Wet and freezing in the wind Jams held out his arms and let the water drain off his arms and down onto the beach.
[Interesting, Shark says that you smell really good. … Oh, well, come in, come in!]
The old man said ushering James inside.
Being called good to smell by a shark was a strange comment all by itself. Together with the situation James found himself in actually made it sound not so weird. Among weird things having one more weird thing didn't seem out of place at all.
Inside the old man offered a towel, a change of clothes, and the directions to the bathroom.
Grateful to have warm clothes even if it was sort of awkward wearing someone else's clothes, James came back into the living room of the lighthouse. James had used some paper towels from the bathroom to wrap his bruised and bloodied hands.
Before he could say anything the old man spoke first.
"Thanks for coming! I haven't had an apprentice in ten years! It will be good to have you. Just sign this and then we will be set.
Wanting a master and having a master were two different things. To his surprise James found himself signing his name on the documents. Without a thought in the world he just signed his life away. If James had really thought about it he would have realized that this old man had already risked his life once, by having him jump off a ten meter high cliff into shark invested waters. There was no reason he wouldn't do it again. This was not the kind of master that most apprentices would welcome let alone want.
"Great! Now, let's see, James, is it. Come this way. Let's get you measured and inspected."
So saying Johnson led James down the hall and then through a side door that led to a basement. The room down here was as large as the profile of the lighthouse itself. Around the room there were a variety of about seven large machines.
With no introduction Johnson had James stand in the middle of the room. For the next hour James stood there for an agonizing hour. Nothing that James heard, saw, or even smelled made any sense.
Afterward Johnson announced,
"You are suffering from chronic Mana exhaustion. A simple case, but unless you get some medicine and care you will destroy your mental resilience. And you have some cuts on your hands."
"Okay…"
said James.
"It is actually a good thing you came to me. I might be the only one who could diagnose and fix this for you."
James' new master went on.
"Okay…"
James doubted the old man. It was highly likely that there were many people out there who could tell him he had exhausted his Mana.
"Your pets, it's them right? They are sucking up all your Mana?"
His master said with way too much confidence.
But James was impressed still.
"Yes, that's right."
"Well you can't keep taking stamina pills. At the rate that toxins are building up in your body you are going to end up in an early grave."
Again James was impressed that his master could tell these things.
"How did you know?"
James said.
"Now that is a stupid question. What do you think I have been doing for the last hour?"
A blunt master was not always a bad thing and James understood that there was more to this man than he had thought at first.
"Now the remedy is simple, you need to evolve your pets. When they are unevolved the master provides most of the Mana. However, when your pets evolve enough they will begin to provide Mana feedback. Simple really. Your pet must be especially simple with no powers or bloodline. It can be expensive to evolve a pet, but since you are a SPAM camp member there shouldn't be any problem."
John said distractedly.
"Uhmmm, okay?"
Not sure how he was going to be able to evolve all his mice and now moss James just hesitantly agreed.
"Oh, here is a healing pill and a bottle of mana pills. Take the healing pill and one of the mana pills now. You should feel much better."
Going to one of the cupboards Johnson had opened it wide to reveal tens of cubbies. Scanning through he then found the right drawers. Finally he selected two pills and handed them to James.
"Thanks!"
Quickly James downed the healing and mana pills. Immediately he started to feel much better.
Ignoring James reaction to the pills Johnson had already moved on .Explaining as he went his new master led James to a ladder poking out of a hole in the floor.
"Down there is the apprentice space. My back isn't what it used to be so I haven't been down there in years. Not since my last apprentice became a journeyman and went off to find his way on his own. Now let me tell you what I require."
Over the next hour James learned that the real reason Johnson needed a new apprentice was because he was too old to take care of himself anymore. And instead of hiring a maid or moving to an old folks home he had decided to stick it out on his island. He had to prepare food, heat water for baths, clean up, and a host of other menial tasks around the light house.
In the end there was a lot more work than he had thought he would be required to do. However, it actually felt comforting to be needed.
'Is that the mouse in me coming out? I am not sure I would have been happy to cook and clean for someone in the past... Hmmm.'
Getting started immediately Johnson had James work till the end of the day. Fortunately the master went to sleep early and James was happy to have the old man snoring logs.
'This is a terrible gig.'
Telling himself that he would stay only as long as he needed to to get himself back to healthy James went down to the lab and then climbed down the rickety ladder. It was dark, so James had to go back up, but just from the way his enhanced mouse senses tingled he could tell that the space below was just as big as the lab above.
[What is that place?]
James was so startled that he almost fell back down the hole. Catching his breath James eventually explained, now that he knew it was Wilbur.
"It is my new alchemy lab."
[Oh? Alchemy?]
Wilbur seemed too interested in the dark hole and James seeing his first pet getting thoughts in his head, James wanted to distract him somehow.
"So how are your five friends?"
[Very good! Tina and Fey already gave birth. Jill, Kim, and Fiona will have a litter of pups any day now. Isn't it great!]
Wilbur gave his news without any hint of shame.
"You have pups?"
As if not quite believing, James was hesitant.
"Yes! And so many! Twenty three baby mice. They are so cute and pink!]
A proud father stood up and down on his back legs to talk with James beaming.
"Twenty three! That is a lot!"
"Yes, come see them. It will be great. Come on!"
Featuring in a come over way Wilbur lead James to a corner.
"Okay, Jill said that she would open the gate soon. We just have to wait here."
Giving more guidance Wilbur accepted a back scratch from James while they waited. Despite how much more intelligent the mice were they still didn't quite understand the concept of time. They had to wait an hour before the mouse gate opened up, but it was time well spent as James bonded with his pet a little more.
Evidently Jill was now able to open the large size space gates that were big enough for James to crawl through. On the other side James found himself next to one of the mounds of dirt that compromised the mouse's home. And James was able to see that Jill was indeed very pregnant. As was Kim and Fiona.
On the one hand it was perfectly natural for mice to procreate. On the other hand it was weird that pets were procreating. And James felt weird about it himself. He was a sixteen year old kid with hormones and interests in girls as well. He was no where near ready to get married or have kids though so these parenting vibes he was receiving from his pets gave him a little too much information.
In general pets didn't have babies. It was part of the price they paid to have such powerful skills and mana running through their veins. Except that James ability gave his pets the ability and evidently a very strong ability to procreate, too.
Tina and Fey were laying on their sides in a bed of grass while their pups blindly rooted around sucking milk from their teets. Wilbur brought some food to each of their mouths first Tina and then Fey. Sharing food that James did not want to ask the origins of, he was worried that the food came from Johnson's lighthouse!
'Come to think of it, why are they here instead of down in a mouse hole? I mean it is a nice setup, but still, I would have expected them to be deep under the ground.'
James wondered why this nursery was open to the air. However, soon he understood a least a partial reason, many mice passing by stopped to sniff and share a bit of food.
Even while James watched, Kim started going into labor. Once she did more mice came from all around to witness. Even Kareen showed up and stood next to James while the births were happening. She stroked her own belly while doing so.
Seeing her James noticed that she was a little stouter herself. A weird thought popped into his head, that Kareen was also pregnant. But James couldn't picture her having any more pups. Wasn't she an old matriarch? It was true, due to the taming bond, she looked great, there was no sign of aging or gray at all.
[You can stop now. I can tell what you are thinking. And yes, I am pregnant. Wilbur as you can see is a marvelous father. As the reason for our family's recent success he has been given priority for mating rites.]
"Rites?"
At Kareen's unusual statement James could no longer think straight. To James Wilbur wasn't even three months old yet. And while he was willing the little guy seemed to be a little too adventurous for fatherhood!
Kareen was too pleased and happy to pick up on James' other thoughts though and just went on.
[Master we must continue to grow our colony. Come, I have something to show you.]
Having had enough of the family vibes James was only too happy to get out of there.
[Pick me up!]
James bent down on command and scooped up the matriarch.