《White Fox Reincarnation In The World Of TenSura》 Chapter -1 - Some forewarning This is my very first novel that I''m writing, so you might expect some plot holes or shitty writing. I''m mostly going to write in first-person in the POV of the MC, but occasionally will either write in the POV of another character or in 3rd-person. I. WILL. NOT. MAKE. THIS. A. GODDAMN. HAREM. Honestly harems bore me, and since the MC is an introverted v.i.r.g.i.n in his past life, he doesn''t have any experience with women, he''s not a stud that can get any woman he d.e.s.i.r.es. So what I''m planning to do is maybe the love interest will be the one to approach the MC or something. Not too sure about how I will handle MC''s romance so I''m not doing it any time soon. No release schedule whatsoever. I only write new chaps when I get bored or when I get a burst of creativity or something. That''s all I''m writing in this auxiliary volume for now, I might add more in the future. Chapter 1 - Death and Rebirth "Wh-where am I?" As I said this, I was greeted by beams of sunlight. I looked around, it seemed like I was in a forest, I heard the rustling of leaves being blown by the wind, and apparently in a woven basket. I just then realized I can''t really move around that much, I try to speak but I can''t, I just hear a baby''s crying, that seems to come from me.... what?? Why? Huh?!?! I''M A BABY!?!?! Wtf happened?!?! Wait.... I remember.... I died didn''t I? I was walking back home, excited to unbox a new figurine I just bought. Then all of a sudden there was a girl''s scream coming from behind me, out of curiosity I turned around just to see what happened, thinking it was probably a pervert trying to molest a girl. My guess was wrong, it was a thief that just stole a teen''s purse. He was running away and I was directly in front of his path. "OUTTA MY WAY PUNK!!!" He shouted, while running straight towards me. For some reason I didn''t move. I wasn''t sure if it was cowardice or simple idiocy but I still stood in his way. The thief however, mistook my action as bravery, thinking I was trying to stop him. He took out his knife, stabbed me straight in the gut and took off. For some reason he took my figurine as well, that was weird. I looked at my stomach, the knife is still there, but I was bleeding heavily. The people around were horrified, some called the ambulance, one tried to help me and pulled out the knife, that was a very bad move because the bleeding worsened. I''m dying aren''t I? I never really achieved anything in life. I''m a 20 year old v.i.r.g.i.n, after I graduated highschool I tried getting into college and applying for a bunch of scholarsh.i.p.s. Turns out I wasn''t really a smart guy, I failed the scholarship and college entrance exams, all of them. My parents were pretty disappointed in me and disowned me soon after. I was doing decently, working in a fast food restaurant, decent salary. I never really had anyone I could call a longtime friend, after I graduated everyone I thought were my friends immediately forgot about me, leaving me in the dust. Watching anime, reading manga and light novels are really my only way to escape reality. At least I''m gonna die in a similar way Mikami Satoru died, before he became the character I loved the most: Rimuru Tempest. I guess this is it, I feel my consciousness fading... goodbye..... . . . . . . . . "Hey kid, are you gonna keep sleeping or not" "Wut....." I suddenly found myself floating in a void, it felt weirdly comfortable. I looked around and I saw a old man with glowing eyes, his hair was white and his beard was thick. He wore ancient greek clothes, he looked alot like Zeus in Greek mythology. "Wow, straight to the point aren''t yah? And yes I''m God." "Why do you look like Zeus?" "That''s because I''m Zeus, I''m also Ra, Ares, Thor, Odin, Akatsuki, Ishtar, Yahweh, etc. Basically I''m ALL the gods from every mythology and religion, known and unknown. As for the Zeus appearance, I''m just using this right now because I look cool, wouldn''t you agree?" "Yeah, it does look cool" I looked at my body, and realized I *dont* have a body, just a round glowing orb. Upon this realization I started to panic. "Calm down. You died remember? Thats your soul right there. Alright straight to business, I''m picking you to to have the great chance TO BE REINCARNATED TO A WORLD OF YOUR CHOICE!!!! HUZZAAHHHHH!!! Of course you get to choose your appearance, species and powers as well. Want a system? Fine by me. Want a power can let you f.u.c.k any girl you want? Go aheaaaad!!" "Wait wait wait wait.... why me?" "Why did you choose to reincarnate me specifically?" "Raffle...." "Really? A raffle? Not some grand chosen one destiny thingamajig?" "I was a bored ok?...." "Fine. Anyways, since you said I can choose which world I reincarnate too, I choose the world of "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime." "Ok, species of your choice please" "WAIT WAIT WAIT. Can I choose when and where I reincarnate?" "Yeah ok, no big deal" "I choose to be reincarnated in the time BEFORE, Rimuru meets the ogres. As for the place, it will be near their new settlement when they relocated near Veldora''s cave. I want Rimuru to encounter my baby self and adopt me." "Ok then, what species and appearance do you want?" "A fox monster. A humanoid fox monster. A kemono, not a weird furry. I want crimson eyes, and pure white hair. I want an extremely handsome face, even more handsome than the most handsome in the world. I know this is pathetic of me but I. Don''t. Care. I want to have the bloodline of an ancient 9 tailed fox demon." "Alright, powers next" "Ok, first of all the Unique Skills. I want the [Great Sage] unique skill of Rimuru. I also want a skill similar to his [Gluttony] skill after he defeated the Orc Lord, but instead of being able to devour anything, I want to have the ability to devour all types of energy be it magic/magicules, life force, qi, kinetic energy, plasma, electricity, etc. It''d be like [Gluttony] like I said but it''s nerfed, restricted to only all kinds of energies. Name it [Magic Eater] I guess. I want a Unique Skill that can freely control all flames at will no matter what kind or who casts one, basically a ramped up version of the extra skill [Control Flame]. I guess name it [Flame Master]." "That''s 3 unique skills, want more?" "Wait I''m still thinking" After thinking for a while I finally came up with more skills. Greed is such a wonderful thing. This God guy is surprisingly very patient. "I want [Immortality], no matter how injured I am I will never die, I will continue to heal in an insane speed. [Immortality] will apply to both my body and soul. Of course I want the Unique Skill of Shizu: [Deviant]." "That''s all?" "One last thing, an OP System. The system will be a part of [Great Sage] as well. Aaaand that''s it. Now for the Extra Skills." "Damn, you are very greedy you know that?" "Neveer underestimate the human greediness" "Jeez. Ok what extra skills do you want, I''ll start listing them down *sigh*." "Ok Ok, here goes: [Shadow Motion], [Dark Lightning], [Dark Flame], [Purifying Flame], [Tenebrous Flame] (from WDS), [Strengthen Body], [Keen Smell], [Sense Heat], [Sticky Steel Thread], [Universal Shapeshift], [Body Double], [Magic Sense]. Now for the Tolerances: [Pain Resistance], [Temperature Fluctuation Resistance], [Resist Electricity], [Resist Melee Attack], [Paralysis Resistance], [Poison Resistance]" ". . . . . .Are you done?..." "Ok then, I''m sending you to reincarnate now. Enjoy your new life." Right after he said that I felt warmth wash over me, making me lose consciousness. And now we''re back here, in the forest, me as a baby in the woven basket. I was crying very loudly, I don''t know why but I just want to cry, maybe its an instinct since I''m a baby right now. I could feel that my human ears are gone, replaced with fox ears at the top of my head like what you''d see from a kemonomimi in japanese pop culture. I had a tail, it felt weird since as a former human I never really had a tail, now I do. As I was thinking about the changes of my body while crying I heard rustling in the bushes nearby. I thought it might be wild animal or something but I was wrong. From the bushes out came the person that I''ve been longing to meet ever since I''ve started having those daydreams. It was Rimuru Tempest, his cute face, golden eyes, and cyan hair. I''m finally seeing him personally. Instinctively I stopped crying and just looked at him, laughing, happy. He then started to speak. "Why is a baby in the middle of the forest? Is that a fox baby?!?! KAWAIIII!!! But.. poor guy, looks like he''s left all alone by himself." He lifted me up and cradled me in his arms. It felt very comfortable, safe. I stared at his golden eyes as he stared back at mine. He took me back to his village. The hobgoblins all looked at me thats being carried by Rimuru in his arms. A big buffed hobglobin came closer, from what I can see he should be Rigurd, the goblin chief. "Rimuru-sama, who''s that?" "He''s a baby I found in the woods, he''s all alone and I decided to take him in." He took me to his room, the familiar place I''ve seen in the anime. It felt.... nostalgic, as if I''m watching the anime again, except this time I''m in the actual place now. Rimuru placed me on his bed, I''m still wrapped in cloth from when I was still in the basket. He stared at me. He looked like he''s thinking of something. "Yosh, I''ve decided to adopt you as my son. You''ll be named ''Shiro Tempest''." Yup, there''s that bad naming sense I know and love. When he said that name I felt something inside me change, very deep in my soul I felt an imprint. I guess this is how the monsters in this world feel when being named. Soon after that Rimuru fainted and reverted back into his slime form. I guess he ran out of magicules from naming me, I think its because of the ancient bloodline I asked God to give me. Rigurd and Rigur came rushing into the room soon after. "RIMURU-SAMA!!!" "It happened again..." Chapter 2 - Exploring the System and Starting My Life After Rimuru fainted and entered sleep mode, he was immediately taken care of by hobgoblins. Knowing that their leader took me as his son, they knew they had to take care of me as well. They fed me milk that had a weird taste. I was tempted to ask [Great Sage] what kind of milk it was but decided not to, I thought that knowing would scar me for life. "[Great Sage], is the system integrated with with you?" ?Answer: Yes, the system host as asked God has been successfully integrated within [Great Sage? "What are the stuff I can access?" ?Answer: Status, Inventory, Quests, Shop, Gacha, Achievements"? "COOL!! OPEN UP STATUS!" ?Understood? ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Name: Shiro Tempest Blessing: Crest of the Storm Title: N/A Magic: N/A Intrinsic Skills: [Fox Flame], [Beast Transformation], [Beast Authority], [Age Shifting] Unique Skills: [Great Sage], [Magic Eater], [Flame Master], [Copy], [Deviant], [Immortality], [World''s Eye] Extra Skills: [Shadow Motion], [Dark Lightning], [Dark Flame], [Purifying Flame], [Tenebrous Flame], [Strengthen Body], [Keen Smell], [Sense Heat], [Sticky Steel Thread], [Universal Shapeshift], [Body Double], [Magic Sense] Tolerances: [Pain Resistance], [Temperature Fluctuation Resistance], [Resist Electricity], [Resist Melee Attack], [Paralysis Resistance], [Poison Resistance] Common Skills: [Thought Communication], [Body Armor], [Coercion] Store points: 0 "WTF!! HOW DID I SUDDENLY BECOME A 9-TAILED FOX DEMON!! [Beast Authority], [Beast Transformation], [Age Shifting]?!?!?! WHAT ARE THOSE???" ?Answer: After the slime known as Rimuru named host, his massive amounts of magicules caused host to evolve. This in turn stimulated host''s bloodline and evolved host into a 9-tailed fox demon. [Beast Authority] is an intrinsic skill belonging to the 9-tailed fox demon race, as the name implies, host as control over all beasts that are weaker than host. It does not however, work with those with equal strength or stronger than host. [Beast Transformation], an intrinsic skill of the 9-tailed fox demon race. It allows host to transform into a divine 9-tailed beast. Size can change depending on how much magicules is used on the skill. [Age Shifting] is an intrinsic skill of the 9-tailed fox demon race. The 9-tailed foxes were considered to be an extinct God species that can change their change however they want.? "O-ok... wow" I totally did NOT expect that. I expected to evolve since every monster that Rimuru has named evolved but I never expected that my bloodline would allow me to directly evolve into an extinct god species. I am definitely cheating, I know I already cheated because of all the stuff I asked God but... this is just too much. I''m already f.u.c.k.i.n.g op. A WEEK HASN''T EVEN PA.S.SED YET!! Trying to distract myself I asked [Great Sage] to open an inventory. From all the novels I read, every protagonist that gets a system will almost always have a beginner''s package given to them. "[Great Sage] open the inventory." ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Inventory: Beginner''s pack ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª My guess was right, a beginner''s pack was inside. Getting impatient I opened the package. "Open the package" ?Opening...? ?Recieved: 4¡ï Weapon Gacha Ticket, 4¡ï Skill Gacha Ticket, Throwing Knives, Small Dagger, Steel Shortsword, Meditation Book? "USE BOTH GACHA TICKETS NOW!" ?Understood? Recieved "Immortal''s Sword Kusabimaru"? ?Rolling 4¡ï Skill Gacha..... Recieved "Extra Skill: [Flash Step]"? Kusabimaru... why does that sounds familiar... hmmmmmmm.... ?It is the sword used by the character Sekiro in one of your favorite games "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice" OH YEAH! I remember now!! Wait does this weapon have any special effects or anything? ?Answer: It is an unbreakable weapon.? That''s coooool, but since I''m still a baby I guess I won''t be using that for quite a while. I don''t want to use [Age Shifting] since I want to grow up naturally. But that skill sounds very nice, reminds me of the flash step skill in UQ Holder. ?Report: It uses the same concept as the one in UQ Holder? "Open achievements." ?Understood? ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Achievements: ¡ñEvolve into a higher species. Rewards: Store points x1000 ¡ñReceive a name. Rewards: Store points x1000 ¡ñFully awaken your bloodline and evolve into a god species. Rewards: Store points x100000 . . . . . . . ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Ummm..... claim all I guess? ?Claiming...? ?Recieved 20,000,000 Store Points? Why is this too easy... I decided to hold off from using the points for now. I don''t want to waste my time searching through endless amounts of skills, weapons, etc. I just want to take my time and relax as a baby and drink that weird milk that I strangely became fond of while waiting for Rimuru to wake up. 3 weeks passed and I actually grew very fast. My body is already that of a 5 year old and the hobgoblins provided me with a simple little shirt and shorts. I wasted my time wandering around the village, watching the dwarves do their work with curiosity while getting patted by them at the head and most of the time I just stared at Rimuru''s resting slime body, burning its image into my mind. My fanaticism still burns bright. A day later I felt a sort of tingling at the back of my neck, for some reason I knew that Rimuru has awoken. It must be my connection with him through the name that made me know this. I ran towards Rimuru''s tent/room. He was still feeling a bit drowsy, probably receiving answers from his own [Great Sage]. I leaped towards him, shouting something that I''ve always wanted to do. "PAPAAAAAAAAA!!!" "EH?!?!" I crashed into him. Smiling wide, hugging him tightly. My life goal fulfilled. "Who are you?!?!" "It''s me Papa!! Shiro!! Hehe!" "EHHHHHH!!!!" I''m acting like a child here because it feels good. I feel free. Rimuru looked at my 9 tails, wiggling around. He looked with surprise and curiosity, I know he''s consulting with his [Great Sage] right now. Shortly after, he smiled gently at me and patted me at the head. Feels good. Chapter 3 - Training in Secret and First Hunt After Rimuru woke up we had a little chat. While we talked he kept pinching my cheeks and hugging and also patting me and kept saying "You''re my precious little Shiro". This made me happy, to have a father figure that cares for me. In truth, in my past life my father neglected me from these kinds of interactions. Rimuru might just become a son-con because, I''m really being narcissistic here, but I''m incredibly cute. Must be because of the handsome face wish I asked God. Soon after that he started working properly as the leader of the village, instructing the dwarves on what to build, like facilities and all that. While he was doing his job as the leader, I went into the forest secretly. I tried hunting some small monsters. I tried the naive tactic of running straight to them but they noticed my presence immediately and ran off. I didn''t have a good build, my body was actually quite weak despite my insane status. So for 3 days I secretly went into the forest and did some exercises. Having a child''s body didn''t help because I ran out of stamina very fast. I took out the Medidation Book I got from the Beginner''s package and started reading it. I couldn''t even understand the meanings behind each word the first time I read it, but after reading it 1 more time I immediately started to understand. While I was pondering why I suddenly gained wisdom, [Great Sage] answered the question in my head. ?Because of the unique skill [Great Sage], host''s perception speed has been boosted a thousand times? So that''s why. I remember this from the light novel. [Great Sage] is very op indeed, I''m glad I got her as one of my skills. Now that I''ve fully understood the book, it was actually very simple. I must sense the magicules in the air, which I succeeded in very easily thanks to [Magic Sense]. After I sense the flow of magicules, the book instructed that I should control them and absorb them into my body in any way I want, through breathing or even osmosis, which is absorbing through my skin, I can''t use the magicules already stored inside my body which is a bit of a bummer. I started absorbing the magicules in the air through breathing since I get more this way, [Magic Eater] helped out alot as I absorbed magicules very efficiently. Through this, I meditated for an hour or so, after which I started noticing changes in my body. It wasn''t anything drastic but I could feel inside me that my body was improving internally. I asked [Great Sage] at what this change was as I''m not too sure myself. ?Answer: Host''s body has improved slightly, increasing stamina and endurance.? "Did my physical strength change as well?? ?No, the meditation technique only uses the absorb magicules to improve host''s internally. It does not affect the physical strength host.? "Oh... that''s fine I guess." I continued this little training regiment of mine for 5 more days, meditating and doing physical exercises. During these 5 days I decided to look into the the System Store. I was dumbfounded since even Ultimate Skills were also in here, but they were so expensive that even the cheapest one was around 10 billion store points. I distracted myself from depression and looked for other skills I can afford, and found one helpful skill. I bought the extra skill [Stealth], and as the name implies, it puts me into stealth mode. It would remain active as long as I have magicules stored inside me, and I have alot in reserve all thanks to Rimuru''s naming ceremony. If I could master this skill it would even turn me invisible, but that''s still a long way in the future. After the last day of my little training, I proceeded to hunt down small monsters, only this time I WILL succeed. I immediately used magic sense to track down a small killer rabbit. I activated [Stealth] and jumped into the trees like a ninja, another weebish goal I had finally completed. I stalked the killer rabbit until it finally let its guard down. I took out the small dagger from my inventory and jumped down. I landed while also successfully striking the the rabbit straight into the head. It twitched a little until it finally stopped moving. Immediately after I felt the magicules of the bunny corpse enter my body, it felt like hunger I didn''t know I had was satiated. [Great Sage] told me it was my [Magic Eater] doing its job. If I had to describe the feeling in another way, it would be like getting experience points from a monster and leveling up. After that little "eating" session I turned towards the killer rabbit corpse. Finally, my first hunt.... From pure joy I instinctively shouted. "YAAAAAATTAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" Because of my little act, Rimuru immediately went to where I was in a blinding speed. As expected of the one I worshipped back in my human days, but I admit I still worship him even to this day, except without all the shrines and stuff.... a dark past of mine, forget I said that. Moving on, Rimuru was there in front of me, worried. His worried expression was then suddenly replaced by surprise. "HAI!" "You''re so young yet already able to hunt on your own...." He patted my head, while I did a cute little "Hehehehehehe" Shortly after he smacked my head, it hurt.... alot... while grimacing at the pain and rubbing the smacked spot with both my hands I looked at his face. His face now turned into one with anger. He had a little vein pulsing on his forehead obviously signifying that he is angry. I laughed inwardly since even as a slime, his body morphs according to his emotion, which I find cute. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING!!!" "Training..." "AND WHY WERE YOU TRAINING?!?!" "So I could become strong like you...." He blushed for a millisecond. But I saw it, I definitely hit a soft spot in him. He had a cold stare which made me shiver. So this is what they call tough love huh? Chapter 4 - Arrival of the Ogres Quite alot of time has passed ever since I have reincarnated. After Rimuru scolded me for hunting on my own (I''m immortal so he doesn''t even need to worry, but I can''t tell him that), I have been accompanying the Goblin Riders'' hunting sessions. Because of this I''ve drastically improved my physique, I can finally use [Flash Step] for 10 meters, if I try to go farther than that I stumble, losing my sense of balance. I still need to practice alot. I''ve also received a common skill [Dagger Wielding]. Seems that having used a dagger multiple times to help in the hunt as given me the skill, I heard the ?Voice of the World? when I received this, it had the same voice as [Great Sage] but... colder, and more robotic. Every time we went to hunt I can''t help but admire their teamwork to bring down a monster efficiently. We also had a strategy that involves me as well, for example yesterday we hunted one one of those giant demon crab/scorpion hybrids (THEY TASTE INCREDIBLY GOOD!!). They''d try and topple the monster over and after doing so, I''d rush in often using [Flash Step] for practice and bring Kusabimaru and strike the weak spot, which is it''s c.h.e.s.t just like a real crab. I''m strong enough to lift it and swing it but not totally the point of actually wielding it, it just looks like a child playing with a big plastic sword toy, except this one is very heavy. We continued to do this for 3 days until we saw a group of humanoid monsters. They had japanese styled clothes, different colored skin and horns on their head. They''re finally here. We stared at each other for a few seconds until one of the ogres broke the silence. "Goblins riding direwolves?" "This looks suspicious." "Onii-sama we should go." "No, they might have connections to that despicable Majiin." As the ogre with red hair that looked like the leader said that, I could feel the anger and despair in his words. Yep, this is definitely Benimaru before the Orc War. He looked at us ready to strike, we took our stance as well. I went in first, used [Flash Step] and targeted the ogre that will soon to be known as ''Kurobe''. I chose to attack him because other than Shuna, he was the weakest among them, he''s a blacksmith not a warrior. I didn''t want to attack Shuna because I do NOT want to attack a waifu. Just as I was about 3 feet from him, holding the dagger toward him ready to strike, the old ogre, Hakurou was suddenly beside me. He''s fast... too fast, I didn''t even see him move. He proceeded to sever my arm and Kurobe kicked me away. I looked at my severed arm, it was bleeding but it didn''t hurt. [Pain Resistance] was doing its work, but having an arm severed terrified me, I couldn''t speak or move, I continued to stare at the stump that was once my arm. This is the first time I experienced something like this ever since I came to this world. I snapped back to reality when I saw my arm suddenly regenerating at an insane speed. A few seconds later my arm was back and I noticed that my blood that leaked out was evaporating, just like Ban from from the 7 Deadly Sins. I looked back at the fight, the Goblin Riders were losing. In the anime, Ranga should have been accompanying the Goblin Riders in their hunt, but he wasn''t here. I guess this is the butterfly effect, me simply existing here already changed parts of the timeline. Since Ranga wasn''t here there was no one to send a message to Rimuru.... except me. I immediately used [Thought Communication] and screamed in my mind. "Shiro? What''s wrong?" "THERE ARE MONSTERS HERE ATTACKING US AND THEY ARE STRONG!! GOBTA-KUN AND THE OTHERS ARE LOSING!!" "Ok I''ll be right there!! Just hang on!!" After I sent the S.O.S to Rimuru I turned my attention back to the ogres. They were already done fighting, the goblin riders and the tempest wolves are lying on the ground. They looked at me and I looked at them. I can only buy time until Rimuru comes. Thus I took advantage of [Immortality] and rushed towards them and attack. They''d push me back, cut off an arm or a leg, or even stab me but I would continue to attack them again and again. Few minutes later Rimuru finally arrived. "Papa!" "Stand down, leave this to me." He proceeded to throw Full Potions at everyone including me, I was covered in dirt and it might''ve made me look injured so he assumed that I also need a potion. This was good since he still isn''t aware of my immortality, and I don''t plan on revealing that to him any time soon. After Rimuru finished giving the Full Potions he turned his attention to the ogres. Just like what happened in the anime Benimaru mistook Rimuru for the Majiin that destroyed their village. Rimuru started to attack them one by one. When he targeted Shion, he was distracted by her huge b.r.e.a.s.ts was was almost hit. "WHAT!?!?" "I MEAN UH, YOUR MACE IS HUGE!!" I face-palmed. Seeing Rimuru being distracted by b.o.o.b.s really confirms even more that he''s really the slime I know and love. He subdued her with [Sticky Steel Thread]. But a second later Hakurou was suddenly behind him and striked, Rimuru tried to dodge but ended up severing his arm. He lifted his severed arm and absorbed it which in turn regenerated his missing limb. "What the hell are you?!" "A slime." "DON''T F.U.C.K WITH ME!!" "I guess you really won''t listen to words. It''s time to show you my true power." Rimuru lifted his arm, and out came a giant black flame. The ogres were intimidated, but Benimaru didn''t flinch. He rushed towards Rimuru to attack him. Just as I expected, Shuna stopped him. Explained that Rimuru''s flame was using magicules stored inside him and not through borrowing the magicules in the air and that his mask is significantly different from the Majiin that killed their brethren. Everything was following the original storyline, I''m still too weak and inexperienced to change anything significant. We went back to the village, had a feast and everything. It was a big feast since this is actually gonna be the first time he''s gonna eat meat with a human form. Yes, it took him several days to realize that he can taste food. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ñGet beaten up multiple times without even having the chance to fight back. Haha loser. Rewards: 20,000,000 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª When did this system become a jerk!??! Anyways, I found something interesting in the store shop. I can actually buy powers from different anime that I know. These abilities don''t classified as skills, they''re a different power on their own. Then I found a ability that made me reminisce my childhood. I can actually buy the ability to use Rasengan. I immediately bought it and used 5 million store points. I snuck into the forest again, it was late at night so nobody saw me. "[Great Sage], how do I use the abilities I buy from the Store?" I followed [Great Sage]''s instruction. I help up my palm and thought of using Rasengan. IT WORKED!! Immediately there was a spinning ball of energy floating above my hand. I could sense that it wasn''t made of chakra like in the anime Naruto, but it uses magicules instead. I realized that I immediately mastered how to use this, I never needed practice unlike with the skills. Just as I was about to ask [Great Sage], she answered. ?The abilities bought through the system are significantly different from skills. Using these abilities, host is activating them through the system. The system automatically adjusts the output of these abilities according to host''s strength. Host doesn''t need to practice how to learn these abilities since the system is the one activating the abilities and regulating them.? So it''s exactly like from an RPG game. That''s convenient. I deactivated Rasengan, knowing that if I try and test its power I might get another smack from Rimuru. I ran back to the feast to have some fun and eat food and possibly try and get pats from the cute Shuna. Chapter 5 - Annoying Lizards 1 month has passed since the ogres appeared. My body grew to an 11 year old''s, seems that my fast growth spurt has slowed down a little. Alot of things happened, like the naming of the ogres, Rimuru entering sleep mode again for a week. The village looks like a proper village now, or should I say town. I had Shuna make me clothes with the eastern design that they were wearing, so ever since the ogres joined us I''ve been wearing kimonos. I mostly wear a white kimono that had black outlines and a fox symbol on the back because this is my favorite. I asked Hakurou to train me and I had alot of progress. Having a teacher train you rather than training by yourself has a massive difference. I can even hunt big monsters solo now. The results were amazing, I''ve already somewhat mastered most of my skills. I can already reach more than 100 meters in a second with [Flash Step], I''m not sure if I can travel more distances because I never tested it. I''ve been tempted to use [World''s Eye] on Rimuru for a while but hesitated because his [Great Sage] might detect it. In the end I gave in and used it, fortunately he didn''t even notice it. I was amazed, he had so many skills, all of which are very powerful. One skill in particular got me excited, it was an extra skill called [Control Particle]. I remembered in the book that this very skill helped Rimuru use his skills very easily and thus made him master them. I immediately used [Copy] and received the skill, after which [Great Sage] told me that I can use [Deviant]''s synthesis power and merge [Control Particle] and [Flame Master]. I fused the two skills and got [Particle Master], and it was because of this that I easily, VERY easily mastered my skills. I used all my flame-type skills very often, especially [Fox Fire] since it feels more natural for me to use it, that rather than a skill it felt like its been a part of me for decades. I guess it''s because it''s an intrinsic skill. The way I use [Fox Fire] is different from my other flame skills. When I use for example [Dark Flame], I actually manipulate the magicules in the air and turn them into fire while using magic power to allow me to control it. [Fox Fire] on the other hand, doesn''t use anything. I literally just summon balls of blue fire around me, it doesn''t use any fuel to keep it ablaze and doesn''t require me to use magic power to control it, I can control these flames like its a part if my body. It''s like the fox fire that fox spirits use in japanese myth. When I use them to attack, I can shoot them as normal fireballs, but I prefer to shape them into needles and spin them very fast to add strong penetrating power. I should also mention that I evolved [Temperature Resistance] into [Temperature Cancellation] when I tried to set myself on fire with [Dark Flames] that I boosted a hundred times. I tried this as an experiment to test how far [Temperature Resistance] can protect me from extreme firepower, it wasn''t enough. I was burned to a crisp and because of that everyone found out about [Immortality], but that didn''t stop Rimuru''s overprotective tendencies towards me but he still let me go hunt on my own since he decided that I must grow strong on my own. He still splashed me with a full potion after that incident though, because my hair and tail fur weren''t growing back. Fortunately the full potion brought my silky hair and fluffy fur back, I''m too terrified to imagine having no hair forever. Right now I''m being trained by Hakurou again. I discovered a side of myself that I never knew I had, I was a training demon. I loved pushing myself to the limits to improve myself, and [Immortality] helped with that because I can literally do this all day {A/N: Captain America reference yaaayyy}. In terms of swordsmanship, I would say I''m a pro already. Hakurou''s sword style is very scary and powerful that when I obtained [Swordsman] as a common skill it instantly evolved into the extra skill [Sword Master]. So there I was, taking an iaido stance with a wooden sword while Hakurou was taking a casual stance using one hand to hold the wooden sword and the other hand hiding behind his back. {A/N: Imagine Rock Lee''s stance but with a sword and instead of squatting he''s just simply standing.} I took the first move, using [Flash Step] to cover the distance between us instantly. I "drawed" my sword and striked him in one fell swoop. Hakurou dodged it, he rotated his body and swung his sword at my side, aimed at me, only to hit an afterimage. A few seconds later I was falling above him, about to attack with an overhead swing while gravity accelerated my descent, thus increasing the force of my attack. I successfully hit him... at least that''s what I thought until my sword went straight through him. A damn afterimage. Because my [Magic Sense] was always active I sensed a something coming straight at me at blinding speed. He swung his sword at me only to hit an afterimage again. This continued for a few minutes, hitting each other''s afterimage after afterimage until we finally clashed swords. Hakurou was holding his sword with both hands know, he''s getting serious... BUT SO AM I!! We kept fighting for a long time, but this time no afterimages. We were fighting at insane speeds that shockwaves were being created and broke a tree or two. We kept fighting until my sword broke and Hakurou pointed his sword at my neck, signifying that I lost. I may have become very powerful, but you can never beat a seasoned master that has been perfecting his technique for centuries. If I used magic I could''ve easily won if I used magic but we were sparring with only swordsmanship in mind. After I lost we did a respectful bow to each other, symbol of sportsmanship between swordsmen. "Thanks for the spar master." I didn''t notice but we actually gathered quite an audience from the goblins and 2 of the ogres, Benimaru and Souei. I can already figure out from their surprised faces that I''m one of the few people that has held their own against Hakurou. I took a bath and ate lunch with everyone. Rigur and the others hunted Cowdeer this time {A/N: It''s a real monster from the novels, literally a cow and deer hybrid}. I can never get tired of cowdeer, its meat is just so good that you don''t even need spices to add flavor, and because the goblin cooks have been improving their techniques, the food that they cook can even put Gordon Ramsay a run for his money. Just as when I was finished eating, Rigurd reported to Rimuru that lizardmen envoys were coming towards our town and their intentions are unknown. Of course, only I knew what their intentions exactly were. It was to try and recruit us as cannon fodder for the orc war, since they think the citizens of this town are only goblins. We walked towards the entrance of the town and saw them. A bunch of lizardmen were lined up, and their leader was in the middle. "BEHOLD!! FEAST YOUR EYES ON ME!! GABIRU!!" They did a showy entrance, 2 lizardmen used their shield to reflect light on him. While they were doing their "grand" entrance I was cringing the entire time. I just wanted to punch Gabiru in the face because of that disgusting narcissism. "We have come here to recruit you to protect you weak monsters from the incoming Orc horde! Fight with us and we will ensure your survival with my mighty power!! What are you waiting for!! Submit before me you.... hobgoblins??? Ogres??..." "Are you done"? "Ummmm... show me to your leader!!!" "What? A weak slime is the leader?... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!" I went in, used [Flash Step] to its full power to achieve sonic speeds. Gathered the momentum on my fist and punched the f.u.c.k.i.n.g lizard straight in the gut. I did all of this out of instinct. Hearing someone mock Rimuru made me lose control of my anger and just shot off. I didn''t even notice [Great Sage] notifying me that the system gave me my very first system quest ever since I''ve been to this world. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Quest: Protect your pride Description: Don''t let your lord be mocked by a weak lizardman. Beat him up to show who''s boss. Requirements: Knock out the lizardman known as Gabiru. Rewards: Flying Raijin Technique ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª "GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE YOU ANNOYING LIZARDS!!! DON''T YOU DARE MOCK PAPA!!!!" Everyone was shocked because of my short temper. Everyone was also angry but they held it in and controlled themselves. Hakurou on the other hand wasn''t shocked, he instead had a prideful face. Pride of having a student like me I assumed. Chapter 6 - Self-created skill??? Later at night, inside Veldora''s cave. This is where Hakurou has been teaching Benimaru, Me, and sometimes Rimuru. He trains the hobgobs as well but they train outside the town. Hakurou teaches us Arts, which is a different family of skills because rather than using magic, it uses one''s own aura. Kinda reminds me of Nen from HxH. Currently I''m a very secluded place in this massive cave system, quite far from where we usually train, and especially where Rimuru tests his skills. For some time I''ve been testing to see if I can use Rasengan and change its nature like how Naruto created Rasen-shuriken. I''ve been using fire elements since this is where I excel at, but mixing my fire into Rasengan proved to be quite difficult to do. That''s because Rasengan is very volatile and unstable if you make a single mistake in executing it, which explains why this is an A grade jutsu in Naruto''s world. However, I can easily do it since the system is the one controlling the ability and using it is just left to me. Many times the glowing, spinning ball of energy on my hand has exploded when I tried to add in my fire magic. I now know how Naruto felt during his training because this is incredibly frustrating. But tonight things are going to change. I''ve been slowly being successful in creating my own version of Rasengan. Little by little, I slowly start to get the grasp on how I should procees through arduous trial & error. Creating a Rasengan, I put every fiber of my being into focus and started to pour fire elements into it. Trying very hard not to disturb the violent balance inside this spinning ball of energy while adding a foreign element into the mix. "Come on come one come on come on." After 30 minutes I finally did it. I successfully merged the fire element into Rasengan. Because I used [Fox Fire] it glowed blue like a normal Rasengan but, it had a fiery look to it. It looked more violent than before, like it craves for destruction. Better not test it here, might make the entire place cave in. ¡ùSkill acquired: [Hellfire Rasengan]¡ù "Seems that the Voice of the World recognizes this as a skill... WHAT?!?!" ?Report: As Host merged an ability with a skill, the result becomes a skill. Host can use [Deviant] on ability derived skill to combine more powerful skills, that said the original skills will disappear to replace the combined one? "Can I use my other flame skills on [Hellfire Rasengan] other than [Fox Fire]?" This''ll definitely be useful against the massive numbers of the orcs. Teleporting out of the cave I appeared directly inside my room. After getting the Flying Raijin Technique, I setup my marks inside my room and inside my secluded space in Veldora''s cave. I went out and ran to Kaijin''s smithy and found Kurobe and Kaijin chatting about blacksmith stuff, like comparing their techniques and knowledge and other stuff they could work on. These two became very close after the ogres moved in. Birds of a feather flocked together I guess. I asked both of them to make a bunch of kunai. Because the ogres had a japanese-style culture he immediately knew what those are and didn''t ask questions about how I knew about them, probably because I''ve been watching Souei train with kunai in the outskirts of the town. I stopped him when he immediately went to work, showing them a rough drawing of the custom made kunai of Minato that I drew. Not very proud of my drawing skills. "I want custom kunai that looks like these." The two exchanged glances and stared at me. "Are you sure you don''t want the standard ones Shiro-sama? This looks weird." "Yes I do. It should be a bit heavier than normal and the handle to be slightly thicker." "Okay?... I''ll start working on it, how much do you want Shiro-sama?" "Understood. I''ll finish them in 2 days." "Sorry Kurobe, as a dwarf I don''t know how to make these kunai things." "Don''t worry, this is my field of expertise anyway." "Goodnights guys!!" "Goodnight!"x2 Using those custom kunai I can utilize Flying Raijin Technique in battle just like how Minato did it. That said though, using those kunai would be useless if I learned Hakurou''s [Instant Move] art, but it''s very hard to learn it. I still have long ways to go. ===================================== 3 hours earlier, at certain place in the Great Forest of Jura, a small army of lizardmen are setting up camp. These lizardmen are the envoys assigned to recruit the monsters in the battle against the orcs which is led by the lizardman chief''s son: Gabiru. In the biggest tent, the unconscious Gabiru woke up. What the heck just happened??? Was I?... knocked out??" "Gabiru-sama!!! You''re awake!!" "Of course he''s awake!! He''s our great Gabiru-sama!!" "I thought he was gonna die!!!!" "I''m not dead you idiots!! Tell me what happened!!" "While Gabiru-sama was showing his great brilliance, a brat rushed in and punched you in the stomach. You were knocked unconscious and we escaped carrying you, that brat was scary." "You mean that fox kid?? That kid must be the true leader!! How did he get deceived by a weak slime?" "I don''t know sire, but you should eat. You were unconscious for 6 hours." "I guess you''re right. Let''s feast!! Tomorrow we are going back home!" Chapter 7 - Dryad Woke up in the morning being called by Rimuru through [Thought Communication] for a meeting in the makeshift meeting room. The place isn''t really decorated or anything. Just has a long table, chairs, windows, and candles for light. A very simple place, kinda makes me excited to see the city hall that''s gonna be built some time in the future. But now a meeting is happening, and a very serious one at that. He called the 4 goblin lords, the goblin king Rigurd, the ogres (perhaps I should start referring to them as "Kijins" from now on), the dwarves, and of course me. Souei was no where to be found when suddenly he emerged from a shadow and kneeled to Rimuru and started reporting his discovery from his reconnaissance task. Reporting from how the orc army had a number of 200,000 and that they are advancing towards the marshlands which is where the lizardmen lived. He also mentioned that he had suspicions that the m?o?r?o?n?, I mean uhh, the lizardman known as Gabiru had intentions of seizing their leader''s throne. Rimuru: "So that guy is using the goblins they conscripted to seize control over his tribe and use them as cannon fodder for the orcs. Hmm... what do you think Souei??" Souei: "What do I think?" Rimuru: "Yeah, what do you think of Gabiru''s plan. Do you think they have a chance against the orcs?" Souei: "Very unlikely Rimuru-sama, although they have recruited thousands if goblins, they are all but weak. Gabiru may succeed in taking the throne but... they stand no chance against the orcs, they are just too many... and too powerful. The orcs don''t even have any food rations for their army and yet they keep marching on... as if their hunger strengthens them. From my observations they''ve eaten their own fallen brethren, which is very abnormal" Hakurou: "Rimuru-sama... we... might be facing the emergence of an orc lord here." Benimaru: "NO! That''s impossible!!" Hakurou: "But from what Souei said, there''s a very likely chance an orc lord has arrived." Me: "Master Hakurou!! What''s an orc lord?" Said that while pretending to not know. Kaijin: "Yeah, fill us in on this ''Orc Lord'' thing. We don''t know what it is, since the little guy asked it, just tell us." The kijins started to explain what the orc lord is. That it''s a rare monster that only appears once in a few centuries. It had a unique skill called [Starve] that gave it and its subordinates eternal hunger, and the more hungry they are the stronger they get. They also acquire the strength of those they eat and all of that power goes to the orc lord, basically making it more stronger with zero effort. Rimuru: "Hmm, get me a map will you?" Rimuru, realizing that the term map was an alien word to monsters since they never had any use for it because most monsters could communicate through [Thought Communication] and relay information about the land. The dwarves however knew what a map was since they''ve been working will humans for years. Rimuru then asked the dwarves if they had a map of the landscape of the forest. Kaijin: "Sorry, we may have made maps of different countries and territories but, the Forest of Jura is a very high danger place that no one had the guts even chart a map." Rimuru: "Alright! Give me some wooden planks. Souei, Shiro, you two relay me info of the landscape." Souei: "As your wish" Me: "Ehhh? Why also me?" Rimuru: "You''ve been solo hunting for quite a while. Surely you know the surrounding landscape like the back of your hand right?" Me: "Oh yeah, point taken." Couldn''t argue against him, he made a good point. My attempts of procrastination were a failure. Disappearing from the meeting shack, I reappeared at the entrance of the town and started to survey the landscape alongside with Souei and his clones. A stupid realization just hit me, I can also just use clones like Soeui and finish the task faster. I ordered [Great Sage] to control the clones to do a survey of the land while I also do my part and survey while relaying the info back to Rimuru with [Thought Communication]. ... Back in the meeting shack again after Soeui and I finished surveying the entire forest, with utmost care that we wouldn''t be noticed by the orc army, lizardmen tribe, and the r?e?t?a?r?d? ambitious guy''s group. Rimuru used the wood planks and made a makeshift map. He charted the marshlands, Lake Sisu (which is right next to the marshlands), our town, the kijin''s former hom, etc. according to what we''ve relayed over to him. He also made little labels using the excess wood that had words like "lizardmen" and "orcs" written on it. Using those him and the others tried to predict the movements of the orcs and what their goal could possibly be. They debated about this back and forth, trying to find out what the orcs want. Of course I didn''t join in the conversation and just spectated. I know what the orcs really want and I don''t want to risk everyone knowing that I knew the future. Just when everyone ran out of ideas, Souei had a shocked expression. She''s here. Souei: "Rimuru-sama, my clones just came in contact with someone and wants to meet you. She''s a dryad." Everyone in the room were shocked. Dryads were very seclusive beings. Descendants of the fairy races, they guarded the treants of the forest. Treants are those living tree creatures. Dryads are considered as the guardians of the forest and very rarely show themselves, unless there''s something that threatens the existence of where they live, which is the great forest of jura. Souei: "She specifically asked for the slime known as "Rimuru", so I''m sure I''m not mistaken." Rimuru: "Invite her in then." Just as he said those words, a bright light appeared beside the chair that he''s sitting on. Then that light took a humanoid shape, after that the details like the eyes, mouth, clothes appeared. This all happened in a few seconds, and then a beautiful woman appeared in our eyes. Treyni: "Hello, my name is Treyni. Nice to meet you Sir Rimuru Tempest, Leader of the Monsters." Rimuru: "Yeah likewise, but please just call me ''Rimuru''. I don''t like nicknames that much." She was semi-transparent, and glowed a little. Her voice gave an oddly soothing feeling. Rimuru: "And what''s the reason for your visit in our humble town?" Treyni: "I came to get help from the strongest being in the forest to help me defeat the orc lord." Rimuru: "So Hakurou''s guess was right, there IS an orc lord... wait... ''strongest''? You mean the kijins?" Rimuru, totally oblivious of his own strength was dumbfounded and went quiet for a few moments. Rimuru: "Wait, you dryads are already very strong yourselves. Couldn''t you just deal with them on your own." Treyni: "Yes we are aware of our power, but there are only a few of us and we would leave the treants defenseless if we went against the orcs. Besides that, we are very outnumbered by the sheer numbers of the orcs. Please I beg of you. I am sure you can defeat the orc lord." Shion: "OF COURSE HE CAN!! He is our beloved Rimuru-sama!! A mere orc lord is but an ant to his strength." Treyni: "Very well then. Thank you for your help." Rimuru: "Uh...um... yeah! Leave it to us!" ... Right after that, Rimuru started making strategies and such. While Treyni stayed, spectating, and eating the potato ch.i.p.s we had. Rimuru: "Souei, go to the lizardman chief and offer an alliance. Both sides should be on equal terms, no one is serving anyone, if they think otherwise then threaten them, you''re free to decide how to do that. If they don''t want the alliance, then they''ll suit themselves. But if they do accept, we will form 2 teams. The first team will go to the lizardmen''s caves and defend them while I''ll lead the other team and help the lizardmen bring the fight to the orcs. Souei: "Understood." Treyni: "These are good! What did you call them? Ch.i.p.s? MMHMM!!" Me: "Papa! Can I join your team? I want to fight the orcs." Rimuru: "No. You will stay behind and defend the lizardmen." Me: "Please! I''m strong, I''ve been training with master everyday!" Hakurou: "I can vouch for Shiro. He''s grown quite strong, he has talent." Rimuru: "O-ok.... I trust your word Hakurou. Shiro... you can join, I guess." Me: "YAY!!!" Chapter 8 - Im an alien? The same day that the meeting ended, it was noon. Souei reported back to Rimuru saying that the negotiations are successful. In 7 days I''m going to have to kill alot of orcs, I need to practice. I plan to use Kusabimaru in slaying these orcs other than simply using [Hellfire Rasengan]. I really want to test my swordsmanship skills against an army, the experience from doing that will be handy in the future. Going to the training yard where Hakurou trains the hobgobs, I pulled summoned Kusabimaru from the inventory and practiced. I also did some spars with the goblin riders, they had excellent teamwork but they were still weaker than me. Nevertheless they are a valuable asset to our town. ... Night came quickly. I went to my room and under the guise of going to sleep I went outside the town where no one can see me. Me: "Come out, what do want Treyni." Treyni: "Ara~, it seems I''ve been discovered." Me: "You were giving me weird looks ever since you appeared during that meeting. Even a kid like me would notice it." Indeed, since she appeared she''s been stealing glances at me from which I can sense suspicion, cautiousness, and curiosity. Me: "Just spill it, what do want?" Treyni: "You''re not from this world... are you?" Wait... what?!?! Has my identity as a reincarnator been known already?? How??? Me: "What do you mean?" Treyni: "I''ve seen your kind before over a month ago. A portal opened and 2 people similar to your appearance, a fox creature with 9 tails, came out of it. I watched from a distance, being cautious if they are a threat. But they left as fast as they came in, going into the portal and leaving this world." Breathing a sigh of relief inwardly as the fact that I''m a reincarnated person wasn''t compromised. Curious about what she said I asked her. Me: "And what does that have to do with me?" I was dumbfounded. I never expected that my new life in this body had a past. Those 2 people she described, are they possibly my real parents? Just what was that God thinking, I thought this body is created by him not because of actually being birthed. I''m actually an alien?! Me: "Why are you telling me this?" Treyni: "Just to verify something. So you don''t know that you are foreign to this world." Me: "....yes..." I wasn''t lying, I really didn''t know that I''m truly alien to this world, that my body has a past. Yes I know that my soul is foreign, but still... I thought my body is created by God and not a foreign object. Treyni: "Then you aren''t that much of a threat. I came here if you had some sort of hidden agenda that will threaten this world. For all I know your species might be one that conquers worlds." What the heck? I not a goddamn saiyan!! But wait... I thought 9 tailed foxes are an extinct species? ?Answer: it is an extinct species to this world. But said species may still continue to thrive in other worlds.? ?Negative? Me: "Is that all?" Treyni: "Yes actually, you might not have an agenda but I will still keep my eye on you. Goodnight." Me: "Goodnight.... I guess..." If I actually have biological parents then... why did they leave me here? Hmmm... I''m never gonna get answers. I''ll set this problem aside for now and worry about it in the future. ... The next day, Treyni''s attitude went back to normal, a bit laid back, unlike last night she was basically warning me. Everyone was preparing everything against the orcs. Hakurou was continuously training people, Rimuru and Benimaru were formulating strategies, Souei is keeping watch over the orc''s movements... alot of stuff is happening. While for me, I have nothing to do. I''m more than ready for the orcs. I can meditate to kill time I guess. Although the meditating technique is useless now because my body is already incredibly strong, it still gives a nice feeling. Deciding to meditate just to kill time I went inside Veldora''s cave and into my secluded place. Sitting on the ground in the lotus position, I meditated. . . . . . . . ''Huh? Where am I?'' Opening my eyes, I found myself in a black void. The floor has water, just a milimeter high, yet it wasn''t wet, when I walk ripples formed. What is this place? "[Great Sage] where am I?" ... "[Great Sage]?" ... ''Why isn''t she answering me?" I tried to use my skills, but none of them are working, even the system abilities like the rasengan. None would work. It''s like I became a normal human. Looking at my body, that doesn''t seem to be the case as I still have my tails and my fox ears. ''What the...'' When I reached that light I suddenly found myself in a modern city, it looked like tokyo. I wanted to explore the place just to find out about this weird phenomenon. Unfortunately, the second I stepped in and saw the bustling city life, I awoke from my meditative state and found myself back in my room. Breathing a sigh of relief to find out I still have my powers I asked [Great Sage]. Me: "[Great Sage], what was that?" ?I don''t understand host''s question.? Me: "That place!! That black void!! How did I find myself in the modern world?" ?Host''s description does not make any sense. It is most likely that host has experienced a phenomenon that is alien to this world that is beyond my understanding.? Me: "Is there any way for you to analyze this?" Well there goes my hopes of finding out what''s happening. But one thing''s for sure, I''m definitely an alien. ... The next day my custom kunai finally finished being made. Wrapping the handle with parchment that had my mark on it, I went outside to ask Souei to train me on how to handle kunai. While training my thoughts wandered to what happened last night. Learning that I''m not from this world in both body and soul. That weird black void and the vision of a city that looked like Tokyo. I tried entering that space again through meditating but to no avail. I could not go back to that black void. I''ll definitely find out the truth, someday... Chapter 9 - Battle Nighttime, skies are dark and covered in clouds. Not even the moon could be seen. Down on the ground on the swampy marshlands, lizardmen are constantly trying to survive. Initially they were keeping the forces of the orcs very well and was holding their ground. They killed orcs one by one, using their knowledge of the cave system of where they dwell to trap and corner these mindless beasts. But now the tables have turned. Their numbers are slowly dwindling. Their comrades being eaten by these ravenous orcs. Their leader, Gabiru, is struggling to boost the moral of his men. Starting to feel regret for his foolish decision of disobeying and betraying his father, and that he underestimated the orcs he started to lose hope. Suddenly he heard someone. Shiro: "OOOORRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Gabiru: "Eh?" A kid jumped in and kicked off the head of the orc that was about to strike the exhausted Gabiru. Shiro: "You ok?... Oh its you." Despite being saved by this person, he was given a look of disgust. Gabiru: "Aren''t you the real leader of those ogres?" Shiro: " (-_-)... I''m not. Just fall back, we''ll handle the rest." After saying those words, the young fox brandished his blade and rushed in to the rest of the orcs with the kijin, hobgoblins, and tempest wolves following behind. They started their slaughter. While a person, with his blue hair flowing in the wind was watching above them, waiting for something, someone. ===================================== ~Earlier...~ ''So it''s time huh?'' Rimuru: "7 days have passed when the lizardmen have accepted our offer for an alliance!! Now we shall fulfill our part of the deal and help them against the orcs!! LET''S GO!!" Rimuru rode on Ranga while the hobgoblins rode on their partnered tempest wolves and the kijin rode with them. For me however I''m not riding anyone. ''[Great Sage] activate [Beast Transformation]. Adjust the magicule output to match the size of a tempest wolf.'' ?Understood.? After giving the order, my body glowed white. Wind was spinning around me while my entire anatomy changed into something akin to an animal. A second later I have turned into a genuine fox. I had a snout and my entire body is covered in white glistening fur. I still had 9 tails and my hands and feet are replaced by paws. I was on all fours. ''Dammit, I''m still not used to this no matter how many times I do this.'' Rimuru: "WOOOOAAAH!! SHIRO!! You didn''t tell me you can do that!!" Me: "I was practicing these 7 days to get used to this! I bet I''m faster than Ranga hehe." Ranga: "Hmph, I don''t believe that. What do you say we race?" Me: "YOU''RE ON!!" Ranga: "I have my pride as Rimuru-sama''s mount. I will NOT lose." Me: "We shall see." I took the chance to get a head start and started running as fast as I could. ... 30 minutes later I started to feel wetness on my paws. Me: "I WIN HAHA!!" Ranga: "Grrrrrr.." Rimuru: "It''s ok Ranga. You''re still very fast and I''ll continue to ride you." Ranga: "Thank you for your kindness Rimuru-sama." Turning back into my normal kemono form our group split into 2 and I followed Rimuru''s group. Impatient to go into battle I rushed in myself, eager to fight. My bloodline is turning me into a bit of a battle junkie, which I don''t mind. Better than my cowardly past. When I saw the first orc I used [Flash Step] to boost myself. Blasting off into the orc I kicked his head and it flew off. Damn... [Flash Step] is really powerful. Landing on the ground I saw Gabiru. Disgusted by him I told him to fall back. He''d be a hindrance. Rushing to the rest of the orcs I slaughtered them one by one with the rest of the group following behind me. I continued killing every single orc I saw in my way until I finally saw the entire army. That''s a alot orcs... 200,000 isn''t a small number that''s for sure. Time to use [Hellfire Rasengan]. Using [Dark Flame] on [Hellfire Rasengan] a Black ball of spinning fire and magic floated atop my palm. Me: "TAKE THIIIIIIS!!!!!" Throwing the rasengan in an arc, it landed in the middle of the orc army and it exploded. A giant pillar of black fire erupted and decimated the orcs inside. I''m glad I didn''t test out the power of this skill back home. Manifesting 3 clones using [Body Double], I used 2 of them to keep firing [Hellfire Rasengan] while the other clone will join me killing the others melee style. The kijins joined in the fight as well and Souei left the 2nd group to satisfy his vengeful d.e.s.i.r.es. Benimaru was also using [Hell Flare] alongside with my clones, because of that you could see giant explosions of black domes of fire and black pillars of fire everywhere. Ranga evolved on the scene as well. It was a cool sight to see as he enlarged and grew and extra horn. He summoned tornados with black lightning everywhere. You couldn''t even call this a war anymore, this is just a massacre. I was so absorbed in killing, my blood was boiling. . . . . ?Host has fulfilled a hidden prerequisite in the weapon "Immortal''s Sword Kusabimaru": Shura. "Shura: By killing 10,000 humanoid creatures, you have unlocked the heart of a demon that has lost all emotion and only thinks of who to kill next." By activating Shura, Host''s speed, power, skills are increased 5-fold. This feature can be activated anytime as host wishes.? ''Wait wtf?!?!'' Uhh... This is unexpected... I''m gonna have to test this later. The orcs suddenly stopped attacking us and made way for what it looks like the orc lord. Gelmud appeared and did exactly what happened in the book. He complained that we were ruining his plans and then the orc lord ate him, evolving into the Orc Disaster. The Kijins and I rushed the Orc Disaster. The Kijins damaged him severely while Hakurou and I cut him up multiple times. But his [Ultraspeed Regeneration] is too fast. He just immediately regenerates what we cut up and destroy. The only way for him to be defeated is through Rimuru''s [Predator] skill. At the end, when Rimuru finished devouring him, his slime form got a bit bigger and his human form is a bit taller with his hair significantly longer. I guess that''s it then. This was surprisingly easy. Rimuru: "Oii!! Shiro!! Come here for a bit!!" Shiro: "Hm? HAAAII!!" What did he want? Guess there''s only one way to find out. Going towards Rimuru we were quite far from everyone else. What''s the need for this privacy? Rimuru: "Shiro I''m gonna need you to be honest." Me: "Yes?.." Rimuru: "Are you a reincarnated person?" O_O... shit Chapter 10 - Reveal Back when I was a human I''ve been living a laidback lifestyle, and that''s still a fact even as a slime. I''m the leader of these monsters but I''ve been leaving the troublesome stuff to the goblin lords, Rigurd, and the kijins. Hakurou training everyone capable of fighting is great as our fighting power is increased. Especially Shiro, that fox monster I took in as a son is growing strong. He was such a defenseless baby when I found him. I don''t like seeing him get hurt from fighting but I knew it was inevitable since he''s a monster and needs strength to fend for himself. I can''t always be there to watch over him. His fast bodily growth was abnormal though. I asked [Great Sage] to analyze why this is happening, but I need to devour Shiro. Alongside analyzing Veldora''s prison, analyzing Shiro''s body would take a large amount of time, and I need to devour Shiro and keep him inside my stomach if I even want to know what''s happening. As a good slime I didn''t devour my son and put this curiosity at the back of my mind. He has good talent with the sword which made him a favorite of Hakurou, and made me a bit jealous. As someone from Earth, I have been wanting to meet someone like me. Shizu was the first person I met that fulfilled this criteria, but sadly she has passed away. Waiting for the orc lord to show himself, I spectated from above. Watching my people decimate through the massive orc horde. The orcs were like swarms of ants, there were so many of them. When I saw a giant pillar of black flames suddenly arose, disintegrating the orcs it hit I was curious to see who used that. Alongside these pillars of fire, giant domes of black flame also appeared. I found out that the domes came from Benimaru and the pillars came from Shiro when I inquired [Great Sage]. My guess was that both Benimaru and Shiro inherited the [Dark Flame] skill I created using Shizu''s [Deviant]. Watching closely I saw something very familiar. So familiar that almost all of the 7 billion people back on Earth will never fail to recognize. The goddamn Rasengan. And from the looks of it, Shiro was the one using it, although it was black in color rather than the normal blue. This made me suspicious, made me think "Have I found another one like me?". Deciding to ask my son later about this I continued watching. Even surprising me that Ranga evolved into a Tempest Star Wolf, growing a second horn and summon dozens of tornados with black lightning all over them. ... Time passed and I finally defeated the Orc Disaster, or Geld. He had a tragic story, he had no choice but to accept Gelmud''s offer in order to save his kin. I guess I can sympathize with him, I''d do anything to protect those who put their trust in me. The hobgoblins, tempest wolves, kijins, dwarves, and Shiro. Everyone has stopped fighting. The orcs seeing their leader defeated, stopped their invasion. It looked like whatever power took over them has stopped, which is most definitely Geld''s [Starve] skill. The kijins looked whole. Their thirst for vengeance has been satiated and they look like they have been reborn. The burden of avenging their comrades has been lifted. Now, it''s time to feed my curiosity. Calling out to Shiro, I lead him far away from everyone else where no one can hear what we are talking. Rimuru: "Are you from Earth??" Shiro: "Eh?" ===================================== Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.... Me: "..." ?Most likely your Rasengan? Oh... I''m so dumb. Of course it''s the Rasengan. Who on Earth doesn''t recognize that iconic move? Rimuru: "Be honest son." Me: "What''s this ''Earth'' thing?" Rimuru: "Fine, I guess I''ll tell you something about me as well. I''m a former human from a world called ''Earth''. I died there and reincarnated here a a slime. Now I''ll ask again: Are you from Earth, just like I am?" Me: "Y-yes..." This leaves me no choice. I''m going to have to come clean, otherwise he may devour me and analyze me, revealing the shameful secrets of my past life. Although knowing his personality, it''s only a slim chance he''d do that, but I won''t take any chances. Me: "Y-yes.." Rimuru: "Thank you. That''s all I wanted to know. It''s nice to know that my son is from Earth like me! But don''t tell anyone else that we were humans ok?" After saying that Rimuru just smiles. Not asking more questions. This is good because I do NOT want him to know I was a 20 year old man. Going back to everyone Treyni appeared before us and asked for the representatives of each race to gather in the lizardmen caves. It went on just like in the original story. Rimuru forgiving the orcs, taking in the orcs. We killed a bit more than in the original story, so instead of 150,000 the remaning orcs numbered around 130,000. As well as forming the Jura Tempest Alliance with Rimuru as the leader. Giving each race their responsibilities such as the lizardmen to provide fish and clean water, the orcs to provide labor, etc. It ended with everyone in the room, including me, kneeling towards Rimuru. This is the start of a great leader. Rimuru named the lizardman chief as "Abiru", his bad naming sense still apparent. After he did that we departed, the kijins stayed behind for a little while to have that emotional talk with the Orc Disaster''s son. ... Finally back in our town. Rimuru named the Orc Disaster''s son as Geld and proceeded to name the 130,000 orcs. In the end he went to sleep mode for a surprisingly only 1 day. I took the liberty to copy some of his skills, he''s a treasure trove of skills. The orcs quickly learned skills under Kaijin''s intruction and proper facilities are quickly being built. Houses, working toilets with water and sewage systems, and the most I''m excited for... THE BATH!! Night, going back to my own house newly made thanks to the orcs. It was simple inside but very cozy. The bed was comfy and soft, thank you Shuna. ''Wait... what...'' Chapter 11 - Bloodline Hmm? "Where am I?.. Why is my voice deep?" Standing up I could see I was back in the black space. And I was taller? My body looks like about 18 years old. My clothes are torn, probably because of my sudden growth spurt. I have clothes of a.d.u.l.t size in my inventory, but I can''t access the system in this place All around me is nothing but pitch black darkness. I can''t use any of my powers just like last time. I started to walk, seeing as there''s nothing I can do. I don''t know how to exit this place or even enter it. I just kept walking and walking and walking. Goddammit I miss cola... "AAAHHHH! MY EYES!" A flash of bright white light suddenly burst in front of me, blinding me. I instinctively covered my eyes with my arm. Seconds later that bright light slowly dimmed down. It took a while for my eyes to adjust. And then I saw a night sky with stars. This sky looked oddly familiar... is that the Orion constellation? No way. Looking down I saw my of course n.a.k.e.d body, but besides that... concrete. I looked around me, there were buildings, modern buildings. "HOLY SHIT!!" Feeling a cold breeze flowing on my crotch didn''t feel good. Fortunately I can once again access the system. Pulling out a simple black martial arts gi and of course u.n.d.e.r.g.a.r.m.e.n.ts and proceeded to wear them. I walked to the edge of the rooftop I was on and looked over the edge. I saw cars everywhere, humans going about their daily lives, street lamps shining the road to allow people to see. Everything was modern just as I thought. "Uh... [Great Sage] are you there?" ?Yes I am here.? "Oh thank god. Can you tell me why I''m back in Earth?" ?Answer: It appears that you have awakened a dormant power in your bloodline that isn''t recognized by the Voice of the World or by the system.? "So what power is this?" ?It appears to be interdimensional travel." "Do you know how it works?" I asked this because I have no idea about this power. I was hoping that [Great Sage] had an answer. ?Looking through your memories, it appears that black void you were in had something to do with it, other than that I don''t know.? Dammit. Might as well explore this place. ?Notice: It is advised you hide your tails and fox ears.? Oh right, almost slipped my mind. This is a modern world where creatures like me don''t exist. Using [Universal Shapeshifting] I can easily hide my tails and ears by sort of retracting them into my body, I also created temporary human ears to complete my human disguise. I found a dark alley nearby and jump down and walked to the streets of this city. I felt very nostalgic while looking at the signboards and shops that sells commodities varying from food, clothes, accessories, gadgets, etc. This place is definitely tokyo, which is quite obvious from all the japanese stuff everywhere. From what it looked like, it seems I''m in the Akihabara district. One thing I noticed is that I stood out like a sore thumb. Maybe because of my martial arts outfit, or maybe because of the handsome face I asked God to give me, or maybe both as evidenced by the women passing by me giving looks of l.u.s.t and d.e.s.i.r.e and men looking at me with jealousy and hatred, and also some highschool teens looking at me taking photos, thinking that I''m some cosplayer. One group of teens even asked me if they could take a picture of me. Seeing no harm in doing so I agreed nonchalantly smiled gently to their phone''s camera. After that the girls of the group were screaming while the boys were looking at me with admiration, almost like they''re making me the goal of their lives. After that fun little event happened I wanted a formal suit to accommodate my handsome face. Looking around I found one shop with alot of expensive brands I recognize from my past life. I don''t have money to buy them, so I just stole one. Activating [Stealth] and stealing one Gucci suit that fit my size was incredibly easy, the effects of [Stealth] affected the suit I grabbed so no one even noticed it. Of course I destroyed the detectors they usually put in these to avoid being detected from the detectors installed at the front door. I put on my new cool looking suit and I looked in front of a mirror in a different shop. Damn I''m hot. Well, because of this I stood out even more because I somehow exuded an aura of elegance which stole the glances of everyone around me. Good thing though no one dared to touch me, thinking I''m probably a rich man''s son that they wouldn''t want to disrespect. A while later I went inside a luxurious hotel and booked a room. Where did I get the money you ask? Well I found a group of delinquents were harassing someone. So I beat the crap out of them and stole their wallets while I was at it. I encountered more of this incidents and in turn racked up quite a sum of money. Must be my lucky day as their wallets were very full of money. They deserved being robbed by met this''ll be their lesson to not mess with other people again, other than the fact that I beat the crap out of them. Going into the room I booked I sat on the bed. It was soft and comfy. I scrolled through the system shop hoping to at least find something that can help me go back home. From my experience of what happened before, it seemed like while I''m in that void I have to think of the world I specifically want to enter which I speculated from my earlier d.e.s.i.r.e for cola. Now the only problem is HOW DO I GET BACK TO THAT VOID?!?! I searched and searched in the seemingly endless system shop until I finally gave up. I meditated and meditated. Ignoring all outside disturbances that I even failed to notice that I spent 2 whole days in that lotus position. Fortunately I booked for a week and put up that "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. Another 2 days passed, and I was still meditating. Focusing on my blood and its hidden power. I waited, and waited, and kept meditating. Until my efforts finally bore fruit. I felt strange energy emanating from my blood. I kept going and going, knowing that this is the key to back to that void while the strange energy only kept getting stronger. And then it stopped. I suddenly stopped feeling the cushion of the bed. I opened my eyes and stoof up, as I found myself back in the void. Out of curiosity I tried to use my powers and as expected, nothing happened. I then focused my mind back home. The room I was previously in. That time when [Great Sage] suddenly forced me to enter sleep mode. Thinking about that, I''m gonna have to ask her about why the hell did she do that. I focused and focused until the bright white light appeared again, almost blinding me. I felt a wooden floor beneath my feet. Opening my eyes, trying to adjust. I''m back. I actually did it. "[Great Sage] how much time in this world has passed since you forced me into sleep mode." ?Answer: 1 hour? Huh. Does this interdimensional power fluctuates time or is it that time flow differently each world? I put that thought at the back of my head. This was convenient as I wasn''t gone for a long time here and stopped questioning it. "Oh yeah... [Great Sage], have you finished analyzing my body for the reason of my growth spurts?" ?Answer: Because of your race and unique skill [Magic Eater], the more magicules you absorb your body grows depending on how much magicules have been absorbed. It is akin to what you might know from your previous world as "leveling up"? Hmmm... I guess it''s time to use [Age Shifting] and lock my age to 18 years old. I''m satisfied with a young but m.a.t.u.r.e look. I wouldn''t want to become an old man as I get stronger. ?Would you like to use [Age Shifting] to lock your age to current age?? ?Yes? ?No? You just read my mind. Literally. "Yes." ?Proceeding to lock age.? Cool. I undressed my Gucci suit and stored it in my inventory and put on a simple tunic and shorts and went to sleep as it''s still nighttime and I technically didn''t sleep for 4 days back in Earth. Chapter 12 - Jura Tempest Federation A few has passed since my trip back to Earth. Everyone was surprised about my sudden growth to a young man, especially Rimuru. Knowing that he was curious I told him the reason for my fast growth and he had nothing to worry about. Because of finally having a tall body I can help with the Orcs in doing labor, such as construction of buildings and facilities, the road, and gathering material from the forest like wood and stone. Using my clones lessened the workload a little. It was nice having something to work my hands on instead of just constantly training and hunting. The soon-to-be city is starting to take form. It was nice seeing something slowly being finished right in front of your eyes, especially if you helped in creating it. Here I was, resting on a tree just outside the soon-to-be city. When suddenly a herd of winged horses could be seen in the distance. So they''re here. I went to Rimuru who was in his slime form and riding Ranga. Told him about the winged horses or pegasi that was coming and that there were people riding it. Rimuru greeted them in his human form. Gazel, wanting to know if Rimuru has a good heart he asked for a duel. And so they did. Gazel''s swordsmanship is worlds beyond Rimuru''s current skill, but he still held his own when he blocked Gazel''s signature attack. They ended their duel with that and acknowledged Rimuru as a fellow swordsman and disciple when Hakurou went to them and had a small heartwarming reunion. Knowing that he''s Hakurou''s old disciple I wanted to spar with him. So I approached. "Hey! King Gazel! Let''s spar!!" I called out to him. "And who are you? And why?" Gazel asked with a look of curiosity. "Master Hakurou''s other student." I said that while smiling with confidence. "Oh? Then let''s see how much you have learned. No magic and skills of course, do you agree?" "Of course, using magic in a sword spar is stupid." After the exchange of words everyone present watched from the sidelines. Gazel drew his sword while I took out Kusabimaru. "A black blade? Interesting." Just as he said those words he lunged at me like a speeding bullet. I blocked just in time when he disappeared. Having my senses heightened from all that training I ducked, dodging his swing from behind me. I kicked him at his legs to stagger him and retreated to gather myself. He''s fast. He''s definitely surpassed Hakurou in terms of the sword. Now it''s my turn. I teleported right in front of him through the Flying Raijin mark I left on his leg when I kicked him. Surprised, Gazel did a pierce attack my stabbing his sword in my direction. Parrying it, I swung at him from the side which he dodged easily. This continued for a few seconds, attacking, blocking, and parrying each other''s attacks. "You''re good... but how will you fend against my Gloom, Thunder of Heaven and Earth!!" "Bring it on." I said with confidence. That move has such a chuuni name. He disappeared, sensing his attack I dodged backwards, avoiding his strike from below. Literally a microsecond later a second strike came from above, threatening to hit me with a lethal strike. I easily blocked it, this move has been used by Hakurou a few times when teaching us. Naturally I know how it works. "Hmm... you really are master''s student. I acknowledge you! You have talent." "Thanks, I guess." He sheathed his sword right after I said that and so I put Kusabimaru back in the inventory. Seeing as that we are done with our spar Rimuru intervened and invited Gazel and company inside our guest house. It''s a simple place, very heavily inspired by japanese architecture courtesy of Kurobe. It''s what you would call a tatami room if you compare it to what you''d find back in Japan. Negotiations with Gazel were successful. We are finally an official country with Rimuru as the leader respectively named "Jura Tempest Federation". ... *BOOOOM* A sound akin to an explosion happened in the distance with a powerful and menacing aura accompanied it {A/N: ¥´¥´¥´¥´¥´¥´¥´¥´¥´}. I was sitting on that cliff with a single tree on top of it where somehow wholesome moments in the story happens. When I first came there I found that place to be incredibly peaceful. It somehow makes your heart and mind tranquil and relaxes you. But now''s not the time to relax, I know exactly whose attack that came from. Standing up my legs were covered in energy that looked like veins and I jumped in the direction of where the "explosion" happened while being careful not to destroy the place from the force of my jump. Way high up in the air, maybe about 80 meters from the ground. While still ascending I looked down from where I was and saw a pink-haired child wearing e.r.o.t.i.c clothes. I turned my body facing the opposite direction of that person.....hehehehehehehehehe Overtaken by my weaboo personality I shouted while punching in the air with my arm being covered in the same vein-like energy *inhales* "NEW HAMPSHIRE SMASH" Yes, I have One for All. Something I bought from the system shop. Now I don''t really need to shout that. But seriously, who wouldn''t. With the force of that punch I blasted off in the direction of that pink-haired child. I reorientated myself towards her and prepared another One for All punch. When I''m about 10 meters from her I shouted once more. "DETROIT SMASH!!" Hearing me shout she turned her around to look at me and crossed her arms in an attempt to block. I hit her with my punch and she flew towards to the side of the crater they were in while I landed. Coming out from the hole made from her impact she smiled, unscathed from my attack. She kicked off the ground and rushed towards me and she punched at my stomach. Nothing happens. This is all because of my [Energy Eater] skill. I can absorb all energies, emphasis on the word ''all''. That includes the kinetic energy from a punch. No matters how strong it is, even if it can destroy a planet, I''ll simply absorb it. In that sense, I am completely immune to punches, kicks, any kind of blunt attack I''ll simply shrug it off. This is something I only discovered during training. I punched her again with another One for All enhanced fist. This time however, she didn''t even move an inch and withstood my attack. And with that we started exchanging hundreds of punches, with neither of us having any damage from each other''s attacks. {A/N: Imagine All Might vs Noumu} "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA" "Why are you screaming?!?!?!" She complained while I punched her right in the face, seemingly unfazed. "Sorry, old habits die hard." This continued for a while until a big odachi came crashing down on on the girl. Shion and the others came and tried to fight in my stead. They were all blown back, the girl''s fists are too strong for them. They tried all sorts of attacks but she was still unscathed. "WA HA HA HA HA HA!!! You''re great!!! What''s your name?" She asked with a clear expression of excitement. "My name is Shiro. Shiro Tempest" I replied, a bit happy I got to say something I''ve always wanted to say by referencing that certain spy movie. "Hear me Shiro! I am Demon Lord Milim Nava!! You''ve entertained me but you''re not the one I''m looking for." She exclaimed with a sense of pride. "Shiro use this!!" I looked towards the one who said that, it was Rimuru. He threw me a small bottle filled with a golden colored viscous liquid, honey. Holding the bottle in my hand I teleported behind Milim through the Flying Raijin mark I left on her. *Gulp* *Gulp* She drank every last drop and even licked the bottle clean. Her eyes sparkling, she looked at me and asked. "WHAT IS THIS!?!?!?!?!?" "Honey." "PLEASE GIVE ME MORE!! I''VE NEVER TASTED ANYTHING LIKE THIS!!!" "Ask him." I pointed towards Rimuru who was spectating with the kijins. Rimuru came down from the edge of the crater and teased Milim with the honey floating above his palm. "Oh Ho? You want this? You really want this?" Rimuru teased. "YES YES YES YES YES" "Then stop attacking and I''ll give you all the honey you want." "Ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok." She said while nodding her head. While going back to the city Milim introduced herself to the others and said that she and her fellow demon lord have been watching Rimuru and his exploits. She asked if Rimuru was interested in becoming a demon lord and he just politely declined. She asked me next, I didn''t answer and I just shrugged it off. Back in the city Rimuru announced to the people that the Demon Lord Milim will be living here in the city of Rimuru for now. They weren''t worried, they had unyielding faith towards Rimuru that they''ll keep them safe despite having one of the strongest Demon Lords literally right in front of them. After his speech Milim picked up Rimuru and announced that both Rimuru and I are her best friends. It ended with the crowd cheering for both of us, shouting "Lord Rimuru and Prince Shiro." ..... Wait, Prince?!?!?! Chapter 13 - Negotiations "Who the heck are you?" Shiro, while eating a meat skewer asked the beastman that donned black armor. "I am one of the 3 beastketeers swearing allegiance to Lord Carrion. The black leapord Phobio."The beastman introduced himself The beastman named Phobio was sent as an envoy by the demon Lord Carrion, king of the beastmen. "This is a good place. Worthy for a demon lord like Lord Carrion to rule over. Am I right?" Phobio openly declared his intentions. "No." The moment that one word left Shiro''s mouth, a fist that''s enveloped in a purple aura came flying towards his face. The punch landed. "Heh. Weakling... wait what?!" Phobio thought that the fox in front of him was a weakling, considering that Shiro''s also suppressing his aura just like Rimuru. Phobio underestimated him. The attack did land, but it even leave a scratch on Shiro''s face. "What the- did you absorb my magic?!" "You''re so dead." Shiro cracked his knuckles and pulled back his fist. Red magical energy enveloped it. A body laid on the ground, half-dead. His companions frozen with fear. "Oi! Milim! I know your there! Why didn''t didn''t you help me? Your best friend was attacked!" "Wa ha ha! As my best friend you don''t need help when dealing with a weakling!" "Good point." A figure in blue arrived and walked towards the scene to assess the situation. "What''s the situation?" Suddenly Souei appeared out of nowhere and walked besides Rimuru and reported. "We have visitors." Seconds later Rimuru saw what happened. "What the heck did you do Shiro?" "It was self defense. He attacked me first!" Shiro spoke his reason for his rash actions. "Still, this is too much. Learn self-control next time." "Hai..." "Also no dinner for you." "WHAT?!?!" Shiro slumped. Wallowing in his depression. On what should have been Milim to be punished, Shiro has replaced the role. "And fix the road as well." "Hai....." Rimuru then walked towards the half-dead Phobio and threw a blob of Full Potion at him. ... There, Rimuru and the higher ups that he appointed sat in wooden rectangle table with Rimuru in slime form at one end of it. Sitting on a pedestal with a red cushion. Shiro sitting on the sofa with Milim at the side. Milim c.a.r.e.s.sing one his tails, feeling its fluffiness. "I can''t believe a mere slime is leading Jura''s monsters." "While it may be unbelievable, it is true that I control 30% of the Forest of Jura. If you want confirmation you can ask the Dryads." "No need tch." They continued to talk. Phobio saying his reasons for coming to their city: to take in Rimuru as a subordinate. Of course, Rimuru declined with Phobio expressing his dissatisfaction of the outcome. The talk ended and Phobio walked out the door, but not before looking back at Shiro with rage. "I swear I''ll kill you for this humiliation." Shiro heard him but just ignored him. Browsing through the system store while Milim continued to c.a.r.e.s.s his tails. Phobio just became more enraged, assuming that ignoring his existence is a form insult. "Shiro, didn''t I tell you to fix the road?" "I sent a clone. Easy, hehe." ... A few days later. A party of humans can be seen traversing the Great Forest of Jura, on a quest to investigate something. Among them is the guild master of Blumund Kingdom''s Free Guild branch, Fuze. He came along with the party that he issued the quest on. Kaval, Eren, and Gido since they have been in contact with the leader of the monsters before. With them a mercenary, Youm. A young man with gray hair. Hired by Fuze to escort them along with a group of mercenaries led by Youm. A while later they were attacked by a Knight Spider, easily an A class monster. They readied themselves for a fight, but then someone showed up. "Woah!! It''s you guys!" "Gobta!" Youm was surprised that the adventurers they were escorting has a monster acquaintance. "You''re always fighting monsters. You really like to fight huh? But leave this one to me!!" Gobta brandished his new weapon that was forged by Hakurou and charged at the monster. Riding his tempest wolf partner along with his fellow goblin riders. "These things taste really good you know!" A while later, Gobta and the goblin riders escorted the group of humans to their city while also hauling their prey. They reached the city and the goblin chefs immediately went to work cooked. "What the hell is this place..." Youm looked around the city of monsters. It looked to different to a human city. "Are you Fuze?" "Yes... I am..." ''A human?'' The guildmaster looked at what seems to be a blue haired child. "I''m Rimuru, I''m I guess what you can call the boss of this place. Follow me, we''ll talk in another place." While Fuze, Kaval''s party, Youm, and a few mercenaries followed Rimuru they hearf a loud thundering sound in the distance. They could see 2 figures fighting in the air. Flying around and hitting each other and creating shockwaves. It was Shiro and Milim. Shiro right now is covered in blood. He disabled his [Energy Eater] skill to have fun with Milim. Besides, he won''t die anyway even if his head becomes decapitated. Shiro bought an extra skill from the store: [Flight]. The name is self explanatory. ¡ùConfirmed. Recieved unique skill [Battle Maniac]¡ù ''Woah nice! [Great Sage] what does this new skill do?'' ?Report. [Battle Maniac]: When activated, increase overall power the more blood is shed temporarily, but nullifies the effects of [Pain resistance] while it is active.? "Pain... f.u.c.k it I''ll endure it. Activate [Battle Ma-" "Shiro, Milim, stop for now. We got visitors." Shiro and Milim stopped their spar, you could hardly even call it a spar. They landed, Shiro''s blood immediately evaporated and they went to get a share of food from the giant woks that''s cooking the Knight Spiders. Rimuru, Benimaru, Souei, Shuna, and Shion escorted the group of humans to the city hall while the other humans stayed and ate with the hobgoblins. Shiro accompanied the five and went to the city hall as well while Milim stayed behind to eat more. ... At the city hall. "I''m the representative of the Jura Tempest Federation. Rimuru Tempest." "You''re really a slime!" Fuze couldn''t believe what he was seeing, an intelligent slime. "By the way Rimuru, who are the new guys?" Kaval asked in curiosity. "This this Benimaru, Shion, Souei, Shuna, Shiro..." Just as he said Shiro''s name the door opened and Milim entered the room while still chewing. "... And Milim." ''M-Milim? Milim Nava? The demon lord? That explains the power from the fight earlier." Fuze was surprised even more by the fact that the slime even tamed a demon lord. "If I may ask Rimuru-san. Why were they fighting earlier." "Oh that was a spar." Shiro replied. "A spar? But it felt like you two were going to destroy the entire forest!" "Don''t worry! We were holding back." "You were bloody!!" "I regenerate." "B-" "Just stop, Fuze right? Can we go back to business?" "Yeah, sorry. Got sidetracked." "Tch, why the hell is a slime being the boss here?" Right after those words left Youm''s mouth, a big sheathed odachi came crashing down on his head. Rimuru splashed a potion on him and he regained consciousness, but he could feel death stares from Shion, the one who smacked him. Time passed, and negotiations between Fuze and Rimuru continued. Stating that he wants Youm to be "the hero that defeated the orc lord" and that their country helped him on his quest. Saying that he wants to establish friendly connections with humans, that Youm''s role would help establish trades with Blumund Kingdom. Fuze agreed, and Youm agreed as well after seeing that their country is peaceful and everyone is friendly. Completely the opposite of what the Church says about monsters. ... Weeks passed by, Youm is constantly being trained by Hakurou to make him the ideal hero. Fuze and the others went back to Blumund after the successful negotiations before, but before he left Shiro asked Fuze for a letter of recommendation. Fuze asked Shiro for the reason why he wanted one. Shiro replied by saying he wants to explore the human kingdoms soon and showed his human form to Fuze, convincing him that his identity as a monster won''t be found out. Shiro was entrusted by Rimuru to keep watch on Milim, so he''s been babysitting Milim all this time while having fun with their spars, which helped him test many of his skills and the recently acquired [Battle Maniac]. Another day passed and Treyni appeared before Rimuru, warning him about Charybdis. Chapter 14 - Charybdis Rimuru went to prepare. He sent a letter to Dwargon for their assistance and organized his army to fight against Charybdis and its megalodons. "Rimuru, you won''t need to fight! Your best friend will handle everything! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Milim offered her help. "No, you''ll stay here. This is our fight not yours." Rimuru replied. ''We might be in trouble... since I''m the one that hit Phobio and not Milim, Phobio''s target is most definitely me. I hope that ability is more than enough.'' Shiro contemplated his previous actions. A while later, everyone that can fight went out to confront Charybdis. They waited for the calamity class monster to arrive. While they waited, the reinforcements from Dwargon came and joined them. Moments later, a gigantic fish-like entity arrived, and accompanied by dozens of giant shark-like monsters. Everyone sprang into action. Swiftly killing every megalodon they could find. Gabiru, who was taken in by Rimuru along with his sister and a couple other lizardmen also joined the fray. The evolved high orcs took advantage of their big physique and great strength to tank the megalodons, giving a chance for others to attack and successfully kill them. Rimuru, Shiro, and Milim stayed behind and just watched. Milim however was bummed out that she wasn''t allowed to fight. "Shiro, aren''t you going to join them?" "Later Dad, Charybdis'' target is me." "How did you-" "Listen closely to his thoughts... he''s muttering my name in rage. Probably hates me for punching him back then." "Y-you''re right... huh." Moments later and the last megalodon has been eliminated. Leaving only Charybdis left. Charybdis started its attack, using its hundreds of thousands of scales as deadly projectiles. All of it went to attack the people that defeated the megalodons. The scales went again for a second attack. But Rimuru intervened. "Devour all. GLUTTONY!!!!" Black smoke formed and funneled on his hand and s.u.c.k.e.d up every last scale, all entering his vast stomach. A skill resulting from combining the Orc Disaster''s [Starve] skill and his own [Predator] skill: [Gluttony]. Shiro jumped towards Charybdis preparing Kusabimaru for an attack. "SHURA!! ONE FOR ALL!! FULL COWLING!!!" As he shouted the word, his entire body is suddenly covered in menacing red flames. His crimson eyes losing its light and his face devoid of emotion. He activated [Enchance Strength]. Ready to hit Charybdis in its flipper-like body part. He swung downwards, hitting Charybdis. The force from his swing sliced through the monster''s fin and the entire thing broke off from the body. Red flame projections came flying from the swing. Shiro fell to the ground. "Sh....sh...shura." "Whenever I use Shura, pure bloodthirst invades my mind and tries to corrupt me. I can only resist for 10 seconds... I better increase this when I have the time, unless I want to become a true Shura." He flew back in the air and looked at the wound. It''s already starting to regenerate along with new scales. Before Charybdis fully regenerates, Shiro transformed into a giant 9-tailed fox. Covered in white fur, his supposed paws are strangely still hands and feet, very different when he transforms into a smaller version. His appearance strikingly similar to a very famous demon fox that lives inside a boy. He opened his eyes, floating in the air as he looked at his enemy. Opened his mouth, and strange energy started converging in front of his mouth. It grew bigger and bigger. Shiro well aware that magic doesn''t work on Charybdis, but the attack he''s about to launch isn''t really magic at all. It''s chakra. He discovered that the different energies that exist in all the anime he''s watched also exists in this world, and that includes chakra. The people were just oblivious of its existence and only knew of magicules. The giant dark violet ball of chakra stopped growing in size. Then it started to glow brightly. "BIJUU DAMA!!!!!!!!" It shot through the sky at lightning speed and hit its target. He deactivated the barriers and went back to his original form. He caught the unconscious body of Phobio, almost dead and his right arm gone. His condition vastly different to the original timeline where Milim was the one who attacked, because there, Phobio''s body was perfectly fine compared to now. Shiro teleported to Rimuru and the latter immediately threw several Full Potions at him. Phobio''s condition instantly became stable and regrew his arm, but still unconscious. Sensing that Charybdis might take over Phobio''s body again he immediately went to work, both using [Deviant] and [Gluttony] to slowly eat Charybdis. And eventually it worked. The Demon Lord Carrion came. He apologized for his subordinate''s behavior and will properly punish him. Rimuru offered Carrion an alliance to establish trade and etc. Carrion agreed and said that they will come back to talk about the proposition. Phobio woke up, realizing what he''s done he apologized to Rimuru and Shiro. Shiro replied by saying: "Just try not to get your pride blind you next time." Phobio thanked him for being magnanimous. Carrion then left along with Phobio back to their own country. The warriors from Dwargon also came back to, well, Dwargon and Rimuru and co. went back to the city of "Rimuru" and resumed their life. ... "Hey [Great Sage], is there a way to replicate the effects of Rimuru''s Anti-Demon Mask?" ?Answer. A full analysis using [World''s Eye] on the mask will allow for effect replication on any item.? "Ok good. I may have my aura suppressed but a little still leaks out. I wouldn''t want to gather the attention of the Western Saints Church if my monster aura gets detected." Shiro went to Rimuru and asked if he can borrow his mask. Rimuru asked why and Shiro explained his reasons, which is wanting to explore. "I promise I''ll be back, this is my home after all." "Alright. Here''s the mask." Rimuru extended his arm and a white mysterious-looking mask appeared from his hand. Shiro took it and activated [World''s Eye]. ?30 seconds for full analysis.? 30 seconds later. "Thanks Dad." Shiro handed back the mask and Rimuru ate it again, storing the item inside his stomach. "No problem." Chapter 15 - Departure Morning. Everyone in the city of Rimuru has heard the news that their Prince will go on an adventure and explore solo. They all fully supported him and wish him luck. Shuna, with the help of Kaijin and Kurobe made new clothes for Shiro made of a magical thread gifted by the dryads. The clothes made from this has functions like automatically fitting the size of the wearer, auto-cleaning, and self-repairing. The clothes are a black shirt, a black coat with a red fire insignia on the back, black pants with a belt that has a holster for a sword, black boots, a red scarf, and finally a fingerless glove that fits on the left hand. The last one was personally asked by Shiro, for which Shuna didn''t know the reason for and just complied with the request. Shiro also asked both Kaijin and Kurobe for a new katana as a backup or spare weapon. It was made with magic steel and the blade glistened when unsheathed. The handle was white and the handguard is sculpted to look like a fox curled around the sword, sleeping. When Shiro received it he named it "Hikari" by Shiro because of its glistening blade. Kurobe carved the kanji for Hikari (¹â) on the base of the blade per Shiro''s request. {A/N: Hikari means light in case you didn''t know.} With Shiro having the ability to enchant any item with the effects of the Anti-Demon Mask, he took out a golden ring from his inventory. Defeating Charybdis cleared a hidden quest that required him to defeat a calamity-class monster. The rewards that gave him are 3, 6¡ï gacha tickets, 1 for weapons, 1 for armor, and 1 for powers, and a randomized gacha ticket. He saved the 6¡ï gacha tickets to use them for later and used the random gacha ticket which gave him... ?Congratulations for winning: The One Ring replica.? {A/N: Again in case you didn''t know, The One Ring is the famous ring in Lord Of The Rings. Myyy preciiioooouusssss.} Initially Shiro thought this was a piece of trash, that he should''ve won the actual One Ring, but he had an idea. Instead of using a mask like Rimuru, he enchanted the effects into the metal replica. The resulting product is the "Anti-Demon Ring". It still has the design, the writing, and its golden shimmer but it has the aura suppressing function. ... A few days later, he''s finally ready. Currently in his human form, he''s wearing the newly made clothes and a sheathed Kusabimaru holstered at his belt. The Anti-Demon Ring slipped on his right index finger and a red scarf nestled on his neck. He looked back, everyone is waving at him, wishing for his safety. He smiled at them and waved back. "Be safe." Rimuru said. "I will." Shiro replied. And with that he departed. Running on the brick road at high speeds that can rival Ranga, leaning forward while his arms stretched behind him. He could just run normally, but his passion wouldn''t allow it. He could also just fly, but he wanted to go on foot just to actually feel that it''s an adventure. This continued on until dawn. He stopped and settled down on a nearby tree, hunted a small animal and cooked it. His destination is the Kingdom of Blumund, where he will apply as an adventurer. This continued more. At day running and at night eating and resting. Sometimes running into some high orcs and spending the night with them and helping them a bit with some stuff. 5 days later he could see stone walls far away. He slowed on at a normal walking pace until he eventually met people. Some going to the stone wall and some going the opposite direction, to the country of Tempest, curious about the nation of monsters that supposedly helped the hero Youm defeat the Orc Disaster. A while later the humans that he could see started to grow in numbers. Merchants, adventurers, commoners, and soldiers on guard duty. He could see a line of various people at the front of a gate in the stone wall. Shiro joined in line and waited until it was his turn. "Identification?" "Uhhh... I don''t have one... does this count?" Shiro put his hand in his coat and took out the letter of recommendation he asked Fuse to make from his inventory, pretending that the letter is in his coat pocket. He handed the letter. The guard opened the letter and read its contents, to which his eyes widened in surprise. "It does, but I recommend that you get an adventurer''s ID from the Free Guild. You look strong enough, or is that sword just for show?" "That''s my goal from the beginning, and no, I know how to use this." Shiro tapped his sword. The guard handed back the letter and Shiro returned the letter to his "coat pocket". "Welcome to Blumund kid." The guard allowed entry for the white haired young man and he entered. He was greeted by many people walking in the street, doing various stuff. Bars, blacksmiths, general stores, weapon stores, inns, etc. could be found with people entering and exiting them. Shiro approached a random citizen and asked for directions to the Free Guild. The citizen gave him direction and Shiro could sense a bit of jealousy from the man. He followed the directions given to him until he found a building that stands out from the rest. He entered inside and found men and women dressed in clothes that corresponds to their class. Armor and swords for swordsmen, robes and staves for the magicians, etc. Shiro could feels stares at him, some with jealousy, some with l.u.s.t, and some with anger. A feeling he''s familiar with when he went back to Earth. He walked up to the receptionist. "I''d like to apply, here''s a letter of recommendation." "Y-y-yes! W-w-wait for a moment please!" She handed a form to Shiro. "Please fill in you name, age, and your d.e.s.i.r.ed division." Shiro filled in his name, his age as 18 years old, and his division into Subjugation division. The receptionist took the form. "Please go there for the rank examination." Shiro followed the directions to an open area with a magic formation in the middle. An audience formed up, curious about this newcomer that has the recommendation of the guild master. "Hey kid! Nice to see you here!" "Fuze! How are you?" "Finishing alot of paperwork for the trade with your country, I''m fine." "So when''s the exam going to start?" "About... now." Fuze walked out of the formation and went back to his office. A man showed up that has a pegleg and holding a cane for support. "I''m Jiggis, your proctor for the exam." "Nice to meet you, I''m Shiro." "Just so you know, having the guild master as your acquaintance doesn''t mean anything. You''ll still need to pass the test." "I understand." "We''ll start with an E-ra-" "Give me a B-rank test." The request from Shiro shocked the audience, including Jiggis. "Hehehehe. Don''t be c.o.c.ky brat. Fine, I''ll you a B-rank test." "Come... lesser demon!!" ?Notice. Attempting to acquire summoning magic [Demon Summoning].... Success] ''Nice!! Didn''t even need to use [Copy]!'' "Let''s see you fight this brat." Shiro unsheathed the black blade. ?Notice. Physical attacks are ineffective against physical lifeforms.? Hearing the warning Shiro controlled his magicules and created a magical aura that cloaks his sword. He walked towards the lesser demon slowly and the latter rushed towards him. But before the demon could even touch him Shiro swiped his sword to the side and sliced the demon in half and killed it. ?Notice. Extra skill [Magic Haki] acquired.? The audience was even more shocked even more by how effortlessly he killed the lesser demon. The trio, Kaval''s party just recently joined the audience and were also shocked. "Well that was weak. You got anything stronger? I want to try an A-rank test." "I....I....I do. I can summon a greater demon.... but I can''t guarantee your safety." "Do it." "Ok.... come... greater demon!!" A magic circle appeared once more and a menacing creature came out of it. It had sentience and asked his summoner. "What is thy bidding?" "*pant*... *pant*.... defeat that guy." Jiggis, using up most of his magicules could barely stand. "As you wish". The demon looked at Shiro... and attacked. Shiro immediately dodged to the side and the demon threw 3 fireballs at him. Shiro sliced 2 of them, dispelling the magic and grabbed the 3rd fireball and threw it back at the demon. The fireball hit the demon at the face and Shiro, using [InstantMove], an art he learned from Hakurou which is the name is self-explanatory, appeared behind the demon and sliced upwards with his sword still covered in [Magic Haki]. The demon died causing even more shock to the audience. Shiro walked up to Jiggis, who was about faint. "Here, drink this." Shiro handed a small bottle containing a blue liquid. A full potion that he diluted with water, turning it into a high potion. Shiro had stocked up on Full Potions that was manufactured by Vesta, the exiled dwarf that King Gazel gave to Rimuru. Jiggis took the potion and drank it. Fatigue left his body and rejuvenated him. "A high potion huh? Are you a rich noble''s son or something?" "Something along those lines.... So Jiggis, am I qualified for A-rank?" ".....Yes... yes you are." The audience cheered. Wit "An A-rank??!?! Seriously?!?!" "The first one to become an A-rank for a long time!" Some planned to leech off of his strength. "He''s handsome too... *chuckles*" "Stop that. Look at the ring, he''s married." "No he''s not, the ring''s at his index finger, not the ring finger." "I doubt you''ll seduce him." Some wanted him to join their party. "JOIN OUR PARTY!!" "NO JOIN OURS!!" "HEY WE WERE FIRST!!" "SO WHAT?!?!" And some in denial of his strength. "Pfff. I bet I can beat him with one hand." "You? A C-rank beating him? Keep dreaming." "Shut up!!!" Shiro walked back to the lobby and finally received his Adventurer''s ID. Showing his face, name, and other information, but most importantly, his rank: A. Chapter 16 - Little Thief It has been a few days since Shiro got registered as an adventurer. He hasn''t taken any quests during these few days, but merelt sightseeing and trying out the local food. He wore normal clothes that everyone wear as to not gather attention, because his edgy adventurer''s outfit stands out. Morning, sun shining on Shiro''s face through the window as he sleeps on the bed of the inn he currently stays at. The bright light from the sun hitting his face causes him to wake up. His eyes open revealing his blood red eyes, but instead of fox eyes they look like a normal human''s, except for the that fact they seem to glow a little when you look close. Shiro got out bed and yawned, took out a wooden comb and fixed his bed hair. "I should probably go to the guild and take a quest, wouldn''t want my identification revoked when I''m new registered." And with that decision he got out of his sleeping attire and wore his adventuring clothes, never forgetting to wear the fingerless leather glove, the red scarf, and Kusabimaru sheathed and fastened to his belt. He exited his room and ate food served by the inn. After he finished eating he paid for his food and went out. While walking towards the guild a child was behind him and bumped beside him. Shiro looked toward the kid, he was all dirty and was wearing rags. The kid ran again and never bothered to look back. "Weird kid." ?Your weapon, Kusabimaru has been stolen.? "WAIT WHAT!?!" "Goddamit... how could I not notice. That kid is gifted in theft." ... "HAH!! THAT IDIOT DIDN''T EVEN NOTICE! So much for that handsome face." The boy, exhausted from all the running smiled at sword in his hands. Proud of himself that he successfully stole something from an adventurer. This boy''s name is Kaz. His parents were adventurers. They died when journeying too deep into the Forest of Jura years ago, leaving the poor Kaz alone. Being small child, all he could do to survive was steal. It didn''t matter who, as long as it could get food in his stomach, he would gladly steal from them. At first he would always get caught, but as time went by he became more and more skilled at the art of theft. So much so that he noticed that whenever he tries to steal something, it was like nobody could hear him, or even feel his presence. Until someone saw him, it was as if he never existed. He himself noticed this gift he has, but he never questioned it. He was just glad that he has it as it can help a kid like him to survive. Back to the present. Kaz was sitting there with the sword in his hand. He was in a secluded alleyway next to a street that people rarely passes through. "How do you even take this thing out!!!" Kaz found himself struggling to unsheath the sword. Eventually he gave up and threw the sword on the ground. "Stupid thing. At least I can sell this, looks expensive enough. Those stupid a.d.u.l.ts might find out how to use this thing." He said as he observed the intricate design on the sword''s hand guard. "There''s a trick to unsheathing swords like these, it''s understandable that you won''t be able to open it." Kaz was startled by the voice that he heard. He stood up and although sheathed, he held the sword in his hands, ready to attack. He felt a cold sensation running up his spine, as if there was a beast ready to pounce on him and kill him. "Where are you?" he said. "Behind you." Kaz suddenly swung the sheathed sword towards the man behind him. The man easily grabbed the sword and removed it from the boy''s hands. The boy however didn''t flinch and punched at the man''s stomach. The man stopped the fist, grabbing it by the wrist but careful enough not to hurt the boy. Kaz looked at the man, he had snow white hair and blood red eyes. It was the adventurer that he stole from earlier. The man smiled and released the boy from his grasp. Kaz rubbed his wrist as the man squat and looked at him. "Hey kid, what''s your name?" The man asked. "It''s Kaz, what''s it to you?" The boy replied. "Nothing... it''s just that your interesting. My name is Shiro by the way. How old are you?" "12... why are you asking this? And how am I interesting?" "You''re gifted." ''He didn''t even flinch when I used [Coercion], he has a strong will.'' "What do you mean gifted?" "Well, you''re really good at stealing and you have a strong will for a 12 year old kid. I''ll come meet you again soon." As Shiro finished the sentence he disappeared leaving Kaz alone. He sat down and noticed something beside him. It was a wooden plate that''s full of food, a full meal. Kaz smiled as he took the plate and ate. Back to Shiro, he got Kusabimaru back and he continued his goal for the day: getting and completing a subjugation quest. Soon he finally reached the doors of the guild and went inside. It was busy as usual, with adventurers partying up, or parties making plans. There are some even flirting with other adventurers. Shiro looked at the quest board. As a B rank he thought that taking a B rank quest was a good start, but there were none. There were only quests of C and below. Disappointed he kept looking until someone approached him. "Hey!! Nice sword you got there!" A buff, tall man called out to him, accompanied with other men. "You''re the new guy right? After you got your ID you disappeared for a few days, we thought you chickened out from the adventurer life! Well we could understand if that was the case seeing that you look weak, you don''t even look like you''ve killed a monster before!!" "YEAH! Your gear looks expensive I''ll give you that, why don''t you give those to veterans like us!! You rich brats don''t got what it takes. Go back to your mommy and cry like a baby!" The men taunted Shiro by imitating a crying baby and then started laughing among themselves. The other adventurers in the building saw their group trying to stir up trouble. Their party was notorious for extorting and threatening newcomers especially if they come from a rich background. The only reason why the haven''t been revoked is because they haven''t been going overboard, at least that''s what other people have seen so far. Shiro took a a quest, it was a C rank quest. It was to subjugate a hobgoblin that was attacking merchant caravans. After picking the request he walked up to the receptionist but was stopped in his tracks. "Oi... WERE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO US?!?!" Shiro looked at the tall man''s eyes, blankly staring. Suddenly the man and his party members felt something cold run up their spine. They felt like death itself was near them, the pressure they felt caused them to run away and out of the building. ''Wow... weaklings. Couldn''t even handle a simple [Coercion].'' ?Your magicule amounts are incredibly high that [Coercion] can make a normal human unconscious. It is advised to practice control as to not gather unwanted attention.? ''Of course it is....'' He walked up to the receptionist. It was a different person from the one that gave him his ID. "I''d like to take this C rank quest." "Of course! Um... it is recommended that you need a party however." "I... don''t have a party. Do I need one? I''m a B rank though." Shiro replied as he showed his ID. "Ahh! You''re the new B rank! You suddenly disappeared after your test!" "Sorry about that. I was sightseeing the last few days." "Well you may be B rank but it is highly advised for newly registered adventurers to either form or join a party. This is a measure proposed by the Grandmaster to prevent inexperienced adventurers from having an early death." "Can''t be helped then." ''I''m not really the leader type so scratch forming my own party off the list. The only option left is to join an existing party I guess.'' Shiro thought to himself. Kabal''s party first came to his mind but shook his head in refusal, they may be a B rank party but they are a monster magnet. He doesn''t want pointless fights that would waste his time. He looked around and noticed something strange. All the adventurers in the room were terrified of him. ?Using [Coercion] also affected those surrounding you. Suggestion: practice.? "Shit..." Suddenly someone called him out. He was an energetic and blonde man. "Hey!!! THAT WAS COOL!! How did you scare away the Red Wolves?!?!" "The what now?" "Oh right you''re new! The Red Wolves was the party that tried to extort you. So tell me! How did you scare them away!" "Trade secret." Shiro said as he winked. "KARS YOU IDIOT!!!" A flat c.h.e.s.ted girl wearing tight leather garments that shows most of her skin suddenly came out from the crowd and grabbed the blonde man by the ear. "I''m so sorry scary dude! Kars is just a big idiot so please don''t kill us!!" She said whilst bowing and trembling. "Who said I was going to kill you?" "You.... you''re not?" "Was it because of what I did earlier? If so I''m sorry, that was intended for those muscle headed guys." Shiro apologized and bowed. "Oh... I''m... Fran." She introduced herself as she calmed down. "I''m Shiro, nice to meet you." He extended his hand out offering a handshake. "Yeah, nice to meet you." "Please let me go!!" Kars pleaded as his ear started to swell. Fran let go of him and Kars hit his head on the floor. He stood up rubbing his ear and looked at Shiro. "Hey why don''t you join us!!" "Sure. I''m looking for a party to join anyway and after what I did earlier I doubted I was gonna have a chance to join one with everyone in this room scared of me." Kars and Fran lead Shiro to their party. There Shiro met 2 others: Krav who is the tank of the party and an ex-soldier from the military of Ingrassia and Merlyn, a young girl who rarely shows emotions but skilled with the bow. Fran is specialized in stealth and Kars is a swordsman. All of them are C ranks except for Krav who''s a B rank. "There''s one more but he''s currently resting in the inn we''re staying at, he''s our mage and was hurt badly with the last quest we took." Kars said. "What was that quest?" "Uhh... subjugating the hobgoblin attacking caravans that was supposedly alone. The scouts somehow forgot to mention it had another hobgoblin friend and a bunch other goblins." ''Why do I feel like I know who those scouts are?!?.... *sigh*'' "What a coincidence, that''s the quest I''m taking, shouldn''t that be B rank already?" "Yeah it should, we were going to report it today so that it would be updated and be dealt with B ranks." Fran replied. "We didn''t get to do that because of that aura you released." Krav spoke, be had a raspy but deep voice. Shiro looked at him with surprise. Krav scoffed, "I''m an ex-soldier, I''ve people like you who''ve been trained how to kill. They all have this murderous feeling that surrounds them. Am I right?" Dumbfounded, Shiro replied, "Not exactly but close." ''Damn, I need to be careful around this guy, he''s sharp.'' "Anyways, don''t report that." Shiro said. "Why?" Fran asked. "You''ll get compensation money for clearing a quest that had wrong info. Compensation fee for you guys risking your life clearing a supposed B rank quest. Isn''t that how it works?" "No you''re right but we''re not strong enough, one of us almost died." "Don''t worry, I''ll take care of it." Shiro said as he gave a thumbs up. Chapter 17 - First Quest "So Shiro, where do you come from? Are you a rich noble''s kid? If what Krav said is true then have you killed people? Why do you wear a single glove? Can you teach me that scary aura thing you used on the Red Wolves?" While walking towards where the hobgoblin pair were last seen, Kars asked Shiro many questions to satisfy his curiosity. "KARS!!" Fran berated Kars from being too nosy. "No no! It''s ok I don''t mind. So for the questions uhhhh... I guess I can say I come from the east, I won''t tell where exactly though. A rich noble''s kid... I guess you can say that. I haven''t killed humans if that''s what your asking. For the glove, it''s just for aesthetic. And the aura thing, a big fat no." "Awww, I really wanted to learn that." "If you want to learn, kill 100 humans in cold blood." Krav "teased" Kars in an intimidating voice. "Guh!" Kars just gave up. After a while they reached the spot where their party last encountered the hobgoblins. There was still blood on the ground but it has already dried up. Signs of a fight were very obvious judging by the scorch marks, slits on the soil, and footprints. "Alright let''s split up. Merlyn you come with me. Kars and Fran you two pair up. And Shiro, it''s very obvious that you can handle yourself. When one of you finds the target, shout. If somehow you got in a bad situation, forget about the quest and just run back to the city." Krav gave out orders and split up. As an ex-military he has experience in commanding people. And so they split up. Each group following a set of footprints. Everyone of them except for Shiro being ready for a possible ambush. Shiro followed one set of footprints and followed it into the forest. He continued walking and walking. He quickly got bored and played with the dagger he got from the system, trying to do tricks and cutting himself multiple times which regenerated immediately. Suddenly he heard rustling from a bush nearby. He approached it, ready to fight. He waited, until... a rabbit came out. "Well that was a disappointment." Shiro tensed up as he felt hostile intent coming from behind. He turned around and a single goblin was about to attack him. The goblin thrusted its short sword at Shiro but he easily dodged it, grabbed the goblin at its neck and disarmed the monster. "Where are your friends?" "Gahaha!! How dumb of you to assume I''m alone!!" Two more goblins appeared and pounced on him, ready to stab Shiro. Two tails appeared and swatted the goblins, both of them hitting a tree and fainting. The tails quickly retracted and disappeared. "Y-y-y-you''re not human?!?!! A fox spirit?!?!" "I may be a fox but I''m not the same as the foxes of this world. Now enough about me, where are the hobgoblins?" "Like I''d tell you!!" ?Would you like to use [Coercion]?? ''Yes, but don''t make it too strong that the goblin will faint.'' ?Affirmative.? The goblin suddenly felt extreme fear making him scream and sweat an ocean. ''Sage, stop.'' The goblin stopped screaming. His body went limp and extremely exhausted as he gasped for air. "Ready to talk?" "F.u.c.k you....." "Well that didn''t work, for a goblin he has a strong sense of loyalty. Not that I''ve never seen that before though." Giving up he gave the goblin a swift death with one swing from his sword, decapitating the goblin. He tried to interrogate the other 2 goblins as well but encountering the same loyalty from the first goblin and refused to tell him about their comrades, he decided to kill them off as well. He went back to the spot where he split from the party and wait for them. A while later both pairs came back finding nothing. "Find anything Shiro?" Fran asked. "Encountered 3 goblins. Interrogated them using the thing I did to the Red Wolves but got nothing. They have strong loyalty to the 2 hobgoblins." "Very smart to create fake trails and cover up their own. Strange that they even came up with this." Kars said. "It''s not strange when you''re talking about hobgoblins. They''re as smart as humans." Krav commented. They decided to go back to call it a day and come up with another plan the next day. Shiro decided to sleep in the inn where the others sleep and it''s also where their injured party member: Arma. ... Night. Everyone is sleeping soundly, except for Shiro. He can''t sleep for reasons he doesn''t know. To kill time he just browsed the system shop, looking for interesting stuff. When his head is suddenly engulfed in flames. His head suddenly disappeared with his neck ablaze. He couldn''t see anything, he couldn''t even breathe. Then we noticed something, tiny dots in the distance. He looked around and he saw that his head was just floating around. That''s when he suddenly realized that he''s in space, and he was sure that it''s in another universe. He knew that it''s in another universe as he felt the same feeling when he traveled back to Earth and appeared in Tokyo. He focused and his head engulfed in flames once again and disappeared and reappeared back to his body. He didn''t know that he was actually being engulfed in flames when he traverses dimensions as he was closing his eyes the last time he did that. He shook his head and laid down on the bed. After a while he was finally able to sleep. ... "GOOD MOOOOOORNIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!" Kars loud voice woke up everyone in the inn, and everyone complained and berated him. The inn''s owner even threatened to kick him and his party out if he continues being an annoyance. The party gathered up and ate together. They discussed about their next plan of action. Eventually they decided to follow a merchant caravan as bodyguards in hopes that the hobgoblin gang would attack. "Oh yeah what about the party''s mage? Arma right?" Shiro asked. "He''s still recovering, might take a few days before he''s fully healed." Fran said. "I might just have the thing to get him right back up." They were confused by what Shiro said but they didn''t ask any questions and showed him the room where Arma is resting. Shiro put his hand inside his coat and took out a bottle of blue liquid. "Make him drink this." Shiro handed over the bottle to Fran. "Is this?!.. A high potion!?! Where did you get this??" "Let''s just say my dad is rich." "Oh yeah you mentioned being the son of a noble or something." They woke up Arma and he drank it. Almost instantly he could feel warmth flowing through him, healing his injuries. The tall blonde elf stood up and was incredibly happy. Kars introduced Shiro to the newly healed Arma and the latter was grateful for what he did. Soon after they explained their plans to Arma concerning the goblin gang and determination could be seen in his eyes. They went to the guild and picked a bodyguard quest. They met with the merchants. They were rich and their carts were full of products and money. Some of them were haughty while some were neutral. Rich merchants were always the target of the goblins which put hopes in Shiro and co. They were accompanied by other adventurer parties ranging from C rank to D as well as mercenaries. They set off to Dwargon, the merchants often trade with the people of Dwargon for their high quality products especially their skillset. The adventurers and mercenaries walked while surrounding every cart while the merchants sat comfortably inside the carts. While travelling, the merchants saw the unusual gear of Shiro. As merchants they have an eye for quality, because of that, during the many breaks they took along the way, several of them has been trying to buy the equipment Shiro has. Especially his sword Kusabimaru, offering him prices that made the mercenaries and adventures accompanying them drop their jaw. ... Night, everyone has set up camp. Shiro and company still waiting for the goblin bandits to attack. Shiro occasionally sending a [Body Double] clone when no one is looking to survey the area. Still no luck. One of the merchants approached him, trying to buy his sword. "Shiro-san, I understand that an adventurer like you need a remarkable weapon like your sword with them at all times. We promise that we will find a weapon that will suit a B rank such as yourself than the sword you currently have. Just sell me the sword for 5000 gold coins and as a bonus I will give you a written contract promising to give you a better weapon." Shiro sighs. "Look, for the last time. Not. For. Sale." The merchant left incredibly frustrated. He decided that he will play dirty to get what he wants. After all money can buy everything. ... The next day, morning. Everyone is ready to travel again. Kars was starting to get hopeless. "COME ON!! Why won''t they show up already!?!" Just as he said that an arrow whizzed by and almost hit a driver of one of the carts. "ENEMY ATTACK!!!" Krav shouted, alerting everyone as they prepared for a fight. Then they noticed something weird. They all looked up and they saw hundreds of arrow raining from above, about to hit them. Shiro took the initiative, he leaped in the air and swung his sword with blue flames coming out. The flames formed a roof and burned all of the arrows into ashes. The blue flames dissipated and Shiro landed on the ground. The road they were on was a wide gap between 2 forests. The trees on one side was rustling and hundreds of goblins came pouring out. The adventurers and mercenaries all charged in and attacked including Shiro''s party. Mages casting spells, archers shooting arrows, swordsmen slashing at the monsters, etc. Shiro was effortlessly mowing down on the goblin horde, but at the same time he was focusing on trying to find the 2 hobgoblin leaders by using [Magic Sense]. After a while he finally located their position. They were way at the back of the goblin horde. "Wow, hiding behind their minions like cowards." He shouted to his party that he found their targets. "I''ll take one of them and you guys take care of the other!! Are you guys coming or what?!" The party left the battlefield and circled around to flank the 2 hobgoblins. They arrived. Merlyn shot an arrow that hit one of the hobgoblins at the back of the knee. The 2 hobgoblins were alerted and they drew out their weapons. One held a battleaxe and the one hit by Merlyn wielded a mace. Shiro used [Flash Step] and using the speed and momentum, knee kicked the battleaxe hobgoblin and sent him flying. The hobgoblin hit a tree but managed to not lose consciousness and used the chance to run away. Shiro rushed after the hobgoblin, leaving the injured mace hobgob with the rest of the party. Battleaxe hobgob kept running until he hit a dead end, a cliffside. He was cornered, fear took over him as he saw the white haired adventurer walk towards him. The hobgoblin had no choice but to fight. He wasn''t going to let himself die here. He evolved from a goblin into a hobgoblin. He won''t let this stroke of luck be in vain. He gripped on his battleaxe tightly and charged towards Shiro, which surprised the latter. Shiro dodge the initial overhead swing. The battleaxe hit the ground and surrounding tree and plants were blown away by the shockwave, leaving a small crater on the ground with cracks. The hobgoblin in an instant twisted his body and slashed towards Shiro, which he easily blocked the attack. "Hey do you like to dance?" "SH-SHUT UP AND DIE!!!" The hobgoblin kept attacking, slashing and swinging the battleaxe at Shiro like a berserker. Shiro continued to dodge the hobgoblins attacks and slashed at different parts of the latter''s body. Eventually the hobgoblin stopped from exhaustion and losing alot of blood. He dropped the battleaxe on the ground and knelt down, not having enough strength to stand up. "Well this has been fun. Goodbye." Shiro beheaded the hobgoblin in one clean swing. He took the head and walked back to where he left his party. That''s when 3 people blocked his path. "Let me guess. The fat merchant hired you to kill me and take my stuff?" "Ye guessed right, and ye ain''t gunna leave. Ye gunna die!" Shiro sighed in disappointment. He didn''t want to meaninglessly kill humans as he was a former human himself. So he simply activated [Coercion] and the 3 mercenaries ran away out of fear. "Man... [Coercion] is really handy." ===================================== Earlier, in the middle of the forest. Shiro had just left the party to chase after the battleaxe hobgoblin. Krav ordered the other to get into position. With him right in front of the mace hobgoblin, Kars just right behind Krav, Merlyn and Arma at the rear, and Fran hiding in the trees, ready to attack from the shadows. Merlyn shot an arrow, aimed at the hobgoblin''s head. The hobgoblin was now ready unlike when he was hit at the back of the knee, so he blocked the arrow with the mace. Seeing the hobgoblin distracted Krav rushed in and bashed the enemy with his shield, staggering the opponent. Kars then slashed towards the hobgoblin, injuring the left arm of the latter. The hobgoblin winced and with the mace on his right arm he swung it towards Kars, he tried to block but the strength of a hobgoblin is still stronger than a normal adventurer. Kars was pushed back and the hobgoblin attacked him again when Krav interfered, blocking the strike. Arma casted a spell, Icicle Lance which he then shot at the hobgoblin, hitting the monster on the right arm, disarming him. Fran suddenly dashed towards the feet of the hobgoblin and slashed at them. Making the hobgoblin unable to stand and knelt down. Merlyn shot another arrow, only this time it finished the hobgoblin''s life. The arrow hit him at the head. Penetrating through the brain, ending his life. "F.U.C.K YES!!!" Kars shouted in excitement. "LANGUAGE!!" Fran reprimanded Kars and pulled on his ear again. Shiro came back and saw the corpse of the mace hobgoblin lying on the ground. "I see you finished things here too." "What happened to the other hobgoblin?" Arma asked. Shiro then lifted the head of the battleaxe hobgoblin, grabbing at the hair. "Uh.. we only need the right ear." Fran said "Oh! Sorry." Shiro cleanly cut the right ear of the head while Kars cut the right ear of the other hobgoblin. The party walked out of the forest only to find a handful of goblins left. They helped out and eradicated the remaining goblins. They rested there for a while, the other adventurers healing their wounds and restoring their stamina. After that they continued their journey. They were very near Dwargon from where the goblins attacked so it only took a day to get to Dwargon. They received their reward for the bodyguard quest from the merchants. One of the merchants was looking at Shiro bitterly, knowing that he failed to get the sword. "Dammit!! Now we have to walk all the way back to Blumund!" Kars said. "I have a shortcut." Shiro said. "What is it?" "Just hold on to me." Shiro instructed the others and they complied. Shiro activated Flying Raijin and they found themselves right next to the wall in Blumund. "WOAH!!!!" "You can teleport?!?!" Arma exclaimed. "But only to places I''ve been to." Shiro explained, keeping the fact about the marks secret. They went back in through the gate and completed their quest, received their monetary rewards and went to celebrate in a nearby tavern. Drinking beer and eating delicious food. Chapter 18 - Unexpected Student The busy streets of Blumund. Adventurers, merchants, vendors, all kinds of people going about their daily lives. If one looks close enough, one could see a man drooling as he leans towards the glass pane that''s separating him from what he''s looking at. ?Notice: Detecting behavior unbecoming of the prince of Tempest.? ''Shut up.'' It was none other than Shiro. Looking at a butterfly knife with intricate and beautiful designs that would make one cry over their wallets if they try to buy it. Shiro wanted to buy it. When he was a human, he had a hobby of collecting figurines and that hobby was carried over when he got reincarnated. Although instead of figurines, it is now weapons that catch his eye. A month has passed since the goblin quest and he has racked up quite a bit of money. He''s been debating within himself if he should squander and buy the knife or save up more money for the future. Shiro suddenly turned around and grabbed the arm of a kid. It was Kaz, trying to steal Shiro''s sword again. "I won''t fall for that again." "Tch. How did you know I was behind you?" Shiro pointed at the glass pane. Kaz followed where Shiro''s finger was pointing saw his own reflection. "So that''s how." "Exactly! You may be able to blend into the magicules in the air but you still can''t defy the laws of physics." "Law of wha-" "Anyway! Let me explain some stuff to you." Shiro crouched down to Kaz''s height, making it look like he was a pedophile trying to trick a small child as he explained Kaz''s bodily phenomenon. Kaz somehow blends into the natural magicules in the air, causing the invisible-like state that even [Magic Sense] can''t detect. Shiro doesn''t know how it it happens or even why Kaz has this talent but it''s a very useful one, perhaps he could one day get that ability with [Copy], but alas it isn''t a skill. "Train me." "W-what?" "I know your strong. If what you say about me is true, then I can be strong as well. All I need is someone to teach me." Kaz''s request threw Shiro off guard. He never expected someone to suddenly ask to be his student. He hasn''t even learned [InstantMove], a skill created by Hakurou that is self-explanatory. Shiro wasn''t really bothered that he hasn''t learned that since he has the Flying Raijin technique. "Are you sure about this? What makes you think I''m qualified to teach?" "Just a gut feeling." Shiro was left speechless as he suddenly disappeared in front of Kaz. "What the..." ... Back in the capital of Tempest, the city of Rimuru. An old kijin was enjoying eating dango while watching Gobuta and the other goblin riders train. He sensed the presence of a familiar figure walking towards him. "Greetings Master Hakurou." Shiro, in his fox form, bowed. "Hello there Shiro. How are you?" "I''m fine... I''m here to ask you for advice." Shiro explained his situation to Hakurou. About Kaz and his sudden request to be trained. "Hoho! Go ahead and train him. There''s no need to reject the request of someone like that!" "But I don''t even know how to teach in the first place." "Neither did I when I started teaching. Trust yourself, teaching someone can improve yourself as well." Shiro gave it some thought and decided that he''d give teaching Kaz a shot. He thanked Hakurou and bowed. "Oh yeah before I leave where''s dad?" "He just left, going to the same country you went. Blumund was it?" "Yeah.. thanks again!" Shiro disappeared from Hakurou''s sight as he took a bite. ... Back in Blumund, Shiro appeared in front of Kaz again in his human form. "Where did go? How did you disappear? "None of your concern." "What bu-" "I''ll take you in as my student." Kaz was delighted by Shiro''s response. Being trained by a strong person means getting stronger, and that would mean he doesn''t have to steal anymore to survive. Shiro thought about what Hakurou said. ''So Rimuru''s going to Ingrassia now to teach Shizu''s students huh? What a weird coincidence, He''s going to get his students and I get mine almost at the same time. He''s probably nearing Blumund now that I think about it. Should probably greet him when he comes to register in the guild.'' "So? When do we start?" Kaz asked, looking forward to Shiro''s lessons. "First of all! You need knowledge. At least the basics about magic. Might be a bit boring though." "It''s fine, anything to get me out of this life." ... 3 days passed. Kaz learned the basics of magic easily. Because of his condition he found it easy to control magicules and use them. He tried blending into the magicules at will but to no avail. He''s learned simple swordsmanship. He''s exceptionally talented at throwing knives or kunais, which sparked the naruto fan inside Shiro. "Nice, didn''t expect for you to learn that fast." "Still can''t blend at will though." "Don''t think about it! You''ll learn how to do it sooner or later. Let''s go to the guild and register you." "What? But it''s too early for me." "The best training is hands-on experience, now let''s go." People greeted Shiro. He became well known among the adventurers of Blumund, reasons being his handsomeness and his B-rank status. "Ah! Shiro-san! Here to take another quest?" The receptionist greeted him. "No, here help someone register." The receptionist looked down to see a 12 year old boy with fierce eyes. She was a bit worried that such a young boy would be registering as an adventurer, but she trusted Shiro''s intuition so she gave him the papers he needed to fill. "Oh wait can you write?" The receptionist asked. "Yeah, my mom and dad taught me before they died." The receptionist said sorry for hearing that, to which Kaz didn''t reply. He''d rather move forward instead of dwelling in the past. Kaz finished filling up the forms, he chose the subjugation division and was ready for the test to determine his rank. But the receptionist told them to wait for a while because a young girl is currently taking the test. "Young girl? Does she have blue hair?" Shiro asked. "Yes. Do you know her?" "Yep." Shiro and Kaz went to the test area to watch. There they saw a young girl, with sky blue hair wearing a mask. Easily killing the summoned monsters up until the lesser demon. Jiggis, the proctor just summoned a lesser demon inside the magic circle him and the test taker are standing on. "So who is she?" Kaz asked Shiro. "What?" "You mentioned earlier that you knew her." "Oh yeah. Let''s just say we came from the same country." "And what is that?" "That''s a secret." "Tch." "Oh and that''s a guy." "What?!" While Kaz was dumbfounded on how can a boy look like a cute girl, Shiro continued watching along with the other adventurers spectating in the area. Moments later, the girl finally killed the lesser demon and Jiggis looked like he was about to have a mental breakdown. "How are people this strong?!?! First Shiro, now this kid!! What next, a f.u.c.k.i.n.g baby!!?!" Jiggis mumbled to himself. Shiro called out to Rimuru, calling him by his name. Rimuru looked around saw the young man waving at him as he waved back. Rimuru used [Thought Communication] and asked: A guild staff pulled Jiggis from his existential nightmare so he can test Kaz. Because Kaz has only been training for 3 days he could only go up to D rank when he almost failed killing the dark goblin summon. Kaz was frustrated and complained that if he had more time to train he''d have gone up to C rank. Shiro told Kaz that it''s only a matter of time before he ranks up, so he should be patient. Rimuru, curious about Kaz, asked about who he is. Shiro explained how he met the boy and how he took him in as a student. He also told Rimuru about Kaz''s ability, which piqued his interest. Shiro and Rimuru chatted for a bit. Kaz and Rimuru got their adventurer identification cards and they went their separate ways. Rimuru going to meet with a noble of Blumund to do business. Shiro and Kaz got a simple subjugation quest where they have to kill weak monsters and return with proof to train Kaz. As they went to the wilderness Shiro stopped Kaz for a moment. He wanted to teach Kaz [Magic Sense]. He guided him through the process. "Sense the magicules surrounding you. Extend your consciousness to them." Kaz easily learned it as he heard the Voice of the World, which startled him. With [Magic Sense] up his sleeve Kaz''s skill have improved at a faster rate. He prefers the use of knives and daggers than swords. Killing weak monsters is now a breeze as he always hits them straight in the head. ... A week passed. Kaz ranked up to C rank and Shiro tries to experiment with his dimension travelling ability, all tests gave no results. The duo are back in the wilderness with Kaz practicing throwing daggers at targets set up around the place and the occasional animal or monster the he runs into. Kaz is just continually training while Shiro is just sleeping next to a tree. Kaz saw the sleeping Shiro, he saw this as an opportunity to do whatever he wanted, and so he went deeper into the wilderness. Shiro woke up minutes later, noticing that Kaz is gone. "Where the hell is that brat?" ?Answer: He went deeper into the wilds as you were asleep.? "WHAT?! At what direction?" ?East, towards the Great Forest of Jura.? "F.u.c.k, why didn''t I put a mark on him. That place is still too much for him, hopefully he doesn''t find the city. If he does, hope he doesn''t cause trouble." Shiro said to himself as he flew off in the direction [Great Sage] told him. Chapter 19 - New Skill In the deep forest of Jura, Kaz encountered beasts and monsters that he wouldn''t be able kill on his own. At first he went here to find stronger opponents, but he realized his overconfidence soon. He decided to back to Blumund when he saw smoke from far away. Overcome by curiosity he continued on while avoiding monsters by jumping from tree top to tree top. Because Kaz was just a kid he never heard of the new country established in the Great Forest of Jura. Most adventurers have heard of it and decided to visit but even if Kaz is officially an adventurer, he has only focused on training ever since registering in the guild. He had no time or even interest in news, all he cared about right now was getting stronger. As he continued going in the direction of the smoke, he felt a presence come closer to him using [Magic Sense]. He immediately stopped in his tracks and went on guard. He knew that whatever that was, it was different from the monsters he''s encountered so far. He took out a dagger, landed on the ground and took a stance, remaining vigilant. "COME OUT WHOEVER YOU ARE!!!" "Hm." Suddenly a figure appeared behind Kaz, holding a kunai poking his throat, a small drop of blood leaked out. Kaz felt fear, but he didn''t let it get through him. He looked at the hand holding the weirdly shaped dagger. It was dark skinned, and with [Magic Sense] he knew what this monster looked like without seeing him. The clothes were strange and dark blue, same as his hair. A single horn on his head. He even noticed that the area was already covered in very thin threads, he knew that he couldn''t escape, he had to play along with whatever it wants. "Who are you? What''s your name?" "Kaz." "Why were you sneaking around? Are you a spy?" "What do you mean a spy? I''m an adventurer!" "If you are actually an adventurer you wouldn''t be sneaking around this close to the city and would''ve been on the road." ''Road? What road? Is he talking about the big brick road that leads into the forest? I thought it lead to a country on the other side of the forest. What city is he talking about?'' Kaz thought to himself, still oblivious about the Jura Tempest Federation. "Rimuru-sama said not to kill troublemakers, but he never said to hurt them. Get ready to be interrogated brat." "SOUEI NII-SAN STOP!!" The monster stopped threatening Kaz and withdrew his kunai. Both of them looked up and saw Shiro flying towards them. He landed, glad that he made it in time. "You''re a monster aren''t you?" Kaz confronted Shiro. "Uuuuhhhhhhhhh... no??? " Shiro didn''t know how to respond. "Your a bad liar." "Fine... how the hell did you know?" "It was easy, I simply connected the dots. This ogre, or Souei as you called him, mentioned Rimuru, with an honorific. Implying that Souei is a subordinate of Rimuru. I had suspicions that he was a monster because there''s no way a human male could look like an incredibly cute girl naturally. Also because he was as strong, maybe even stronger than you when he easily annihilated that lesser demon summon. You also called Souei with a brotherly honorific." "Holy shit you''re smart... you figured it all out just from that?" "No. I''m bullshitting. I can see fox ears on your head dumbass." Shiro was embarrassed. How could he be so careless and made a mistake like that. He looked at Souei''s eyes and he nodded. Souei understood Shiro and will keep what happened a secret. Even if Shiro is a carefree person he still has a reputation to keep. ''SAGE!! Why didn''t you tell me my ears were showing??'' "DON''T GIVE ME THAT BULLSHIT!!!" "Who''re you talking to??" "Nothing!!... so anyway. You gonna hate me now that you know I''m not human?" "Pfff. No. You''ll make me strong and that''s all I care about." "What? You don''t have a grudge against monsters? You told me what happened to your parents so I thought you''d hate monsters... especially the ones living in the Forest of Jura." "They died because they were weak. They died and that''s that." "Oh shit red flag." Shiro made a mental note to himself to be careful around Kaz. The kid had issues and could turn into something bad. Shiro went back to his monster form and decided that since they''re near Rimuru city, they should at least go there. He could have Shion make him durable clothes with magic properties and maybe some armor plating from Kaijin too. He could also get Kaz some custom weapons from Kurobe and Kaijin for Kaz as well. And maybe ask Hakurou for some advice. Shiro had some plans, but nevertheless he never expected to be home again after only a month. ... While Kaz trains, Shiro does one of 2 things. He either goes to an inhospitable world and experiments with his abilities, or he just strolls around the city, sometimes getting attention from a few adventurers and merchants who''re interested in the so called ''City of Monsters''. "I wish Milim was still here though, kinda boring with no one to spar with." Shiro sulked, sitting on the edge of the fountain in the city square. "SHIRO-CHAAAAN" A familiar voice was heard from distance. Shiro, as a fox with strong sense of smell, smelled something horrendous from a mile away coming closer and closer. "A shit." Shiro disappeared from the fountain. "Hmph. How would I able to know if my cooking is good enough for Rimuru-sama if everyone keeps avoiding me..." It was none other than Shion, holding a bowl of food that looked like it was excreted from the bowels of hell. Back in the training area, Shiro watched Kaz as he sparred with the goblin riders. "Huh? What the hell?" "So you''ve noticed as well." Hakurou commented. Kaz was trying to focus magic around his hand. Intrigued, Shiro told the goblin riders to go harder on Kaz using [Thought Communication]. Immediately Kaz started struggling. The teamwork between the goblins were strong and had few openings, and even if Kaz tried to take advantage of an opening he couldn''t react fast enough to even do it. This continued for a while, the magic around Kaz''s hand became more concentrated. He made a knifehand gesture and the magic energy turned into a sharp blade. Gobuta let out his war cry as he rushed at Kaz and thrusted his wooden sword. Kaz evaded and countered. His hand easily pierced through Gobuta''s c.h.e.s.t like butter. Shiro and Hakurou acted quickly. Hakurou separated the two, grabbing Kaz''s wrist and pushing away Gobuta as Shiro threw a blob of full potion at the latter, instantly healing the mortal wound. Hakurou let go of the kid''s wrist. Kaz then heard a voice in his head. Shiro noticed his reaction and assumed that Kaz heard the Voice of the World and created a new skill. His suspicions were confirmed when he used [World''s Eye] and saw that Kaz has an extra skill: [Body Weaponization]. It uses the magicules in the air to turn body parts into deadly weapons like what Kaz did. He turned his hand into a blade. ?Would you like to use [Copy] on [Body Weaponization]?? ''Yes.'' ?Successfully copied Extra Skill: [Body Weaponization]? Shiro rendered Kaz unconscious with a neck chop. He placed his hand on his student''s c.h.e.s.t and placed a mark on Kaz''s heart. Hakurou noticed what Shiro did and asked why. Shiro replied: "Safety measure if ever he goes rogue." "Make sure you yourself don''t go rogue as well. But I doubt you''d betray Rimuru-sama." "Of course I won''t, I''ll never betray him." Shiro smiled at his master as he hoisted Kaz onto his shoulder and carried him to his house. In an arid desert in a different world. Shiro tested the capabilities of [Body Weaponization]. In that world there''s only desert and its inhabitants are only giant insectoids. He already knew that he can turn his hand into a blade. He looked at his tails, he can extend the length of them but their use in fighting there''s not much he can do except smacking his enemies. He used the skill on his tails. Just one look and he knew that his tails became spear-like weapons. A group of insectoids emerged from the ground and attacked him. He quickly used his tails to pierce through and kill every single one of them. Shiro was delighted, he didn''t even have to move from where he''s standing. Time for one last experiment. He used [Body Weaponization] on his hand that''s doing a claw gesture. His nails grew and inch longer and became extremely sharp. Shiro closed his eyes and focused his dimensional ability into his hand. Blue flames appeared and covered his hand. He opened his eyes, slashed in front of him and tore the fabric of space-time and essentially opened a portal. He''s been trying to find a way to allow others to go into other worlds if ever the need arises, now that he succeeded in creating a portal he can rest easy. He laughed in delight and went into the portal. Chapter 20 - To Ingrassia "Shiro-chan! Here''s the gear that you requested for Kaz-kun." Shuna handed over folded clothes made from magic silk made from hellmoth silk and other rare materials. "Why do you call me -chan but not Kaz?" Shiro asked the pink-haired kijin. "Because you''re still a little brother to me. While Kaz-kun may be your student but he''s still a guest." Shuna smiled at Shiro. Shiro went back to Kaz training with his new skill, slicing trees in half and smashing rocks. "Hey put this on." Shiro threw the gear at Kaz and accidentally tore the clothes with his sharp hand. "Oh come on kid." Shiro picked them up and injected magicules into them. The self-repairing feature of Shuna''s special silk activated and the clothes were immediately repaired. Kaz was surprised. Shiro explained the properties of the cloth and after finishing the explanation Kaz slipped into his new gear. It was light, robust, and easy to move around in which made Kaz smile. The gear had a black vest, black undershirt and pants. There were also shoes, red gloves, leg and arm pads for a bit more protection and a hood hidden in the vest. The entire thing had many secret pockets for knives, daggers, and other useful stuff. Happy with the new equipment he tested it by jumping from tree to tree and then threw a kunai, killing a random bird. Jumping down from a tree, Kaz asked what''s next. Shiro went back to his human form and his kimono transformed back into his adventurer clothes before he answered. "We go back to Blumund. Hold on to me." Kaz grabbed his coat and they teleported right next to the city walls. Greeted by the guards they went inside. "Hey Kaz, ready to rank up to B?" "Yeah, I''m ready." Kaz''s sharp eyes showed bloodl.u.s.t, which made Shiro remind himself to be careful with him as he still doesn''t know how to counter Kaz''s camouflage ability. They went to the guild. People greeted Shiro but were wary of Kaz, even they know that the kid isn''t normal. Shiro talked to the receptionist and she started the procedure for a rank up exam. She asked Kaz to give her the I.D to it would be updated. The people nearby saw that Kaz was gonna try and rank up. They all stopped what they were doing and went to the testing area to watch. Shiro and Kaz were already there. But before Kaz entered the magic barrier circle, Shiro gave him a wakizashi. "What is this?" "Pretty sure I taught you how to handle a sword. Anyways you''ll need it if you''re gonna take on a lesser demon." Kaz took the sword. It wasn''t made of anything special but it was still high quality. Kurobe''s sword smithing skills never fail. The lesser demon attacked. It was fast, but Kaz was faster. Kaz kept dodging the demon. He tried to attack but his slashes didn''t connect. Remembering that demons have no physical body he started covering his sword in magicules. Creating a thin layer of magic around the blade he started doing some damage. After a while Kaz his starting to get exhausted. Deciding that he has to end this quickly he threw multiple magicule covered knives at the demon. It dodged most of them but a few hit the demon, staggering it. Kaz saw his chance, staggering his opponent gave him a window that he can use. He sprinted. When he got near the demon slashed its claws towards him. Kaz jumped over, dodging the attack and landing behind the demon. Wasting no time he threw more knives, hitting the demon''s back. Kaz jumped again, this time aiming at the demon''s neck. He spun around and slashed. The demon''s body dissipated. Kaz fell to his knees. Exhausted but thrilled. A kid like him defeated a lesser demon, something he never thought he would be able to do. His body had small cuts that came from attacks that he barely dodged so he was bleeding a little. The spectators cheered. Some whistled, some hollered, and some simply clapped. Nevertheless they were celebrating a new B rank adventurer in their midst. Kaz felt a splash on his head. Blue liquid trickled from his hair and all his injuries were immediately gone. His stamina recovered as his skin absorbed the liquid. "Was that a full potion?" Kaz asked Shiro as he stood up. "Yup." "How much of those do you even have?" "More than you think. But enough of that, let''s go get your I.D." The two had the center of attention the entire day. Shiro almost blushed from all the compliments of finding a prodigy, but he kept his cool to maintain that "cool" persona he''s established as an adventurer. Kaz however, was smiling alot with a very smug expression, being praised as a prodigy. ''He may be an edgy kid... but he''s still a kid. I guess that''s something that you can''t really change.'' Shiro thought to himself when he heard a *ding* in his mind. ?New quest available.? ''It''s been a while since I got a system quest. Sage, show me the quest.'' ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Quest: To Ingrassia Description: The world is vast, leave Blumund and explore the world! The Kingdom of Ingrassia is one of the wealthiest countries of the world, try going there next. Requirements: Go the capital of Ingrassia Rewards: 5¡ï Random gacha ticket, Chronostasis Hourglass. ''What.... why are there censored parts?'' ?...? ''No answer huh... guess I just need to find out for myself.'' Shiro scratched his head, feeling a little frustrated. He looked over to Kaz "Hey kid we''re going to Ingrassia." "What? When?" Kaz was surprised by the sudden decision of his mentor. "Tomorrow I guess?" "WAIT YOU''RE LEAVING!?!" A fellow adventurer heard what Shiro said and was surprised. Others heard what the adventurer said and started flooding Shiro questions. It was too sudden, they were gonna miss him. The crowd calmed down after a while when they realized they can''t keep a person in one place forever. ... Midnight, Shiro woke up Kaz and they sneaked out of the inn they''re staying at. They went to the western gate, the guard saw them and let them pass but not before saying goodbye. Shiro has quite a reputation, the guard understood why Shiro was sneaking out, but it wasn''t the only reason why. Kaz couldn''t stay awake for much longer and passed out. Shiro transformed into his beast form. He stood on all fours. Unlike when he''s in a gigantic size his hands and feet become paws when his transformation is small. He was about the size of a normal fang wolf. Using one of his tails he hauled the sleeping Kaz onto his back and used [Sticky Steel Thread] to keep him from falling out. Shiro looked around one last time to check if no one is around. After confirming that they were alone he ran at fast speeds. In beast form he is as fast, if not, faster than Ranga. "Sage how fast can I get to Ingrassia''s capital at full speed?" ?3 days at most if you are running non-stop.? "What about if I take breaks?" ?5 to 6 days.? "Well... I''m in no hurry. There''s no harm in taking breaks." Shiro stopped in his tracks. Carrying Kaz with a tail he transformed back into his fox form. He took out 2 air beds he bought from the modern world and placed Kaz on of them. He created a [Body Double] clone and sent it to hunt food and lied down on an air bed while waiting for the clone to return. Minutes later the clone came back with 2 rabbits. He dispelled the clone and cooked the rabbits. He ate one and kept the other in the inventory, saving it for when Kaz wakes up. This continued for 5 days. Running, eating, and then sleeping. He had Kaz hunt for the food most of the time for survival training. "Are we there yet?" Kaz grumbled. They reached the edge of the forest and was greeted by large plains. They could see a very large city from the distance, surrounded by magnificent walls. "Yes Kaz... yes we are." Kaz dismounted Shiro as he turned back into his human form. Adjusting his glove he told Kaz they should just walk from here. And so they walked on the paved path leading to the capital city. The breeze felt cool and fresh. Kaz, for the first time in a while felt relaxed. A feeling he hasn''t felt since his parents died. They soon reached the city gates. As they took the steps to enter the city a loud roar was suddenly heard. Everyone in the area turned to look at where the roar came from only to see a sky dragon rapidly approaching. Panic ensued shortly after. The soldiers were lining up and aiming their bows at the dragon. "FIRE!!" Their captain shouted and a barrage of arrows came flying. However it did nothing against the dragon''s tough scales and every single arrow shot just bounced off. Suddenly lighting formed around the sky dragon, it was preparing to attack. Aiming at the archers on the wall the dragon unleashed its magic upon them. Dragons are very powerful, when one attacks it''s inevitable that casualties will happen. The soldiers steeled themselves for their deaths. Seconds later nothing happened. They saw a man with snow white hair in front of them. His hand was pulsing with electricity. "Redirection". Shiro threw the light back at the dragon, damaging it with its own magic. Inspired by his favorite character of a certain tv show he redirected the lightning by utilizing [Energy Eater]. He absorbed the magic but didn''t fully assimilate it, he just let it course through his body and back to the dragon. He jumped toward the staggered dragon and kicked it right in the head. As Shiro landed he noticed something flying towards his direction, it was Rimuru in an a.d.u.l.t form. Rimuru also saw Shiro taking care of the dragon. They smiled and nodded at each other. The dragon was enraged. It roared and attacked with its lightning again. Shiro threw a flying raijin kunai that missed the dragon. The lightning unleashed and Rimuru swooped down and devoured the blast. Teleporting behind the dragon, Shiro grabbed the kunai. In his free hand a rasengan formed and he pushed it against the dragon''s back, sending it flying towards Rimuru and completely devoured by [Gluttony]. Shiro landed as Rimuru flew away. He looked in the direction of his adoptive father, seeing a hill far away. He could see tiny figures from afar with a giant wolf guarding them. "Yep... it''s them." They were greeted by a very modern-like city, completely different from Blumund. Shiro felt a bit nostalgic while Kaz was just speechless, glancing everywhere and just taking in the view. They spent an hour just strolling around the city. During this time Shiro looked through his rewards for the quest. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Quest Rewards: 5¡ï Gacha Ticket - Roll the gacha to win rewards!! Chronostasis Hourglass - Once shattered, time will stop for 1 minute; 1-time use only. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ''Roll the gacha'' Shiro commanded. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Gacha Rewards: Yeoui (Ruyi Jingu Bang) - The magical staff wielded by the monkey king. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ''Woah... I''m definitely gonna try that out later!'' A messenger arrived saying they''ve been invited to meet with the grandmaster of the Free Guild. Kaz was initially surprised, but remembered what his mentor did earlier. Putting on quite a show fighting a dragon is bound to get some attention. The messenger guided them to a very tall building and left. Shiro walked forward and the sliding glass doors automatically opened. Kaz was surprised even more and was intrigued. Calling out to the baffled Kaz both of them entered the building. They approached a receptionist, stating his purpose of being here. A guild staff entered and guided them to the meeting room. Upon reaching the meeting room the staff opened the door for them. The two entered, greeted by a slime and young man reading manga. Chapter 21 - Stranger "What?! She died?!" A gentle-looking man exclaimed as he heard what came out of Shiro''s mouth. Shiro had been chatting with Rimuru and Yuuki Kagurazaka, the Grand Master of the Free Guild. As Shiro died in his past life way later than Rimuru did, he knows the outcomes of manga and anime that Rimuru was unable to see. Knowing that, Shiro happily told them the endings some of these stories, and even current arcs of the ones that haven''t been finished yet during his time of passing. [Great Sage] boosting his memory helped him retell the stories in detail. {Author''s Note: *COUGH* One Piece *COUGH*} Kaz, on the other hand, has been sitting next to Shiro on the couch. He already knew that Shiro is an otherworlder but the fact that Yuuki and Rimuru are otherworlders as well surprised him. He has been listening in to the three otherworlders to pass the time. He was curious about the fictional stories otherworlders have come to know and he didn''t have anything to in the meantime. Seeing Yuuki jump in ecstasy when Rimuru printed out copies of manga he''s previously read made Shiro flabbergasted. He decided to keep his world-traveling ability a secret from Yuuki, lest he wants someone breathe down his neck and beg him to buy new volumes of manga and light novels in the modern world. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot to tell you. A merchant called of Garde Myourmiles wants to invite you two to a dinner in one of his restaurants." "A restaurant? Why?" Rimuru asked. "It has something to do with the sky dragon you two subjugated." ''So he''s made his move huh. I don''t wanna say I didn''t expect me being invited as well, but I couldn''t help myself from at least saving a few soldiers.'' ?A very admirable feat.? ''When did you start giving praises?'' ?...? Seeing [Great Sage] not reply Shiro was a little frustrated. "Let''s go meet this merchant then." Shiro said while looking at the blue blob. ===================================================== "Damn.... what a fancy place." Shiro, Kaz, Rimuru, along with his students arrived at a luxurious restaurant. The kids, including Kaz had their jaws dropped while they entered. As they entered the front door they were greeted by Garde Myourmiles. "Welcome my benefactors!" They exchanged their greetings one by one. Shiro and Rimuru sat at a table with Myourmiles while Kaz and the students sat at a separate table. It wasn''t long before the food was served. Shiro dug into the food almost immediately, savoring every bite. Myourmiles was a bit surprised by Shiro''s lack of etiquette while Rimuru simply sighed. He wasn''t surprised by his adoptive son''s behavior and he was already used to it as his students were also doing the same along with Kaz. The night was long, Myourmiles chatted with Rimuru as they discussed plans for doing business when he revealed that he knew about Shiro and Rimuru''s identities. Shiro just listened to their discussions without butting in. He doesn''t know anything about the trading business and he doesn''t want to interfere with their partnership, as this would help Rimuru City to flourish. Time passed quickly. Seeing that there''s no harm in doing it himself, Shiro took the chance to tell Rimuru about the the location of the Dwelling of Spirits using the excuse that heard of its location during his adventures. Rimuru felt grateful to Shiro for the information. Shiro felt good about it as well, as he''d rather have Rimuru get the information for free than paying for it just like what happened in the original story. They went their separate ways, Rimuru and his students going back to the academy to investigate the location that Shiro gave while Shiro and Kaz went to a luxury hotel owned by Myourmiles'' company. ===================================================== In a VIP suite at a luxury hotel. Kaz just started sleeping. Shiro exited the shower wiping his hair and tails with a towel, still amazed at how modern Ingrassia''s facilities are. Well that''s to be expected from a world that constantly summons heroes to be used as weapons, something that Shiro disliked. Shiro entered his bed and started thinking about what he should do next. There''s still around six or so months before Rimuru goes back to Rimuru City, when the war happens. Maybe he''ll keep doing adventurer jobs during these six months? Garnering reputation as an adventurer might help him when the time comes that he has to reveal his identity. After all he isn''t a slime like Rimuru who can change his appearance freely. He can just hide his tails and ears at most while wearing fake human ears which are non-functional. As he was pondering in he thought he slowly fell asleep. . . "Firus..." "Mmm?" "Wake up, Firus..." "The hell? Who''s there?" Shiro woke up and found himself in a vast plain. Standing up, he looked around. There was nothing else but grass and a few flowers. "Where the hell am I? I was just sleeping in the hotel..." Shiro tried to consult [Great Sage], but strangely no response. Confused, Shiro tried to explore the place. At first he just walked, then he tried to run. After seeing no issues with his body he tried to fly to explore in the sky. "Goddammit!! Luckily no one''s here to see that happen." Muttering to himself, he ran off. Hours passed and plains he''s in seemed to be endless. He soon gave up. He sat down in a lotus position and tried to urge his dimensional power. Blue flames appeared and engulfed him, but it didn''t hurt him like normal fire. Normally he could travel to another world as easy as breathing, but for some reason his power was suppressed, forcing him to put more effort. Minutes passed by, and Shiro felt he was close to going back to his world when suddenly he felt a bone-chilling freeze crawl up his back. He disabled his dimensional flames and dodged to the side. He was shocked. He has never felt such extreme cold ever since he reincarnated all thanks to the extra skill: [Thermal Fluctuation]. He looked at where the source of this chill came from. He set his gaze upon a beautiful emitting a cold fog. Looking at this beauty, she was the same as Shiro: a fox. Hair as white as snow with 2 fox ears at the top of her head and nine fluffy tails at her rear end. She looked like a female version of Shiro, except her eyes had a deep shade of blue, opposite of Shiro''s fiery crimson eyes. "Who are you?" Shiro asked while maintaining vigilance "Firus... you''ve evolved." The woman spoke in a monotonous but affectionate voice. "I''ll ask again... who are you?" "Hmm..." She instantly appeared close to Shiro, her ample c.h.e.s.t almost touching. Shiro was shocked once more, he didn''t know how she did that. He wanted to ask [Great Sage] but she wasn''t answering. She placed her hand on Shiro''s cheek, the cold rapidly spreading and freezing his body. Seeing this he fought back and released his flames. Hot flames pushed back the chill. Shiro grabber her hand that was on his cheek and pulled it away. "Don''t make me ask again. Who are you?" "Neva." Chapter 22 - I cant think of a title here In a forest outside the capital of Ingrassia, Shiro is currently sparring with his student. Sounds of metal hitting metal ringed in the forest. Kaz sweaty from the continuous training and Shiro visibly not exhausted. "Ok ok let''s take a rest here." They stopped sparring and sat. While Kaz drank water from his canteen Shiro was pointing out errors that Kaz made. "First, you''re form is good and all but you tend to be predictable with your thrusts. Try to hide your bloodl.u.s.t next time, that predictability might cause you your life. Second, you have a habit of going for the neck for the first strike. Fix that, you might just end up killing someone in just a friendly spar. Finally third, you''re trying to replicate my swordsmanship, don''t do that. My style takes advantage of my physical power and agility. You don''t have to do that, you''re a kid, you''re small, you don''t have alot of muscle. Speed and agility are your strengths, take advantage of that. You already do that when using your throwing knives, why not apply that with the sword?" Kaz contemplated Shiro''s words. They were accurate, which made him feel inadequate, but that just intensified his motivation to grow stronger. He wants to reach Shiro''s level after what he saw with the sky dragon. But he also has something to critique. "You were a bit off today. You''re normally focused and even enjoy sparring but today feels different. Is there something wrong?" ''Damn this kid is sharp! But..... when did he show concern for others like that?'' "It''s nothing. Just focus on resting and do 200 overhead swings. Mastering the basics is always important." "Ok." Deciding not to pry further, Kaz meditated and used breathing techniques he learned from Shiro to quickly restore his stamina. {Author''s Note: Before you ask, no, this isn''t the demon slayer breathing techniques. Just normal breathing exercises you normally find in yoga and other stuff.} Shiro lied. Something has been on his mind since he had that strange dream. He''s been trying to forget about that dream but he couldn''t help but think back. He suddenly remembered what Treyni said to him. How he was brought into this world through a portal, being carried by two figures that looked like the same species as his. He already knows that earth''s god reincarnated him, but he barely knows anything about his new life''s body. He shook his head, knowing he won''t get any answers right now. He turned his attention to his diligent student who''s now practicing sword swings. A while later Kaz finished the 200 swings. Seeing his hands are a bit bruised Shiro tossed him a vial of Low Potion. Rimuru gave Shiro alot of Full Potions, so he used some of his free time to dilute them to get potions of various grades. Kaz''s bruised hand now healed, Shiro went on to his next lesson. "I think it''s high time I teach you about Arts. You already know that us monsters have Skills right? Some humans have them as well, the most obvious example are otherworlders. But not all humans can actually get skills, it''s mostly veterans who get them. To compensate that, there are Arts. Anyone can learn them as long as they train. Let me give you an example." Shiro pulled out Kusabimaru and gave a casual swing towards a nearby tree. A white crescent-shaped light shot out and nicked the tree. "Tell me your thoughts." Shiro turned to Kaz. "I didn''t feel any magic from it. Does it use a different source?" "That''s right! It uses one''s own aura. The most basic Art is Battlewill, it turns one''s Aura into Fighting Spirit to strengthen the body. The one I showed you is Modelwill, it turns Fighting Spirit into offensive projectiles or into protective barriers. You can even trap stuff with it if your Aura is strong enough. Then there''s Formhide. You can use this to hide your own presence, but it''s really hard learn. Even I haven''t learned it yet so I gotta rely on Skills. You however, might learn this easily." Kaz gave Shiro a questioning look. Shiro smiled and explained. "You know how you naturally blend in with the surroundings? You even blend in with the magicules in the air which makes it hard to detect you with [Magic Sense]. Only downside it doesn''t hide you if the opponent can see you clearly. I still don''t what it is that you do, but this talent of yours might make you a genius in using Formhide, since that Art can even hide you even if the opponent already saw you. Master Hakurou is an expert at using this, I can''t beat him in swordsmanship if he uses Formhide that''s why I ask for a handicap whenever we spar." Kaz looked at his hands and clenched them into fists. Excited for what''s to come. Shiro saw the sparkle in Kaz''s eyes and smiled. "Don''t get too excited though. You still need to learn the very basics. Now come on kid, the sun''s about to go down. Let''s go back." ''He doesn''t talk much, but he''s a good kid. His upbringing just poses a problem to his personality and way of fighting. Come to think of it, he asked if I was ok.... right? When did he start softening up?'' The next day Kaz started his Art training. he had to sense his own Aura first. His progress was slow and steady. Shiro smiled at his student''s talent when he suddenly frowned. He turned to look at a certain direction. Shiro created a [Body Double] clone and turned around to leave. "Where''re you going?" Kaz asked. "Just some business. Keep training, my clone will watch over you." After a while he saw 3 men discussing something. Being a fox, he could hear what the 3 men were talking from a distance. Shiro discovered that these three were thugs from a bandit group. They went out from their headquarter to look for prey and and found Shiro and Kaz. Shiro was amused. One must know that he built up quite a reputation after saving people from the Sky Dragon attack. Only reason why he hasn''t been promoted to A rank yet is because he wasn''t able to kill the dragon because an "unknown hero" made the dragon disappear into thin air. This "unknown hero" was obviously Rimuru and Shiro didn''t mind that he wasn''t promoted. [Great Sage] suddenly spoke. ?Report: Possible chance that the bandit group the three men are part of his the Blood Hand bandits. There is a subjugation quest regarding the bandit group.? ''Interesting. What rank is the quest?'' ?Answer: B, tentative.? ''Tentative?'' ?There is not enough information gather regarding the Blood Hands.? "Blood Hands huh? Why do bandit groups choose edgy names?" Shiro jumped down and alerted the three thugs. "Hehehe. Lookie here, the runt actually made our job a whole lot easier." A burly man that seemed to be the leader of the three taunted. "How is he so handsome! I''m so jealous. LET''S F.U.C.K.I.N.G KILL HIM!!!" A short man with buckteeth shouted. "That sword looks nice. I bet it''ll fetch a high price in Dwargon." A man with an eyepatch said while l.i.c.k.i.n.g the blade of his knife. Shiro thought nothing of their taunts and took out a thick wooden stick from his inventory. "See this? This is called an arnis stick. I''m gonna use it to beat the shit out of you ugly f.u.c.kers." "I''LL KILL YOU!!!" The bucktoothed man seemed to be very ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e about his ugly face charged out in anger. The bucktoothed man slashed towards Shiro. The latter easily dodged it while whacking the man''s head and made a *bonk* sound. "Hahahaha! You''re ugly a AND an idiot! I wonder where you dropped your brain? If you ask nicely I might help you." "SHUT UP!!!" The bucktoothed man kept attacking Shiro and the other two bandits joined the fray. The burly man charged and aimed at Shiro''s head. Shiro blocked that fist and whacked the burly man''s t.h.i.g.h. The bucktoothed man and the eyepatched man charged forward, trying to corner Shiro in a pincer attack. The bucktoothed man slashed towards the legs and the eyepatched man pulled out a dagger and stabbed towards the neck. Shiro stepped on the sword aimed at his legs, stopping it as he parried the other assailant stabbed at the eyepatched man''s stomach. He turned towards the bucktoothed man who has trying to pull out the sword from under Shiro''s feet. Shiro smiled and whacked the head of that man again, making another *bonk* sound. The burly man charged at Shiro again. Sending punch after punch while Shiro is casually dodging everything while counterattacking with every punch. "F.U.C.K!!!!" The burly man shouted in frustration. All of a sudden his speed and power increased which surprised Shiro for a bit and was almost hit. "Battlewill huh? What are the odds of me fighting an Art user right after I started teaching Kaz about Art?" Shiro dismissed these thoughts. The eyepatched man started attacking in conjunction with the burly man holding two daggers at each hand in reverse grips. Shiro started to become a little serious when the bucktoothed man jumped off from the top of a tree and fell towards Shiro aiming his sword at him. It seemed that he took his time to climb a tree to somehow sneak attack Shiro. Shiro however on the other hand was amused. Such a futile attempt will be in vain. He retreated a little, avoiding the sneak attack. Shiro grabbed the legs of the bucktoothed man, spun around and threw him towards his comrades. The three bandits were sent flying and landed on the ground with bruises from all the whacking Shiro gave them. Shiro has had his fun and walked towards the three. The bucktoothed man started running away, but Shiro let him go. "Tch! Coward." The burly man said. Shiro apprehended the remaining two and tied their bodies with ropes. He knocked the two unconscious before slipping into the shades of the trees. He followed the bucktoothed man who escaped. After 5 minutes or so the bucktoothed stopped running. He started looking around, as if looking for something. He soon approached an inconspicuous looking branch. He pulled on it and it made a sound. Soon after a trapdoor hidden next to some bushes swung open. ''Huh, a secret hideout. That''s cool.'' The bucktoothed man looked around again, looking if anyone''s followed him. After confirming that no one has followed him he climbed down the trapdoor''s ladder and the trapdoor closed, as if it weren''t even there. Shiro jumped down from the branch he was perched on and opened the trapdoor. Activating [Stealth] he jumped down with the trapdoor closing behind him. As a fox Shiro can see very well in the dark. He was in a cavernous tunnel with some boxes laying around. It was moist and damp, as the stalactites dripped water. Shiro went to one of the boxes and inspected the contents. It was full of steel weapons, varying from swords, spears, axes, and daggers. ?Report: These weapons are commonly used by the knights of the kingdom.? "Yeah I figured that out by myself. Thanks though. Might be smuggled, bandits having a lot of good quality weapons like these is real sus." Shiro walked further down the tunnel. It wasn''t long before he reached the end. There he saw a big cave with more tunnels. "Hmmm, this is gonna take forever if I check these one by one. F.u.c.k it." Shiro pushed his [Magic Sense] to the max and surveyed the entire cave system. He saw many areas where the bandits gathered. He also saw the bucktoothed man reporting to someone Shiro assumed to be the bucktoothed man''s superior. The superior seems angry bitch slapped the bucktoothed man strong enough to send him crashing to the wall. The superior ran through the maze-like cave system until he reached what seemed like a throne room. A shirtless man riddled with scars was sitting on a throne carved from stone. "That must be the leader of this bandit group, and judging from the banners everywhere, this is definitely the Blood Hands. Hmm, that leader guy should suspect now that someone might''ve followed that bucktoothed midget. Better get out of here." Shiro turned around and ran, after coming back to where he started and flew up. After he got out he closed the trap door behind him and returned the bound up associates of the bucktoothed man. Shiro grabbed the ropes and started dragging them across the floor as he walked back to where he left Kaz. A while later, at the gates of the capital of Ingrassia. Shiro turned in the 2 bandits and reported his discoveries to the guild. "So.... I can pretty much guess we''re gonna fight this Blood Hand group sooner or later now that you found their hideout. Are we gonna join in?" "Yeah, it should be good experience for you. Can''t believe the hideout that the adventurers and knights that have been looking for is easily exposed by an idiot among their ranks." Shiro and Kaz went back to the inn and ate lunch. Meanwhile, an ethereal figure watches over Shiro. Chapter 23 - Raid The entire adventurer community has been quite busy lately. An anonymous adventurer has claimed to have found the Blood Hands'' hideout and the subjugation quest has been moved up to A rank. Many adventurers D rank and above are scrambling around, getting supplies, and preparing for the upcoming fight. Some tried to inquire about the identity of this anonymous adventurer, however, the Free Guild employee was very tight-lipped. The adventurers weren''t worried about the validity of the info, as the Grandmaster himself has vouched for this information. The Blood Hands bandits have been very elusive, any righteous person wanted the bandit group to be eliminated. They would never believe it if they heard how the notorious bandit group''s hideout was revealed. Of course, Shiro is going to join the attack. He''s very curious how strong the bandit leader is, from what he saw through [Magic Sense], he looked very tough. Another reason why Shiro is participating is to give Kaz experience in fighting human enemies. Shiro sat in his rented room in the inn. He stared at Kusabimaru, unsheathed. The black blade as dark as night felt as if it was devouring light itself. Shiro was preparing his mind. This quest will make him kill a human, in one way or another. He hasn''t killed a single human ever since he got reincarnated, his time as a human in his past life made him hesitant. Shiro suddenly slapped himself. A small shockwave permeated the room, alerting Kaz. Kaz looked at his teacher weirdly. ''What the... why did he slap himself?'' Shiro ignored Kaz''s judging stare. ''Think Shiro! Think. The Blood Hands are notorious for various vile acts. They deserve death. I need to steel myself. There will be a lot more bloody events in the future, the war with Falmuth kingdom for example.'' The bruise that resulted from his own slap healed quickly. Shiro stood up and looked at Kaz. "Are you ready kid?" "Aye Aye Captain." ... Deep in the forest outside the capital of Ingrassia, a battalion of soldiers trekked through the dense collection of trees, bushes, and grass. They were accompanied by many adventurers, ranging from ranks D and A. The number of adventurers becomes fewer and fewer the higher the rank goes. ''Only thing she''s missing is a pushover male interest'' Shiro chuckled to himself. ?Would you like to use [World''s Eye] on Zelt?? ''You just read my mind... literally. She''s an A rank, let''s see if she has a unique skill. Yes.'' ?Confirmed.? ?Analyzing the individual Zelt.? ?Success.? ?Results: . . .? Shiro didn''t expect much so he wasn''t surprised when he found that Zelt doesn''t have a unique skill. He turned away his attention and focused on walking. Zelt took a glance at Shiro. She felt his curious stare, which caught her attention. She first thought it was another pervert trying to size her up, but then Shiro quickly turned away his attention. Zelt didn''t care much afterward and lost interest. They soon reached the area mentioned in the anonymous report. A soldier approached an inconspicuous tree and pulled on it. A hidden trap door opened, confirming the validity of the info. After confirming the info, the knight who was the leader of the battalion started giving out orders. There were many entrances and exits scattered around the forest. The knight divided the soldiers and adventurers and sent them to various entrances. Some had the task to join the raid and some were tasked to prevent any escapees. Shiro, of course, joined the raiding party. He stayed in place, the area where he found the first trapdoor. After sending a signal, the raiding party entered their respective entrances and trod carefully in the darkness. They encounter some bandits along the way and dispatched them quite easily, they didn''t kill them, however, they chose to just tie them up and take them in as prisoners when the raid is over. Those of the B rank didn''t fight early on, they were the ace of the operation, especially Zelt. Even though the B ranks didn''t fight, Kaz was participating. He needed the experience and was able to apprehend multiple bandits by himself, which impressed the soldiers and adventurers. Seeing their reactions, Shiro rubbed his nose and made a smug face, as if he was saying: ''You see that! That''s my disciple! I''m the one who taught him those moves! Am I awesome or what?'' No one took notice of this and continued on. They soon reached the inner parts of the cave system and encountered more high-leveled bandits. The B ranks had to participate now to lessen the load on their allies. Shiro still hasn''t joined in and just kept humming songs {A/N: He''s humming to Sabaton songs} Not long after that they finally reached the core area of the cave system. It was a huge cavern with multiple tunnels on the walls leading to different entrances and exits, it was like an ant''s nest. Many ladders and stairs made of wood or carved stone lead to these tunnels. At the very end of the cavern, they saw a man sitting on a throne carved from stone, leaning on his fist, as if he was bored to hell. Check out my new novel called "Gray Rogue". It''s currently got 5 chapters and I''m planning to write more. I''m going to be more active on Lone Rogue than this fanfic so stay tuned! Chapter 24 - Im gonna f.u.c.k.i.n.g kill myself everyone should die Chapter 24 - Im gonna fu?k?n? kill myself everyone should die