Rimuru and Iruma's Adventures in the Netherworld

Code: S.L.I.M.E. (Prologue)

*Bump* *Bump*

I felt it.

Satisfaction and contentment.

I was bathed in the feeling.

This was where I was supposed to be, I knew it.

Eventually, I bumped into a new surface. It felt not like rock, or the grass. It was closer to the grass though. So I settled on referring to it as big grass. It prevented me from getting closer again.

There was a small gap that I was able to squeeze through close to the ground, and then I felt I was right in front of the presence, somehow. I immediately rolled faster and felt the sensation of bumping into them.

I could tell they were thinking about something, but those thoughts were far beyond me at that point.

I kept trying to get as close as possible to this presence, but every time I tried, I seemed to end up on the ground instead. Over and over, I tried and tried, but failed.

The presence suddenly moved, and then I felt it wrap around me. It was soft and comforting, being surrounded by what I wanted to be near the most.

Movement again. I felt an object appear next to me, and I moved toward it, still cradled by the presence. I made contact, and on instinct, again engaged my Absorb and Dissolve.

[Absorbing apple.]

The object called an apple, gifted to me by the presence, became a part of me.

I felt a tap on the top of me, then I nestled into the one holding me, completely at ease.

This was home.

...

I sat there, basking in and enjoying the presence when suddenly things changed.

No longer did I feel the ground under me, or the subtle movement of the air, but instead an even, uniform feeling of the presence, completely surrounding me. Not in the same way as before, but in a more overwhelming way.

It wasn't frightening, though, but the opposite.

After some time spent here, I started to question what this presence was. My Assess skill tells me what things are, so using it would tell me.

This was my new goal, now that I was with the presence; now that I was home. I wanted to know what it was and why I wanted it so badly.

So, remembering the way I used the skill before, I activated it.

[Assess... blocked.]

But it failed. I didn't know why, but it didn't tell me what the presence was. But I was determined.

So I tried again.

[Assess blocked.]

And again.

[Assess blocked.]

And again.

[Assess blocked.]

I wanted this. I needed this. I wasn't going to give up.

Persistent, I kept trying, but this only drained me of energy. I could feel that much. However, the warm enveloping presence I was immersed in restored that energy almost as fast as I used it.

[Assess...successful. Presence identified as individual: Rimuru Tempest.]

It paid off, my countless attempts to figure out what it was finally worked. My idea of what the presence is was rewritten.

Then, I felt the same sensation of being surrounded and held.

Their thoughts were somehow different, though.