Code S.L.I.M.E.

Chapter 1: New (S)Life

Aoki POV

Rimuru told me something about not getting into trouble, and I didn't exactly understand what that entailed. I did know he didn't want me killing anyone though. What he'd told me to do was explore the 'executive palace' and read the labels on all the rooms.

He said all our subordinates had already been told about me. It made me happy when he said 'our', and I didn't really know why. I guess he really did consider me an extension of himself in some way.

I walked through the hallways looking for stronger subordinates that I could ask for things. I wanted to see what they would do, or what they could show me. I needed to learn strong magic so that I could defeat my human rival.

I couldn't kill him, but I could at least make sure that Rimuru knew I was stronger than him.

Eventually I saw what I thought at first was a human, but then I got a sense of danger from their presence. They had black hair, as Rimuru called it. They were wearing mostly white clothes, but they had a sword at their hip, as Magic Sense called it.

That was bad, a weapon. A powerful weapon, I knew it was a sword, but I couldn't get anymore information from it.

I needed to confront them, because they might be dangerous, and I didn't think they felt like one of our subordinates. So I stepped out in front of them, and flared out my magic in an attempt to intimidate them.

That was a mistake. A big big mistake.

I was suddenly in immense pain as they flared out their own magic in response, and it hurt, it was like having my own magic stolen from me and dispersed into the environment.

I backed off and ran away back down the hall after that. I couldn't get hurt, Rimuru told me not to do anything that would get me hurt.

I still needed to watch that human though, so eventually, I started following them. I watched them walk into Rimuru's office, and then couldn't do a thing. It was annoying.

A few minutes later, I came across someone else interesting. A pink-haired one with white pointy things on their head. Unlike that other one, this person felt like a monster and one of our subordinates.

"You are Shuna." I said while pointing at their face.

"That is correct!"

They looked at me while doing that thing with their mouth where the corners go up.

I decided this was the perfect opportunity to ask about that.

"What is that?" I questioned, pointing at their mouth.

"I don't know what you mean, Lord Aoki."

"This." I tried for a moment to copy what they did, but I wasn't satisfied, so I grabbed my face and used my hands to make it look the same.

"Oh, you mean a smile? It's a way of showing someone you are friendly."

I nodded and made note of that, before starting to walk past.

"Where do you think you are going? Did you escape from Lord Rimuru?"

They tried to grab me, but I sidestepped.

"Exploring."

"Did Lord Rimuru allow you to do this?"

"Yes. He said, 'go explore....' Do you, know strong m-magics??"

The pink haired... Oni? She allowed me to see more about herself, including that she was a she. "I can teach you how to control your aura, like I just did. To allow you to see more about myself."