The Goblins
"Gr-Great Lord, a-are you per-perhaps Veldora-sama??"
{A/N: In Japanese, 'sama' is a suffix used to show great respect to individuals who are older or higher ranking than you.}
This was an interesting situation, a group of goblins stood before me shivering in fear.
"Not exactly, but you could refer to me as his apostle," I spoke. Calling myself Veldora's apostle would come in handy as all monsters in this forest greatly feared him, even just his name. Being his apostle would give me a sort of authority in this place.
Just to confirm, I opened a telepathic channel, 'Hey, Veldora, you don't mind me calling myself your apostle right?'
'What? Oh yeah, you can do whatever, now leave me alone. I'm trying to watch One Piece over here.' Veldora said in an annoyed voice.
'Damn, he's gonna be destroyed when he learns that he won't be able to watch the whole series. Matter of fact, now I feel really sad too, I really wanted to see it end someday.' I pondered.
Moving on "So what are you all doing here?" I asked the goblins.
They bowed down after hearing about my status, "We don't mind telling you Great Lord, but can you please tone down your overwhelming aura?"
'Shit I forgot about that'. Then I stopped my aura from leaking as much as I could. These weak monsters must really be frightened of this massive magical aura.
The goblins visibly relaxed as if a massive pressure was lifted off their shoulders.
"Great Lord, we are a patrol group stationed at the exit of Lord Veldora's cave. Since his magical presence disappeared 3 months ago, many monsters have been roaming around the forest freely."
'What! How? Veldora is still there, so how did this happen?'
<Received. The individual 'Veldora' has stopped leaking any magicules after his encounter with you. To the monsters of the forest, who rely on instinct, it essentially means that Lord Veldora has disappeared. However, powerful sensory skills and magic can still sense his presence.>
'!! Then why didn't any adventurers come to investigate?? Does that mean that the human nations know that Veldora hasn't disappeared?? So many questions....well, no use thinking about it right now.' I thought.
"First of all, you may refer to me as Lord Ashborne, and secondly, Veldora hasn't disappeared."
Feelings of awe and relief swept their faces. "As expected of Lord Veldora's apostle. Lord Ashborne is a named monster, he must have come to protect us in Lord Veldora's stead."
"You could say that, now Lead me to your village," I ordered.
They vigorously nodded their heads as they started to run in a direction beckoning me to follow.
After a few minutes of walking, we reached a village. It couldn't be called an actual village, the houses were broken down and the inhabitants seemed depressed. As soon as we arrived, an old goblin who seemed on the verge of falling over and dying, greeted us.
"Oh! You've returned from the cave, have you? This must be the Great Presence we felt." He spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Please bow down, Elder. Lord Ashborne here is the Apostle of Lord Veldora."
"Oh dear Lord, forgive me for this disrespect." He panicked and immediately tried to bow down. I stopped him because it seemed like if he bowed down, he wouldn't be able to get back up.
"You are the leader of this village I presume? Enlighten me about the situation." I told him. Though I knew exactly who he was. This was the unnamed version of Rigurdo, someone subject to one of the greatest glow-ups in the history of anime. Man went from looking like a shriveled Yoda to the illegitimate son of Yujiro Hanma, in the span of a single day.
"Very well, Lord Ashborne. It all started around 3 months ago. Everything was peaceful until the Fire Nation attacked-- ahem! I mean until Lord Veldora's presence suddenly disappeared from the cave. There were still traces left, but after a month, he truly seemed to have disappeared."
"Soon after that, monsters from the outskirts of the Great Jura Forest started entering the territory which was once under the protection of Lord Veldora, hoping to find land, prey, and resources. The main invaders were the Direwolf Clan. This led to our tiny village being constantly harassed and attacked. The direwolves are great in strength and even greater in number. We have lost many warriors, including my eldest son, Rigur, the only named member of our village."
"We have nothing left, my Lord. We beg of you to help us, with your great power and Lord Veldora's blessing, you can surely save us." He pleaded, with a desperate look on his face.
I felt immense pity for them, greatly enhanced by the fact that I knew these characters in a good light from my past life. I was obviously going to help them, but on a condition.
"I shall help you and bestow upon you my blessing. However, in return, I demand total loyalty and trust from you all."
"Of course my Lord. We thank you for your generosity." They unanimously said.
"Now then, lead me to where your injured members are." I said.
"Of course, my Lord, but may I ask why."
"For my first gift and a show of my power."
Still confused, the elder led me to a ragtag tent, if could even call it that. Inside, were around 20 injured goblins, mostly warriors but there were a few children too. I approached them as they stared at me in fear and confusion. But the elder assured them and told them to calm down and submit to me.
I raised my hands, "[Soul Seize] !!"
Magicules left my body and enveloped their souls, forming a connection with me. Their bodies were engulfed by darkness for a few seconds before it disappeared, revealing 20 much healthier-looking goblins. All their injuries were gone, and they were looking fabulous.
Everyone who witnessed the miracle was awestruck. The elder looked speechless.
"You all are now a part of my Legion. You have become stronger and will continue to grow with me."
One of the Goblins finally gathered the courage, stood, and bowed before me. "My Lord, thank you for this blessing. I feel much stronger and shall use this strength to serve you in any way possible."
One by one, all the goblins bowed before me and gave their respects. Soon, the goblin elder came before me. "Lord Ashborne, I humbly ask you to give your blessing to the rest of us too."
"Of course, gather them all outside. I shall make an address" I replied.
Within a minute, every single member of the village had gathered, eagerly waiting for the new Lord to speak to them. Rumors of his miracles had already spread to all the villagers.
I climbed on top of a nearby rock to give my speech.
"I am Ashborne Pendragon, friend and apostle of Veldora Pendragon, who in fact, has not disappeared. From now on, I shall give you my blessing, protection, and strength in return for undying loyalty and trust. Should you choose to serve me, you shall become a part of my Legion. ARE YOU WILLING?!!" I proclaimed.
"YES! Lord Ashborne." Goblins were quite simple creatures, having lesser intelligence compared to humans and greatly relying on their instincts, which told them told them to follow the strong in order to survive. Some food, shelter, and protection were enough to win their loyalty, but me? I was offering much more.
"Very well! From now on, are are a part of the Legion of Ashborne Pendragon! REJOICE!!"
"[Soul Seize] !!"
Every goblin except the 20, were engulfed in darkness as their souls were bound to me. The darkness dissipated to reveal around 100 dark green figures kneeling on the ground.
"We are forever thankful, Lord Ashborne!" I chuckled, giddy that my Legion had already expanded beyond a hundred.
"Now then, line up in front of this boulder to receive your blessing," I commanded.
Murmurs spread through the crowd, "What could it be?", "Will Lord Ashborne be giving us something?"
"I shall now be giving each and every member of this village, NAMES!" I announced. Shocked voices burst out of the crowd, surprised and in disbelief at the notion of receiving names.
"My Lord, names are not a thing you should be giving out so easily, we are not deserving of such a luxury." The elder spoke to me in a concerned voice.
"Do not worry, I am perfectly capable of naming all of you. Now then, in honor of your gallant son, henceforth, you shall be called 'Rigurdo'!!"
A bright light exploded from the goblin's body as he stepped behind, astonished.
I repeated the process with every single goblin, giving them names that Rimuru had given them originally.
There was a big difference though. Rimuru had Veldora's endless magicules as a backup whenever he carelessly named monsters. On the other hand, I did not possess such a convenient battery. However, I did know that I had a much larger capacity of Magicules than Rimuru had at this point in the story. This was due to many reasons. One, I had reincarnated TWICE. Even a single reincarnation results in the person having a lot of Magicules due to the material body being broken down and reconstructed. During this process, souls with strong egos become even stronger.
My soul had gone through that process twice, hence I have a much larger capacity of magicules. At least, that was what me and [Great Sage] theorized.
The second reason is that, whenever a monster is added to my Legion, their magicule capacity is added to mine. And I have killed around 50 monsters, averaging around rank B. Obviously, this was not applicable to Veldora, as me and him don't have a master-subordinate relationship but rather a relationship of equals, hence I don't have direct access to his Magicules.
All this was the reason that I was confident that I wouldn't faint even though I'd named around 100 monsters in quick succession.
Even before I completed this thought, I was hit with a tsunami of fatigue. I felt drained but not enough to put me into 'Sleep Mode' or 'Magicule Recovery Mode' as [Great Sage] calls it.
I became dizzy and sat down on the rock, trying to get a hold of myself.
'I should try using those meditation techniques from my past life here. Okay... Here we go.'
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I didn't know how long had passed since I sat down to meditate, but I'd finally recovered my magicules.
When I opened my eyes, contrary to my expectations, I wasn't seeing a flat area in front of me like I could before sitting down. Instead, there was a wooden door.
"How and why am I suddenly in a house?" I wondered out loud.
"That is because we built it around you my Lord. We didn't want to disturb you so we didn't try to move you. But we simply couldn't let our Lord be exposed to the elements. So we built a house around you." A deep voice responded to my question.
'The hell? These guys are crazy, like cult fanatic levels of crazy!!' I thought.
When I looked beside to see who had responded, my suspicions proved to be correct.
Before me, was the most chiseled man I've seen in all 3 of my lives. A body so spectacular that it would put the greatest body builders of my world to shame.
'Those muscles look like they've been sculpted by 20 Michelangelos. Goddamn.'
And just wait a damn second. Why the hell is he not green? Well, he is kinda green, but his skin looks far more human-like than it's supposed to.
"You did well, Rigurdo. I appreciate it." I told him without showing too much surprise on my face.
'[Great Sage], it's your time to shine.'
<Received. Due to magicule deficiency, you fell into a state of psuedo-slumber where you became unaware of your surroundings. 5 hours have passed since then. The goblins have completed their evolution triggered due to being named. They have now become 'Dark Ogres' skipping the usual 'Hobgoblin' stage entirely. Your affinity and blessing turned them into 'Dark Ogres' instead of it's parallel, regular 'Ogre'. As a result of this, they look more human-like with only a light green tinge in their skin.>
'That's amazing, how can the outcome of the naming done by me and Rimuru be so different? I guess I should just be grateful. By the way, did they gain any new skills?'
<Received. The 'Dark Ogre' have attained the Intrinsic skill [Create Material] that all monsters of the dark or demonic element possess.>
{A/N: This part is headcanon. In the original story, only demons possess that skill, however I'm making it so that due to the Dark Ogres' dark and demonic attributes, they've also gained it.}
'Woah, isn't that what demons use to create their clothes, weapons and armor? That's very handy, no actually that's EXTREMELY useful. I can finally make new clothes!! This trashy suit is soo bad!'
With that amazing news, I slowly got up from the boulder that I was sitting on and turned towards Rigurdo, and told him to rise up.
"Now the, inform the others that I have awakened and gather them. I have to announce some things." I ordered.
"Yes My Lord, I shall excuse myself now." He replied. He then left the house to perform his duty.
'Now then, there is one more thing I have to do.'
"Come out, Tempest Serpent!"
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A/N: The fourth chapter is out!! I've added some of my own explanations in this chapter due to lack of canon information, but I think it ended up pretty good.
Add this to your Library, and please drop some Power Stones, they serve as good motivation.