Chapter 61: The Naming Ceremony (Part 1)
Before dawn, the Land of the Great One was silent. The streets of the Crystal Square were empty. The crafting district had finally fallen silent, the training grounds were covered with morning mist, and the patrol wolves had returned from their night shifts. Even the always bustling slimes were silent.
Only the Crystal Tree kept watch over the land. Its huge azure leaves shimmered in the darkness, releasing tiny mana particles into the air. Tanaka sat beneath the tree. His slime body bounced once before calming down.
He looked up at the tree and stayed silent for a long time. Two years and six months. That was how long he had been here, in this world. Two years and six months since he had opened his eyes as a lesser slime. Back then he was weak, so weak that the bigger slimes stopped him from going out. No goblins, no wolves, no kobolds, no rabbits, no moss turtles, no ogres. There was nothing for him except his thoughts and the slime body he wore. Tanaka shuddered. He could still remember the terror of the dungeon, the stone monsters he fought, the fanged rabbit that nearly killed him.
He could remember the hunters who had slain slimes just for their benefit. He could even remember the first time Devourer had activated. He could remember conquering the dungeon, finding the wolves, the first human he had ever killed, all the knowledge he had gained from the corpse. The city of Rosen, the knowledge of how humans lived, the return to the Great Verdant Forest. The expansion of his territory, the dungeon beasts that served him, the construction of the settlement, the discovery of the Crystal Tree, the joining of the two hundred ogres...
Tanaka looked out over the sleeping settlement and smiled. "We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?" He could remember how it had all started. How he had died on earth, waking up as a slime. How his slime body had quivered when he saw the hunters for the first time, when he had been forced to kill or be killed. Tanaka’s smile faded. "I made a promise." He thought about Eldrin, the first monster he had ever named. He could almost see the old goblin’s face as he reacted to the name, could see his shock and disbelief and joy.
Tanaka wanted to give the same gift to those around him, to carve a name into each of them and let them carry it with pride, let them wear it like a second skin. But names were serious things. They had to be earned, given with mana, gifted so that they became a part of the recipient. Tanaka could not do that to everyone then. It would take too much mana, too much effort. But he had grown stronger. His mana had increased, his body had matured, his mind had expanded. Tanaka knew without a doubt that he was strong enough, powerful enough. He reached out with his senses and opened his Soul Record.
Tanaka read over the familiar lines.
[ Soul record
Name: None
Race: Greater Devourer slime
Rank: C
Magic core: C
Age: 2 years, 6 months
Skills:
Telepathy.
Thought acceleration Lv.2
Mana sense Lv.3
Human language
Swordsmanship Lv.1
Tracking Lv.2
Campcraft Lv.2
Cooking Lv.1
Poison resistance Lv.1
Toxin digestion Lv.1
Body compression Lv.3
Body expansion Lv.3
]
His eyes scrolled away from the numerous skills and saw his titles.
[ Titles:
Dungeon conqueror
The Great One
]
Tanaka frowned at the name category.
"Still none?"
He was called Tanaka by the monsters, little slime called him that. The ogres called him Tanaka, and even the humans called him that. But it seems that it was not good enough for his Soul Record. Tanaka sighed. "That’s something I’m going to have to work on." He closed the Soul Record.
Boing!
Tanaka was nearly knocked off his slime body by the sudden impact.
"Seriously?"
Boing!
Little slime bounced happily before coming to a stop on Tanaka’s shoulder. "Morning!"
Tanaka chuckled. "Morning. Couldn’t sleep?" "No," little slime replied. "Thinking?" "Yeah." Little slime bounced. "Thinking makes you hungry." Tanaka looked at the little slime. "That’s your answer to everything." Little slime bounced proudly. "It generally works." Tanaka poked little slime’s body. "I suppose you’re right." They sat and talked under the Crystal Tree for a while. Eventually, however, the first sunbeams began to appear over the horizon. Tanaka looked up at the sky before looking over at the settlement. "I have something important to do today." Little slime tilted his head. "Important?" Tanaka nodded. "The most important thing I’ve done in a long time."
An hour later...
DONG!
The great bell began to ring.
DONG!
It echoed over the Land of the Great One.
DONG!
It sent the monsters scurrying from their dens. Goblins stopped work, kobolds came out of the storage buildings, the rabbit workers abandoned their vegetable gardens, the patrol wolves returned to the village, moss turtles meandered slowly toward the Crystal Square, and the ogres all came out to see what was happening. The five original ogres stood together, the Prince was calm as ever, his amber eyes watching the proceedings with mild interest, the Sword Ogre said nothing, the Warrior Woman crossed her arms, the Princess looked around the square, and the Hammer Ogre was the first to speak. "Why did he ring the bell so early?" The Princess smiled. "Probably because you’re supposed to wake up early."
"I was awake."
"You were sleeping five minutes ago."
"I was resting my eyes."
The Hammer Ogre grumbled as Tanaka bounced toward the middle of the square. The leaders soon arrived, Alpha Wolf standing at the front alongside Eldrin. The Kobold Leader soon followed, then the Moss Turtle Leader, then the Rabbit Leader emerged from the gardens. Little slime of course remained by Tanaka’s side. They soon gathered in the square, and the rest of the monsters soon arrived. Tanaka looked out over the crowd. So many faces, so many races.
His people.
His settlement.
His nation.
He smiled.
"When I first came here..." The square fell silent as all eyes were on Tanaka. "I was confused." Several of the older slimes lowered their bodies in respect, remembering the early days. Tanaka continued. "So were many of you. We didn’t know if we would survive the next day."
"We fought when we had to."
"We ran when we had to."
"We hid when we had to."
Tanaka’s gaze locked onto the older slimes before sweeping over the wolves, goblins, kobolds, rabbits, moss turtles, and ogres. "But look at us now." Tanaka gestured at the settlement.
"We built homes."
"We built farms."
"We built roads."
"We built workshops. We built training grounds. We built a nation, a place where our children will not fear death."
Tanaka’s voice grew firmer. "And we did it together." The square was silent. "Strength did not build this place," Tanaka said, placing a tendril over his chest. "It was not my power, nor the dungeon’s, nor the Crystal Tree’s. It was trust." Alpha Wolf’s ears lowered, Eldrin looked down, the Rabbit Leader smiled, and even the Prince seemed to take notice. Tanaka continued. "And that brings me to why I asked you all to come." The young monsters looked confused while Little slime bounced.
Boing!
Tanaka smiled.
"What is a name?"
"A name is proof that someone sees you."
The square was silent.
"It is a sign that..."
"You exist,"
"You matter,"
"You belong."
Several of the older monsters lowered their heads. Most of them had never had a name, had never mattered to anyone. They had been just another monster, just another goblin, just another wolf, just another rabbit, just another slime, just another turtle, just another ogre. Tanaka looked toward Eldrin. "When I first named Eldrin, I thought I was giving him something."
Tanaka smiled.
"But I came to realize something."
"I was the one who received a gift," he whispered. "You trusted me enough to carry the name I gave you."
Tanaka paused.
"That trust changed us both."
Tanaka turned to face the crowd.
"I vowed that when the time came, when I had enough power, I would give that same gift to all of you."
The Crystal Tree suddenly began to glow.
Its blue light washed over the Crystal Square as mana particles rained down from the leaves. The monsters all looked up in wonder as Tanaka smiled.
"I believe..." he whispered. "...that today is that day." The whole square erupted in excitement.
"We are going to be named!"
"All of us?"
"Can the Great One really do that?"
Even the ogres were surprised.
The Princess looked at Tanaka with a strange mixture of emotions while the Sword Ogre said nothing, the Warrior ogre raised an eyebrow, and the Hammer Ogre scratched his head. "He’s naming everyone?" The Prince simply watched. Tanaka bounced forward. Magic power gathered around his body as the monsters watched in awe. The Crystal Tree shimmered, its leaves glowing a bright blue as Tanaka’s slime tendrils snaked through the air. Little slime bounced excitedly on his shoulder.
"Names!"
Tanaka chuckled.
"Right." he looked around at his people before looking up at the Crystal Tree.
The naming ceremony had begun, and this time, instead of naming just one monster, Tanaka was prepared to name an entire nation.