Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Great Sage talking"
Prologue: The End, a New Beginning, and a Dragon
We open this story in the streets of one of Japan's Major cities, a young man named Akira Kurusu was walking along the side walk, heading to a restaurant where he would be meeting his friends. Akira wasn't just an ordinary young man however, he was secretly the leader of the famous group formerly known as the Phantom Thieves.
The Phantoms were quite famous and would continue to be, however, they decided that they couldn't keep fixing Japan's corruption problems, instead they decided to not rely on the cognitive world. They focused on being activists who strived for society to overcome any corruption they saw.
Today was supposed to be their most important meeting, Morgana reminded Akira of this fact several times from the bag he was being carried around in. Fate wasn't always kind to a trickster though, and Akira always wanted to act against any wrong doings. So when he saw a maniac carrying a knife running towards a couple who was standing with an innocent business man, he acted.
He pushed the trio out of the way before feeling a sharp hot pain in his back, piercing his through to his heart. Morgana cried out as he hit the ground, jumping out of the bag and rushing to the side of the phantom thief. The young man's eyes gazed into his companion's, and he gave a weak smile.
"Heh.. to think I'd be dying from blood loss.. it's hot...no... cold..." The usually quiet young man mumbled, using his remaining strength to gently pet Morgana.
"Request confirmed: creating a body that doesn't require blood, accomplished." A strange voice, almost monotone yet kind, like Lavenza's, said. "Request confirmed: the skills heat and cold resistance have combined to become thermal resistance." It said again.
"Tell the others,.. I'm Sorry..." he whispered, his body going limp, not even noticing as the passerby's tried to call for an ambulance. "Dying from a stab wound is rather pathetic, the pain is unbearable."
"Request confirmed: the skills damage resistance, and pain nullification have been acquired." That voice again, it was as if some sort of computer was speaking to him, Futaba would love this if she heard it, heh, being the oracle she is she'd see this voice as a great sage.
"Request confirmed: Unique skill; Great sage, has been acquired." The voice spoke once more.
"Seriously, this is stranger than being struck by a lightening bolt. Heh, in my next life I hope I'm never prey for those who think me weaker. I'd rather be a predator, though that wording sounds wrong out of context." Akira joked to himself.
"Request confirmed: Skill lightening resistance acquired, and unique skill; Predator acquired."
"This voice is crazy... maybe while I'm at it I should ask to keep my personas.Always a wildcard." He joked inwardly as he let his strength go.
"Request confirmed: Unique Skills; Wild Card and Persona reinforced and combined into the Unique Skill; Trickster successful." The voice finished as his consciousness faded.
"...Akira." Morgana whispered as he pushed his head against his friend's bloodied and cold hand. He wasn't in mementos, he couldn't heal him, all he could do is cry, cry for his fallen comrade. He, like many others could not see in that moment the blue butterfly which landed on the trickster's head.
"Goodbye, my trickster." The butterfly spoke.
Akira died that day at age 19, but for him this would not be the true end to his story. He would wake up again, not being able to see or feel much of anything but a hard and rough stone floor.
"Huh... I can't feel my arms.. or legs for that matter. What's going on?" He asked himself in his mind before he suddenly heard a familiar voice. He tried moving, finding himself able to move, though it felt more like crawling like a faster paced slug. He then tried to speak but he couldn't hear his voice, or even feel air passing through his mouth.
"This is strange, why can't I talk?" He asked himself as he sighed inwardly.
"Answer: you do not possess a body with vocal chords." The voice from earlier spoke, answering his question for him.
"What do you mean? What happened to me?" Akira asked worriedly.
"Simply put, you died and were reincarnated as a slime. It is a body that was made due to it's compatibility with your wish for a body that did not require blood." The voice answered in a nonchalant tone.
"Ah.. so reincarnation truly does exist in some cases... anyways, WHO are you?" He asked as he hummed to himself in his own head.
"I am your unique skill, Great Sage." The sentient skill answered once more.
"So that basically makes you a compendium of knowledge of the new world and how it works for the most part, however I can assume you have some limits to your knowledge." He hummed softly.
"Correct." The skill affirmed.
"Very well, I would like to know of there is any sort of skill I can use in order to either copy a human body in order to see, or a skill I can use to get a sense of my surroundings." Akira stated, having to keep himself prepared as he learned it would be best.
"Very well. You possess the species skill of mimic, an ability that allows you to take the form of a creature you consume, as well as the abilities of that creature." Great Sage began explaining.
"The easier skill to obtain is called Magic sense, with this skill you can sense the magicules in the surrounding areas, imitating a form of sight, however you will still lack the sense of taste, and scent." Great Sage finished.
"So basically to mimic the body of a human, I'd have to eat a human. Definitely a nope unless some bandit tries to attack me.Anyways, what are magicules?" He asked.
"Magicules are the building blocks of all magical and natural life, in your former world you would call them atoms, or in this case, Magical Atoms." His skill explained, which was a great help.
"Damn you are one helpful skill. Anyways, I will attempt to obtain the skill magic sense." Akira stated as he then focused, he thought of it as activating his third eye, but he focused on sensing the magic, not just the surrounding area. It took a couple of minutes but afterwards he could now see his surroundings.
"Hmm, there are several herbs and glowing clusters around. Great sage, do you know what they are?" Akira asked, though he felt sorry for his skill.
"The herbs are called hipocte herbs, they are a main ingredient in healing potions and salves. As for the clusters of stone, they are magistones, stones that have crystalized and turned into ore via a large intake of magicules. If you wish you can devour them and put them in your "stomach"." The skill explained all at once.
"Thank you, well, seeing as this may come in handy in the future, might as well gather up all I can." Akira said before he began moving around. Time passed quickly for the slime trickster, he consumed quantities of magistone ore and hipocte herbs to the point where he had a whole massive warehouse full of each.
During this time he also consumed monsters and obtained more skills, all of these would be helpful in the future, especially if he couldn't find a way to mimic a human body. This was one of the things he would practice, using the memories of his past life he would spend a couple days trying to mimic his former body.
His new gelatinous body couldn't keep the prototype form up for too long, but with practice and sheer tenacity he would soon find himself able to create a more stable prototype. He even found out that he could summon his personas now without use of a cognitive world.
However he was locked to a few select personas for now; Arsene, Raoul, Satanael, Jack Frost, Angel, Succubus, Pixie, Alice, and Metatron. Satanael and Metatron helped him with forming the copy of his former body. It just lacked the proper coloring. His entire body was made of slime, which according to Great Sage was supposed to normally be silvery blue in color.
His slime body and his copy of his former body was completely jet black in color, much like the hair on his original body. Even so he didn't let that distract him from looking around the cave and gathering potentially useful items. If he planned on surviving this world he needed materials to sell in order to pay for someone to make him some weapons, even if some of his newly acquired skills could be weaponized.
After a while he found himself deeper inside the cave, In it's final floor. It was absolutely full to the brim with hipocte herbs and magistone ore. There was one tiny issue that laid before the Trickster, it was a giant dragon, sealed away behind a multicolored barrier.
"So, the mysterious presence I sensed through the cave has finally arrived. It is quite strange to see a slime mimicking the body of a human." The dragon spoke.
"You can talk?" Akira asked, using his sound wave manipulation skill which he got from a monster bat. The dragon looked surprised for a minute and then let out a hearty yet ground shaking laugh.
"As can you!" the dragon chortled. "Forgive my own surprise, normally slimes themselves do not talk, however you have quite the mysterious aura around you. Perhaps you are unique." the dragon suggested.
"If that is the case or not does not matter to me. Anyways, You're a dragon." Akira said, waving it off like no big deal.
"And you aren't shaking? You aren't dreadfully afraid?" The dragon asked, almost shocked, but he sounded happy.
"I mean, I've killed a false god in my past life, doesn't mean your height and strength could be absolutely daunting if not for that prison." The former phantom thief said, hitting the barrier.
"You've got guts kid. I like that. My name is Veldora the storm dragon. Do you have a name?" The dragon asked after introducing himself.
"I do not have a name in this body. I reincarnated here about a month ago. In my former life I was known as Akira Kurusu, Joker, Wildcard, Trickster, and a few nicknames my friends gave me." Akira introduced himself.
"Ah, a reincarnator. It is quite odd to see someone reincarnate as a slime though." Veldora said, placing a hand to his chin.
"When I was dying I was terrified by the amount of blood I was losing and my skill, Great Sage, created me a body that didn't require blood." Akira explained with a slight sigh. "She is an amazing skill though. She is like my form of a navigator in my pathless life at the moment." He admitted that he was thankful for his skill, unknowingly making his skill happy.
"Anyways, how did you get locked in this barrier?" The trickster asked, wanting to listen.
"300 years ago, in a bout of mischief I started burning down a village, as this was happening I got into a fight with a powerful hero, a hero whom used her unique skill; unlimited imprisonment on me, trapping me here." Veldora explained. "This barrier sucks away my magicules, creating the bounty of magistone ore and hipocte herbs you have been collecting."
"I will fully admit it was some child-like impulsiveness which led me to be here, so ultimately if I knew better I'd have avoided this." He finished with a sigh.
"Well, it isn't like I don't know how you feel." Akira joined in before regaling the dragon with the tale of how he became a prisoner of fate.
"You truly have lived through your own form of imprisonment, but from the looks of it, you have escaped from your prison." Veldora chuckled.
"I can't exactly say I wish to leave you here when you're imprisoned yourself. Hmm. Great Sage, can you analyze the barrier made by the skill unlimited imprisonment and find a way to break it?" Akira asked his skill as he touched the barrier.
"Notice: it is impossible to fully analyze the barrier via a mere touch." His sentient skill answered.
"Hmm, wait a moment, what if the skill was analyzed from both sides?" He asked.
"Answer: it will potentially allow you to find a weak spot in the barrier." The skill answered and Akira got an Idea.
"Hey Veldora, I have a suggestion." The trickster said as he looked up at Veldora.
"Very well, explain." Veldora said, interested.
"What if I were to use my unique skill predator and store you away safely as I analyze the unlimited imprisonment from my side for weaknesses and you try to break out from your side? It's just a hunch but this could potentially give you a new lease on life." The wildcard said as he gave a smile. The Storm dragon thought about if for a few minutes before bursting into laughter.
"Ohohahahahaha! Very well! This seems interesting! Sounds like a deal!" Veldora chuckled. "But before that, give me a secondary name, or as humans call it, a family name, and I shall give you a proper name to prove you are a monster with power." He suggested.
"This way no one will attempt to mess with you unless they are of a higher level. And it will prove that we are sworn brothers!" Veldora added. "Make this name cool!" He stated with pride.
"You definitely remind me of my friend Ryuji.. anyways...hmm. Storm, no, gale, nope, Squall, too final fantasy, I Got it! How about Tempest?" Akira suggested.
"Tempest you say?.. I LOVE IT!" The dragon shouted excitedly, it was a name he deemed to be perfect. "Now, as for your name. Akira Tempest itself sounds quite the strong name. Very well, I name you Akira Tempest, my sworn brother." He said as he placed a claw against the barrier, Akira feeling his whole body shift, feeling much stronger than it once did.
Is this how his persona's felt when they grew stronger? It felt amazing.
"Akira Tempest, sounds catchy. I'll carry this name with pride." The newly strengthened slime said as he placed his mimic of a hand against the barrier where the claw was placed.
"Now, shall we get this show on the road?" Akira said as he stood up and gave a bit of a stretch, loosening up his mimicry of muscles.
"I wish you luck on your endeavors my friend, make sure to break me out as soon as possible!" Veldora Tempest spoke. Akira gave a nod and he morphed back into his normal round slime form and launched himself at the barrier, wrapping his elastic body around the barrier.
He consumed the barrier and the dragon within it, storing it in a pocket space of sorts like how he was storing the healing potions and the magistone ore. Afterwards he consumed more of the magistone ore and began searching for a way out of the cave, the only way to go was up from here. He was in it for the long haul.
And on that day a great tremor rocked the world, the word of the disappearance of the Storm Dragon Veldora was spread quickly to many kingdoms, which would bring both trouble and a great future for the trickster.
Chapter 1: The Goblin's Wildcard.
Akira trudged along he cave ground, climbing further and further his way out of the cave, and finally, he made it to the cave entrance. However, it was blocked by a large metal door, most likely to keep monsters inside the cave and people out of it. Akira nearly wept tears of joy as he saw the exit, he was inside that cave for what felt like a full month and a half.
He stayed in his slime form for the most part, still practicing keeping a faux human form, however without having eaten a human his copy lacked proper coloration like always, even if he did manage to create a proper shape. During this time he also gathered himself plenty of useful skills.
Water manipulation, poison breath, sticky and steel thread, armorsaurus armor, ect. He could even mimic the appearances of the monsters he ate. He loved to admit it, but being a slime felt more natural to him thanks to his abilities as the wildcard.
He did truly miss his former companions however, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru, Sumire, and Morgana. As well as all of his confidants, he didn't let this slow him down though, he knew that his friends were strong enough to handle themselves. If possible he would definitely build a cafe like Leblanc, a place for those with nowhere to belong to go and enjoy a chat over a cup of coffee and some curry.
Just as he was thinking that he hid himself among the rocks as he saw the door was opening suddenly and three humans walked in. Two males and a female, the males looked like knights whilst the female looked like a mage. Futaba would have loved to meet these three for sure if she were here.
"Ugghhhh... about time this sucker opened." One of the men sighed, he had a red bandana around his head and he looked rather tired. "The keyhole was so freaking rusty it's impossible to use." He complained.
"That's no big surprise." Said the other man, he looked equally perturbed from the situation with the lock on the giant door. "This place has been vacant foe like 300 years or whatever." Spoken like a true free spirited adventurer.
"We should still be careful not to let our guard down." The woman said, "if worse comes to worse we can always use our escape skill." She sad as she used a spell to emit light from her staff. These humans were gonna be in for a surprise if they saw how many monsters weren't there.
"Well, just in case we could run into trouble I'll activate my stealth arts." the first man said as he had his party gather up and he used a skill, causing all of them to become invisible. Akira could still see them using his third eye, but that didn't matter to him.
Once the trio began walking deeper into the cave Akira snuck his way out, doing so quickly as not to attract attention. He hopped through the forest making his way a good two miles away from the cave before he had come across a small platoon of Goblins. They had beat up weapons and looked deathly afraid of him.
"Are you guys alright?" He asked calmly, surprised that goblins would be afraid of a mere slime. "Great sage, am I exuding any sort of terrifying aura?" He asked his skill inwardly.
"Indeed you are, you can however stop yourself from releasing the aura." His skill answered for him and he nodded, sucking back in the aura he was releasing.
"Strong one." A goblin wearing a red bandana around his head said, getting Akira's Attention. "Do you have business in this forest?" The goblin asked, still shaking even if the aura was gone.
"Not really, I was just looking around. I am sorry if I scared any of you. You see, I was stuck in a cave for a month or so and I wanted to get my bearings." The trickster spoke calmly.
"W-well, is it alright if you come with us back to our village, we'd like to ask something of you." The goblin stated, still worried, but a little bit calmer.
"Very well, would you mind if I did something though?" Akira asked before he molded his body into the faux mimicry of his former body.
"Woah! I've never seen a slime do that!" Said one of the goblins in surprise.
"Well, truth be told, I'm unlike any ordinary slime. My name is Akira Tempest." The wild card said, giving a bow of introduction before he began following the goblins to their village.
"Very nice to meet you Lord Akira." The leader of the platoon said, these goblins obviously didn't have any names, Akira would have to fix that later if he ended up staying with the goblins.
"Please don't call me Lord." Akira silently stated as they walked. The walk didn't take too long, in fact it was still the morning by the time they made it to the small village. It looked more like a easy to fall apart camp to him. An elder greeted him and brought him into the main building.
"You see.. we wanted to ask for your assistance." The elder said, bowing deeply as the trio of him, Akira, and the platoon leader sat on the house. "About a month ago the dragon god which protected our village with his aura suddenly vanished, leading to our village being attacked by a pack of Dire wolves." The elder explained.
"Even my own son, Rigur, named by a passing demon lord, died in these attacks." He added.
"You wouldn't happen to mean the Storm Dragon Veldora, do you?" Akira asked, and the goblin elder nodded. "Well, do not worry, he isn't truly gone. With his permission I ate him in order to analyze the skill that was imprisoning him. In return he gave me a name." He explained. The goblins looked surprised but they nodded and accepted this.
"But since his disappearance has caused such unrest, I would be happy to help you out." Akira said, "however, what's in it for me if I do help?" He asked, putting on a show since he so loved the dramatics.
"W-we do not have much to offer, other than our undying loyalty!" The elder said, bowing deeply. Akira nodded and he stood up and suddenly they all heard the howl of the wolves, they were close by, biding their time.
"Very well then. I'll help you, bring these to your wounded, they're healing potions." Akira said, placing about 20 strong potion filled bubbles of sorts on the ground in front of the Elder before walking out of the hut.
"Attention! Anyone who can help will help build a fence at the front of the village. Tonight we fight back the dire wolves! Tonight, It's show time!" The former leader of the phantom thieves shouted, his voice commanding and confident. The elder and the red capped goblin brought the healing potions to the wounded, finding that they worked perfectly.
The goblins that were strong enough, roughly 70 now, were helping Akira build a massive fence, it was for show since Akira used steel and sticky thread to create several traps.
"Be careful not to go outside of the fence. That steel thread is sharp enough to cut through anyone with ease." He warned the goblin villagers as he set up the traps. He made sure to explain his plan to the villagers, wanting to pull the wool over the eyes of the dire wolves.
"Earlier you said that Veldora himself gave you a name." The elder said, "I understand that you've made a promise with him, but, what is your relation to the storm dragon apart from that promise?" He asked, curious.
"Veldora and I are sworn brothers. Both bound prisoners by our fates, I escaped my fate, now I am helping him escape his. He now goes by Veldora Tempest. Tempest is our family name." Akira explained silently to the Elder, who felt more confident in their chances.
Once the time had come, the wolves stood about half a mile away from the village, it was night and their leader, a scarred wolf spoke to his pack.
"Such good moon light." The leader of the fang wolf tribe said, admiring the moon. "Tonight, we will destroy this goblin village and begin our plan to conquer The Great Forest of Jura!" He announced to his pack.
"Let's go! Those fools don't have Veldora's Protection anymore." The beast roared as they charged.
"Halt!" Akira shouted, the wolves stopping a mere ten meters away. "You will not destroy this village! I am Akira Tempest, and I will protect these Goblin's in Veldora's stead!" The trickster shouted, in his normal slime form. The leader of the wolf pack laughed at this, just as Akira planned.
"Ha! No mere slime can face us!" The leader laughed. "You! Protect the goblins!? Absurd! Tear them to shreds!" He commanded. And thus, the pack rushed forward, all but the one with the star pattern on his head and the leader. That was the signal to the goblin archers to start firing.
As they fired the wolves charged through the steel threads, killing themselves as they were hit by arrows. This brought more confidence to the goblins but only the pack leader saw the steel thread.
"Steel thread. I'LL SHOW YOU NOT TO MAKE A MOCKERY OF ME!" The leader of the wolves shouted as he charged, biting through the threads and jumping up at Akira, only to be caught by the sticky threads.
"What is this!?" The wolf asked as he thrashed about.
"Never fight against a trickster." Akira said as he changed back to his faux mimicry of his human body as he was engulfed by blue flames, a familiar outfit appeared from the flames, same with a familiar white mask as his mimicry was completed through this strange flame.
"Bare witness to the power of the wildcard." The trickster said as he reached up and tore the mask off of his face in a gruesome show. "PLLAGE HIM, ARSENE!" The wildcard shouted as flames took a form behind him a floating form of a demonic visage.
"I am thou, thou art I, thou art willing to perform any sacrilegious acts in the name of your own justice. I am Arsene, the Pillager of Twilight!" Arsene said, breaking the ephemeral chains which bound him, it was all but a performance, but one that he and his master had planned.
"What are you?" The wolf asked in fear, only to get his head cut off by a slash from Arsene's talon-like fingers. The goblins looked at their new leader in awe, bowing at the sheer command his form demanded. His arm turned back to slime to consume the body of the wolf.
He turned to the rest of the wolves and approached slowly, Arsene disappearing back into the mask which adorned the wildcard's face.
"You are to either surrender and be spared, or to die by my hands. Better choose fast, because I don't have all night." Akira stated, his voice shaking the wolves to their very core. And with that the remaining dire wolves bowed, pledging their allegiance to the trickster.
Come morning time all the goblins and remaining dire wolves were gathered up, Akira was still in his human form, learning from Great sage that the strength of the world arcana from his former life made it so he could mimic his former body properly now. He was happy about it but he was planning on spending more time in his slime form after this meeting.
"Since I have decided to say in this village, I have a couple announcements to make." The wildcard stated, "starting off, for the sheer convenience that a name will bring in allowing me to remember who is who. I will grant each and every one of you a name of your own." He said, shocking everyone and making them all extremely happy.
"A-are you sure about this Lord Akira?" The elder asked, getting a nod from him, making the elder super happy. "WAHOO!"
"Caution: naming them will drain your magicules, potentially causing you to go into a meditative state to recover for three days, are you truly sure about this?" Great sage asked.
"Yes, I am. These goblins will become my people, They deserve their own names." Akira answered his skill before he stood up, taking his coat off and folding it up and moving his mask to be on top of his head, sitting on his coat. "Everybody line up single file, elder and his son first." He said and everyone lined up.
He then spent the entire afternoon naming the goblins, the Elder and his son were named Rigurd and Rigur, just wanting to show respect for their fallen family, which made the Elder happy. He named some of them with names that started with Gob, which he admitted silently that they weren't all that creative.
Akira felt the magicules leave his body as he named them, but due to the fact that he had a large pool of magic it lessened the effect a little, until he got to the dire wolves. He named the son of the fallen pack leader, Ranga before he suddenly passed out from exhaustion.
He turned back into a slime at this point, deflating as his trickster clothing disappeared. It was worth it though, he figured he could dome out of the meditative state feeling stronger. But, this was just the beginning of his new adventure as the Slime Akira Tempest.
Chapter end.
I hope you all enjoy this story. If you have any ideas, leave a comment. Also please understand that I haven't written in a while, so I am in a bit of a funk.
