It Started with Slime - Chapter 91, King

If Aarav had eyebrows he would have raised them. This was turning into a very interesting conversation already and the Queen was already hiding things from him that appeared to be common knowledge, the five-feet under man would not have lapse so epically unless there was nothing that he would normally hide. Also, isn’t she being a little undignified for a Queen?

“Please attend his Majesty!” his voice seemed to change to that of a cryer, this dude has some lungs on him, and I though he was about to bite it! Also, aren’t we already attending him? At these words the assembly smacked right fist to left breast and then lowered it with militaristic timing. Very synchronised! Aarav thought, then when the rest of them all looked at him pointedly manifested a paw and did the same…is that what they wanted from me?

The King made his first noise since their arrival, he laughed, heartily. A deep and booming noise that made the others in the room smile genuinely. From that simple interaction it was clear to Aarav that his man had earned the affection of his subjects, at least the ones in this room. In his various interactions in his previous life he had learned about reading signals, people’s bodies were always more honest than their words and actions, here there was no reservation in their smiles, there was no slight hesistation in their motions to check and see if what they did would be acceptable.

And just like that Aarav was put at ease. If this man was reasonable...then he could be reasoned with. A…wait slayer of the Mad King!? So this guy was a killer, he killed a Mad King and this world seemed to operate under martial law so maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised…but it was still a shock to his Blorenar-young mind. It always took some getting used to when everything you learned over twenty years of life were turned on their head.

You have   gained the Sapient Skill Body Language Reading Level 1! Body Language   Learning will allow you to be slightly more aware of the physical micro   movements of the sapients around you. Awareness and interpretation   understanding will improve with Level.

Yes! He hadn’t gained a new skill in a while and this one was exactly what he needed, he had been right about some of his old world skill coming back into use, time to dust of the old lock picking hands! Ahem…but before that… He eyed The Way Forward is…Forward! It was deafeningly quiet. Well, maybe I will think about it later…why does it feel like the Talent is glaring at me…?

As Body Language Reading activated he was made a little more aware of the subtle movements around him, the first woman on the right was curling and uncurling her fingers, the man in the middle had a drop of sweat on his bald head that was about to coalesce and run past his ear. The woman at the back was itching to tuck a loose strand behind her ear and eying the King. He saw all of this; it did not seem to allow him to see anymore than he could already, just be slightly more conscious of it. It was only Level 1 at the moment after all, it was sure to get a lot better with time. He would want to keep it active all the time. Learn everything he could about the people around him and with three eyes; that meant a full view. His interpretation was no better than he had been as a human, perhaps a little worse as he adjusted to the new awareness. Hopefully with this many people around it would level quickly.

The King had stopped laughing but was still smilling broadly, he really was a very handsome man, with beard framing his face and a small soul patch connecting to it from his lower lip he radiated majesty and warmth. The three woman carrying Aarav smilled a little wider and the men stood a little straighter in his presence. It was a heart warming display of affection. Aarav wanted in! The Queen scowled in contrast and the skin sack seemed to just stand there bent double. Aarav did not smile, between the Queen and the golden oldie it was hard to.

When he spoke it was a soft autumn breeze with its warmth and deep rich tones, just like his laugh. “Welcome Resh, was it?” he loked to his left and the advisor confirmed with a curt nod. “You are very welcome to the Palace of Darf! My wife says that you are a sentient monster! I must say I have seen strange but this would be a first, perhaps it would not be right to call you a monster? A sapient must be…” the King paused expectatantly but Aarav kept silent. “Must be something more, shall I treat you as Human then? Until we know and understand more?” the Queen nudged him at the hip with her hand gently and the cleared his throat. “Hmm, yes, quite right.” He spoke quietly as if to himself. “There is the matter of taking a Soul Oath.”

Soul Oath!? What, she said an Oath….nothing about my soul came into it. Aarav was about to go into full on panic mode before he looked at the King again. Deep in his eyes he saw something. It was like the birth of a universe, the sight so incredible it took away the panic from Aarav and he calmed. The King smiled again. “The Oath that you are to take will be bound to you, Isabella made that clear did she not?” Aarav nodded dumbly, still a little stunned if not crazed. “Then how would it be bound if not to your soul? It is the only sensible anchoring medium.”

Two things because abundantly clear to Aarav in that moment. First, he still didn’t have a choice, this did not change his predicament, it was better to be soul bound and alive he supposed than dead, what were the chance that he would be reincarnated again. This was clear a very, vert lucky fluke. Second, the King had instantly known his hesistation. Either it was very common for people to have this particular qualm about Soul Oaths or he was more intuitive than he was letting on. Not just a kindly man, someone with a Skill related to empathy. Could I learn something like that? Aside from body language, being a type of empath would be very handy when it came to convincing people of anything.

“Of course.” Aarav laughed nervously sounding like a donkey with laryngitis. Several of the people around him winced slightly and he quickly cut off the sound. “I understand your Majesty. Will you be taking my Oath?” The King nodded and Aarav had a moment to be surprised before the King was in front of him…did I blink or something? He seemed to have stepped up to his glass cage without bothering with the intervening space. How fast…? It was incomprehensible and the King looked genuinely confused for a moment before his looked at the Queen who was smirking and then allow a small smile to grace his lips. The whole exchange was lost on the Slime as he tried to collect his thought to understand how powerful this man must be to casually do the impossible.

“Very well, repeat the words after me…” Aarav was surprised that the King would bind himself to a lowly creature like Aarav but no one else seemed to be concerned about it. It appeared as though this was a common occurance. The King takes the Oaths of the commoners.

“Please, your Majesty, can I just understand a little of this Oath before I take it? I understand that this is something that I will have to do but I would be remiss if I did not do my due diligence first.”

“Very well, I also would not wish for you to take this Soul Oath without understanding it or being fully complicit in the act. It doesn’t work well if both parties are not fully away of what they are promising.” Oh, so if I hadn’t asked then I wouldn’t have been as tightly bound? Figures…I wouldshoot myself in the foot with each word out of my mouth…Too late he remembered the Kings ability and looked up to see his lips quirk infinitesimally.

He was going to have to watch his thought around this guy, or his emotions at the very least. The expression on his face grew serious. “Okay please, go ahead Your Majesty. I am ready.” Aarav silently waited for the King’s explanation.

After a few seconds of contemplation, as if chosing his words carefully he started, “The Soul Oath is a tradition that dates back to the time before the…previous…King.” A silent “Mad” hung in the air as he spoke. “…that is a tale for another time though.”

And so it begins…