Name

With the ceasefire, we both dropped our fighting stances. Being a good host, I went to my storehouse and brought out all its contents so we could eat them, in honor of reaching a collaboration agreement. She looked at me strangely.

After placing all the prey in front of the two, I proceeded to start eating.

I may have acted very arrogant just now, but the truth is that that high-performance battle took a serious toll on me. Luckily, I was at full tank. Who knows what would have happened if Shadow Panther had chosen the time to attack after I finished hunting yesterday.

Seeing me start eating, she shrugged and followed suit. It didn't take long for the two of us to finish my entire stash. With a full stomach, I proceeded to rest without paying her any attention.

Even though I acted careless on the surface, I always kept my peripheral vision on Shadow Panther, on guard in case she tried anything fishy. I may be willing to have her as my partner, but that doesn't mean I won't be wary of her, at least for now. As they say, trust is earned.

Seeing that he was ignoring her, she seemed to lose patience.

"Bastard, are you just going to sit there and rest? Give me the information you promised," he said impatiently.

"When did I say I'd give it to you right now?" I gave him an innocent look.

Irritated, she jumped on me and continued to slash my body with her claws. Seeing that she wasn't serious, I let her vent.

They were just a few minor wounds, they would heal in a few seconds. It's better than her complaining for hours, like one of my old ex-girlfriends after I wouldn't do her graduation thesis for her.

I was crazy!

Who in their right mind would want to have to do someone else's thesis while you have to do your own? Damn, my thesis was a pain. I had a bastard professor as my reviewer, he wanted it to be just the way he wanted it to be, otherwise he wouldn't accept it.

I had to redo it more than ten times. The problem? She told me this with a week to go before the deadline.

I hope Truck-Kun sent him to Boku no Pico!

After venting enough, she stopped.

"Better?" I asked.

"Yes, I needed it," he nodded.

"Well, joking aside, I think you should get to know us a little bit. After all, it's necessary to have a minimum of trust," I said.

"I'll start. I just wiped out a goblin village because they were weak and wanted to eat. It's your turn," I goaded her.

Exasperated, she decided to continue with my game.

"After you hurt me last time, a foolish bird thought he was very clever. He thought that he and others could get rid of me because of my injury, so I killed him while he was eating," he said with narrowed eyes.

I could sense his anger, so I refrained from pursuing the topic further.

"Well, with trust established, I think we can have a pleasant relationship," I said, trying to ease the atmosphere.

She stared at me.

"Okay, okay. What do you want to ask?" I took a step back from the conversation.

"Why are you so strong?" she asked in all seriousness.

"It's all because of my unique ability," I replied without revealing much.

"What is a unique skill?"

"Seeing as you have various skills, you should be aware of the concept of skills, right? What types of skills do you know?"

She nodded.

"I know the common, extra, intrinsic and resistance skills" she replied.

"Well, I'll talk about what I know, so you can compare it to what you know.

"First, we can classify skills according to how they are obtained:

Intrinsic skills are inherent to physiology, and are those with which individuals of a race are born. These are inherited by their offspring.

Common skills are those that are learned with effort, they are the weakest type of skill due to their low flexibility of use.

Extras are the evolution of common skills taken to the limit. They are the limit that can be obtained with effort after countless times.

Resistances are those gained by enduring and adapting to a certain type of damage. They minimize the specific damage received.

When resistances are pushed to the limit, that's when nullifications are born. With them you practically don't take any damage."

Seeing that he didn't interrupt like a good student, I decided to give his what he wanted.

"And finally, what you wish to know: Unique abilities are born from strong emotions and desires of equally strong beings. They are a reflection of their mind and change as their user grows and matures" I gave him a smile.

Looking me in the eyes, she said:

"If that's true, then why can you, a weak monster, have a unique ability?" he said in a serious tone.

"I have my circumstances," I said, not intending to reveal my experience.

It's not that I'm worried about her knowing, what I'm really worried about is that somehow Guy Crimson finds out.

If that madman sees me as a threat or as something interesting, then good things won't be in store for me. You know, when more than one person knows a secret, it's no longer a secret.

She continued to look at me trying to get me to talk, which I didn't do. After a while with no results, she gave up.

"Fine, I won't ask about your secrets," she said resignedly.

"Thank you, as a gift I will tell you another fact. You can ask something else."

He thought for a moment before asking.

"Because I haven't had any growth in strength for a long time, I've practiced my skills for years and have never obtained a unique skill. Why?" he said with genuine curiosity.

"It's simple, I already mentioned it. Unique abilities will only be born from the strong desires of equally strong beings, and you are not very strong."

"I am strong" she said seriously.

"You are strong compared to the weak, but you are not truly strong."

Before he had time to refute, I continued.

"Can you destroy a mountain with one of your attacks? Can you wipe out armies of thousands in a few minutes? Do you have unlimited youth?" I asked.

He lowered his head without saying anything.

"Someone who can do everything I said and more, those are the truly strong beings I'm referring to. They are the ones who can give birth to a unique ability."

"So I have no hope?" she said depressedly.

"Oh, of course you do."

She raised his head hopefully.

"You just have to get stronger and you'll naturally get it," I said mockingly.

Only to drop it again.

"To become strong I need a unique skill, but to acquire a unique skill I need to be strong, that's just an endless cycle" she said exasperatedly.

"I've been trying to get stronger for a long time, but I can't, while beings like dragons are stronger than for me from birth, it's not fair!" she said angrily.

"Actually, this world is fair in a certain sense," I said in a relaxed tone.

"Fair?! What's fair about it?" she shouted, annoyed by my comment.

"Were you born with your current strength?" I looked into her eyes.

"No" he answered.

"There you have it, that is the justice I speak of. In this world we may not all be born equal, some will be as weak as horned rabbits, others as strong as dragons, but regardless of our beginning, we all have a path to reach the top. The difference between us all is whether we have the willpower to overcome the difficulties of the path we were given" I said in an emotional tone.

"Many people think that they cannot become stronger, that is where the problem lies. Since you have doubts, fears, insecurities, you become incapable of becoming stronger, because in this world there may be weak individuals without a strong willpower, but all the strong ones have it."

"In reality, what stops most beings in this world from becoming strong is only one thing: time."

"Time?" She said, looking at me doubtfully.

"Yes, the biggest obstacle is time. You may think that your hard work is useless because after a few years you don't see results, but if you persevered for tens, if not hundreds of years, sooner or later you would see those results."

"Absurd, I won't live that long, much less continue training," she said angrily.

"Exactly, I can tell you a secret, but don't tell anyone," I whispered near his ear.

"Among the strong beings I speak of, some were born at the top directly. One of them is the ruler of this forest, Veldora, the storm dragon. He is from the strongest race in existence, the True Dragons. Luckily for everyone, that race only has three members counting him. Not counting that race, the rest of that group had millennia of life before they were so strong," I said in a low tone.

She shuddered at such a secret.

"Getting back to the topic, as you can see, the keys to being strong can actually be summed up as: work hard and have a very long life expectancy."

"And in that I can tell you that we monsters have an advantage over many races like humans and demi-humans. Being born from magicules, they provide us with stronger bodies and longer lives, but the most important thing is our ability to evolve. It is by taking advantage of this ability that we can become increasingly stronger. You may think that you have reached your limit, but in reality it is not. If that was the case, you would have evolved into something stronger." I gave him a confident look.

Knowing what he was going to ask I said:

"What you need to evolve is a powerful stimulus, along with large amounts of magicules as fuel. I know of two methods that could help you evolve quickly: one of them is to expose yourself to an immense amount of magicules until you are on the verge of death. If you survive, you will evolve; if not, you will die trying."

I stared at his in silence.

Seeing that I wouldn't talk if she didn't ask, she reluctantly asked:

"What is the other method?"

"Give you a name," I said flatly.

Seeing her squint, I continued:

"When a stronger monster names a weaker one, a bond is created whereby the stronger being gives a large amount of magicules to the weaker one, promoting its evolution while protecting it from harm" I gave him a proud smile.

"Was that your plan? Telling me all this so I would be willing to be your subordinate?" She gave me an annoyed look.

"Not really, I told the truth about being on equal terms. If you want we can give each other names equally, but it is true that receiving a name from someone stronger than you is the easiest way for you to become stronger. It is only because this process involves a very high cost and risk for the one giving the name, that not everyone is willing to do it casually," I said sincerely.

She looked me in the eyes, searching for any sign of lies.

After seeing nothing, he gave up.

"So, that's what it comes down to? Keep trying hard for who knows how long, hoping to make it before I die of old age or get appointed by you?"

"Don't count on me for that kind of appointment, at least not for now," I said, shaking my head.

"For now?" he raised an eyebrow.

"You should know, my combat capabilities may be similar to yours, but when it comes to our magicule reserves, there is a clear difference, yours are far greater than mine. If I were to try to appoint you as a subordinate, in the rare case that I initiate the process, my entire existence would be used as fuel for you to evolve. If I weren't killed by the process, I would be crippled for life" I said with my eyes rolled back.

"My proposal to you is simple, support me to become stronger quickly and when I am stronger than you I will be able to name you or you can embark with me on an adventure through this world. You will surely find opportunities along the way. What do you think?" I said with a smile.

"So, I have to follow your path, waiting for opportunities that may not exist or in the end give in to you and let you name me" she said to herself.

"Yes, at least you can know that following me is more interesting than staying in this forest until the end of your days," I said in a playful tone.

"I know you are keeping a lot of things to yourself, I know from your confidence that you are not simple. You know too much, you surely have ambitious plans in mind and you need help with them, but what you said is true, at least with you there are possibilities and it is more interesting than staying here" she said in a resolute tone.

"But, there is one condition," she said quickly.

"What condition?" I asked curiously.

"Let's give ourselves equal names"

I was perplexed by that condition.

"Are you sure about that decision? I just said that waiting for him to get stronger is the safest way for you to evolve."

"It is the best method to maintain the equality of our positions," she said.

"Also, my style has always been not to leave my destiny in the hands of others," she said with a confident smile.

At that answer I was stunned for a moment, only for a smile to slowly appear on my face.

" Hahahahahaha " I laughed uncontrollably.

She gave me a death glare for my reaction.

"What's so funny about it?"

"Nothing, it's just that that phrase you said is one of my favorites, I am someone who overcomes his limits in the face of adversity, alone, without needing anyone else, hahahaha" I continued laughing.

This girl is totally my cup of tea, just someone who doesn't put her hopes on others and is willing to work hard for her goals, not just a simple vase, that's the kind of girl I can admire and empathize with.

Stopping laughing, I looked her straight in the eyes and said, "I agree, let's give each other names."

Seeing that he agreed with her, she let go of her anger.

"Me first, from now on your name will be Mira ."

"It means amazing or wonderful," I nodded at my good taste.

She stood for a moment thinking about the name I gave him, after a while, she nodded, apparently she liked it.

"Well, I'm Mira, now it's my turn," she thought.

I quickly cut her off before she could say anything else.

"Wait, I have one in mind, a good one for me, if you give it to me consider that I owe you a favor" not wanting to receive a strange name, one that was not worthy of me, I had to make concessions.

"It's Kai, it means sea, I think there is nothing better for me."

What can better represent my adaptability than the sea?

She considered the agreement, weighing the weight of a favor from me, and decided to accept.

"Well, from now on your name will be Kai ."

With that done we could feel a connection forming between us, now the chances of his betraying me dropped drastically.

What I hadn't told her was that, thanks to this connection, if I became a Demon Lord, she would naturally benefit, but I'll keep that detail to myself, I'd rather see what she can achieve without something given to her, only through adversity can someone truly grow. After all, I don't want her to become a greenhouse flower like Rimuru's subordinates, who depend on him for everything.

"What are your next plans, Kai?" she said in a curious tone.

"I have several, Mira, I have several, from where to go to seek knowledge, to how to conquer countries, but the first thing I must do is evolve. This body has reached its limit, a little more and I will evolve. I would appreciate it if you could help me get some strong monsters to devour" I said without shame.

She looked at me with disdain, but nodded. With a movement she disappeared into her shadow, probably to look for some unfortunate monster. While she returned, I decided to rest.

To my surprise, it didn't take him a minute to return. Between his legs I could see the corpse of a huge bird with feathers of various shades of green. It had no head, it looked like it had died a long time ago.

"Here, this is the silly bird I mentioned to you before, I was planning to eat it, but it didn't taste good, so I threw it in a corner, I just went to look for it" she said in a simple tone.

So this is the idiot who offended her, he asked for it.

Who wants to mess with a killer who can appear anywhere without you noticing?

Without being polite, I used my water gun several times to cut him into smaller pieces, which I swallowed within a few seconds. The feeling of evolution came immediately, this idiot, although he had no brain, did have some strength.

"I'm going to sleep for a while, see you," I said before falling asleep.

…

In the cave no sound could be heard, a black panther could be seen standing guard at the entrance, to prevent anyone from disturbing the progress of his companion. After hours of waiting.

"I feel better than ever" Mira could hear that her partner had woken up. Without wasting any time, she went in to see him.

A huge snake over eighteen meters long could be seen, a size comparable to two buses lined up, with a thickness of over a meter. Its blue eyes shone with a bewitching tone, its scales that originally still maintained a bit of a blue hue from its time when it was just a small snake, were now completely black like ink, it would be impossible to hide them during the day.

After waking up after the evolution I received a pleasant surprise.

Intrinsic Ability: Successful acquisition of Shadow Movement.

When I saw my new body, I could see that my new connection with Mira had influenced my evolution, allowing me to acquire her shadow movement ability, and my new appearance better matched the ability.

"I see you're awake," Mira said mockingly.

"Thank you for taking care of me this time," I thanked him sincerely.

"Forget it, now what?"

"Now that I have evolved, my objectives in this forest are almost complete, we should go in search of a person" I said while stretching.

"And what is so special about that person that you plan to look for him?" She said doubtfully.

"She is one of the beings we talked about earlier, the easiest to deal with of that group. I am looking for her for her knowledge of magic and to ask her a favor."

"And where is she?"

"I don't know"

...

...

"You don't know where she is, but you want to find her?" She said in an exasperated tone.

"Yes, I never said it would be easy, if that were the case it wouldn't be an adventure" I said in an expectant tone.

"Forget it, I'm tired of talking to you, shall we go now?"

"Almost, I have one last thing to do in this forest. I have been looking for a pack of about fifteen direwolves that should have passed through here a month and a half ago, I have a vendetta against them, I must kill them" I said with a cold look.

"Those guys?, You won't be able to get revenge, I killed them shortly after they got here," she said in a simple tone.

"Are you sure they are the ones I'm looking for? Haven't other packs come?" I asked, hoping it was others.

 "I am sure, that I do not tolerate dogs in my territory, every time they enter I take care of them personally."

'Those guys were unlucky, well, at least it was Mira who killed them, I can consider myself to have killed them, I think, one less name in my DeathNote' I shrug resignedly.

"That's all, let's go, I have nothing else to do."

"Finally, where will we go if you don't know where that person is?"

"I don't know the exact location, I only have a rough idea, it should be in a country near the elven kingdom in the south of the continent, but to be sure, I had the idea of going west, to the lands where humans live to gather more information."

"Let's leave immediately," without wasting time she entered his shadow.

Which I did too, and together we moved through the shadows towards the west.

A new adventure awaits us.

____________________________________________

Author's notes:

Hi guys.

Our Mc finally has a name, not one given to him to gain power by a being stronger than him, but one given by a companion with whom he hopes to live adventures in his new life.

Remember, while being named can increase power very quickly, it brings with it the inability to become a Demon Lord, unless the name giver dies.

With this chapter Kai's stay in the Jura Forest ends, now together with Mira he will embark on a journey through the Western nations or whatever there is in the West in the time period in which he is currently located.

Much to Kai's dismay, he was unable to carry out his revenge, not that it was very personal, you know, they just stole a rabbit from him, so you could consider the kill to have been taken by his squad.

The name Kai may be very simple, but I wanted his name to evoke the adaptability that represents him, what better for that than water, changing the state of matter under diverse conditions, and with its fluidity that allows constant changes.

As for Mira, she may clash a bit with the image of a giant black panther, but that's because of what Mira represents to Kai. It's a wonderful discovery to find someone you can connect with in an unfamiliar world, but it also has to do with the surname I plan to give her later.