Walking home from the village on my newly built path I suddenly got attacked by a group of ogres mistaking me to be a masked majin. The mask I made doesn't look very different from Shizue's being the same shape and colors except for the gen in the center being a pentagon and blue instead of circular and red. The markings on it are also different by maintaining the same general theme although I made them more jagged. The reason why is that I think those shapes fit me more while the smoother lines on Shizue's mask fit Rimuru more. Of course I asked Rimuru if I could make it before doing it as that mask is pretty important for honoring Shizue's legacy.
Moving past that, wearing this new mask has brought me some trouble as the ogres from the original timeline found me first instead of the Goblin Riders so they attacked me first. They've mistaken me for an evil masked majin just like they did with Rimuru.
[Great Sage]…
[Notice- Unique Skill [Genius] has been activated.]
Cool, activated it without me even having to finish my sentence. Activating [Genius] in this situation does two things.
First, it dramatically enhances my intelligence allowing me to fight more effectively and second, it allows me to analyze Benimaru, Souei, and especially Hakurou's fighting styles and incorporate them into my own making me a far better fighter than before. Shizue's will still likely be the base of my fighting style but some of their techniques won't hurt to incorporate into that base.
Benimaru, who is the one closest to me, swings his sword which I block with [Body Armor] and jump back to avoid Souei and Hakurou's incoming attacks. Not letting up they continue their barrage of attacks as I see Shuna being escorted away by Shion and Kurobe.
As I block they're attacks I yell, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down! I'm not trying to hurt you!"
You can see the anger in Benimaru as he yells back, "Don't try to deceive us you Wicked Demon!"
This is reminding me of Hinata. She basically did the same thing these guys are doing, it's just she was actually a threat.
As Hakurou swings almost cutting my neck I use [Thick Skinned] to protect it as I dodge. [Body Armor] is useful but it can get in the way in certain parts of your body which is one solid use I've found for [Thick Skinned]. It's inferior to [Body Armor] but it's much more flexible due to just being slightly harder, thicker skin.
As I engage in a one vs three I finish analyzing their fighting styles and learn the optimal way to fight them. On top of that their techniques are now all fully incorporated into my own fighting style giving me more ways to counterattack. The tide of battle, which was already really not in their favor at this point, got even more uneven than it already was.
Hakurou, ever the master swordsman, immediately notices my rapid adaptation to their fighting styles and yells, "He's copying us somehow!"
As they hear this they mentally prepare themselves as they engage again, fully prepared to die. Are they really that willing to jump into a potentially highly dangerous situation just to save Shuna and avenge their tribe?
[Answer- Yes.]
I know that [Great Sage]. It's a rhetorical question.
Suddenly I hear a loud boom off in the distance and start heading in that direction as the ogres follow me. When I arrive I see Gobta in a fight with Shion as the Goblin Riders back him up. Even with all that it still doesn't seem very even as she is far too strong.
"Looks like they still ended up getting involved in this fight in this timeline."
As Benimaru slices down when I'm busy commenting on Gobta's situation cutting some of my clothes off I say, "Well, this is a fucking mess." I turn to the ogres and yell, "I'm not a demon!"
"Yes you are! You can't fool us!" That was a blunt response. Yes you are! My god, how set are you that I'm an evil demon.
Gobta flies by me as I see Shion land a direct hit with her mace. He hits a tree, denting it and falls to the ground, instantly knocked out.
At this point I'm basically spider-man from how easily I weave through the barrage of attacks. Not even one attack is landing and those that do connect with something when Hakurou forces me into a situation where I can't dodge I block with [Body Armor].
At this point the fight's gone on long enough. I think about how Rimuru ended the fight in the original. That could work but this situation could be solved way easier another way.
Using [Controlled Airflow] to increase my fighting speed by more than double I run behind all four ogres as Benimaru, Souei, and Hakurou attack me and Shion is attacking the Goblin Riders and knocking them out. Using [Wind Manipulation] I pick them all up and walk to the fearful Shuna and Kurobe. Kurobe prepares to fight with a large wooden bat-like weapon. He's noticeably shaking though.
I cross my arms which both confuses and scares him, "Listen, I told you, I don't want to hurt you. I'm not the demon you all are mistaking me for. I'm just a random monster that was minding his own business in the forest. However, I have some questions for you all so follow me."
Kurobe asks, "Why should we follow you?"
I look at the unconscious Ogres floating in the air next to me, "I mean, do you have a choice, all your fighters are down. Do you think you can survive in this forest without them. There are really powerful monsters out there you know. I just want to ask you some questions. I'm not a threat." I take off my mask, "Here. Look at it, if there was an evil masked majin this mask shouldn't resemble theirs because I'm not connected to them. Even if by a random coincidence they do resemble each other, would an evil masked majin take off his mask?"
Shuna, shocked, looks at the mask. After looking at it she bows and says, "I'm sorry for doubting you."
Kurobe asks, "Are you sure they aren't connected?"
She reassuringly nods and with that we head off. I pick up the unconscious Goblin Riders on our way back. I don't want to carry them with [Wind Manipulation] all the way back so I call out Ranryo and throw the Ogres and Hobgoblins on his back. Seeing Ranryo shocks Shuna and Kurobe but they quickly recover.
Upon arriving at the village Rimuru sees me arrive with Shuna, Kurobe, several Star Wolves, and the unconscious Ogres and Hobgoblins. He confusedly asks, "What happened?"
I explain what happened to which Rimuru suggests we heal them. After healing them with some Full Potions they wake up. After regaining they're senses they prepare for the possibility of a fight but Shuna stops them. Confused, Benimaru asks, "Why have you spared us?"
"Like I said, I'm not a bad guy. You guys came to that conclusion on your own."
Realizing their mistake they apologize for the misunderstanding. Rimuru, wondering why they attacked me, asks them why. They explain their story about the Orc attack that wiped out they're village and the masked majin they saw during the attack.
Seeing how this conversation could be important Rimuru sends a Hobgoblin who was spectating our conversation to bring Rigurd, Kaijin and the four chiefs to come and participate in the conversation as well. They arrive a few minutes later and the conversation continues.
After the end of their tale Rimuru thinks for a moment and then asks, "If you guys are having this trouble why not team up with us?"
Benimaru asks, "What do you mean?"
Explaining further he says, "We can help you guys. Judging from your story we might have to deal with them too so we might as well team up to benefit each other."
Understanding what he means now he says, "I see, so you will help us in exchange for our help protecting this village, correct?"
Rimuru who is currently in his Slime form, we told them we were Slimes earlier, jiggles around as he says, "Exactly! It's fine if this agreement only lasts until we defeat the Orcs as well. Afterwards, you can regain your freedom if you want."
Benimaru thinks about this for a bit before deciding, "Understood, we shall become your subordinates."
After this Rimuru says something that immediately catches them off guard though, "Cool! Do you guys have names?"
They all respond saying, "No."
"Then we'll name you all!"
They all yell, "Eeeeehhh!" Benimaru, recovering first, asks why.
"I just thought it would be more convenient."
They all say that it's not necessary but Rimuru insists. To keep him from collapsing, which he still probably isn't aware can happen I offer to name half of them. He agrees, which leads to me naming Kurobe, Shuna and Souei.
After naming them we watch as they evolve into Kijin and pledge their loyalty to us. Just like that they have finally joined the village.
After a bit more work introducing them to the village and explaining the rules I finally head back to my home to work on my project some more. That was a pretty big distraction but an important one. Arriving at my home I look around for an area wide enough to fit a large factory sized building. Yes, my next project after a normal house is a building the size of a large factory. Pretty big leap but thanks to [Great Sage] and [Genius] it shouldn't be much of a problem.
Locating a pretty flat area if the trees are removed I use a [Wind Pulse] to blast trees down and use [Predator] to eat the roots still underground and the trees above ground for more building material. The resulting land still has some holes and looks pretty unstable from where the roots used to be so I need to fix that.
Using a bunch of materials in my stomach I'm actually able to make some basic concrete which I lay over the floor to stabilize it. This will essentially be the foundation for the building and serves as a way for me to better visualize what the building will look like. The result is a large flat stable slab of concrete covering a really large man-made or should I say monster-made clearing in the forest. With the base finished I finally get ready to build. Pulling out large sturdy planks of wood from my stomach I get ready for what will probably be one of my longest projects ever.
"Finally, I can make my lab."