... the more you're shocked...

“A slime?”

She asked with a voice full of resignation, probably thinking that it was just another one of my jokes.

“Yeah, it’s better to put some credibility behind my words before I start explaining so we will conduct slime tests first. Wait here for a moment.”

I went out to bring the backpack from the corridor, the abandoned grenade from her room and grabbed my jacket and her parka on the way.

Aura had shown me her powers without any problems. Moreover, there’s no audience and we won’t be recording it in any way, so the Seal shouldn’t activate... I hope.

After returning to the living room I found Vio sitting at the table with a troubled face, but she quickly changed it to a more neutral one after noticing me.

“Alright, look what I’ve got here.”

I started taking out the content of the backpack and the belt on the table. Vio watched closely, growing more astounded with each item joining the quickly growing stack.

“Whoa…”

It looked like she finally realized that I really wasn’t planning on pulling a fast one on her.

“... what’s this all for?”

“For protection.”

And to retrieve Luna.

“Is that a taser? I thought you can’t buy one before turning eighteen.”

“Eighteen? Not sixteen? Well... I was the epitome of calmness and confidence while buying it, the shop clerk didn’t even ask for my age.”

Her curious stare was scrutinizing each item on the table while I started removing their packagings, labels and separating everything into two piles. One near my side of the table and the other near hers.

“That’s because you’re tall and look over eighteen… nevermind, can I get some of that?”

I was convinced it’s sixteen… so I was simply lucky? At least I’m sure you can’t get a gun in Eprya without a license.

“That’s the plan. One knife for me, one for you. It may be hard to keep it with you all the time, so place it somewhere easily accessible in your bedroom, like under the pillow. One pen-knife for me, one for you. This is the one I want you to keep close all the time.”

Vio took the pen in hand and scanned from every side, I didn’t have to show her that the rear part could be twisted off, she discovered it by herself.

“One flashlight for me, one for you. One can of pepper spray for me, one for you…”

A quick glance at the user manual.

“... all you need to do is to press the button on top, keep it in an outstretched arm and aim at an enemy’s face. Take note of the wind while using it. Got it?”

“Yeah, I always wanted to try it out...”

Vio nodded, busily analyzing the can, she seemed to be fascinated by it.

“One pair of handcuffs for me, one for you. No Vio, don’t look at me like that, I’m not planning to use them the way Viktoria does, they’re purely for detaining and restricting movement.”

“She also uses them to restrict movement…”

“But for her, that’s just the beginning while for us that will also be the end. Don’t lose the key.”

Most of the time.

Before splitting the bug sprays I went to the kitchen and brought two lighters. Passed one can of spray and a lighter to Vio, kept the other set in my hands, and explained:

“If you see big bugs just spray them with it, if you see really big bugs, do this.”

I flicked the lighter, moved it a bit away from myself and directed a stream of spray through it. The effect was bigger than I expected and a meter and half long fire gushed out brightly. It was going to be a simple demonstration but after the first fire show, the second and the third one followed.

“Pyro-nii-chan, I know how to make a makeshift flamethrower.”

*Ding, ding, ding*

“Good, but I still wanted to have some fun with it. Ok, let’s move on. So these-”

*Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding*

“Deaf-nii-chan? Want me to-”

“Ignore it.”

The only person who could have a proper reason to use the doorbell is sitting here with me.

I put two of the grenades near her. Vio didn’t inquire about the dinging any further and focused back on researching the rest of the stack. My explanation continued:

“So these are tear gas grenades, you nearly detonated one in our faces. Hmm~, the manual says that you have to pull the pin first. Anyway, after pulling out the pin and turning the valve it will spin and spit its content for about thirty seconds.”

*Ding, ding, ding*

“I thought it’s some kind of a strange deodorant and wanted to make a dent in your head with it. Sorry~. But why you gave me only two?”

It actually looked like a slightly misshapen bottle of Axe, which acted as a lawyer defending her statement. Still, she was judged guilty due to the ‘dent in your head’ part.

“I have this...”

I patted my new belt.

“... makes it easier to carry bigger quantities. Remember, one item for self-defense is fine, after all, you’re a pretty, violent, young girl so a little protection is normal, but keep in mind that if you equip everything then you will be rather suspicious. Before you ask, there’s only one belt and one taser, but since you were so kind to buy me a bed I will allow you to choose the gas mask.”

Dinging stopped?

I started calmly browsing through the attached user manual, keeping one eye on her antics.

Slightly disappointed little sister took both masks, chose the bigger one and tried to put it on, but haphazardly joining together the jumble of many rubber straps requiring adjustment and her long curly hair was akin to putting a zombie guy in a magical girl outfit and giving him a chainsaw to fight with a vampire ninja.

Ok, that one actually worked but it was walking on a really thin line.

“Onii-chan, help me.”

“A moment, I’m almost done.”

The sounds of her struggling and silent hisses of pain were my background music for the next five minutes of reading.

“... this stupid… … like that?... … ouch, my hair… … what’s this part for… … a metal can? It’s heavy... … you damn thing… … why there are so many straps?!... … it’s impossible!... … ...ouch! Fucking rubber!... … I require assistance, N-O-W!”

She gave up and looked as if the entire blame for this failure was about to be placed on me.

I stood up, went behind her, carefully helped to separate hair from rubber and put the bigger mask back on the table.

“I knew that it was impossible with a hair like mine!”

“That’s not it, the bigger one’s mine. You get the smaller one.”

“Doubly impossible!”

“Stay still and let me show you a miracle.”

“... I will stab you if it hurts... with the blunt side.”

She made a pretty dangerous threat supported by her holding the pen-knife, however, she immediately downplayed it and put down the tool after realizing that it might have sounded too real. Afterward, Vio obediently gave herself into my hands.

Gather the hair to the side, smoothly done, loosen all rubber straps, done, start from the chin and pull over the face, carefully done, adjust the straps so it sticks to the face…

*Sshhhh* “Grrrr...” *Sshhhh*

“Bear with it, it has to be tight.”

… extra tight to tamper her cheekiness, and attach the filtering canister to the side, turn on the battery operated fan…

“... and voilà! How do you feel? Because for sure you look funny.”

*Sshhhh* “Tight.” *Sshhhh* “But it’s ok.” *Sshhhh* “I don’t have to” *Sshhhh* “worry about the gases now?” *Sshhhh*

“Nope, you’re safe as long as it’s only tear and pepper gas.”

Vio took one of the tear gas grenades and I karate-chopped her head.

“Don’t even think about it. You should know that the gas will still irritate your skin so it won’t be pleasant.”

*Sshhhh* “Hshshshshs.” *Sshhhh*

She tried to imitate the breathing sound with her laughter.

The mask on Vio's face was half-made of black rubber, the rest was composed of a round plastic voice diaghram, two transparent rounded rectangular eye lenses, exhaust valve on the left and the filtering canister attached to the right side. I read that there was even a drinking system hidden somewhere in it.

*Sshhhh* “Breathing’s kind of hard.” *Sshhhh* “I feel a stream of cold air. *Sshhhh*

“Don’t mind it, thanks to that even if your mask has a leak somewhere it won’t be a big problem, the air from the inside will escape to the outside and not the other way around. Alright, time to get to the main part.”

*Sshhhh* “Explanation?” *Sshhhh*

“Don’t take off the mask and keep the flamethrower close. Trust me on this one please.”

*Sshhhh* “Alright…” *Sshhhh*

I put on the remaining mask and my jacket. Made Vio wear her parka and pulled its hood over her head. It was hot, but there were many different types of slimes known to me from games and books, that was why no security measures were too excessive.

One of the green stones was passed to her.

*Kshhhh* “Vio, throw it hard against the wall. *Kshhhh*

Let’s see if a normal person can use it and it’s safer for her that way.

I also hope that it will appear without any problems and won’t be picky about the people who can see it.

*Sshhhh* “Throw this? *Sshhhh* “Here it goes.” *Sshhhh*

The point of contact between the brittle green stone and the wall became a bloody red liquid orb, it grew to the size of a tennis ball and a lot of ooze started flowing out of it.

*Sshhhh* “What…” *Sshhhh* “... the hell... *Sshhhh* “... it wasn’t a joke?” *Sshhhh*

I didn’t have to ask Vio if she was able to perceive it or not as her first reaction was to grab the makeshift flamethrower and prepare it for use, she copied the exact same thing I did.

Though I kind of hoped she would hide behind me…

The murky green ooze grew to the size of a microwave before the red orb disappeared.

It’s not that big and it’s not transparent. Oh! Time, can’t forget to check the time.

A brief glance at my wristwatch showed that it was 15:21.

The slime remained in a dormant state and by that, I meant that it wasn’t moving but was undergoing constant changes caused by countless small bubbles growing and bursting on the surface.

*Kshhhh* “Vio, stand back.” *Kshhhh*

When I wanted to proceed with the first test and stab it, there was a change. It started flowing my way akin to a wave and it was fast. There was a visible dent in the wooden floor panels on which it had appeared and the trail left behind it was black with some murky foam mixed, the slime was corrosive.

The priorities changed, it was dangerous and aggressive. I started moving back and before it could reach me - opened fire. Vio did the same, even though she was standing on the side, obviously too far for her fire-spray to reach.

Both I and my little sister immediately realized that this was a very bad move.

It wasn't scared of fire, it was unexpectedly highly flammable.