A/N: Halloo guys, a little note before we get into the fic.
I have little to no experience writing Lotm, this is essentially my first attempt at a long-ish Lotm fic. This is basically a project for me to get used to writing in the world of Lotm, familiarise myself with writing fights fitting this particular power system, develop character interactions based on canon, etc.
I thought of this idea randomly, and it was sitting in my notes for a while before I finally decided to start working on it.
Do note that I have only read Lotm and NOT COI. (No idea if and when I'll start). I have also read all 22 available Volumes of the Tensura Light Novel.
Keep in mind that the power system of Lotm is fairly huge, and there will be some minor adjustments I make for the sake of the plot, but I will try my best to keep consistent with the canon system and rules. The first and most important subversion of rules will be the Rimuru's powers themselves. His powerset is not really realistic if you go by canon rules, but I've tried my best to fit them into the LotM power system.
NOTE. This story will have long expositions and monologues and in-depth explanations of various things, as both Tensura and Lotm are highly descriptive and expository novels.
This story will focus on not only Rimuru (who will ofc be the protag), but also several LotM characters. There will also be several OCs. The first few chaps will focus more on Rimuru, until his character arc and story converges with the main storyline and canon plot. (This fic starts off chronologically around the end of Volume 1 and start of Volume 2 of Lotm)
The pacing will be faster than canon, and obviously there will be canon divergence as we move forward in the story. As the story is set in Lotm, it will follow Lotm's writing style, and not Tensura's First Person POV style.
I would be glad to hear your thoughts in the comments on each chapter (especially constructive criticism).
Without further ado, enjoy!
---
The Spirit World was a higher-dimensional plane of existence, a realm beyond physical limitations, a nexus of the past and future, unbound by time and continuity, and an amalgamation of information and symbolism. It was in a constant and paradoxical state of activity and inactivity. A perfect balance between order and chaos. Yet this balance was suddenly and inexplicably broken.
For the first time since it's conception, the Spirit World experienced an anomaly, a ripple across the dimensional plane, an unexpected entry.
Seven Brilliant Lights all turned their gazes in the same direction, puzzled, surprised, and most of all, intrigued.
A soul had taken from, its origins unknown, it's nature familiar yet strange. It drew from the Spirit World, similar to the various residents of the dimension— Evil Spirits and Contracted Creatures, yet at the same time it was independent, possessing a biological body made of spirituality.
As soon as it took shape, it was ejected from the Spirit World, it's physical body seeking existence in the Physical World. It exited just as suddenly as it entered, leaving the Seven Lights perplexed and curious.
It's destination seemed random as it landed in the Physical World, unaware of the ripples it's incomprehensible existence had caused. It was something fundamentally unique, something never seen before.
It was an anomaly.
---
Wh— Where am I?
He couldn't see anything, he couldn't feel anything, none of his senses worked.
This feels oddly familiar… He recalled his state when he had first reincarnated into Veldora's cave.
What happened? Just a second ago, he was battling the Orc Disaster Geld in a clash of wills, his gluttonous hunger against the Orc Disaster's desperate cravings.
So I lost?
It does seem so…
Hey, [Great Sage], you there?
«Received. Yes.»
What? Contrary to his expectations, the voice in his head actually responded. He was shocked.. How was his skill still active if he was dead?
What's going on?
«Received. Analysis of the current situation is ongoing. Circumstances are inexplicable on basis of possessed data.»
So even you don't know what's going on… well that's a first.
He was strangely calm, he realised, considering the situation he was in. He had apparently just lost a fight, and consequently the war against the Orcs.
He expected to feel grief, despair maybe, but instead there was only acceptance. Perhaps some regret at not being able to see his subjects again. He had grown quite attached to them in their short time shared together.
Regardless, he had done what he could, he had fought a war for them, to the best of his ability… but apparently it hadn't been enough.
That did make him feel something. Bitter. He wasn't powerful enough. That felt wrong. Inadequacy always awoke something ugly inside him. He had been given a second chance at life, and he'd wasted it. That makes me feel so pathetic…
Alas, he couldn't do anything to change the past. What was done, was done, there was no going back. What he could do was simply accept the outcome and move forward.
If there is anything to move forward to, that is…
«Report. Initial analysis is complete.»
Hit me.
«Received. Initial observations include:
Bodily Composition has been altered.
There is a complete absence of magicules, both inside and outside the body.
Skills are not functioning as they should.
Unknown, metaphysical energy has been detected inside the body, temporarily deemed non-hostile.
Trans-spatial connection to an unknown dimension has been detected inside the body.
No information is accessible through the sub-skill [All of Creation].
Conclusion. You have been transported to an unknown realm, one outside of the influence of the [Voice of the World], with several alterations to the composition of the body.»
Well, fuck.
This is not good… not good at all.
Rimuru Tempest had been reincarnated once again.
---
It didn't take him very long to realise that he was well and truly fucked.
His latest reincarnation was very different from his first one, and that meant that his prior experience in the field was utterly meaningless. Thankfully, by the grace of whichever god that was playing with his life, he had [Great Sage] with him.
Over the past few hours since he had appeared in this new world, he had realised several things, ranging from relieving, to troubling, to absolutely horror-inducing knowledge. First, was that this new world had entirely separate laws governing it than the one he was in before.
His existence had completely changed, reforming to fit the laws of this new world. It was similar to the previous world in some aspects, mainly their resemblance to the fantasy novels he'd read in his first life, but other than that, everything was different.
His very being had changed from the inside out. He no longer was a magicule-composed monster, a Slime. Instead, he was some semi-metaphysical, spiritual creature formed of an unknown energy, with a connection to an unknown higher-dimensional plane.
His body was composed of 4 layers, one of them— the outermost one being purely physical while the rest lying somewhere between metaphysical and spiritual. At the very core of his being was something the [Great Sage] deduced to be the soul. This soul was formed of an unknown energy that permeated through his entire being. It was akin to his life-force, and it functioned as a combination of the mana and magicules that he was familiar with.
[Great Sage] had notified him that it was using this energy to function, since he had no magicules or mana anymore. And apparently, not just [Great Sage], but all his skills were tied to this energy… the skills that were left anyway.
Yeah, that's right. He had lost all the skills which were imprinted on his physical body, meaning he had none of the skills he had acquired from consuming various monsters any more.
His primary arsenal was now composed of the 3 Unique Skills: [Great Sage], [Predator] and [Degenerate] which he had gained from absorbing Shizue's soul.
Other than those, he still had the other 3 skills he'd gained from consuming Ifrit-Shizue: [Black Flame], [Multi-layered Barrier], and [Replication].
Lastly, he had retained all his Tolerance skills: Pain and Temperature Nullification, and Paralysis, Physical Attack and Electricity Resistance, along with his only Intrinsic Skill, [Self-Regeneration].
Unfortunately, even the skills he had left weren't exactly functioning at full capacity. All the accumulated information stored within his skills had been lost. That meant that all the forms he could transform into using [Mimicry] were gone, with the exception of Shizue's human form and Ifrit's Fire Titan form.
I've been nerfed so hard…
The next realisation was that his [Stomach], which was a dimensional subspace storage from his Unique Skill [Predator] was completely empty except for one item: Shizue's Mask.
That meant that Veldora was gone, and so was everything else that he had stored. That certainly makes me feel lonely.
I don't think it can get much lonelier than this, if I'm being honest… He sulked over his situation. Right now, he was sitting on a pile of rocks on the coast. He had absolutely no clue where he was, as he had just crawled out of a crevice in the coastal rock formations, where he had initially appeared in this world.
He was in his human form, having transformed as soon as he had escaped from the crevice. It was more out of necessity than choice, since he didn't have [Magic Sense] anymore, leaving him blind in his Slime form. He was clothed in Shizue's attire, the same one he had donned in his previous world. His brilliant silver hair flowed in the evening breeze, the rising moonlight revealing it's bluish hue which often went unnoticed. His androgynous and stunningly beautiful face glowed as his golden eyes gazed toward the horizon.
He sighed dejectedly. I've got to plan my next steps carefully… the biggest obstacles will be my utter lack of information about this world. I don't know anything about the geography, language, administration, currency, absolutely nothing. Heck, I don't even know what era or setting this world is in. If there is a civilization nearby, I could find a person to use [Predator] on, since there's bound to be some bad eggs that no one would miss. That would give me a temporary identity through [Mimicry], and I could also get more information with [Analysis]. Any items and money would be a bonus.
However, the problem is if there isn't a civilization nearby. For all I know I could be stranded on a uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean. Let's hope that's not the case. Anyways, I should get moving, there's no point wasting time sulking, and I have to cover as much ground as possible while the night still provides cover.
Rimuru sighed as he picked himself up off the rocks, newfound determination shining in his eyes. Dying again hadn't extinguished his tenacious will, he wouldn't be giving up that easily. If fate wanted him to be it's plaything, he would make sure to fuck it's plans up.
He might have been reincarnated into a very unrelenting situation, but this also meant that he had been given yet another chance at life.
And he sure as hell wasn't about to waste this one.
---
Marcus Shaw liked to call himself an adventurer. A brave man sailing across the sea, in search of grand treasure. But in reality, he was nothing more than a pirate for hire. His allegiance lying to no man or crew, but only money. He hopped from ship to ship, serving under various Pirate captains, earning his share from each treasure found and each bounty hunted.
He had just completed one such venture, earning some meagre coin that he had spent on dinner, alcohol and some fun at the Red Theatre. Raiding civilian ships wasn't very fruitful anymore, atleast in terms of money. The women were still plenty fun.
So he was now back to being penniless. Homeless too, since he hadn't booked a room at any inn.
Another night in the harbour then… The cold winds were the worst part of sleeping outside. Everything else, he was just fine with
He opened his eyes after realising that he had to find a spot to doze off soon. Preferably under the harbour where the winds don't reach.
He was currently lying with his back directly on the cold ground, after he had been thrown out of a bar for causing a ruckus. It was unfair, he thought, he wasn't to blame after all, it was all the alcohol's fault.
He slowly regained his bearings and lifted himself off the ground, stumbling on his feet due to his drunken state. Fucking hell the headache tomorrow is gonna be a nightmare.
He patted his body down in a half-baked effort to clean himself, and then checked the insides of his cloak for his belongings. Good, the gun and daggers are still here…
He had to check, since he couldn't put it past the reprobates at the bar to swipe it during the ruckus and his consequent eviction. Bayam had no shortage of thieves and pickpockets.
After confirming the presence of his scarce possessions, he looked up at the sky and sighed, his eyes twinkling in the moonlight. I should get going, I have to find a spot fast, before the bums take all the good ones. Though, if I do find a spot I like and it's occupied, I can just scare the person away.
He finally decided on a general direction to head in. But before he could start making his way to the harbour, he caught a glimpse of glinting silver from the corner of his eye. Immediately interested, he whirled his body towards the corner end of the alleyway, his vision still blurry from the alcohol.
Silver hair.
He saw long silver hair peeking out from the corner of the alleyway, hidden behind a pillar. His mind worked at the possibilities as a large grin formed in his face. Hahaha looks like this is my lucky day, silver haired women ain't common 'round here.
His eyes glinting with anticipation, he started walking towards the pillar, his steps slow and heavy. The silver hair suddenly disappeared completely behind the pillar, causing him to increase his pace as he called out, "Wait, stop!"
His voice was hoarse and words were slurred. He started running towards the pillar as fast as he could in his intoxicated state. He staggered over his steps and panted as he reached the pillar.
There she is…
Silver, flowing hair reaching her waist, with a petite figure, her height not even reaching his shoulders. She had a white cloak draped over her shoulders, billowing softly in the night breeze. Even with her back turned to him, Marcus Shaw could tell that this woman was extraordinarily beautiful.
"Hey darling, what's your name?" He blurted out. His mind was governed by alcohol, lust and greed. Rational thoughts and morals had no place in it. His grin widened.
When she didn't respond to him, he took a step toward her and roughly grabbed her shoulder, trying to turn her toward him forcefully.
"I asked you somethi—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the women before him disappeared, in her place appearing a silvery-blue blob. He didn't even have time to process what was happening before his mind went completely blank. All thoughts melted as all his senses failed.
The blob expanded and engulfed him entirely, his whole body disappearing inside it. Within seconds, the man named Marcus Shaw was no more. His body, his memories and his soul, everything was consumed.
With no body left to bury, and no one to mourn him, he simply disappeared off the face of the planet.
In the eerie silence of the alleyway, the blob started pulsing and bulging, slowly growing in size. It burgeoned into a humanoid figure, and then grew human features. Gradually settling into a form, a human figure appeared under the moonlight, bearing no oddities or resemblance to the predatory blob.
Then, without sparing a single glance back, Marcus Shaw strolled out of the alley.
---