Frostborn
Chapter 2: Proving Worth

Disclaimer: I do not own That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime or any of the characters involved except for Koori

Rimuru and Koori stood behind the fence they had hastily constructed with the help of the goblins during the day. The moon was high in the sky as they surveyed the fielded hill before them.

They didn't have to wait long as a group of figures emerged over the horizon.

"Direwolves," The goblin Elder said to them.

"Direwolves?" Koori asked.

The Elder nodded, "They are more powerful versions of normal wolves: larger, with sharper teeth and claws, and a greater thirst for blood."

Koori gulped before turning her attention back to the shadowy figures outlined against the moon.

"Goblins…" the Direwolf leader said as he moved to the front of the pack. "I suppose they'll have to do for a meal. Charge my brothers! And bring me their heads!"

The direwolves howled before rushing down the hill towards the goblin's wall, but they quickly began to drop from an unseen force.

"What?" The Direwolf leader asked as he saw his pack fall to pieces.

Then he heard an unfamiliar sound, a twang echoed to his heightened hearing from down in the village. Looking closer he saw the goblins were armed with bows, and their arrows were skewering his brothers, and then he smelled their blood and knew something else was off. He saw the light of the moon reflected on small, thin lines.

"What is this?" He demanded, seeing the threads.

"Steel Thread," Rimuru said to himself proudly.

"Steel Thread?" Koori asked him.

"One of my unique skills. C'mon, we've gotta deal with their boss now." Rimuru said as he leapt into the air.

Koori panicked for a second before catching him and turning towards the rough-gate they had made. Two goblins pushed it open for them and once they were outside closed it behind them.

Rimuru leapt down from Koori's arms and looked up the hill to see the Direwolf leader come barreling down towards them, snapping the threads in his jaw as he went.

"You think that will be enough to stop us?" He shouted as he closed the distance.

"Uh… Master, he's getting pretty close…" Koori said, the worry obvious in her voice.

"Stand down, or you'll force me to attack. And I won't hold back,"

The Direwolf leader laughed as he leapt into the air to pounce on Rimuru. "You think a little slime can scare me?"

He began to descend but only for a moment before his momentum stopped, leaving him suspended in the air.

"What? What is this?!" He shouted as he struggled against the now visible threads.

"Sticky Thread, another skill of mine," Rimuru explained. He sighed "Well, I tried to be nice."

Rimuru buckled down and his body began to boil "Activate Skill: Water Blade!"

A blade of water shot forth from Rimuru and cleaved straight through the Direwolf leader's head. Blood poured from the open wound before it slid off the body to the ground.

"Whoa…" Koori was in awe of the attack.

Rimuru seemed to nod to himself before leaping onto the Direwolf leader's body and consuming it "Activate Skill: Preadtor!"

Rimuru consumed the corpse then looked up to the remaining direwolves.

"Direwolves, your leader is dead. Stand down and no one more of you will have to die," Rimuru shouted to them.

The wolves all laid down on the ground whimpering, "Yes sir!" They shouted in unison.

"Well… that was easy," Koori said with a smile as she walked over to Rimuru

He nodded "Yeah. Now to decide what to do with them,"

Rimuru leapt up into Koori's arms again and she carried him inside the village walls.

"Where's the Elder?" He asked

"Right here Lord Rimuru!" The Elder staggered forward, relying on his staff.

"We're going to welcome the Direwolves into the village. We're going to be working together from now on…Where's your son?"

"Right here!" he said as he stepped forward.

Rimuru sighed "This is going to get too confusing without names… in that case, I'll just have to give you all names."

The goblins all looked to each other for a moment before a shout went up, as that was going on Koori opened the gate to let the Direwolves in, when Rimuru told them of his decision they all howled to the moon in celebration.

"For now, everyone get some rest. We'll have a meeting in the morning," Rimuru told them all.

Everyone went to sleep that night giddy with excitement. Rimuru was given his own tent with Koori, who had partitioned off a small space for her as her private quarters.

"So, you're going to give them all names? Isn't that supposed to make them more powerful in this world?" She asked.

"It is, but I'll manage. Besides, we won't be able to do what I'm planning unless we can tell them all apart and give orders,"

"What are you planning anyway?"

"You'll just have to wait and see tomorrow like everyone else. In the meantime, get some sleep."

Koori grumbled in discontent before throwing her partition aside to storm into her room.

Rimuru seemed to shake his head before leaping into the pillow that formed his new bed.

"I'm beginning to wonder how I'll deal with Koori and her snobbish personality," Rimuru thought to himself.

"Suggestion: Disciplinary action is advised to discourage behavior deemed unwanted or unsuitable."

"Er-thank you Great Sage, I already knew that."

Rimuru only spent a few more minutes contemplating the problem before he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, everyone gathered outside Rimuru's tent to hear his announcement.

"Alright, is everyone here?"

Goblins and Direwolves alike nodded their heads.

"Good! Then let's get started. After last night's events, I don't want anyone getting off on the wrong foot you hear? We're going to be working together from now on so we'll need to be on the same page."

Everyone nodded again.

"So, as I said last night, I'll be naming all of you. With that first announcement out of the way let's get started with that,"

Everyone let out another excited cheer as they lined up in front of Rimuru. He then began to work through naming everyone. As he finished the last of the goblins he turned to the son of the former Direwolf leader and decided on the name Ranga. As the magicules drained from his body he suddenly felt dizzy and his body began to melt from on top the log he was perched.

"Lord Rimuru!" Rigurd, the goblin Elder, shouted.

"Master!" Koori rushed over and began to cup her hands around Rimuru to scoop him back up. Once she had him back on top of the log his body turned a deep, dark-blue color and he went quiet.

"I think he spent too much magic naming everyone at once. I'll take him back to our hut to rest," Koori said as she picked him up.

Everyone nodded their agreement. Koori entered the hut and set Rimuru down on his normal pillow before turning to leave.

"Wake up soon Master, we have a lot of work to do," She thought as she exited the hut.