Kareem's eagle eyes darted across the class. The stern and penetrating gaze immediately subdued sounds of excitement. The entire class settled back in their chair with trepidation. Their hearts beat fearfully, dreading additional work from their instructor. On the contrary, the arcane wizard faded and disappeared like a phantom right before their very eyes. The slimes huffed a sigh of relief and left the room lest the instructor returned.
"Phew! Glad the lesson is finally over! That was scary" announced Shanson, glad that he was in a safe space along the hallway.
"Shall we grab dinner together," said Meimei meekly.
Shanson's eyes shone brightly at the discussion of food, his hunger prioritising his thoughts. "Where?" he asked eagerly with joy.
The group pondered in unison until Meimei broke the silence.
"Well... there is this secret food place..." Meimei said humbly.
"Secret food place?" the group echoed in enthusiasm and worries.
"Sh... no one is supposed to know. I only found it when I was lost on the first day," Meimei said secretively.
The gang huddled around her, ensuring the information remained confidential solely to their group.
"So where is it?" Gate asked.
Meimei, "Uhm... I can't say for sure. I found it by chance when I upon them and followed them to an underground cavern... in fact, they are sort of surrounding us now..."
The group held their breath and looked around them in confusion.
"Where are they?" Cori asked.
"Well, here and there. They look like sparkles and orbs of light. Some are shadowy, some are like lightning sprites, some have shapes like us," said MeiMei, her eyes seemingly fixated on Cori's fireworks. Unbeknownst to the rest, Meimei could see Cori draped in these mysterious creatures.
Despite Cori's skill, he failed to capture any information concerning those creatures within his vision.
"Meimei. Show. Us. Where. I'm soooo hungry now!" Shanson complained as his stomach protested with a loud rumble, his big round eyes looked fixedly at Meimei.
As if struck by lightning, Meimei immediately evaded behind Sky, averting his eyes and pointing to the path leading to the musical hall.
"Stop scaring her. Meimei you feeling alright?" Sky said disapprovingly and expressing concern for the small slime.
The orange jelly wobbled as if signalling that she was alright and continued to make her way to the front. "Follow me," she whispered, her sight glued to the ground as she bounced under the bushes. The rest followed apprehensively, bouncing along the random path. Shanson, on the other hand, was more concerned by his increasing hunger. His stomach growled repeatedly, constantly reminding him to look for food.
While they attempted to manoeuvre through the hidden path with the utmost discretion, Cori could not help but attract the curiosity of critters and animals with his ensemble of mini fireworks. Still, they kept a safe distance from the group, as if watching out for the slimes' safety.
As they exited from the cave behind the waterfall curtain, Cori was hit by a sudden realisation.
"Isn't this the way to the concert hall?" Gate asked Meimei.
"Yes! That was exactly what I thought too!" Cori shared, delighted that he was not alone in this discovery.
"Come on, all these detours just to the pyramid?" Shanson complained, his stomach rumbled yet again.
"Ya, we could have used a portal to reach the pyramid. That will be more efficient," Gate grumbled, annoyed at the fact that she could have saved some time and not rushed lunch.
"Can't we use a teleportation stone now Meimei?" Cori asked out of concern for the group.
"Meimei, why not we just come back another time? I'm famished, let's just get out of here," Shanson pleaded with an empty stomach. "Hello! Meimei!" Shanson shouted to get Meimei's attention.
"Give Meimei a break! Can't you see that she is trying her best!" Sky sniped.
Everyone except Meimei, soon descended into heaty debates.
With the intensifying arguments, the shadowy creatures darted toward the group and the sensitive orbs of light began to shun them. Meimei's senses tingled with alarm as she witnessed the shadowy creatures attempting to bind themselves to her friends. "Sh..." she shushed, attempting to chase invisible shadowy creatures away.
"Stop the negativities, it will attract the creatures that bring shadows," Meimei warned the group, although she was not sure whether these shadowy figures would bring harm. Nevertheless, she decided to be safe rather than sorry.
The group upon hearing her, returned to harmony as if a spell had been broken. The shadowy creatures dispersed as the light creatures surrounding Cori fought back upon hearing Meimei's words.
"What, what just happened?" Gate asked innocently.
"It seemed Meimei has discovered that certain creatures are attracted to negative words and emotions," said Sky who turned to look at Meimei.
Ignoring the group, Meimei returned to her task. Her eyes shone and shimmered ever so slightly attempting to find a creature nearby.
"Here!" Meimei said with a tiny increase in confidence. She slid down the slope of dry leaves and onto a path.
The group followed the trail, cutting through the rainforest garden, and jumped from the cliff to reach the tip of the familiar crystal pyramid. "Here..." she said pressing her body onto a golden crystal pane. The tip vibrated and slid to reveal a pitch-black portal.
"What is this?" Gate asked, feeling especially ominous. "Meimei, I don't think is a good idea..." Gate said with none heeding the advice.
Without a thought of danger, Meimei jumped into the portal. "Guys, it's safe. Just come in, trust me," her voice echoed beyond the pitch-black swirl.
Gate: "I will stay here just in case."
"Well, danger or not, here I come!" Shanson exclaimed excitedly at the thought of food.
Cori and Sky followed shortly, eager to try new cuisine in the secret location. To everyone's disappointment, they found themselves in the canyon beneath the path to the academy.
Meimei was certain that the place led to a kitchen with food tasty beyond her wildest imagination. Yet, what lay before her was a barren wasteland full of abandoned equipment. A gust of wind stirred the ground, welcoming the group.