[Book 2] That time I got reincarnated as a slime,no, a DRAGON?

Ch-97

3rd Person POV

For the next one month, Rimuru continued to practice and improve his control over Nihilium. Without Ciel to assist him, it was hard for Rimuru to control it. It took him nearly two weeks to even get Nihilium under his control. It took him another week to stabilize the nihilium and improve his foundation.

Only in the final week did Rimuru actually start processing towards his main goal, creating a living creature. Well, calling it a creature would be wrong, since it doesn't have a soul or mind of its own. It was more like a puppet.

Fortunately for Rimuru, he had quite an in depth knowledge of the human body. He quickly started to shape the nihilium and give it a human form. Unlike a human body, the puppet only needed a basic structure with enough space for nihilium to flow through it freely. There was no need to create any organs. Without much problems, Rimuru successfully managed to create a humanoid puppet in a matter of two days, yet the puppet refused to move around properly.

The amount of Nihilium that Rimuru had to use just to maintain the puppet was exorbitant. If not for the fact that he had the alternate dimension, there is no way he would have been able to sustain the puppet for more than a few seconds, let alone create it.

After five days of mastering his control, Rimuru finally managed to get control over the puppet. This puppet could move around like a living being. But it was still unstable, and would disintegrate in its own in no more that a few hours.

"Colour me surprised, boy. I had not expected you to actually succeed." Nihilium said as he suddenly appeared behind Rimuru.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, it isn't really perfect, but it's much, much better than what I had expected."

"Huh?"

"Your control of Nihilium took you only two weeks. No matter how talented you are, Nihilium will not follow you is it doesn't have an affinity with you. Very few are born with an affinity with void. Even your predecessor, Azatoth didn't have an affinity with it."

"Then how did he become the God of Void?"

"God of Void? Don't make me laugh boy. He was sort of my disciple. Free was talented in the art of controlling nihilium. His comprehension of Nihilium and its power was outstanding, but unfortunately, he didn't have any affinity with nihilium. As such, Nihilium refused to do what he wanted. The most he could control was Turn Null, a weaker form of Nihilium."

"Then, what happened to him?"

"Azatoth? He is dead. He is long dead. He indeed had a bright future in front of him. He could have become an immortal in the truest sense. But rather than that, he decided to die as a human, along with his family and loved ones. He died a peaceful death alongside his wife."

"... I see."
"Let's not talk about depressing stuff now. You have a bright future in front of you and your talent is greater than his. All you have to do is keep working hard.

As for your achievement, as I promised, I will give you a part of my inheritance." Hearing this, Rimuru frowned.

"A part?"

"Yes. It's still too early for you to obtain my inheritance completely."

"Huh? But Veldanava had obtained the inheritance."

"That's the inheritance of creation. Creating something is much much easier than controlling the Void."

Hearing this, Rimuru had a confused look on his face.

"What do you mean?"
"Try creating something with magicules."

Though confused, Rimuru did as he said. He condensed his magicules and created a wooden sword.

"Alright. Good job. Now try doing the same thing with Nihilium." Again, Rimuru didn't question and did what he said. Rimuru took a small amount of Nihilium and created an identical sword. But even though they were identical, it was evident that the sword made of Nihilium was incomparably stronger. But, as a catch, it was much more harder to use and control. Even the slightest of misstep could cause the sword to explode and release all the energy inside it.

"Now do you understand, boy? Nihilium is much harder to control. Unlike creation which creates a perfectly stable product, Nihilium does not. If not kept in check, it will explode and disintegrate. That's why, most of the time it's better to convert Nihilium to magicule and then create. On the other hand, Stardust is much more stable. Even more stable that magicules, hence they are the easiest form of energy to control."

Hearing this, Rimuru just nodded. He couldn't control Nihilium like Nihilanthian did, but his control now was good enough, that he could use Turn Null without Ciel's help.

"As for the inheritance. I was thinking of giving you an artificial space to create Nihilium, but since you already have an alternate dimension, I doubt it would be that useful. I doubt you will need a weapon either, considering you have a soul weapon.

Hmm... What should I give you?..." Nihilanthian started thinking what he should give to Rimuru as his inheritance. Rimuru was someone who could very well be the next God of Void. But Nihilanthian did not want to give him something from his personal Arsenal as they would be too strong for him and might make him complacent. This is something that Nihilanthian wanted to avoid at all costs. He couldn't let such a good talent be destroyed.

"Right. Since you will need to better your control over Nihilium anyways, why don't you take this." Nihilanthian said as he presented a bangle.

"What's this?"

"This will help you contact me whenever you want. Apart from that, it will improve your control over Nihilium and limit the amount of Nihilium you can use at once. That will prevent it from going out of control." Rimuru hesitantly took the bracelet, but didn't seen that satisfied with what he had gotten. Like Veldanava, he was expecting to receive something exciting and powerful, but this bracelet was definitely a letdown.

"Don't make a face like that. Once your control over Nihilium improves, I will give you more of my inheritance. So don't worry and keep working hard."

"... Sure." Though Rimuru had a lot of things to say, he decided not to. Seeing that Rimuru was keeping quiet, Nihilanthian created a new portal for Rimuru to go through.

"This will take you back to the Awakening ceremony." Nihilanthian said. Rimuru nodded and passed through it.

After some time had passed, a woman appeared in the empty void which was inhabited by only one being. Seeing her, Nihilanthian also changed into a complete human form.

"Was that the right thing to do Neel?" The woman spoke up affectionately.

"I am not sure, but if it isn't him, then there will be no one else. You were lucky enough to find a successor, but me? I have been suffering. Losing Azatoth really shook me. I had not thought the we will ever find someone as gifted and hardworking as him."

"That's true. But then he shows up, and not even a billion years have passed since then. I wonder if it is luck or fate."

"I don't know, dear, but I do know that I will able to leave everything to him, Azura Mazda."

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I hope you guys like it.