Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (LN) Volume 1 - Ch 1

MY FIRST FRIEND

It was dark. Too dark to see anything. Where was I? What even happened, for that matter? Soone was picking on for being a celibate sage or sothing, and then

That was enough to jump-start my mind again.

My na was Satoru Mikami. Just another thirty-seven-year-old in a suit. And when I shoved my coworker aside on the street, so random maniac stabbed . Good. I rembered all of that. Which ant I must be fine. No need for panic. That wasnt like anyway. I was known for having a cool head. The last ti I panicked, it was grade school and all I did was wet my pants, just a little bit.

I tried looking at my surroundings. Then I noticedI couldnt open my eyes. Odd, I thought as I tried to rub them and my arms didnt respond. And more to the point, Wheres my head, anyway?

This was getting confusing. Like, whoa. Wait a sec. I needed so ti to deal with this.

Whenever I start freaking out, I always find it helpful to sit still and start counting pri numbers until I calm down. Lets try that. One, two, three

Wait, one doesnt count as a pri number, does it?

Ugh Now wasnt the ti for this. I couldnt let myself think about this stupid crap. This was bad, wasnt it? Like, whats going on, here?! Was Ilike, past the point of no return, unless I did sothing?

Panicking, I checked to see whether I was hurt anywhere. I didnt seem to be. Physically, I felt terrific. No cold, no heatperfectly comfortable. That, at least, ca as a relief. Now for my hands and legs Oop. Not so hot there. No response from any of my limbs. Whats up with that? Getting stabbed in the back wouldnt force the doctors to amputate all my extremities, would it? Id kind of like those back.

Then there was the whole cant open my eyes thing. I was in a world of darkness, where I couldnt see a thing. An anxiety like none Id ever felt before began welling up in my mind.

Am Iin a coma or sothing?

I was conscious, certainly, but had I gotten detached from my central nervous system, maybe?

Oh, man, anything but that! I an, think about it. When you throw a guy into a dark, enclosed space, it takes practically no ti at all for him to go insane. And that was exactly where I wasand I couldnt even die in peace any longer, it looked like. If insanity was all that waited for here, that was enough to take the wind out of anybodys sails.

Just then, I felt sothing brush against my body. Hmm? Whats that? I focused all of my senses on this unknown sensation. It felt like grass against what might have been the side of my stomach. Concentrating on the sensations, I slowly began sussing out what was around . I could feel the pointy edges of so nearby leaves prick against my body.

It made a little happy, really. I was in total darkness a mont ago, but now I had my sense of touch back, at least. It made so overjoyed that I made a beeline for the grass, and

Creep.

I could feel my body sliding flat against the ground. I I moved?!

This, at least, was clear evidence that I was not on any kind of hospital bed. The feeling beneath my stomach (?) took the form of hard, jagged rock. Hmm. It still didnt make much sense to , but I appeared to be outdoors.

So I headed toward the grass, keeping my senses keen against what I touched, although I still wasnt quite clear on where my head was. There was nothing to sll; I wasnt sure whether I had that sense or not.

Really, I had no idea what I was shaped like. I feltflowing. Jellylike. Kind of like a certain fantasy monster I was well familiar with. In fact, the idea had been running through my head for a while now.

No. Co on. Thats just silly. Anything but that. I decided to leave that anxiety-inducing prospect behind for the ti being and instead try out the final, untested one of my five human senses. Not that I knew where my mouth was. Sonow what?

Suddenly, a voice ran across my mind.

Use unique skill Predator?

Yes

No

Huh? Wh-what? Unique skill Predator?

And what was up with that voice? I thought I heard sothing weird when I was talking with Tamura earlier. That wasnt just imagining things? Was soone there? Sothing didnt seem quite right with it. It wasnt that I thought I had a visitor, so much aswell, as I just had words floating into my mind. Cold, unfeeling words, like a computer-generated voice.

Lets go with no for now.

No response. I waited a while for one, but no further voices ca. It appeared there wouldnt be a second question. Did I make the wrong choice? Was this the kind of ga where you got stuck if you didnt start giving yes answers? I was assuming the question would just repeat forever until I said yes, like any normal RPG. Guess not.

Kind of rude of that voice, though. Showing up, asking a simple question, then disappearing forever. It was nice hearing soone for a change, butthe hell, man?

Oh well. Lets go on with what I was trying before. My sense of taste.

I moved toward the grass I felt earlier. As it brushed up against , I leaned forward, feeling the whole of my weight settle over the field. It was definitely grass of so sort.

Once I was sure of that, I suddenly realized that the area where the plants t my body was starting to lt. I thought it was myself lting at first, but apparently it was only the grass. And with that, I could now tell that the components of the plant life beneath were being taken into my body.

So that was how it worked? Instead of having a mouth to eat with, I just ingested plant matter with my whole body? It sure didnt taste like anything.

From this, there were a few conclusions I could sensibly make.

First, I was no longer human. That was a given by now. So did I really get stabbed to death? It didnt seem like much of an open question at this point. Itd also explain why I was resting on a rocky patch of grass instead of in a hospital room.

What happened to Tamura? To Sawatari? Did he scramble my hard drive for , like he promised? I was full of questionsbut also a suspicion that, by this point, none of them really mattered anymore. I had to think about what ca next.

Sois this it? Am I really a You know With the kind of tactile feedback Im getting at the mont

I trained my senses back inside my body. It responded with a rhythmic motion. Boing. Sproing. Slowly, inside the total darkness, I took the ti to ascertain the exact boundaries of my form.

Heavens! I used to be such a handso, attractive man, and now Im sofluid! So aerodynamic!

Yeah, right! You think Id accept this just like that?!

As far as I could feel, there was no longer any doubting it. I could picture it in my mind.

I anwhat else could it be? Not like I had a prejudice against it. Hell, it was kinda cute, if anything!

But was it for , though? If you took a poll, I think at least nine out of ten people would have the sa answer.

I would just have to accept it, though. Accept the fact that my soul, or whatever you want to call it, had been reborn inside a monster from another world. The odds of such a thing seed astronomically low to , but

But Id been reborn. As a sli.

Munch, munch.

Munch, munch, munch, munch.

I just snacked on so grass.

Why did I do that? Well, why not?

Not like I had anything else to do!

It had been a few days or so since I was pretty much forced to accept the fact that I was now a sli. How many, I wasnt exactly clear on. The passage of ti is tough to pick up on when all you can see is total darkness.

One discovery I had stumbled upon over the past few days was that a slis body could be way more useful than at first sniff. I never got hungry, for one, nor did I get tired. Food and sleep, for , were wholly unnecessary. And I had divined sothing else, too. I couldnt be completely sure, but there didnt seem to be anything else living around here. In terms of danger, I wasnt sure there was any to speak of. My days were blissfully free of worry.

Or anything else, really.

The whole ti, I never heard that voice again. By this point, I wouldnt have minded a little companionship. But no. It was just , the grass, and eating it for lack of much else to do. It was simply a way to kill ti. And by this point, I could sense the entire processmy body absorbing the blades, dismantling them internally, sorting through all the components, and storing them away.

What it all ant, I couldnt say. It was starting to frighten a bit. I needed to do sothing, or Id lose my mind. So I kept going through the cycleabsorb, break down, store up. But there was sothing odd about the process. Elimination never factored into it, sohow. Not even once. Maybe slis didnt need to do that. Hell, not like Id know either way. But where was all this stuff I was ingesting going, then? My senses told that my form hadnt changed in any appreciable manner from when I first arrived.

So what the hell?

Received. It is being stored in the stomach of the unique skill Predator. Current physical space usage is less than one percent.

What? Whoa! It speaks!

But since when was I using any skills? I thought I answered no back there.

Received. The unique skill Predator is not being used. The matter being ingested into your body is set to automatically be stored in your stomach. This can be changed as needed.

Oh? Well, nice to see were having a real back-and-forth, finally. But back to business. If I use this skill, what happens then?

Received. The unique skill Predator chiefly comprises the following five effects:

Predation:

Takes the target into your body. Lesser chance of success if the target has its own consciousness. Can be targeted on organic and inorganic objects, as well as skills and magic.

Analysis:

Analyzes and researches targets taken into your body. Lets you create craftable items. If the required materials are present, allows you to make a copy of the item. Successful Analysis of the casting thod allows you to learn the targets skills and magic.

Stomach:

Stores the Predated target. Can also store materials created via Analysis. Items stored in your stomach are unaffected by ti.

Mimicry:

Reproduces the form and skills of absorbed targets. Only available once the target has been Analyzed.

Isolate:

Stores harmful effects incapable of being analyzed, neutralizing them and breaking them down into magical force.

Um What?

For the first ti in a while, I was thrown. That sounded like kind of an incredible ability. Not exactly the kind of thing slis were known for. At least not the ones I knew.

Andhang on. Who was this voice answering my questions, anyway? Was soone there?

Received. This is the effect of the unique skill Great Sage. The skill has taken effect, making it more imdiately available.

A sage, huh? And here I thought that voice was just screwing with . Now it was the best partner I had. Hope that keeps up.

Hell, anything would have been fine at that point. As long as it helped smooth out the endless solitude I was preparing myself for. For all I knew, this voice was sothing my mind had crafted to keep my marbles intact. It was fine by . For the first ti in ages, I could feel a burden lifting from my heart.

By my count, it had been ninety days since I was reincarnated as a sli.

To be more precise, ninety days, seven hours, thirty-four minutes, and fifty-two seconds. How was I so sure about this? Turned out that was one of the many side effects of evoking that Great Sage skill.

Holy cats, was that thing helpful. Talk about your best friend in a pinch. Any question that popped to mind, it instantly provided the answer.

According to this Sage, it took ninety days for the skill to fully fuse itself with my soul. Normally, it would be unable to provide responses in the form of conversation, but in order to answer my questions, it apparently revamped itself, diverting part of its World Language powers to assist . Thats how it was explained to , at least.

This useful abilityrelaying words into my mindisnt normally possible. As it explained to , this World Language was heard only when there were great changes to the world or when you either earned or upgraded a skillsothing that normally didnt happen all that often. These skills were obtained only rarely, when the world recognized that you had grown in one way or another.

Evolution, anwhile, was sothing most people never got to experience in their lives. It was all Greek to , but if that was how it was, I was willing to accept it.

So the Great Sage was answering my questions at the mont, but otherwise it was this totally passive thing. No real sentience or anything. Unless I spoke up, it would never talk to of its own volition. That was the only real drawback, but tossing words around with soone again was a wonderful feeling, even if it was a one-way street.

Although, back in my ho world, having a conversation with my own skill might have been considered strange

So there I was, still locked in darkness, asking a barrage of questions.

One thing the replies confird was that yes, I was a sli now. I also found out why I never got hungry or sleepy. The slis in this world, it turned out, never had to eat if they could keep absorbing the magic particles, or magicules, in the air. In less magically abundant regions, I would be obliged to fill up by absorbing monsters or small creatures.

Most slis shied away from areas with low magic presences, but the ones that didnt were apparently both quite strong and madly vicious. Usually it was the other way around, where a wealth of local magic ant especially strong monsters.

In other words, the area I took up residence in was so laden with magic that I didnt even have to eat.

As for the sleep question:

Received. The body of a sli consists of a mass of completely identical cells. Each individual cell may function as a brain cell, a nerve cell, or a muscle cell. Since the operational cells used for thought are rotated in and out at regular intervals, there is no need for you to sleep.

This raised the question of where my mories were being held, exactly. Maybe it was kind of like a RAID setup on a computer?

That would be close enough, ca the response. Considering its lack of personality, the Sage certainly ca up with so snappy replies.

Speaking of which, the Great Sage skill consisted of five effects:

Hasten Thought:

Boosts perception speed by a thousand tis.

Analyze and Assess:

Analyzes and assesses the target.

Parallel Operation:

Operates on any matter you wish to analyze, separating it from the regular thought process.

Cast Cancel:

Annuls the casting period required when using magic, et cetera.

All of Creation:

Provides full coverage of all unsuppressed matter and phenona in this world.

All of Creation? So I know about everything, everywhere, with no effort on my part? Score! Or so I thought.

It turned out that I could only be told information related to things Id already heard aboutin other words, I needed to recognize and understand a concept before I could grab a full Analysis of it.

And the spell thingdid that an I could instantly use any magic once I learned it? And, like, there was magic in this world and stuff?!

The Great Sage replied with a big Yes.

Well, once I knew that, I just had to try to learn a few spells myself.

I checked with the Sage to see if it could help cast magic, but that was a no-go. Eh, it was worth a shot.

Still, I had another great idea: Could I link the Predator Analysis skill with Great Sage Parallel Operation?

Received. It is possible to link Predator Analysis with Great Sage Parallel Operation. Do you wish to link them?

Yes

No

Uh, yeah? Not that I had anything to analyze yet Wait. Or did I? That grass in my stomach. The stuff I had been eating to pass the ti. What was that? Not like I had anything else to do. Lets give it a try.

Off you go, Sage.

Analysis complete.

Hipokute herbs:

A type of ingredient used in healing dication. Only thrives in areas blessed with high local magic densities. Fusing its juice with magicules produces recovery dicine. Grinding the blades and fusing them with magicules produces a salve that closes wounds.

Wow! That was what Id been snacking on? Talk about an unexpected windfall. I imdiately set out to create so dicine of my very own. The process took place inside my body, so it didnt really feel much like crafting, but the Analysis took less than a second, and within another three-ish, I had my very first potion. Five minutes, and I couldve had a hundred. And while I didnt have anything else to compare it to, using my Great Sage skills to assess them resulted in a high quality rating.

So there you go. I was happy enough with it, at least. It all went so fast, too. I asked the Sage about it, and it said the process usually took more ti than that. Linking it with Parallel Operation mustve been the right idea, I suppose.

To test that theory out, I unlinked it long enough to create a single potion. It took fifty minutes. Damn, that was slow. Looks like I had the foresight to stumble across so ga-compatible skills to combine. Not that I knew what I was doing at all.

So of your garden-variety weeds were also sprouting here and there, but most of the local grasses were hipokute. How bout that? So I decided, as a little insurance, to Predate all the herbs I could in the area and turn my stomach into a little recovery-potion factory. I didnt have much else to occupy my ti. It was still pitch black in here.

There was no doubt about it. I had put my guard down. I had a partner who granted skills and the ability to engage in (kind of passive) conversation, and I let it get to my head.

I suppose that had a lot to do with how for ninety days in a row, I never ran into any other creatures. No danger to my life whatsoever. But either way, I had let my guard down.

For an instant, I was like, Huh?

I felt a sudden sensation that I had grown lighter or heavier or, likeunstable.

Did Ifall in so water?

In the past ninety days, I hadnt felt so much as a drop of water hit my body. Id assud I was in a rain-free cave or so other kind of shelter, so I had never even entertained the possibility before.

I had probably slipped into a river or sothing. Rivers dont exist indoors, so maybe it was so kind of underground creek in this cave I was in? Up to now, I had been careful with every step I took, making sure everything remained steady in the darkness. But after learning about my skills, getting full of myself, and using Predation to eat a pastures worth of grass, I had stopped paying attention to what was under .

I was always like that. Getting cocky, then screwing it all up in the end. Id proclaim to a custor, Oh, absolutely! That wont be any problem at all! and then have hell to pay. It had happened over and over. I still rember the spiteful looks the rest of my team gave for it.

Too bad I didnt think to stop myself in ti. What kind of idiot runs off into parts unknown when they cant even see? If I survived this, I was gonna give myself what for. Of course, given my personality, I doubted Id learn anything from it.

It was funny how serenely I was handling this whole thing, though. Not like I had much in the form of arms or legs I could flail about in horrified panic

Guess its over, then. Pretty short lifetieven by sli standards, maybe. I said my final prayers, awaiting my inevitable suffocation.

Suffocation never ca.

Why not? Did I not fall in the water? Ti to call on the Sage, maybe.

Received. A slis body operates exclusively on magicules. Oxygen is unnecessary, and therefore, so is breathing. That is why you have not been engaging in that behavior.

Oh Right. I wasnt paying attention, but I guess there wasnt any breathing, was there? Made sense. Even after ninety days, I was still learning sothing new!

But now wasnt the ti to celebrate. I had fallen into water, and even if I wouldnt die, it did still put in kind of a bind. What now? I couldnt really tell whether I was floating or sinking. My lack of limbs precluded any attempt at swimming. Would I wind up at the bottom sooner or later and be able to creep my way back to the surface? Or was I dood to bob around in the middle of the current, never reaching much of anywhere?

Though, if anything, it felt less like a violent torrent and more like I was being rocked in a cradle. Very gently rocked. It felt pretty good, even

Sothing told this wasnt flowing water after all. Maybe it was a lake, not a river. I didnt feel as though I was being taken anywhere. I was just kind of bobbing up and down, like a plastic bag, and it didnt feel as if Id ever hit bottom. If things stayed this way, I was in big trouble.

What now?

Just then, my brain cellsor my sli body, I guessca up with an ingenious plan. Maybe I could go all Predator on this water and then spit it out for so water-jet propulsion. Would that work? Only one way to find out. Not like I could do anything else.

So I started drinking, filling my Predator stomach up to approximately 10 percent of its capacity. Then, I expelled it like I was wringing out my stomach.

The sense of release was exhilarating.

Suddenly, I heard a voice in my mind:

Water Pressure Propulsion skill acquired.

It was the first ti I recognized it. This had to be the so-called World Language. There was no mistaking it, since the Sage spoke only when spoken to, but the two voices did sound exactly the sa.

But I didnt have a mont to ponder over this. The more pressure I applied on the water, the more pressure I felt on myself, and I was rocketing forward at astonishing speed, as if I was about to launch myself into the sky. The acceleration was intense. Honestly, maybe it was a good thing I couldnt see. Instead, I just basked in the sensation of my body zipping along through the darkness.

Well, let clarify. If I couldve seen my surroundings, Im sure the fear wouldve been intensebut not being able to see was just as terrifying.

If youve ever been on a roller coaster in an amusent park in total darkness, perhaps youd understand the feeling. My mind flashed back to my previous life and the single day I spent visiting a certain paradise under the rule of a certain rodent. At least his magical dreamland offered safety harnesses.

By this point, I wanted to punch myself for coming up with the idea. And trying it out right after thinking it up? Co on, man! What happened to so kind of, you know, preliminary safety check?

The terror was starting to affect my train of thought. How long would I keep accelerating? How much water did I spit out, anyway?

As that thought occurred to , I felt my body crash headlong into sothing and bounce off it. I braced myself for a wave of paralyzing pain. Which never ca.

Huh? Shouldnt that have, like, damaged ? Or did it damage , and I just didnt feel it or whatever?

Received. You have acquired Cancel Pain, which interrupts the creation of pain. Your Resist lee Attack has reduced the amount of damage taken. The amount of damage your body has incurred is ten percent. The intrinsic sli skill Self-Regeneration has taken effect. Would you like to support it with your Predator unique skill?

Yes

No

Oh, so I was hurt a little, then? Made sense. I wasnt sure whether this was a good or bad thing, but as long as I knew sothing was up, then maybe I didnt need to feel pain after all. Itd make certain things easier.

Predator support, though, huh? I dont really get it, but sure. Yes.

At that mont, I was greeted with the feeling that I had suddenly lost so of my body mass. After a while, I felt it return. My damaged parts had been Predated, analyzed, and repaired. Talk about a useful body to have. I should try testing later to see how much of it I can afford to lose before Im KOd. It was way too dangerous to ss with in detail, but I guess I could afford to go without at least a bit of it at a ti, so

Sothing told I was getting a little too careful, anyway. I had a stockpile of recovery potions, which I didnt even have to use. And I wouldve figured losing a tenth of my body would be a pretty serious issue, but now I knew I could just regenerate it in the space of ten seconds. Next ti I was damaged, Id try using those potions.

So where am I, I wonder? Making sure my body was back to normal, I checked out my surroundings. No telling what kind of dangerous monsters might be nearby. I was out of the water, but maybe there were scary, scaly things waiting for on the other side.

Slowly, carefully, I started taking action.

It kind of seed as if whenever I did sothing carefully, it ant I was about to be exposed to a heap of danger. I was sure it was just my mind playing tricks on , though.

And that thought probably did no favors, because

Can you hear , little one?

I heard sothing.

Little one? Its probably not anyone besides , is it?

It wasnt a voice, exactly, but sothing I could recognize more directly and instinctually in my mind. I didnt have any ears to listen with anyway.

Hello! You can hear , can you not? Respond to !

Well, no shit! But how was I supposed to reply without any mouth? As an experint, I tried thinking Shut up, baldy! in my mindnot like this guy could hear it or anything. But how was I gonna get anywhere here if I couldnt even give a

Oh-ho! You dare to call bald, do you? Rather a lot of nerve packed into such a little body, no? I had hoped to give my first guest in quite a while a little kindness, but it would seem you are in rather a hurry to die!

Uh-oh. Geez, couldve warned that would work first. And I had no idea who I was dealing with, either. Well, that was it. My loss. Ti for an apology.

Im sorry! I didnt know how to reply to you, so I just tried saying the first thing that ca to mind! Im really sorry about that! I cant see anything right now, so I have no idea what you even look like!

Did that co across? Kind of rude to call this guy bald when I couldnt even see him, I supposed. If he was, Id probably just pushed so very delicate buttons.

Heh-heh-heh Eh-ha-ha. Ahh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

The resulting laugh ca in three distinct levels. A masterpiece. So were we cool now, or?

How fascinating. I had assud you reacted as such upon seeing , but you cannot, eh? Most slis are low-level monsters, incapable of conscious thought as they run through the cycle of absorption, division, and regeneration. It is the rare one, indeed, that ever leaves its habitat.

Now what was he talking about? Was he more curious than angry, then, or? Either way, this was my first contact with another intelligent being. The first conversation in my new, oozy life. I wanted to keep it a friendly one.

You had aroused my curiosity, sli, by the way you so eagerly slamd into my body. The regenerative powers you just showed astonish . Are you a nad monster, perhaps, or a unique?

A what? And a what? Say again? Im sorry, I dont get what you an. Ive only been alive here for ninety days

Hmm. I suppose, with your sentience, you were never destined to be rely a sli. Nad monsters are those who have been assigned an exclusive na. But only ninety days? Ridiculous. Are you a unique, then?

Unique aning?

A unique monster is an individual who has suddenly attained unusual abilities, akin to mutation. They are occasionally born in areas with high magical concentrations Perhaps you were born from the mass of magicules that leaked out from , then?

Muh? What the heck?

Lets try using my previous-world knowledge to suss this out. This guy (Ill call him a guy for conveniences sake) had been leaking magic all over the local area. It was so thick, in fact, that it gave birth to a monster. A sli. . Was that it?

Hmm. No monster has ever co close to approaching my domain in the past three hundred years. If you were born from my magical force, then perhaps, indeed, that gave you the power to touch and live to tell the tale!

Oh So youre kind of, like, my dad, then?

No, not your parent by blood. I have no reproductive ability to speak of. So monsters do, and so do not, you see.

Really? Cause I thought that kind of ca with the package by default. But if I just spontaneously burst out from magic or whatever, maybe you dont need it, huh?

Your intellectual abilities surprise . Very few, indeed, are the monsters that possess anything of the sort. Among all the monsters, only magic-born have sentience in the way you or I would understand it.

The comntary went on for a while. But the most important thing to learn from it was that apparently humans existed in this world, too. Then there were nonhumans, species very close to mankind in nature and similarly gifted with reproductive abilities. These included races like elves, hobbits, dwarves, and other fairy types, and generally they were allied with the humans.

Alongside that, you had races like goblins, orcs, lizardn, and so on, which were hostile toward mankind and treated like monsters as a result. This animosity wasnt inherent to their biology, however, so crossbreeding was entirely possible.

Next were the magic-born peoplethe catchall term for those who ca into being from magic itself, monsters who experienced sudden mutation, and sentient beings evolved from animals or magical beasts. They had both intelligence and reproductive ability, but only within their own subspecies. In their upper social castes existed titans, vampires, devils, and other longer-lived speciesall equally capable of having offspring, although they rarely did so, since their overwhelming magic force caused them to be nigh immortal, obviating the need to leave descendants.

These diverse intelligent, reproducing species were hostile to mankind and collectively referred to as the magic-born race. And reading between the lines, the impression I got was that the magic-born werent so much overtly hostile toward humans as the humans feared and coveted their powers. It remained true, though, that both sides were fighting for their own living spaces.

These sundry monsters had been classified by levels of danger. The upper ranks of the magic-born were packed with so pretty powerful buggersall capable of leveling a human town solo if they felt like it. Not the kinds of guys youd want to hang around.

So my new companion kept going for a whileabout how hed fought against the upper-level magic-born in the past and so on. Finally, the subject turned back to .

As I told you, then, I lack the ability to produce offspring. The reason is simple Because I do not need to. I am of the dragon raceone of only four in the world, both unique and the most perfect of my kind. You will hereby know as Veldora, the Storm Dragon! My life span is infinite, my flesh unfathomable! As long as my will remains intact, I shall be ever alive! Ahhhhh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

He couldve skipped the laughter. I got it. So he didnt need to have kids, because he was gonna live forever, right?

And while this guy took a while to get to the point, he did ntion sothing I didnt want to overlook.

Veldora was the StormDragon?

Plus, if he liked taking a good-natured swipe at upper-level magic-born now and then, he waslike, pretty tough, wasnt he?

Using my knowledge of Earth stuff, I tried to picture Veldora the Storm Dragon, no doubt seated in front of right now. I didnt like what my mind ca up with. He seed to be acting polite with , and that made it all the creepier.

So what now?

W-wow, really? Well, thanks for all that handy guidance, sir! Guess I better be on my way, then!

I tried my best to flee.

Halt. I have told you all about myself. It is your turn now, would you not agree?

I probably shouldnt have expected any other treatnt. Hmmmm. He wanted to know about ? If I told him about my miraculous journey from an alien planet, would he believe ? He seed to marvel at how smart I was for a sliif I tried to make sothing up, I doubted hed fall for it. Such an attempt seed like a good way to dig my own grave.

Well, whatever. If he didnt believe , Id deal with it then. Summoning my resolve, I told Veldora everything that had happened to so far.

So Yeah. Here I am, I guess! Its been super rough, yknow?

While prudently keeping the topic of my skills unexplored, I regaled the dragon with my tale of being stabbed, waking up as a sli, and everything else that happened on the way to his domain.

It was a bit weird howwell, non-rough it all sounded when I put it into words. But it was rough for all the sa. And the worst part was how I was literally operating blind the entire way. If so cute lady passed on the road later on, would I ever get to see her? The thought saddened a little.

Hmm. So a transmigrant, then? Your origins are quite rare, indeed.

Huh? Are they? And you Transmigrant? This isnt any big surprise to you?

Whats with that reaction? So these transmigrants were common enough that he had a na for them? What was so rare about it, then?

Hmph. You do see transmigrants, on occasion. Their mories from the past are burned into their souls, due to a powerful will. There are so, indeed, who retain every mory of their past lives. But a transmigrant from another world That is quite uncommon. A regular soul, by itself, would have no hope of surviving a journey across realms. It would dissolve midway, taking its mories with it. Soone retaining their full mind and becoming reborn as a monster out of pure magic I cannot recall any past example of that. Quitepeculiar, indeed.

Transmigrants from other worlds, it seed, kept only part of their mories at best. Soone like , who still had them all, was pretty well unheard ofnot that I cared too much.

He had just told sothing I couldnt afford to ignore. A soul, by itself? So you could travel to this world without getting reincarnated or anything?

Huh. Am I that unusual? Cause it sure doesnt feel that way Are there people, then, who co here from other worlds without being trans-whatevered?

There are. None have succeeded in traveling to another world from here, but there are more than a few that have completed their travels here from elsewhere. They are known as visitors, or otherworlders, and they bear knowledge of things that do not exist in this world. They acquire, as I hear it, so manner of special power when they make the journey here. Beyond that, there are records of transmigrants, whoas I saidbear knowledge of other worlds. Not all of them choose to openly identify themselves as such, though, I imagine.

Interesting. I didnt know whether they ca from the sa planet I did, but it might be good to chat with them a bit. There might even be so from Japan, for all I knew. It was probably best for my sanity to have a goal while I was here, besides.

I see, I see! In that case, I think Ill try and track down so of these otherworlders, as you called them. Maybe Ill find soone from my own land!

Well, one mont. You said you cannot see, yes?

Oh, uh, yeah. And? It was a pain in the ass, yes, but as long as I took my ti and kept from getting myself killed, I was sure Id run into so fellow visitors. Probably.

Let help you see, then.

Um, what? Damn. This guy I an, Veldora the Storm Dragon He was acting way too nice to , wasnt he? Could I really trust him?

Uh, really?

Indeed. On one condition, however. What do you say?

I didnt like the sound of that, butah, what the hell.

What kind of condition?

A simple one. When I grant you the ability of sight, I beg of you not to fear . That, and I bid you co visit and speak to again. That is all. I trust my terms are agreeable to you?

Thats all? Was he sure? What a lonely dragon. Guess there was no one else around at the top. No wonder he couldnt stop talking to I mustve been his first conversational partner in ages.

If Id had my druthers, I would have said this dragon was a total pushover. He mightve been feeding a line this whole ti, even, saying he was a dragon. Maybe the dragons in this world werent even all that powerful in the first place.

Heh. This was a pretty good deal.

Is that really all you need?

Yes. To be honest with you, I was sealed away in here three hundred years ago. Ever since then, I have had so much free ti on my hands, I was practically out of my mind with boredom. What do you think?

Well, if thats all you need, you got yourself a deal!

Good. It is a promise, thenand I trust you will hold up your end of the bargain.

Of course! Maybe I dont look it, but you can count on , man! Just ask anybody on Earth! Theyll vouch for !

Hopefully he wouldnt try to. That would be bad.

Very well. There is a skill known as Magic Sense. Can you use it?

Oh, here we go again. More walls for to deal with. So unfair.

No, I cant. What kind of skill is that?

It allows you to perceive the particles of magic floating around you. It is not a very powerful skill, and all it offers is a visual reference, so it is not difficult to acquire.

Oh Sounds easy enough.

Indeed. I can wield it as easily as I can breathe. I hardly even bother to think about it.

Really? So once I learn that, Ill be able to see again?

Precisely. This world is covered in sheer magic, although it is not spread evenly across its entire surface. Did you know, also, that light and sound both have the properties of a wave?

Yeah, Ive heard about that. Light waves and sound waves.

Ah. How intelligent of you. Did you learn of that in your past world? You must have, I wager. But, indeed, you will be able to observe how these waves disturb the nearby particles of magic, then use that information to calculate how the area around you looks and sounds. Simple, yes?

Um? Not really? What kind of BS was that? I, um, Im not really sure whether that sounds simple or not, actually

No? But that is what allows one to continue fighting even after losing both their sight and hearing! It protects you from surprise attacks, and that is all but a requirent for survival here, is it not?

Y-yeah, butcan we skip all that fighting talk and just get seeing again, maybe?

Mmm Very well. Allow to help you acquire this skill, then. This is the only thod I am aware of.

W-wait, can you do that? Im kind of a newborn here

Worry not. You do have your mories from your past life, yes? And there, you gained knowledge about the nature of light and sound. Without that, not even I could help you, I wager. Luck is on your side, truly.

True. I supposed it would be hard to explain sight to soone who cant see at all. I certainly couldnt manage it. I read sowhere that Helen Keller learned how to speak only by following cues she learned before going deaf at age two. Maybe I could use my knowledge of Earth to harness this Magic Sense thing to figure out what the world around was like

Worth a shot, I guessed. This blindness was getting to be a massive pain. Plus, I had the Sage on my side. It could work this out.

Im ready to learn, sir!

Now, now, no need for such ardor. It is quite simple. First, try moving the magic around you with the force in your body.

I had an inkling of what he ant. It was the skill Id probably adapted to blow myself out of the water a mont ago.

Like this?

I tensed up, trying to imagine the strength circulating through my body. I could feel sothing moving withinthe magicules my companion was talking about. I hadnt been conscious of it in the water, but it looked as though I could adjust the force by how much I tensed up. Before, I hadnt been controlling the water so much as I was controlling the magic dancing around in it. I was exercising my magical muscles, and the particles around were reacting. It ca to surprisingly quickly.

Mmm. You are more gifted in this than I thought. Now, do you see the difference between the magic moving within you and that outside of your body?

Whoa. Maybe this actually was easy. Maybe I was more sensitive to the magic I absorbed now that I was conscious of the way I lived off it.

Well, sure! Like, thats the stuff Ive been eating all along, right?

Heh-heh-heh! If you understand that much, the rest is childs play. All it takes is feeling the movents of the particles outside of you.

Yeah, that I didnt get. But I gave it a shot, doing as I was told and feeling out the particles surrounding . And I found I could.

I could sense them hanging in the air, riding air currents, moving aroundall sorts of sensations.

Lets ask the Sage about this.

Confird. Extra skill Magic Sensesuccessfully acquired. Use the extra skill Magic Sense?

Yes

No

Huh? It was that easy?

Well, sureyes, then Man, talk about a rock I can rely on!

The mont I invoked Magic Sense, my brain was filled with new information. A massive amount, sothing my human brain never couldve processedthe waves of light and sound pushing every single tiny particle aroundand I processed it all, converting it into perceptible data.

The thing about human eyesight is that it doesnt give you even a 180-degree view of whats in front of you. Now, all of a sudden, I could see a full 360 degrees around myself. The shadows of the rocks around , the views hundreds of ters awaythe mont I turned my attention to it, I could figure out what it was. If I were still human, all this perception data probably wouldve fried my brain circuits. But now I was a sli. My cells could provide muscle just as easily as brain power.

So sohow or other, I withstood the torrent of information. Then

Synchronizing extra skill Magic Sense with unique skill Great Sage Successful. All information will now be managed by Great Sage.

Suddenly, my vision opened up. The brain-searing sensation from before was gone, and then I could seeso clearly that it was a wonder I wasnt able to do it before. Sothing told that having the Sage at my side was almost cheating. It wouldnt be going too far to put it that way. If soone else had it, Id probably bitch that it was against the rules. Since I had it, though No problem.

Oh, I think Ive got it. Thank you very much! I said, turning my attention to the creature in front of .

Holy crap. He really was a dragon. He was covered in scales that shone a dark shade of black, tougher looking than steel itself but supple and flexible. A big, evil-looking

Gahh! Youre a dragon!!

He looked positively demonic, towering far higher than I anticipated. My internal scream welled up, pouring out of , and I dont think I could really be blad for it.

What a surprise. I feel bad for ever thinking this guy was pet sized. This wasfor real. Absolutely no doubt.

The body, startlingly similar to a Western-style dragons, shone like obsidian. There were six fingers on each hand, equipped with claws that looked ready to tear through whatever they found. The two pairs of wings on his backone larger than the otherca to a point at their respective ends, like swords honed to perfection and ready to dice.

Upon closer observation, the ominous scales covering his entire body actually radiated a dark purplish lighta mixture, perhaps, of their natural color and the unearthly force that made its way through the surface. There was sothing strangely beautiful about his vast shape, the picture of majestic dignity. I began regretting being so rude back when I couldnt take it all in, but that was all water under the bridge.

Turned out, by the way, that I was indeed oval shaped. Like a little bun. Kind of alight turquoise, maybe? Lighter than the daylight sky, but not by a lot. A rather elegant color, I thought. Sha about the whole being-a-sli thing.

You do rember your promise, yes? And considering your previous complaints, you learned rather quickly, no?

Oh, of course! I was just joking a little, is all. I can see just fine, and plus I can hear now, too. I really appreciate this!

Hmph. You could have taken your ti

So he was fine after all. A little scary looking, but he was awfully kind to , for no good reason. He really was lonely, I imagined. It was unfortunate that he looked the way he did. Kind of like that little story about the poor red demon who wanted to befriend the humans.

So what do you intend to do next?

Well, for starters, I figure I might as well look for so otherworlders from my ho country. Not that I care too much if I dont, butyou know.

Finding so would be better, but its not as if were guaranteed to beco fast friends. Plus, with my brand-new eyesight, scoping out the world could do wonders for . Harvesting the light and sound around had just expanded my world a thousandfold. Now, finally, I could say good-bye to my days of literally chewing the cud in my tiny cave or whatever.

That dragon, though.

The more I stared at him, the more sinister and terrifying he seed. And yet he didnt move a single inch. He ntioned a three-hundred-year-old seal, right?

By the way, Veldora, you said sothing about beingsealed away?

Mm? Ah. Yes, I perhaps underestimated my opponent slightly. I eventually began fighting with, shall we say, more urgency, butwell, it was rather too late by then!

The dragon sounded almost proud of his losing performance. Magic was one thing, but I doubted there was a sword or lance in this or any other world that could scratch him. It wasnt as if I knew that much of this world yetmaybe it was crawling with horrifying monsters even more powerful than him, or sothing?

Was your opponent that tough?

She wasquite strong. She was what the humans call a hero, one blessed with so-called divine protection.

A hero? My days in front of a ga console had made well familiar with that term. Simply doing hero stuff didnt make you dragon-slaying material, though. A lot of recent gas had turned their so-called heroes into foils or parodies of themselves, besides. Maybe things were still a bit more traditional around here.

Now that I recall, Veldora continued, the hero also said she was summoned. Perhaps she hails from the sa area as you.

Oh? I dunno Where I co from, nobodys that strong, you know?

Perhaps, but many otherworlders co here bearing special powers. Powers that are chiseled into their souls in the midst of their journey. The summoned will always bear one such skilla unique skill, one exclusive to them and them alone. Unlike the otherworlders who co here by sheer accident, these people bear a soul strong enough to withstand the stress of the summoning process. The fact that said summoning process so rarely succeeds in this world otherwise proves as much.

When you say summoning process, do you anmagic, or whatever?

Precisely. A process requiring at least thirty magicians conducting a ceremony that takes place over three days. It is rarely successful, but it is seen as a powerful weapon to have in ones arsenal, should the need arise.

A weapon?

Mm. Those summoned in such a manner are bound by a magical curse upon their soul, unable to resist the orders of their masters.

Whoa, really? No human rights or anything?

Human rights? What rights would one possibly expect in this, of all worlds? Do not entertain such fantasies in this realm, little one. The only law that reigns here is survival of the fittest. Might, as they say, makes right.

Well, huh. If you got summoned to this world, no point hoping that your old values applied over here, I guessed. Bit hard to accept that.

So are you saying that otherworlders pretty much get treated like slaves here?

No. It depends. There is no Domination Stamp applied to them. If society accepts them, they are free to live their lives as they please. They can beco adventurers or the like. Many otherworlder adventurers have sought my head They learned the error of their ways soon enough! Hyaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

So youre only forced into servitude if you were summoned here, huh?

Not servitude, exactly, but I suppose so, yes. I like to believe I know a great deal about the humans, but a great deal is not everything.

No Youre a dragon, besides.

In way, he knew almost too much as a dragon. At least conversing together put on his good sideenough that he answered all my questions. So we kept talkingVeldora and I, dragon and sli, about all sorts of things.

How had the fight gone with this hero?

How strong was she?

Her skin was pale in color, the dragon told ; her lips were bright red and small. Her long hair was a dark shade of silver, kept back in a single ponytail. She was slim, not that tall, rather small for a human.

Her face was apparently covered by a mask, but there was no doubting her beauty. I asked him whether this beauty was enough to distract him, whether he was too enrapt to defend himself properly. Enough of your nonsense! he bellowed back at .

Apparently she carried a long, curved sword. A katana, it was called. She didnt bother with a shield. Taking advantage of two unique skillsAbsolute Severance and Unlimited Imprisonntand a wealth of other magic, she, as Veldora put it, overwheld him. There was more than a trace of nostalgic contentnt in his voice, or so it seed to .

Sothing I picked up on as we spoke was that this dragon I think he really liked humans. He kept calling them wimps and garbage and such, but from the way he put it, he never deliberately killed anyone who attacked him. Not unless they went out of their way to rile him. One ti, three centuries agojust one ti, he emphasizeda certain chain of events made him reduce an entire city to embers. That was what made the people send a hero his way, and nowthanks to that heros Unlimited Imprisonnthe was in his current predicant.

I had trouble enough figuring out my own feelings about a lot of things. Other peoples, I could only guess at. But I was starting to get the impression that, well, maybe this wasnt such a bad dragon at all. I an, I liked him. And he wasnt anywhere near as scary as before.

All right! Well, um What do you think? Friends, then?

It was kind ofno, really embarrassing to put it like that. Id have been blushing right then, if I could.

Wh-what? A re sli, daring to seek the friendship of the mighty beast feared worldwide as Veldora the Storm Dragon?!

Oh, um, you dont have to if you dont want, but

You fool! You foolish fool!! Who said anything about not wishing it?!

Oh, no? Okay, so, umnow what?

Mmm, indeed If you insistI suppose I could consider it

I could feel him sneaking furtive glances at . It would have been one thing if it had been a cute girl sitting next to at the movie theater, but it was quite another when it was a death-dealing mythical beast. Not fun. Pretty funny, though.

Yep. I insist. Its settled! And if you dont like it, then watch out, cause Ill never co back!

No!Ah, so be it. I will beco yourfriend. I do hope you appreciate the gesture!

Heh. I wondered whether I could manipulate the other three dragons he ntioned like this. I was made to exploit people, and he was made to be exploited. A perfect match.

Well, to future tis, then!

Indeed! To future tis! Ah, yes, allow to give you a na. In exchange, you will give one to us both.

Huh? Why? Whered that co from?

It shall chisel into our souls the fact that we are of the sa rank. Sothing similar to the family nas the humans useexcept my na, for you, will also provide a kind of divine blessing. You are still naless now, but through this, you will beco a full-fledged nad monster.

Mmmm.

So he wanted to co up with a common na for us to share? And in exchange, Id get my own na and all the benefits of nad-monster status? Better think up sothing good. Im terrible at this stuff

Well, you said you were a storm dragon, so I dunno, Tempest or sothing?

Ugh. Kind of on the nose, I know, but it sounded cool to , so

Perfect! So be it! A wonderful timbre to that title, yes.

He liked it?!

From this day forward, they will call Veldora Tempest! And you You will be called Rimuru. Proclaim to the world that your na is Rimuru Tempest!

Thus the na was carved into my soul. Not that it did too much to . Or my abilities. But sowhere, deep inside my soul, sothing did change a bit. I suppose the sa could be said of Veldora. And thats how we beca friends.

Well, it was ti to get going, I supposed. But before that:

Hey, so I had sothing I wanted to ask before I left, butcant you do anything about that seal on you?

Not with my powers, no. Soone with a unique skill on the sa level as the heros would be necessary for there to be even a chance.

You dont have any, Veldora?

I do, but now that I am sealed off, I can access none of them. Telepathy is about all I can manage at the mont.

The heros Unlimited Imprisonnt could hold its target captive in an infinite number of imaginary spaces for all of ti. It wasnt so weak barrier that would allow casual interference with the real world. Looking back, it should have struck as strange that Telepathy was possible, even. It wasnt the sort of thing that would break down over tibut given that he could have any contact with the real world, and even exchange ssages, perhaps it said more about Veldora. Neither of us noticed this at the ti, though.

Well, here, lem try sothing

I rolled over to Veldora and tapped my body against him.

Invoking unique skill Predator to consu unique skill Unlimited Imprisonnt Failed.

I figured as much, but no, I certainly wasnt hero caliber. With a dazzling light, my unique skill tried to do its work but weakly bounced off without any further comnt. I thought it might have made a small rip, but that was all. The barrier would repair itself shortly, no doubt. I was hoping that unique skill on unique skill would result in sothing, but it didnt.

Was there anything I could do, though? Sothing

Received. Partial Analysis of unique skill Unlimited Imprisonnt complete. Reporting a potential escape route.

Any escape involving a physical body is not possible. The chance of destroying the prison by physically damaging it is zero. Cannot analyze an escape route involving the annulnt of imaginary space. One would need to be caught within the sa Unlimited Imprisonnt situation in order to analyze it from the inside. This is currently impossible.

The chance of escaping in spiritual form is one percent.

If a spiritual receptacle is prepared for the target on the outside to aid in the transition, the success rate is three percent. This process is equivalent to transmigration. If the target is poorly compatible with the receptacle, he will lose all mories and abilities.

This concludes the report on potential escape routes.

Hmm. Kind of low numbers, it sounds like. Unlimited Imprisonnt looked like nothing more than a transparent mbrane from my perspectivebut physical damage did nothing against it? Maybe it had so kind of insurmountable defense attached to it, for all I knew.

Hey, did you lay any damage on this hero at all? Or vice versa?

Ah, I am glad you asked! Most of my attacks were evaded, but I did land several direct hitswhich, I regret, had no effect on her. Death-Calling Wind, Dark Lightning, even Storm of Destruction had no effect, despite being completely unavoidable. A total loss All I could do was laugh!

Veldora then accentuated the point with a loud, hearty guffaw.

It sounded as though you could also use this Unlimited Imprisonnt skill to cover your own body, making a shield to protect from external attack. Pretty handy thing to have around. This hero was starting to sound downright omnipotent. Between that and Absolute Severance, she was all but invincible, wasnt she? I really wouldnt want to run into herbut then, I wouldnt have to. I would have liked to assu she had died in the ensuing three hundred years, at least. Either way, she was one tough character.

So if I was going to get him out of here, it would be through transferring his consciousness into a new body, huh?

I guess I need so kind of receptacle to get you out of here. Even if its in spirit form only, it sounds like it oughta be possible

No point telling him what kind of odds he had to go on. Id just be hurting Veldora further if I dampened his spirits.

Mm? There is a way out of here?! Indeed I feel my magical force will exhaust itself by no later than a hundred years from now. My magic continues to flow out of , even now.

Yeah? So thats why theres such a concentration of it around here

Indeed. Even high-class monsters would not dare approach. You saw how there were no weeds on the ground? The sort of plants that can thrive in this area are very rare indeed!

Right. I recalled all the hipokute herbs Id churned through over my short life. It was that valuable, huh?

Yeah, soyou wanna try escaping, maybe? If I had the right receptacle, I think thatd help our chances a fair amount Do you know what Id need, though?

Indeed, even if I escaped in spiritual form only, it would be quite difficult to regather magic and form my core once more. Your creating a small tear in the prison helped my chances imnsely, no doubt. As for that receptaclethe new core, if you willif you can bring one to , all Id have to do is traverse myself over to it. Transmigration, I suppose

Yow! And here I thought he was a little slow. He knew exactly what I was getting at, didnt he? The exact sa conclusion the Sage had made.

Pretty much, yeah. If its sothing I can get on this side, I could look for it for you.

Hmm To tell the truth, I do not need any core at all You can keep a secret, I trust? As I said, I am both unique and the most perfect of my kind. A fully unique creation, one that takes purely spiritual form. I have no particular attachnt to this body. It is rely the faith of those who live around that forms the shape you see.

There he went again. Spouting off complete nonsense.

As far as I could piece together in the ensuing conversation, the basic idea went like this:

Using his consciousness alone, he could gather magicules toward him to form a physical body. Said body was currently being held in this prison, but that prison also prevented his will from collecting the magic he needed. Could he escape in consciousness form alone? No, because he needed so kind of receptacle.

If he simply burst out in spirit form, his essence would scatter to the winds like the magic itself, erasing his very existence. This would result in the birth of a new storm dragon, sohow, sowhereI didnt care about the details by this point. But to sum up, maybe he could escape, but if he did, hed wind up being sothing else. It wouldnt matter to him.

So much for that. But what if I used Predator to consu Veldora himself? I could either analyze him inside my stomach, or isolate him and annul the effect of Unlimited Imprisonnt, and hed be out. Would that work?

Received: It is possible to store the target Veldora in your stomach via the unique skill Predator.

Really? In that case, if I could convince him of it, we could get going. If I couldnt, hed have another century of isolation before he was reduced to nonexistence. So I spent a few monts explaining the Predator skill to Veldora, and what I wanted to do with it. Itd be impossible from the get-go without the Sages help, but

Mwah-hah-hah-hah-hah! Fascinating! Please, go ahead. I leave myself at your rcy!

Youre that ready to believe ?

But of course! Itd be far more fun to break through this prison with you than sit around and await your return! With the two of us together, this Unlimited Imprisonnt could fall quicker than we thought!

Now I got it. He was one, but now we were two. I liked his outlook.

So the plan was Id use Great Sage and Predator to analyze this beast, and Veldora would try to destroy it from the inside. No worries about Veldora dissipating away in my stomach. I was starting to think this could actually work.

All right. So Im gonna consu you, all right? Hurry up and get outta there.

Heh-heh-heh! Right away! You shall make wait no longer! Let us finally join together!

Right! I summoned up my stores of resolve, touching him for a montthen activated my Predation skill. In a mont, Veldoras massive form disappeared from sight.

It happened almost too fast. We were talking just a mont ago. Seeing him gone suddenly made feel very small and very solitary. Using the skill on my first target created too much resistance to work at all, but with the help of a fully cooperative Veldora in all his hugeness, it couldnt have gone more smoothly. He and Unlimited Imprisonnt itself were sucked in at once.

Kind of a surprise it all fit in , though. Checking my stomach usage Geez, 25 percent? How big was that thing, anyway?

Then:

Conduct Analysis of unique skill Unlimited Imprisonnt?

Yes

No

This better work, I prayed as I thought Yes to myself.

A cataclysm shook the world on that day.

It was the only way to describe the reaction when the disappearance of the storm dragon Veldora was confird. It wasnt every day that a Special S-ranked monster simply vanished without a trace.

Monsters, as well as adventurers, were ranked on a system of six grades, from A to F. Pluses and minuses could be attached to these grades for extra precision. This system was first put into place by a man nad Yuuki Kagurazaka, a rumored otherworlder and one of the few to assu the topmost rank of grand master in the Free Guild. It was quickly adopted, thanks to being much easier to understand than the previous, sowhat arbitrary four-tier system of novice ? beginner ? interdiate ? advanced.

The Special S rank combined the S rank, which comprised demon lordclass foes that deserved more than simply an A, with the Special tag reserved for those above even that classmonsters capable of single-handedly engineering calamities or natural disasters. A scale-breaking rank, existing wholly outside the six traditional ones. Normally, an A-ranked monster alone would be dreadful enough to threaten the existence of a nationsoone like Veldora was dangerous enough to plunge it into despair.

Three hundred years of penance had done nothing to affect the dragons rank as a natural disasterlevel threat. Just because he had disappeared didnt an he couldnt be reborn sowhere, posing a new nace before long.

But twenty days after the initial report of his disappearance, the Western Holy Church issued a report that, as far as its investigations could tell, Veldora the Storm Dragon both no longer existed and showed no sign of existing anyti soon.

Word spread first in the area around the Forest of Jura, a broad plain dotted with a large number of minor countries. Once Veldoras fate had been broadly reported, each one of them sprang to their feet, the proverbial hornets nest stimulated to action. Every king and every minister of every nation held day after day of ergency etings, gathering information and debating what to do next.

It was a trying ti for the Baron of Veryard, minister of the small kingdom of Blumund, but not half as trying as it was for the man Veryard had called into his private chamber that day. This was Fuze, a man just as renowned for his sharp, unrelenting eyes as he was for his small stature. He was the guild master for this kingdom, a position affording him a hefty amount of authority even in such a tiny nation.

I believe you know why I summoned you here, the baron began the mont Fuze walked through the archway. You have heard about the storm dragon by now, have you not?

Fuze nodded. Of course, my baron, he said in his low, hoarse voice.

Hmph, Veryard spat out in response. I suppose I should expect nothing less of you, my good guild master. Now, may I ask about how the guild intends to respond?

We have no particular plans at this ti, sir.

Im sorry, did I hear you correctly? You have no intention to take action?

Yes, sir, Fuze replied with a voice devoid of emotion, silently asking the baron what he was so perturbed about. I do not feel any action is necessary.

The baron, not a great fan of this response, chose to keep those feelings hidden. Rather a strange thing to say, is it not? Not necessary? The disappearance of Veldora the Storm Dragon may portend further monster activity in the space of days, even hours! And you are taking no asure at all against it?

It would strike as rather strange to do so, sir, for taking such asures is the job of the state. I am responsible for the Free Guild, not for providing volunteer work when bidden.

This was the truth, as far as Fuze was concerned. The Free Guild was an independent, nongovernntal agency. Its mbers were afforded no special guarantees of security or comfortunlike the assorted workers and craftsn on the governnt ledgerbut the basic rights that all citizens were entitled to. Their only official debt to the kingdom ca in the form of taxes.

That was the system in Blumund, as it was in nearly all the nations that surrounded it. To put it another way, the Free Guild was a group that operated outside the frawork of any nationand one far more unified than a single governnt as well. It was a fact that so of their operations occurred without the knowledge or consent of these nations, whether the guild intended it to be seen that way or not.

Is it not the responsibility of the state, the guild master ekly continued, to protect the assets of its people? In the sa way, it is the guilds responsibility to protect the lives of its mbers. We both have a lot on our plates, I suppose.

Fuze wasnt sure whether he had imagined the blue vein that had just popped up on Veryards forehead or not.

He hadnt. The baron knew his position was being probed.

Enough pretense, Guild Master! How many rcenaries can you provide us? How many adventurers with combat experience? What is the size of the defense force you can provide in service? I need numbers!

The guild master gave a roll of his eyes and sighed. I do hope we are on the sa page when I say this, sir, but I will remind you, we are not an army of volunteers. If we are talking about a mobilization based on the terms of our agreent, I can provide you the equivalent of one-tenth of our mbers. If you wish access to anything beyond that, well, that would all depend on our compensation.

The population of Blumund was almost exactly one million. The mbership log of the local Free Guild totaled around seven thousand, family mbers not included. Thus, if the kingdom decided to invoke its agreent with the guild and muster 10 percent of its mbersseven hundred in allthese fighters would officially join the command of the national army.

Such an order, of course, would apply only to guild mbers who belonged to Blumund and no other nation. All Free Guild mbers fell under the sa banner, but their ho nations were also clearly stated in the logs for this reason. Whats more, while a nation had the right to define its own mobilization period under this agreent, it was also obliged to give the guild a one-fifth discount on taxes collected during the entire period. This allowed governnts to rapidly summon a powerful force, and the guild to make sure its n would not be obligated to the state for too much of their ti. For a group like the guild, which was required to pay salaries to all deployed mbers in advance, it was the obvious approach to take.

Besides, even if a governnt asked for every man the local Free Guild had, there would be no way to handle them. After all, only about half of any guilds mbership had any fighting skill.

The Blumund nobles were fully aware of this. Normally, they wouldnt have their top minister attempt to bully the guild master into better termsbut the tis demanded otherwise. The monsters were stirring, for onebut even beyond that, they had more pressing motivations.

Very well. Enough of this. Are you trying to wring the truth out of , Fuze?

Fuzes eyebrows raised a little at the ntion of his na. Veryard rarely, if ever, called him by it. He turned his eyes toward the baron for the first ti.

The area near Veldoras prison was ant to be absolutely impenetrable, he said. Now that route may potentially be open to direct navigationand that ans we must consider the possibility of the Eastern Empire taking action.

Ah, certainly so! the baron replied. Whether they were letting Veldora be or were simply afraid of the seal being broken, we have been detecting sudden new movents in the Empire after a long period of silence. Do you understand what that ans? If they can navigate that forest, this kingdom will be swallowed up instantly. And we can forget about the Western Holy Church providing us any aningful support! The countries around the Forest of Jura have no aningful alliance with each other. We will all beco Empire vassals in the blink of an eye!

No support from the Church? I fear not, no. They never were terribly interested in wars between re mortals in the first place. Annihilating the monsters is what their doctrine calls for.

Quite so. If we could have them deploy even one of their paladins, the Empire wouldnt be so quick to move Not needing to prepare for monster attacks would buy us so ti, at least.

I doubt anything could stir the Church to action, Fuze said. The destruction of a nation or two does nothing to affect their own finances. They cannot help everyone, nor even their own flock. He took a mont to gauge the barons face. Veryard looked exhausted, as if he had aged rapidly in just the past few days. It was understandable.

The two of them were childhood friends. And even though Veryard was rely a baron, if the public knew of Fuzes close contact with a mber of the nobility, it would create assorted difficulties for the both of them. They both had to pretend to use each other for their own personal gain, which was why they usually portrayed their relationship as surly and resentful.

It would take more than the power of a small kingdom to overco this thorny obstacle they now faced. But perhaps, Fuze thought, his friend was being overly anxious. The Empire was on the move, it was true, but that didnt an they should expect an attack before sunset.

But how do we know the Empire will take action against us? he offered. I will gladly conduct my own personal inquiries into the matter. Id advise you not to expect much, but I can at least gauge the situation in the Forest of Jura and around the Empire.

I would appreciate that.

Yes. There was no guarantee the Empire would act against them. If it was going to, it would undoubtedly be with a large force. It was never a nation to waste its ti with small skirmishes. No, it would casually send over a force of a million or so and trample over every nation in the area, one by one. Assembling such an army would take ti, at least three years or so. Which was not a generous amount, but it created so wiggle room to work with.

I had best begin gathering information, then, Fuze said to close the conversation. There is little ti. I am off!

Thank you

The two of them nodded and went their separate ways. There was much to do.

Thirty days had passed since I swallowed Veldora. What had I been up to? Well, think about it. If you were being attacked by a monster, what would you do?

I an, I was a sli now. It would be hard for to zip away from a slavering attacker, much less defend myself. So Id been spending my ti thinking about how to fight back.

Along the way, Id also been consuming any particularly odd-looking herbs or glowing rocks I stumbled across. There was a fair amount. I was still in the region Veldora described as teeming with local magic, and nearly everything I found there was hipokute herbs. Which was about what I figured. More healing potions for , I suppose.

I also found that most of the glowing stones and such around here were what was called magic ore, which could supposedly be refined into a tal harder than iron or steel and highly compatible with magic. I was kinda hoping for sothing a little less common, but I didnt even know whether orichalcum or crimson ore existed here, even if they were famous back on Earth. I shouldnt be too greedy.

So as I was chowing down on all these yummy herbs and rock, an idea ca to mind!

If I could spit out water fast enough to give powers of flight, maybe I could slice right through foes, too, like a high-pressure water jet cutter?

No, no, I know what youre thinking. Youre thinking I was about to screw it up again, arent you? You really shouldnt look down on people like that. I was good in a pinch, you know. They always wrote that in my report cards at school and stuffexcellent work when he applies himself.

So yeah, I think itd work.

Back I went to the underground lake from before. Just as I had imagined, the pool was pretty big. The air felt suprely tranquil to . There were no creatures aroundnot even in the water, I assud, what with all the magic soaked up inside itwhich made it all the quieter. Pure, unadulterated nature! Truly a sight to see.

But back to business. I moved right into the action phase last ti without testing a single thing, which was fairly ill-advised. That, and I ejected too much water at once, propelling myself far quicker than intended. No ga plan whatsoever. This ti, Id keep it at water-pistol level, expelling just a bit at a ti. Just taking a mouthful of water andthpbbtspitting it out.

Here I go.

Hmm. Not much water coming out. Too small of an exit hole? I expanded it a bit. Water shot out with a little more energy this ti, dousing a nearby boulder I was targeting. A promising sign.

After a few more minutes spent adjusting my water levels, I decided to boost the pressure just a tad more before opening wide. Launch. Then again. Then again, gradually upping the output as I kept my water-gun practice going.

It was starting to take form, yes. But, okay, while a shot of water might sting a bit, I didnt think itd deliver a particularly decisive attack.

So now what? I thought to myself as I took a dip into the lake to gather my thoughts. Whenever I was tired, that was my cue to hit the bath for a bit. I wasnt just splashing around for kicks, all right? Besides, it also gave a chance to use Magic Sense and observe myself floating and sinking in the water. I reminded myself of a jellyfish, kind of.

Maybe I could vibrate my bodys surface to create currents or sothing? I gave it a shot, running magical force across my skin to control the particles around . The vibration ran across my entire body, so I tried to point it in a single directionand that was all it took to get moving.

Nice! I spent a little while whizzing around the water like that, enjoying the experience. A nice change of pace, to be sure, but I totally wasnt just ssing around, all right? Lets keep that straight.

Skill Current Movent acquired.

I thought it was the Sage for a mont, but it turned out to be the World Language instead. That bit of playing around just earned a new skill. Oh, but it wasnt playing around, okay? I was just relaxing a bit.

Thanks to that, though, I could now flit around in or on the water at a pretty decent clip. If need be, I could use Water Pressure Propulsion to speed things up, too. Considering I didnt need to breathe, fighting in the water might actually give an advantage, for all I knew. Good for fleeing into, at least.

That and other matters like it were on my mind as I left the lake. Break ti was over, and it had certainly borne fruit for . As I was relaxing, I had co up with a few new concepts.

If I was going to keep pursuing the water-gun approach, Id have to apply constant pressure to my jet output for an extended period of ti. Instead, I decided to picture the cylinder of a car engine, applying pressure to my inside while releasing a comparatively small amount of water per go. Adjusting the pressure and the diater of my output hole allowed to adjust the force of expulsion, just like before.

And thankfully, just as Id hoped, it worked. A small jet, ejected sharply out of my body, slapped itself against the boulderand it actually broke the rock slightly where it hit.

SuccessI think. Better keep practicing before I forget the knack. Adjust output diater, adjust pressureand try putting a bit of spin on the water as you eject it, too. There was a lot to think about as I kept rehearsing it.

But that was it! That was the ntal picture I had to keep in mind. Slicing through with water. I had to make the jets as thin and flat as possible, applying just the right spin to them.

So I gave it a whirl. And it worked! The cylindrical shot of water fought through the air resistance fast enough to leave afterimages, just like a bladethen slashed its way right through the rock. With enough force to astound even .

It was the pinnacle of my efforts, the best results of my week of practice.

Skill Water Blade acquired.

Skills Water Pressure Propulsion, Current Movent, and Water Blade acquired. Combining and upgrading to extra skill Control Water.

Whoa! It really did work. Extra skills were supposed to offer a completely different level of force than regular ones. Now I had a way of defending myself. It was just about ti to head off.

Well. Finally.

One hundred and twenty days had passed since I got reincarnated at the banks of this cavern lake. Was I nervous? Yes. I still couldnt talk, exactly. I had no vocal cords, and Id been poking around my body for sothing I could use as a substitute, but no dice yet. Staying here until I had more success was one option, but unlike with the water blades, I really had nothing to go on. For now, itd have to be Telepathy or nothingand if my would-be conversational partner couldnt use that, then so be it. Not the greatest of situations, but there you go.

Either way, I couldnt goof around in here forever. I wanted to see the outside world, and if I could, Id love to run into so fellow Japanese otherworlder castaways. Learning so magic could be fun, too!

It was ti to get started. No ti like the present, and all that.

Veldora wasnt giving any particular responses or signs inside . It almost felt as though Id lost him, but I knew that wasnt the case. We had a promise, besides. Next ti we et, I better have so funny stories I can share with him.

With an internal sigh, I traveled down the lone path upward from the broad underground cavern I had grown used to, my mind on the wide world to co. Who knew what would be awaiting ? I hardly knew what to expect, but I knew I wanted it.

THE GIRL AND THE DEMON LORD

The main thing I rember is the fire raining down.

The grip of my mothers hand against mine felt so light, fleeting, and I was too terrified to see the way ahead.

An incendiary bomb went off nearby, turning our surroundings into a sea of fla. Where were we supposed to go? It was burning all around us

IShizue Izawafelt myself teetering on the brink of desperation.

Ahh Is this where Im going to die?

Even at the age of eight, I understood that well enough. I had no relatives I could rely on; I lived alone with my mother. My father had been drafted into the war so long ago that I didnt even rember what he looked like. I was never quite sure whether I should be happy or sad about that, but either way, it had beco my normal life, and I had to accept it for what it was. , and my life, and my fate to die in the flas.

And then

You want to live? If you want to live, heed my voice!

a voice echoed in my head.

Did I want to live? How should I know? I was too young to answer that question.

Still, though

Looking at my mother, now just a pair of hands after she had shielded with her body, I couldnt stop the tears from coming.

And I thought to myself

I want to live!

Confird. Responding to summoners request Successful.

I cant take it anymore. Its too scary; its too hot. Help , Mom

I lay there and cried, no longer fearful of the fla, as I wished life for myself.

Confird. Extra skills Control Fla and Cancel Fla Attacksuccessfully acquired.

Then my wish ca true.

Justnot exactly the way Id hoped for.

When I next awoke, I was inside the lair of a monster, a lone man in front of . He had blue eyes, long blond hair, a well-defined face, and long, slitted eyes. His skin was so pale, I thought I could almost see through it. His sheer beauty would make nearly anyone mistake him for a woman.

His na was Leon Cromwellone of the most powerful figures of this world, a so-called demon lord ascended from the human race. Also known as the Platinum Devil. He sized up.

Another failure, he whispered, seemingly disappointed at the sight of , and he showed no further interest in after that.

Perhaps that was why he never bothered killing , not even with the serious burns I had all over my body. I was close to death, and I didnt even matter to him. Just a frail little girl clinging to life and no doubt dying soon enough if left alone.

I couldnt stand that thought. I was still alive. I didnt want to be abandoned. And I never forgot that experience. That mont of frustrated desperation as he sized up and tossed away. That mory wound up following for the rest of my lifes journey.

At the ti, I had nobody to turn to, none of the strength I needed to survive. The only chance I had to keep going was Leon, my demon lord. He symbolized power to , and being abandoned by him literally ant death.

I suppose I must have instinctually understood that, because without even thinking about it, I had extended a hand out toward Leon.

Help Help

But the longing arm I stretched out to the demon failed to reach him. I gave up on myself, and with that ca the anger.

Ahh I really am going to die here

The sheer selfishness of rescuing and then leaving to die was sothing I just couldnt let go of.

You liar, I said, summoning what little strength I had left. You asked if I wanted to live.

I couldnt stop the tears as I glared straight up at the demon. I was no longer capable of forming a coherent sentence, but if I had to summarize my thoughts, I suppose theyd be along the lines of this:

You called for , you gave up on I cant believe you ignored ! Thats cruel!

In the end, it was another demonic whim that saved . His eyes eerily lit up once more. Heh. A liar, eh? he whispered. One mont

The ominous reply filled with anxietybut my near-fatal burns left with nothing else to do. All I could do was prostrate myself before the will of this monster, this Leon.

I had thought you were rely garbage, he said, but maybe youre suited for fla after all. Then he activated the summoning spell for Ifrit, the fire titan. It was easy for him. No casting required at all. And when the giant appeared, he tossed him a casual order:

Im giving you a body. Use it well.

It was all the evidence anyone needed to show that Leon treated as less than human. My frustration began evolving into hatred. The trauma was etched into my mind at such a tender age.

You want to live? If you want to live, show your will!

It must have been my imagination. There was no way the demon lord could have ever said anything like that to . No way he could have extended a hand out to just before I succumbed to my burns.

But it was true: thanks to having my body possessed, I lived because of him.

The summoned Ifrit followed his orders, attempting to rge himself with my young fra. I imdiately felt my limbs grow numb. It felt as if Ifrit was trying to snatch my body away from . Just as Leon ordered, he was attempting to commandeer my body for his own use.

Confirming. Do you wish to be possessed by Ifrit in order to live?

Yes

No

As I cowered at the ghastly force flowing into , I silently prayed to myself.

I dont want to die! Not yet! ButI cant I cant let my old self disappear!

Confird. Possession by Ifritsuccessful. Ifrits possession is stabilizing Shizue Izawas magicules Successful. Furthermore, unique skill Deviantsuccessfully acquired.

Thus, thanks to a wild serious of coincidences, I managed to survive.