by Fuse
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. 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. That these tiny force fields expanded the Blades’ strength and range was another unexpected benefit.
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’s A rank. At least.
A Flame Transform 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.
Still, this was another overpowered skill, and I’d need to deliberate over it a bit more. Shizu had a Cancel Flame Attack tolerance, perhaps a side effect of merging with Ifrit. This kept her safe from fire strikes or extremely hot environments—a bit like my Resist Temperature, except without the cold protection, although it offered even more insulation against heat. Cancel must have been a higher level than Resist in this hierarchy, and considering Resist Temperature was already an upgraded tolerance, Cancel Flame Attack must’ve provided a fantastic amount of protection.
So all and all, 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. 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. No need to panic. I had all the time in the world.
The next day, I stopped by Garm’s cabin for a fitting session. They were still stitching up my outfit, but Haruna had some mass-manufactured armor and clothing for me to try on.
“Oh my! It looks quite good indeed, my lord.”
It felt like she was playing dress-up with me somewhat, like a child and her doll, but Haruna and her coworkers seemed to love it, so I let it slide. We found an outfit in their equipment that fit perfectly, so I went with that for the time being. It was basically the same as the rest of the hobgoblins’ wear, but it felt surprisingly comfy. Garm must have been pretty good with his hands, after all.
“Hmm,” I said, “not bad. Easy to move in, and it looks sturdy enough.”
“Ha-ha-ha! Glad to hear it, boss. Just you wait until your own custom outfit’s all wrapped up!”
I was starting to look forward to it. I had given him the skin from the boss direwolf I dispatched a while ago, so in terms of fashion and function, it ought to be first-rate.
I stepped out of Garm’s workshop with great anticipation, still in child form since there was no reason to abandon my new outfit just yet. I was expecting a few arched eyebrows, but everyone passing by immediately smiled and opened the road to me. They must have recognized me all the same, which I was pondering when I ran into Rigurd out surveying the scene.
“Hey, Rigurd. Things going well?”
“Ah, Sir Rimuru!” He beamed back at me, instantly making out who I was. “Things could hardly be going better, and we all have you to thank for it!”
“So you can tell who I am? I’m not in slime form.”
“Ha-ha-ha! Of course, my lord! The elegance you project from every pore of your body is unmistakable!”
So now I was just projecting how awesome I was, whether I intended to or not. Not an aura, but just…sheer class? Perhaps my naming them all had something to do with it, but regardless of the reason, I didn’t care as long as people knew who I was.
With that concern out of the way, I decided to stage another experimental session down at the cave, telling Rigurd not to bother me unless it was an emergency. I was working with some rather potent offense again that day, and I didn’t want to put anyone in danger.
“Yes, my lord! By the way, I imagine you have no need for food today?”
The question made me give Rigurd a thoughtful look. Oh! Of course! Why did I forget about that? I’ve got this lovely new human body, and I haven’t even tried eating anything yet!
“Actually, hold on. I think I’m going to eat with you guys starting today.”
“Y-you will, my lord?!” Another beaming smile—which always looked a bit threatening from hobgoblins, but it wasn’t their fault. “Well, we must hold a feast today to celebrate the occasion! I will instruct Lilina to prepare a sumptuous spread for us all!”
I was just as happy as he was. I didn’t feel hungry, no, but it would technically be the first solid food I’d had in ages. It was exciting.
A distance away from the village, I stumbled upon Rigur and Gobta.
“Hey,” I said. “I guess there’s a party at the village today, so try to hunt down something tasty for Lilina, would you? I’m capable of eating food now, so let’s make this an evening to remember!”
“Ah, Sir Rimuru!” Rigur exclaimed. “Is that so? Well then, I will provide the most succulent cowdeer I can!”
Cowdeer? Cow…deer? The name made it easy to imagine the sort of animal he was talking about. People around here seemed to dig it. I was starting to seriously look forward to this.
“By the way, Sir Rimuru, to what do we owe the occasion of your new appearance?”
“Heh-heh-heh! How kind of you to notice, Gobta! Life as a slime is pretty easy for me, but going around as a human ain’t too shabby, either. It offers a lot more command over the five senses than I enjoyed as a slime, for one. Taste, in particular. That, and this form makes it easier for me to interact with you guys.”
I had already reproduced all my old senses pretty well except for taste in slime form, but being a human still felt more…natural, somehow. Although being a slime was second nature at this point.
“Oh, I see!” Gobta shouted. “I would like to interact with you,
too, Sir Rimuru, but I do prefer more curves, sir!”
“That’s not what I meant by ‘interacting,’ you idiot!”
I rewarded his observation with a reverse roundhouse kick. My body moved exactly as I instructed it, which meant my right foot struck home in the pit of his stomach. The pain caused him to pass out, and really, I couldn’t think of any better medicine for such a fool.
“My apologies, Sir Rimuru. I ensure you I will instill some discipline in Gobta later.”
“Sure. I’m not that offended. But thanks in advance for the meat.”
“But of course! We’ve had a number of herds migrating from deeper within the forest, so the pickings are quite good. We won’t let you down!”
“Oh? Something up in the forest?”
“Indeed, we occasionally see large-scale migrations of magical beasts, due to changes in habitat or other factors. I doubt it is anything serious, but we are stepping up our patrols.”
That struck me as odd. He was probably right—it’d be nothing—but you always need to stay a step ahead on these things. So I summoned Ranga and assigned him to sentry duty with Rigurd and his team. Nothing he couldn’t handle, I was sure.
In a moment, Ranga stepped out from my shadow. I was capable of summoning him now—my pride forbade me from being unable to do something Gobta could handle with such ease. I had been practicing on the sly for a while.
“You called, Sir Rimuru?”
“I did. I want you to join Rigurd’s team in the forest. I doubt you’ll see anything, but if you do, keep the team safe.”
“Yes, my lord. I will make it so.” His face was meek and docile, but his tail was wagging like mad, as if nothing pleased him more than being bossed around. He was back to normal size now—which still meant he was six and a half feet tall, or thereabouts—so the wagging didn’t kick up any gale-force winds, at least. I was glad to see he was listening to my training.
“Keep a close eye out, Ranga. And if you see anything, Rigur, let me know.”
“Ha-ha-ha! There is hardly a thing to worry about, Sir Rimuru. I hope you have a hearty appetite worked up!”
He was right. Maybe I was overthinking it. Ranga was at least a B-plus in terms of strength—maybe even an A-minus by now. His class was on the upper end of what you saw in the Forest of Jura. He’d be fine. The thought of all that roasted fantasy-monster meat in my mouth was making my brain catastrophize over nothing.
“I’ll be sure I do. I’ll be in the cave, so let me know if something comes up.”
Then I nodded at Rigur and left.
The excitement was welling within me all the way to the cave. Actual roast meat! There was no way I could expect much from hobgoblin haute cuisine, but if all they were doing was grilling up some meat and plants and such, what could go wrong? They probably wouldn’t season it with much apart from salt, but oh well.
…But hold on. Do they bother adding any seasoning at all? I hadn’t thought about it, since I had no sense of taste. They’ve got to use salt, at least. Maybe I should find some rock salt and build a little supply for myself, just in case.
The Analysis skill provided by the Great Sage let me track down some rocks with salt content in them. Predation let me suck it in and extract the salt, and I just tossed the rest. Couldn’t be easier.
Though was it really all right to use my skills for stuff like this? Hmm. It has to be. What’s the harm in using the tools I have?
So with the salt in hand… Oh wait, I was testing out my skills, wasn’t I? I was so distracted by the upcoming feast that I lost track of my original mission. I shook the cobwebs out of my head as I headed for yesterday’s underground cavern.
Today, I wanted to try my hand at some Control Flame 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 Transform 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 Transform on my internal magic stores instead. For spirit beings, Flame Transform 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 Transform 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 Transform, the extra skill Control Flame, and the unique skill Deviant. Execute?
Yes
No
Hee-hee-heeeee. Just like I thought. “Yes” it is, then.
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 Transform and the extra skills Control Flame and Control Water will disappear following the combination. In its place, you will have earned Dark Flame and the extra skill Control Particles. Resist Temperature will also evolve into Cancel Temperature. This will eliminate the extra skill Cancel Flame Attack.
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 Control Water along the way was a regret, but I figured it was because I could do the same thing with Control Particles 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 Blades worked.
I fired a shot of this at a nearby boulder. It immediately burst into flames—and judging by how the surface was literally melting, it had to be pushing 1,500 degrees again, about the same as with Flame Transform. 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.
Now I could work these flames however I wanted without thinking too deeply about it, and I suppose I had Control Particles 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 Control Particles 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 jargon 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 Control Particles…?
Received. It is possible to link Dark Lightning with the extra skill Control Particles. 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 Control Particles 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.
Although, really, it was my Sage unique skill that was creating all this, alongside the Deviant skill that Shizu left for me. If it weren’t for that, then…
…Hey, what kind of skill is Deviant anyway?
Received. The unique skill Deviant is capable of the following…
To sum up what the Sage told me, Deviant’s effects could be broadly divided into two categories.
