Winterhold, Winter Academy.
This academy standing on the rift snowplain was like a silent giant, overlooking the gradually prospering city below. Its sharply pointed towers were covered with snow that never melted year-round. Above the academy's main gate hung the emblem of the Slime Kingdom—a simplified slime pattern, along with crossed scrolls and a sword-and-shield, symbolizing the union of knowledge and power.
The student composition of this academy was quite peculiar, like a microcosm of the kingdom itself, full of diversity. There were round, bouncy slime students hopping through the corridors, communicating about their coursework with "squelch" sounds. There were human children and youths, most from families in the Dark Realm and Storm Territory, their faces bearing a longing for knowledge and the future. There were also a few demi-human races, such as lizardfolk youths from the swamp tribes.
According to the kingdom's implemented "Basic General Education" plan, children of appropriate age would receive nine years of systematic education here, covering language, mathematics, history, basic combat professions, basic magic, and kingdom laws. They were the foundation and hope of the kingdom's future.
Of course, not all students were young children. The academy also had a special "Adult Literacy Class," aimed at providing educational opportunities for adult kingdom residents who, due to war, background, or lack of early opportunities, had failed to master basic literacy, writing, and practical skills. And to facilitate access for students of different sizes, the literacy class's classroom was arranged in the wider side hall on the first floor of the academy's main building.
Main building, warm side hall.
Tam squatted on the specially made stepped podium for it, surveying the slightly noisy classroom below. As a slime scholar who graduated with honors from the Swamp Oak Tree Academy in its early years, Tam was proficient in the Common Tongue, some Dwarven, and Orcish, and was currently diligently studying obscure Demon language vocabulary. It hoped that one day, with its outstanding language abilities and knowledge, it would be entrusted by the kingdom with important tasks, sent to the front lines or diplomatic posts, to serve the King, rather than staying day after day in this literacy class filled with... well, "distinctly individualistic" students.
The classroom's desks and chairs varied in size to accommodate different races. The front row was the seat of a half-elf girl called Little Aileen. She was said to be Master Anvil's adopted daughter, and her learning attitude was extremely serious, making her one of Tam's most worry-free students. But today, this seat was empty.
Nilly had taken Little Aileen and skipped class again! Tam didn't need to look to know. That shadow assassin, revered by the Stone Descendants as "Auntie" yet utterly lacking the self-awareness of an elder, was definitely the culprit. Tam had long heard that Nilly had been trying to lure Little Aileen recently, wanting to sneak her back to Gore to participate in the nth traditional festival of the Stone Descendant family, using the grand-sounding reason—"Let the little one experience real Stone Descendant culture!" Great Stone Descendant Auntie, Master of Shadows, didn't she know that basic cultural knowledge was equally important for understanding more complex assassination intelligence, terrain maps, and poison formulas? And after she became an Extraordinary professional with that Bishop's help, her class-skipping had become even more frequent. She simply didn't put the esteemed Teacher Tam in her eyes at all, how infuriating!
In the middle of the classroom sat the lizardfolk sisters. The younger sister, Sekashi, had beautiful ice-blue scales and was currently curiously examining the twisted letters in the textbook, her tail unconsciously swaying gently behind the chair. Squatting beside her was her snow eagle partner, Penny. That equally somewhat "silly" big bird was using its beak to preen its feathers. Unlike Nilly, Sekashi greatly admired Teacher Tam, believing it knew many profound words and sentences, a true scholar.
The older sister, Semiaya, sat slightly in front of and to the side of Sekashi. She had her arms crossed, appearing cold-faced, but in reality, she just didn't want to face the textbook on her desk. As a powerful jungle warrior, a newly advanced Extraordinary warrior, she was calm and decisive on the battlefield, yet she was an absolute, hopeless academic dunce. Those letters were harder to grasp in her eyes than the craftiest prey, dizzying at a single glance.
"Nilly isn't here again?" Semiaya raised an eyebrow. In truth, her relationship with that Stone Descendant assassin wasn't particularly good; she always felt that jumpy fellow would corrupt her younger sister. Her absence was naturally for the best. Of course, it would be even better if she herself wasn't in the classroom and didn't have to continue facing the textbook.
In the back rows and sides of the classroom sat over a dozen other students. There were a few retired Slime Warriors, and several trusted human soldiers or craftsmen from the kingdom. They were older, finding learning a bit strenuous, but their attitudes were all very serious.
This is the daily life of this slime... Tam looked at the classroom, its heart filled with mixed emotions. In its ideal, it should be on the front lines, using its language talent to decipher demonic secret messages, or at the negotiation table fighting for the kingdom's interests. The reality was... here, teaching an 'Assassin Master' to read, preventing a 'Jungle Killer' from tearing up the textbook like prey, and constantly guarding against the bad student luring away the most obedient student to attend some inexplicable festival.
It was just about to use its gel hand to tap the podium, reminding everyone to quiet down and start today's "Common Tool Nouns and Safety Regulations" lesson, when the classroom door was pushed open with a "creak."
Nilly swaggered back in, pulling Little Aileen along, her face showing no guilt for being caught skipping class, instead grinning cheekily. Little Aileen hung her head somewhat sheepishly.
"Teacher Tam, we're back!" Nilly's voice was clear and crisp. "Gore is too far. On second thought, class is more interesting!"
Tam's round body almost slid off the podium. It struggled to steady itself, put its hands on its hips, and said sternly, "Nilly, and Little Aileen, leaving the academy without permission is a violation of discipline. Especially you, Nilly, as a... an elder, you should lead by example!"
"Got it, got it." Nilly pulled Little Aileen back to their seats, muttering under her breath, "A great Assassin Master uses her dagger to make enemies 'understand' her words. She really doesn't need to learn this stuff at all..."
Sekashi couldn't help but snort a laugh, then quickly covered her mouth. Behind her, Semiaya reached out a finger and gently poked Little Aileen's shoulder in front. Little Aileen turned her head. Semiaya mouthed to her, "Don't run off with her next time." Though her face showed little expression, her eyes held a rare trace of gentleness. Little Aileen nodded obediently.
Tam watched this scene, its gel body helplessly returning to its original shape. Fine, fine... at least everyone was back. It restarted the lecture.
"Today, this slime will talk about some common tool nouns..."
"Are there weapons? The kind of tool that finishes someone off with one slash?" Nilly raised her hand to ask.
"Ahem, no interrupting." Little Aileen sat up straight, her eyes focused on the open literacy textbook, listening attentively to Tam's lecture, nodding from time to time.
Looking at this obedient student, Tam felt a surge of relief in its heart. At least not all students were as lazy as certain individuals. Just as it was thinking this, Sekashi suddenly looked curiously out the window.
"Teacher Tam, there seems to be a magical messenger looking for you outside."
"A messenger looking for me?" Tam hopped around in confusion to look outside the classroom. It saw a small magical messenger fluttering its wings, flying in through the messenger hole, and finally landing on the podium before it, holding a letter in its mouth sealed with the Slime King's wax seal.
Seeing the form of this emblem, Tam's eyes instantly lit up. It's a letter from the King! It was so excited its gel body glowed faintly. It must be that the King had seen the report it submitted, "Report on the Progress of Demon Language Dictionary Compilation and the Necessity of Frontline Language Support." Finally... finally, was it being transferred to the front lines? It couldn't wait to open the letter. Just after glancing at it, Nilly below the podium curiously leaned over.
"My dear Miss Nilly..." The opening line made it feel something was off.
"Huh? Teacher Tam, this letter seems to be written to me." Nilly squeezed together with the round Tam, quickly scanning the letter, then said joyfully, "Wow! Great! Finally, no more classes!"
Sekashi curiously moved closer. "Sister Nilly, what does His Majesty say?" Little Aileen also widened her eyes.
Nilly waved the letter paper, announcing excitedly, "His Majesty commands the Literacy Class... uh, commands me, Sekashi, and Semiaya to immediately prepare and head to the eastern front lines to confront the Merchant Alliance's legion!"
"Oh, so it's Envoy's command." Sekashi's expression turned serious.
Tam listened dumbfounded. Its gel body, which had been glowing with excitement, rapidly dimmed, like a deflating balloon. It was a transfer order, but not for it... So the King hadn't noticed it after all. The whole slime became utterly dejected.
However, before Tam could even speak, Nilly suddenly picked it up in a hug.
"Teacher Tam, haven't you been talking non-stop about wanting to see the front lines?" Nilly said with a grin. "Why not come with us? You can teach us some words on the way... Hmm, like how to elegantly taunt enemies in the Common Tongue."
Tam was shaken until dizzy. "W-wait, Nilly, this isn't proper..." Before it could finish, Nilly was already holding Tam aloft, shouting to the other dumbfounded students in the classroom, "Literacy Class—deploy! Let those stuck-up Merchant Alliance lords see what 'the power of illiteracy' means!"
Little Aileen, infected by the atmosphere, also raised her small fist and shouted crisply, "Deploy!" Sekashi felt the phrase "the power of illiteracy" was a bit odd, but was also carried away by Nilly's enthusiasm, nodding vigorously. Semiaya looked at her rowdy younger sister and Nilly, shaking her head helplessly. But since it was the Envoy's command, letting Teacher Tam see a real battlefield along the way wasn't bad either.
Held by Nilly, feeling the atmosphere around it completely different from the usual classroom, Tam's original dejection faded somewhat. Going to the front lines this way didn't seem so bad... At least it could see the battlefield with its own eyes, maybe it could really help? Thinking this, its gel body slowly re-inflated, regaining its glow.
...
Meanwhile, legions throughout the Slime Kingdom were also responding to the assembly command issued by the King through the Gel Network.
Outside Slime City, lizardfolk warriors blew bone whistles, mounted dragon beast poison wasps whose wings vibrated at high speed, and rose into the air like a dark cloud, flying toward the direction of the Dark Realm.
Within Storm Fortress, Metal Slime Knights formed neat ranks. The heavy steps of their beetle mounts made the ground tremble slightly. They would head to the front lines as heavy, blunt vanguards.
And on the swamp's fissure plaza, the Slime Artillery Regiment and those slow-moving Treant Legion were orderly passing through the fissure. Their destination was to pass through Winterhold first, reach the newly built Darkness City on the site of the original vampire ancient castle ruins, and conduct final assembly and resupply there.
Darkness City, Blackrock Bastion.
Chen Yu stood quietly on the renovated and reinforced battlements of Blackrock Bastion, gazing into the distance. The early spring wind still carried the chill of the snowplain, whipping his deep red cloak behind him, fluttering and snapping, leaving a round, imposing silhouette for Casimir and Lya following behind.
Lya looked up at Chen Yu's back, whispering to Casimir beside her, "Casimir, has His Majesty always been this awe-inspiring?"
Casimir straightened his back slightly, his pale face showing unconcealed piety and seriousness. "Powerful, majestic, profound as the abyss... This is His Majesty's innate bearing, proof of a divine incarnation walking the mortal world. Bishop Lya, as bishops of the Great Slime Religion, we should deeply engrave His Majesty's brave and fearless figure in our minds and faith, praying at all times, eternally revering..."
"Don't listen to his nonsense," Chen Yu's voice came back. However, his attention soon shifted away from the conversation behind him, refocusing on the vast Rubble Plains ahead.
This place was once littered with ancient war ruins and wandering undead. After preliminary cleanup by the Slime Kingdom, a small town for light-gatherers had been established. The slime residents in the town were mainly responsible for maintaining the magical lighting beacons set along the main road of the plains and providing simple supplies and rest for passing adventurers, mercenaries, and licensed merchants.
But unfortunately, this land that had just gained a sliver of vitality would soon become a ruin and meat grinder of war once more. Although the Dark Realm had complex terrain, dotted with slime outposts and natural obstacles, for an elite legion led by Extraordinary beings, it presented almost no hindrance, only slightly slowing their steps.
Therefore, he placed the focus of his defensive counterattack on the Blackrock Bastion beneath his feet. This ancient fortress, tempered through countless battles, had once blocked the southern surge of northern orcs and made the elite knight order of the White Horse Kingdom return in defeat beneath its walls. Yet, it ultimately failed to withstand the magical creature legion of the Slime Kingdom. Blackrock Bastion welcomed a new master and also welcomed slime renovation projects.
Damaged city walls were repaired using obsidian and mithril, becoming thicker and more solid. Arrow towers, ballistae, magic formations... everything that could be built was built. Now, Blackrock Bastion stood silently on the Rubble Plains, like an ancient giant clad in brand new heavy armor, waiting for the moment to prove itself once more.
Chen Yu concentrated, gazing at the gray horizon in the distance, estimating the time. The retreating forces led by Yano and Galvin, if their movements were smooth, should be able to withdraw to Blackrock Bastion before tonight. As for the Merchant Alliance's legion... they were carrying heavy equipment, affected by sabotaged roads and traps left by the retreating forces. They might arrive at the foot of the bastion tomorrow afternoon, or even later.
Chen Yu swayed his body happily. Well then, he had to properly prepare a grand "surprise" for these neighbors who had come from afar.