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- Jul 9, 2019
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@Svarna Not really a spoiler but a long comment/answer that has to do with my own analysis of their world lore on race and fertility and what I remember when I read the novel a long time ago.
If I remember right most monster goes along with the inverted relationship between fertility and longevity.
Because of the naming system, most subordinate became extremely powerful alongside more longevity (partly attributed to their race evolution and partly to the power Rimuru shared and gave them with the name). The supporting factor is that longer-lived races and the immortal ones are usually not that numerous for a good reason despite not dying as much (baring demons who I don't count as they come from another plane of existence).
Compared to their short-lived counterparts they should be considered way less fertile, but many of them should be living for as long or longer than humans (in some cases they are virtually immortal in term of life span by not showing any aging degradation unless they get wounded or killed by external factor).
That infertility can also be explained by a lower drive to reproduce (instead of just a low fertilisation chance) since the longer lived-races are in no hurry to find partners to make children since they have way longer to live.
Example (not a spoiler just using the hidden feature to avoid making comment longer)
Then we go in for an example that is a spoiler:
Because of the naming system, most subordinate became extremely powerful alongside more longevity (partly attributed to their race evolution and partly to the power Rimuru shared and gave them with the name). The supporting factor is that longer-lived races and the immortal ones are usually not that numerous for a good reason despite not dying as much (baring demons who I don't count as they come from another plane of existence).
Compared to their short-lived counterparts they should be considered way less fertile, but many of them should be living for as long or longer than humans (in some cases they are virtually immortal in term of life span by not showing any aging degradation unless they get wounded or killed by external factor).
That infertility can also be explained by a lower drive to reproduce (instead of just a low fertilisation chance) since the longer lived-races are in no hurry to find partners to make children since they have way longer to live.
Example (not a spoiler just using the hidden feature to avoid making comment longer)
The difference is more visible in monsters like Goblins, with they being usually short-lived with high-reproductivity to counter their short-lives they had to hurry up and make children before they become too old which could happens in a few years. For them this is a critical issue to keep their race/people alive they have to reproduce fast and many times over to compensate for their short life-span and high likelihood of dying as they are bottom feeders.
The goblin elder who was at the end of his life span as a goblin had his life extended to the life span of a named hobgoblin whose normal lifespan is similar to that of a human (he went from having lived 9/10 of his lifespan to a body who is at 3/10 of his lifespan (made up numbers to make a visible example of the glaring difference in lifespan Rimuru naming them made)).
As such most Goblin went from being outlived by a human teenager to having the same lifespan which made them basically infertile by Goblin standard but should be about the same compared to a standard of similar life span.
In that example I'd even guess that it still apply to those who stayed normal Goblin in race but got real strong (like Gobuta as an example), despite not having changed race he is basically overflowing with power compared to most unnamed creature which I'd guess would still make him live way longer than a normal Goblin life span as it means his body would be healthier for way longer than normal.
The goblin elder who was at the end of his life span as a goblin had his life extended to the life span of a named hobgoblin whose normal lifespan is similar to that of a human (he went from having lived 9/10 of his lifespan to a body who is at 3/10 of his lifespan (made up numbers to make a visible example of the glaring difference in lifespan Rimuru naming them made)).
As such most Goblin went from being outlived by a human teenager to having the same lifespan which made them basically infertile by Goblin standard but should be about the same compared to a standard of similar life span.
In that example I'd even guess that it still apply to those who stayed normal Goblin in race but got real strong (like Gobuta as an example), despite not having changed race he is basically overflowing with power compared to most unnamed creature which I'd guess would still make him live way longer than a normal Goblin life span as it means his body would be healthier for way longer than normal.
Then we go in for an example that is a spoiler:
Some monster under Rimuru are infertile because they are the sole member of their own species. In some case like Zegion who is a mutated beetle (mutation cause by Rimuru using his own slime flesh to heal it), they are the only living member of a species they became as they become the first of that species and his too far removed in term of biology to cross-breed realistically with another's (not that I think Zegion would mind that he can't leave offspings).