in store for you. Just… less painfully. I will at least make it pleasurable as you dissolve."
I summoned Gnome once again. Sensing this, she moved to absorb me immediately. Her body felt different from the other slimes, warmer and more supple. It felt like I could just pleasantly drift off to sleep in the comfort of her embrace. Pushing those thoughts aside, I succeeded with some difficulty in freeing myself.
"Your skill at handling Gnome is quite poor," she observed. "Use the power of earth and wind at the same time. If you can't do that, you are not qualified."
Uh oh. I'd tried it a few times outside of combat situations but couldn't hold onto both. I concentrated once again. Since I was battling a slime, which made Gnome essential, I tried to bring in Sylph without dispelling Gnome. It didn't work. I nearly lost both in the process, but with some effort managed to hold onto Gnome.
Undine reached out to absorb me once again. "For now, the only way you can summon them both is to bring them into you at the same time. You could break away from me just using Gnome. Or, you could take a leap of faith, dismiss her, and then try to resummon them both. If you fail, you won't get another chance. I'll dissolve you."
Undine wasn't my enemy, not technically at least. She was at the very least neutral on whether I succeeded or not. She would not use trickery to defeat me. Whether I succeeded or failed would depend entirely on me. I dismissed Gnome. As she left my consciousness, I could almost feel her encouragement. She wasn't verbal, and yet I could tell that she was rooting for me. Undine's slime was not actively interfering with my concentration. If anything, she was enhancing it. Instead of going for sexual stimulation, she was maximizing the comfort and warmth of her body, almost as if she was cuddling me. I embraced the feeling of relaxation and found myself in a state of serenity. Just before I attempted to call Sylph and Gnome together, I found something inside myself. Was that my power? I mentally reached out to try to touch it. But as I did, I felt my concentration slipping. I pulled away. Even if I could reach it, this wasn't the time. My serene state restored, I mentally summoned Sylph and Gnome at the same time.
"Yay!" Sylph exulted. I felt both of their presences! I was holding on, at least for now! I was still being held by Undine though.
"It looks like you can control them both now," Undine said. "Very good."
But she had not released me. Was I supposed to break out? The nature of her slime changed. Now she was actually stimulating me, trying to arouse me. I began to struggle.
"Shhhhh…." She said soothingly. "Don't struggle. You've passed the test. Now I'm just being a little friendly."
"Undine, I can't," I protested.
"I know," she said gently. "The power of water is one to reflect the heart. Your heart is pure. Therefore, you possess the main qualification for wielding my power. I have only ever given it to one other. He could call all four spirits at once."
"Undine, you're…."
"Don't worry, I'm done," she said. She released me, giggling. "I just wanted to see you make a cute face."
She then placed her palm on mine. A sparkling blue light appeared between our palms. She disappeared. I felt the new power inside of me. It felt like water gently flowing through my body. It was an incredible feeling, although I wasn't sure of its practical applications yet. I returned to the surface, overjoyed. I was sure I'd probably have a meltdown later tonight over my near death experience. I really wasn't taking those well.
"Hmmm, it looks like you got the power of water," Alice observed.
"Yes, they are chatting inside of me right now!" I said. Well, really it was still just Sylph talking, with Gnome and Undine taking turns trying to shut her up.
"So you met Erubetie?" Alice asked.
"Yes," I confirmed. "If you hear me crying or notice me shaking in my sleep tonight, that's why. She tried to kill me. Undine saved me."
"I suspected she would try," Alice said. "Low grade slimes can only live in pure water. As the human living area expands, the areas slimes can live in shrink. Even in this Noah region, where there are a lot of open natural spaces, this is the only spring in the region the weakest slimes can live in. That's why she hates humans. She herself could live anywhere, but most of her kin cannot."
"Well, I definitely learned something today about why humans and monsters don't get along."
"Erubetie was actually following my policy of nonaggression against humans," Alice continued. "Originally she was a very gentle monster. But now… You saw it first hand."
"Yes," I agreed. "We're going to have to get an environmental movement started here."
"A what?" she asked. "I think I know what you're saying, but you'll have to elaborate on that."
"An environmental movement is something I remember from my world. It's people getting together to persuade humanity to change. It's a collective action problem. Individuals will generally just do whatever they like, so governments have to set rules. Place some areas off limits to human development."
"Hold on a second," Alice said. "Is that you talking, or did Undine give you a brain transplant?"
"What are you implying, Alice?"
"I was looking for answers on this journey myself," she replied. "And that answer was not completely idiotic. I'm not sure what the Monster Lord can do, but maybe you can make that happen."
"How?" I asked. "I'm just one person."
"One person who has done a lot of favors and heroic acts all over the world over the last couple of months. You've met with a few monarchs. You have influence now."
"Maybe we could do it together," I said. "With you showing monsters a better way and me showing humans a better way, maybe we can accomplish great things together."
That seemed to make her uncomfortable. "Luka, that's…. We'll see, okay? You've still got a really big job in front of you. It was a good idea but we're getting ahead of ourselves."
"Quite true," I said. "So I guess Grangold Castle is next. We can get information that might lead us to Salamander."
"Plus more great food," she said.
"Probably not in the Gold region," I said. "Sorry, it's mountainous, I think they import most of their food."
"What?!" she said. "No!"
"Don't worry," I assured her. "You won't go hungry. There just won't be much new to try. I'll take good care of your feeding needs."
"Is taking care of my feeding needs the reason you're exposed right now?"
I looked down. Oh crap, Undine dissolved my pants! "Nope, they were already like that," she piped up in my head. I really needed to do a better job of noticing that before I presented myself to a king or queen that way.