Standing to the side of the training grounds he had prepared before, Mikaeru stood with his back leaning against a tree as he looked over his sword. The Adamant Blade he had created before was a sword that he had created primarily as an additional tool to his arsenal. It wasn't a particularly long blade. For a broadsword it was quite short. Noticeably shorter than Rimuru's own katana. He had chosen to sacrifice length for maneuverability. A choice that made sense once his fighting style was in play.
He ran his finger over the sword's edge. Sharp. Had he been human just grazing the sword would have drawn blood. The sword had two notches on either side of the blade as well. Mostly for decoration, they would also end up causing more pain.
He began playing with the sword, spinning it around himself before sheathing it effortlessly on the holster he had attached to his belt. The display sent flashy, shimmering blue light everywhere as the gemstone-like material on its guard caught the rays.
"Hehe." This would be the first time he used it.
He felt Rimuru approach from nearby, also equipped with the katana he had made before. It looked nearly identical to the blade he had in the original story, although he figured it was most likely not as strong yet, given Kurobe hadn't forged it.
Mikaeru put a hand to his chin. "So, thoughts on your skill with that sword? You haven't used it in battle yet." Shizue had already been scanned before, so both had access to her sword skills, but experience was still important. Even Rimuru set aside time to get real practice in the original.
Rimuru gave a semi-confident smile back. With his hand scratching the back of his head he told him, "Shizu and I have sparred a few times before."
"Can't say I've seen it yet. Strange, strange~."
Rimuru deadpanned, "You say that but you haven't been doing any training yourself."
"Don't need it yet." Mikaeru gave his brother a confident smirk. "I actually did some combat and weapons training back on Earth. I was pretty good at it too. Not many could measure up to me. Adapting to the data from Shizu's combat style wasn't hard."
Rimuru stared. "What didn't you do?"
"Well, I didn't know how to cook. I was pretty much surviving on mostly takeout and frozen food."
"D-Didn't you say you were 39 years old?"
"Yeah." Mikaeru titled his head, genuinely confused about what he meant. "Something wrong?"
"Nothing." Rimuru turned away. 39 years old and he couldn't even make himself a meal.
Mikaeru looked at Rimuru with a confused expression. "Was it something I said?"
{…}
Choosing to ignore that, Mikaeru looked around. He had brought Rito and his team over as well as a few of the goblin rider teams. Without Hakurou to train them yet, they had instead defaulted to learning mostly on their own. It was effective, but he would have to get them more formal training eventually.
"Getting them a starting introduction will be good."
As for Shizue, she was still talking through the details of the duel with the kijin. Everyone had more or less agreed on the general structure. It would be a two on two direct fight with weaponry and skills allowed. The conditions for a loss were one side gives up or one side is rendered unable to fight. No killing blows allowed as well for obvious reasons. It was a case for elimination from combat if the opponent managed to catch you in a situation where death would have occurred realistically. Such as a situation where a sword was placed near the neck.
She was still working out the details of things like what exactly constituted elimination and under what conditions one would be considered unable to fight.
It was something she needed to know as she would be one of the two monitoring the duel. The other being Hakurou. Mikaeru looked at his opponents. Benimaru was wearing the exact same clothes he wore in canon, whereas Shion was geared in what looked to be a mix between a samurai and a savage warrior type look.
He laughed when he saw Shuna. She was scolding Benimaru to not take it too far this time.
Their weapons were the same as in the original. Benimaru wielded his tachi as in canon and Shion a gigantic odachi looking like the Soul Split Katana on steroids. Closer analysis of them revealed their power. Both were unique grade weapons. Comparable to the best weapons you could realistically buy with money. Below the slime's own katana and broadsword but not too weak.
[Great Sage], anything I might need to know?
{Notice- The possession of Unique Skills have been confirmed. Caution is advised}
A brow went up. "Unique Skills, eh? Looks like Byakuya doesn't keep students average for long." He wouldn't be surprised if both of them manifested skills purely from physical desperation in training.
Hakurou and Shizue walked up to them, having already fully prepared the rule set. The two carefully detailed everything, from the signal to start the duel to taboo moves that were considered dishonorable.
Listening carefully, Mikaeru grew a slim smirk. They were very thorough with this. Shizue explained, "The countdown for the duel will begin once both parties are standing in their starting positions. You can take a bit more time to prepare if you need."
Mikaeru crossed his arms and began to walk forward. "I'm ready. It's about time something exciting happened around here." Walking into the square marking the position for the slimes, he looked across the field. The kijin were similarly ready.
Shion stood strong with her feet planted hard on the ground. Meanwhile Benimaru confidently stood at the ready with his hand on his sword's hilt.
Mikaeru gave them the dignity of similarly standing ready. Rimuru didn't take much longer to run into the square. The battle would commence.
From the outside of the combat grounds, Shizue stood with her hand raised. "This shall be a fair fight between warriors. Dishonorable tactics shall not be permitted. The duel shall end when one side has either become unable to fight or declares defeat." Shizu ran through the rules one last time before moving to the declaration. "The duel shall begin on the count of 3." She paused. "1, 2, 3!"
Immediately the ground shook as Shion cracked the ground beneath her with the force of her foot.
Dust flew in all directions as a loud ring blasted out. The sheer force of the collision of weapons immediately sent out a shockwave that sent any loose dirt and dust flying out into the trees.
Mikaeru had found himself clashing with Shion, leaving Rimuru with Benimaru. Mikaeru smirked. The two entered a quick scuffle with swords, during which Mikaeru quickly noted the problem. There was too much of a power gap. Fighting purely with blades would result in him remaining on the back foot. Entering a sword tangle with the kijin, he set his eyes on moving to a more unconventional strategy.
He turned his weapon to exit the sword tangle and ducked, letting the blade shoot over him. Kicking Shion's feet, she was knocked off them, leaving her open. She didn't let that beat her though. She caught herself on her arm and launched herself back.
"Not gonna happen!" [Steel Thread] caught the kijin mid air and pulled her back. She cut away at the threads with her blade and landed with her foot on the ground, kicking it with her full weight to shatter it. Losing footing, Mikaeru sprouted wings and flapped upwards. The kijin tried to catch him with an upwards swing but missed. [Controlled Airflow] had been used to increase his upwards momentum too fast.
Shion clicked her tongue. "Just like Souei."
Off on the other side of the grounds Rimuru and Benimaru had entered a prolonged swordfight, countering and parrying each other's strikes flawlessly. Thanks to his knowledge of Shizue's own fluid combat style, the resulting clash almost looked like a dance, beautifully complementing each other's movements like a well oiled machine. During this clash, Benimaru noticed something. He had coated his sword in flames before the fight, yet Rimuru remained unperturbed. "Heat Resistance?"
He jumped back. Before Rimuru could follow, the kijin gathered a ball of flames in hand. "[Sacred Flame]!" A ball of shimmering red and white fire shot out of his palms, landing directly on Rimuru. As expected however, the result was no damage.
"I see." Benimaru braced himself for what was to come next. It appeared his opponent was immune to one of his strongest weapons. His grip tightened on his sword. "A worthy opponent indeed."
Up above, Mikaeru tried a similar strategy to Benimaru on Shion, gathering a much less concentrated form of fire up above. "[Phoenix Fire]!" The concentrated magical flame shot down like a torrential downpour, leaving the kijin with little ground. She grunted. Letting out breath to calm herself, she gathered her internal energy within herself. The very essence of Byakuya's Hazy Style manifested within the kijin, covering her in a thin aura of condensed Battlewill. Then she jumped.
As if it was nothing, that single jump quickly turned into another, then another. The kijin smiled as she climbed up the air as easily as one would climb a set of stairs. This was the Battlewill ability, Airflight.
Mikaeru smirked. "Say less, say less~!" He laughed, "Alright then, let's get vertical!"
The rules had dictated that the fight had to stay within the area, but it never disqualified air combat.
With [Explosive Flames], Mikaeru littered the air in a hellscape of explosions as the kijin quickly got closer. Within seconds, she was above him raising her sword up with inhuman speeds. "[Ranged Barrier]!" Swinging down, the sword collided with his transparent shield, shattering it and launching the slime downwards. Catching himself, he twisted himself mid air with [Controlled Airflow]. "[Black Ligtning]!" A gigantic bolt of black electricity shot down, catching Shion in it. Losing her hold on the air, she began to fall, opening her up to Mikaeru's own attack. Recovering quickly though, the purple haired warrior would not let herself fall to this.
The two quickly entered a midair struggle.
Down below, Benimaru and Rimuru continued the struggle. With the slime immune to fire and the kijin too strong with defense, the two had entered a deadlock in which neither truly had the upper hand.
Pushing harder than he had before, Benimaru quickly managed to get one up on the slime as he succeeded in cutting off his hand. "Gya!" Rimuru quickly reattached it and countered with his own swing. Before it could land however, two people landed between them. Mikaeru and Shion's struggle had failed to reach a winner and the two ended up falling to the ground full force. Uninjured, Mikaeru returned to his slime form and reconstituted next to Mikaeru. Shion did similar, jumping to Benimaru.
After her struggle with the nimble slime, she had managed to end up with a few minor scratches.
Benimaru scanned her. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. It is nothing serious." She sighed. "I believe we are not going to win if we don't get serious."
Benimaru seemed to think about it. "I agree."
Rimuru and Mikaeru braced themselves as they heard this. The two oni turned to them.
Benimaru closed his eyes and summoned a ring of fire behind him. His feet began to burn and his horns began to glow. His already on fire blade grew brighter, searing the very air itself with its power.
Shion on the other hand was much less flashy. She merely repositioned her footing and smiled. Shifting her pose to directly point her sword forwards.
{Notice- Unique Skill [Hellfire Furnace] has been activated. Activation of the skill will increase the power and speed of the user as well as alter the constitution of the user's fire. The fire will burn through any non immunity fire resistance and ignore any physical barrier in front of the target}
Mikaeru's face hardened. "What a bullshit ability."
Shion lifted her sword and swung downwards. Rimuru's [Great Sage] immediately activated.
{Warning- Danger has been detected}
Rimuru immediately jumped out of the way as a blast of pure slicing energy shot out. Continuing past Rimuru, it flew straight at Gobta. "Waah!" Before cutting the hobgoblin clean in half, the slice dissipated into nothing, leaving him unharmed.
That didn't stop the hobgoblin's heart from nearly stopping though as he gripped his chest in fear.
{Notice- Unique Skill [Calamity] grants the user the ability to increase the range of a calamity. It can be used to increase the range, strength, nature, direction, severity or any other aspect of a harmful action. A side effect of the skill is the corruption or malformation of any creative action the user partakes in such as art, singing or cooking}
Mikaeru's face paled. "Oh my god." At that point it wasn't the fight that he was most scared of.
Rimuru looked at Mikaeru and got serious. He must have realized something terrifying for a look like that to appear on his face. This would be tough.
Mikaeru shook off the bad omen and sighed. "You're going to go all out, yes? Very well." He smiled. "Let's end this in one more exchange."
{Notice- Extra Skill [Elemental Transformation] has been activated}
As Mikaeru began to transform, Rimuru seemed to catch on as he did the same. The area quickly filled with an explosion of raw magicules as the two slimes began to float. Benimaru seemed to recognize the ability, nodding to himself. "I see." His eyes shifted to Shizue. "It seems you have quite a deep connection. I should have guessed myself."
His furnace increased in brightness, as his body was further engulfed in shimmering flames.
"Let us end this." He held his sword up straight and positioned it in front of himself. Taking up a basic stance he had learned in childhood, he declared. "Let us begin." With that, all four vanished.
The ground ruptured and exploded as Shion's [Calamity] escalated the rupturing of the ground beneath her into a giant lifting of dirt and stone.
Within the haze of brown, fire flew in all directions as each and every swing of Benimaru's sword sent a searing fire that burned through the air itself. Barely dodging the onslaught, Mikaeru and Rimuru glided through the air like ghosts as their enhanced skills altered their surroundings with violent precision.
While Rimuru used a combination of [Menace] and [Hive Mind] on Shion to draw her attention, Mikaeru used [Great Sage] to analyze the dirt in the air and then used [Controlled Airflow] to gather all the dust together. He pointed at it. "[Combustion]!"
Shion shook off Rimuru's taunt just in time to catch sight of the dust explosion. [Calamity] quickly turned the explosion into a controlled blast of fire aimed right back at the slimes. Rimuru raised both arms in front of him. "Water Wall" Using [Water Manipulation] to lift a giant wall of water in front of them, Mikaeru could only marvel for a moment before Benimaru charged him with his blade.
"[Air Cutter]!" A wave of wind blades shot out which Benimaru quickly parried with his blade.
"[Ultrasound Wave]!" Yelled Rimuru as a blast of concussive sound shot at Benimaru, breaking his focus just long enough to let Mikaeru dodge, although it left Rimuru open to a slice from Shion. Splitting in half, Mikaeru focused on Shion.
"[Wind Pulse]!" Mikaeru declared as Benimaru was shot into the air with an upwards gust.
Rimuru followed the fire kijin after reforming, letting Mikaeru charge Shion. She was a problem. [Calamity] was too unpredictable an ability, so he would end that problem right here. Shion swung her blade multiple times, sending blades of calamity right as Mikaeru. Dodging each and every one, he drew his sword once more to end the fight. Using the full force of his run, he clashed with Shion. The force just barely loosened her grip on it. "It's finished!"
He wouldn't hold back. "[Black Lightning]!" In the split second her grip was loose, a giant bolt of black electricity shot down from above. Mikaeru swung upwards with his sword at full force, knocking the blade off of Shion's hand. Like a beast, she took the shock full force, not letting this be the end as she resorted to swinging downwards with her fist. Mikaeru jumped back to avoid as [Calamity] turned her punch into a miniature meteor impact, launching stone everywhere, manipulating it so one particularly large rock is shot straight at Mikaeru.
"Not today!" He rapidly shifted his form, letting the rock fly right past him. "About time I use this!"
{Notice- Analysis of Subject Benimaru's Extra Skill [Sacred Flame] complete. Using information acquired to create Extra Skill [Black Flame]}
"About time!" He gathered a ball of black fire in his hand and threw it forward. "[Black Flame]!" Shion yelled out in pain as she was completely engulfed in fire. Seconds passed before the fire died down, leaving Shion charred like a cartoon character. She coughed out a puff of smoke before fully collapsing.
Up above, Rimuru used his wings to rapidly ascend past where Mikaeru had blasted Benimaru.
This was it. He wrapped the kijin up in a giant web of [Steel Thread], overwhelming him with sheer amount. Not letting him cut through them all, then drew his sword and raised his hands high above his head. This was something Shizue had shown him while they were traveling to Ogra. "Searing flame slash!" With a sword engulfed in newly acquired black flames, he swung downwards, blasting the kijin at the ground with enough force to create a sonic boom. A massive final dust explosion shot out from the middle of the arena as Benimaru was shot in.
The area went quiet as Mikaeru and Rimuru both reverted back to their normal forms.
Everyone in the area not affiliated with powerful beings like Ariana watched the aftermath in sheer astonishment, covered in dirt from the giant explosions covering the area over and over.
The final dust cloud died down, revealing Benimaru sitting on the ground with a smile on his face, burning through the last of the [Steel Threads] with the final ashes of his furnace. There he sat for a few seconds before letting himself fall back.
"I concede defeat. Shion and I have lost."
Shizue giggled. "It appears the winners of this duel are Rimuru and Mikaeru Tempest!"
No one heard as Rimuru caught his breath. "Wow. That was one of the craziest things I've ever done."
Just you wait, Rimuru, Mikaeru thought in his mind. This was far from the peak. But of course he didn't say that. He simply nodded along. Spawning two full potions, he splashed them on Shion and Benimaru, giving them both the strength to stand.
Waking up, Shion looked around. "W-wha!?"
Benimaru walked over to her and helped her up, letting her in on how the fight had ended. She accepted it, acknowledging the slime's strength.
Mikaeru couldn't help but agree with Rimuru on one thing. This was definitely the most fantastical thing they had done up to that point. It was enough to wear out even him. He watched as Rimuru let himself collapse into a puddle of slime and decided to do the same. Finally snapping out of their daze, the resident monsters began to cheer at the win of their lords.
Only then did Mikaeru feel something. "Huh?"
Something soft had lifted him up and rested him on top of itself. He felt something round and soft squished itself against his body. "Wait, that's…"
"Wow, you're just as cool and soft as I imagined."
Shuna? She giggled. "I just wanted to try it."
Wait, but why not…He turned to Rimuru, only to see him in the arms of Shizue. Oh, that's why.
Shion looked at the two girls. That…it looked comfortable. She wanted to try it.
Hakurou nodded. "That was most impressive."
The fight had ended in a win for the slime siblings, and with it they had secured the trust and perhaps even the beginnings of loyalty of the strongest of Jura. Mikaeru laid back, satisfied. "This I could get used to." Wait a minute. Shuna blushed.
He panicked. "Wait! That's not what I meant!"