Rimuru: A Second Chance that Won't Be Wasted

Conversing within the Void

Rimuru was sitting cross-legged in the Sealed Cave, in the exact place where Veldora was once sealed. His eyes were closed, and he was not breathing nor moving at all. Obviously, he had no need to breathe, but not opening his eyes and not moving were two things that he would never do regularly. Yet here he was, still as a statue, a neutral expression on his face.

He is not asleep, nor is he dreaming. He was not listening to the occasional sound of water droplets hitting puddles on the cave floor. No...he was in fact meditating. Not reflecting on his life, nor attempting to reach another plane of existence. He was aware of everything that was going on around him, thanks to both {Universal Perception} and Ciel, but he was not going out of his way to analyze his surroundings.

Inside of him would be his spiritual self, or some piece of him, training and strengthening himself in his inner void. Obviously, Rimuru was insanely strong, and at his current state, only Veldenava in his prime would perhaps be able to contend with him, and that was an optimistic stance.

But Rimuru realized that he was heavily reliant on his skills, Ciel, and luck. He did not train in the sword for years, instead practicing for only one year and then adopting his own style, which slowly formed over the course of 2-3 years. He was by no means the level of a simple apprentice, but he was not an expert either. To say that he trained diligently, however, was completely false.

He was roughly 4 years old when the final battle had started... and his strength back then was enough to kill all his opponents in a rage.

But Rimuru had spent most of his life either doing paperwork, developing the country, or mourning (centuries were wasted mourning before he travelled back in time). So he decided to start from scratch.

Limiting his powers to that of a talented human, he started to practice hand to hand combat, sword arts and sword forms. On occasion, he would also practice with other weapons. The spear, the halberd, the staff, the rope dart, the chinese podao, the trident, the japanese katana and tachi, and many more weapons were tried and practiced.

Multiple hand to hand fighting styles were also tried, some incorporated, others forgotten. Fictional hand to hand styles were a major inspiration, but not all could be implemented realistically.

His sparring partner, Ciel, easily mastered all the techniques. She was practically a robot, perfect in every sense besides emotion. Of course she would badly beat him every time. Without {Universal Perception} that he had grown reliant on, without his natural barriers, he would suffer wound after wound. Having the stamina of a human, he had to deal with crippling muscle pain, excruciating headaches, and the occasional loss of limb. It was agonizing and grueling. Yet each time he would get up, pushing himself further and further.

Ciel thought that this was all unnecessary, and was unsure if this would actually make him stronger. Versatile, perhaps, but it was not something unachievable by simply using analysis and copying fighting styles. But this training did distract him from his depression, and gave him a direction to vent his frustrations and his pain. A way of coping, so to speak. So she endured, and pushed him hard, so that his thoughts would not wander to that darkness. But she would always grimace when he was wounded, after all, this was an indirect method of self harm.

As we all know, time flows differently in the Void, same in this {Imaginary Space}. 1 millisecond in the real world was akin to 100 years in the Void. At least, that was how Rimuru set it up when he started this training. Gaining eons of experience, actual fighting experience, in the span of a few hours. A choice that he readily took.

Finally, they took a break, and it was during this particular break that Rimuru asked Ciel a specific question that had been on his mind for a while, one that he never got the chance to ask, as he had to focus on avoiding attacks and counter attacking when possible.