Liam sat in a lotus position, surrounded by a few phenomena all around him.
Time passed as he opened his eyes and dissolved them all. The remaining mana liquid then swished and joined their respective puddles.
He looked at their size and nodded.
"Mhmm, maybe something might happen after I get enough of it." Said Liam to himself and walked to a light green puddle.
This one had a size much smaller than the others. He sat down and took a big gulp.
A heavenly feeling engulfed him as he almost blasted himself into the air again.
When he felt the small rise in mental strength. He stood up and skipped over to a mental bridge.
The slimes did their usual thing. They hopped around, eating anything that grew too high.
He noticed that they gave way to most animals. When magical rabbits appeared, their concentration lowered.
However, after the rabbits left for more than a few days. They appeared again and stopped the overgrowth.
Liam himself learned that he could subtly influence a slime he watched over.
With a small catch, though. A ridiculous amount of mental strength. One command almost knocked him down.
So, he decided to expand his mental strength.
The mana liquid worked, but he noticed that it wouldn't last forever. The small increase got increasingly smaller.
He would try to make a greater concentration when it didn't work. Right now, with his strength, he couldn't do much, anyway.
Liam went back after observing for an hour. His daily routine, to unwind a bit.
...
"Mhmm, I guess the mana liquid isn't working anymore." Liam said as a few dozen tornadoes surrounded him.
Overall, the compound effect paved the way. Now, he could give 5 commands before he felt exhausted.
The requests had to be simple. 1 complex command drained everything and the slimes couldn't follow most of the time and just sat on one spot.
With their intelligence, Liam didn't know if it became more of a charm type spell like mental suggestion or mental control.
He more hoped for the former. After all, having such a powerful weapon at your disposal had a level of deterrent for everyone.
One mishap and he'd be controlling anyone that got close.
Though mental suggestion had less power. It would be something like fake charisma.
A moment later, he felt a new connection.
This one didn't have a blue path like the slimes did or a green one like the rabbits.
White path riddled with more than a dozen black dots appeared. Liam concentrated on one of the black dots as his mental strength got drained.
In an instant, it almost reached the bottom, and in exchange, he saw a fleeting image.
Liam couldn't quite make out everything on it, however, he noticed an older woman yelling at the receiver with something in the background.
He shook off the feeling of being drained and entered the connection.
On the other side, he confirmed his thoughts.
A human, or rather a humanoid, child.
She looked normal and cute except for her light green crystal between her eyebrows and green dangling hair strands.
The little girl held a basket as she kept complaining about something.
To his dismay, the language changed as well.
Liam thought he got transported again before his mind shook. The clear sky above flashed for a second.
A bubble like film appeared and vanished right away. Liam swore that he saw a similar-looking vine before...
"Escape isn't an option..." He said to himself in a daze.
Different world? Or the inclusion of mana created something incredible that kept the invader at bay.
Perhaps those vines came from a different life form all together.
Nevertheless, Liam knew that they would clash. When something wishes to invade, it would find a way someday.
This time, though. Liam could fight back himself, he assured himself, and thought of his one true advantage.
Endless time.
He would crack and tear open the path of a mage, even if it never existed.
Liam noticed something interesting. The little girl looked into the sky.
She cupped her hands together, and the crystal began to shine. A small beam of light aimed at the spot where the vines attacked.
Soon, a few beams of light of various colours appeared from different directions.
The beams combined and summoned a portal. A mysterious elemental armoured being appeared and soon stepped into the sky.
Barrier appeared and gave way to it. The little girl bowed and went on her way again.
After an hour of foraging, she sometimes left the range, which became a bit larger that he attributed to his mental strength growth.
When the girl muttered something as she held a bunch of berries inside her hands, the barrier appeared again.
An armoured being emerged with half of its body remaining. It then exploded into hundreds of colours.
A part of light green colours then descended and entered the girl's crystal. It became more vivid as she smiled.
The girl didn't spend much more time around and left.
To his delight, she returned two days later. The place became some sort of her base as he commanded a slime to do something silly for fun.
She seemed entertained enough to return.
And a week later, the time came again.
"Hello?" He asked inside her head. She almost jumped into the air like a cute rabbit.
Moments later, she calmed down and tried to say something. Just for Liam to do the same.
His voice made her shiver on the spot. Liam didn't know if he should continue, but he decided to soften his voice.
In short, big mistake.
The girl began to spout a bunch of things before she kowtowed three times and took out a basket half filled with berries.
He felt a bit bad and made some noises trying to pacify her. She looked like he gave her amnesty as she bowed again.
The silly girl poured out the berries and vanished into the forest. Liam sighed to himself and wondered if she would return.
Defeated, he returned into his mind space and decided to make some more wind liquid.
The lights gave him an idea. To create a similar catalyst that would accept liquid instead of those lights.
"Let's create some magical candy..." He said with a grin.
Then he realised he didn't know where to begin...
Liam sighed and began doing random things that might lead to further observation.
He had plenty of wind magical liquid, anyway.
...
Right now, Liam held the pistachio ice cream in his hands. He licked it and finished it with a sullen expression.
"Another failure..." He said and noted it down. The easiest way to turn something into food became ice cream.
Or rather shaved ice. The more types of mist needed, the more the liquid doesn't want to join them.
The ice cream tasted good, though. Each time he licked it, he felt a bit like when he drank it.
Effect of it didn't increase though...
He got another idea. Liam took out a bit of ice mana liquid and mixed it with an ice shave.
It fused with the ice as it became a bit cloudy. A bit of wind liquid later and he got his results.
Still nothing. Liam didn't give up though and tried other things.
On his 34th try that day. A connection he thought would never appear came back.
He threw away whatever he had in his hands and hopped over.
Outside, the girl held a basket full of fruits with a dead rabbit on top of it. She struggled a bit with the weight.
He watched her wobble to the spot he tried talking to her. The fruits were long consumed by the slimes, so nothing remained.
She bowed and poured out the contents again.
Liam steeled himself and continued with his trial and error. This time, the girl didn't shake as much.
She kept bowing, though, and wanted something from him.
Liam then got another idea. It might not help him too much, but might become something neat.
He hopped inside his mental space and grabbed a few drops of the liquid.
When he entered their connection again. The bridge trembled a bit before he made it through.
On the other side, the girl touched her crystal as she felt a rush of elements.
A few strands of her hair turned bright green.
She bowed in happiness and left with a smug smile.
The silly girl then returned the very next day, carrying fruits again. When she saw the still untouched rabbit.
She bowed as if she understood and poured out the berries again, anticipating her reward.
Liam didn't mind, as it gave her a reason to return again. The rabbit, though...
Slimes needed some time to decompose the carcases of animals. Sometimes, they let it there before something eats it.
They never decomposed, though.
Perhaps bacteria didn't exist, which would create so many problems in a normally functioning body that he ignored it for now.
With mana, bacteria got kicked aside.
The girl kept returning day by day. Sometimes she brought something new and when she noticed it was gone by another day.
She would bring it again from time to time.
His one consolation remained when he tried to say something and she tried to understand, as if he tried teaching her some kind spell.
One day, she vanished for a week straight.
This time, when she appeared, she had a book inside her hands as a young man accompanied her.
Liam looked at his cover as he stopped for a few moments.
The first line he couldn't understand, but the one below it...
Characters appeared inside his head like an instinct. Some blurry, however, he could understand most words.
Words of the first era. Those belonging to the Barford Empire...