Aghanim's Rubick Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

He was panicking.

He had thought that the name Rubick had come up with was funny, an in-joke that he could share with anyone else who had come form their world. Unfortunately, he had neglected to think that both the Pururu meme and the name Su was linked to Slime Girls. Was that why he had turned into this feminine form?

Notice: Form was chosen to more easily accomplish your goals.

Great Sage? What was she talking about? What goals?

User wished to grow closer to subject Rubick. This form is calculated to be attractive to achieve that goal.

What!? Is she suggesting that he seduce Rubick? Where would she get that crazy idea?!

Notice: You have repeatedly referred to subject Rubick as ‘handsome’.

That was just hum acknowledging it objectively! The damn Handsome was objectively good looking! That didn’t mean that Susuru was attracted to him! He wasn’t gay!

…

He was not gay!

Despite his mental denials, he felt like Great Sage was doubting him.

“You aren’t.” The voice of the damn Handsome in question broke him out of his thoughts, Rubick rubbing his chin as he examined Susuru’s body, “You have no primary sexual characteristics.”

“What?” He hated how high and embarrassed his voice sounded, as he covered his chest and the apex of his thighs with his hands, “Why are you staring at me so hard?”

“Ah, apologies. Reproductive organs, you don’t possess them. It appears that your body is modelled on a female human, but not exactly. In fact, you and Shizu could pass as sisters.” Susuru hated how clinically Rubick was treating this.

“Can you not sound like I’m a specimen you are examining?” At that question, Rubick merely raised an eyebrow.

“I was attempting to not embarrass you by using detached language. Would you prefer it if I said that you don’t have a pussy?” Susuru could feel shock and embarrassment flow through him as h shook his head slightly, seeing the point.

“Fine, sorry. It’s just… I was a… No, I am a guy. Having a girl’s body like this is kinda mortifying.” Was he blushing? He couldn’t tell.

“If it helps, you aren’t a girl either.” Rubick was enjoying this, the bastard, he could see him trying to hide a smile, “You aren’t male or female. If anything, you are currently genderless.”

“Oh, looking at this body, you are saying it’s not feminine?” Susuru didn’t know why he was pushing this, but Rubick seeming to not care about what he was looking at pissed him off for some reason.

“What’s wrong Susuru? You were freaking out about being a girl, now you’re annoyed you’re not a cute enough girl?” At the ensuing glare, Rubick raised his hands, his grin fully visible, “Sorry, sorry. Just teasing. Let’s try and fix this, shall we?”

From there, they attempted to work out how Susuru’s human form worked. Very quickly, they deduced that the form he had taken after the naming acted like a ‘base’ form, much like his slime form. Attempts to change the body to a more masculine form failed spectacularly, however annoyingly enough, he was able to make it more feminine. He could even age it up, making him looked like a mature beauty, rather than the cute girl he had looked like originally.

Throughout it all, Rubick remained detached, aside from the odd teasing comment, treating the situation like an experiment that he was observing. It continued to annoy Sururu, that the other man was completely calm and controlled. Due to this, his goal had slowly shifted throughout their tests, from actually fixing the issue to getting the infuriating guy to react properly for once.

That moment finally came when Susuru went in the opposite direction, instead of trying to be more masculine, he instead tried to feminise the body. In contrast to his other attempts, this went easily, the breasts plumping up and expanding slightly, the hips widening, and the cleft between the legs appearing with no trouble at all.

Rubick, who had just been about to poke Susuru’s stomach, paused, eyes widening, “Ah, well…”

“Not so calm now, are you?” The voice was intended to be smug, but came out breathy and alluring.

“Well, I was not going to ask, but apparently you can copy the female form quite well.” Rubick averted his eyes, staring at the door to the room, “You said that you could transform into a wolf after eating one? It’s possible your transformation was based off of Shizu. If you consume a male human, you should be able to shapeshift into a male form.”

“I won’t just kill someone for something like that.” Susuru denied while slipping back into the more neutral form, causing Rubick to shake his head.

“I was not suggesting you did. I was merely stating my conclusion.” Rubick’s was close as he spoke, having not turned back to realise that they were almost touching, “The truth doesn't stop being the truth merely because we find it distasteful.”

His voice rumbled through the room and Susuru’s body, causing a very unwelcome feeling to well up. Susuru almost wished it was unpleasant, as that would be easier to deal with.

“Well then. Mystery solved, I’m in this form due to my eating of Shizu to transport her.” Susuru took a step back, no longer keeping Rubick in his personal space, “Thank you for figuring it out.”

“No problem.” Rubick looked back at him, eyes raking over his body and relaxing as he saw it was reverted, “Before you leave, ask Hanako for some clothes. She’ll sort you out. In the meantime, here.”

To Susuru’s surprise, he preceded to remove his robe. Holding the white garment over to him, clad in only a pair of hakama pants, he smiled at Susuru.

“Make sure to give this to her once you have your own. It’s pretty important to me.”

He took the robe, slowly putting it on. It was warm, and had a pleasant scent to it. Odd, he no longer had a heart, so why did it feel like one was trying to beat out of his chest?

Notice: Attraction is a psycho-

Shut. Up.

---XXX---

One problem I had run into fairly early on was that when I was focused on experimentation, I could spend days at a time without realising it. Not needing to eat, sleep or drink made it possible to get so immersed in my research that I could lose all track of time.

The first time it happened, Hanako was the one to venture into my tower to see why I had been so distant. Upon hearing my explanation, she had a rather frightening look on her face. Apparently even showing her how lightning could be converted into plasma was enough to excuse my poor manners.

So now, I am interrupted every so often by Hattori, Hanako, Oda or Lanaya. They apparently had a schedule or something, making sure that I had a bath or dinner with the village every so often. It was a pain, but I suffered due to it being their way of showing care towards me. I could see it from a cynical point of view, that they wished to endear me to the village in order to give me more reason to protect it, but they were a bit too earnest in their expressions of loyalty for me to believe that.

Currently, I was attempting to work on emulating a skill from Dota. It was irksome to go with something that was not original, but this was the best path forward to get what I wanted quickly. That plague doctor mask wearing idiot was a laughably weak foe, but the fight did teach me a lot. Most importantly, it seemed that when it came to magical combat in this world, defensive magic had a wide advantage over offensive magic.

Those magical bullets he summoned were blocked with stupid ease by the barrier he used and even my lightning needed to expend far too much energy to break through it, once I tested the two in my lab. So, I needed a spell to smash through defences, to punch through tough opponents and do devastating damage quickly. Thankfully, my lightning allowed me an easy avenue to such a spell, especially once I figured out I could use it to generate plasma.

The spell was nearing completion, my familiarity with its properties from the game greatly aiding my development. Once it was done, I wanted to move onto a wholly unique piece of magic, my first foray into spellcrafting giving me all sorts of devious ideas.

The arc of light in my hand wavered as I was interrupted, causing me to sigh, “Yes, come in.”

Rather than one of the Oni, I was surprised by Shizu entering the lab. She had stayed behind even after Susuru had headed home, citing wanting to get used to her changed powers as a reason. She could still use the Flames that she was known for, but now that her energy had been turned into hers alone rather than hybridised with Ifrit, she could use a wider range of magic. To that end, she wished to learn water magic, wanting that to be her main method of fighting rather than fire.

After learning that she lived in Tokyo during the Second World War, I could understand why.

“Yes Shizu, how can I help you?” I smiled, placing my hands on the counter in front of me, clear and well lit so I could examine what I was doing properly.

“I wanted to come and say goodbye.” She said, taking in the rather barren lab as she did, “I must say, after hearing so much about your lab, I am surprised at how… empty it is.”

“For now, I am focusing solely on my own magic. Once I have learned enough, I will move on to studying other fields. I wonder what you will say in the next six months.” I replied, before raising an eyebrow, “So you have decided to get back to your students?”

“Yes.” She nodded, “My experience here has given me a lot of ideas, hopefully one of them will work.”

She fidgeted, her mask hiding her thoughts until she spoke, “I know you said that I was free to leave, but the Oni and the other’s reactions… Are you sure this is fine?”

“Don’t pay them any mind.” I waved, “They are too loyal for their own good. Go, with my full blessing Shizu. I hope your plan works and that you can save those kids. I would like to meet them some day.”

She nodded at that, apparently finding resolve as she did, reaching up and taking off her mask, “Thank you. I want to ask you a favour. If I fail… If I try my ideas and they don’t work, I will do my best to bring them here, to you. Would you help them? They won’t be able to stay, you would gain nothing from it.”

“Gladly.” I responded, catching her by surprise causing me to laugh, “From what you told me about them, they will grow to greatness. If they do so, and they remember that I was the one that helped them, they will come and allow me to learn what they have.”

“Liar.” She spoke, a mile on her face, “I don’t know why you hide your good intentions behind all these schemes and plans. It’s okay to help people just because they need it, Rubick.”

“Altruism breeds exploitation. I always ask for a price, otherwise my time will be monopolised by those who do not truly need it.” I replied, neither confirming or denying her assertion.

“Alright.” She rolled her eyes.

“Here, take this.” Thrusting the mask towards me, she blushed slightly as she spoke, “This is a promise for us to meet again. I will either save the children and come back here to pay my debt, or come back with them to add to it. When I do, you can give it back.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, knowing that she was aware the mask was useless to me.

I could control my internal magic so precisely that it was like a muscle. I did not leak a single drop of it without intending to. Therefore, a mask that blocked the sensing of Magic was fairly pointless for me.

“Well I’m not giving you my sword.” She joked, “I kind of need that.”

“Fair enough.” I grinned, reaching out and taking the mask from her hands, “It’s a pact then. I shall keep this safe until your return, Shizu.”

She nodded, her smile turning melancholic as she turned to go out the door.

“Shizu.” I spoke, causing her to pause at the threshold, “I Named you. All those that bear my Names are under my protection. You can always call on me, I shall answer.”

“Thank you.” Her voice was slightly watery, causing me to smile wryly.

“Safe travels.”

---XXX---

Lanaya was shocked. She knew her Lord, their Master, was exceptional but she had no clue just how much until this very moment. Musashi, the Instructor of the Oni Clan, was also stunned, from his position on the floor at Lord Rubick’s feet.

“I never thought,” The old monster said, “That I could be defeated by mimicry. But it’s not, is it? You don’t just copy. You improve.”

“Well noticed.” Lord Rubick spoke, offering a hand to the instructor who gladly took it and rose to his feet, “Of course, the first time I see something, so long as it’s not magical, I'm just as vulnerable as anyone.”

“Still a frightful ability my Lord.” Musashi opined, to which Lanaya could only nod.

Lord Rubick had asked to be trained in the sword by the Instructor, to which he had gladly accepted. They had gone through a few basic katas, stances and forms. Lord Rubick had observed the demonstration, then perfectly performed the requested technique. He had gone through the entire first tier of lessons in mere minutes, perfectly performing every single technique upon request.

Musashi then decided to actually test him in a fight, Lord Rubick’s Magicule enhanced speed allowing him to draw the fight out for much longer than he should have been able to, but upon losing had asked for a rematch. Musashi, grinning at the eager student, had agreed. Only to be fighting a whirlwind of his own style, faster and stronger than he was capable of.

Of course, he could have likely countered, but the surprise allowed Rubick to quickly win. The implications were enormous.

People thought she was dumb, but she wasn’t, she was just simple. She cared about what she wanted to and did not give a single damn about anything else. One thing she cared about intensely? It was fighting.

That let her know just how much of a Monster Rubick was in a battle. He could copy all your magic, the instant you cast it and now not only that, but all your physical techniques were his too after the first time you used them.

She didn’t know all the powers of the Demon Lords, but those she did know told her one thing for sure. Her Master had the potential to be infinitely strong. If he could copy techniques from anyone? Eventually he would be unbeatable.

It excited her. It excited her a lot. She loved the idea of serving a strong master, but to think she lucked out and served the strongest? Ah, bliss.

“Can I try?” She asked, causing Musashi and Lord Rubick to look up from their conversation.

“Are you sure?” Rubick asked, causing her to nod emphatically.

“Please. I want to spar with you. But may I ask something? Could you not hold back?” At her words, they gave each other a look.

“May I ask why?” Was Her master’s response.

“I have witnessed the Mountain, my Lord. I want to see where I measure up to it.” She was breathing hard in anticipation.

“Okay then.” She knew he would accept it easily.

He was so much smarter than all of them, he would obviously see the utility in giving his subordinates a goal to chase. They took their positions, her wielding the wooden odachi training sword and him still gripping the tachi that he was using with Musashi.

Musashi stepped between them, raising an arm before looking at her, “Are you certain?”

She nodded, eyes locked on her Lord’s form, knowing how fast he was capable of moving. All monsters could use Magicules to enhance their physical attributes, but Lord Rubick took it to ludicrous levels. While enhanced by his Magicules, he could multiply his abilities, not merely add to them. The difference between his normal self and when he was actively using the technique was like night and day.

She had asked him to not hold back, so she needed to react to the slightest movement to have any chance.

“Begin!” Musashi’s arm fell and Lanaya’s world exploded.

She flew backwards, slamming to the floor and tumbling end over foot, her weapon knocked out of her hand from the impact. Skipping across the dirt like a pedal, she slammed through a tree and straight into the one behind it.

The impact drove the non-existent air out of her lungs, her breath having been slammed out of her. Only once she came to a rest did she catch up to what happened. He hadn’t even used the sword, merely punching her. It was only a single hit, yet pain flared across her entire body.

The only reason she knew it was a punch and not a sword strike was that she could see through the tears her gasping face was riddled with that Her Master had his sword, undamaged in his hand. The other was extended, just pulling back from the strike he had delivered.

It was unreasonable. What sort of Monster existed that could scale that high off of their Magicules? It was unfair, completely and utterly absurd. He had only just started to explore his abilities, yet He was still this powerful. She could not imagine ever beating Him, in a million years, spending centuries solely training, she could not envisage a single world in which she could be victorious against him.

As the pain spread, the shock fading and allowing it to be more clearly felt, a smile came to her face. She started panting, it having nothing to do with her lack of breath from the ‘spar’. In fact caused her to choke and cough, her breathing rhythm disrupted. Her eyes unfocussed.

“Oh damn, did I go too far?” She heard her Master ask.

Musashi responded, “She did literally ask for it.”

“Still…” She felt herself turned onto her back, a soothing feeling spreading through her and easing the pain and her breathing.

Looking up at the face of her Master, her smile widened. He was absurd, unfair. His strength was on a completely different level to anything she had ever seen. Not only that, but he could use it. She asked him to not hold back, and he had obliged, going at her with full power.

It was awesome.