Ainz was getting sick and tired of all the low leveled humans that he was asked to team up with. Ever since he became an adamantite leveled adventurer as Momon, the dark warrior, human adventurers came flocking around him like vultures, asking him non-stop if they could help him with their mission and whatnot. Truly, Ainz hadn't yet even seen other adamantite adventurers like himself. As such, he had no idea how strong the strongest humans could be. He knew that in this world humans could not use spells above tier 4, so they probably wouldn't be that strong anyway. But it was always best to be knowledgeable of your opponent's strength.
But to find these adamantite adventurers it seemed he would have to travel half the country to find them. Even he couldn't be bothered to go that far just to sate his curiosity. So soon after he had the thought he dismissed it to the back of his mind. Until a few weeks later.
His eyes scanned over the crowd as he stepped into the adventurer's guild one day. He had ordered Narberal to stay in Nazarick, saying that he was not planning on taking any jobs. He only wanted to show his face so people would not forget him just yet.
The guild was as packed as usual. There had to be at least 50 people in there either drinking, conversing or trying to decide what jobs to pick. There were plenty low rank missions on the board, but Ainz was not interested in those. What he was interested in was the unusual large crowd in one of the corners of the guild. He moved closer to try and find what all the ruckus was about. Thankfully, when people realized he was coming they started dispersing one by one.
A woman and a man sat at a table. The man was normal looking. leather armor donned his chest and padded shoulders, making him look like a ranger of some sorts. The woman next to him, who seemed highly disgruntled by the man, was wearing more of a mix of leather and cloth. Her gear was nature colored, only greens and browns, with leaf motives here and there. Some actual leaves were even stuck in her long white, braided hair. Judging from the way that she was dressed and the staff that was by her side she was a elf druid.
''Come on, Nee-chan. Just like last time. You helped us so much and the guys miss you'' the man told her. The elf scoffed in response. ''I'm sure they do. Look, Naelan. I only helped you ONCE and once only. I'm not going to do it again. I have better things to do''. Some awh's came from the crowd still around her. ''come on. There's a good reward. There's eve-''. The woman looked just about ready to bite the man's head off so Ainz finally decided to interfere. ''What's going on here?'' he asked as he stepped into their view.
Eva looked upon the black armored warrior as her savior. She spotted the gleaming plate on his chest, showing he was an adamantite adventurer. She knew all of the adamantite adventurers, so she figured this was the new one she had heard so much about. ''Oh. You want me to go on a mission with you? Sure thing! Let's go!'' she talked so fast half the people didn't even know what she said before she had jumped out of her seat and was dragging the disguised Ainz out of the guild.
Ainz was too perplexed to realize what was happening. When they arrived outside Eva quickly jumped away from him to give him some distance.
''I'm sorry but it seemed too good an opportunity. I just had to get out of there and at least now they won't bother me so much''.
Ainz coughed into his hand in an effort to regain his composure.
''No, I don't mind. It looked like they were pestering you''.
The woman wrapped her arms around the back of her head casually. ''You have no idea. I helped them with a mission once because I didn't have anything better to do and they seemed to be having some trouble. Now they keep pestering me to do it again. Not to mention others have jumped onto the band-wagon and have started asking me too. It's such a bother''.
Ainz could definitely relate. He had also been asked continuously to go on missions. The woman stretched as if to shrug away the stress from before and it was then that the dark warrior saw something gleaming against her neck.
An adamantite plate.
So that is why they wanted her so badly. ''So about that missions you were talking about. Did you have anything in mind?''. If he could trick her into going with him on a mission, he might finally be able to find out just how strong adamantite adventurers really are. Lady luck is smiling upon him for once.
She could see her flinch, probably because she thought he didn't realize it was only because she wanted to get out of there. ''well... I actually usually work alone...'' she muttered to herself. ''Alone?'' he started. ''You are a druid, are you not? Most druids specialize in healing and buffing, and your staff does not seem to be much for combat. We're both adamantite level. Why not group up for a change and see what happens''.
When he mentioned her staff she hid it behind her as if he just threatened to take it away from her. She seemed to give the idea some thought and finally sighed. ''I was planning to take on a mission to clear a graveyard... I guess we could try that'' She still did not sound very sure of the idea, but it was progress.
''Right. let's leave then'' he turned around, ready to leave when he heard a surprised yelp from behind him. ''Right now?!''
''is that a problem?''
The girl looked a little deflated but shook her head. ''I... guess not... but damn, you really like to take things fast...''
Before he could help himself, Ainz gave a cheeky reply. ''You'll find out just how fast we'll go''.
Both adventurers froze. That was extremely out of character for him. Why had he even said that?! It was probably the worst thing to say! That sentence was so sexually charged he must have insulted her. But when he looked at her expression he could only see her looking down bashfully. Pink dusted her cheeks as she tried to avoid his eyes. She looked kind of... cute.. A weak and stuttered 'R-right' left her lips.
Without saying much else they left the front of the guild. The elf managed to acquire some dried meats and vegetables from the local markets on their way out of the city so they wouldn't go hungry during the trip. When they cleared the gates, a thought suddenly occurred to Ainz. ''How rude of me. I haven't even asked your name yet. My name is Momon''
The woman chuckled. ''Not even knowing my name? Sounds like a bad hookup'' As soon as she said the words she slammed a hand over her mouth so hard she should have bruised it. Ainz' step slightly faltered at the comment, but he was somehow relieved he was not the only one slipping up. ''A-anyway... I already knew your name, since you're so famous now and all that...'' she seemed to be finished until she actually remembered his question. ''My name is Eva. Nice to meet you'' Instead of offering her hand she simply nodded at him curtly. He nodded in return.
The introduction was pretty much the only thing the two said to each other for the remainder of the day, aside from a few odd comments here and there. It was not until they set up camp for the night that she finally broke the silence. ''I hope you're used to rationing. I brought enough with me but we'll have to hunt at some point'' she said as she retrieved a handful of vegetables and a small strip of dried meat for each of them. As they were handed to him Ainz felt bad about letting them go to waste. Being undead of course meant that he did not eat, but he could not just simply refuse the food. It would make her too suspicious. So he just accepted it and stared at it while she ate her share.
It didn't take long for her to realize that he did not eat. She inquired about it, to which he simply replied that he was not feeling hungry for the moment. ''So, Eva. You're a druid, right. What's your specialty?''.
While still munching on the dried strip of bacon she was having for dinner she replied casually. ''hmmm. I guess we should talk about our fighting styles. I specialize in front line healing and buff spells and a little bit of crowd control in case the enemy tries to sneak up. So, what about your kit?''.
Ainz nodded. Buffing and healing, seemed like your typical druid abilities in Yggdrassil. Though the druid class could be both offensive and defensive, the latter seemed to be more favored. ''I'm sure you already guessed that I am a warrior. I specialize in one on one duels and self stat boosts. I'm sure we'll mix well together. I'll be counting on you to have my back out there''.
The woman smirked in response. ''Of course. I'd expect nothing less from you too''
And with that it seemed their conversation had come to an end. Ainz returned his food to her so she could bag it and they decided on who would keep watch first. Ainz was trying to argue that he was used to sleepless nights but she would have none of it, basically forcing him to have second watch. As he prepared to lay down for some long hours of pondering over his own thoughts he heard her mutter. ''You really never take off that helmet, do you?''.
''Are you curious already? It usually takes people a few days'' he said nonchalantly. At the jibe the woman frowned and looked away in embarrassment. ''not really''. But he could see her pout from where he sat.