Ramiris seemed to be having an absolute blast with the kids, flying around from place to place while telling her stories and sampling different snacks. Her cheerful presence filled the area, making the children laugh and marvel at her tales. Then, Chloe turned to Rimuru before giving him a wink and asking the question Rimuru had asked her to.
"Hey, um… Miss Ramiris… That robot behind you looks pretty strong, but is it actually? I bet my teacher could beat it up without moving from his place. Actually, I bet he could create a golem that is even cooler and stronger than yours."
The question jolted Ramiris out of her joyful fluttering. Her wings momentarily stopped as she turned to face Chloe and Rimuru. She fell silent for a beat, then puffed out her non-existent chest with a mix of pride and defiance.
"Nah, I'd win." Ramiris said confidently. "My robot is way cooler and stronger. It is actually one of Dwargon's secret projects, but they weren't smart enough to get it working, unlike me."
Rimuru looked at Chloe's happy expression as she subtly gave him a thumbs-up.
"Oh? Now that you mention it, Chloe, I think you are right. I could probably create a better and stronger servant." He spoke thoughtfully, causing Ramiris to instantly fly to his face before crossing her arms.
"Prove it then. I don't believe you." Ramiris said with a frown.
Rimuru smiled inwardly, mentally high-fiving with Chloe as Ramiris took the bait.
"I could, but it would take me some time, and I don't need another assistant at the moment. It would be a waste to simply summon one up and then send him away," Rimuru began, seeing Ramiris's expression turn skeptical.
"Yeah, right—" She began, but before she could carry on, he continued.
"Well, I guess there is a way… Would you be willing to make a deal, Miss Ramiris? I could make a new servant just for you."
Ramiris' eyes opened wide as her wings began to flutter even faster.
"Really? You would do that?" She asked, fluttering all around him in excitement.
"Yeah, I could. But it would be hard to let all of the preparations I made for having a servant in the future when I needed it go away. Would you wanna make a deal? I could give you a servant, and you could create an entrance to your Labyrinth in Tempest. Make it easier for us to come and visit. Plus, I am sure the Dryads would be very happy to see you again."
"Ah? Is it just that? Yeah, I can do that." Ramiris said, thinking for a few moments before suddenly remembering. "Ah, that's right! The Dryads! I knew I was forgetting something. They're with you?"
Rimuru nodded, making a contract appear in his hands. He had given Sage free reign to make the contract this time, he had mainly asked her to make sure they would be able to use the Labyrinth.
"Yeah, I've been caring for them for now, but I know they all miss you a lot. So they would be more than happy to join you again. Here, just sign this contract, and we can get started." Rimuru said with a smile as he offered the contract to her.
Ramiris looked at the first few lines.
"Oh! A friendship contract! Milim told me all about it! Hehe, she will be so jealous when she finds out I also got one." Then, without bothering to read the rest of the contract, she pressed her hand against the contract, forcefully activating her magicules to leave an imprint.
Since Milim had stolen the previous one he did with her, he prepared two copies this time, one for her and one for him. It might seem stupid or unnecessary, but it worked as a physical reminder that they were "friends" and that they should keep each other in mind when doing something beneficial.
If anything, it would probably encourage Ramiris to let Rimuru use her Labyrinth however he wanted. Once he escaped the Unlimited Imprisonment, he could probably place Veldora inside to start making more Magisteel without harming the town with his magicules.
'Not that I want to work you like a slave, Veldora. I'm just thinking of a way so that you don't have to keep your aura trapped inside all the time. I gotchu.' Rimuru joked internally; he wasn't sure if any of his random thoughts ever reached him, but he liked to do it occasionally.
As Ramiris signed her copy, she tossed it to one of the spirits to put away. The small wind elemental, however, looked at the paper curiously. Starting to read it as they fluttered away.
"Let's save the kids first. This will probably take some time, so I don't want to leave them hanging too much. Plus, they could use the time to get used to their new powers." Rimuru suggested, and with a nod, Ramiris fluttered before sitting on his head again.
"Let's save these kids then! Onward!" Ramiris joked, giggling slightly as she pointed ahead.
The kids all let out a few chuckles before following behind Rimuru, seeing as the small fairy's wings fluttered in excitement for her new assistant.
They arrived at a massive room with a gigantic crystalline platform that acted as a floor. It looked almost transparent, which made them slightly hesitant to step forward, but Rimuru gave them a pat on the back.
"Shizue and I will be right next to you. So there's no need to worry. Who wants to go first?" Rimuru asked, and after a few moments of hesitation, Gale stepped forward, looking down at the abyss below him before taking a deep breath and walking to the middle.
"Just do as Ramiri's asked you to. I'm sure a spirit will appear to help you." Shizue reassured him.
After a few moments, Gale closed his eyes and began to pray. Countless brownish lights began to float around him, and there was even a small earth elemental that appeared, poking his head out curiously, yet they appeared to be reluctant to move forward fully.
'Sage, would you mind doing the honors?'
[Negative.]
[Activating Gluttony.]
In an instant, all of the Earth Spirits were consumed, with even the small one that was hiding being sucked into his stomach.
[Report. The Unique Skill: Degenerate has completed synthesizing a high-level Earth Spirit. Recreating the process used to create an artificial pseudo-personality… Successful…]
[Notice. Summon Earth Elemental has been acquired. Earth Elemental Spirit magic has also been acquired.]
[Synthesizing the Greater Earth Elemental with Gale Gibson… Synthesis complete.]
The moment the process was complete, Gale felt as if a weight had been lifted from his Soul. For the first time in this new world, he felt truly free.
Opening his eyes, he saw Shizue smiling at him.
"How does it feel?" She asked with a knowing smile.
"It's… peaceful?" Gale answered, not quite sure how to put his emotions into words.
Shizue walked back with Gale, encouraging Alice to go next. With a smile, the young girl ran forward. She did not fear falling down in the slightest since she knew Shizue and Rimuru would save her if anything went wrong.
Giving Rimuru a quick hug, she knelt down. Closing her eyes and starting her own prayer.
Instantly, countless whispers began to echo around them. Countless white particles floated next to her, but even a few other small spirits were looking on with curiosity. Amongst them was the small spirit that Ramiris had asked to take the contract to a safe place.
A few of the space spirits moved forward, looking at Rimuru curiously before giving him a small bow, offering themselves to be consumed.
Rimuru raised an eyebrow in surprise, but he simply decided to continue with his process.
[Report. The Unique Skill: Degenerate has completed synthesizing a high-level Space Spirit. Recreating the process used to create an artificial pseudo-personality… Successful….]
[Notice. Summon Space Elemental has been acquired. Space Elemental Spirit magic has also been acquired.]
[Notice. Through analyzing and assessing the space element, Shadow Motion has evolved into Spatial Motion.]
[Synthesizing the Greater Space Elemental with Alice Rondo… Synthesis complete.]
Once Alice felt the weight lift off her shoulders, she smiled and stood up before moving around slightly to test the difference.
"Thank you! Rimuru-sensei!" She shouted, bowing before running back to meet with the rest of the group.
After her was Kenya, who stepped forward with a smile as he took a deep breath.
When he began to pray, a light suddenly began to rain down on the platform. A heavy pressure fell over the entire room as a playful voice echoed.
"Hey there! How're you doing? 'Cause I am doing fine. I figured I would- Wait, no! Stop!" The Light Elemental, initially full of confidence, suddenly began to try to fight back.
He raised his arm, trying to use a spell before suddenly being consumed. He might've had a chance if he hadn't been caught off guard, but Sage had calculated the moment in which their guard was at its lowest before acting.
[Analysis of the Light Spirit in progress… Analysis complete.]
[Notice. Summon Light Elemental has been acquired. Light Elemental Spirit magic has also been acquired.]
[Analyzing the Hero's Egg Creator Intrinsic Skill…. Analysis complete.]
[Creating a Pseudo Light Elemental to become a Hero's Egg… ]
[Error. An incomplete egg has been generated. Further requirements are needed in order to create an Egg capable of awakening. The current Egg is simply an inert Light Elemental.]
After consuming the Light Spirit, Rimuru felt an intense burning sensation inside of him before it quickly vanished. The quick barrage of information flooded his mind, though he couldn't quite ignore the shocked looks of everyone around him.
Ramiris herself had her mouth wide open as she quickly fluttered next to him.
"Wait, spit him out! Spit him out! I don't like him that much, but you have to spit him out!" She yelled while flying around in a panic.
Letting out a few awkward coughs, Rimuru quickly calmed down the panicking fairy and reassured her.
"Don't worry, I was just doing it to help him out. I thought the process would go more smoothly if I used my Skills to integrate him, but here. I can let him go."
Spitting the Light Spirit out of his stomach, he saw as the Light Spirit fluttered around in confusion. Sage had replaced his consciousness with an artificial pseudo-personality, so for all intents and purposes, this was a brand new spirit. Otherwise, the spirit might try to attack or leave before helping Kenya. As for the previous Light Spirit's consciousness, Sage had chucked him in with Veldora.
"Uh? What was I doing?" The Light Spirit asked, his voice less boastful than before and simply confused.
"You were about to help Kenya over here." Rimuru said with a smile, causing the Spirit to look at the boy up and down before nodding his head.
"Ah, that's right. This kid right here has the potential to become a Hero. Alright, let's see what you are made out of!" With those words, the Light Spirit jumped and fused with Kenya, releasing another burst of power.
Ramiris fluttered about, slightly confused, as she turned to Rimuru.
"Did you do something to him? He's usually more annoying than this, always yapping about how I got corrupted and stuff…."
Rimuru simply stared at her, shrugging as if he was unsure how to answer, which made her sigh and shake her head.
"You know what, never mind." Ramiris said, shaking her head before fluttering away.
A few of the kids chuckled at what had happened, but Kenya was very excited to be told that he could become a Hero in the future.
Once everything calmed down again, Ryota was the next one to step forward. As he began to pray, countless small blue and green orbs began to float around him, with a few other small Elementals poking their heads out curiously before moving to be eaten.
It was very strange to see some of the Elementals, but that meant the Elemental he created for them would be stronger.
[Report. The Unique Skill: Degenerate has completed synthesizing a high-level Wind-Water Spirit. Recreating the process used to create an artificial pseudo-personality…. Successful….]
[Notice. Summon Water Elemental and Wind Elemental has been acquired. Water and Wind Elemental Spirit magic has also been acquired.]
[Synthesizing the Greater Water-Air Elemental with Ryota Sekiguchi… Synthesis complete.]
Ryota gave a quick nod of thanks and gave Rimuru a quick hug before running back to the group and meeting with the rest of the kids who had gotten spirits, which left only Chloe.
As she ran forward, she quickly hugged Rimuru, trying to calm her nerves. Seeing her, Rimuru ruffled her hair before asking her.
"Are you ready?" He knew her Spirit would be something special, and he wanted to try to analyze it. However, he wasn't sure if his skill would work on it.
"Not yet.…" Chloe said, waving for Rimuru to kneel down as if she wanted to tell him a secret, and as he did, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"You know what, Mr. Rimuru…." She whispered, her cheeks blushing hard. "I… I lo-" She began before feeling her hair get ruffled by him.
"Now, don't go saying things like that to me, ok? You should only say that to the person you really like." He told her with a chuckle. He wasn't the type of person to be interested in kids, so he wouldn't let her first confession be to him.
Chloe pouted a little, looking a little embarrassed as she nodded her head.
"You are a meanie.…" She said, blushing. She had gathered all her courage to say it, but she had gotten interrupted. Feeling another ruffle of her hair, she sighed slightly before kneeling and praying.
At that moment, everything changed. It felt almost like the sky was falling on them as a massive amount of energy appeared. There was a burst of energy as a beautiful woman appeared with long, glossy dark hair.
A large wave of light filled the chamber, and the energy she emitted was enough to make everyone freeze in place.
As the Spirit opened her eyes, she looked directly at Rimuru, a wave of emotions coursing through her eyes. Sadness, joy, love, fear, and hope all flashed instantly as she began to fly directly at him.
As she appeared in front of him, she mouthed the words, "I'm sorry." Not a single sound left her as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. Strangely, even though she shouldn't have a physical form, he could feel her soft lips softly meet his lips.
[Warning! Danger! The Spirit is forcefully activating Skills and disabling Skills.]
[Gluttony is unable to activate.]
[Eros has been forcefully activated.]
[Lustful Drain has been forcefully activated.]
[Warning! Danger! The usage of Soul Skills has been detected. Attempting to-] Sage began before freezing mid-sentence.
At that moment, he felt a surge of magicules forcefully course through him. His whole body burned as he felt the magicules. It was the strangest type of pain he had ever experienced, and he could assume that thanks to Sage's last warning, his soul was being directly targeted.
He tried to move his body, but then he felt as if time had stopped around him, only his mind being able to process as he felt the kiss become stronger, and the next moment, his mind went dark.
{A new Blessing has been acquired: The Crest of Time} The Voice of the World echoed. It's robotic voice entering his mind even while unconscious.
{Set rules for the activation of The Crest of Time have been set by the one who has given the Crest.}
{The Extra Skill: Clairvoyant has been acquired}
— —- —
As Universal Sense kicked back in, he saw all of the kids. Shizue and Ramiris looked at him with concern, and Chloe and Alice held back tears. Strangely, when he looked at them, he saw them as if they were blurry, countless afterimages, all moving in slightly different ways.
"Mr. Rimuru?" Alice asked as she saw him move, and the next moment, he was piled on by all the kids. After passing out, he returned to his slime form, his mind still trying to process everything.
"Yeah?" He asked, trying to reach out to Sage in his mind, and after a few moments, Sage seemed to restart from where they had been stopped.
[-to prevent the interference with the soul.]
[Error. The presence of the Spirit is no longer detected…. Current magicule levels have increased. Beginning analysis as to any changes brought on.]
[Notice the Crest of Time has been detected. In addition, the new Extra Skill Clairvoyant has been detected.
Clairvoyant allows the user to have precognition of events a few seconds into the future. However, the skill will show all of the probable paths and not the guaranteed future. Synchronizing Clairvoyant with Great Sage…]
The moment Sage finished speaking, the countless after images vanished, leaving just one. Yet, since it was still disorienting, he felt as Sage instantly hid that future as well, devoting some processing power to look after it and to activate it if they detected anything.
"We were so scared… You wouldn't answer us…" Chloe said as she finally began to cry, hugging him tightly. Her tears caused the rest of the kids to start crying, too.
It became a bit of a mess, but transforming out of his slime form, he quickly reassured them that everything was fine. Calming all of them down.
Ramiris was floating around somewhat anxiously; it was clear that she had something to say, but she kept glancing back at Chloe, clearly not wanting to panic the young girl even more than she already was.
— — —
Special Thanks to my Beta Readers/Editors: The one, the only, the amazing @Basilisk, the Aussie @LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord) and @Kiyan Tribe (FF.net/AO3/QQ/WN) | kiyan_tribe( Discord)
Go Check out Basilisk's great story "I'm a Daemon, so what?"