Things went smoothly during the evolution. First, everyone woke up a few hours after getting their gifts from the harvest festival, after that, business went on as usual. Well. kind of. Ever since they noticed the walls and how tough they were, there might or might not have been a sort of competition to see who could break it.
It was fun to see at first. Nobody ever came close and they were all using their magic and skills to try until Milim showed up to try. It was fun until she showed up. She…Why is she still here? She should've gone back to her domain by now. I guess she wants to see Rimuru when he turns into a demon lord.
Anyway, she didn't break the wall, but whenever she punched the wall, it could quite literally be felt and heard all over town. I had to use Rhongomyniad to reinforce our buildings whenever she tried to break the walls. I trust our buildings against earthquakes, but not against Milim. Or what I have termed "Milim-quakes"
Other than that, not much. Today should be the last day Rimuru is down before he gets up. It will be any moment.
/\\//\\//\
Lo and behold, Rimuru is up and at 'em. Everyone celebrated and Milim was hounding him about being a demon lord now. And of course, there was another feast to celebrate. I swear, it's like we have some kind of feast or celebration every week or something.
A big celebration came about and when it ended, I removed the walls and Shuna removed the barrier from the town. It was quite the spectacle with the tree branch-shaped pieces of light retreating into Rhongomyniad.
I saw Rimuru come up to me after seeing that. "So that's what it does? It makes things?".
"Among other stuff, but yeah, it can do that. So, are you going to leave tomorrow or a few days from now?".
"I'll leave a few days from now. I want to get used to my new powers.".
I got an idea from that. "Well, good. Enjoy this celebration, 'cause I'll be giving you some special training to prepare you when you leave.".
"Uh, ok.". He sounded a bit unsure of how to feel, but I'm going to assume that he's not confident about it.
/\\//\\//\
(Training Grounds)
"Alright, Rimuru, today we're going to do some combat or some sparing, but take it seriously.".
"How serious?".
"You need to act like your life is on the line. You need to approach this like it's a life-or-death battle".
Artoria and Rimuru were facing each other on the training grounds. Shuna was also there as Artoria needed her for something. It was just them, but there were some that wanted to witness their training. After all, the strongest two people in the village were about to fight like it was a life-or-death battle.
Artotia stood was equipped with a rapier while Rimuru had his sword. Rimuru looked a bit confused about it since he'd never seen her use a rapier.
"Artoria, when did you get a rapier?".
"I haven't. This is Rhongomyniad.".
"I thought it was a lance though.".
"It is.".
Realizing he wasn't going to get much out of her, he just went to another subject.
"Are you good with rapiers?".
Artoria walked to a nearby tree and started swinging the rapier adding a few thrusts and cuts here and there. She looked slow, but her technique and skill seemed almost flawless and perfect. The tree had pieces of its bark fly occasionally, but Artoria started to go faster and faster while adding more power. The wood of the tree started to get more and more shredded the faster and more powerful she used the rapier.
When she finished the tree was cut down and a pile of wood dust was by her side. She turned back to Rimuru and said, "I'm a little good. That was all just power, no magic. So let's get started.".
"This doesn't seem fair.". Rimuru felt some imaginary sweat roll down his face after he saw what she did to the poor tree. He felt like he had no chance.
"You're a demon lord now, Rimuru. You'll learn fast. By the way, we're going to add some rules or modifiers to this fight.".
Rimuru for some reason started to get a foreboding feeling. He was curious, but he decided not to ask. He reasoned that if he asked a question, it would only make the training worse.
"It's very simple Rimuru. If I hit you 7 seven times, you die. Or at least, pretend to die. It doesn't matter where I hit you, just know you die after 7 hits. When that happens. We restart the fight. As a bonus, Shuna here will also put up a little barrier or more like a field. Just a bit of holy magic, nothing serious. It will only affect monsters and also kill any weak monsters outright. Go for it, Shuna.".
"Wait, wha-". Rimuru couldn't say anything as Shuna spread out her arms and cast a field spell that surrounded Artoria and Rimuru. Artoria looked fine and barely felt a thing. Rimuru on the other hand was feeling…off. He felt weaker than usual.
[You are being affected by a barrier. Most of your abilities are being restricted. You can resist it to a degree, but you won't be a full power].
'Then do it Gre- I mean Raphael.'.
[Ok.]
After what felt like a few seconds, Rimuru felt somewhat normal, but he wasn't at full power. He was hoping that he would first get familiar with his new powers, but it seemed Artoria was going to put him through a trial by fire.
"Just to remind you, Rimuru, feel free to use any magic and skills at your disposal.".
Rimuru got his stance ready. He saw that he wasn't going to be taught anything new. This was something akin to a test. He would need to use the skills he's learned from Artoria and Hakurou and apply it the best he can at this stage.
"You ready, Rimuru? I'll let you know right now that you ain't gonna have a good time.".
Rimuru got his stance ready. He saw there was no getting out of this. "Bring it on, Artoria.".
"With pleasure.". Artoria with a massive burst of magic seemed to teleport in front of RImuru. The only reason it didn't seem that way was the cause of the cracks left in the dirt and a small crater left from where she was standing.
Rimuru could only see the tip of a rapier in his face. He hadn't even moved his body, but before he could do anything he got stabbed in his chest. Rimuru was anticipating something more, but he noticed Artoria stopped after one hit.
He became confused and asked her what she was doing. "Um, is there something wrong?".
'You're dead.", Artoria told him bluntly.
Rimuru looked down and he was confident he only felt one hit. "How? You only hit me one ti-". Rimuru didn't finish before he felt 6 other consecutive strikes hit his body, sending him flying backward and leaving him in a crater after he hit the ground.
"That's your first death, Rimuru. And if how you reacted is a sign, then we will be here awhile. You might to delay your trip before I deem you ready enough to leave.".
Rimuru got up with a bit of trouble. That rapier is actually doing damage to him. It tore through his barrier as if it wasn't there. He actually did feel that Artoria could kill him if she really had the intention.
"Again.".
Rimuru got himself ready again. This time more alert. That bit of cockiness and confidence he had at first was blown out like a candle in the wind.
'Raphael, any idea for how to handle her speed?'.
[Use Thought Acceleration to speed up your time. It will make her look slower.]
"I'm ready.".
Artoria, without saying anything rushed at him again with the same strategy.
Rimuru followed the advice of Rpahael and used Thought Acceleration, but she was still fast. In a panic, he started dialing it up as fast as he could and she finally started to slow down, at least from his point of view, but could his body keep up with his thoughts?
No
He saw Artoria stabbed him 7 times in slow motion. He turned off Thought Acceleration since he was "dead" now. On;y for the same thing to happen. He got launched backward and landed in the same crater he made the first time.
"Again.".
'This sucks.'.
(Death 5)
"Again.".
(Death 20)
"Rimuru, if you think you're talented with the sword, throw those thoughts away. You do not have the talent with a sword to win a fight with talent alone. Only reason you're learning so fast is 'cause of your skill. Get up. Again.".
Hakurou, who was spectating, only nodded. The words were harsh, but sometimes that's necessary.
(Death 50)
"Again.".
By this point, even the residents of the town were feeling bad for Rimuru. He was getting better, but it wasn't good enough apparently.
"Artoria, can we take a break?", RImuru told Artoria. More like pleaded.
"A break? Rimuru, we've only been out here for 25 minutes. Are you being serious?".
"What?! It's only been 25 minutes?! No way. It's probably been a few hours!".
[It's been 25 minutes and 36 seconds since you started your training with Artoria.]
'Damn. What if I just say I'm tired? It might get me out of this.'
[Don't say that. it will only make your training longer.]
Rimuru, ignoring advice from his new skill, Rapahael, went and said it anyway. "Come on, I'm a bit tired though.".
Artoria looked at him as if he had the worst excuse ever. 'Really? Tired? You know what Rimuru, we'll go until I'm tired.".
"Huh.". It was only now that Rimuru realized what kind of mistake he made at this moment.
/\\//\\//\
(Hours Later.)
Rimuru "died' a lot, but it eventually stopped, or more like he was deemed "satisfactory enough" by Artoria. He wasn't sure but he felt she was being nice about it.
"Alright, Rimuru, you should be good enough now. What would take some people months, you have done in a few hours. Looks like Raphael is helping you a lot.".
Rimuru who was still on the ground, stood up and immediately looked up at her in shock. "How do you know that?".
"I just do. You should be prepared for your trip now. Don't think I didn't notice some tricks you picked up from me. You did good enough even while being caught in a barrier made to weaken you. Congrats. You should get ready for your trip.". Artoria said as the barrier went down and started leaving.
'How many times did I die?'.
[You died 2-]
'Don't tell me. I feel it would only discourage me.'.
/\\//\\//\
"Alright, Rimuru. Stay safe and good travels and all that stuff. Also, good luck with the kids."
It was the day of his trip and it was a normal goodbye. He said goodbye to everyone and got on Ranga on his way to Englassia. Many of the residents were a bit emotional, but now that he's gone, I can start putting things into action.
I waited one day for everyone to settle and relax before calling in a meeting with everyone. Shuna, Benimaru, Soeui, Hakurou, Shion, Gabiru, Vesta, Kaijin, Geld, and some others. I only want to have a meeting with the ones in some kind of leadership post. I don't want a meeting with everyone. It would be better to have the ones that are most important and have them explain things to everyone else.
Everyone should be gathered right now, waiting for me. I was outside the door and I could feel that they were all in a relaxed position. Might not be the best for what I'm going to talk about, but as long they don't fell stressed or pressured it's all fine.
Opening the door, I entered and the sound of my footsteps echoed through the room carrying with it some power. Everyone immediately stood up and faced me as I went into the room. None of them seemed out of place and were as straight as an arrow. I made my way to the head of the table and stood there.
"You guys can relax. I might be more serious than Rimuru, but that doesn't mean I'll do anything if you make a mistake in presenting yourself.". I tried to get them in a more relaxed mood because clearly, they were being way too serious.
Everyone sat back down and the atmosphere became more relaxed. I signaled Shuna for her to do her things and she got the message. With a sway of her hands, the table that everyone was seated at suddenly lit up with a 3D map. Something like a hologram. The map showed our country, our allies, and some nations to the east and west of us. Not all of it since we only needed to focus on a few.
Once that was done, I spoke up one more time. "Alright everyone, Listen up. As you all know, we just got attacked by Charybdis. And to keep it short, it was Demon Lord Clayman who ordered it to be done. The ones that carried out the orders were some clowns called Footman and Tear that are allies of Clayman. Luckily, no one was hurt or killed, but that doesn't mean we're going to let him off the hook.". I paused a bit and looked around the room. I haven't said it, but I could see everyone knows what I'm going to say. Shion had an excited look on her face. Benimaru and Hakurou seemed to be in thought, probably thinking of strategies, Soeui seemed almost ready to start infiltrating, but he was thinking of the wrong target. Everyone's mind was already on the same page.
"What I'm going to say is. We are going to war with Clayman.". I dropped the bomb and even if they already seemed to know, hearing it directly still has an effect.
Benimaru immediately spoke up voicing his concern. "Lady Pendragon, I'm not saying I'm against this idea, but do you have some kind of plan at the moment?".
I smiled. I have a plan. More like an idea or concept for what we are going to accomplish. "The plan is very simple, Benimaru. We are going to deliver a... proportional response to Clayman's attack on us.".