I stand outside of a hut looking down at my hand moving it around. Then I jump around and do a flip or two using [Magic Sense] to keep my balance.
I'm still getting used to this body. After over 3 months stuck as a round squishy blob getting a human body back will probably take some adjustments. Especially considering I'm shorter, shaped differently, and more importantly much stronger, faster, and more flexible than before. My hair is now longer so I'll have to get used to that too.
"Hm, maybe I should try something more drastic to really test out my new body." I turn to look at a wide open area next to the village. "Let's see what I can do."
Walking over to the open area I ask [Great Sage], Can you make a clone of me and make it fight with equal skill to me? I need a good test.
[Answer- Yes.]
Great, will it have lower durability though.
[Answer- Yes, all clones produced by [Body Double] will have lower durability.]
Figures, well, it's still a decent test. Let 's do it.
[Great Sage] creates a clone of me using [Body Double]. I see as smoke comes out of me and condenses in front of me slowly forming itself into an identical clone of me. After it's finished I look at myself.
"So this is what I look like." I study my appearance a bit. I look like Shizue and Rimuru with a few minor differences. "Looks like I accomplished my goal. I definitely look like Rimuru's twin.
After studying my new body for a bit I eventually get ready to do what I set out to do. Using my gained knowledge from studying Shizue's fighting style along with some knowledge I gathered from [Great Sage] I get into a battle stance ready to fight it. The clone does the same. After a few seconds the fight starts.
I run at the clone and enter a basic hand to hand fight. During it I use [Genius] to analyze the fight as it goes on and improve my fighting style as it goes on. However, the clone, obviously being my clone, knows my fighting style as well, leading to a sort of stalemate as neither of us can land a clean hit. After a while of this I get bored and start implementing skills into the fight.
Using [Controlled Airflow] I speed up my attacks to which the clone does the same. As this continues we back off from each other and begin actually fighting by running around through the forest, jumping around in the treetops. I shoot a controlled blast of water at it with [Water Manipulation] to which it dodges and runs up close using [Body Armor] to increase the weight of its fist and [Wind Pulse] to increase the speed at which it hits me.
[Notice- Optimal defense has been calculated. Deploying optimal defense.]
Before I can even realize what's happening I get lifted up into the air and spin as [Great Sage] uses [Controlled Airflow] to pull me out of the punch's trajectory and sets me up for a counterattack. Still in the air I use [Icicle Barrage] to laugh the clone into the air and strike it back down with [Black Lightning]. Shockingly, after that attack, it's still intact.
Wait, didn't you say they were fragile?
[Answer- Yes, the [Body Double] would have been destroyed under normal circumstances but has been held together to continue the training as you have not yet decided to end it.]
So that explains it. Pretty convenient to not have to make a clone every time I hit it too hard I guess. This training goes on for a little while longer until I accidentally blow down a few trees with [Wind Pulse].
Crossing my arms I look at the blown down trees. "Even with [Magic Sense] I still fucked up. I think this'll do for now." Not wanting the materials to go to waste I use [Predator] on the trees to absorb them into my [Stomach], make the clone dissipate into the atmosphere and start heading back to the village.
I got surprisingly far away so it takes a while to walk back. On the way there I look around for some monsters to eat but only find a small fly-like monster. I catch it. "This is actually surprisingly useful." I absorb it with [Predator] while it's still inside my hand by turning the inside of my hand back into slime and absorbing whatever is inside and move on.
[Notice- Analysis of Zip Fly has been completed.
The ability to mimic a Zip Fly has been obtained.]
No skills, huh. Guess these little monsters don't need skills. I wouldn't even have noticed they were monsters and not real flies without the small amount of magicules it was giving off.
After I return to the village I see all the Hobgoblins and Star Wolves are gathered around the same spot. Ranryo, who had been in my shadow the whole time jumps out and also wonders what's going on.
I walk up to Rimuru in his Slime form in the center of the village and ask, "What's happening?"
Rimuru asked them to make him some food just like in canon. Guess he still wanted to try out his new taste buds.
That reminds me, with me here is food going to change? Odds are, yes as I have some recipes that odds are, Rimuru has never heard of before that the monsters will probably try to replicate. I won't try to teach them the recipes like Rimuru but eventually they will learn from watching me.
In the original story the monsters copied Rimuru's Japanese food leading to a food culture dominated by Japanese food. Of course, Rimuru had some western recipes under his belt but they were relatively rare compared to the Japanese food. Now with me here we have someone who primarily eats Western food. Rimuru and my recipes will definitely both be copied making this timelines version of Tempest have a much more even mix of both types of food. That might be interesting.
Rigurd runs up to me, "Lord Migeru! We are preparing a feast for Lord Rimuru! Would you like to try some as well!?"
You know what, why not? It's been a while since I've tried some food. "Yeah, sure."
He immediately rushes off as if what I've just said was some incredibly important vital information as I turn back into my Slime form and jump next to Rimuru.
Something I've noticed that they rarely elaborated on in the original story is that being in my human drains me a bit. This means I am much more comfortable in my Slime form than in my Human form. Relaxing a bit, I wait for the food to be finished.
After the food is finished I turn back into my Human form and take a bite of it. It's pretty average to me to be honest but there is some decent flavor to the food.
I nonchalantly say, "It's pretty good," and by the reaction on the Hobgoblins faces you would think I just called them the greatest chefs to ever exist. They scream and celebrate as they watch Rimuru and I eat the food they made.
There are some issues I have with it like the texture varying a bit too much but it's not too bad. It starts off soft then gets harder towards the center with sauce on top. I would prefer for the texture to be a bit more even throughout. That may be a dumb reason to dislike it a bit but that's my opinion. The sauce itself is really good, not much I can complain about. It tastes like meat.
After I finish eating the food I start talking to everyone there a bit. Normally I can't handle crowds very well but this little feast isn't very big so I can handle it. Not much important happens in this little conversation. The monsters here just go with the flow and let the conversation go wherever it happens to go. It really gives off that family gathering vibe which I really like. It 's pretty fun.
The next morning I get ready to go back to house to make a new structure I need to make real quick to prepare for later. I have a plan to exploit my Demon Lord transformation as much as possible and this new build is going to help fulfill that plan. I don't really need to make it this early and it is a pretty big building to make but I might as well make it now rather than wait to get it over with.
I say my short goodbyes for now and start heading back to my house. Halfway there though I sense something in the forest. It's a group of relatively strong monsters wandering the forest. They are all stronger than the Hobgoblins. There's 6 of them from what I can tell and are walking in my direction. I have a newly made mask based and designed after Shizue's on to make hiding my magicules easier which proves to just make the next part harder. After they spot me they immediately start attacking me. The first one out the forest is a big muscular looking humanoid with spiky red hair and horns on his head.
Benimaru, so this time they encountered me first, huh. Alright then. I prepare for the following little fight that is about to occur as two more run out of the forest to engage.. A gray elderly one and and a blue young one run out from either side getting ready to fight me and they don't look like they want to hold back.