Dusty, the Earth Slime, was a dull, brownish-yellow color. In stark contrast to Flarie, Dusty was clunky, heavy, and incredibly lethargic. It rolled slowly, painfully slowly, to Ewan's side and rubbed its gelatinous body against his shoe.
[This dirt...] Dusty transmitted, its mental voice slow and gravelly: [It's too hard, Brother. No yummy smells at all. It's all dry and scratchy. Lying on it hurts my back.]
"Exactly." Ewan nodded, squatting down to be at eye level with the colorful blobs: "I want to grow vegetables here, but with the soil like this, any plant we put down will die. So, I need you guys to help me rebuild the foundation. Can you do that?"
Ewan pointed to a square patch of land he had mentally marked out earlier. It was about four square meters, located in a spot that received the optimal amount of sunlight.
"The first mission belongs to you, Shiny." Ewan said, looking at the metallic-hued Slime: "I need you to scan this area. Look closely. The soil is mixed with a lot of iron filings, rusted nails from old constructions, and sharp mineral ores. I need you to dive in there and suck all of that out for me. Gather it all into a pile in that corner over there. Plants hate having their roots cut, so we need the dirt clean."
Shiny, the Metal Slime, puffed up its chest, or what passed for a chest, exuding an air of confidence. To a Metal Slime, this wasn't work. It was a feast.
[Is that all?] Shiny scoffed playfully: [Collecting metal scrap? I'll have that done in a heartbeat. Just you watch, Brother!]
As soon as it finished broadcasting its thought, Shiny transformed. Its round body flattened out, stretching and thinning until it resembled a small, metallic flying saucer or a sleek robotic vacuum. It didn't dig; instead, it began to glide smoothly just above the surface of the ground.
A powerful, concentrated magnetic field erupted from its body.
As Shiny hovered over the designated patch, the ground began to tremble slightly. Without the need for a shovel or a pickaxe, the laws of physics bent to the elemental's will. Buried deep beneath inches of compacted crust, jagged shards of scrap metal, rusted bolts, and needle-like iron filings began to vibrate. Suddenly, they tore through the dirt, shooting upward to clamp firmly onto Shiny's underbelly like iron filings flying toward a super-magnet.
Clink, clank, snap.
The sounds of metal hitting metal rang out rhythmically as Shiny swept back and forth, effectively vacuuming the earth of its metallic impurities. The "dead soil" was being purged, one layer at a time.
While Shiny was busy acting as a high-powered electromagnet, effectively extracting the metallic impurities from the designated patch, Ewan turned his attention to Flarie. The Fire Slime was practically vibrating with pent-up energy, bouncing in place like a rubber ball filled with hot air, eager for his turn in the spotlight.
"Flarie, you're up next." Ewan announced, his tone shifting to one of serious instruction: "But listen to me carefully. I need absolute precision here. I need you to exercise strict thermal control. This soil is ancient, cold, and riddled with dormant, harmful fungal spores and bacteria. I need you to follow in Shiny's wake and raise the temperature of the earth."
Ewan leaned in, locking eyes, or what passed for eyes, with the fiery blob: "Your mission is to sterilize the soil and incinerate the remaining root systems of these invasive weeds until they are nothing but ash. But, and this is crucial, you are only to heat it. Do not, under any circumstances, overheat it to the point where you fuse the silica and turn my garden bed into a giant block of terracotta brick. Do you understand?"
Flarie puffed himself up, expanding its gelatinous body until he looked like a fiery balloon. It was indignant that his competence was being questioned.
[You worry too much, Big Brother! I am not a baby spark anymore!] Flarie projected his thoughts loudly, the mental voice crackling with the sound of popping embers: [I possess sophisticated thermal regulation capabilities! I know how to control my output!]
With a huff of determination, Flarie rolled onto the patch of land that Shiny had just cleared of metal debris. It began to radiate a steady, controlled wave of thermal energy. It wasn't the destructive rage of a wildfire, but a calculated, baking heat.
Almost immediately, the ground began to respond. Wisps of white steam and darker smoke curled upwards into the afternoon air. The sharp, acrid smell of ozone mixed with the earthy scent of baking clay and the distinct aroma of singed vegetation. Deep within the soil, the invisible enemies of agriculture, the dormant larvae of pests, the spores of rot, and the seeds of choking weeds, were swiftly and ruthlessly neutralized by the permeating heat.
Once the sterilization phase was complete, it was time for the most physically demanding part of the operation: soil conditioning.
Ewan turned his gaze to the remaining duo, Dusty and Bubbly: "Alright, you two need to work in perfect tandem. This is a synchronization exercise."
He pointed to the hardened, baked earth: "Dusty, you are the vanguard. I want you to dive subterranean. Churn the earth from the bottom up. Where the soil is impacted and compressed, I need you to pulverize it. Break the molecular bonds that make it like stone."
Ewan then looked at the shimmering blue Water Slime: "Bubbly, you are the support. Follow directly in Dusty's slipstream. As he breaks the earth, you inject a fine mist of moisture into the micro-fissures. The soil is parched and hot from Flarie's treatment. If you hydrate it now, the water will permeate deep into the core structure, rather than just sitting on the surface."
Dusty and Bubbly bounced enthusiastically, their bodies jiggling with delight at being given a purpose. They rolled over to the demarcation line Ewan had drawn in the dirt.
The operation commenced. Dusty performed his signature move, phasing through the solid surface and vanishing underground. Instantly, the ground began to tremble and shift, rippling as if a giant, invisible mole was tunneling frantically beneath the surface. Stubborn clods of hardpan soil were heaved upward, shattering into loose, workable crumbs under the Earth Slime's influence.
Right on his heels, Bubbly glided over the churning earth. The Water Slime didn't just dump water, it released a sophisticated, high-pressure fog from its body. The mist clung to the freshly turned soil particles, cooling them down and binding the dust into rich, moist granules.