It's been quite a while since Artora started to put as much magic into Rhongynyniad so it could evolve. Turns out it needs quite a bit of magic. It shouldn't be too surprising since Rhongymyniad's power can be compared to Excalibur, some may even say it's stronger, but that's not important when you have both options available to you.
Artoria was sitting down taking a small break. She had been using all the magic available to her. Taking it from her surroundings and herself until she felt "empty", from which she would take a small break to recover.
Shuna on the other hand was trying her hardest to understand as much as she could about this place. Her attempt to analyze this place using her skills was bringing little results and that's with Artoria trying to make it easier for her. The most knowledge she has gotten so far is from what Artoria has told her about Avalon. She wonders why Artoria isn't putting some more focus in magic with such a place at her disposal, but Artoria told her, "I don't really need it. The abilities I have are more than enough.".
She questioned her reason, but remembering what she's capable of, maybe it does have some sense. Focus on what you're good at and build upon it instead of dabbling into many things. Plus, she seems to already use a lot of magic in her attacks.
Things went on like this for a while. Artoria putting magic into Rhongomyniad and Shuna trying to understand the magic of this place and possibly get another skill.
/\\//\\//\
(Outside)
Rimuru was having a hard time deciding right now. He had the souls in front of him to evolve and normally it would be a no-brainer to just evolve and get stronger, but he was hesitating. Artoria had told him, that he and the ones he names would probably be down for a few days while he evolved, and he also noticed that Artoria was nowhere to be found right now. It was like she disappeared into some other realm or something.
He wants to evolve, but he wants to make sure Artoria is here so she can watch over the town while everyone is down and out while he evolves. The problem lies in the fact that he thinks Artoria might not show up for a few days.
With Clayman, Falmuth, and the Holy Church making moves against them, the last thing he wants is to be caught off guard while he's evolving. The only ones who can keep up a defense are Artoria, Shuna, and Gabiru and his men. At least, those are the ones he can think of at the moment.
'I should distract myself. Great Sage, what's the progress on that skill Artoria showed?'.
[Answer. Progress will be much faster if you provide information by using your current skill.]
'So I need to practice more. Ok, got it. Let's go then. Artoria said I need at least one more Unique Skill for my evolution.'.
Rimuru got up and went to go train.
/\\//\\//\
(A few days later)
'Alright. Did Artoria abandon us or something? She said she was going to do something, but what is taking her so long? Is she on some soul-seeking journey for power with Shuna or something?'.
[Notice. Th-]
"I already know, Great Sage. She'll be back eventually, but still. Gazel wants me to give a speech in his nation, but luckily, I was able to delay it a few months.'.
Rimru returned to doing his routine activities required of him in this town. Or that is what he would've done if he didn't sense someone with a lot more magic than usual who appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
'What the!? Who is that!?' Rimuru stood up from his chair and looked out the window throughout the whole town. And he realized that it was coming from Artoria's house.
'She's back?'.
/\\//\\//\
Finally. It's done. Me and Shuna appeared back in our room. Shuna…how do I explain this? She may not have gotten any new skills, but I can for sure say that her understanding of magic has increased a lot.
Me on the other hand. Well…it went kind of good.
I summoned Rhongomyniad and even with those restraints, I could tell that this was going to be very fun to use. The shapeshifting, its creation abilities, the various different attack methods. So much stuff. Wait. Rhongomyniad is able to fire lasers or something, right? Like some kind of laser bombardment type thing? Yeah…This thing is kind of insane.
No evolution for me though. I'm still a divine spirit/dragon. I'll keep the lance close to me though just in case. I refuse to believe that being a divine spirit is my "final form". I put the lance on my back so it would always stay close to me. I have a feeling that this is the missing piece to some kind of evolution.
All that's left to do is wait for Rimuru to leave and then it will be time to take the fight to Clayman.
/\\//\\//\
Artoria left the house, leaving Shuna behind. Shuna wanted to rest for a moment after pushing herself hard.
Artoria made her way to Rimuru, who was in his office. She came in and opened to door and saw Rimuru was looking at her a bit differently.
"What is it, Rimuru? I see you haven't evolved yet. Why are you delaying it?".
"Something feels different about you. Did you train your magic or get some kind of boost to it?".
"Maybe it's this.". Atforia grabbed her lance and showed it to Rimuru. The feeling it was giving off shook him a little. It was different but also had some similarities to Excalibur.
"You got another super weapon? What is this supposed to do?".
"Soon. You'll find out soon. Anyway, why haven't you evolved yet?".
"I've been waiting for you. I want you to watch over the village while I evolve.".
"Oh, ok. That's no problem. I'll just set up some temporary walls around the town while you evolve.".
"Alright cool…wait. What do you mean? You can't just construct a whole wall around the town in a few days only to tear it down later.".
"Are you sure about that? Don't worry, just evolve I'll watch out for this place.".
/\\//\\//\
It was time for Rimuru to evolve. Of course, he made sure to tell everyone what was about to happen. There were some concerns here and there, but it was his choice at the end of the day, so he only listened to their advice.
He was standing at the center of town, with seemingly everyone in town gathering to witness it. It won't be much though. He'll just turn into his slime form and go into sleep mode along with everyone else. On the outside, it's kind of anti-climactic. It's what's happening on the inside that matters.
The orb that was glowing brightly started to become dimmer. I assume that was Great Sage absorbing the souls. Rimuru started wobbling and stumbling a bit. His body started to turn to slime until eventually, he turned into his slime form. He has entered sleep mode. Everyone else followed after, leaving only a few people standing. Me, Shuna, Gabiru, his men, and a few others.
Given that almost all our forces are out of commission right now, it was time I made those walls. I grabbed Rhongymyniad and started to use its creation abilities. The outer shell of the lance glowed and started to come apart. Tree-like branches of light started to sprout and reach into the sky before coming down around the border of the town. They continued to expand until lit started to take the form of a wall reminiscent of a medieval castle. The walls were crenelated showing it was made for defense. There were some gateways allowing access.
"Shuna, make a barrier around the whole town. We can't be too cautious. We'll have this set up until Rimuru gets back up.".
Shuna nodded and made a barrier around the town. I looked around and saw everyone with a look of surprise after seeing what I did. I'm sure Kaijin and Vesta were the most surprised. I bet their brains are going into overdrive trying to understand it, but good luck with that. I think even if I told them what Rhonogmyniad is and represents, they'd still have some trouble training to figure out what it really means.
I made my way to one of the walls and as a test, I wanted to try something. "Hey, Gabiru, try to destroy this wall, or at least damage it.".
Gabiru looked a bit unsure about my request, but I just encouraged him to do it. He grabbed his trident and threw it at the wall using its special abilities. The trident sped through the air and hit the wall causing a small explosion, only to bounce back and not even leave a scratch on it.
"Huh? What? How is that possible? That trident is a treasure of the lizardmen! A mere wall shouldn't be able to stop it. It didn't even do any damage.".
"Well, Gabiru, it's not just a mere wall. It's a bit…special.".
After that, I ordered Gabiru and his men to do patrols around the town and make sure to keep it safe. I told them to stop anything if it had the "potential for aggression". Very vague and could be taken a bit liberal for how to enforce that, but I made it like that. Leave it up to Gabiru to figure that out.
Now it was only time to wait for Rimuru to get back up, but there was a thought I had after seeing the walls.
'I might have put the orcs out of a job.'.
/\\//\\//\
Ultimate Skill Rhongyomyniad: The Lance That Shines to the End of the World
-Protection of the Ends of the World.
-Creation
-Weapon Shapeshifting
-Spear of the End
-Thirteen Restraints
-Pillar of Light