"What the?" Rimuru confusedly asks when I pop in unannounced.
"Oh, hey Rimuru." Pretending to not know who Shizue is, I say, "Oh, you met some new people."
He then jumps down from where he was to ground level where I am and says, "Hey Migeru, this is Shizue, she came with a group of adventurers yesterday. They got attacked by some giant ant monsters so I decided to help them."
So she's been here for a day or so. Did she spend a night here in canon? I don't think that's consistent with the main story.
"Oh, I see. Well, I don't know if he's talked about me yet but my name is Migeru Tempest, the twin brother of Rimuru. Nice to meet you."
In a quiet voice she just says, Shizu.
"Oh, a little shy," I turn to Rimuru, "Looks like I missed quite a bit when I was gone. So, what happened?"
The events that took place in this timeline. They arrived a little earlier than in canon for some reason from what I can tell. There are events that didn't happen to them which probably led to this early arrival. I guess Shizue did a better job controlling them than in the original.
I also ask Rimuru, "I also sensed three other presences nearby. Who are they?"
"Those are the adventurers she traveled with. They said they are preparing to leave in a few hours."
So I came that late, huh. I guess that's a little disappointing. I'll pay more close attention to what's happening at the village from now on. Don't want to miss any more vital points in the story.
I turn to Shizue, "Well, I guess that means you're leaving too. Well, it was nice to meet you Shizu."
I can tell she smiles a bit under her mask from how it moves a little, "It was nice to meet you too."
"Well, you two were talking weren't you. Sorry for interrupting, I'll be on my way now. See ya." After that I jump out of the hut and immediately run into the three adventurers who all say, "Rimuru?" I go, "Eeh, oh, no I'm not Rimuru."
They all confusedly ask, "Wait, you aren't Rimuru?"
I jokingly say, "That's rude, are you saying all Slimes look alike? I'm Migeru, Rimuru's brother."
Eren says, "Eh, sorry. Um, if you don't mind, do you know where Shizu and Rimuru are?"
"Oh, they're in that hut over there." She thanks me which somehow leads to a little conversation which doesn't really go anywhere. After the conversation as we go our separate ways I decide to mess with them a little bit. As I walk away I scream, "Elf!" then immediately use mimicry to transform into a Wandering Phoenix and fly upwards as fast as possible.
After I'm in the air I decide to just hang out there for a while and analyze from afar. There's not much reason to step in, at least for now considering they are about to leave so for now I decide to wait. This event in the story was very much designed around Rimuru so I don't want to mess it up somehow. Once Ifrit shows up though I will step in.
During my stay in the air I see Shizue training for a little bit before leaving. She's incredibly skilled. I wonder how strong she would be if she was a True Hero. She would probably be one of the strongest humans.
Moving past that train of thought I realize that this is a really good opportunity to learn how to fight with a sword. Using [Genius] analyze her fighting I learn how to replicate the way she fights. With this I now actually know how to fight somewhat.
Later on I see as Shizue is about to leave the same thing happens. Ifrit begins to act up as she collapses in pain and her eyes begin to glow red. This is my chance to land. Diving to the ground and landing safely in front of the adventurers I pretend to not know what's happening and ask if somethings wrong.
Kaval says, "I don't know, Shizue just suddenly started to glow."
I pretend to analyze her and say, "From what I've got off analyzing her, she has an out of control fire spirit in her trying to take control. We might have to fight her. Are you all ready?"
The three adventurers look at each other unsure of how to feel about this for a little bit. However, after reassuring themselves they all say that they are ready.
"Alright, great. I'm not sure if we'll damage Shizu by fighting the spirit but we don't really have a choice. Get ready." Rimuru is nowhere to be seen right now. I use [Sage's Link] to locate him and find out he's inside a hut on the other side of the village. He might take a little longer to get here. The fight begins when Ifrit shoots a massive blast of fire at the three adventurers, which I block with [Water Manipulation]. The water evaporates on impact but at least it works.
After the Ifrit stops shooting the fire blast Ifrit summons lizard-like spirits and uses [Body Double] to make clones of itself. I use [Sticky-Steel Thread] to hold it in place as Eren launches an [Icicle Lance] in the background destroying one of the immobilized clones. After seeing that I turn around and yell at Eren saying, "Hey, Eren. You called that [Icicle Lance] right? Fire it at me!"
Confused, she asks, "Why!?"
"Just do it okay!? Trust me I have a plan!"
A little concerned that this might hurt me she says, "Okay, but you asked for it!" She yells [Icicle Lance] and launches a magic icicle straight at me.
[Great Sage] analyze the [Icicle Lance].
{Notice- Analysis of the [Icicle Lance] has been completed.
Magic [Icicle Lance] has been obtained.}
So my first, non-skill, ability. Unlike Rimuru, who was surrounded I'm actually a little far away from them so instead of firing in all directions I fire concentrated blasts at the lizards and Ifrit. This causes something unexpected to happen.
{Notice- Using Magic [Icicle Lance] to obtain new Extra Skill [Icicle Barrage].}
Mid-fight I say, "That's new." [Icicle Barrage] is an attack where I fire a bunch of concentrated icicles at the opponent unlike Rimuru's [Icicle Shotgun] in canon where he fires them in all directions.
Speak of the devil, right as I start thinking of Rimuru he arrives at the fight scene. At this point several huts have been burned down and any Hobgoblins that were nearby have evacuated. One of them probably told Rimuru and caused him to come here. Rimuru isn't the brightest tool in the shed. Despite having [Magic Sense] he somehow always misses things like this in canon.
Rimuru worriedly yells, "What's going on!?"
It wouldn't make much sense for me to know too much so I just give him a basic rundown. "Shizue was taken over by a fire spirit! We are trying to stop it from rampaging right now! Help us, you got the Extra Skill [Icicle Barrage] through [Sage's Link] right!? Come help us!"
Right as I say that, Ifrit finally breaks out of the [Sticky-Steel Thread] and lets out a roar. He begins releasing fire in all directions which hits the barrier the adventurers were using to protect themselves and knocks them out. Ifrit then tries to burn us alive with fire but thanks to our resistance it doesn't damage us at all. The rest of the fight goes pretty smoothly as there's not much Ifrit can do against two powerful Slimes that are completely immune to his fire.
After the fight is over and Ifrit is once again put under control Shizue goes back to normal in mid-air and falls to the ground injured. Rimuru and I take her and the adventurers to some beds and heal them. The adventurers immediately wake up panicked but we explain the situation but Shizue stays asleep. The 5 of us visit Shizue for a bit but when Rimuru starts getting sentimental they decide to leave us alone.
I ask Rimuru, "You look worried. You care about her so much despite having just met her?"
He solemnly responds with just, "Yes."
After talking for a little bit Shizue eventually wakes up. As soon as that happens I decide to leave the two alone. They are the ones that formed that surprisingly fast bond, not me. I'll let those final moments happen normally.
{Notice- Unique Skill [Sage's Link] has been activated.
Ability to mimic Human's has been obtained.
Extra Skill [Body Double and Ranged Barrier] have been obtained.
Magic [Flare Circle] has been obtained.
Skill [Combustion] has already been obtained.
Notice- Analysis of Magic [Flare Circle] has been completed.
Skills [Fire Tornado and Fire Wall] have been obtained.
Skills [Fire Tornado and Fire Wall] have been fused into Extra Skill [Fire Manipulation].
Notice- Unique Skill [Degenerate] is unable to be obtained as subject Rimuru Tempest has already obtained it. Would you like to store the data to obtain Unique Skill [Degenerate] at a later date? Yes/No?}
"Yes."
{Confirmed- Data for Unique Skill [Degenerate] has been stored.}
I can't obtain Unique Skills once someone else already has them. That is the limit where [Sage's Link] begins to weaken in strength. The reason why is according to the laws The Voice of the World follows, only one person at a time can have a certain Unique Skill. That's why they are "Unique." I'm not sure what would happen if [Sage's Link] becomes an Ultimate Skill though. Maybe it could take the data and bypass The Voice of the World somehow.
However, that might be wishful thinking.
I contemplate whether to transform into my human form now or not. I decide not to once I realize I'm outside and I would be completely naked. I then notice the three adventurers walking up to me.
Kabal leans down and whispers, "Do you know?"
To mess around with them I say as loudly as I can get away with, "Know what!?"
They freak out once I say it that loud. After they calm down they get in a huddle and whisper whether or not they should continue asking. After a while they just nervously turn around and say, "Uh, nothing. Hahaha!"
I can feel as my body tries to smile as I say, "Oh, you mean about the fact Eren's an elf. Yeah, I know."
They jump after I say that and ask how I know.
"Not gonna say, It's a trade secret but I am gonna say no one else in this village including Rimuru knows so you shouldn't worry about people finding out for now. I won't say anything either. I won't ask why you're hiding the fact you're an elf either. It's your business."
Eren calms down a little after I say that, "Oh, good, thought Rimuru might know too. Wait, really, you won't tell anyone."
"Yeah, what do I have to gain from that. Well, if I ever need to blackmail you though. Then, maybe I would threaten…"
Kaval and Gido both prepare to fight me.
"Relax, relax, I was just joking. You know, you would die if I seriously had to fight you three as well you know. Anyways, I know you three might be a little wary of me now so to get you guys to trust me a little more, I've prepared a little gift for you guys. Come collect it later if you want. There's a workshop that way," I point in Kaijin's Forge's direction with a tentacle, "The gift should be ready in a few hours." After giving them a little more details about what it might be I bounce away in the hut Shizue died in. Kabal's group follows me as well. When we walk inside we see a naked Rimuru with a single tear.
Rimuru explains that Shizue died and that her final wish was to be absorbed by Rimuru to rest in peace. I've always thought that was a strange last wish to be honest. When I die, please eat me. Well, I guess it's more than that but that's pretty much the basic request.
After the explanation while the adventurers are bummed out they understand what happened. Before they walk out though they ask Rimuru, who during the explanation turned back into his regular Slime form, to turn back into his human form. While confused he does just that. Afterwards, the three give their thanks to Shizue for helping them on this journey. Gotta say, it looked awkward as hell in person but at least it's heartfelt.
Later, right before they leave I bring them to Kaijins workshop which is already well under way at this point where they get their new gear from in canon. Due to the timeline being different the clothes do look slightly different as the dwarves were thinking different things while making them but the general designs stay the same. The three adventurer's jaws drop when they hear who made their new gear and begin basically worshipping them.
They excitedly put it on and thank them for the 50th time. After worshipping them for another 8 minutes they walk out giggling like little girls.
I see that the three dwarves in the background are already working on Rimuru's clothing. If they are doing that, then might as well do this now. I jump onto their counter where they have some paper from Dwargon because we don't have the ability to make it yet and grab a sheet and some writing materials. I absorb them and write with them inside my [Stomach] then pop out designs for my future clothing.
I ask, "Can you make these?"
They say sure but wonder why. I say that I also have a human form now because everything Rimuru has is also transferred over to me so I need clothing as well. They understand and get to work on those clothes as well.
The clothing consists of black pants, a grey shirt, blue Rimuru style boots, and a blue sweater. The finished design looks a lot like what I was wearing when I died. I wonder if that incident is influencing me here or whether it's a coincidence.
After the clothes are complete I absorb them and transform into my human form while at the same time putting the clothes on. Rimuru at this point is already in his human form with his canon clothes. After I turn into my human form we look at each other. We're identical, I guess it makes sense, we are identical twins after all.
Knowing this would be very awkward and confusing if we change clothing for an event or something so I change my appearance slightly. I would change it more but I have two reasons why not.
First of all, changing my appearance with magicules actually drains them faster. Changing my appearance more would actually cause me to use up more magicules holding the form together. I don't want to deal with that so I'm going to keep the changes to a minimum.
Second of all, and the less important reason. I want to look like Rimuru's twin. Changing it too much wouldn't allow that to happen considering Rimuru isn't changing his own appearance. If I'm his twin, I'm sticking with that theme to the end.
I change my appearance in front of Rimuru. My hair darkens to a darker blue, I tan my skin a little to be a little closer to my skin color back on earth and I shorten my hair a little as I notice it does get in my way a little. I also decide to change my eyes from yellow to red just for fun. I know [Great Sage] also has red eyes but that's actually a bonus as if I ever decide to let [Great Sage] fight for me I could take the credit.
By the end Rimuru and I still look very similar but we look different enough to where you can tell us apart from a distance. I ask, "What do you think? Thought it would be a little annoying if we looked exactly the same so I changed my appearance a bit."
Rimuru says, "I like it."
Good.