division

The creak of wood greeted me as I entered Morgan's small potion store. The place was empty, even absent a clerk to greet customers. The surrounding shelves were in a state of disrepair and full of dust. According to what Morgan herself had told me, she used this store as a cover to avoid attracting the attention of the authorities.

I knew where I had to go to find Morgan, so I nimbly hopped over the counter and headed for the back stockroom without wasting time.

In the dingy, disorganized storage room, I moved smoothly to a shelf of old books. I ran my hand along the spine of the leathered books. They were a little high, so I had to stand on my tiptoes to reach the book I was looking for. I placed my hand on an Encyclopedia of Magical Beasts and gently pushed the book forward until a click sounded behind me.

A hatch camouflaged within the floor opened just enough for me to insert my fingers. I lifted the hatch with a practiced, almost mechanical ease, the routine of the last month already having been ingrained into my head.

Once the hatch was fully opened, I carefully climbed down the wooden ladder while I slid the hatch back in place above.

The sounds of my footsteps echoed down a narrow corridor, so narrow in fact that two people could not walk shoulder to shoulder in it.

At the end of the hallway was Morgan's lab, unlike the storefront upstairs which looked dirty and rundown, Morgan’s lab was extremely clean and spacious. You could almost see your reflection in the stone slab that made up the floor.

A strong aroma of incense wafted through the room, giving off a calming effect. Though, this was contrasted by the walls that were decorated with eight-foot-high steel cubicles that were eerie in their otherworldly design. The deeper into the lab I walked, the stronger the scent became. Eventually, I identified the source coming from a small stick burning on a table near Morgan.

Speaking of Morgan, she seemed engrossed in writing in her diary. The entries were in a language that was unfamiliar to me. Although Morgan seemed helpless now, nothing in this world was ever as it seemed. Even in my previous body, the little aura that I could sense Morgan sometimes give off, creeped me out. But being in her presence in Aria's body confirmed my assumptions... She was a beyond terrifying individual.

The finely tuned senses of Aria's body, an A-ranked adventurer, screamed with every step I took towards Morgan. I got goosebumps and instinctively my body went on guard when I had entered the lab. It was like having a bell in my head that wouldn't stop ringing. Even when I faced the rat kings, I didn't feel that much fear.

Shit, it was even rumored that Aria had split an orc in half with one strike, and here was his body shaking like a newborn deer.

To get rid of the discomfort I felt and steady my nerves I called out.

"Morgan?"

Morgan broke her concentration, slowly turning her gaze in my direction. Her emotionless gaze sent a cold sweat down my back.

"I thought about giving you a scare, but I can see that would be a bad idea," I replied with a shaky laugh.

Her characteristic soft smile crossed her face, seeming amused at my words.

"Wow, I see you were successful Fred. How do you feel with a woman's body?"

"Fred died Morgan, so call me Aria from now on. And it's spectacular! You have no idea how great her body is Morgan. I can feel every single fiber of her muscles explode with power. My senses are so fine-tuned I could hear a pin drop from 10 meters away! And my combat ability is now overwhelming! Plus...I never expected sex as a woman to feel so good!" I put my hand near my clitoris as I said the last part. I remembered the elf in the brothel named Elizabeth with longing. I wanted to go there again as soon could.

While I was lost in my reverie, Morgan spoke.

"I see you've already broken in your new body, that explains the musty smell clinging to you." She said, chuckling. "I honestly thought you were going to fail and die as soon as you got close to Aria.”

"Why do you think so horribly of me?”

"So now what do you plan to do? Will you stay as Aria from now on or go ahead with your plan to get Eleanor?" Morgan asked. I could feel Morgan was probing me, genuinely curious about my response.

I thought about what my next step would be. I could indeed stay as Aria from now on, I would live comfortably with the fortune she has amassed as an adventurer. Also, from memory, Aria had been entrusted with the mission of learning more about the mundane world and broadening her horizons by her master, who ordered her not to return until she felt she had accomplished those goals. I was certain that no one would come looking for me to try to make me return to the north. Besides, I had grown fond of Aria in this short period. Now I was her, so it was a little difficult for me to leave her body just like that.

As I pondered, I commented this thought to Morgan who gave me a jovial chuckle. "You do know that all slime species can reproduce asexually, don't you?"

"Asexually?"

“Split to put it in layman's terms. You can create extensions of yourself to insert into other people."

"Wouldn't that be like having two me's?" I asked somewhat cautiously. I didn't want to have another version of me lurking in Eleanor's body. However, my concerns appeared to be unfounded.

"That won't happen, you only have one core, that's where everything about you is stored. So, your extensions can't create their own personalities. Where your core is, that's your main body. Let me give you an example." Morgan raised his index finger pointing to the ceiling.

And in a matter of seconds, one of the large steel cubicles magically opened, and out stepped a tall brown-haired woman wearing a beautiful and intricate suit of war armor. The strange woman stood beside Morgan, her expression was as neutral as a doll, and her eyes although lifeless stood out: one swampy brown and the other ocean blue.

"As you can see there is no second Morgan or anything like that, and if necessary..." Morgan snapped her fingers and I could see the life return to the woman's eyes.

"I'm Beatrix Von Lamia, nice to meet you, Aria Vanderwood."

"You can make them act by using the memories lodged in the host's brain."

"I'll teach you the method, but I'll warn you at once that it will take you at least a week to learn how to create an extension.”

With that, she looked at me waiting for my decision. There was no reason to refuse so I accepted immediately.