[POV: Nature Sprite]
I gathered everyone deep inside the enormous cave the slimes had carved out of the mountains. Night had settled over the world outside, but down here the darkness was absolute until I raised my hands and summoned soft orbs of light. They drifted upward like gentle fireflies, casting a warm, golden glow across the rough stone walls and the sea of bouncing, translucent bodies that filled the cavern floor.
The slimes had come in great numbers, their usual playful energy subdued by the seriousness in my voice when I called them. The Gryphon stood near the entrance, its feathers faintly ruffled, head tilted in quiet curiosity. The Golem Guardian loomed at the center of the gathering, motionless yet attentive, its great stone form illuminated by the floating lights. All of them were watching me.
I floated a little higher so that every pair of eyes could see me clearly.
“My fellow summons,” I began, my wings fluttering with barely contained excitement. “I have important news, News that concerns the will of our Great Lord!”
A soft ripple of movement passed through the slime tide. The Gryphon gave a low, questioning chirp. The Golem Guardian slightly inclined its head. They were listening.
I clasped my tiny hands together in front of my chest, remembering the quiet library, the way the Great Lord had looked when he spoke, the soft conviction in his voice.
“Today, the Great Lord shared with me something precious. Something that will guide everything we do from this day forward.” I paused, letting the weight of the moment settle. “He does not seek to conquer the world. He does not desire thrones or endless war. What he desires… is a nation.”
The word hung in the air.
“A place of his own making. A sanctuary. A home where those who are weary may rest without guilt, where the hurt may heal without being told to stand again before they are ready, where the good souls are no longer treated as tools by the powerful. He wishes to carve out a piece of paradise upon these mountains… and, if his strength allows, to let others call that paradise home as well.”
I looked around at the gathered friends and comrades, my own chest swelling with pride.
“That is the Great Lord’s ambition. That is the future he has chosen.”
For a heartbeat there was only the soft drip of water somewhere deeper in the cave. Then the Golem Guardian moved. Its massive frame shifted, stone grinding against stone as it sank to one knee with a weighty, deliberate grace. One great hand pressed against the cavern floor.
“If that is the Great Lord’s will,” the Golem Guardian intoned, its voice deep and resonant, “then every stone of these mountains, every breath of air within these halls, and every ounce of strength I possess shall be devoted to its realization. I shall stand as the unbreakable wall of that sanctuary.”
The Gryphon let out a sharp, proud cry and spread its wings wide, the tips nearly brushing the glowing orbs above. The sound echoed through the cavern like a declaration of allegiance.
And then the slimes erupted, bouncing in their place and making 'boing' sounds as they cheered.
“Bloop!”
“Bloop-bloop!”
“BLOOP!”
They bounced higher than I had ever seen them bounce, a living, shimmering wave of pure enthusiasm. Some formed crude little shapes in the air from towers, walls, and tiny crowns, before collapsing back into happy blobs. Others simply spun in place, glowing faintly with reflected light, as if they already imagined themselves building the foundations of the Great Lord’s nation with their own bodies.
I felt my eyes grow warm. These were my comrades. These were the ones who would walk beside the Great Lord as he shaped the world according to his quiet, earnest wish.
…
..
.
[POV: Sloth]
When I glanced outside through the window, I realized it was already night. I had been so absorbed in reading that I had completely lost track of time.
I had already gone through several books, some of them thick enough to measure roughly the width of two of my fingers. The subject of magical beasts, demonic beasts, and spirit beasts had fascinated me far more than I expected. They shared quite a few similarities with my summons, as well as with most of the creatures I had encountered in LWO. The main difference was that the supernatural creatures of this world seemed to possess far more structure.
In LWO, creatures were generally categorized as monsters simply because of the threat they represented. Their designs could be based on practically anything from mythology, legends, folklore, or whatever bizarre idea the developers had decided to throw into the game. This world’s creatures were different. Their characteristics appeared to be heavily influenced by their environment, their bloodlines, and the energies surrounding them. It reminded me of evolution.
Spirit beasts, for example, originated from ordinary animals that had been shaped by nature and possessed the innate potential to cultivate qi. The books described their emergence as an act of providence, something that occurred purely through chance. There were theories, however, that temperament and the innate energy hidden within their bloodlines also played a role. Once an animal became a spirit beast, it could cultivate much like a human cultivator. It could rise through the tiers, grow stronger, and develop qi that it could freely wield.
The same principle applied to magical beasts and demonic beasts, though they followed different paths. Magical beasts were defined by their innate magic and were generally blessed by their bloodlines. Trickster foxes, phoenixes, dragons, qilins, and similar creatures were the most common examples. Demonic beasts, meanwhile, were considerably more monstrous. They often preyed upon humans and possessed turbid qi. Apparently, they could also emerge from spirit beasts or magical beasts.
The more I read, the more fascinated I became. I had always thought evolution was interesting, but seeing an entire cultivation system that incorporated something resembling it was another matter entirely.
Then I came across something that caught my attention even more: the power of names.
I was fairly certain I had read about something similar in another book discussing cultivation techniques and their development. The idea was that cultivators created techniques with a particular vision in mind. Naturally, they gave those techniques grand names that reflected what they wanted them to become. As generations passed and those techniques were taught to others, the techniques themselves changed. They became refined, strengthened, and sometimes completely transformed. And apparently, speaking the technique’s name aloud could add power to it. They called it the Voice of the World, a rather fancy way of telling cultivators to shout the names of their techniques.
I felt a little singled out by that. After all, I actually had an ability called Voice of the World. Was this world trying to tell me something? I decided not to think too deeply about it.
The book I was currently reading about beasts brought up the same concept. Apparently, a creature could also grow in power depending on the name it carried. According to the author, the most important quality of a name was not the sound itself, but the emotion behind it. That was why the word “dragon” carried such majesty, why “qilin” evoked fearsome fury, and why “phoenix” inspired awed reverence. A meaningful name was supposed to build faith and affirm the bond it represented. That was why parents took naming their children so seriously, and why surnames were passed down from one generation to another.
It honestly sounded like hogwash. But… it wouldn’t hurt to try.
I returned to my bedchamber, went to sleep, and found myself oddly eager for tomorrow.
The moment I woke up, I gathered my summons. I stood just outside the enormous cave the slimes had carved into the mountains. The slimes gathered before me in a sprawling mass of blue bodies, while Nature Sprite sat on the Golem Guardian’s shoulder. The Gryphon sat beside me, watching me curiously.
I looked at all of them, then took a breath.
“I’ve been thinking about something,” I said. “You all have served me faithfully, and I’ve realized something rather obvious.”
The slimes remained still. Nature Sprite tilted her head. The Gryphon’s eyes stayed fixed on me.
“I gave all of you bodies and abilities, but I never gave you names.” I paused. “I want to change that. I want to give each of you a name.”
I knew how foolish this sounded. These weren’t pets. They were creatures I had summoned to fight on my behalf. Yet a name was more than a convenient way to distinguish one creature from another. If the books were correct, a name granted individuality. And while this might have been nothing more than a harmless experiment, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there were depths to this that I didn’t understand.
Still… I felt their emotions through our bond, filled with excitement, anticipation, and a strange warmth that spread through the entire group. My hesitation disappeared. If this meant something to them, then I would do it.
Nature Sprite suddenly shot into the air. “Oh! Oh! Great Lord!” Her wings fluttered furiously as she clasped her hands together. “Giving us names is the greatest honor imaginable! To receive a name directly from the Great Lord is an honor beyond honor! It is the greatest blessing! The greatest treasure! The greatest—”
“I understand.”
She continued anyway.
The Golem Guardian lowered its head. “I shall accept the name bestowed upon me with gratitude, Great Lord. Whatever name you grant me shall be cherished.”
The Gryphon sent a message through sound transmission. "I shall treasure whatever name you give me."
Man, I wondered if I could sound transmission if I ate enough spirit stones. Unlike me, the Gryphon had an incredible appetite and had recently begun to feel qi.
“Okay, who wants to go first?” I asked.
The summons seemed strangely shy after that. They remained where they were, almost shell-shocked. I wasn’t sure whether they were nervous about receiving a name or simply overwhelmed by the idea that I had actually decided to do this.
Eventually, one of the braver slimes moved. It was one of the largest among them. The slime bounced toward me, its nearly translucent blue body wobbling with every movement. Seeing its jiggly appearance and the surprisingly expressive way it moved reminded me of one of my former coworkers.
I pointed at it. “Okay. You are Bruce.”
The slime froze. Then it shook violently. I could feel its emotions through our bond, filled with fury.
“…You don’t like Bruce?”
The slime shook even harder.
“Bob?”
The slime became even angrier.
I stared at it. “Bean?”
The slime undulated violently. I could almost hear the sound of someone drowning. Glub… glub…
I might have underestimated this naming thing.
Before I could come up with another name, the slimes finally seemed to process what was happening. They erupted. A great tide of slimes rushed toward me. They bounced, jiggled, wobbled, and collided with one another in their desperate attempt to get closer. Apparently, everyone wanted a name now.
“Wait.”
The wave kept coming.
“Hold on.”
They did not hold on.
“There’s enough for everyone!”
They still came.
“GREAT LORD!” Nature Sprite suddenly appeared directly in front of my face. She wrapped her tiny arms around my nose. “I WANT TO BE FIRST!”
Her voice was so loud that I was fairly certain she was screaming with her entire soul. “Great Lord! Great Lord! Great Lord! Me! Me! Me! Name me first! I want to be first! Please! Please! Please! I have served you faithfully! I am your most loyal Nature Sprite! Your greatest Nature Sprite! Your most hardworking Nature Sprite! Your—”
“Sprite, you’re screaming into my face.”
“I DON’T CARE!” She hugged my nose even tighter. “I WANT A NAME!”
I barely had time to react. The slime tide crashed into me fully. I was buried completely. A mountain of bouncing bodies engulfed me, their excitement proving to be far too much even for me.
In pursuit of a normal-ish life, I felt like the simple act of naming my summons would bring a touch of ordinary order, only to discover that even the smallest gesture of affection could summon a riot of pure, bouncing devotion.
If this was the new normal from now on, I doubted I’d ever get a quiet day again... I was stuck here.