Aghanim's Rubrick Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

“Lord Rubick, you have another petitioner.” The voice of one of the newly Named Oni called from outside my study.

The Oni, as the Ogres had evolved into after my naming, had stayed true to their word. They had built a house for me to live in, at the edge of the village. Many of their relatives and allied clans had flocked to the village after word of me got around, causing what had been the ‘edge of the village’ to turn more into the centre of the place as the settlement expanded. Not keen on leaving loyalty to chance, I had of course Named all of these new arrivals as well.

The old village chief, Named Shingen in honour of the Tiger of Kai, is the undisputed leader of the old Ogre village and all its inhabitants. Interestingly enough, Hanako, his daughter, seemed to be the leader of the new arrivals more than him. They treated her like some sort of head priestess, or queenly figure, once the story of how she convinced me to stay circulated.

Lanaya, being the first Ogre to be Named by me, also seemed to be held in some sort of intense reverence. She had appointed herself the head of my Guard, a rather redundant position as my body made killing me extremely difficult to accomplish. The entire small town that had sprung up around me could attack me all at once and unless they found out about my orb, which I had taken to calling my Core, they would not be able to destroy me.

Still, I could be sealed, or imprisoned, or many other unpleasant ways of permanently ruining my day. That is why I was so particular in making sure that the people of the town were both loyal and liked me. Something that aided in that was me discovering that I had an eidetic memory in this new body, being able to recall even the most mundane information with ease.

It made remembering names easy, as well as making sure I did not get too repetitive or give out duplicates.

Case in point, “Ken, I am not a Lord. I have told you this multiple times.”

“I apologise Grand Magus.” I sighed, giving up on getting this lot to call me by my actual name anytime soon, “The petitioner says he is from the Goblin tribe to the South.”

I paused at that. Most petitioners had been Majin or Ogres, this was the first time a Goblin had arrived. The reasoning for that was the price for my services. I had told the Oni to spread the word that I would assist with any magical problem, so long as someone showed me their unique Magic or Skills in return. Most thought I was just compiling a collection of these effects and what they could do, but in actuality I was doing this so I could copy the things people showed me.

Already everyone who was living in the village had shown me all the Magic and Skills they knew. I made sure to inform them to do so even if they thought it was too weak to interest me, making sure I missed nothing that could possibly be of value. Thanks to the Ogres being a pretty powerful race, my repertoire had grown by leaps and bounds doing this.

That was also the reason I had yet to see a Goblin. They were a fairly weak race, with hardly any intrinsic Skills or innate Magical ability. Therefore, none of them even attempted to pay my price. Even with the incentive I had offered, if someone showed me something valuable I offered to allow them to stay in the Village and be Named by me. The only ones to take me up on that offer so far were the Ogres, but hopefully I would get some variety soon. The well of new Skills and Magic was drying up quickly.

“Very well then, lead me to them.” I instructed, pulling on my newly embroidered cloak.

It was still at its base the robe that I had made in the caves, but Hanako had tailored it and added a lot of intricate details. It was comfortable and stylish, if a bit monochrome, all black and white. Maybe I could add some green in there somehow? Thoughts for later. Thankfully, I was not in the middle of anything delicate, so I was easily able to drop my current experiment and meet this new petitioner.

As my residence was basically a small tower, the meeting would take place within Shingen’s hall where I met all my petitioners. When I arrived, I was surprised to see a Goblin that was a lot larger than I was led to believe was typical, holding a pale blue blob. Looking closer, the blob had its own internal magic reservoir, as well as a fairly complex Soul within it.

Thanks to my experiments with the denizens of the village, I have discovered more about the weirdness that occurs during Naming. Seeing the quasi-religious reverence with which they treated the processes, that set me off on the path to consider that the effects were not just physical and Magical. And my suspicions were vindicated, the Naming was something that affected beings at an extremely deep level.

To make it easier for myself, I decided to refer to this new level of sentient beings as the soul. Further exploration revealed that the souls of my Named subject even had a sort of magic of their own. It could express itself in various esoteric effects, which they called Skills. Apparently, when someone unlocked a Skill, they were informed by what they called the Voice of the Worlds and granted intrinsic understanding of the Skill and how to use it.

I remembered something similar happening to me when I was brought to this world, but since then I had not heard the Voice again even once. I was deaf to it, for some reason. That didn’t prevent me from interacting with these Skills however. Some of them I could copy and utilise like any other Magic, some of them I could only copy and yet more I couldn’t interface with at all.

Unlike with Magic and Spells, which came naturally to me both in its usage and modification, Skills were a lot more opaque. To use a metaphor, I could copy and run the program, but I was learning the language it was written in from scratch. Some of the modifications came easily to me, yet others broke the Skill and I had to recopy it to use it again. Of course, there were also the Skills I couldn’t copy, which were aggravating in a different way. There was no connecting thread, no rhyme or reason to which Skills I could copy and which I could not.

Lanaya, the first Ogre I Named, possessed a Skill that allowed her to increase her physical capabilities for a short amount of time, with the cost of leaving her tired and fatigued after it wore off. I could not interact with this Skill at all, besides being able to see it activate. Hanako, the very next Ogre I Named, possessed a skill that allowed her to Analyse, Appraise and Mentally Dissect all forms of phenomena and objects as well as speed up her thought process.

Not only could I copy this skill, but I could activate each component of it separately or all at once. It was invaluable for speeding up my research, but also frustrating. I immediately thought that this Copying of skills could be tied to their physicality, seeing as Hanako’s was a purely mental Skill whereas Lanaya’s was a physical body enhancement. However, Hanako’s brother, the Prince of the Oni, Ryu, had a physical skill as well, in that he could produce incredibly hot flames by infusing them with his will. I could copy and manipulate that skill perfectly.

So the hypotheses changed, to maybe me just being unable to copy skills that affected the body. However, that was disproven when I managed to copy a skill that allowed me to exert immense force for a single attack. Then there were the mental Skills that I couldn’t copy, such as one that allowed someone to construct a perfect mental representation of an object that they could recall with perfect clarity at any time.

Needless to say, my studies into the nature of Skills and Souls was still ongoing. However, I was sufficiently advanced enough in them to be able to immediately distinguish between a sentient and non-sentient Monster.

“Well now.” I spoke, causing the buff Goblin to stiffen and the Slime he held to jiggle in surprise, “I was told that it was a Goblin that sought me out. Yet looking at the two of you, I believe that Slime is the true mastermind here.”

I was reasonably certain in my guess. Unlike Humans, once you got used to how they operated Monsters were refreshingly simple to figure out. The strongest one led. Always. That being the case, this Slime? It was stronger than the Goblin by far, to the order of dozens of times more powerful.

“That’s right.” The Slime ‘spoke’, its voice appearing in my head as it used Thought Communication, “Don’t worry though, I’m not a bad Slime!”

There was silence for several heartbeats as I took that in. It was obviously some sort of joke to ease the tension, but the context was lost on me. However, something tickled the back of my mind, my brain dredging up memories of awkward conversations from the past. The way the slime said those words, the anticipatory pause at the end…

Did it just try to make a reference?

Deciding against following that line of thought, I merely tilted my head, “I see. I’ll take your word for it.”

The Slime wilted, disappointment translating through its body language surprisingly well, “Ah, well… That’s good. "

“Right…” Deciding to move on swiftly, I decided to ask, “Why is it you came? Is there some sort of Magical problem you need our help with, or do wish to move to the Village? It would be our first Goblins, but if I speak to Hanako…”

“Ah, about that I just wanted to consult on… Wait, Hanako?!” The Slime seemed surprised at the name.

“Yes, that is what I named the Princess of the Ogres here.” I responded.

“Sorry if this makes no sense, but with the name’s you’ve been giving the Ogres… Are you perhaps Japanese?” The Slime’s question made me raise an eyebrow, surprised at hearing that word in this world.

“Are you a Reincarnation? I was told that there might be others... To answer your question, no, I am not Japanese. I was Dutch before arriving here.” I answered.

“Ah!” The Slime perked up, “So I was right! I’m so glad I’m not alone!”

The Goblin coughed, “My Lord, I’m sorry, but is our reason for visiting not urgent?”

“That’s right! Sorry Rigurd, I was just so happy to meet someone from my home…” The Slime turned to me, drawing itself up as seriously as it could while resting in the Goblin’s hands, “I was told that you are the most knowledgeable about Magic in the entire forest, able to do things that everyone thought was impossible.”

“You were lied to.” I responded, sitting down and relaxing as I waved for Rigurd to do the same, “I only recently started learning about Magic, my attempts have been the equivalent of dipping a toe into an ocean. It is likely that I will have absolutely no knowledge about whatever your problem may be, but given some time I promise to do my best.”

“Time might be a bit of an issue… But you admitting that to me makes me feel a lot better. This was all sounding like it was too good to be true.” The Slime confessed, “My problem is not really mine, to be honest. There was a woman who came to our village, a well known Hero who was a Reincarnation, like us. Her name is Shizu.”

It paused, seeming to consider how to word the issue, “She was implanted with an elemental spirit when she was a child, that has been trying to take her over ever since. As she’s aged, she has been slowly losing the fight with the elemental, Ifrit. While she was visiting our village, she finally lost the fight against him, causing her to go berserk and be completely consumed by the elemental.”

I raised an eyebrow at this, not even knowing that two beings could inhabit the same body, “That seems highly odd to me. I have never encountered anyone with two separate souls, but as I said, my experience is limited. I am guessing you aren't here to ask me for something as easy as defeating this rampaging spirit?”

“You’re right.” It responded, “I managed to beat him and seal the both of them away in my stomach. But I was not able to separate them, and I don’t want to kill Shizu. Then I heard about a Grand Magus residing in the Ogre Village and thought maybe you could help…”

“I have no idea, this is different to everything I have seen in this world so far.” I admitted freely, “However, I won’t be able to say either way until I examine them myself. When you said you sealed them away, was that in a way that would allow me to interact with them without them being able to act?”

“No. I put them away in my stomach, if I bring him out he will be free and unrestrained.” It answered, “But I beat him before! I can do so…!”

I held up a hand, “How did he fight? What type of attacks did he use?”

“Fire blasts and pillars and he also had some pretty sharp claws. He didn’t use them on me, but if I had to guess…” The words were unsure, but I nodded to them regardless.

“Then it’s no problem. I am immune to all those attacks you mentioned.” Both Rigurd and the Slime started at that, staring at me in shock, “I have yet to encounter anything that could even hurt me so far.”

“Man, that’s broken!” The Slime shouted.

“My lord, you are much the same. You stood in that pillar of Fire without any harm at all.” Rigurd spoke, causing the Slime to wilt.

“well, yeah… but… He got to keep his body! He still looks like a guy! I’m stuck as a slime!” It complained, revealing the true root of its jealousy.

“I hardly see why that’s a problem.” I responded, “Shouldn’t you be able to transform, as a Slime?”

“Well, yeah, but it’s uncomfortable to be bigger than my default form.” The Slime responded.

“Then just make a smaller human body.” I pointed out the obvious solution, which was met with silence.

I noticed that the Slime activated a skill as it considered my words, but I was unable to see what kind. The ‘data’ returned mere gibberish, which was annoying but hardly anything I hadn’t encountered before. Still, it sucked to miss out on an easy pickup.

“That hadn’t occurred to me…” Came the sheepish reply.

“Regardless!” I clapped my hands, moving to stand, “Let’s go find a clearing where I can help you with your heated problem. Seeing as we are going to be working together, allow me to introduce myself, I am Rubick Maelstrom. May I have your names?”

“I am Rigurd.” The Goblin responded, confirming his name.

The Slime surprised me, “I don’t have a Name.”

“And you managed to Name other monsters?” Was my response.

That spoke to exceptional power and potential, not to mention the fact that he was this powerful even after giving out a Name. It spoke to him discovering some exploit to offset the effect of handing out Names, much like I did.

“Haha, yeah I was told that was weird.” It said, “But I don’t really get why it’s such a big deal. I mean, not having a Name sucks but I got used to it.”

“I see.” I responded, considering the benefits to explaining the issue, but deciding to put it off, “We can discuss it later. For now, let's go work on Ifrit and Shizu.”

“Shouldn’t we discuss payment?” The Slime inquired.

I waved it off, “Don’t worry about it. I have a feeling that I will receive plenty from this anyway.”

Several minutes later, as I stood within a sealed barrier to contain the roaring flames that engulfed me entirely, I smiled as I learned more about Fire Manipulation in seconds than all my previous tinkering in the subject combined. That’s not even mentioning watching the Slime bring Ifrit out of its Stomach. That opened a whole new line of research all by itself. One who’s potential was almost boundless.

Imagine, personal dimensional planes. I almost salivated at the display

Ample payment indeed.