Currently I'm walking through the Great Jura Forest a few miles away from the goblin village in my Tempest Star Wolf form to make traveling easier with Ranryo. My current goal is to collect skills. While my weakness will probably fix itself after my Demon Lord transformation for now I'm weaker than him. Until then I'll make up for my weakness with skills.
On top of that this helps me get over the bright flash I saw yesterday. I have no idea what the hell that was. At first I thought that maybe that was just something that happened randomly, but then I began replicating what caused it and found out it happens when I think of the giant god thing that sent me here.
Another flash of light appears in my vision.
For some reason I can't think about it. I can't stop thinking about it though so it's just been constant accidental flashes in my head over and over. Hopefully this can catch my attention instead of that.
I'm just thinking, if that god can affect me here. It's definitely more powerful than The Voice of the World. That means my theory that the reason I can have the same Unique Skills as Rimuru at the same time as him is probably…
A blinding, this time, painful flash of light appears.
I drop to the ground and revert to my regular slime form and start rolling around like a water balloon. "Augh, what the hell!? This hurts like a bitch! How the hell does it hurt this much!? Don't I have pain resistance like Rimuru!?"
Ranryo, really worried, runs up to me. "Master, what's wrong!? Are you okay!?"
The pain fades away after a few seconds of me writhing on the ground. I stay in my slime form. "Oh, it's nothing Ranryo. Ha. Let 's keep moving. Just can you carry me for a while, I'm not feeling too good right now."
"Of course master! Go ahead!"
I jump on Ranryo and just lay on Ranryo's mane of fur. It's not as big as Ranga's but it's still really soft. I'm about to make the mistake of thinking about it again when Ranryo spots something. "Master, look!"
I slowly look up from the pillow Ranryo calls fur and see a giant glowing white and red bird. While the majority of it is white the tips of its wings glow a bright red. It's beak stands out from its body being a dark black color.
It's huge, probably having a wingspan of almost 4 meters. There's only one thing that monster could be, a Phoenix.
{Confirmed- The monster currently being spotted is a Wandering Phoenix.
Phoenix's are actually a type of spirit that has possessed a dead bird. Phoenix's are incredibly rare and can be artificially created.}
If it's rare then we got lucky. Let's catch it's attention. I shoot a [Water Blade] in its general direction causing it to retaliate. It dives at me ready to attack with its talons.
To immediately use [Sticky Thread] to hold the bird in place but they immediately start melting. I have to think fast so I use [Steel Thread] to cut its head off by making a long strand and swinging it across like a whip. [Steel Threads] are surprisingly stiff.
I sense the spirit fly away using [Magic Sense] then walk up to the limp body of the Phoenix and use [Predator] on it. I grow in size and start glowing as I absorb the Phoenix. Soon I get a message.
{Notice- Analysis of the Wandering Phoenix has been completed.
The ability to mimic a Phoenix has been obtained.
Skills [FireBall, Heat Wave, and Combustion] have been acquired.
Notice- Skills [FireBall], [Heat Wave], and [Combustion] have evolved into Extra Skills [Phoenix Fire] and [Fire Manipulation].}
I'm blown away by these upgrades. All that from one monster. Well, I guess it was a relatively powerful monster but still. That was really fruitful. Previously I've killed a few monsters but they haven't been very good.
Previously killed monsters:
Charger Boar (A normal looking boar with a reinforced rocklike head and skin.)
Obtained Skill [Thick Skinned]
Giant Ant (Just that, a giant ant.)
[Pheromone Detection] and [Hive Mind]
Vanishing Songbird
[Camouflage]
[Hive Mind] buffs your subordinates for a limited amount of time. This sounds pretty good for someone like me who has hundreds of subordinates. The problem is I need to touch them for the skill to activate. Not sure how good that is in an actual intense fight. I'll see if I can find some workarounds later.
[Pheromone Detection] is outclassed by [Magic Sense], [Thick Skinned] is outclassed by [Body Armor], and [Camouflage] is only useful against people that can't sense magicules so what's the point of hiding yourself. They must have some kind of use though so I'll also research these skills as well.
By using [Magic Sense] through [Sage's Link] I've realized I can sense Rimuru from an unlimited distance away. That's really useful for checking out locations, checking if we're safe, etc. I got a notification.
{Notice- Rimuru has begun rapidly moving away from the goblin village.}
Oh, he's probably on his way to Dwargon. There isn't really much for me there so I decided to not go. Not to mention that I might accidentally influence King Gazel somehow.
After a while Ranryo and I make it to a nearby mountain. It's covered in trees but does have some rocky areas scattered around. After exploring it for a while Ranryo and I decide to stop for the night. That's when I began experimenting.
I can't fuse skills on the same level as Shizue and now Rimuru could but I can use a weaker version of it through [Great Sage]. Because of that I've used [Genius] to analyze my skills to find useful combinations I could make. Whether it be straight up fusions like [Sticky Steel Thread] or using a skill through another like the long range Rimuru detection.
I get 4 possible combinations that catch my interest. The first is [Sticky Steel Thread]. It's a simple fusion of two skills I could do right now. Knowing I'm definitely gonna do it later on I just get it over with.
{Notice- Skills [Sticky Thread] and [Steel Thread] have been fused into Extra Skill [Sticky Steel Thread].}
Moving on there is also [Poison Paralysis Breath]. An absolutely horrifying skill that paralyzes you with a powerful neurotoxin then melts you alive with an acid like poison. For now, I'm not gonna fuse them but at least I know now. If I ever need an excessively lethal and painful killing blow I'll do it. Not gonna lie, I really want to see Clayman die like that.
The next two are just combination skills. I could use [Body Armor] and [Thick Skinned] together to make an exceptionally strong armor. It puts a thick layer of rocklike skin on top of the [Body Armor] to make it that much more durable. It looks weird though as the spikes point out from under the skin like the horns of a rhino.
Finally we have the one that shows the most promise, the [Hive Mind], [Thought Communication] combination. As I've said before [Hive Mind] is used to buff your subordinates.
The reason why Giant Ants have this ability is it's used by queen ants to buff their subordinates in the occasion of a hive breach by other monsters. However, it's one crucial flaw this world's system came up with to keep them from abusing this and taking over massive chunks of land as it only works if the queen ant touches the subordinate directly. As for how I got this skill, it's Intrinsic, meaning all Giant Ants are born with this skill not just queens, it's just dormant in non-queen ants.
Anyways, I can get past the flaw in this skill by using it through [Thought Communication]. [Hive Mind] is a purely psychological skill. It boosts subordinates through the mind not through a pheromone or some shit, it's just really short ranged. Which means by using it through [Thought Communication] I can increase the range of it to affect people really far away. [Hive Mind] has just become much stronger.
If Ranryo and I find a new type of monster tomorrow I'll test this skill out.
After 8 hours of waiting for Ranryo to wake up just spending the night training because Slimes don't need to sleep he finally wakes up and we begin to travel again. I turn into a Tempest Star Wolf instead of riding on Ranryo because it's faster because he can run full speed. I could hang on to him when he's running at full speed but it's a very bumpy ride and I think he knows that because he never runs at full speed when I ride him. On top of that I don't want to tire him out. During our scale up the mountain we make it to a particularly rocky section and that's where we find our next monster. A giant lizard crawls out of a nearby cave.
{Notice- A Mountain Monitor has appeared.}
What is this, Pokémon? Activate [Thought Communication] with Ranryo.
{Understood- Extra Skill [Thought Communication] has been activated.}
"Yo, Ranryo, you take care of this one, I want to try something. I got a skill that allows me to make you stronger from a monster yesterday so I want to test it out."
"Understood, Master!"
{Extra Skill [Hive Mind] has been activated.
Notice- Linking Extra Skill [Hive Mind] with Extra Skill [Thought Communication].
Linking Successful.}
I watch as Ranryo becomes surrounded in a dark blue almost demonic aura. The effect of this aura makes him 50% stronger than he was before. After the boost he charges at the Mountain Monitor who tries to slash Ranryo. He dodges, gets on the lizard's back and proceeds to tear it apart with his jaws.
After the fight is over I walk up to it's mangled body. It's insides are hanging out and it's neck is all open showing some of its spine. I turn back into my normal Slime form and use [Predator] on it.
{Notice- Analysis of the Mountain Monitor has been completed.
The ability to mimic the Mountain Monitor has been obtained.
Skills [Poisonous Saliva] and [Retractable Claws] have been acquired.}
Ranryo excitedly asks me, "How did I do, Master!?" with his tail wagging. I jump on top of him and use a tentacle to pet him. "That was exceptional."
Yup, that's a really good combination of skills.
We spend the next day or so looking for, killing and absorbing monsters. Sadly not many monsters were found. It was a pretty barren mountain with to my knowledge only 5 unique species, counting the previous two. The rest were monsters I, or more accurately Rimuru, already found and absorbed. Monsters like the Armorsaurus, the Giant Centipede, or the Knight Spider.
Other three monsters were killed. All died to a single water blade:
Mountain Panther (A giant black sabre toothed panther.)
Skills [Night Vision] and [Fang].
Mountain MegaBat (A giant furry bat with a piglike nose.)
Skill [Enhanced Hearing]
Giant Stoneworm (A giant worm with a rocklike head for easier tunneling through the ground.)
Skill [Tunneling]
I would keep exploring more but Rimuru is going to arrive at the village soon from Dwargon so I should probably head back too. I don't want to miss Shizue.
I excitedly say, "Alright Ranryo, time to head back. Let's race back. Don't hold back Ranryo. I want this to be a real race."
"Understood!"
On our way back to the village we get attacked by a new monster I didn't encounter on our way to the mountain. A huge snakelike monster with forelimbs flies from the sky of wings made from its rib cage like a real world flying snake and tries to bite Ranryo from behind. Ranryo spots it though and shoots it down with one [Black Lightning]. I didn't even know he had that yet.
The flying snake in pain lands and catches itself with its forelimbs. I get a good look at it. It has huge fangs and a slender design. It's scales aren't even able to be seen without [Magic Sense] because of how small they are. It crawls away using its forelimbs to climb up a nearby cliff edge.
I would normally go after it but it seems like a pain so we just keep racing. During our race I ask, "So Ranryo, when did you get [Black Lightning]? It's a really strong skill you know."
"Oh, I got it during my evolution into a Tempest Star Wolf."
So he's had it since I named him. That's really early. Thinking back on it, when did Ranga get it in the original? I don't remember. It was around this time frame though. I guess it shouldn't surprise me he has this skill considering I do too.
Out of nowhere a rock comes flying in our direction narrowly missing us.
What the? Who or what did that? Was that the snake thing?
I use [Magic Sense] to locate the attacker. Yup, it's the snake thing. I use [Black Lightning] to attack the snake with as hard a hit as possible. This instantly kills it.
I roll over to it. So, [Great Sage]. What is it?
{Answer- An Armed Flying Snake.}
Armed Flying Snake, huh. I absorb it.
{Notice- Analysis of the Armed Flying Snake has been completed.
The ability to mimic the Armed Flying Snake has been obtained.
Skills [Wind Gust], [Wind Pulse], [Controlled Airflow], and [Intimidating Hiss] have been acquired.
Notice- Skills [Wind Gust], [Wind Pulse] and [Controlled Airflow] have been fused into Extra Skill [Wind Manipulation].}
So that's how it could fly. [Controlled Air Flow] allows the user to generate a gust of wind around themselves. This combined with a kind of wingsuit made of the monster's ribcage it was able to fly.
As for the rock. [Wind Pulse] can answer that. By shooting a concentrated pulse of wind at the rock it managed to send it flying.
Looking at the other two skills I can't see them being that useful. [Wind Gust] is a less concentrated version of [Wind Pulse]. Probably a precursor to it that the snake had before it gained [Wind Pulse].
While intimidation provided by [Intimidating Hiss] is useful in certain situations, it's just that. Situational. Especially for a monster as powerful as me. If someone is brave enough to attack me after sensing my magicules, odds are, intimidation won't get rid of them.
My skills are looking pretty versatile now. I then notice something.
"Hahahaha!"
My skills now include [Water Manipulation], [Fire Manipulation] and [Wind Manipulation]. Now all I need is earth manipulation and I'm all set.
Ranryo walks up to me ashamed. "I apologize, Master. I shouldn't have stopped chasing that monster. You were almost injured because of my carelessness."
I jump on him again to pet him, "This wasn't your fault, I didn't expect it to come back either, even then that rock wouldn't have hurt me. I'm far too durable."
I test out the new [Wind Manipulation] on a nearby tree discovering a counterpart to [Water Blade] in [Air Cutter] during it.
After a few minutes we continue our race.. A few hours later we finally arrive and seeing how crowded one particular part of the village is around a certain blue slime, I think Rimuru has also just arrived.