(I am trying to balance working on my two fanfics, so while I get used to the double posting I am going to be posting every other day for now. It might change depending on how much progress I am able to make/once I get used to it.)
— — —
Entering sleep mode was like falling asleep while still being aware of his surroundings. Rimuru could feel someone holding him as they walked.
'Well… Hopefully, I don't sleep for too long.'
[Understood. Activating the skill Eros]
[Beginning to draw a small amount of magicules from the person holding you.]
'Will it have a permanent effect?' Rimuru asked.
[Negative. The current rate of absorption has been calibrated in order to assist you in waking up without creating a permanent loss.]
'Well, that's fine then.' he mused mentally before thinking. 'So now that we have Degenerate, do you want to do your thing, Sage?'
[Understood.] Sage began, stopping momentarily before answering in a slightly less robotic voice. [Yes.]
'It's all yours. Have fun.' Rimuru chuckled internally as the barrage of notifications rang in his head.
[Control Flame, Control Water, and Flame Transform have all been synthesized. The skills Control Particles and Dark Flame have been acquired. Resist Temperature also evolved into Cancel Temperature. This came at the cost of the Cancel Flame skill.]
[Your resistances have been synthesized with the skill Ranged Barrier. The skill Multilayer Barrier has been created.]
[Dark Lightning and Control Particles have been synthesized. The Skill Dark Thunder has been created.]
[Using the unique skill Degenerate's abilities to synthesize and separate on the skill Mimicry. The skill Universal Shapeshift has been created.]
[Combining the mimicry skill of Predator with the slime intrinsic skills Dissolve, Absorb, and Self-Regeneration has earned you the extra skill Ultraspeed Regeneration. This comes at the cost of the slime-intrinsic skills Dissolve, Absorb, and Self-Regeneration]
[Ultrasonic Wave, Sense Heat Source, and Magic Sense have been synthesized to create Universal Sense.]
[Poison Breath and Paralysis Breath, have been synthesized. Using Control Particles as a base, the skill Particle Breath has been created. This skill can be used to shoot breath attacks with different effects imbued onto them. Or a combination of elemental and status effect breath.]
[Sticky Thread and Steel Thread have been synthesized. Using Control Particles as a base, the skill Universal Thread has been created. This skill creates a thread with your resistances and different levels of hardness and/or material.]
As the constant skill notifications continued to ring in his mind, Rimuru felt himself starting to wake up. He had felt himself being passed around from person to person for some time, so he could only assume that multiple people had shared their magicules with him.
The process was faster than he had expected, even with Eros drawing in magicules from those holding him. From his estimations, it had only been a few hours and Sage's sleep mode would only let him wake up once he had recovered to almost full capacity.
The process was surprisingly faster than he had expected, even with Eros drawing in magicules from the person holding him. As he awoke, he realized he was being carried lovingly.
"You are awake," a familiar voice said with a smile as she felt him move. The next moment, Rimuru transformed into his Kijin form, standing before his wife.
She looked as if she had just emerged from a long, drawn-out fight, but her smile remained bright and reassuring as she saw him. She was kneeling on the ground, too tired to stand up.
Seeing her, Rimuru couldn't help but smile as he knelt down next to her, carefully brushing her hair aside to look her in the eyes. Thanks to her, he had almost recovered to full strength.
"Thank you for taking care of me, Shuna Tempest." Now that he had copied Degenerate, he was free to name those he had held off naming, starting with his wife.
Shuna's eyes widened slightly before a radiant smile spread across her face.
"Thank you, Rimuru. But it wasn't just me… It was also thanks to Shizue and Shion." she said, moving closer to embrace him. "They both worked really hard to try to wake you back up. Poor Shion almost collapsed until your skill stopped working on her."
Chuckling slightly Rimuru nodded his head as he activated Eros' Invigorate as he held her to try to return some of the energy. And as she felt the familiar soothing warmth, Shuna drew closer, closing her eyes as she spoke.
"Shion is a good guard, she would have let you take all of her magicules even if it had taken her life… Take care of her, ok?" Shuna asked, her voice becoming softer as she fell asleep, the exhaustion finally catching up to her.
Holding her as she slept, Rimuru couldn't help but chuckle slightly as he picked her up and placed her gently in their bed. As he laid her down, he noticed her body beginning to glow slightly, and the evolution process started to take place.
Rimuru wanted to continue to give her magicules through Invigorate, but Sage warned him not to mess with the evolution process too much. The simple act of giving her a name had already given her all she needed to complete the evolution safely.
With that option blocked, he went to check on the two other people who had helped him. He made his way to check on Shizue first, who was also sleeping and glowing slightly as she slept.
'Sage, what is she going to evolve into? She was just a normal magic born before, no?'
[Notice. Due to the incompatibility with Ifrit, her body was locked out of further evolution. Now that the incompatibility problem has been fixed by creating a new Fire Elemental, she is set to evolve into a Flame Warden.]
Nodding in acknowledgment, Rimuru let her rest and made his way to check on Shion. She should have been asleep by now, but as he approached her room, he could hear the sound of restless pacing.
"I wonder if Lord Rimuru has woken up yet…" she muttered to herself, worry evident in her tired eyes as she gazed out the window towards his house.
Noticing she was still awake, Rimuru knocked on the door. When she opened it, her eyes lit up with relief, and she launched herself at him, wrapping him in a tight hug.
"Lord Rimuru! You're awake! You usually give out names so casually that I was really scared when I heard you had lost consciousness," Shion exclaimed, her grip almost bone-crushingly tight.
[Eros has been activated. Invigorate is currently at its lowest strength due to the intimacy of the contact.]
As Shion hugged Rimuru, she felt a wave of soothing warmth course through her body, slowly restoring the magicules she had used to help him wake up.
"Thanks for taking care of me, Shion. But next time, try not to use as many magicules. I'd rather not see my favorite guard die for no reason," he said with a chuckle, causing Shion to tighten her embrace even more.
"Lord Rimuru… No reason? If it meant saving your life, then I am more than willing to give mine away. I promised that to you the day you gave me a name. I promised to follow you for the rest of my life."
When she finally broke the hug, Rimuru could see the exhaustion etched on her face. She had been on the verge of collapse, staying awake out of sheer worry.
Smiling softly, he reached out and gently cupped her face.
"Take care of yourself, alright?" he asked before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers, enhancing the Invigorate skill and rapidly restoring Shion's strength.
Shion's eyes widened in surprise, then closed as she fully surrendered to the kiss. The warmth and energy flowing through her is unlike anything she had ever experienced. When they finally parted, her face was flushed, and she looked at Rimuru with a mix of admiration and gratitude.
"Go to sleep, Shion. We are getting ready for a battle soon, and I need you at your best. I don't wanna see my favorite guard looking so tired, ok?"
With those words, he turned and vanished into the shadows, leaving behind the sound of a squeal of excitement from Shion.
— — —
As the next morning arrived, Shuna slowly opened her eyes, finding Rimuru waiting for her with a smile. After evolving into a Kijin, her appearance had changed subtly. Her horns had become narrower, her skin had lost its slight pink hue, and the markings on her face had vanished. Yet, she looked even more beautiful in the soft morning light.
She also felt stronger, sensing three new skills within her soul. Analyst, a version of Great Sage without the AI assistant, provided her with incredible analytical abilities. Manufacturer, a variation of Degenerate, allowed her to fuse, separate, and transmute materials. Lastly, Provider, a variation of Eros, enabled her to strengthen others through intimate contact, though it lacked Lustful Drain.
"My dear husband." she greeted with a smile, letting out a gentle yawn as she fully awakened.
"Morning, my lovely wife, or should I call you sleepyhead?" Rimuru chuckled, giving her a quick kiss, feeling the soothing warmth of Provider for the first time.
As she moved to hug him, both Eros and Provider activated, creating a pleasant loop of energy coursing between them.
"You know, I might get a bit clingy if it feels this nice to hug you," Rimuru joked, causing Shuna to laugh softly as she tightensed her embrace.
"Now you know how I feel… I can't help but want to keep you all to myself sometimes, even though you will probably get more wives in the future." she sighed before bringing him in for another kiss.
Eros intensified the moment their lips touched, causing her to smile as the familiar energy coursed through her.
Rimuru pulled her closer, smiling as he saw her slight blush.
"You're special to me, Shuna. Nothing will change that. Remember this: you are my first wife and always will be. "
Hearing Rimuru's words, Shuna felt a surge of happiness. She closed her eyes, savoring the warmth of his embrace and the reassurance in his voice.
"So… umm… do I have to start calling Shion sister now?" Shuna asked somewhat awkwardly, earning a chuckle from Rimuru.
"No, not yet." he said with a teasing smile causing her to roll her eyes with a slight smile.
After a few moments, she gave him another quick kiss before sitting back, her expression turning serious yet endearing.
"Now, let's get to work. We have an empire to build."
Walking with Shuna by his side, Rimuru called forth both her father and brother to give them their names. He named her brother Benimaru and then her father Mamoru. The two of them knelt down, vowing their loyalty to Rimuru once again.
Next, he named two warriors who served directly under Benimaru. Afterward, Sage's alarm warned him that he was low on magicules, so he had to stop for the day. However, he still called for the rest of his representatives to gather for Souei's report.
Shuna stood to his right, while Shion stood to his left, both of them guarding him as he spoke to the group. Among them was Shizue, whose appearance hadn't changed much with her evolution, but her aura was noticeably stronger.
She had wanted to meet with Rimuru once she woke up, but by the time she found him, he had already called for the meeting.
"13,490 Orcs are heading towards where our previous village was," Souei reported, his voice steady. "Leading them is a tall and burly man wearing the outfit of a jester and a mask that covers his entire face. The mask has an angry expression, and the magicules he gives off are quite strong." As Souei spoke, he used thought communication to share the images of what he saw.
Shizue let out a surprised gasp before speaking up.
"I have seen him before… One time, when I went to visit the headquarters, I saw him and a young girl wearing a sad mask meeting with Yuki. He said that they were just mercenaries looking for work." Shizue's expression grew thoughtful as she added, "Whoever is behind the orc invasion must be loaded with money because, from what I heard after investigating them, they are quite expensive to hire."
Rimuru thought for a moment, analyzing the situation. That must have been Footman. If possible, he would like to avoid getting the attention of the Harlequin Alliance so quickly, but it seemed they might be crossing paths sooner than he hoped.
Either way, even if he were only saving a few weeks without catching their attention, any window to catch them off guard would be good. It would be a hassle if they stepped in during their attack on the Orc Lord. But they wouldn't throw away their lives for Gelmud. That much is clear.
'Sage, what are the odds that Footman leaves when he doesn't see the ogre village and leaves the army of Orcs behind?'
[The odds using the information stored is about 89.278981….%]
Nodding slightly to himself, Rimuru turned his attention to the people in front of him, his voice serious and commanding.
"Alright, listen up. We need to destroy the army of Orcs headed toward your old village. We need to beat them in order to get the most out of the Orc Lord invasion. However, we need the bodies to remain mostly full. That means we can't burn them to ashes." Rimuru began, getting nods of acknowledgment from the representatives.
"The best weapon we have right now is information, so I want to limit how much the enemy gets. Souei, I need you and your team to keep an eye on the Masked Man, Footman. Monitor his movements and report back if anything changes."
"Understood, Lord Rimuru. I will make sure my people keep an eye on him." Souei nodded with a serious expression.
"Good, but make sure not to catch his attention." He continued before turning to Benimaru. "I need you to prepare our forces. Once we have our opening, we will strike them hard and fast. The more bodies that remain intact, the better."
"I will make the necessary preparations. We will be ready." Benimaru bowed as he agreed.
One after the other, Rimuru began to give commands to the representatives as they all began to prepare for their attack on the orc army. In theory, Rimuru could move and finish them all himself, but that would be an unnecessary hassle. He wanted to keep the bodies somewhat intact, so it would take way more effort than just exploding them all with Dark Thunder or blasting them with Dark Flames.
He had built an army of Ogres, Kijin, Hobgoblins, and Tempest Wolves, and he wouldn't let them all sit back and enjoy the show while he worked hard.
Delegation, after all, was his motto.
— — —
Special Thanks to my Beta Readers/Editors: @LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord) and @Kiyan Tribe (FF.net/AO3/QQ) | kiyan_tribe( Discord)