Princess Lili

"You aren't so scary after all!" Aemila said, gently stroking Ao's blue body. "I'm so sorry for the way I acted, Ao!!" she apologized, with Princess Rei & Layla waiting their turn to play with Ao.

"I'm happy that Ao is making new friends," Aki said, "Being alone in that dungeon for so long can break your soul."

"I agree," Layla commented, "Luckily for you, you had Shrimpy, right?" she added, as she hand-fed Shrimpy a small piece of fruit into his mouth as he lay flat on her right hand. 

"You are so spoiled," Aki muttered, staring at Shrimpy. 

"YOUR MAJESTY, QUEEN CAROLINE!" a bulter burst into the room, "Please come to Princess Lili's room right now!" he requested. 

"WHAT'S GOING ON WITH LILI?" Caroline asked, standing up and proceeding to head out of the living room. "Aki, stay here, please!" she requested, as she quickly ran out of the room with Princess Rei, Layla, and Aemilia, face turning sour. 

"Who is Princess Lili?" Aki asked, "Is she the other princess who was absent when I first woke up?" 

"Yes, that's correct, Princess Lili is the Second Princess of this Kingdom." Princess Rei answered, "She is a bit ill and can't greet guests at the moment," she stated softly. 

"I see...." Aki muttered, "Maybe I should head out, it seems like it's a bad time right now." He suggested, feeling the tense mood in the room. "Ao, where are you?" as he began to look around the living room, and did not see Ao anywhere. 

"AO, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?!!??!" Caroline's voice could be heard screaming in the distance. "STOP IT NOW OR ELSE YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!!" she pleaded.

"Where is Princess Lili's room!" Aki yelled, with Princess Rei leading the way. The group proceeded out of the living room, heading down a long hallway, making a right turn, and reached an open room door. 

As they entered the bedroom, they were met with a torrent of fast-moving cold air, preventing them from entering further. On the large bed, a pale little girl with silver-blond hair was unconscious while a brown-hair old man was sitting on the right bedside unconscious, with his lips turned blue from the cold. Caroline was on the left bedside, trying to pry Ao off of the little girl's chest as he remained still, drawing the cold air into his body. 

"AO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" Aki yelled, with his breath turning white. "WHAT HAPPENED?" He asked Caroline.

"I came into this room to remove that crazy old man before he froze to death, but Ao had followed behind me," Caroline explained, "Ao must have noticed how similar she looks to his previous master and wanted to save her by absorbing her excessive mana!" 

"Excessive mana?" Aki asked, "Does that have to do with Princess Lili's illness?" 

"She is suffering from Mana Overload!" Layla answered as she handed Aki his jacket. "She inherited both her mother's & father's vast amounts of mana along with her mother's rare ice attribute. Due to her young age, she is unable to properly control it and has been asleep for the past three years," she explained.

"What is Ao trying to do then?" Aki asked, seeing Ao's blue body slowly turning frozen. 

"Ao is trying to draw out the excessive mana by absorbing it into his body!" Caroline answered, "If Ao keeps on absorbing  Lili's mana, he is going to die from mana toxicity!" 

"HUH?" Aki asked, slowly walking towards Ao.

"As a water slime, Ao is incompatible with the ice element, which is the polar opposite of him!" Caroline explained, just before being sent backward to the wall by the torrent of cold air. "We need to stop him or otherwise, he is going to freeze and die." 

"AO! STOP IT NOW!" Aki ordered, as he grabbed onto Ao's partially frozen body and began to pull him off, "EVEN IF YOU MANAGE TO HELP HER NOW, IT'S STILL NOT A PERMANENT SOLUTION!" he explained, hoping Ao would stop. 

Ao suddenly began to absorb the excessive mana at an increased rate. 

"DON'T BE FUCKING STUBBORN!" Aki yelled, "Is there nothing I can do to help Ao or even Princess?" he questioned. 

"He truly is stubborn when he reaches this point, huh?" a familiar little girl's voice could be heard, "If it's a matter of compatibility, why don't you just evolve him?" she suggested, "You already possess the required catalyst, so please save my best friend!" she pleaded, as her voice disappeared. 

"Evolve? Required Catalyst?" Aki questioned, "THAT THING!!!" he realized, releasing his grip on Ao's almost frozen body, and reached into his inventory. He proceeded to take out a sky-blue stone and quickly appraised it. 

Essence of Ice / Rarity: SS-Rank
Allows certain monsters to evolve into an Ice attribute monster when consumed

"EAT THIS YOU STUBBORN MORON!!!" Aki yelled, shoving the Essence of Ice into Ao's frozen body.

Suddenly, Ao's body began to glow brightly, blinding everyone in the room. 

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!!?" Caroline yelled as she tried to see what was happening to Ao. 

"I HAVE NO IDEA!!" Aki answered, backing up next to the Queen. 

As the light slowly dimmed, Ao's body was no longer blue but sky blue, with cold air emitting from his body. 

*Appraisal*

Elder Ice Slime lvl: 525 / SS-Rank Monster / Name: Ao

"It worked....." Aki muttered, falling to the ground with Ao looking at his body, confused at what had happened. "Ao, what are you waiting for?" he asked, with Ao turning around and seeing Aki glaring at him, "SAVE HER ALREADY! IT'S WHAT YOU WANTED, RIGHT?!!?" he ordered, slamming his frostbitten right fist against the wall. 

Ao immediately turned back to the little girl and began to draw out all the excessive mana from her body. As Ao continued, Lili's hair slowly returned to a perfect blond color, and her pale face turned pink again.

"Mom, is that you?" Princess Lili softly asked, with her eyes slowly opening.  

"Good Morning, my precious, Lili!" Caroline wept as she embraced her. 

"Don't forget about me!" the old man said, with tears dripping down his face as he embraced her. 

"Dad, your beard is tickling me!" Princess Lili complained softly. 


Ao jumped off Princess Lili's bed, slowly bouncing over to Aki with his heavier body, and started to heal his frostbitten hands. 

"I'm still very upset with you, by the way!" Aki stated, "Throwing your life away is something your current and previous master would never want from you!" he lectured Ao. 

Ao quickly shook his head up and down, apologizing for his actions, and approached him for a hug.

"Ao, do me a favor and back up a little bit!" Aki requested, "You are freezing me here!" as he began to shiver.

"Don't be mean to Ao!" Caroline said, picking up Ao, and gave him a big hug. "He saved my daughter after all!" as she placed Ao back onto the bed. 

"Slime?" Princess Lili asked, "Why is there a Water Slime here?" 

"Ao is an Elder Ice Slime," Aki stated, as he walked over to the bedside, "Good morning, Princess Lili, my name is Aki." he smiled. 

"D-Did he say Elder Ice Slime?" the old man stuttered before falling to the ground, unconscious as his exhaustion finally kicked in.

"ICE SLIME!!" Princess Lili exclaimed, "MOM, ISN'T THIS WHAT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR!!" She proceeded to smile. 

"I'm sorry, Lili, but this Ice Slime is Aki's partner," Caroline apologized. "I'm still looking for a partner for you," she said, embracing Lili.

"What does she mean by that, Lalya?" Aki asked, with Princess Rei, Layla & Aemila approaching the bedside. 

"Mana Overload can be controlled if you have a compatible monster that can absorb the excessive mana through a tamer contract," Layla explained. "Ice monsters are extremely rare, and the remaining ones that do exist cannot survive outside the severely cold regions. The sudden change in environment results in them entering shock and dying shortly afterwards." 

"What's going to happen to Princess Lili if she doesn't make a contract with one?" Aki asked, knowing the answer is death. 

"Do not worry about it, Aki. You've done enough already." Caroline assured, "This is something we will figure out on our own." She quickly dried her tears, but her face still carried a concerned look.

"You are saying one thing, but your face says another," Aki stated. "Ao, what do you want to do? Do you want to become Princess Lili's partner?" he asked, staring at Ao.

Ao looked at Aki and looked at the little girl before looking back at Aki. Ao felt he owed it to Aki to remain by his side after he saved him from being in the dark dungeon for so long. Ao began to gently roll over towards Aki and proceeded to hold his right hand with his fluid tentacle, shaking. 

"Ao, I'm going to throw you out that window if you continue to lie to yourself," Aki threatened, glaring down at him. "If you are planning to stay by my side because you feel obligated, you are wrong. Remember what I said when left to the dungeon together?" Aki asked. 

Ao quickly tries to recall his memories, where Aki cried, Freedom, before starting a fight with the Orcs. 

"You are free to do whatever you want," Aki assured, stroking Ao's cold body as his hand turned blue with frostburn again. "You are no longer trapped inside that dungeon, and most importantly, you are not alone anymore." he smiled, trying to hold back his tears. 

Ao quickly tackled Aki, sending him to the ground before jumping back into Princess Lili's hands. 

"OUCH! You know you didn't have to do that, right?" Aki yelled, standing back up, and terminated his contract with Ao. "Go ahead, your highness," he stated, watching Princess Lili complete her contract. 

"Aki! What did you name this slime?" Princess Lili asked. 

"Ao, because it means blue from where I am from. Ao for blue water slime," Aki answered, ashamed by his lack of originality when it came to naming him.

"Okay! Your name is Ao!" Princess Lili declared, giving the same name to Ao, as a surge of mana expelled out of her body and into Ao's. "I'm sorry, but I'm feeling sleepy all of a sudden," she apologized before falling back asleep, with Ao pulling the bed sheet up over her shoulder.

"Let's leave this room now," Caroline suggested, with the crowd of people quietly leaving.

Ao remained behind to guard his new little master, while the old man slept on the ground after being covered up with a blanket by Caroline.