It had been nearly two years since I began studying under Grandpa (Merlin). ...Huh? "Skip ahead"? Even if you say that, ever since he taught me how to control Magic Power, I've been doing the same thing every day with nothing particularly new happening. The control method was simple too,
and it went something like this:
1. Get in the water, stand up straight, and calm your mind.
2. Imagine that circuits carrying Magic Power run throughout your entire body.
3. Once you've pictured it, visualize Magic Power flowing through those circuits.
4. When your body feels lighter and warmth spreads to every last corner, you've succeeded.
5. Once you're used to it, practice channeling Magic Power through objects you hold or wear.
That's all.
He pulled it off on his very first try by imagining blood vessels and blood instead of circuits. After that, all he had to do was try to keep Magic Power flowing through his body as much as possible during daily life. The only real change in his studies was that lessons with his mother had decreased, replaced by more sessions with Grandpa.
And just like that, I'd grown to six years old. Starting today, my father was going to teach me how to hunt. Well, I'd already experienced that in my previous life.
So there we were—my father and I heading out to the Great Old Forest at the crack of dawn.
"Dad, there's a Maru Bird in the shadow of that tree."
"Got it, leave it to me."
With that, my father swiftly loosed an arrow. It struck the Maru Bird in the neck and the bird dropped right there.
"Incredible, Tenma—that makes eight already. And it's not even noon yet!"
"But I spotted three more and let them get away."
"Even so, even a veteran hunter would have a hard time spotting prey at that pace. Your archery will only improve from here."
(Well, finding them would be a breeze if I just combined Appraisal with detection.)
Tenma murmured to himself.
"Tenma, it's a lot earlier than planned, but let's call it a day. We've already surpassed what we aimed for."
That was Ricardo's suggestion. Just then, a sound came from the nearby brush.
The two immediately backed away and drew their knives.
What emerged from the bushes was—
"A Slime? It's fine, Tenma. These are considered the weakest of all the Monsters."
Ricardo said, letting his guard down slightly.
"Tenma, this is a good opportunity. Try taking it down."
Following Ricardo's words, Tenma approached the Slime with a touch of nervousness.
The Slime stared at Tenma—or seemed to—gradually closing the distance between them until only two meters remained.
Tenma experienced a strange sensation.
(What's this? It feels like my attention is being drawn to the Slime?)
Tenma stopped in his tracks, sheathed his knife, and approached the Slime once more.
"Tenma! What are you doing?!"
Ricardo rushed forward as if to lunge at the Slime, but Tenma held him back with a hand.
"It's fine, Dad. It doesn't seem to have any intention of attacking me."
So saying, he extended his hand toward the Slime.
The Slime trembled as it drew closer and touched Tenma's hand.
At that moment, Tenma clearly felt something connecting between himself and the Slime.
"Dad, I think it's latched onto me!"
Ricardo stared at Tenma in surprise. "Tenma, so you had the talent for Taming too?!" he said.
Taming
'—what's that?'
"'Taming—
Taming
—is a Skill that lets you tame Monsters. You can even command them as Familiars and have them fight for you."
"Wow, that sounds fun! (It's kinda like those monster-collecting games from my past life, huh?)"
"Slimes are pretty low-ranked as Monsters go, so the fact that you managed to tame one is still impressive."
"Do you think Mom and Grandpa will be surprised?"
"I'm not sure about Merlin, but your mother will definitely be surprised. You should probably tell her about the Slime first before showing it to her."
"Why? I wanted to keep it a secret and surprise her."
"If she gets too startled, she might end up attacking the Slime."
"That would be terrible!"
"Just to be safe, let's show Merlin first and have him come along when we show your mother."
"Okay! Got it!"
"Well then, shall we head back?"
The two of them finished packing up and started walking back to the village. The Slime was cradled in Tenma's arms, occasionally trembling with delight.
"Merlin, you there?"
When they arrived back in the village, Tenma and the others headed straight for Merlin's house and told him about the Slime.
"Ho ho~ so it's 'Taming—
—Taming' you've learned?
's talent for it, I'm glad. I understand about Celia. I'll come along too. There are things I want to say about the Slime as well."
With those words, they headed toward the house where Tenma and the others were waiting with Celia.
As expected, Celia was surprised, but after hearing what Tenma and the others had to say, she praised them:
"Way to go, Tenma! It's been so long since anyone in this village
Tamed
something successfully!"
As Celia praised Tenma, Merlin told her he had something to discuss and moved everyone to the table, having them sit down. The Slime was perched on Tenma's lap.
"It appears this Slime might be able to use magic."
Tenma and the others were startled by this sudden remark. Tenma used Appraisal to peer at the Slime.
Name…????
Age…1
Race…Slime
Title…Tenma's Familiar
HP…500
MP…500
Strength…E-
Defense…E-
Speed…D-
Magic Power…C+
Spirit…D-
Growth Power...B
Luck...B
Skills...Abnormal Status Resistance 5, Endurance 2, Martial Arts 1, Space-Time Magic 1
That was what was displayed. Clearly stronger than an ordinary slime — slimes generally had abilities somewhere around F- to F+.
"Occasionally, a higher-ranked Monster is born as a sudden mutation, and this slime is probably one of them. Such individuals tend to have high intelligence, and many of them grow to become quite powerful."
"So this slime is a rare one? Merlin?"
"Indeed. Even so, it's still just a slime. They usually get killed before they can grow strong. In that sense, yes, it's quite rare."
"So that's
why
you came all the way here, old man?"
In response to Celia's question, Merlin looked at Tenma and the slime and said,
"That's part of it, but the main reason is related to Tenma's Magic Power."
"Something to do with my Magic Power?"
Merlin's unexpected words made Tenma tilt his head.
"That's right. Tenma's Magic Power control has improved lately, so I was thinking it was about time to start teaching him magic."
"What does that have to do with the slime?"
Ricardo reacted to Merlin's words.
"Now, now, calm down. I was originally planning to use this instead,"
saying that, Merlin pulled a small stone-like object roughly two to three centimeters in size from his pocket and placed it on the table.
"That's an empty Magic Stone with no Magic Power stored in it, right? What about it?"
In response to Celia's question, Merlin said,
"I was planning to have her infuse magic into this to learn how to use magic power, but I also thought about having her grant magic power to the Slime."
The three listened intently to Merlin's words. He continued,
"With a Magic Stone, if you pour too much magic power in at once, it'll break. It's perfect for practicing the release of magic power, and since the Slime has become a Familiar, the Path is already connected — so exchanging magic power should be much easier."
"I kinda get it, but what's a 'Path,' Gramps?"
"It's like a circuit that forms between you and your Familiars. Some people also call it a bond."
"But isn't it dangerous to flow magic power into the Slime, Gramps?"
Tenma's concern was perfectly understandable. If the Slime he had just
tamed
were to explode when magic power was fed into it, it could easily become a traumatic experience.
"It's perfectly fine. Slimes are omnivores, but they can survive on just water and magic power alone. In fact, there's a good chance it'll grow stronger by eating your magic power — a real win-win."
Hearing this, Tenma let out a sigh of relief.
"Celia, I still have some empty Magic Stones at home, so I'll bring them over later. You can sell the ones you've already filled with magic power to a traveling merchant or the like. Use that money to order new empty ones."
"Thanks, Uncle. But is it really okay for me to take the Magic Stones?"
"Think of it as payment for all the wonderful meals you've been making me."
Accepting Merlin's words without any further hesitation, Celia smiled — and then, as if remembering something, Ricardo spoke up,
"Come to think of it, Tenma, you should give your Slime a name. It'd be pretty inconvenient to keep going without one, right?"
He said. Then Merlin and Celia added,
"Indeed. It's Tenma's new family member. Give it a good name."
"That's right — it'd be sad not to give it a name. But Tenma, you have to take proper care of it, okay?"
That was what they said, but in truth, Tenma had already decided on the slime's name.
"This slime's name is going to be Slarin!"
Ever since Tenma had Tamed the slime, the only name that came to mind was one belonging to a slime from a certain RPG he'd played in his previous life. When the other three heard this,
"That's a bit lazy just because it's a slime. At least it's easy to remember, though."
"Oh, it's fine. It's cute."
"Indeed. It's Tenma's choice, after all. And the slime itself seems to be quite fond of it."
Just as Merlin said, the slime was trembling and bouncing with joy. It almost looked like it was dancing.
"Nice to meet you from now on, Slarin."
Tenma spoke softly to the slime that had become his newest family member.
And so, the slime joined the party. The first monster to become a companion is always a slime, right? At least, that's what the author thinks. Please forgive me on the name — when it came to naming a slime, this was all I could come up with.
Writing furigana is getting tedious, so I might just drop it going forward.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on the story!
——Status——
Name…Tenma Ootori
Age…6
Race…Human
Title…Sage's Disciple, Tamer, (Child of the Gods)
HP…1500
MP…8500
Strength…E-
Defense…E
Speed…D
Magic Power…A
Spirit…B-
Growth…SS-
Luck…B
Skills…Throwing 5, Taming 5, Night Vision 5, Endurance 5, Cooking 4, Dissection 4, Traps 4, Archery 4, Swordsmanship 3, Hand-to-Hand Combat 3, Spear Arts 3, Staff Arts 3, Axe Arts 3, Fire Magic 2, Water Magic 2, All Magic Attributes 1 (6) (Appraisal 10, Detection Ability 10, Concealment 10, Technical Skill Enhancement 10, Familiar Enhancement 10, Growth Power Boost 8, Life Force Boost 8, Recovery Boost 8, Abnormal Status Resistance 8, Sense Boost 7, Physical Boost 7, Destruction Boost 5, Magic Boost 5, Creation Magic 5, Bestowal Magic 5, Destruction Resistance 5, Instant Death Resistance 5, Martial Arts Mastery 5)
Gift…Blessing of the Gods