It's been a few weeks since I named Rimuru and we are now on our trek out of the cave and into the greater world at large. The entire time I've been explaining to Rimuru about the world and its systems, teaching him various forms of Magic and some lesser Skills that I think will be useful to him. I mostly did this out of boredom, as there wasn't much to do in this cave and it is kilometers deep underground and tens of kilometers long.
Of course, that's only partially the reason it's taken so long. We've also been stopping every now and again to allow Rimuru to eat up all of the Magic Ore and Hipokute Grass on our way out, as the stuff is highly valuable and would probably make for some good coin if we need it in a pinch. I even convinced Rimuru to save me a chunk so I can make myself a sword out of it whenever I get around to learning how.
Then there is the secondary reason why we keep stopping, and that's to have Rimuru fight the monsters here and eat them. Apparently he has a Skill called [Predator] which allows him to gain the Skills of Monsters he eats. When I heard about that, I made sure to tell him to only use it as a trump card or to end fights quickly, as if someone else got wind of how OP that Skill is, it'd paint a target on his back in an instant. A monster that can take on the characteristics of those it fights sounds crazy dangerous, and I'm a True Dragon. Imagine the panic it'd give to humans.
Though hearing he had this Skill DID make me realize he was probably the protagonist of this world. I mean, he starts out as this weak little slime guy and with his OP power slowly grows to become a powerhouse. All he needed now was a harem and the anime protagonist troupes would be complete.
'Wait, am I the power source that gives the MC the boost he needs when he is in danger?' I thought to myself. 'Did I accidentally turn myself from the MC into Kurama from naruto by being too OP?'
I shook my head. 'Nonononono! I'm not sealed inside of him, and I'm actually teaching him how to use his powers responsibly!' I thought.
"Yeah, I'm the mentor character, not the MC!" I said aloud.
Rimuru turned to look at me and stared for a moment. "Are you sure you want to be the mentor character? Don't the mentor characters usually end up dying off to give the protagonist motivation though?"
I collapsed onto my hands and knees in defeat. "It's hopeless, I'm doomed!" I despaired.
"Oy!" Rimuru called out in a mix of concern and annoyance.
Anyway, in thanks for teaching me all of the info on magic, Rimuru shared some of his memories with me about manga and anime, which I was grateful for. There are a ton of anime and manga I've always wanted to read but since they weren't translated I never got around to. Rimuru solved that issue by auto-translating it to me and I learned something profound.
Anime Shonen Characters yelling out the names of their attacks in Japanese is just as cringy as when the dubs do it in English.
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though. One of our conversations about the other world became awkward when the topic of WW2 came up... Japan wasn't exactly the 'good guys' in that one so Rimuru obviously didn't like talking too much about it and I didn't pressure him on it. He wasn't there and had nothing to do with it, so why press? Besides, it's not like America was much better with the Native Americans. The only difference is that we got away with it, so I decided to not talk history with Rimuru anymore.
I was thankful for Rimuru being here, however, even with the few challenges we had. He was able to use [Predator] to consume the vast quantity of my magicules that built up in my aura which allowed me to suppress myself and remain hidden from prying eyes without any discomfort. This also benefited him because the extra magic power was slowly being digested by him to make himself stronger.
I wondered if we kept this up, in a few years, would he be able to evolve into a new kind of slime. I knew my Niece Milim was half-True Dragon and half-Human, making her a Dragonoid, would Rimuru somehow become a Dragonslime or something?
According to [Faust] the answer was that it was 'possible' for Rimuru to evolve into effectively a Dragonoid Slime, but highly unlikely. Maybe if he ever becomes a True Demon Lord, then maybe his physiology would be made malleable enough during his harvest festival to influence him into that direction, but I doubt he'd want to do the legwork of becoming a True Demon Lord in the first place.
'I guess if we are going the 'revenge for the old master' route, maybe he'll become a True Dragon?... No, that's preposterous, why would that ever happen?' I thought shaking my head and ridding myself of such a ridiculous thought.
Just to be safe, however, I decided not to show Rimuru ALL my cards just yet.
Eventually, finally, we reached the end of the cave and were standing in front of two large metal doors. They were heavily rusted and decayed from centuries of neglect and I could tell that the magic used to keep them sealed had long since faded away.
"So... how do we get through there?" Rimuru asked, seemingly stumped.
"Really?" I asked incredulously.
"No, I'm messing with you! [Water Blade]!" He yelled as a blade of water shot out from his mouth and cut through the steel like it wasn't even there.
I smiled wryly and shook my head. "You should try to infuse your Skill with your Aura for more power." I lightly scolded as I walked through the hole in the door.
"Why do I need more power? I just want to live a comfortable life with my friends and maybe travel the world for other Japanese who may be here.
"I'm hurt. Do you not want another American to talk to?" I asked as we walked into the forest right past a group of adventurers, not even hiding our presence.
"Do I look like I need another one of you!?!" Rimuru shot back. As we continued to walk, I smirked as I heard the girl in their party, an elf pretending to be a human, exclaim in shock about 'That Guy with the Talking Slime'.
"What a funny bunch" I commented.
"Were they?" Rimuru asked. He'd seen them too but didn't acknowledge them at all.
"Yeah, the guys were pretty strong for humans but were nerfing themselves, and the chick's an elf" I mentioned.
"Eh!?! Elf!?! They have those here!?!" Rimuru said, a bit too excited.
I smirked smugly causing Rimuru to cringe and curse himself for opening himself up to what came next. "Oh? What's this? Does my friend have a fetish?" I said, mockingly in a tone that dripped with sarcasm.
"Buzz off!" Rimuru shot back in embarrassment.
I felt the presence of weak monsters approaching us rapidly and decided to end the conversation early. I doubt Rimuru would get anything from them, but maybe a more humanoid form.
"Well, to each their own. I personally prefer Vampires and succubi, but everyone's got their own tastes." I admitted.
Rimuru looked back at me incredulously. I could tell he was shocked, as I never gave up on the chance to tease him, so there must be a reason why. It didn't take him long to figure out the reason though.
"S-Strong ones, why have you come here?" One of the Goblins asked hesitantly.
I looked over the Goblins for a moment and almost felt sorry for them. They were so pitiful. Scrawny bodies, beat-up rusted weapons, and clothes that were made of more patches than actual fabric. The thought crossed my mind to put them out of their misery seeing as these beings were clearly malnourished and their prospects for surviving in this forest weren't the greatest if THIS was their best.
"We are simply traveling. We mean you no harm." I said
Rimuru looked at them and jumped out of my arms that I was carrying him in and towards the goblins. "Is there something you need from us?" He asked though I knew he was ready to attack and probably devour them with his Skill.
The Goblin who appeared to be their leader looked at the others in his group, silently communicating with themselves. "Strong ones, we have sensed your approach and we can feel your power. We wish to ask you a favor."
"They sensed us?" Rimuru looked at me.
"Hey, I've been perfectly suppressing my aura, I thought you were letting yours out on purpose," I stated with a shrug.
"Eh?" Rimuru asked, pausing for a moment before beginning to sweat bullets.
'This guy didn't realize he was letting his Aura'. I realized.
"A-Ahahahahaha! You did well in noticing!" Rimuru began to boast to try to hide his embarrassment and I facepalmed.
...
We were then led to the Goblin Village by the scouting party. they treated both Rimuru and I as honored guests and we were immediately led into a meeting with the village chief. he was an old goblin who looked like he'd die if you breathed on him funny. I was kinda over this whole thing. Goblins, from what I recalled, were a dime a dozen. You could find them all over the forest and they only lived a short time, especially so in the squalor that they tended to live in here. If I had my choice of pick, our first contact would be with the Ogres, Elves, or even the various Beastmen tribes scattered around. They'd make much better subordinates.
I only half-listened as the goblins told us about a pack of direwolves that moved into this part of the forest and were now causing issues and attacking the goblin settlements. It wasn't until they mentioned that their 'god' had disappeared which was the cause of their problems that I started to actually pay attention.
"Oy!" I called out to the Village Chief who jumped in fright at my sudden direct addressing of him.
"Y-yes sir!?!" He stammered out.
"I didn't disappear, I was simply expressing my Aura, though if I stopped to show you, you'd all die from just being near me." I stated.
The Goblin looked confused and looked to the younger one who was also confused. It was clear he didn't believe me but didn't want to say anything to not offend me. I sighed and got up, walking past the crowd of Goblins into an open area. Once I was far enough away, I undid my transformation and returned to my Draconic Form, although I only let the bare minimum of my Aura leak out so as not to alarm anyone who might be watching or searching. Despite this, the intensity of the little Aura I did leak out was great enough to force the entire village to its knees and prostrated themselves before me.
"Do you believe me now!?!" I said, slightly annoyed but also slightly cathartic that I got to show him up.
"Yes! We believe our God, Veldora!" The Old Goblin declared whole-heartedly.
I nodded my head and transformed back into my humanoid appearance, once again retracting my aura fully.
There wasn't a word in the air as the Goblins remained silent and it was a bit too awkward for me to say or declare anything. I just wanted to show off, not demand their worship or anything. Thankfully, ever the people pleaser, Rimuru came to my aid.
"If we do this for you, if we help you, what will you give us?" Rimuru asked.
The old Goblin pressed his head further into the ground. "Everything! Our Lives, our Homes, our Souls, our loyalty, everything, please! We beseech thee!"
I gave Rimuru a look and despite being a slime with no eyes, I could tell he was looking back. We communicated a lot in that instant. I told him that we didn't need these guys. They were weak and doomed to die soon even if we helped, but Rimuru pleaded with me to do so anyway. I took a deep breath.
"Alright, fine. We will help with the Direwolf Problem, but Rimuru, you are in charge here. You were the one who wanted to help, you'll take responsibility." I stated, giving into Rimuru's slimy cuteness.
"I will," Rimuru replied with absolute seriousness. It was clear he understood and was willing to take on the responsibility.
I nodded and returned to the main village building to nap while Rimuru used the Full Potions he'd created from the Hipokute Grass we'd collected to cure the villagers. I thought it was a bit of a waste so I decided that I would teach them how to use healing magic after everything was over.
I barely paid attention to the events that came next. I created a wall around the village with a moat using Earth Magic and created low-level equipment for them with [Material Creation]. It was a lesser Skill I'd known that fell under my Soul Magic. Despite this, I didn't want them to be too strong, so I only made their equipment Unique Grade, though that was just for the arms and armor. The clothing I gave them was even lower, at Rare Grade, though it must have been akin to silks gifted from god himself the way the goblins were worshiping them.
Oh, wait...
Night came and I gathered the villagers to the wall while Rimuru stood in front of it in his slimy fashion. I hear the howling of the wolves and their paws beating against the soft grass-covered dirt as they approach. I'd seen them from several kilometers away and even though they ran at speeds that only cars could achieve in my previous life, they were still terribly slow by my estimate.
I thought about just shooting a bolt of [Dark Lightning] from here and whipping them all out, but decided against it. Rimuru would need some of their Skills and disintegrating them would leave nothing for him to consume.
As the finally Direwolves appeared on the hill overlooking the village, most of the pack froze in place in fear. They were not expecting a well-fortified defensive position and armored opponents to be what the Goblin Village in this area held.
"Direwolves, leave this place or be destroyed!" Rimuru called out.
'Aaaand there went all of the intimidation.' I thought. 'A slime isn't going to intimidate anyone'.
Just as I predicted, the direwolves went from cautious to furious. After all, 'How dare a puny slime threaten us!' or whatever they were probably thinking, however, the wolves weren't exactly stupid, so while they were furious, they didn't charge immediately.
"Follow me, brothers! I will kill that slime myself and you all can destroy those pesky goblinst that think their armor will protect them!" The Direwolf boss yelled as he charged down the hill.
"Rimuru. Make it fast." I yelled down.
Rimuru nodded and instantly shot out an {Ice Spike} that hit the direwolf boss head-on before exploding into a ball of ice that pierced his body with multiple ice needles. The boss was dead in an instant.
The Direwolves stopped their charge. the standoff was sense and for a moment, nothing in the forest moved. When I saw this tense atmosphere, I sighed. It was time I did my stuff as the local 'diety'. I took a step off the wall and onto the air, walking on it as if walking on ground. The direwolves were now watching both me and Rimuru with suspicion.
I closed my eyes and passed a minuscule amount of magicules through them. Just enough to make them glow red for a second when I opened them. "Submit!" I commanded as I unleashed some of my aura.
Not enough to kill them, but enough to force them to the ground and for the weaker members to pass out.
While I did this, Rimuru ate the direwolf boss, probably not wanting to have to do so afterward when it'd be awkward. Despite him trying to be discrete, to the Direwolves, this was a threat. Submit or be eaten alive.
"We submit!" They yelled in unison as their heads lay against the ground.
I sighed and retracted my aura, trying not to roll my eyes out of boredom and how cliche this all was. Of course, this anime was going to have the enemies-to-friends troupe too. I was kinda hoping they'd fight to the bitter end and then I could get a genuine wolfskin head shoulder pauldron too. Those things were always so cool.