The mana warning flashing in my mind was alarming, but it wasn’t the end of the world. It just meant I needed to get back to my position in the throne room the way I had come. No big deal. There was just one problem—that is, I didn’t know how much mana I was using currently.
‘Void! What is my current mana consumption? Do my legs require passive mana usage or something? How come you didn’t warn me?’ I demanded, trying not to panic. Void normally answered as soon as I finished my questions, but this time I detected just a hint of a delay. It felt slightly petty. Great, the voice in my head not only had feelings, but could be a diva about it too.
CURRENT MANA CONSUMPTION RATE IS SLIGHTLY ABOVE 1 PER MINUTE WHILE IDLING, OR TWO WHEN MOVING. EACH POLYMORPHED PROTRUSION REQUIRES ROUGHLY .27 MANA PER MINUTE OF ACTIVITY. THIS IS HALVED WHEN IDLE. AGAIN, THIS HAS NOT BEEN HIDDEN, YOU—
‘Yeah, yeah, I didn’t ask, I get it! How far am I from the throne room?’
APPROXIMATELY 11 MINUTES AT A MODERATE PACE MAKING THE LEAST AMOUNT OF NOISE, OR 8 IF FORGOING STEALTH FOR SPEED. Okay, this was doable. I had just enough mana to get back to the throne room so I wouldn’t be caught out of position looking like a welder’s failed art project. In fact, I had an idea that could give me some extra time.
I focused and let one of the legs I had summoned melt back into my body, readjusting the remaining three in a triangle configuration. I had successfully reduced my mana usage by 25%, which gave me a bit more time. I wanted to eventually switch to a more bipedal design, but that could wait for another night. Going from three legs when I had gotten used to four was a slight adjustment, but soon I had the hang of it, moving first the leg serving as the lead then swinging the two behind it at the same time.
‘Hey Void, is there a HUD or something I can use to see my relevant stats? Right now I just want my mana and health. Also, maybe the time if that is possible. Pretty please?’ I figured I should start being a bit more polite to Void. It seemed to be capable of being a bit testy, plus it knew more about my current existence than I did. It never hurts to have someone in the know on your side, after all. Thankfully, the bit of attitude I had felt earlier seemed gone when it answered.
APPRAISAL 3 OR EQUIVALENT ITEM DEVOURED IS REQUIRED TO SEE REQUESTED STATS. HOWEVER, I CAN ASSIST BY GIVING RELEVANT UPDATES IF REQUESTED. RIGHT NOW, ONLY CRITICAL ALERTS WILL BE GIVEN. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SET A CONDITION FOR ALERTS?
‘Yes! Give alerts on mana levels at 75, 50, and 25%. Also, until we return to the original throne room position, one alert a minute, please!’
UNDERSTOOD. CURRENT MANA: 13. Yikes, I was cutting this short. I picked up the pace of my swinging walk as I moved down the hall of the servants back towards the throne room. It seemed longer now that I was in a time crunch—had I really walked so far for my first outing? What was I thinking? Freedom of movement after being stationary so long had been more appealing than I realized. When I was a person, I could stay locked in my chair or bed for days on end, only getting up for bathroom breaks or to retrieve delivered food. Even being at work for my short four- or five-hour shifts had seemed like a long time to stay in the outside world. Why was I more mobile as a trashcan than I had been as a literal human being? I had some serious soul searching to do once I was safe.
CURRENT MANA: 8. I could see the doorway! I picked up my awkward pace, not caring about the noise I was making. I could get back into the throne room, figure out how to recharge my mana, and spend some time talking with Void to figure out everything I had missed about my life! All I had to do was—
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The door was closed. And locked.
I guess some late-night servant had wandered by and shut the door. If I had tear ducts, I would have cried. I couldn’t risk trying to make an arm and opening the door. I didn’t have the mana or dexterity for that. I wondered if I could just sit outside the throne room and look like maybe I had been moved during cleaning or something. Something told me no; if the king or queen saw me, I could probably get away with it, but if Stelheim was lurking around… he had already ‘looked’ at me once before. Anything suspicious from me and I’m sure he would take his time to properly examine me. In the Crown/Last Decree gacha game, Stelheim was rated as an A-tier mage with A+ magical skill. If he started really examining me, I was toast.
CURRENT MANA: 5
I was doomed. My night out was going to be the end of me. One way or another, I wasn’t getting out of this one. I wanted to bang my head on the door in frustration, so I did the next best thing. I took a step back, then smashed my body into the door. Then I did it again. I didn’t feel any pain, but the futile action did make me feel better, so I did it again. I moved back to go for a fourth try when something unexpected happened: the door opened.
I was looking directly into the faces of Athella and Princess Evelinda. It looked like they had snuck in for some late-night training, both breathing heavily and holding blunt swords. I realized too late what was happening and tried to stop, but I couldn’t in my unwieldy form with my uneven number of legs. I smashed straight into Athella, bouncing off her and collapsing on the ground.
She was on me like a flash, her training sword held above her head and her expression grim. It was blunt, but I had no doubt she could pulverize me into whatever shape she chose, probably without the sword if she felt like it. Well, life was nice while it lasted. It looked like I was off to the pits of torment or the well of sadness or whatever other horrible place that Father sent losers like me.
To my surprise, however, Vivi stepped in front of her, pushing her back. She looked confused but not afraid. She examined my three wiggling legs, then moved around to take the lid off me and peer inside. She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and tossed it inside me. I decided not to trigger my Devour. This was a classic case of making no sudden movements so that no one would get hurt. Me. I was the someone that I didn’t want hurt.
“If you can understand me, thing, then listen well. I’m going to give you one chance to convince me not to have Athella here smash you into a paperweight, then melt you down and throw you in the ocean. Understood?”
Time slowed for me as I heard her words. This is a bit of a sidebar, but I had been wondering exactly what my intelligence stat meant in the last few days. I didn’t feel any smarter; math that was hard before felt just as difficult now, and I didn’t find myself using any new erudite words or phrases. In the moment after she asked, I think I realized its value. It was like time dilated as I wracked my brain trying to figure out a way to communicate that I came in peace and didn’t want to leave in pieces, faster than I’ve ever thought before. I couldn’t talk; maybe I could have used Polymorph to make some sort of mouth, but I didn’t have the mana for that. No one had thrown a megaphone or radio in me, unfortunately. But what I did have in my inventory of trash was paper. Lots of discarded scraps of paper. And most had writing on them.
CURRENT MANA: 3. SHUTDOWN IMMINENT.
I focused on the image of a piece of paper and felt heat in my body, signaling the magic was beginning. I wasn’t finished, though; before I let the heat dissipate, I imagined words written in ink on the parchment. After all, if I could make paper, I had to be able to put ink on it as well, right? Ink and paper were two discrete objects—or at least, I hoped they were for my needs. With my mana fading fast, I couldn’t write a lengthy message explaining my full story, so I needed this to be fast. I let the heat in my body dissipate as the paper shot out of my top at the princess's feet and waited for the all-too-familiar feeling of going dark as I heard her read the paper aloud.
“I am here to save your kingdom?”
CURRENT MANA: 1. INITIATING FORCED SHUTDOWN UNTIL MANA RESERVES HAVE RECHARGED TO FULL.
