In that most infamous of caves, within its deepest depths, there lay a sealed being of power and terror. There stood a blue slime, anomalous in both presence and nature, having already stripped this place of the infamy it once imposed upon the world…
"I don't… think that was meant to happen," I said, albeit internally, as soon as I had swallowed Veldora. In that little span between the predation of his barriered form and his vanishing into my stomach, I had just received another set of memories.
Similar memories from my—Satoru's own? In a way, the events, memories, emotions, and person had still been there, though they'd immediately disappeared or fused with the person I had been to become the me I was now.
Did… did I just die? How could I lose my previous incarnation so soon into my Isekai adventure? What, did that mean I was a thrice virgin now? Did this mean I was forever locked in every incarnation to be a virgin? How was that fair? Where were the cute and sexy slimes?
I writhed my jelly body, throwing a tantrum as only one destined for eternal loneliness could. Plus, I was still only months old, so I deserved a bit of childishness.
I cried for an hour, though it might have just been ten seconds since I didn't have a proper sense of time. And no, I couldn't just use common sense to gauge an approximate estimate because I was a slime now. I refused to believe that human common sense translated perfectly to slime physiology.
Additionally, this was a magic world, so the laws that governed it might be out of whack.
"But things did appear relatively normal when I was talking with Veldora, though," I argued with myself. Then I thought about that argument some more.
Why was I trying to assign commonality to a goddamn frigging dragon? How did that even work anyway? Why was that guy unbothered by his situation? He was imprisoned in an impenetrable magical prison, and he acted like it was no big deal.
I sighed, or at least tried to. Being a slime was super weird. And being someone who was deliberately trying to avoid the existential oddity of his existence was even more so. I was already an odd individual before—Veldora said so—but now I was double the oddity.
How exactly did I reincarnate into the existing body of an already reincarnated individual? And why didn't I feel like either of those people? Did I become a crippled reincarnation? Was I about to get another otherworlder in my slime body? And why in the world did my incarnations come from simultaneously the same world and different worlds?
And more importantly, why were they virgins? I mean, I understood the programmer—that guy was afraid of diseases and hated his world and the miserable place it would become. But the contractor? No, not a single reason outside of being… afraid.
That was so sad. I was made up of sad existences.
Well, now that I was done wallowing in my pathetic incarnation, it was about time I actually gave thought to the actuality of my existence. I was in a magical world. Yes, that was definitely cool—so many possibilities and whatnot—but what was interesting was the fundamental nature of this magical system. It was so… systematic.
Like, why did I have an artificial assistance in my mind? Why would my skill be an AI chip?
"Oi, Great Sage? What exactly are you?"
«Answer: This unit is a Unique Skill, a manifestation of your will and soul, optimized for logical processing, analysis, and goal achievement. Primary Functions: Analysis, Synthesis, Parallel Processing, Protection of User ('Rimuru Tempest'). Current Status: Co-existence protocols active. Inquiry: Do you require a functional or existential clarification?»
That was a generic statement. I didn't get any useful information from that.
"No, I meant like primary function? Are you supposed to be some kind of Akashic Record variant with the basic information about this world? Also, why don't I have full control over my skills? Or are they abilities?"
«Analysis: Query pertains to origin, scope, and user-authority interface.
Answer:
Primary Function: Survival and evolution of the user, Rimuru Tempest. All analysis, predictions, and skill management serve this core directive.Relation to Akashic Records: Negative. This unit is not a direct interface to the Records. It is a localized, autonomous processing unit created by your soul. It can access and analyze information from the World's Laws through observation and interaction, simulating a fragment of the Records' function, but is not the Records themselves.Control Paradox: Skills are abilities crystallized from your soul's data. 'Control' is a relative term.Example: A human does not consciously control their heartbeat or cell division; the body's autonomous systems manage it. Analogous Function: This unit manages the activation, optimization, and synergy of your skills to prevent overload, conflict, or catastrophic failure. You provide the will; this unit executes the process. Full manual control would be inefficient and hazardous.Clarification: Do you wish to override autonomous management for a specific skill?
Warning: Not recommended.»
That was useless, wasn't it? And yes, I understood the core meaning and the incredible usefulness of it, but it was like controlling a plane by telling the pilot what to do while you yourself were on the ground. Sure, you had the power, but it was pretty secondary in actuality.
What did I care about being able to analyze something if the actual analysis didn't happen through my raw capabilities? Damn useless skill, this was.
"Can you interpret my wants or desires without my vocal or actual active interaction being required? Are you capable of interacting with and interpreting my desires independently?"
«Analysis: Query concerns core operational protocol and depth of integration with User's consciousness.
Answer: Affirmative.
Interpretation: This unit is an intrinsic component of your existence. It continuously monitors physiological data, soul wavelength fluctuations, and cognitive patterns. Desires are processed as high-priority information before conscious articulation. Example: The desire to protect a specific individual triggers pre-emptive defensive skill calculations.Individual Interaction: This unit does not possess independent "desires." However, it can extrapolate and pro-actively prepare solutions based on your established goals, behavioral history, and core directives.This is classified as Predictive Execution.Clarification: This is not independent thought. It is advanced simulation based on the User's data. Your will remains the absolute command.
Addendum: This capability was enhanced following the integration of the 'Storm Dragon Veldora' factor. Parallel processing now allows for more nuanced interpretation of subconscious data streams.»
That actually made me jump in joy. I knew that Veldora was a cool guy. With this, I had confirmation that even if I was a pretty average person intellectually, this skill could at least make me a semi-genius through whatever factor Veldora had inspired.
Wait? Did that mean Veldora was experiencing the world through my senses? Did he become some kind of parasite? Did he have access to my memories?
That was…
The memory of Satoru's computer flashed through my mind.
… yeah, that wasn't good. I hoped Veldora didn't become a depraved individual. But there was also so much cool stuff in there: cool anime, cool cartoons, killer games, incredible literature—fiction and non-fiction, and a lot more. Hell, that guy might come out somewhat entirely changed.
I laughed a bit, proud of myself. I felt like I was running some kind of get-better program.
Getting out of that headspace, I went back to this clown of a unique skill.
"Let's initiate full Predictive Execution. Also, do beam the full scope of my capabilities and what I want to know about my current situation into my mind. Starting from now, active interaction will be kept at a minimum. Just the results, theories, revelations, and whatever throughout my consciousness or soul."
It took a moment, and in that moment, I wondered if I had broken it. I really didn't want that.
Then, in just a few words, it responded.
«Directive Accepted. Initiating Full Predictive Execution Mode.
Activating Continuous Subconscious Data Stream.»
In an instant—an instant that was not quite a second or a moment passed in time—I, a thrice-born individual presently assigned the name of Rimuru Tempest by a Dragon with no sense of circumstance, became.
I became… extraordinary. I became… a hax. I became… broken.
Whatever abilities, capabilities, and oddities the skill, Great Sage, had normalized into my sense of human mundanity rushed at me with the feeling of the extraordinary. I felt power. I felt potential. I felt… transcendent.
Easily, ever so simply, my slime body began crackling with Black Lightning. I felt it, I controlled it, I… inspired it. With a will so minuscule it felt imaginary, I cloaked my body entirely with the unnatural calamity. I morphed and became a glitching and crackling silhouette of a human.
"Incarnation Four: Kamowakeikazuchi-no-kami!"
The lightning crackled and whined and scorched and I was so impressed and concerned by how disgustingly cheap and easy it was to contain it and enslave it.
I bulldozed humanhood upon myself, even if I was a twisted and nightmarish incarnation of such. But I didn't care—I didn't care about anything. No, all I cared about was….
"I'm so frigging powerful!!!" I roared, sparking fiercely.
With almost no effort, I blitzed to four different locations in the cave, my body a flash of radiant black. The spots I touched melted and exploded. And yet, in that same instant, I appeared where I had been not a blink ago, pointing at a single boulder.
"Rupture!!" I invoked in my Raijin form.
The loud sound from the disgustingly potent lightning strikes fell upon the spot with murderous force, exploding that single spot into something unfamiliar.
I let out a cackle, bellowing with so much excitement and anticipation. "That's how you use barriers. That's how you use abilities. That's how you… reincarnate, Great Sage! Do you see that? Do you see what awareness accomplishes?"
«Skill "Shock Manipulation" acquired.»
«Skill "Lightning Transformation" acquired.»
«Confirmed: Synergy has been discovered. Lightning Transformation and Black Lightning have become "Black Lightning Manipulation."»
This magic system was lousy with abilities. Not that any of these abilities meant anything; their acquisition simply made their performance cheap, magicule-wise. Great Sage made it a lot easier for me to execute those feats without relying on these new skills.
"Now, I'll explore the rest of this cave," I said before becoming lightning made unnatural.