Welcome to Tempest

What was supposed to be a watch on the sunset, turned out to be a session about aura manipulation. Rimuru could still remember back and how it was from him. And well, he didn't do anything. His skill did everything. Without the help of Raphael, he wasn't sure if he was able to explain anything. These moments were the moments when he understood how grateful he should be for his skills. It made his life so much easier and he wasn't sure, if it wasn't about the Great Sage or now, Raphael, he probably wouldn't be here.

But nemu did very well. With the help of Raphael's wisdom they were able to teach him how he can control his aura in an hour. Everyone in Tempest can do that. But the difference was, they never got such a burst of new power in a matter of seconds. So they had more time to adapt to it. It was a natural process for them and they learned without even noticing.

Nemu became really tired by now. It was only an hour but he really had to put effort in it. If slimes could sweat, he would be definitely sweating by now. But... he did it. It was a weird feeling, not only like you learn something and can use it in the future. It was something like relearning. Like he was able to do it before and just learned it again. Now he was able to control it without even noticing. Even when he sleeps, or like he does, rests, there wouldn't be any problem in the future.

"Are you ready?" Rimuru asked as he turned into his humanoid form again and smiled.

Was he? Rimuru has told him about his own town. But Nemu still couldn't quite believe it. Besides him being a powerful person, what Nemu immediately realized after he got his name, he still couldn't believe that a slime was the leader of his own town. Nemus curiosity peaked again. He really wanted to see it. "Okay, lets go." Rimuru told him before that he will use teleportation. Nemu, however, wasn't convinced. He wasn't afraid about teleportation. But he saw himself as an adventurer! And for an adventurer, the way is the goal. Teleportation felt like cheating. If he wasn't about his excitement he might have just continued his journey like planned, but he also liked Rimuru very much and there is always time for more adventures.

They were about to teleport when suddenly a loud snoring interrupted them. Rimuru facepalmed. He almost forgot about Ranga... The wolf, Nemu, was afraid about only an hour ago, now peacefully snoring in the grass.

Rimuru and Nemu had to giggle. Ranga looked cute. But it was time to go home. "Ranga, please come in my shadow again." Rimuru said. The big wolf barely opened his eyes and vanished in Rimurus' shadow.

Nemu had a lot of questions today, so many that he knew he couldn't ask them all. But again, the sight of a huge wolf disappearing in the shadow of a slime... How could he accept that without asking? He was an adventurer!

"Rimuru, how does that work?" He looked in the direction of Rimurus' shadow.

"Uhm." He paused for a few seconds." Now that I think about it, I have no idea.... Raphael?"

Nemu was surprised. That was the first time he called Raphael by her name without using thought communication. Does that mean Rimuru trusts him more or was it just an accident?

[…]

"Wait... Even if you don't know how that works? The mighty all-knowing king of wisdom?" Rimuru was now obviously mocking her.

[…]

"So... I guess we will have to ask Ranga later." Rimuru said.

And again, another unanswered question. Life was so easy a few weeks ago Nemu thought. But he also liked it. Discovering new things. And he was sure about one thing. There would be a lot more unanswered questions. He should make a list.

[Understood. Creating a list of unanswered questions.

Adding "Why can Ranga merge with Rimurus shadow?" to the list.] A young male voice suddenly said.

'What? Who said that?' Nemu was confused. Not so confused as he should be though. Certain events today just piled up to a lot of questions.

[I'm your personal assistant. You can call me "Guide".] Said the young male voice.

Ah, right. Nemu remembered back. Shortly before they started his aura training he got two new skills. {Extra Skill: Guide} and {Extra Skill: Absorption}.

'Are you like Raphael?' He asked the question in his mind.

[The Wisdom King Raphael is the most advanced version of me. However, I can still support you with my knowledge.]

Rimuru looked at Nemu. Without a question, he also heard the voice. It was the same as with Raphael and Nemu. He already knew that Guide is a sub skill of The Great Sage, but it was still surprising to hear the voice of another... Skill? To be honest, by now, Rimuru was very wary of talkable skills, because he was sure that Raphael had at least some kind of personality. Was it the same with Guide?

However, "We should return to Tempest now. I know my people and I'm pretty sure they are worried by now." Rimuru said.

"I'm ready." Nemu said. He had absolutely no idea what would happen. And if he would say he wouldn't be wary, he would lie. He has seen a lot of things today. Some things he could have never imagined, but he was sure he was supposed to see more things now that didn't make much sense to him.

Then Rimuru lightly touched Nemu.

And then, the world changed.

They just changed places. There wasn't a delay or something like that. In one moment, they were on a meadow and in the next...

Nemu was confused... Again. What he saw was breathtaking for him. There were buildings. Everywhere. He has seen goblin homes before but nothing was comparable to the sight he just had. Buildings out of massive stone. Everywhere. He has seen roads before but here, they were in every free place. And in the middle of everything. There structures out of stone with water running from it. And on top of it.... There was a statue. Of a slime. Is that... Rimuru?

It took Nemu a minute to comprehend everything that was in front of him. Only then he turned towards Rimuru and he had a big grin on his face. "Welcome to Tempest!" He proudly said.

"Is this... really your town?" Nemu asked and he wanted to see more. He knew that this was just a small part of the town. There must be more to adventure. But still. It was enough to shock him. How many more cool things are out there? By now, he knew that he made the right choice. He was never supposed to live in a cave but see great things.

It was already night outside, so there weren't any people on the streets and Nemu was already excited to see it tomorrow. It didn't make any difference to him if it's dark or light outside because everything he saw was through his magical perception but he knew that most races relied on their eyesight. So he correctly guessed that there would be a lot of people here. Maybe even some races he hasn't seen before!

"It is." Rimuru said then. Nemu was confused. Did he ask something? Everything was so overwhelming.

But his thoughts got suddenly interrupted by a group of people who were walking towards them.

He recognized two of them. There were two female ogres and a male person. He had no idea what race he belonged to but he knew that ogres usually ignored even red slimes.

[These are two onis, onis are an evolved form of ogres and a demon.] Guide suddenly answered his question. Convenient. Nemu decided that he liked Guide.

But still... He never heard of demons before. Are they good people? If they live here they must be good people right? After all, it's Rimurus town. So he should be safe here.

Suddenly, they were already in front of them. And they bowed. Nemu didn't know what that meant but he had never seen something like that.

The youngest of the oni then said with a smile "Welcome home Rimuru-sama." (Okay, so I will use two of these Japanese honorifics here. Sama and Sensei. I thought about the word master instead of sama because I don't really like the japanese version but master is even worse. I'll only use this for demon lords and powerful figures. Sensei is just for teacher. And since I have plans for this I'll use it. But don't worry, I won't overdo it and Nemu will always call Rimuru just Rimuru.)

[-sama is a very polite and honorific addressing for someone important.] Guide said.

Nemu was confused by it. But by now. He finally believed Rimuru. He was actually the leader of the town. He knew about ogres being very strong and that even onis addressing him like that gave him the final proof. He was in a town that was led by a slime. The world sure was an exciting place.

"Sorry for making you wait... but you know, I kinda had some unusual business today." He laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

Nemu obviously knew that he was referring to him and even the other people finally looked at him with a curious look on their faces.

"Oh, let me introduce you first." He looked at the three people. "That's Shuna." He referred to the young looking Oni. "That's Shion." Now he was pointing at the Oni with the huge b**bs "And finally, that's the newest member of our team, his name is Diablo." To be honest, that Diablo was kinda scary, he looked very polite and calm but he gave Nemu a weird feeling. Like his golden eyes were scanning him for every weakness while not losing his smile for a second. But Nemu didn't want to be like that. After all, today he met a huge wolf hanging around with a slime. Never judge a book by its cover. Easier said than done though. Just the eyes of the demon in front of him made the big bad wolf from earlier look like a cute little puppy. Scaaaary. But he can't be a bad guy, right? Right?

"And that, my friends. Is Nemu. I found him today and he was on his way to Tempest so I brought him with me." Rimuru then said, while looking at Nemu.

The young Oni immediately approached him with a very curious face. "Oh, a red slime." She had a beautiful and cute smile on her face that made every concern that Nemu had not even seconds ago completely vanish. "I've heard stories about red slimes, but I haven't seen one before." She then asked Rimuru. "Can I touch him?"

Rimuru let out a sigh... Wasn't Shuna supposed to be the reasonable one? "Just ask him."

Shunas eyes widened. "He can talk? I thought slimes cant talk?" She immediately regretted what she just said. "Of course, that doesn't count for Rimuru-sama. Rimuru-sama is different!"

Rimuru just laughed it off. "Apparatenly red slimes can talk. I was surprised by it myself."

And then, Shion rushed him from behind. "I want to touch him as well! Also, I don't think he is as soft as Rimuru-sama!"

Even Diablo let out a quiet "Indeed."

Why did Rimuru just feel like Diablo's comment was the most concerning of all of them?

But still, now Shion and Shuna were standing in front of Nemu, desperately awaiting an answer. Nemu felt like he didn't have a choice here. Before today, no even before the last hours he hasn't talked to anyone but a few red slimes before. And now, right in front of him. There were people expecting him to answer if they were allowed to touch him? He knew he couldn't just pretend he was a mindless slime anymore. Is running away an option?

[No.] Guide said emotionless.

'Okay.' He said defeated.

Suddenly Shuna and Shion rushed towards him. Both of them tried to grab him at the same time. But Shuna was faster. She hugged Nemu and turned her back towards Shion. Successfully blocking her.

While grabbed in the tight hugging of Shuna, he heard Rimuru laughing in the back.

"Welcome to Tempest."