I went into my pocket dimension to get close to my pet slime, who I was starting to call Bob. Was it a man? No fucking clue. I just wanted a simple name I could always remember.
Bob was red and visibly angry, jumping around inside my pocket dimension. Once inside, I tried to calm him down.
"Calm down, Bob," I said. "I’ll get you crystals."
He didn’t believe me. Bob started jumping across the pocket dimension again, even hitting his head on the ceiling. His body crumbled into pieces, but he quickly went back to normal, jumping again.
At one point, Bob stared at me with those shark-like teeth he now had, and he... he came jumping toward me. I decided to leave my pocket dimension and go back to the dorm.
I couldn’t risk getting attacked by Bob. He’d been pretty cool with me before, a nice pet I could count on, but now, with the hunger settling in, Bob needed something to eat. I had to find something for that guy.
But how the fuck was I supposed to get my hands on monster crystals? New students weren’t allowed to leave for missions. I had to take at least the first few weeks of classes before getting my first mission.
Bob wouldn’t survive a few weeks. He was already losing his mind, if he even had a mind in the first place. Anyway, he needed his food, and I had to get it.
I sat on my bed, thinking about ways to get monster crystals. Ethan eventually came back from the canteen. He saw me on the bed with a thoughtful expression.
"Is something wrong, roommate?" he said, sitting beside me.
I was in a desperate situation, so I decided to take a risk and trust my roommate. Of course, I’d never share anything about my ability or the slime with him.
"I really need some monster crystals. Like, at least 100 of them."
"100 monster crystals? What for?" Ethan said, frowning.
"I can’t tell you the reason," I said. "Can you help me? Do you have any?"
"No one has monster crystals in here. They checked our luggage, so nobody brought any."
I’d already expected that. I should have brought some with me before coming into the academy. But Bob had never changed like that before, so I figured he could last a long time without devouring crystals. Apparently, I was wrong.
"But..."
A but. When I heard Ethan say "but," I already knew something shady was coming our way.
"But?" I said. "What do you know? Spill it."
"There are some dimensional rifts inside the academy’s perimeter. In the forest."
How the fuck did Ethan know about that? He was a new student, just like me. So having information about the academy’s perimeter was weird. But I didn’t ask him. I’d remember it, of course, and stay wary of him.
"So you’re telling me to escape the academy and go into the forest?"
Ethan shrugged. "I’m not telling you that. But let’s say I know a way to get out of the academy, like a hidden exit. What would you pay for it?"
The guy knew a way out. The more he talked, the weirder it got. Who was he? How did he know these things? I thought about the vampire I’d met inside the rift, the one who wanted me to do something for him in this academy.
Was Ethan someone under his command? He could be. That would explain how he knew things he shouldn’t.
"How do you know about this exit?" I asked him.
"Can’t tell you that," Ethan said. "What will you pay for it?"
The only currency I could get my hands on was monster crystals. In fact, I could get a lot of them with Bob’s help.
So that’s what I offered him.
"100 monster crystals. What do you say?"
Ethan blinked a few times, rapidly, not quite sure he’d heard right.
"100? That many? You giving me all the spoils from your rift trip or what?" Ethan joked.
I didn’t say anything else.
"I accept. Want to leave tonight? I think this might be our best chance, but you won’t have much time in the rift, maybe just an hour. Can you get that many in such a short period?"
I wasn’t fully buying Ethan’s story. It was already weird enough that he knew how to escape the academy, knew about the rifts, and somehow knew how to leave without attracting the guards.
There were guards everywhere, so if we left the dorms, they’d spot us instantly. If I took too long to return, they’d ask questions, and I might get in trouble, even with the principal backing me up.
"My ability," Ethan said. "I can do a few things, including making us invisible. So, are you up for it?"
That explained a lot, but...
"Will you wait for me? If I leave the rift and you’re not there, they’ll catch me for sure," I said, getting up from the bed, pacing across the room.
I’d have to trust that guy, a lot, but I’d just met him, so that was hard to do. Still, I really needed those crystals before Bob completely freaked out.
The last thing I wanted was for my pet slime to die of hunger, or get so angry at me that he’d try to attack me. I had no idea what to expect from him.
Ethan nodded.
"I’ll wait for you," he said, "but you’ll have to pay 120 monster crystals. That okay with you? Also, I’ll only wait an hour. We can’t stay out too long, or they’ll catch us."
120 monster crystals was a lot. For any normal hunter, that would be a really high amount. But for me, it wasn’t.
"Deal. Let’s move before it gets too late."
Ethan was clearly confused about why I’d accept such terms. An hour to get more than 120 monster crystals? That was a lot. But he didn’t ask questions.
We left our dorm, and right in the hallway, Ethan activated his ability, turning us both invisible.