Shizu was gone now—gone, after giving me one final goal to strive for.
Up to now, I had largely taken things as they'd arrived, fighting to keep my head above water.
Now, though, I had a motivation to gather some intel on this "demon lord" guy.
With Fubuki here, though, I'm pretty sure much intel would be received.
It was a job I readily accepted,
but it was also a promise. And I'm a man who keeps his promises.
Besides, I wasn't empty-handed.
She left me with a few new
abilities—the unique skill 『Deviant』 and the extra skill Control Flame.
Oh, right. I ate Ifrit, too, didn't I?
He wasn't much of a match for me, but it turned out he was a tough character—rated beyond an A, in fact.
There is no way some snake or
wolf could handle him, to be sure, given that none of their attacks could even faze him.
It took a lot to make it past an A, and now I could see why.
There was still a lot of research to be done on my abilities. But!
Before that! There was something even more important I needed to
check up on.
That's right—transforming into an actual person!
I ventured inside the new tent the hobgobs had set up for me,
making doubly sure to have all visitors turned away before I closed the door.
Heh-heh-heh… Hah-hah…
Ah-ha-ha-ha-hah! Three levels of
laughing, and then…
Rimuru: 「…Transform!」
It wasn't accompanied by any cool sound effects, but I executed
Mimic: Human on myself nonetheless. But…
…Huh? Whoa, whoa, whoa.
There was none of the usual black smoke I was expecting. What the heck?
I thought, as I realized that my field of vision was only a little higher than usual.
I had grown arms and legs, and my usual light-blue shade had
morphed into a flesh tone.
Hmmmm? I wasn't sure what had happened, but something told
me, it wasn't what I had planned.
I didn't have a mirror on hand,
which was a pain.
But—I kinda didn't want to admit it, but I actually was familiar with this form after all.
It was from a long time ago, maybe thirty years or so.
This was how the world looked to me back when I was still bumbling around in elementary school.
Hang on a second. I was too excited to notice at first, but there was one key difference.
It wasn't there. My should-have-been newly born manhood, that is, which I was expecting to see down below. It wasn't there!
What the hell? I internally shuddered as I took another close look at my crotch.
It only confirmed the worst. It was as smooth as the hypothetical baby's bottom.
Thinking back, this wasn't something I had bothered to check upon when transforming into other monster types.
But I supposed it made sense. If I never had to eliminate waste from my body, what use would I have for the associated organs?
Are you dumb? Of course, I've gotta screw the ladies!!
If it isn't there, then, then I wouldn't be able to fulfill God's wish!
If I can't even do that, what's the point of living.
Being a virgin in two lifetimes?! This is the ultimate punishment!!
—And I...*Endless Blabberings*
◇◇◇
Alright, I've calmed down a bit, but the thought of it still brings back the depression.
Still though, if I didn't need to
reproduce—(I was still fuzzy on that), then why bother with genitals at all?
That was just who I was now, was all. It was strangely convincing,
even as it drove me into a deep sense of mourning.
Suddenly, I was taken by an urge to touch the top of my head. I felt soft hair up there. It made me breathe a sigh of relief.
Good, I'm not bald...
At least I wasn't shaped like a space alien! That's a step forward! And, come to think of it, I was a giant ball of fur in wolf form.
I don't even want to imagine what that'd look like without hair. Nope. That's a dangerous line of thought.
Really, though, I thought I'd keep a cooler head than this. Why was I letting myself get in such a panic?
I'd just have to accept the truth
about what happened down there. There's nothing there…
It was hard to swallow, but at least I wasn't a slime any longer.
Too bad I can't check up on my whole body, I thought. What
about the『Replication』skill I just picked up from Ifrit?
Seemed like a nice idea.
Good job, me. I didn't know if it'd work, but it was worth a
shot.
Black mist darted out of my body, forming a human figure in front
of me.
Looked like it was a success after all. It was completed in an
instant, only to reveal—
—Oh, crap. Bad news. First off, my appearance.
The hair was a silvery gray with a light tinge of blue to it, topping off a pair of wide-open eyes and a charming, young… Feminine? Masculine?
The lack of genitals made it fairly irrelevant, but in terms of appearance, I looked closer to a girl than a boy.
This was probably thanks to Shizu; there were no features
that I could identify as my own.
But it wasn't a perfect recreation of Shizu's genes, either.
The hair color was one thing, but the golden eyes were quite another.
Veldora and Fubuki both had gold eyes, too, which was a common trait among the higher monsters, perhaps.
And hang on, didn't Ranga's eyes go from a blood red to gold as well?
Although they also changed depending on his excitement level.
Still, maybe they changed because of my influence on him as his name giver.
Either way, nothing about this form was from me. In this world,
the only thing that was truly mine was my soul, it seemed.
This was mostly Shizu, and man, she must've been one darling little girl…
My skin was tremendously smooth, too, with none of the rubbery
bounciness of my slime form.
Is it just me, or am I blushing? Nope, don't even think 'bout it.
So this cute girl was just standing there in front of me, butt naked.
Not that there was anything that really required hiding, but it still presented certain ethical issues.
If the police existed here, which they didn't, I'd be in serious trouble.
Like, "FBI! GET IN THE GROUND!!"
But that face was cute. I had to hand it to Shizu. She was blessed
with a lot of gifts.
I wasn't too hideous when I was young, either, but nobody would ever describe me as beautiful, no matter how much I padded my memories.
I really have to thank her, I thought to myself as I wrapped a
blanket around my body, taking the time to hand one to my
doppelgänger.
Now I really needed to figure out some clothing.
All right. Almost not at all. One big difference was my copy's
capacity for magicules—it held only whatever I cast upon it when
creating it, although I was free to "install" more inside if I wanted to.
I had a fair amount of magic to work with, so depending on the
application, I could probably do a lot with it.
The other issue was that while Ifrit could generate ten or so copies without breaking a sweat,
my Replication skills were so intricate and detail oriented that a single copy was the best I could manage.
Still, I could make a copy of myself with all the same attack and defense abilities.
Any foe who ran into this skill would think I was cheating.
The third and final—"oh, crap" reason: the way it seemed so breezily natural to me, taking this form.
That was something I noticed when I realized no dark mist had surrounded my body.
Take my black wolf form, for instance.
I definitely used the mist to create that form, although it made for weaker results compared to my slime self.
It was hard to notice thanks to the limited movement available to a form without limbs, but a slime's cells were powerful things—each one could serve as a muscle cell or a brain cell or a nerve cell.
See the streamlining effect this makes?
"Seeing things with the eyes, relaying the information to the nervous system, bringing it to the brain"—I could skip all of that.
Even without the Sage's upgrading effects, my reaction speed was far above the average person's.
Transforming with the black mist, however, created a slight time
lag between thinking something and moving my body in reaction to it.
That, I figured, was what made the replication "inferior," if anything, to the real thing.
As for this mist-free human transformation?
You guessed it—it had the exact same reaction speed as my regular
slime form.
No wonder it felt so natural. Having limbs also improved
my mobility immensely.
Even in child form, it was so much easier to get around than as a slime, although it'd tired me out more quickly.
The biggest thing, though, was that the lack of black-mist usage
meant turning human cost me zero magic.
Talk about convenient! I figured I'd be taking this form for most of my future activity.
It was time to try something else. I gave an order to my replica—and it was a totally smooth process, just like moving my own body.
Black mist welled around it…and the copy began maturing! A trim
figure; long, flowing gray hair; and an androgynous sort of
appearance.
Perfect! I could then mold this figure to look more feminine or masculine—go all macho, or obese, or in the prime of my life or elderly.
As I soon discovered, I could transform into all kinds of figures—using magic to cover for anything I didn't have, just like with monster transformations.
That might be a good way to give me some more strength as a human.
It hurt my reaction times, but the bigger I was, the more powerful it'd make me.
Speed was the most important element of any battle, I knew, but striking a good balance was something I could experiment with in the days to come.
◇◇◇
Peace had returned to the village, and the hobgoblins had been acting remarkably calm and composed despite the Ifrit attack that leveled the place.
The biggest surprise, I suppose, was how much of a born leader Rigurd, my newly appointed goblin king, turned out to be.
Much more than I would've guessed.
He had done a splendid job leading the work teams as they rebuilt the village while I watched after Shizu.
Among Kaijin, the three dwarf brothers, and the four goblin lords, everyone seemed to be sticking to their duties, working
efficiently for the other villagers.
Really, I didn't need to do much besides offer a couple of words of advice.
Overseeing our food supply was Rigur, whenever he wasn't busy handling security.
Garm, oldest of the dwarves, was responsible for clothing; Dold, the next oldest, for making tools; and Mildo, the youngest, for home construction.
All production was overseen by Kaijin, while Lilina, one of the goblin lords, managed our inventory of completed goods—that's how I figured we'd split the responsibility.
The remaining goblin lords—Rugurd, Regurd, and Rogurd—became my ministers of justice, legislation, and administration, respectively, all aiding Rigurd
with keeping the local government together.
The Minister of Legislation thing sounds like a highfalutin job, but all it really involved was taking whatever I blurted out and trying to turn it into coherent law.
Simple, really. These were more intelligent monsters than before, but they were still monsters.
When someone stronger than them was around, they listened,
mostly.
So, for the time being, everything was going pretty smoothly.
There are no big problems on the road to building a new country.
As for Fubuki, he had officially announced his departure back to the Dwarven Kingdom to make an official meeting with the King.
He had a score to settle; at least, that's how he put it.
It was something he said he needed to do, one that would benefit us greatly in the future, so we all sent him off with happy smiles.
Most of us did. What about me, you ask?
"Good riddance!"—was my honest thought.
With the way he put it, I thought it was gonna take a few months for him to arrive, but—the hell?
He came back a day after!
I asked for the details, but he decided to keep me in the dark.
Big guys stick together, I guess.
But I had other things on my mind anyway. I had this human body now, and I wasn't too hot on draping rough animal pelts over it.
So I decided to have someone make me some proper clothes.
Being a slime had proven to be quite useful, here and there, but it had its disadvantages.
Apart from certain magical items, I was unable to wear any armor or, you know, grip a weapon.
And slimehood itself didn't suck, but being "naked" (so to speak) could potentially lead to problems.
What if I got a paper cut on a leaf or twig or something as I was going through the forest, and then some kind of poison or virus infected me?
It pays to be careful, and I figured some actual armor would assuage any anxiety I had about that.
I had just about given up on it unless I was able to find just the right magic item, but now that I could turn into a human, the world was my oyster—and the dwarves were making all kinds of stuff from the magical ingredients they seized from
monsters after a hunt.
So I paid a visit to Garm, hoping to at least acquire a child's-size outfit.
He was stationed at our little clothing factory, a log cabin that had come into being when I wasn't paying attention, and he was overseeing a small team of goblinas as they sew away.
Rimuru: 「Yo, Garm! I could use some clothing for myself.」
Garm: 「Uh, you sure about that, boss? How are you planning to wear it?」
Rimuru: 「Heh-heh-heh…heh-heh… Haaaa-ha-ha-ha! That's what you've got to say?
If you think I was planning to be a slime forever, you've got another thing coming, man! Haaaahhhh!!」(transformed into his humanoid form).
Garm: 「Wh-wha?! You're…growing…? Well, not too much actually, huh? Were you a child all along, or…?」
Rimuru: 「Sheesh, I was hoping for a little more shock and awe… Oh well.
I can be full-size, too, but this is a lot easier. So, back to the topic at hand, could you make an outfit that'd fit?」
Garm: 「Oh, sure, sure. Mind if I take some measurements? Hey, Haruna, let's get the boss all measured up!」
I was naked, of course, but I didn't let that bother me as Haruna, the goblina, came up with a measuring rope.
I was just a child, after all, and my body was genderless.
Haruna: 「Oh my!」 she exclaimed, blushing a little. 「You've become so cute, my lord!」
Cute? I mean, I personally thought so, yes, but did that still apply when it was a goblin's worldview?
And for that matter, did monsters have aesthetic standards like mine?
If you went way down the food chain, they were related to
fairies, so perhaps their tastes were closer to mine than I gave them credit for.
So Haruna measured me, Garm told me to come back in a few days, and that was it.
Having nothing more pressing to do, I decided to test out the skills I had obtained a bit ago.
◇◇◇
If I wanted to play with my new toys in peace, I needed someplace where people wouldn't show up and bother me.
I could only experiment so much
inside my own tent, which prevented me from unleashing too much power.
So I told Rigurd I'd be out, ordered him to make sure nobody followed me, and moved off—from the center of the village to the Sealed Cave.
It was the place I first met Veldora and Fubuki, inside Veldora's vast underground space—pretty sturdily built and completely devoid of other people.
Even the cave's monsters didn't
dare draw near, as they were still so afraid at even the thought of Veldora.
Once I arrived, I got straight to business.
Consuming Shizu had earned me the
unique skill Deviant and the extra skill Flame Manipulation, both attacks that were already heavily associated with her in my memories.
Beyond that, I had Ifrit's trio of moves: Replication, Flame Transformation, and Ranged Barrier.
I had already used Replication to check out my human form, so that seemed to work well enough.
So what to try first? Might as well start with Ifrit this time. First off, Flame Transformation.
Oops! Turns out that doesn't work in slime form.
That wasn't the first time a skill was shut away from me due to some sort of incompatibility.
I was starting to wonder what the reasoning for that was.
«Understood. Ifrit is a spirit, a being who lives off spiritual energy. Its Flame Transform uses its own body as a source of magical energy to unleash its full force. It thus can not be used while in physical form.»
Mmm? So I can't cast it if I'm still made of flesh or whatever?
Would it work if I went into black-mist mode and gave myself a magical body, then? Let's try it
out.
I turned myself into Ifrit and attempted to use it.
This time, it worked without problem, although my core—the thing that houses me—didn't seem to transform at all.
So I needed to be a magical girl, then, to make it work. But that didn't mean I had to turn into Ifrit himself, necessarily, right?
I turned myself into a grown figure and tried Flame Transform once more.
This time, flame extended out from the tips of my fingers and toes.
That seemed to prove it.
I couldn't work it very much in regular form, but if I temporarily made myself magical in style, at least I could manage the Flame Transform well enough.
And at temperatures upward of 1,200 degrees Celsius, too, just like Ifrit.
What's more, I could focus the magic on particular areas for extra heat.
As an attack, it seemed pretty powerful.
The only issue was that I'd have to use it inside a barrier; otherwise, the energy outflow would be so huge I'd immediately drain myself of magic.
It was hard to regulate. I'd need some more practice.
That brought me to Ranged Barrier.
This skill locked the heat of flames within a barrier, which I presumed prevented heat energy from leaking out—and, as my theory went, allowed spirits to manifest themselves for longer without wasting magic.
Another unique property was that it contained certain physical
durability, in case you wanted to keep anyone inside the barrier.
I thought of ways I could use this.
The largest barrier I could make with it extended out in a semicircle three hundred feet or so in diameter, although it didn't affect anything beneath the ground's surface.
I could shrink it down until it was covering nothing but my own body, which didn't reduce its effect at all and kept magic consumption at a minimum.
This free control meant I could
wear it like a sort of light protective layer.
It could also prevent magic leakage during a Flame Transform—not that it would be much help, given that the flames never went beyond the barrier itself.
So was heat leakage kind of like losing energy?
Was that the reason it sapped
my magic?
«Understood. Flame Transform consumes magicules and generates warmth in order to preserve a certain level of heat.
The conversion of magic to heat means that leakage of either one essentially causes the same result.»
All right. I think I understand a little.
So if I keep the flames locked inside the seal, I don't have to waste any energy because it'll stay active without any further work?
I'm pretty sure what I learned in physics class on Earth said
something a tad different, but—hey—Newton didn't have to theorize anything about magic over there.
He had it easy compared to me. If I started asking questions like "How does it fully enclose the fire?" or "Won't it burn out once it consumes all the oxygen in the barrier?"
I wouldn't get anywhere in this world.
I guess I could ask the so-called genius, but he's nowhere to be seen.
So, as for the–
Fubuki: 「Hey Rimuru, I was searching for you! Why'd ya leave the village?
Now I'm being asked to test out some goblin clothes that I absolutely do not appreciate!」
Speaking of the devil (literally), here he is.
Rimuru: 「Well, someone's getting feisty. I came here to test out a few of my skills. They're so cool!!」
Fubuki: 「Hmm? For someone who ate a woman whole, you're in a rather blissful mood. You sure do love to eat anything in the world.」
Rimuru: 「I'm not… you know what, forget it.」
Fubuki: 「Hmph! At least you know your place. Well, show me what you've got.」
Now, that's something I can deal with.
Well, for now, the 『Flame Transformation 』 wasn't as important as the 『Ranged Barrier』 as a form of self-defense.
Would that work if I had it cover me alone, a form I decided to just call my Barrier for brevity's sake?
I had the perfect skill to test that with. Yep: Time for another 『Replication』.
I had been a little reticent to test certain aspects of my skill set, just in case I damaged myself in the process, but with my 『Replication』 skill, an efficient answer was provided.
My copies, after all, had the exact same abilities I did, except for the unique skills.
Those were exclusive to me, I guess, and while I could have my
copies use those while they were close by, once they went out of my sight, that was it for uniques.
All except for my consuming skills, which were closely
entwined enough with my slime identity that even my copies could use them a little.
As long as I was half a mile or so away from my copies, I had full control over them.
Anything beyond that, and they wouldn't be able to parse anything except for very simple commands.
I still had an insight into their line of view, however, and my Thought Communication skill let me give new commands anytime I wanted.
The perfect spy tool, in other words, but that was beside the
point of this test run.
So I created a clone of myself and cast a barrier on it. Then I shot one of my water blades at it.
It was sharp as a knife—I could see that much as it ripped through the air—but it shattered into nothing in front of my copy.
A perfect block by the Barrier. Pretty strong, then. It's just like I expected.
I then tried practicing to see if I could fire off water blades while keeping the barrier on myself.
That turned out to be simpler than I thought. I just had to
create a little jet shooter out of my finger and fire away.
These shots, in turn, would be enclosed in their own miniature barrier, a bit like a large soap bubble splitting into two smaller ones.
These tiny force fields expanded the Blades' strength, and range was another unexpected benefit.
Fubuki: 「You know, if the water blade could be enclosed with the barrier, how about manipulating the barrier's overall incisivity?
That'd further increase its resistance against air pressure, and its sharpness and sturdiness would also be multiplied.」
Wow. That's actually a really cool idea! I guess he can be cool when he needs to be.
But wait, let's try it out.
All I need to do is activate the water blade skill, use the magicules within me to reform the barrier's perimeter, and then—*Swoosh*—!!
It worked! It was the fastest my water blade skill had ever moved!
It actually managed to destroy the clone!
Rimuru: 「Ha-ha-hahaha-ha! Thanks a bunch! Did you see that?!」
Fubuki: 「Yup. Color me impressed. You actually succeeded upon your first shot.」
Rimuru: 「Hehe. We're geniuses, after all.」
Fubuki: 「Heh. You're damn right. (Fuck off, sticky. I'm the true genius!)」
Rimuru: 「Eh? You thought of something rude, didn't you?」
Fubuki: 「And you called me the one with "women's intuition."」
He… He didn't even bother to deny it…
I then knew that it would be pointless to point it out. So, I simply ignored him.
The testing continued with Poisonous Breath and Paralyzing Breath, and along the way, I realized that taking damage while under a barrier consumed my
magic.
Not with Paralyzing Breath—the Barrier did a fine job absorbing that—but Poison Mist drained it immediately, dismantling the whole barrier once the magic was gone.
Of course, this also meant that as long as I charged up the
Barrier with enough magic, it would provide some temporary poison protection.
I applied more magic to the next barrier and placed it on my clone.
A few more shots of Poison Mist confirmed it—the more magic I laid on, the longer the Barrier would hold up.
It proved to be pretty damn durable, in fact.
Even more so if the Barrier was covering the original instead of a clone, I assumed, to the point that Poison Mist–style attacks were likely nothing to worry about.
Now that's armor I could count on.
The final experiment of the day involved using Flame Transform alongside 『Ranged Barrier』. The results were…fascinating.
Damn right it' an A-rank. At least.
Now that's solid.
A Flame Transformation inside a Flare Circle barrier would expose anything organic inside the barrier to several thousand degrees of heat, scorching them instantly.
Being confined to a restricted space did wonders for the attack's strength.
It cooked the very air itself, robbing it of all oxygen and searing the lungs of its victims before they knew what had happened.
Any creature who breathed air
would face little chance of survival.
I didn't have to worry about breathing, of course, and my Resist Temperature tolerance would take care of me anyway.
For anyone else, though, it was a
death sentence. In a way, it was a relief.
Without a body that just happened to be so adaptable to Ifrit's attacks, my chances of victory would have been pretty slim.
Fubuki: 「Hmm, with your flames, I think you should also learn how to compress them to a point where some radiations are emitted.
All I mean is that you should try to compress it to the limit.
That way, if you preferred quantified damage over localized destruction, you'd be able to get the desired result twofold.」
I see. Simply put, super compressed balls of energy would deal more concentrated damage than wide area destruction.
Rimuru: 「Wouldn't that make it easy to evade?」
Fubuki: 「That's why you'd need to pay constant attention when battling an oponent.」
Ah, that actually makes sense.
Rimuru: 「I see. Thanks for the help!」
Fubuki: 「You're welcome. If you're done, we could head back.」
The experiments bore a lot more fruit than expected. Nothing I
could've learned inside my own tent; I would've torched the village immediately.
Happy with the results, I returned to the village with Fubuki.
I didn't need sleep, but replenishing my magicule stores was vital, and rest was the best way to do that.
I'd had enough of being forced into sleep mode, and it was never a good idea to overdo things anyway.
There is no need to panic. I had all the time in the world.
◇◇◇
We got back to the village and had a little banquet (not really).
It was just recently that I found out—"Oh shit, I can taste stuff!"
Well, the discovery was really pleasant, so a party was held.
After the crazy night, I decided to head back to the cave to continue my tests.
This time, I made sure to drag a whining Fubuki along.
No matter how you look at it, he was a great help.
He could spam up crazy ideas like shit without even breaking a sweat.
I could endure his antics as long as he proved useful.
Today, I wanted to try my hand at some 『Flame Manipulation』 maneuvers.
It was, as one would expect, an extra skill to control flame.
You could build up your body's temperature and the ambient heat in the palm of your hand, focus
it on a single fingertip, or just whip up a campfire on the ground wherever you liked, no actual wood or kindling required.
That, however, was it. Hence, why it's an extra skill. Nothing that powerful.
I couldn't, like, set my finger on fire or shoot flames from my palms.
I thought I could maybe release the heat from my fingertip like a sci-fi laser rifle, but I was
sorely disappointed.
And forget about triggering explosions like Shizu did with
ease.
She was probably fusing this with some of her own magic to do that.
Hang on. Fusing with magic…?
Suddenly, the Flame Transformation I had worked on the day before came to mind.
Back there, I had changed my "form" into a grown adult and infused my own body with that skill—but as I'd thought about it overnight, I realized I could try
working Flame Transformation on my internal magic stores instead.
For spirit beings, Flame Transformation turned their "body" into energy waves, but I figured there was no rule that said I had to use it that way.
For example, what if I released some magic and worked Flame Transformation on that?
And if I could then take the results over with Control Flame…
«Received. It is possible to combine the 『Mimic』 aspect of your『Predator』unique skill, 『Flame Transformation』, the extra skill『Flame Manipulation』, and the unique skill 『Deviant』. Execute? [Yes]/[No]»
Hee-hee-heeeee. Just like I thought. "Yes" it is, then.
It was pretty surprising to find this unexpected quirk of 『Deviant』, before I even had a
chance to fully examine it.
I felt like I'd been introduced to some new kink—a bit guiltily, but at the same time, I was just beginning to realize the extent of this new world.
«Report. 『Flame Transformation』 and the extra skills『Flame Manipulation』 and 『Water Manipulation』 will disappear following the combination.
In its place, you will have earned 『Dark Flame』 and the extra skill 『Molecular Manipulation』.
『Thermal Fluctuation Resistance』 will also evolve into 『Thermal Fluctuation Nullification』. This will eliminate the extra skill 『Flame Attack Nullification』.»
I gave the order, and the Sage did the rest. The results let me earn a new skill far more easily than I would've guessed.
Losing Water Manipulation along the way was a regret, but I figured it was because I could do the same thing with Molecular Manipulation well enough.
Time to try 'em out.
Dark Flame was a skill that let me release flames from my body whenever I focused my internal magic force.
I created a field of magic, transformed it into flame, then launched it away—thus, creating fire from thin air.
I could also adjust the temperature based on how much magic I used.
If I wanted to grab someone's head and immediately encase it in flames, it'd be possible (albeit a tad toasty).
If I wanted to focus the flames on my palm and shoot them off, no problem.
Basically, I pictured it as gathering a bunch of magicules in a single place, setting them on fire, then releasing—somewhat like how my『Water Blade』 worked.
On that matter…
Rimuru: 「Think quick! 『Dark Flame』!!」
I fired a shot of this at an unsuspecting Fubuki.
He was dozing off instead of being helpful, so I figured he'd need a little "warm up"—as I like to call it.
It immediately burst into flame—and judging by how intense the heat wave was, it had to be pushing 1,500 degrees again, about the same as with Flame Transformation.
What a weapon I've stumbled upon.
I could probably get it even hotter, depending on how much
magic I crammed into it, and if I worked it on a larger scale, maybe I could trigger an even larger explosion.
Better practice that. Never know when I might need it.
On the other hand…
Fubuki: 「Oi! What was that for?!」
Rimuru: 「Be useful!」
Now that I think of it, he took the full brunt of the attack head-on; no barrier whatsoever.
How tough is his body? I mean, look at that smooth pale skin.
Judging appearance-wise, one could easily imagine a sheet of paper doing actual damage to his skin.
But, but, the flames… The were searing-hot. I mean, the surface of the boulder he was seated on was actually melting.
He got up from the boulder (molten larva or whatever) and looked at me with twitching eyes.
Fubuki: 「You think puny breeze like that could affect me? Le'mme show you the true stuff!」
Now, now, what nonsense was he spouting?
Fubuki: 「"Burn, 'O great primordial flames of hell".『Infernal Holocaust』!!」
Hmm? Eh? Oi, wait, wait, wha—?! What the—shit!!
Rimuru: 「Hey! Turn it off! Hey now! No, no, no, I said off!! Damn it, off, offff!!! Not the other way around, jerk!!」
Even with the distance, the effect took place.
My『Ranged Barrier』was useless in the face of this monstrosity.
We were approximately twenty meters apart, and even so, the intense heat waves hit me.
I felt my humanoid form falling apart into slime particles, and it was as if my molecular bonds were breaking apart. (Not really).
The wicked violet light shone, and for the first time in a while, I was really under the bus.
"That's not fire anymore!!"—was the only poor excuse I could give.
Fubuki: 「Urgh, fine. You're no fun…」
Rimuru: 「Fun? Fun!?! Don't fuck with me, girly-boy!! What was that?! Was that even magic?!」
Fubuki: 「It's the supreme magic of them all. Watching you lads playing with candy got me bored to death, so I figured a little spice would do.」
Spice, huh. That was indeed spicey. Right…
Fubuki: 「This is the level of magic I deal with, so make sure to catch up to me so that we'd have a great time together.」
Rimuru: 「Not letting up, huh?」
Fubuki: 「You wouldn't understand either way, of course.」
I see. Well, I'm not gonna ponder about it for long. I guess I reaped the result of my scheme.
Now I could work my flames however I wanted without thinking too deeply about it, and I suppose I had Molecular Manipulation to thank for that.
Working the magicules around me allowed me to control the paths of other molecules in the air, creating heat from the resulting friction.
Since I was controlling magic to move these particles around, I could boost the temperature simply by using a little more force.
It had come all too easily, but Molecular Manipulation was a fearsome tool to add to my arsenal.
The Great Sage attempted to explain the ability over the course of several minutes, using all kinds of unfamiliar gibberish and logic, but I cut it off.
It was indecipherable, a total waste of time. I figured it would handle the details for me anyway.
More interesting was that now I could apparently control the very air molecules around me.
My understanding of Dark Flame was that it transformed magicules into flame to create searing temperatures, but if I could make any sort of molecules rub against one another for similar effects, could I use that to create electricity, perhaps?
Like, say, what if I linked Dark Lightning up with Molecular Manipulation…?
«Received. It is possible to link Dark Lightning with the extra skill Molecular Manipulation. Execute? [Yes]/[No]»
Looks like I was right. Yes, I thought to myself—and with that, the skill 『Dark Thunder』 was mine.
This, by and large, gave me access to Dark Lightning–type
skills without the need to transform my body into a Twilight Starwolf, as well as adjust its strength to some extent.
The wolves could use the dual horns on their heads to fine-tune the intensity and range of their attacks, but Dark Thunder
eliminated the need for all that.
I tried summoning some electricity between my thumb and pointer.
An arc of bluish-white energy danced between them.
Just like with Dark Lightning, I could freely control its size and force with the amount of supernatural energy and magicules I used—from a light, paralyzing jolt to a vaporizing thunderclap.
Honestly, this Molecular Manipulation stuff was getting a little godlike.
It was nothing all that exciting by itself, but when paired with other skills, it turned into a
juggernaut.
From the Sage's explanation, Shizu's unique skill Deviant had the functions of 『Synthesize』and 『Separate』.
As you can imagine,『Synthesize』 allowed me to transform two different things into a single target whilst『Separate』released the properties inherent to the target and made it into a separate object.
I already knew that『Synthesize』 could be applied to skills, leading to all manner of other combinations. Perhaps it could be combined with magic as well?
Maybe fusing flame and wind to create hurricanes?
Or maybe I could give magical effects to weapons and trigger a special attack with just a little magic force?
But really, Synthesize was the biggest prize with Deviant.
I was planning to take a lot of skills from a lot of monsters going forward, and seeing what kind of things I could create from them was already getting me excited.
I decided to wrap up that day's session with a few Thermal Fluctuation Nullification tests.
Temperature covered both fire and ice, I supposed, and considering even Thermal Fluctuation Resistance was enough to handle Ifrit's mega-charged fire, having an upgraded version should handle most attacks tossed my way.
Anything short of being launched into the sun like a slingshot, at least.
With what I was told from Fubuki just now, it was possible to apply one's own resistances-type abilities and nullification-type abilities to their defensive mechanisms.
I tried it out by creating a clone, coating the clone with my barrier skill, and applying the Flame Attack Nullification ability to it.
I then hurdled my 『Dark Flame』 skill towards the clone, and the barrier successfully blocked the heat.
I tried it without the nullification-type skill, and it completely destroyed the barrier, although my clone was still safe.
With that, the Sage made sure to have this effect constantly active.
Between all these resistances and my barrier, I figured I could rest easy when it came to my own defenses.
Better not forget to link all this stuff with the Barrier first, though.
«Received. 『Ranged Barrier』 is now linked with your resistances. Relaunch as『Multilayer Barrier』? [Yes/[No]»
As it turned out, I couldn't create a single barrier with lots of different effects applied to it, but I was free to create multiple barriers with one resistance effect each.
So "yes" it was, once again, and the moment I thought it, I could feel a thin, colorless, invisible coating come over me.
It was a multilayered barrier, consisting of several layers but still so thin that my Magic Sense skill could only barely spot it.
It didn't require much magic energy to keep going, either—once
it was summoned.
It barely consumed any at all, far less than I could naturally
recover by myself.
Another great success for today, then.
There were still some potential skill combinations I wanted to work my mind around, but for now, I had done more than enough.
I had gained more offense and defense, and as I departed the
cavern, I felt more than satisfied.
With my practice session wrapping up for the day, I dragged Fubuki back to the village.
I mean, the barbecues were waiting for us (me), so it's not like we'll (I'll) keep them waiting.
◇◇◇
Rimuru had finished his skill practice session, so we ended up leaving the cavern.
He was more of a skill person, whilst I preferred to deal with magic.
If he ever gets strong enough to reach my level, we'll be the perfect combat duo.
Rimuru: 「Life's gotten better ever since my sense of taste returned! Let's have an eating competition when we get back!」
Fubuki: 「Hehehe. Sure thing, buddy. You're dealing with a glutton, man. You better watch your food.」
Rimuru: 「Heh, you're on, man. You're dealing with a predator, dude. You better watch your back.」
On our way out, I had a score to settle.
So let me get this straight, you want my permission to perform some alterations on my skill set.
「Exactly. I was inspired by Rimuru's use of various skills that I decided to try out a few.」
Good. Here's my condition: You are to tell me exactly what you intend to do.
「...A surprise?」
Nope, not gonna work. I'm not some candy-obsessed kid.
「*Sigh*—Your unique skills. I was going to get rid of them.」
Seriously?! Why, though? I think they've been pretty useful.
「All I can say is thay it is absolutely necessary for me to do so.」
Eh? Hmm… Sure. As long as you think it's important, sure.
Just make sure to cover the missing skills up with magic or art.
「Heh. I don't think that will be necessary.」
I see…why does that sound so suspiciou–
VOTW: 「Confirmed. Unique Skill 『Soul Lord』 attempting evolution using 『Gluttony』 as sacrifice… Successful. Unique Skill『Soul Lord』has evolved into the Ultimate Skill:『Lord of Lost Souls: Enma』.」
....Eh?
VOTW: 「Continuing evolution… Confirmed. Unique Skill『Ultimate Authority』 attempting evolution using『Enma』… Successful. Unique Skill 『Ultimate Authority』 has evolved into the Ultimate Skill: 『Lord of Ultimate Authority: Odin』.」
...Eh?
VOTW: 「Continuing–」
STOPPP—STOOOPPPPPPPP!!!
「....」
VOTW: 「.....」
Oi! My energy level's been depleted!! I thought I had a shit-ton of'em!
「Sorry… I got lost in the joy of spamming ultimates.」
You… *Sigh* If I were a second later, I'm sure I would've passed out for good.
I know that energy is used during skill evolution, but not this much! What happened back there?
「Actually, 『Ultimate Authority』 had not yet met the requirements for evolution without sacrifices, so I decided to use Enma's authority (subskill) to agitate an evolution at the cost of an enormous amount of your energy.」
Oh? There's a skill that could perturb a skill evolution?!
「It also extends to racial evolution and many more.」
Wow! So cool!—So cool!! So—I could break limitations placed on the target and cause an evolution!!
「…Exactly. I'm impressed. That is actually its main function.」
Damn! Hahaha!! Veldanava, you better watch out 'cause your status has been challenged!
At this point, I don't think getting complacent would be a problem.
I now understand why Guy was so nosy. Luckily, Raziel-san got me out of his clutches in time.
If I had fallen for his stupid trap, I would've been as good as a pawn.
Heck, I might've never gotten the opportunity to evolve to this level. Now that's solid.
「Don't get ahead of yourself just yet. More ultimates are on the way. I'll just have to be patient.」
Eh? Aren't you satisfied yet? A greedy Manas will always end up with a useless master.
「You just called yourself a useless person.」
Eh? Are you greedy?
「Pertaining to skills, then of course.」
Kalisha: 「You even recognize your greatness. What an enviable trait.」
Come on, you guys should quit bullying me. I stopped long ago, so please?
Kalisha: 「It keeps me happy, so get out.」
Fine. Have it your way. You'll regret this sooner or later.
But seriously, two ultimate skills in a day? I've really come so far, haven't I?
I guess I now have three ultimate skills in my arsenal.
I sure as hell have a lot of power in my hands now.
The troubles I had when facing Feldway would now be a thing of the past.
But, now, I need to focus. I'll have to develop a technique so powerful that breaking the 『Castle Guard』 would be within possibility.
Hehehe. I have my chaos magic here, along with my primitive magic.
If I interfere with the skill system, I would be capable of pulling it off.
Besides, I have the data for all the angelic and virtue skills series.
Now, with everything sorted out, let's head back to the village.
I can't wait to show this little slime his place in that competition.
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Word Count: 「7530」