I had spent the whole day discussing plans with Arachne and Rigurdo.
The main topics of discussion were construction plans, both in the [Soul Realm] and outside, and also plans for trade and expansion.
The Ogres I had sent for Dwargon had finally reached their destination. Their speed was honestly frightening, considering that Dwargon was around a 1000 km (or 621 miles, for all the burger people đź’€) from here.
They were sending daily reports, keeping me updated about all major events. Obviously, their main job was to keep an eye on Kaijin the Weapon Smith, and the 3 dwarf brothers, who all were also master craftsmen.
I fully intended to bring those 4 into my Legion, since they had the potential to be invaluable assets.
In the canon story, the nation of Tempest was quite literally built off the back of Kaijin, the 3 brothers, and Kurobee the ogre. Their crafts, weapons, and technological developments paved the way for the rise of Rimuru and his 'Monster Federation Tempest'.
That is one thing that I don't wanna change. Technological development is the key to becoming a superpower. In this world, weapons can make the difference between life and death, so it's essential to have high-quality ones, not only for me but also for my Legionaries.
Not you might be thinking, 'Hey Dumbass, don't you have a skill that can create anything, including weapons?'
You're only partially correct there. Items created with [Create Material] are inferior to those crafted by skilled Blacksmiths.
To get into more detail, even if both weapons are exact copies and are of the same grade, the one handcrafted by a skilled blacksmith will be superior in every aspect; Strength, Durability, Magic Conductivity, etc.
This is due to the difference in the level of smithing skill a person possesses. A blacksmith devotes his whole life to his craft, and so the tools made by his hand are simply better due to the will and effort poured into them in the creation process.
So even if a weapon created with a skill can overpower any weapon in a lower grade, when it comes to clashing with weapons of the same grade, a crafted weapon should be preferred.
Thankfully, I wasn't in immediate need of one, my Future Self had kindly gifted me a blade, which could grow with me, hopefully never breaking.
Interrupting me from my thoughts--
"My Lord, I and the Clan have fully awakened." came a voice from behind me.
"That's wonderful Garmr, tell me, how do you feel?" I asked in return.
"Amazing my Lord. We are truly blessed to have met you. It feels like I'm in a whole new body, filled to the brim with power!!"
'I'm so excited to know what new upgrades they've attained!' I thought giddily.
Their intrinsic skills are as follows:
Death Wolves:- [Keen Smell], [Thought Communication], [Shadow Motion], [Death Roar].
Death Star Wolves:- [Ultra Instinct], [Thought Communication], [Haki], [Shadow Motion], [Death Roar]
The individual 'Garmr' has additionally also gained the skill [Spatial Manipulation]>
'LESSGOOOOO!! New skills!!!!' I celebrated internally.
As I had thought, the direwolves' evolutionary path had changed due to my influence. They had not evolved into Tempest Wolves like in canon. And I honestly preferred this version of them. They had more skills, which suited my style too.
In terms of appearance, they had changed quite a bit. Their fur was now fully black with a few purple highlights here and there. The biggest change was their size though. Garmr had grown to become over 2.5 meters, the same as Ranga. The others were around 2 meters in height.
Garmr had also just barely reached the lower levels of Calamity-Class or Special A-rank. Ranga was at the top of Hazard-Class or A Rank. Their overall strength might be relative to Coatl, but he would still win against them in a fight with his [Celestial Snake Eyes] and extremely powerful body.
Now that I think about it, my Legion already has the military strength of a small nation. Almost no country or organization in the West can boast 4 near Calamity-Class individuals, except for the Western Holy Church and Yuuki's organizations.
Getting back to the matter at hand, the wolves had given me amazing skills, especially Garmr, who had gained and subsequently given me the skill [Spatial Manipulation]. It allowed the user to freely manipulate space, and teleport anywhere the user has been before, or knows the exact position of.
This would make traveling and transport so much faster. Well, even without it I could Teleport to my Legionaries whom I could station at various places, but this just made it more convenient and efficient. I also had some ideas for offensive and defensive arts that I could develop with this skill as a base.
Apart from [Spatial Manipulation], there were three other noteworthy skills, [Ultra Instinct] which just gave extremely high levels of sensitive danger precognition, and the other was [Haki]. Haki is a skill that allows the user to manipulate their 'Aura' to intimidate and exert physical and mental pressure on the target.
'Aura' is a form of spiritual matter that exerts physical pressure on people and objects. It is naturally released by all living beings without any special actions, but to use it properly, training is required.
In combat, 'Aura' can be used to enhance the user's physical abilities, such as power, speed, and durability, all with varying results depending on the quality and amount of aura within a person, in addition to their proficiency in controlling it.
The skill [Haki] allows the user to use this 'Aura' to bend the target to their will.
The last skill, [Death Roar] was one which I had no idea about, except for what I could derive from its name.
As expected, [Great Sage] immediately came to the rescue. It started explaining the ins and outs of the skill to me--
The skill was based on Necromancy. The school of magic, and not my skill. This Necromancy-Magic was a more conventional version, which used the negative emotions of dead spirits to bring forward a terrifying power.
The 2 main techniques of Necromancy were [Raise Dead] and [Curse Bind]. The first reanimated corpses as 'Undead' and put them under the control of the user. But the undead would be weak and mindless, also being extremely vulnerable to Holy Magic. The second technique [Curse Bind] is simpler, it allows the user to manipulate the dead spirits to bind and attack a target.
The [Death Roar] skill was a more complex application of Necromancy. It is a wide area-effect attack that can target multiple opponents at once.
The user can infuse the dead spirits' power into their roar, which has a deadly effect on the targets. The targets will be forcefully pulled to their deaths by the spirits of the dead. Of course, this effect can be resisted with a powerful Aura or a counter skill/magic, but it could be effective against a group of enemies.
This skill was my first encounter with the conventional Necromancy of this world. It just made me realize how broken my skill was.
Thankfully, [Thought Acceleration] was activated this whole time, so all that Analysis and contemplation took less than a few seconds.
"I can sense that you've grown a lot stronger. You have gained many new skills too. I'm proud, I hope you'll use them to uphold the honor of the Legion." I said to Garmr.
*WHOOSH* *WHOOSH*
His tail started to wag vigorously, generating powerful winds.
'In the end, he's still a dog at heart.'
'Doesn't look like that though.' I thought, while petting his head, while he towered over me.
Suddenly, Coatl woke up from his rest and looked at me with baby eyes. I didn't know snakes were even capable of that!
Reluctantly, while sighing, I started to stroke Coatl's head with my other hand. He instantly looked pleased.
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Now that the direwolf problem had been solved, and even converted into a blessing, I had to look out for different things.
If everything went according to canon, the incident with Kaijin and the 3 dwarf brothers would happen soon. But unlike Rimuru, I didn't plan to go to the Dwarf Nation of Dwargon.
However, I wasn't that much of an optimist to think that I could rely on the canon series of events, considering what all had happened.
I had to make a plan for the near future. There were many things I had to keep in mind when doing that, mainly that the true powerhouses of the world knew that Veldora hadn't disappeared. That fact alone would change their course of action massively, making my knowledge of the future completely useless....
As I was thinking about all this--
"My Lord! I am sorry for disturbing you, however, a group of humans have been spotted at the edge of the Great Jura Forest. They are coming from the direction of the Kingdom of Blumund and appear to be adventurers." Rigur suddenly appeared and reported.
Rigur was the son of Rigurdo and the strongest of the Dark Ogres as of now. That was why I had made him the leader of the 'Patrol Group'. He was partnered with Dracula, the only 'Vampiric Bat' and the strongest air-based member of the Legion.
"How should we proceed?" he asked.
I had a suspicion about their identity, but I still had to confirm.
"Can you describe them a bit more Rigur-kun?"
"Of course my Lord. There are 2 men and 2 women. The men have a build fit for adventurers, but no other distinct features. One of the woman has blonde hair while the other has black hair and burn marks on her face." Rigur described.
That settles it, they're Shizue and Elen's Party. Somehow even without the preliminary investigation done by Elen's Party immediately after Veldora's apparent disappearance, they're here.
No matter, I'm already prepared for it, though I'm a bit concerned about how the change in the timeline has affected Shizue.
I was worried because Shizue is the direct student of the Hero Chronoa or her true identity, 'Chloe Aubert'. Since I already knew that the things related to Chloe were different than Canon, Shizue's circumstances might also be different.
"Keep an eye on them from afar, do not be detected. Alert me immediately when they come across a powerful enemy monster." I gave my commands.
"I shall carry out your orders perfectly, Lord Ashborne!!" Rigur said as he disappeared, presumably teleporting to one of the Legionaries on patrol.
Even as I acted confident, there was a lingering worry in my mind. This was because I didn't possess the Unique Skill [Predator] like Rimuru did in canon. While I had equally powerful Unique Skills, they weren't suited for direct combat.
So far, my fighting skills were purely physical. I used my powerful body to defeat my enemies. However, if things even remotely followed canon, I was about to face an enemy who was somewhat immune to physical damage.
I wasn't sure what techniques would work, but I had a few plans.
The main reason I wasn't panicking despite the situation, was due to a broken skill I had. I hadn't had a chance to use yet.
It was my Intrinsic Skill [Magic Jamming]. The skill is absolutely broken, at least against opponents below the Demon Lord Level.
It disrupts the flow of magicules around me, making me basically immune to emission-type offensive magic. This would be my trump card against all magic-using enemies.
This skill ensured that at least I would be safe while I tried out different methods to deal with the enemy. At least that was what I hoped.
As I was contemplating about different ways to utilize my powers--
"My Lord, should I deal with the pesky humans?" Coatl voiced.
"There's no need for that, they aren't hostile. Also, you wouldn't be able to beat them anyways.' I told him.
"Oh...Ok" Coatl replied. Though he sounded depressed at my dismissal of his strength.
"It isn't that you aren't strong Coatl, it's just that one of these humans is exceedingly powerful. I didn't mean to insult your strength." I reassured him.
Brightening up he said, "Thank you for your kind words, Lord Ashborne. I shall do my best to live up to your expectations."
"I'm sure you will." I replied while smiling.
After that conversation ended, I decided to summon Rigurdo to tell him about the incoming adventurers and how to deal with them. I instructed him to tell the Legion to not engage the adventurers.
I planned to personally intercept and save them when they would inevitably be attacked by monsters. This would help me gain their trust, as adventurers were geared to not trust monsters. Their whole job was to exterminate my kind.
I had accounted for all possibilities, I couldn't afford any mishaps. The next few days would be crucial for my rise in power.
With that in mind, I decided to lay down and rest until Rigur reported back to me.
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A/N: New Chapter!! And also New Skills!!
Shizue, Elen, Kabal and Gido have made their first appearance.
Stay tuned for the next chapter.
And don't forget to REVIEW the story and drop some juicy POWER STONES!!