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“Unique Skill: Predator!”
The newly christened Rimuru Tempest felt his body stretch, although without much pain as it did. Yet another perk of being a slime, he figured. This allowed him to encase the entirety of the dragon and his magical prison - then devour it all. In a process that seemed too quick and simple for such a task, Rimuru shrank back down to normal size, with Veldora Tempest and the Unlimited Imprisonment skill now completely gone.
“That ended far too soon,” Rimuru commented to himself. “I was just talking with him a moment ago…”
Would you like to analyze the Unique Skill “Unlimited Imprisonment” and bonus material “Veldora Tempest”?
“Yes, please do it.”
There was a strange tingling inside him - different from the other times he’d consumed stuff from this world - but it slowly faded over the course of another few moments.
Absorption process: complete. Due to the size and complexity of “Unlimited Imprisonment” and bonus material “Veldora Tempest”, analysis will run passively in the background.
Giving his best impression of a nod, he then asked: “So, what does bonus material mean here? Since Veldora was inside the skill, I can analyze and get stuff from him too? Ooh, like a dragon form?!”
The slime bounced up and down, giddy at the thought of a powerful upgrade like that. Even if it ended up only being able to do dragon moves - like fire breathing or floating - while still being a tiny, blue blob, it’d still be pretty cool and useful.
Yes. With a combination of the slimes’ species skills “Dissolve” and “Absorb”, anything present in the stomach can be-
“WAIT, WHAT?!”
Surprisingly, Great Sage’s usually stoic and technical monologue paused in response to Rimuru’s outburst. Maybe it was just because the skill felt he wasn’t understanding (although it was more like he did and was just in shock at the implications), so the monologue began anew with a simpler tone.
Slimes have stomachs more powerful than most other creatures, allowing them to dissolve anything regardless of strength of material. This includes complete dissipation of souls and consciousnesses.
“That’s what I figured you meant…” Rimuru mumbled, deflating as he did so. “But that’s even worse than I thought. I didn’t just digest Veldora...I might’ve just taken his soul and prevented him from passing on, too.”
Correct.
For a second, Rimuru was overtaken by morbid thinking...that stuff he felt earlier, after he started analyzing...could that have been Veldora struggling for his life? Could it have been him breaking down the dragon’s mind and soul, like one would break down breakfast in their gut? Was Veldora awake for the process? Did he feel every moment of it? Was it painful - like the stabbing that brought Rimuru to this world - or did it go by as swiftly as it did for Rimuru on the outside?
Did his first and only friend in this world know it was an accident? Veldora had put immense trust into him - even reassuring the slime after he asked if he was really sure. He was so excited to finally have company after 300 years and the possibility of freedom, too, but now…
“Is...is there any way to bring him back…? If I absorbed his soul and consciousness, then I can recreate or copy it, right…?”
Negative. A soul is too unique and powerful for those processes; and a consciousness is lost forever in the absorption process, too. There exists skills that can create artificial life, but the programming may prove too unpredictable and volatile to reliably recreate an already existing consciousness. Cloning skills are also no use when the target no longer exists to be cloned. Even with success, it would not be the original Veldora Tempest - it would be an entirely new life.
He sighed. “Yeah, that reminds me of a Western video game that brought up the same philosophical dilemma...it just wouldn’t be the same, and it wouldn’t erase what’s already been done. He’s gone forever…”
At first, he considered asking more about his skills, since his inexperience was what got him into this mess in the first place. However, he ultimately decided to save it for now. With the wound of Veldora’s demise still fresh, Rimuru didn’t want to fall into a rabbit hole of “what if’s” and “I should’ve done’s”; even though he already suspected he was capable of storing things within him without dissolving them, and that he could’ve just not fallen into the temptation of “bonus material”.
Looking to the spot Veldora had formerly been at, the slime addressed the empty space. “I know it’s impossible for you to hear this, Veldora, but I’m sorry. Despite knowing you for only a few minutes, I’ll always consider you a close friend. From now on, I promise to be more careful, and to at least honor you by making use of whatever I gain out of this. So that this mistake wasn’t in vain.”
Now, Rimuru Tempest was alone once again.