CH 7 | Forgetting and moving forward

~Luminous~

'uhhh... did I sleep?... what happ-' as I opened my eyes into the darkness of this damned cave, I wondered why was I even asleep in the first place. just when I was recalling what happened before I... slept? I almost started to see a red glow, coming from my cheeks.

'nothing happened. that's it. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED!' I nodded to my self to calm down and almost reassure my self.

I then grabbed the cloths lying beside me, and started changing into them. seeing them reminded me of what happened, as they were the reason for what happened... 'n-nothing h-happened...' which got me red once again.

I smiled for a moment, staring at the cloths before bringing them closer to my face and almost hugging them. then I undressed and wore them.

despite changing into something thicker and more insulating, I still felt cold. it was actually way colder when I woke up than before. so I was shivering so much that standing was hard.

"uhm.. ah... Luminous.. did you... sleep(?) well?" I heard a certain comfort blob saying from behind me.

~Rimuru~

I woke up in darkness, not hearing or seeing anything, just feeling of what am touching. 'ah, I should activate [Magic Sense]' and when I did, I sensed something twitching behind me.

it was Luminous. but when I saw her, I 'blushed' and almost started to stutter. and so I just calmed my self down and tried to say what I wanted, but stopping before I started to stutter.

"uhm.. ah... Luminous.. did you... sleep(?) well?" I asked her, not knowing exactly what I should even say in this situation.

I rotated my face? head? whatever it was, I rotated it into her direction. and I saw her wearing the brown 'dress' made out of snake scales. 'it fits her quiet will, but I think black suites her even more.'

I also noticed that the twitching that I sensed from before has stopped when I talked.

"yes.. I did get a good sleep. my mind is somewhat clearer now.." when she I answered, I felt a bit happy that she was in a better condition. but I was still feeling worried for some reason.

'now... what were we doing?'

<<Master and Luminous-san were fli- *ahem* I meant being cute- *ahem* *ahem* what I wanted to say is that Luminous-san was training. and she just acquired [Water Blade] before starting to change her cloths. I advise Master to help Luminous acquire [Water Mastery]

<<I should also note that Master has acquired [Earth Mastery] when he was digging underground>>

'ah, right. but, why did you cough?'

<<Because it hasn't been long since I acquired emotions, I felt worried for Master since he suddenly decided that wanted to sleep after coming out of the tunnel he dug. and I stutter a bit, so I used 'coughing' to focus on what I wanted to say.>> (if you couldn't guess, she's lying)

'oh... am sorry to make you worried about me. now..' I then approached Luminous.

"I still have some left overs of the snake, do you want to have a breakfast with me?"

"Sure, am a bit hungry anyway."

I used [Earth Mastery] to create some stone since one of it's sub skills is [Earth Creation] to make a table an a chair for Luminous. as I will just jump on the table.

"Have a seat Luminous. they won't be comfortable as they are made of stone, but it's better than sitting on the ground!" then I made two plates. and next to one of them is a fork and a blunt knife.

"well, well, well. did Great Sage also make this? but how did you get the materials, well, calling it 'materials' would be an exaggeration since it's just stone."

"ah, I just used [Earth Mastery] to make some stone"

"so you gained a skill in that short amount of time huh?"

"yeah, but that isn't important right now! so lets just have breakfast!" I took out two pieces of meat and put them on our plats

"*Sigh*" she just sighed then smiled before she sat down on her seat. at first, she tried to cut the meat with the knife. but after noticing how dull it was, she uesedripped it with her sharpened nails (it's nails cuz [lesser vampires] are too weak to have claws) and just used the fork to pick the ripped and sliced pieces of meat.

after ten or so minutes, we finished having break fast.

"So... what are we going to do right now?" she asked me while her right hand holding her chin, and elbow on the table.

"I and Great Sage will try to get you to acquire [Water Mastery] and [Earth Mastery]. after that we will try to get out of this cave. and maybe on the way kill some monsters to get some of my power back."

"sounds like a good plan for right now, but the problem is how am I going to get back my power?"

<<I have a few solutions. but I thinking waiting and seeing how thing will turn out for now might be better>>

after hearing that, Luminous stood up and started walking back to the pound.

"I agree to what she said. so for now, I should get into acquiring [Water Mastery] so, what should I do right now? make balls out of water?"

"I think that would get you [Water Sphere] you basically have to just play with water and you will get it eventually... at least I think so."

"hmmm... sounds easy enough." at that moment I noticed something that was bugging me. 'her face doesn't look bright.. is she annoyed/sad about something?'

she then went and started to try and manipulate water at the pound. in the meanwhile, I was annoyed because she had to eat raw food. 'I must find a way to light up fire. maybe eating something that isn't raw would help her?'

so I tried to light up some fire. at first, I thought I could use two rocks to make a spark, but the cave was too damp for that to work, let alone other factors like getting good pieces of stone.

'maybe I can make it with magic? but, how? hm..... maybe if I moved magicules and rubbed them against each other and air, maybe that I way I could be able to create enough friction to create some fire?'

so, I did just that! I wasn't able to generate fire, but I was able to increase it's heat somewhat.

'maybe if instead of rubbing them against each other, I made them quickly clash on each other at an angle....

when I did that, a spark a appeared. hence, I tried it more times each time faster than the one before without any cooling time for two handfuls of magicules that I was controlling. and after a few tries, they combined while rotating in a circle, and magical fire was generated. though it disappeared a moment after.

[Skill acquired: Ignition]

'ahh! that's cool! so now I can finally cook some meat!'

<<Not exactly, since this the skill equivalent of a lighter. so Master will need to use something as fuel for it to sustain itself>>

'hm.. that's a bit of a problem since the only thing that can be burnt here is grass, which is bad as a fuel'

<<that's true, assuming that the fire is a normal fire. but as it's magical fire, it could burn the magicules inside the unmatured hipokute herbs, in other words, the grass that is all around us>>

'Ohh!! thank you Great Sage!'

<<Fufufuf~ praise me more master!>>

I was going to feed Great Sage's addiction because as we all, she absolutely deserve to be praised, but...

"*Chu*" I heard a small, almost adorable, sound from behind me. and behind me was the direction of the pound.

"are you okay Luminous? you don't need to learn [Water Master] if it's too cold.."

"No. am fin-*Chu*" she got interrupted by a very high pitched sound accompanied by a some shivering, before she forcefully stop her shivering.

"it's just that that the cold water is irritating my nose a bit."

'is it even possible to sneeze because of water?'

<<A person can sneeze due to cold air, and as cold water is just the extreme of that, it is possible. but..>>

'yeah, I noticed as well. she was fine before when she was learning [Water Blade] but now she's sneezing because of the water'

I didn't believe what she was saying. her safety and comfort is very important to me right now, especially since I believe that keeping her safe is my responsibility as I was the one who put us in this situation. 'if only I was stronger...'

<<...>>

I hopped towards her and jumped into her arms before starting to generate heat with my body.

'is it just me or did my body heat increase more than before? and I also feel that it's consuming less energy'

<<it's because Master has acquired [Ignition] which lead to efficiency increase in heat generation>> (am I the only one who thinks that the characters way of talking change in every chapter of this fanfic?)

'Ohh! that's nice, especially since the entire reason I got this skill for was to comfort Luminous'

then I looked up and noticed that her her face (wanted to use expression/complexion but am not sure if Rimuru uses that kind of words) and the small. almost anxious, frown on it, eased up into a smile. in fact, her whole body -which was stiff a moment ago- is now more relaxed.

"do feel better now? or is it still cold?"

"No. it's much better right now."

"am happy that it made you feel better. but I noticed how you're suppressing your shivering, I guess the new dress didn't help much. so I will stay close to you so that you wont get cold!"

"you don't need to. it not that bad anyway.."

"No, I need to! you being comfortable and in a good condition is very important to me"

"well, if you insist then I wont stop you..." she averted her face -which was slightly blushing- away.

"oh right! I should tell you that I acquired both [Water Sphere] and [Water Shield], which lead to getting [Water Manipulation]"

"wait really? that quite fast! I was able to do it quickly due to me being a slime, which make it easier to throw out water in certain shapes and because I have Great Sage. and you acquired it this fast, only just a few hours of learning how to control magicules. perhaps you are a genius at magic?"

I was genuinely surprised as I didn't expect her to acquire [Water Manipulation] this fast.

she smiled in her old, smug, haughty, and confident smile and she only 'said' "Heh"

'her eyes looks like they want more. but more of what?'

'why do I feel like I have heard that before? and especially with a smug and confident smile...'

<<It's just your imagination>>

'huh? well, it doesn't matter anyway.'

"then I guess getting [Water Mastery] wont take you long... but what's the difference between [Water Manipulation] and [Water Mastery]? and I remember that last time I only had [Water Manipulation]"

<<it's the difference in 'rank' of control. and the ranking go this way:

Control (which is oddly rare) ==> Manipulation ==> Mastery ==> Domination.

and the reason why Master only had [Water Manipulation] is because Master didn't try to get a higher level, and it was later replace by the Extra skill [Molecular Manipulation] which is much higher than any normal elemental skill control skill>> (most of that isn't cannon and is completely made up by me.)

"well, by what you said there should be something like [Water Domination] right? how do I acquire it?"

<<not exactly. while [Water Domination] exist, it's a hassle to acquire it. and as we will try to get the other elemental skills, it will just take a lot of space in an individual's soul. so it's just better to get something like [Molecular Manipulation] since it would take less space and is easier to acquire>>

"hm.. you're correct. but I first should focus on getting [Water Mastery]"

she then proceeded to stick her right hand out, using it to manipulate water while holding me with her left hand.

after less than 30 minutes, and with some small tips from Great Sage, Luminous acquired [Water Mastery]

"I finally got it! now should we try to get the other elemental skills?"

"I actually have [Earth Mastery] and while you were getting [Water Manipulation] I got a fire skill, [Ignition]"

"so you're going to try and get something [Fire Mastery] while I get [Earth Mastery]?"

"out of all the elemental skills, fire has to the hardest. so am going to leave it for last. so I will try to get the wind one -since it seems to be easier- while you get [Earth Mastery] and on the mention of it, do you want me to help you get it?"

"there's no need to. now that I have learned how to control magiules and got the hang of how to acquire skills, I think I will get it very fast"

she then sat on the grass and crossed her legs. she then put me on her legs and stretched her hands out, presumably to move the ground with only magic. and in the meanwhile, I try to control the molecules in the are so I could control it.

'I usually don't try to get more power. but I don't want to repeat my mistakes. I don't want to mess things up again because am weak!'

and in that moments of reflection (not sure if this's the correct term) and while I was trying to move the molecules in the air..

[Extra Skill Acquired: Wind Manipulation]

""I got [Wind/Earth Manipulation]!"" both of us shouted at the same time.

"*chuckles*"

"you you weren't joking when you said you were going to get it pretty fast"

"well, we haven't 'mastered' them yet"

we then played with wind/earth to get them into 'mastery' level. which wasn't hard since all we needed to do was manipulating them into different shapes like a blade with wind to get [Wind Cutter] or a wall with earth to get [Earth Wall]

but getting [Fire Manipulation] was harder than we expected since it required a very high amount of magicules to maintain the fire. and because of our very small magicules count, we were only able to get [Ignition] but that was good enough for now.

"well, we got what we can for now. so lets start moving" said Luminous as she started walking to the exist of the chamber we are in.

"before that, there is one more thing that I need to do, so could you wait a minute for me?"

"....sure..." she seemed a bit reluctant on letting me go out of her arms. and as I jumped, she instantly started to shiver 'I guess it's really cold for her'

I headed towards the hexagonal basalt pillar in the middle of the chamber. (I bet you forgot about that detail!) some of the stalactites surrounding it were magic ore which I absorbed.

but what was important was the vines on the pillar. I jumped up and stuck my self to the it and absorbed a good amount of the vines. I wanted them because they were better than a normal rope and way better than anything I (Great Sage) could weave from the Hipokute grass since these vines were also enriched by magicules.

then I got down and absorbed most of the grass close to me and Luminous, since I was running quite low on it due to how much I needed to use it to generate heat with my body.

but while doing all of that, Great Sage was refining the magisteel as much as she could, even when I got back to Luminous's arms.

"hey, Luminous, I have a gift for you" I said just as she was about to enter the tunnel in front of her and exit the chamber we were in.

"oh? and what might that gift be?"

"this!" I said in excitement for her reaction as I took out a rapier from my stomach.

the rapier was obviously made out of magisteel. but because I let Great Sage take her time refine it as much as she wants it became pretty high quality. so the rapier was Rare grade.

the guard of the rapier was shaped like a blossoming rose, which am proud to say was my Idea! (aka it's his idea not Great Sage's. that's why he's proud) and the hilt was covered by the vines I collected. it was used so it would be more comfortable to hold and easier to grip.

next to the rapier -which was on my head- was it's sheath. which was made of medium quality magisteel and covered with some unknown red-leather looking material. it was also embroidered with roses (am not that creative at designs. sorry!)

'Great Sage, what did you use to cover the sheath?'

<<fufufu~ am not going to tell you~>>

'well, it doesn't matter.'

it's also worth noting that the rapier was covered/made out of some other unknown metallic material at certain parts.

she looked a bit surprised as she saw the rapier.

"wow, I didn't expect you to give me a weapon, let alone of this quality. and I also really like the design of both the rapier and it's sheath!" she then sheathed the rapier and held it in her right hand and held me with her free hand

"am proud that you liked it since it was my idea! but, that's not the end.." and as I said soo, I took out a belt-like vine with a small circle connected to it's side. clearly meant to hold the sheath.

"do like it?"

"Yes. and.. thank you once again... I can this way comfortably hold you with both of my hands."

she said with a bright, beautiful smile directed towards me.

the last part was more oh her whispering to her self. but as I was using [Magic Sense] to hear my surrounding, I was able to hear it. but I chose to ignore it.

'hm.. why did I suddenly taste.. sweetness? no it must be my imagination..'

<<it wasn't your imagination, Master>>

'huh? then why did I taste sweetness?'

<<don't worry master. you will discover that veryyyy soon~>>

'aren't you keeping a lot of secrets lately? I want to complain, but I know that I can't win against you. so am just going to assume that they are some small things'

<<if they were then I wouldn't have kept them secret~>>

'huh? what do you mean?'

<<Nothing~>>

'hmm...'

regardless, Luminous wore the belt and attached her sheathed rapier to it. then held me with both her hand again and marched forward.

'I wonder when will we meat Veldora..'

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A.N/ @Lobotomiskii am sorry since I said that your name will be used next chapter (aka this one) but I didn't cuz it was already long, around 3000 words. and as I don't have enough of either passion or sleep to write a 6000+ long chapter, it's going to be delayed for next chapter or the one after it.

and also the reason for this chapter being a day late is explained by a 'side story' after the rant after the rant below this. plus there is another 'side story'

so in the last 2 or so chapters I made things go between them a bit too fast, for what I want to make at least. so if you liked the way it is right now, tell me pleas.

I initially intended to make it a slow romance, but I made the last 2-3 chapter like they were because I was hella sleepy when I wrote them. adding to that I didn't have a plan so everything was made on the spot, which is also why they got shorter.

so at the time, I just thought that it would be funny or wholesome or something else, idk. so I will make them pretend that last chapter and the one before it didn't happen (but they did so they do have some effect) and I will do that so it will be easer to write a slower, less cliche romance.

but if you all liked it and thought it was wholesome, then tell me so that I will change how things will go to be more like that. aka, more wholesome.

why don't I just change into it since I want a wholesome story? because my brain is broken and I can't be sure if it's wholesome and cute or just dumb cringe shit that you see in 'romance' that they use to drag the story way longer than it should.

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[Lord of Procrastination: M]: hahaha! I now have learned how to you use your skill, [Creativity] Agnst you! hahahaha!

Me: wai what? first, since when did you start talking? second, NANI?!

[Lord of Procrastination: M] first, I started talking since today and my goal is to make you not write/do anything productive. second, YES!! I will now use your own creativity agnst you!

Me: what do you mean? BBEG-san?

[Lord of Procrastination: M]: Simple! I will use your creativity so that you will get many cool ideas that you won't be able to stop thinking about!

Me: that doesn't sound ba-

[Lord of Procrastination: M]: but all of these ideas will be unrelated to what you're writing right now!

Me: it's still not that bad, but I don't like where it's going...

[Lord of Procrastination: M]: Now here is my finishing move! all of these idea will be soo damn good that you wont be able to contain them, so you're going to say them to someone and start talking, after that you will do something else unrelated. and oh! would you look at that! you have been procrastinating for the last 4 hours!

Me: Nooooooo!!

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so the really creative idea that I had is (note that I copied it form a discord convo and lightly edited it):

ok so hear this: a time sword that travels/jump in timeand it get charged with 'time energy' every time it jumps/travels through timeand someone -lets say a hero- comes to get it every certain amount of time -lets say every 100 year-what it does to it's holder is: inject them with 'time energy'which somewhat accelerate time for them which make them faster, stronger, and have much higher regeneration.

but, as it makes time go faster for them, they also get older much faster than everyone else. now this alone could make a good story with a 'chaise against time' thing where they need to defeat someone -let's say a demon lord- before they get too old.

but it doesn't end there! to get the sword, they need to go to where it's 'stored' -let's say a temple- which have a lot of time related puzzles.

like, to even first entre the temple, they need to 'solve' a puzzle to get in that puzzle is: when they try to enter, time would almost 'revers' but it's only to them.

now I have 2 way in mind for how it will work:

1. they just get repeatedly sent back to before they entire. but as the world still moves, only them being sent back, someone will come and find them after many years to make them notice how much time has passed. the way to solve this puzzle is to either figure out that there is a time puzzle before the entire, so they can doge it. or wait until someone 'break' their loop and then they try a different way to entire

2. they get sent back in space, and only their mind get back in time. as in it effectively send them back in time to before they enter (the first option also just send them to just before they enter) but their body still get older. so it's just about how long it will take them to figure out that they suddenly aged up some amount of years. or get solved like the first way (outside help or figuring out there is a puzzle before they enter)

honestly, I could see this going quiet a few ways plot wise. like as I said before, getting the sword and it becoming a race against time to kill the demon lord before the hero dies of old age or it could also go in a different, cooler way.

lets say that the story was established to be a generic fantasy. a hero that must kill the demon lord with his friends to save the world. and on their adventures, not to far before the big fight with the demon lord.

the heroes (hero and his friends) they heard a legend about a powerful time sword they do some investigating and after a while, they finally find the temple of timethey take their first step to get in it....

but one of them stops the others before looking around. he then looks around and explain to the others how he noticed that everything around them is different from a moment before. confused, they go back to the city they heard the legend in, which is also the closest city to them.

but on their way, they find out that everything is different from a few minutes ago. they reach the area were the city should be, but what they find is ruins.

inside of these many giant ruins, they find a small village. after talking a bit to the village elder, they hear from him something which surprised, confused, and most importantly, horrify them.

they ran back to the temple of time as fast as they could. when they got there, and after some investigating, they discovered what they didn't want to.

they have been stuck in a time loop for over 6000 years.

so they start collecting information of what happened in these 6000 years but they only find conflicting information.

'why didn't the demon king destroy the world?' is one of their questions.

some say he killed him self.

some say he got killed by some other heroes

some just say that he disappeared

and other say that he didn't even exist to begin with.

'did other heroes appear after they disappeared?'some say yes.

but most say no. and a lot say many different things.

and now they start their new journey of finding out what exactly happened in their era and after it. and the truth behind all of the conflicted information.

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I think it's good but the time sword abilities needs a bit more specifically on how it does the time jumps and how that whole thing works. but other wise, I think this could make for an interesting story.

if anyone is confident enough about his skills in writing, and is interested in that idea, then talk to me and we will make on hell of a story with it!