by Fuse
Synthesize:
Transform two differing targets into a single object.
Separate:
Release the properties inherent to the target and make it into a separate object. (The original object may disappear if it has no physical form.)
This appeared to be the main engine behind Shizu’s transformation. Human and spiritual forms, two very different things, synthesized into a single creature. It was hard to say whether Ifrit took Shizu over first, or if Shizu invented the Deviant skill to keep Ifrit from staging a complete power grab. There was no way of knowing for sure now, but either way, it was clear I could adapt this skill for a number of things.
I already knew that Synthesize could be applied to skills, leading to all manner of other combinations. Perhaps it could be combined with magic as well? Maybe fusing flame and wind to create hurricanes? Or maybe I could give magical effects to weapons and trigger a special attack with just a little magic force?
To give you my honest opinion, this Deviant skill was a scarily good fit with my own skill set. As a slime, I wasn’t capable of nervous sweating, but I might as well have been. A few quick experiments had already given me Control Particles and Dark Flame, and I now also had full control over electrical attacks. There were tons of monsters left for me to Predate and glean new skills from, and I planned to do that as much as I could.
And for that matter, could I use the Separate function to seize skills from my enemies?
Received. It depends on the specific scenario. However, erasing or separating skills etched into the target’s soul is not possible.
So it couldn’t do everything. But it’d work sometimes? I’d need to figure out exactly what was available to Separate from my target first.
But really, Synthesize was the biggest prize with Deviant. I was planning to take a lot of skills from a lot of monsters going forward, and seeing what kind of things I could create from them was already getting me excited.
I suppose it was all thanks to the Great Sage, but either way, Predator and Deviant made for a potent duo. It didn’t exactly have the most attractive name, but in Deviant, Shizu had given me one hell of a farewell gift.
I decided to wrap up that day’s session with a few Cancel Temperature tests. Temperature covered both fire and ice, I supposed, and considering even Resist Temperature was enough to handle Ifrit’s mega-charged fire, having an upgraded version should handle most attacks tossed my way. Anything short of being launched into the sun like a slingshot, at least.
There was a barbecue waiting, and I wanted to wrap this up quickly. But defensive skills directly contributed to the preservation of my life. I had to figure out what I had.
Just as I had yesterday, I used a sizable amount of magicules to create a Replicated slime body. Something about attacking a cloned, naked human resembling a young girl gave me pause. I could probably summon up some clothing or armor once I was more versed, but that didn’t make this any less in bad taste. (Slimes were pretty cute themselves, but if I wanted to do any real experimentation, I had to beat up something.)
I knew from yesterday that I could apply a Barrier to block my own Water Blades. Now, let’s try attacking it with Dark Flame.
Using the same level of magical energy as before to smash Dark Flame against a Barrier, I found that it succeeded in fully blocking the heat. Not bad. If it could annul Ifrit’s Flare Circle, it could handle well near anything, I supposed, to say nothing of Icicle Lance. So I was good against hot and cold, then?
Received. Cancel Temperature is linked with Ranged Barrier, thus canceling the effects of temperature-related attacks.
Ah, perfect. If Shizu possessed Cancel Flame Attack, Ifrit must as well, since it let them each handle such high-temperature attacks in the first place. It seemed like the perfect tool. Now that it was combined with Resist Temperature, I had nothing to worry about from ice, either.
Removing the link for a moment, I tried Dark Flame once more. This time, it smashed through the Barrier instantly, but my Replicated clone was perfectly safe. Resist Melee Attack must have helped absorb some of the shock wave-based aftereffects.
Between all these resistances and my Barrier, I figured I could rest pretty easy when it came to my own defenses. Better not forget to link all this stuff with the Barrier first, though.
Received. Ranged Barrier is now linked with your resistances. Relaunch as Multilayer Barrier?
Yes
No
As it turned out, I couldn’t create a single Barrier with lots of different effects applied to it, but I was free to create multiple Barriers with one resistance effect each. So “yes” it was, once again, and the moment I thought it, I could feel a thin, colorless, invisible coating come over me. It was a Multilayer Barrier, consisting of several layers but still so thin that my Magic Sense skill could only barely spot it. It didn’t require much magic energy to keep going, either—once it was summoned, it barely consumed any at all, far less than I could naturally recover by myself.
Another great success for today, then. There were still some potential skill combinations I wanted to work my mind around, but for now, I had done more than enough. I had gained more offense and defense, and as I departed the cavern, I felt more than satisfied.
Making my way down the path to the exit I had memorized, I thought about ways to suppress the mystical aura I had a tendency to exude.
It was just the occasional light aura of magicules, and while I could keep it down if I thought about it, for some reason, it’d just appear while I wasn’t paying attention. With all the energy I had absorbed after defeating and consuming Ifrit, it was getting difficult to hide.
I ran into another giant centipede on the way up, but it simply gave me a quick glance before scurrying away. So now did all the other residents of this cave. Glad to see I was finally getting a rep around here, but really, it was probably that aura more than anything.
The Multilayer Barrier did wonders to hide it, but my presence still leaked out a tiny bit—or, to be more exact, the Multilayer Barrier itself was exuding a bit of force. It beat letting my power roll off me without any cover, but it didn’t really help much.
If I could do something permanent about this aura, I could probably pass for a human pretty much anywhere, but…
Suddenly, an idea came to mind. I reached into one pocket and took something out—a beautiful, fetching mask. The Mask of Magic Resistance, the lone physical memento I had to remember Shizu by. I had absorbed the broken pieces with Predator and reassembled them with my body. Maybe this mask could block it?
It was a magic item, one infused with four effects: Magic Resist, Antidote, Breathing Support, and Amplify Senses. Pretty valuable, I imagined. Also, the likely reason why Shizu could breathe normally when summoning fiery explosions within point-blank range of herself. Breathing Support probably kept her lungs full even as the flames consumed the oxygen around her—not that I needed that with my body. I could Synthesize up a respiratory system if I really wanted to, but I didn’t. Maybe this mask could convince people that I was breathing, though. It wasn’t useful now, but it could be depending on the kind of people I ran into.
The other effects—Antidote and Amplify Senses—seemed a lot more useful to your average adventurer, if not to me. The one effect I needed the most was Magic Resist, which could both dull any magic attacks enemies cast and (hopefully) hide my internal magical force.
I put it on. It had an oddly calming effect, and it seemed to fit pretty well. The moment I applied it, the aura pouring out of me immediately dispelled. Nice. Let’s go with this whenever I’m bumping around the outside world.
So that wrapped up another nagging issue. Good. And I had some nice, juicy grilled meat waiting. As I made my way back aboveground, I was filled with glee.
………
……
…
My first decent meal in ages—turned out to be wishful thinking.
The moment I stepped out of the cave, I could instantly feel that someone w
as fighting. The magicules in the air were stirring, disturbing the surrounding atmosphere.
The meat would have to wait. I gave up on it and made my way in the direction of the particle surge. On the other end…
I found nothing short of a battle to the death.
I could hear screaming as I approached the scene of the battle.
It was Gobta.
He was crossing swords with an elderly white-haired ogre, but he was far out of his league. Whatever physical strength and agility this adversary had lost over the years, his swordsmanship and footwork made it clear he was no amateur. Gobta, meanwhile, was totally an amateur. I had to hand it to him for managing to stay alive up to this point. He seemed to be holding his own for now, wildly flinging his body around to dodge the ogre’s strikes, but his astounding luck could only save him for so long.
A moment later, the elderly ogre closed the distance between them and landed a single slash across Gobta’s whole chest, right before my eyes.
“Gaahhhh!!” he shouted as he rolled on the ground. “Oh, that hurts! I—I may die! I may very well die here!!”
I figured he was fine if he had the energy to plead his case with that much gusto. Besides, to my eye, his opponent didn’t seemed very intent on killing him.
Noticing my presence, the wizened ogre abandoned the fight, confident enough that Gobta was no longer a threat.
“Calm down, you. The wound is a shallow one.”
“Gah, Sir Rimuru! Are you here because you were concerned about me, my lord?!”
“Yes,” I said, “and I’m glad you’re in good shape. Don’t need a recovery potion or anything, I see.”
“Whoa, I, um, please? I—I apologize if I didn’t make that clear enough!”
Yeah, he was fine. His wild instincts must’ve propelled him to the ground, preventing him from being any more seriously injured. So I tossed him a bit of potion, more to shut him up than anything. One flask was plenty. The old ogre didn’t move while I administered treatment; it seemed like he was observing me instead. It was a little unnerving.
The area around us was littered with fallen hobgoblin warriors and tempest wolves. None appeared to be dead, but knocking them all out without dealing any grievous wounds would’ve taken some serious talent. A magical strike, perhaps.
Farther off, I spotted a purple-haired ogress fighting with Rigur. This, too, was sadly one-sided. The ogress, wielding an iron mace that was little more than an enormous hunk of metal, was apparently blessed with superhuman strength. Rigur’s sword was starting to bend against it, and his wooden shield was long since battered to splinters. It wouldn’t be long before he was out of the picture, too.
Ranga, noticing me, sprang to my side. “Sir Rimuru,” he said, “my deepest apologies. I was here, and yet, look at this disaster…”
I stopped him mid-sentence. This wasn’t Ranga’s fault; they just had the misfortune of running into the wrong adversary. These were ogres, one of the highest-level races in the Forest of Jura, and no hobgoblin could hope to last too long against them.
“Hold your weapons,” I softly ordered Rigur and the other stragglers. He instantly did so upon hearing my command. The ogress, instead of striking any further blows, gave me a thoughtful look. She was large-framed, muscular, but still in proportion. Her chest was formed enough to make her identifiable as female, and to my surprise, she looked quite a bit more noble than I expected.
I ordered Ranga to take the exhausted Rigur away. The ogres, while still wary of me, made no move to stop him.
“S-Sir Rimuru… I—I cannot express my sorrow…”
Rigur, covered in scratches from head to toe, could barely form a single word or two between breaths. Against the purple-haired ogre, he had little chance of victory. His skills maybe hovered around B rank on a good day.
“Don’t worry,” I said as I gave him a potion. None of his injuries were serious, so his recovery wouldn’t take long. “Just get rested and leave this to me. Ranga, what happened to all these fallen fighters?”
“Ah, that—”
According to him, magic had felled them all. It was some sort of sleeping spell, and none had managed to resist it in time. Good thing it wasn’t a confusion-type, at least. That could’ve been murder.
Magic, though… Talk about drawing the short straw.
* * *
I took a moment to calmly assess the situation.
There were six of them, and they were a rather odd group, one that totally contradicted my conventional wisdom of the ogre race. They were fully clothed, and dressed well, if simply. I was expecting tiger-skin loincloths and little else, but I was wrong. They were big, as I’d pictured, and each one was well-built, but their full wardrobe was a surprise.
If they were this well-dressed (and wielded magic to boot), they had to be highly intelligent. Perhaps more dangerous than an equivalent party of human adventurers, even.
If you took two races of equal physical strength, the presence or lack of intelligence could make a huge difference in danger level. That went double for such a high-level race. These monsters were B rank or higher as it was; if they were further armed and working together, they could’ve even hunted down Ranga.
The ogres’ weapons made me curious, too. That they had weapons wasn’t unusual—if even goblins could buy them from dwarves, pretty much anything with a pulse could. But there was a difference between simple clubs and full-on swords. Eastern-style ones, too, very different from the dwarven Western types that worked more like bludgeons.
The elderly ogre who felled Gobta wielded a sword that could only be described as a Japanese-style katana. And judging by how he handled it, he was a seasoned swordsman. That, combined with his ogre strength and magic, made this group potentially lethal.
That magic was apparently provided by the pink-haired ogress off to the side, dressed in a remarkably elaborate outfit. She had a sweet but extremely resolute face, and the way she carried herself suggested she was a noble among her race, perhaps some sort of demon princess.
The most dangerous of all, though, was undoubtedly the red-haired ogre.
“What sort of evil monster is this?!” the pink-haired one shouted as I gauged them all. “Stay on your guard, everyone!”
Her expression appeared to be honest fear now, and with her eyes fixed on mine, she must have been referring to me…
“Whoa, wait a sec. You think I’m evil?”
“Oh, attempting to play dumb, is it?” the pink-haired ogress countered. “No good-hearted human would ever have control over such a heinous horde of monsters. You appear to be hiding your magical aura from us, but you are fooling no one! Did you think you could deceive us?”
“You cannot pull the wool over our princess’s eyes! Reveal your true self, now!” the black-haired ogre bellowed.
“How nice for the mastermind to appear before us at such an early stage!” continued the elderly one. “With their sparse numbers, we have every hope of victory!”
They didn’t sound too interested in listening to me, then. I did my best to plead my case, claiming this was all a misunderstanding, but to no avail. They insisted I was a sinister presence, and that was that.
And so…
“Enough of this,” the red-haired ogre snarled. “If you insist on making such flimsy excuses, we have ways of making you reveal the truth. We know you are with the evil pigs who dared attack our allies!”
This made no sense. But a battle now seemed unavoidable. I could have easily fled, but there were still sleeping hobgoblins and tempest wolves all around me. I wasn’t heartless enough to leave them vulnerable.
“Sir Rimuru,” Ranga asked, “what will we do?”
Even a freshly healed Rigur and Gobta wouldn’t help us much. Ranga and I were the only really useful fighters. So I decided to point him at the magician.
“I want you to take on the pink-haired ogress over there. I think there’s something else going on here, so I want to get through to them. Meaning: Don’t
kill anyone, all right? I don’t want any more magic tossed around, so just run a little interference for me. I can defeat the rest.”
“But, Sir Rimuru, you against five ogres…?”
“Don’t sweat it. Like, I couldn’t possibly lose.”
The ogres within earshot stirred angrily. I didn’t care.
“…Yes, my lord!”
Following my orders, Ranga zoomed into action. The ogres immediately fanned out in formation.
I took a moment to figure out how I was going to handle this. I wasn’t lying before—I really didn’t think I could lose. Based on my experimentation over the past two days, I knew I had gotten more than a fair bit stronger. Ifrit was well past A rank, apparently, and since he was part of me now, I had to be A level.
Rigurd said ogres were around B to B-plus, meanwhile, and considering the stately dress of the ones before me, we might be dealing with A-minuses, even—but stronger than Ifrit? Yeah, right.
It’d be easy to kill them, I thought, but our inability to talk this out was concerning. If they clearly wanted to murder us, that would be one thing, but they had killed none of my allies. And while they weren’t willing to listen to me, I was sure they would if we could all just chill for a second.
So I took action, making a beeline for the dark-haired ogre. My body felt light as it obeyed my thoughts. I had been human for a relatively short while, but already it seemed to fit me like a glove. The difference in height from my slime form didn’t bother me, either, since Magic Sense gave me a 360-degree insight into my surroundings.
Rearing back in surprise at my sudden advance, the dark-hair steadied himself, eyes wide open. He was still too late.
“Take a rest!” I shouted, bringing my left palm toward him. A small vent opened up, and within a moment, it was spitting out a black mist toward the flabbergasted ogre—the Paralyzing Breath I’d taken from the cave centipedes.
I’d figured I could belch it out now that I was in control of this body, and I was right. Mimicking only the monster skills I needed wasn’t exactly a finesse move, but it worked.