Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord. All rights and properties belong to their respective owners.
Warning: Will have lemons.
Under The Willow TreeChapter One
The gentle tapping of my shoes echoed through the halls of my base, I frown adorning my face. The game should have ended five minutes ago. Yet it had not.
As I passed on of the handmaidens, I noticed she bowed and said. "My lord."
I froze as I looked at her. I hadn't created the servants and hadn't given much thought to most of them. Perhaps I should have? The thing though that I was pondering, handmaidens and menservants hadn't been programmed to respond to our presence, that I knew of. They never had before, yet this one had. After I stood watching her for a moment, I could see her face begin to twist with worry.
"I-I am sorry my lord if I have done something dissatisfactory." She said.
"... No, I was lost in thought." I replied. "Worry not, return to your work."
"Yes my lord. Thank you, my lord."
I turned and continued down the hall, a frown on my face. This was strange, her reactions were too real, too lifelike. It was frightening, to be honest. I reached a set of grand doors, a host of hobgoblins, dark elves, and high elves stood.
These I had created, well, modified at the least. They were still created by the dungeon every day, should one die, it would be replaced. There were seven troops of seven, each troop was made of four hobgoblins, two dark elves, and one high elf. Two hobgoblins were light infantry and two were heavy infantry, while the dark elves were rangers, and the high elf a sorcerer. These seven troops made a platoon
The heavy infantry was armed with two spears, both could be thrown, a tower shield and a morning star.
The light infantry was equipped with a kite shield, a longsword, and a short bow, along with a river of twenty arrows.
The Rangers were armed with a longbow, a short sword and a quiver of forty-five arrows.
The sorcerer was equipped with a Phoenix heart staff and a dagger for last defense.
Each one was ranked at level fifty, save one randomly selected high elf which would be the platoon leader, and would be level sixty.
In the case of there being seven platoons in one place, making a company, the platoon leaders would be raised to level sixty-five, and one would be selected as a Lieutenant, gaining level seventy. The rest of the troop would also be raised to level fifty-five. In the case that there would be seven companies together, which would make a Legion, all would be raised by a measure of five levels, and one Lieutenant would be selected to become Lieutenant Commander. In all, there were seven legions, three of which had mounts, serving under General Strah, one of the strongest NPC's in the guild.
As I walked forward, thinking about everything I knew about the guild, two of the heavy infantry pushed open the doors while the rest of the platoon knelt. "Lord Srebro has arrived!"
The two NPC's that occupied the throne room knelt. The two were Strah and Karkinos.
Strah, a towering hobgoblin with wearing a chainmail coat under scale mail armor. The scales, large as a hand with all fingers. At his left hip was sheathed a broadsword with a silver handle, and this right was a pair of daggers. On his left arm rested a large coffin shield made of dark-colored metal, the same as his armor. On his head rested a helm of the same make as his armor and shield. Despite his intimidating look, the most dangerous thing about General Strah, as an NPC enemy, was that he was designed to be able to adapt to different people and exploit their weaknesses. Even now, I could see a very intelligent gleam in his eye.
Karkinos was an old looking dark elf man, though his crimson eyes showed his undead nature. He was tall, thin and frail looking. In his hand was grasped a dragon heart staff, and he was clothed with long purple robes. His kind smile did nothing to betray his battle lust and desire to, as it had been written on his character profile, examine how the living body was affected by magic in different ways.
"Karkinos, call the Gatekeepers and the Captain of the Sentinels." I commanded, both as an order, and a test. First, the order, because I needed to secure the base, and secondly the test, to see if he would be responsive, or if there was some other trick to it, like in the game.
As I expected and hoped, he nodded, and in a light elven tone spoke. "As you wish, my Lord." With a wave of his hand, the air shimmered gently, and before long, gates began to open in the throne room.
Ten beings stepped in, two keepers for each floor, and there were two gates on each floor, save for the sixth, where there was only one, before the throne room.
The keeper of the first gate on the first floor, named Hohana, she was a fire elemental, her body seeming to be made of embers and coals, her eyes, empty sockets that spewed bright orange flame. She did not walk, she had no legs, instead, her torso thinned to a spiral of flames that hovered thirty centimeters off the floor. Her breasts covered by a bra of black charcoal, a crimson coat hung from her shoulders, left open to show her flaming stomach. The coat itself was enchanted to absorb thirty percent of ice damage, and add it to her health, as well as increase the effect of her own magic spells to double. While on one finger she wore a ring that that would absorb thirty percent of ice and add it to her magic and another ring that doubled the effect of her own magic. Her level was seventy-five and she made her home on the lava-filled lands of Prvi.
It may have been a bit harsh, but it was effective. The few players who found the base rarely made it past just her. Most believed they could simply use Ice to destroy her. No, she indeed had a sixty percent resistance to ice, which made it the element she was most resistant against, save from fire. With a level of seventy-five, she was a force to be removed with. A nickname given to her by her foes had been the Crimson Maiden.
The keeper of the second gate on the first floor was called X-no. He was a small imp about half the height of a standard man. He wore hardened leather armor, enchanted to be more resilient and block more damage. At his side was sheathed two knives, and over his shoulder was slung a powerful short bow. His build was focused on speed and damage output. While he wasn't particularly tanky, like Hohana could be, his armor did ensure he could soak up a fair amount of damage before falling. He wore three rings, one to increase his speed by thirty percent, one to increase his agility by thirty percent, and one to double the effect of augments. When fought he was a small, quick target that could dish out eight strikes to the average players one, and take more than a few hits of his own. The nickname that had been given to him was Little Terror. His level, also seventy-five, he made his home in the hot, stony desert Ogenj that lay beyond Prvi.
The keeper of the first gate of the second floor was named Speculum, was a tall Ice elemental. It like its fiery sister was female. She looked relatively elvish, save for the fact that she was transparent. She wore a dark blue armor, made of high-quality steel and dyed to its color. On her back rested a great sword and a war hammer respectively. Her armor was enchanted to increase its durability and the amount of damage it would protect from, while she wore a ring for every element, raising her resistance by thirty percent, and a ring to increase her strength by thirty percent. She was made to be a tank, and to deal a ton of damage with her duel weapons and natural ice magic. Yet she had no real defense aside from her armor and enchantments. The nickname that was given to her was Hypothermia. She sat at level eighty and made her home in the frozen wastelands, the tundra of Vinum.
The keeper of the second gate of the second floor was christened Lisica. She was a snow elf who wielded a longbow as her primary weapon and a quarterstaff as her secondary, and beyond that, she was mastered in unarmed combat. Her armor consisted of a tight body suit that was white as her hair, and while it offered very little defense, it was enchanted to increase her bow skills and staff skills which were mastered. Beyond her weapons, what made her truly dangerous was that she was one of the few NPC's that were mastered in stealth, traps, and poisons. To make matters worse for her adversaries, she had an amulet of flight. She also sat at level eighty and made her home on the frozen mountains of Vinum.
The keeper of the first gate of the third floor, under the name of Fel. He was a massive snake, two meters tall and twenty-three meters long. He was mastered in nature magic and could summon wildmen, an imp-like race that was gifted in magics of nature and animal control, to fight along his side. While he had no weapons or armor, his scales served as ample defense, tough as some god level armors, and his teeth dealt a deadly amount of damage. Furthermore, he could spit acid and spew clouds of poison. His level was eighty-five and he lived in the grass plains of Fegure. The name he had been given by the few who had reached him was Jormungandr.
The guardian of the second gate of the third floor was named Fidi, was a Lamia. She wore a brown scale male shirt and brown gloves. Using a bow and two daggers she was deadly as her skill set was based solely on stealth. Her armor was enchanted to increase her stealth by thirty percent, she wore a ring that muffled her movements, a ring that silenced her armor, a ring that raised her bow skills, a ring that raised her knife skills, and a ring that doubled her augments. She made her home in the rich forests of Prasinos. Her level was eighty-five. Only one player had ever reached her since we went to great lengths to conceal our base, not many knew of it, and no large parties ever attacked.
The keeper of the first gate of the fourth floor, dubbed Bika, was a minotaur, and he resided in the labyrinth of Grozo, unoriginal, I know, but that was what his creator, Me-san wanted. Bika wielded a great sword and a tower shield, both inlaid with gold. He wore a golden chest plate, skirt, greaves, boots, and girdle, they were enchanted to raise his sword skill, shield skill, strength, speed, and agility. His sword was enchanted to slow enemies upon strikes, as well as deal poison damage. His shield was enchanted to heal by half of the blocked damage points, while he wore a necklace that idly healed him. He was built as a pure tank, soaking up more damage than any other NPC in our guild could (thanks to his healing enchantments) and he was one of the stronger warriors, being able to deal more damage than most. His level was ninety.
The keeper of the second gate of the fourth floor was named Basium. An elder slime, he was mastered in poison making, assassination, stealth, summoning, lightning magic, and fire magic. He was level ninety and made his home in the dungeons beyond the labyrinth of Gozo.
The keeper of the first gate of the fifth floor, Umbra, was a shadow demon who inhabited the crevices of Temi. She was the one who held more stealth abilities than any other, with her being able to change shape and all. She had a human form, which she was currently using, being that of a plain village girl, with brown hair, freckled face and green eyes. She wielded two knives, both enchanted with poison, and had ten rings, each to increase her stealth in a different form, whether it be hiding her presence, hiding her magic, or increasing her stealth skills. Then she wore an iron necklace that doubled the effect of augments. But the most dangerous part about her was a combination of two skills, one that doubled her damage output if she was unseen, and another that doubled her overall damage with each successful stealth kill ten seconds or under, the last stealth kill. This lead to our moniker of her, the Assassin Queen, unfortunately, we never got to see her in action. She was level ninety-five.
The keeper of the second gate of the fifth floor, named Smrti, was a busty female dark elf. She wore a black leather bra that barely covered her breasts and short pants of the same black leather. Created by one of the more openly perverted players, named Kr-eye. Her build was focused on speed, which was Kr-eye's excuse for her "light clothing", her weapon was a black katana sheathed at her side, and was the second most powerful weapon our guild possessed. Being crafted of the rarest and strongest of metals, and had enchantments and ruins laid into it. Its name was pride.
Smrti wore ten rings and a necklace, much like her stealthy counterpart, Umbra. Each ring increasing her speed and agility, while her necklace doubled their effects. Her level was ninety-five, and she resided in a gothic castle that sat on a massive black crystal sea on the edge of Temi.
Lastly, the Lord of the Sentinels, who looked like a twelve-year-old boy with black hair and brown eyes, his name was Jack. Though he wasn't a human NPC at all, he was made to be able to change into a child, like the other sentinels. In truth, he was an imp, like X-no, but given a different skill set, and single important modification. Like all the other Sentinels, the small imp didn't have a scaled tail, instead, he had the stinger of a scorpion.
"Good, you've all arrived." I said, relieved, not that I thought they wouldn't, it just meant nothing had got in, and if it had, it hadn't killed them. I looked over their kneeling forms, then spoke. "I called you all here to inform you, I am issuing a lockdown. Nothing will come in, and nothing will come out of this temple except that it has my pass. Those who will be able to come and go will be Jack and the fifty of his top units. These fifty and one will scout around our base, and report once every three days. Do not be seen, do not be heard. Do this three times to scout for a distance of nine days. There have been some strange things I have noticed, and I will not have our temple surrounded by danger while we are unaware. Any questions?"
"None my lord!" The gatekeepers and Lord of the Sentinels replied.
"Fulfill your orders until I call again! Dismissed!"
Three days passed quickly, with me reading up on all of the NPC's, and going over everything there was in the temple. Through this time, I had found my body felt very real, unlike the avatar I had in Yggdrasil.
I sat on my throne, books, tomes, and scrolls being carried by several of the handmaidens and menservants when Jack returned.
He hurried to the center of the room before kneeling. "My lord. As instructed, we have scouted three days in every direction. I obtained my reports only moments before I returned here to report to you." Pulling out twenty-five scrolls he, began to speak. "Surrounding the temple, there lay a great forest, to the north, three days there is still yet trees, to the east, there is still yet trees, to the west two days there be trees and the third holds mountains that reach the sky. To the south three days, the trees end and open into a grand field. What lays beyond we do not know. These scrolls contain the reports of each team of two I sent out. Should you wish for me to read them in detail."
I lifted my hand. "No. I will read them later, and have them copied by the scribes, so we will have records should one get lost, or destroyed. You have done well. Nekoken!" I called, and a maid soon arrived wearing cat-like ears and a dog tail, her clothes having paw prints covering them. "Bring the scrolls Jack has brought to the scribes in Smrti's castle. Tell them, in my name, to copy each one three times, and when they are finished, have them taken to the vault, yet keep out one set that I will read when they are finished."
"Yes my lord." Nekoken said, bowing, before gathering the scrolls Jack had brought then she left swiftly to fulfill my orders.
"Thank you, Jack, for what you have done, I regret not being able to give you rest just yet. But we must be sure that we are safe. I am trusting the security of the temple to you."
His eyes gleamed with joy before he cried out in a determined voice. "I will not fail!"
"Good! You are dismissed! Return to your duty!"
As soon as he left, I called another maid to bring more scrolls. I had done a lot, but I still had much, much more to do. Especially since we were surrounded by forest instead of the hellish landscape of Helhiem.
The nine days were fulfilled in what seemed to be a moments notice. I had the sentinels report to the scribes so that they could make a map of the lands that were explored. The map was checked by each of the fifty and one sentinels before they were copied three times and the copies stored away.
As I looked over the map, I asked Jack. "What were the levels of the beasts and the people outside?"
"Nothing even the weakest sentinels could not slay." He replied. "The highest level would have been about ten."
'Considering the weakest sentinel would be level thirty… even they may be overkill should conflict arise.
"Karkinos! Call together the Gatekeepers!" I ordered.
"Yes my lord!" Came his near immediate response.
Before long, all twelve Gatekeepers stood in the throne room. "I called you all here to inform you, I am lifting the lockdown, as well as to tell you of my plans. The forest extends to the north and east to an unknown distance. Strah, have one Legion begin cutting trees in that direction. I want to be able to fit all seven legions three times in the clearing. Every month, have the legion change. And one more legion will work, cutting the felled trees so they can be used to build. Likewise, every month have this legion change as well. I plan to use the trees to build a wall around us, and to begin a city. I intend to bring wealth to our temple and hide our place within a growing city. For on the surface it is but a small temple. It will not be easy to find surrounded by buildings and workplaces and farms and pastures. We will grow a nation in these forests, and a people that are happy, through knowledge and dedication. Of course, while this will give us more wealth and resources, its main goal is to serve as a front, to hide our truth. We will obtain all the knowledge and information we can. Knowledge is power, and I had always intended on becoming the strongest guild. Even if our strength wasn't in the traditional sense."
"It will be done!" The Gatekeepers replied.
"Jack, I also want your sentinels to be keeping watch around the temple. I do not want anything to approach without us having knowledge of it. Keep one hundred with the legion that is cutting wood as well. I want to know if they encounter anything unaccounted for. Karkinos I want you to begin setting up defensive wards around the base but do not hide them. I will come, however. I will come through after and cast illusions on them so that they can only be seen by our own." I turned to Strah with another command. "After the first legion changes, have a third legion begin work on towers that will serve to protect us before the walls are built. Each tower will be no more than an arrows shot from the two on its sides. Should anything or anyone think to sneak in, they will find themselves flanked by archers. When the towers are build place two troops on each. The towers should be the height of seven men, and nine paces in width and ladders on the inside. On the top will be a roof with posts and no walls. These towers should be two arrow shots from the temple and be only temporary. Are there any questions?"
"No my Lord!" The Gatekeepers and Master of Sentinels all cried.
"Good! Fulfill your orders! You are dismissed!" I watched as the beings left to do as they had been instructed, leaving me by myself for the first time in many days.
I allowed myself to sick into my throne, though it was stone, it was, at the moment, very comfortable. It was stressful trying to lead all these people, now that they were actually sentient. Back in Yggdrasil, I mainly coordinated the attacks and took contracts, but now I had to worry about the lives of those of my temple.
Thinking of the temple, I figured I should go over the notes on it. While many guilds had used most, if not all of their points to create NPC's, we had used ours more for expanding our base. It was large enough that, to get through each gate would take three days on average. And that is if one headed straight to the gate. Given the size of the temple, it took far longer for invading forces to simply find the gate. We had decided it would be best for protection to have a vast land filled with traps and dangerous lands than to have a massive force of impossibly high-level NPC's. Even while the Apostles were high level, their number was small in comparison to many other guilds.
I signed knowing I couldn't simply sit and do nothing all day. I called for a maid to bring me the documents that we had recorded in building the guild.
When I was given the documents, I began to go over them and read through them, trying to memorize everything there was in them. I was relieved that so far, I didn't have the need to eat or drink despite us having several places where one could acquire food, thus I could work constantly.
As I read through, I was reminded of many things that we had created in our lands. One being a fountain of youth that rested in the plains of Fegure, though it was held in an unremarkable temple and just large enough that four people could stand around it at once.
Another was the Forge of Zelezo that resided in the deserts of Prvi. The forge sat in a cave guarded by a weak magma golem of level forty. The forge was enchanted to give a random low tier ice enchantment to the items forged within.
I read through many more similar things and was glad I had insisted on us keeping a detailed record of everything we created, as I found traps and all manner of creations that were spread through the lands below the temple.
After I finished reading through the records, I rubbed my temples, I had already forgotten a vast majority of what was written in them. I knew I would have to review them many times over, but at least I had accomplished my first goal of reading through them. I had also learned the names of many of the towns and cities that were inhabited by the NPC's. There rested three cities on the third floor, two in the plains of Fegure which was host to mostly goblins, then a city in the forest of Prasinos which the high elves resided in. There were towns littering around the lands as well that produced grains and fruits. A fourth city sat in the black sea of Temi, which held the dark elves.
These cities and villages were filled with weaker NPC's that did little, other than creating wares and scrolls that we could sell to lesser players. It had given us a good form of income with us having to do very little. Of course, the income compared to questing and our own information dealing business, along with assassination and sabotage jobs we did was small. But any time we didn't have anything, which was rare, it was something that ensured we would continue to have money should we need it.
After reading through several more documents and articles for a time that I didn't know, Karkinos came into the room, the sound of the massive doors swinging open brought my attention to him. The vampiric dark elf walked to the center of the room and knelt before me. "My Lord." He spoke. "The wards around the temple are complete, as you commanded of me."
I nodded, thanking him for informing me. "This will give me a little break from all the reading and checking over I've done." I said under my breath, then spoke louder. "Very well, as you know where the wards are, I will have you show me."
The vampires' eyes brightened. "It would be an honor to guide you, my lord."
"Then please." I said as I stood and leaped over to the elf. Landing softly beside the undead. "Lead the way." I finished.
Karkinos waved his hand and created a gate which we both stepped through.
I found myself standing before a large marble temple that was surrounded on all sides by stumps, and several holes where stumps had been dug and burned out. Even now I could see several stumps smoldering, and I could hear their gentle crackling. Beyond the sounds of fire, I could hear command shouts and the sound of low-level wind and water spells being used to cut through the large trees. I was honestly shocked at seeing so much progress. I hadn't considered that they would use magic to cut the trees, it was truly impressive since they had more done than logging companies in earth could have accomplished.
"I see that it's progressing very well." I stated as I came out of my stupor. "Now then, to the wards?"
Karkinos nodded eagerly and lead me around the temple, showing me each and every one of the wards, which I cast illusion spells on. While they were not hard to see, I hadn't wanted to go through the effort of having to look for them myself. I still had much to look over, and many decisions to make. I needed to waste as little time as I could, despite my boredom while looking over all the documents.
By the time I had finished casting the illusions, it was already late into the day and the sun had begun to vanish over the horizon. I looked over my work, pleased with what I had accomplished. Each ward was covered with a tenth tier spell, hiding its existence from any who were not aligned with us.
"Marvelous, My Lord." Karkinos spoke. "Truly your knowledge in magic far exceeds my own."
'No.' I idly thought. 'You were simply made for more direct combat.' Despite my train of thought, I stayed silent for several long moments before I said. "Thank you for your praise, Karkinos. I am pleased with your work as well. Now, I must return, I still have much to do."
With that being said, I opened a gate back to the throne room, when I stepped through, I was greeted with the sight of three handmaidens and one manservant waiting with carts full of scrolls and books. I let out a weary sigh as I resigned myself to more reading.
Chapter End