The garden lay wrapped in a soft, sacred stillness — the celebrations and songs of Nyvaris distant echoes in the wind.
Only the gentle sound of silver leaves brushing against each other filled the night, a whisper of nature honoring what was about to be revealed.
In that quiet, under the vast tapestry of stars, Velzard stood closest to Varvatos, her azure eyes shimmering not just from joy, but from the heavy questions her heart could no longer hold back.
With a small, hesitant step forward, she broke the silence — her voice a trembling whisper.
"...Varvatos... Where did you go? Why... why did it take you so long to return to us?"
The others — Veldora, Benimaru, Elmesia, and even Diablo — grew still, their eyes heavy with longing and a hint of fear.
It was the question they all carried but hadn't dared voice until now.
Varvatos turned his gaze slowly to them, his silver hair catching the starlight, cascading like crystal waterfalls.
He offered a soft, warm smile — but there was a weight behind his expression, a history deeper than any ocean.
"I did not leave because I wished it," he began, his voice low, resonant, tender.
"I had to go to a place few mortals can even imagine — the Realm of the Gods."
The moment he spoke those words, a shiver ran through everyone present.
Velzard's lips parted in awe, her heart pounding in her chest.
Veldora's brows shot up, a rare seriousness filling his golden eyes.
Elmesia took a small, involuntary step forward, her hand clenching over her heart.
"The Realm of the Gods..." Diablo murmured, almost reverently.
Varvatos continued, the soft night wind carrying his words like sacred melodies.
"There... time does not flow as it does here.
A second there could be lifetimes here.
While you waited years and years for me... to me, it passed in the blink of an eye."
He paused, looking around, his gaze rich with sorrow and love.
"I underwent trials — tests that shattered the mind, tore at the soul, stripped away everything I was... until only the purest core of myself remained."
They could see it now — the faint echoes of battles fought in realms without names, struggles against forces beyond existence itself.
It was etched in the way Varvatos stood — taller, wiser, unbreakable.
"I faced the birth of stars and the death of worlds. I saw creation and nothingness intertwined.
And at the end of it all... I was crowned."
The words dropped like a stone into the deep lake of their souls.
"I became the God of this Universe," Varvatos said, his voice humble, steady.
"I hold the Keys of Existence — authority over life, death, time, and all that lies between."
Silence.
Not from fear — but from the overwhelming awe of it all.
Benimaru clenched his fists, breathing heavily as he tried to absorb the scale of what Varvatos had become.
Veldora shook his head slowly, disbelief flickering across his features.
Diablo knelt, not out of worship, but out of the sheer emotion flooding him.
But it was Velzard and Elmesia who stood differently.
They simply stood there, hearts open, eyes locked onto his.
A thousand emotions warred within Velzard — joy, sadness, relief, and something deeper: fear.
Fear that he was now beyond them.
Fear that the man she loved had become something too distant to touch.
Elmesia too, though smiling softly, held a trembling breath — afraid that he might say they could no longer stand by his side.
Varvatos, sensing their hearts, stepped forward.
And gently, he reached out — placing one hand on Velzard's soft cheek, the other on Elmesia's delicate hand.
He smiled — a smile brighter than any sun, and yet infinitely gentle.
"My beloved Velzard...
My dear Elmesia..." he whispered.
"No matter what I have become... no matter the power I now hold... nothing will ever change between us."
Their eyes widened, hope flaring up like a reborn star.
"I am still Varvatos," he said, voice shaking slightly with emotion. "I am still yours — and you are still mine.
We will walk this life together, just as before... for all eternity if you will have me."
Velzard's breath caught. Her icy armor shattered — not physically, but emotionally — and tears she could no longer hold back spilled down her cheeks.
Elmesia too cried silently, her tears shimmering like falling stars.
Without hesitation, Velzard threw herself into his embrace, holding him tightly, her arms trembling around him as if afraid he would vanish again.
Elmesia joined them, wrapping her arms around them both, closing her eyes and breathing in the warmth of their reunion.
Veldora, standing nearby, wiped at his eye awkwardly, pretending not to cry.
Benimaru gave a proud, emotional smile.
Diablo lowered his head, hiding the deep emotions stirring inside him.
The ancient silver tree overhead bloomed even brighter, raining down a shower of luminous petals upon them.
For a long, precious moment, the world itself seemed to pause — honoring the sacred reunion of hearts that not even the gods could sever.
A world untouched by light. A silence so vast it became a sound of its own.
And within that silence...
a faint ripple disturbed the stillness.
A small, blue slime.
Satoru.
Still wandering.
Still growing.
Still fighting to understand what he had become.
It had been… weeks? Months? Maybe years.
Satoru had stopped counting.
He had no eyes, but his Magic Sense showed him everything — in waves of magicules outlines and magical echoes.
Every corner of the cave now breathed like a living thing in his perception.
And slowly... relentlessly...
he had been mastering himself.
One day when he encountered a strange tunnel filled with pressurized mist.
Something stirred inside him — not fear, but curiosity.
Great Sage, his ever-silent guide, spoke:
"Elemental signature: Water-type. Internal magic may be manipulated to replicate."
Satoru focused, mimicking the cold rushing energy he felt in the mist.
His body quivered. Then —
shhhkkk!
A sudden burst of high-speed water shot from his form, slicing a nearby stone.
A perfect arc — clean and sharp.
"Skill Acquired: Water Blade."
He was stunned. That was his attack now.
"Nice!" he thought. "Like a slime ninja!"
The days that followed were filled with trial and error.
He honed his Water Blade, learning to sharpen it, curve it, even fire multiple streams at once.
Then came the fall.
He had been exploring a crumbling ledge when the rocks beneath him gave way.
He plunged — bouncing and rolling — before tumbling straight into a vast underground lake.
Darkness swallowed him. For a moment, he panicked.
But then… he floated.
He realized his body naturally adapted, shifting weightless in the water.
Then Great Sage whispered again:
"Analyzing environment. Suggesting propulsion technique: hydrodynamic expulsion."
With concentration, Satoru contracted the edges of his body and fired water behind him.
Zoom!
He darted forward like a torpedo.
Again — he compressed, released — shot forward.
He was swimming. Fast. Efficient. Free.
"Skill Acquired: Water Propulsion."
In the days that followed, the lake became his new territory.
He hunted lurking amphibians and devoured magical kelp along the lake's floor.
Each meal offered fragments of new abilities —
minor healing, magicule recovery, and enhanced sensory range.
Sometimes, he'd sit on the lake's surface like a floating jelly drop, staring up at the shimmering crystals in the cavern ceiling.
"...I miss the sky," he thought.
But even here, he had found beauty.
He tested combinations of Water Blade and Propulsion, creating high-speed spins that shredded small predators.
He used Predator to digest elemental fish, slowly learning to feel the energy of different magic types.
One quiet cycle — as he rested beneath a glowing mushroom canopy — he asked internally:
"Great Sage… Am I getting stronger?"
A pause. Then the answer:
"You are adapting. Integrating. Your power has increased by 20%."
"...Not bad for a jelly bean," he joked.
But deep down — he knew something was coming.
Something greater.
He felt it like a tremor in the soul.
He had changed. He was changing.
And when he finally escaped this endless cave…
he would no longer be just a slime.
He would be something far more.
But first… he would survive.
He would learn.
And he would grow.
Step by step,
battle by battle,
drop by drop.