CHAPTER TWO: Preparations
"Shalltear, so have you made your decision?" Ainz asked crossing his fingers of both his hands.
"Indeed Lord Ainz, I have assembled a team, worthy to be called "worthy of Nazarick!" Shalltear proclaimed with pride.
"Good, let's hear who you chose and why," Ainz said leaning back on the throne that he sat upon. Shalltear gave him a deep bow and turned to motion to the floor guardians that had all assembled.
"First as "Team leader" I have chosen Pandora's Actor! Due to his diverse and varied skill set as well his intelligence, I think he will be able to handle any problem we encounter down there." A man with a bowling ball for a head but wearing a German military hat and matching suit' clicked his heels and walked up behind Shalltear giving a very exaggerated bow.
"I hope to come back with much wealth and interesting treasure, FATHER!" Pandora's Actor said saluting and walking with a straight step to his spot in the line. Ainz seemed more than pleased with this and nodded.
"Second Lord Ainz, to serve as our forward scout and "support" with her pets and because I expect to encounter many magical beasts, I have chosen Aura Bella Fiora!... Get up here shrimp!" Shalltear called even though Aura was already walking up, she "accidentally" stepped on Shalltears dress as she walked past her causing shalltear to momentarily lose balance, she growled at the young dark elf girl who paid her no mind and walked up to Ainz to present herself.
"Aura reporting for duty Lord Ainz! My pets will give us the edge we need!" She said bowing then giving her classic V for victory sign. Shalltear kept her glare onto the girl as she joined Pandora's Actor in line.
"Third, because we will be under the earth, someone who can control said earth would be invaluable to this team, and since I know the two of them to hate to be apart anyway, Mare Bello Fiore. He will also serve as out "caster" as well as "healer" for any fights we may have to engage." Ainz could tell Shalltear had really put a lot of thought into her team and a lot of practice into this speech.
"I, I hope I can be of help to this team!" Mare said beaming with a smile as he ran up to Ainz and hugged him. There were some jealous looks in the crowd who wish Ainz gave them this kind of treatment, especially Albedo. Mare giggled as he joined Aura who gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, they were glad to be on the same team.
"And what's a team without a "tank?" That "gorilla" over there can get hit for everyone, for all I care!" Shalltear said in a dismissive tone.
"As much as I hate to ruin your "team" my duties here..." Albedo began but Ainz shook his head.
"No Albedo, her reason is solid, you are the best tank in Nazarick! And I know that Demiurge can fill in for you when you are off on this adventure!" Ainz said clapping, She blushed.
"Well if Lord Ainz believes that only I can do this, then I will guard the team with my life Lord Ainz!" Albedo squealed and ran to join the group. Bumping Mare out of the way so she could get a better view of Lord Ainz from her spot. Aura scowled at her but Mare shook his head.
"And finally what's a team without a little melee damage! So obviously I want to send... Cocytus... but he tells me he does not have "dark vision" like the rest of us, so alas I must fill that void as our forward melee "Damage dealer". Also, my 'household' will be a fine backup addition to Aura's magical beasts!" Shalltear turned and bowed. Ainz stood up and clapped a few times.
"Excellent Shalltear! You have covered all your bases I see! Which is good because from what Pe Riyuro tells me, from rumors the monsters down there could easily be over level 100! So if that's the case you all must be on your best performances!" Aniz said nodding to the group.
"Will you be taking any 'mercenary' units with you?" Ainz asked. Shalltear shook her head "No".
"As none of us will need to neither eat, drink or sleep, supplies will be limited to Healing potions and mana potions as well the odd items here and there like infinite rope and scrolls for [MESSAGE] and others, as well as [FLY] necklaces for all of us as well. I think if we had a large caravan of troops, we would attract more attention from beasts..." Shalltear finally concluded. Ainz agreed and gave them some words of encouragement before getting up and leaving. The newly assembled team turned and began talking.
"This should be a lot of fun! I can't wait" Aura said snickering, Mare looked at her and nodded with a smile. Pandora's Actor rose one arm to point to the whole group.
"I will not fail us! This will be a tale passed down through the ages by the ones of Nazarick!" He said clutching his fists. Albedo just scoffed at Shalltear.
"At least I won't have to take orders from this tramp!" Albedo said to Pandora's Actor and flicking her hair in the direction of Shalltear. Aura shook her head.
"C' mon Mare, we gotta get out supplies ready!" And the two elves ran off. Mare stopped then turned to Shalltear.
"Oh! Can I bring my elf slaves?" Mare asked, Shalltear looked puzzled but understood the need for "servants".
"Well as i will be bringing my Vampire Brides, I don't see why not, OH! Maybe they can 'play' together!" Shalltear said with a grin on her face, Mare laughed.
"Yeah! I wanna watch them have fun together!" The innocent and ignorant child said.
"Mare, no..." Aura tried to say something as she picked up on the implications of what Shalltear meant. But decided to just let it go and keep an eye on "Shalltear idiot".
"But still, I'm surprised you choose to have me around you for this team of yours." Albedo said to Shalltear. Shalltear just gave a smug laugh and grin.
"I can put personal feelings aside for the betterment of Nazarick, unlike 'some' people." She said snickering back to her rival in love.
"What did you say you tramp?" Albedo yelled becoming furious. the look on Shalltears face just brightened.
"Oh? proving me right already? Oh, my Albedo I thought you had more tact than that!" Shalltear said mockingly, but as she hit the nail on the head, to further this argument would only prove Shalltear more right, Albedo scowled but remained silent as she turned away to get her own preparations in order.
"I will head to the treasury! Lord Ainz has allowed me to take as much "none supreme beings gear" as I want! This will take some time I'm afraid!" The shapeshifter said rubbing his hands together and vanishing. As shalltear was all that was left she chuckled and head to her room to pack and pick which brides would accompany her. But just then she received a [MESSAGE] from her Lord, Ainz Ooal Gown.
"I have something to give you Shalltear, meet me in my office, come alone." Her dead heart began to flutter at the thought of what this "goodbye present" might be, she ran to the office, forgetting her chest padding was misshapen because of it. When she got to his office she opened the door and ran to him.
"What would you like to do to me...or have me do to you Lord Ainz!" She shrieked with lust in her eyes, But Ainz rejected her like so many times and just produced a bracelet.
"Oh? A wedding band?" Her nose began to bleed a little, she produced a handkerchief to catch it." But he just sighed and continued to say what was planned.
"Listen up Shalltear, I am giving you this "world item" that I have preloaded with my "essence" into it, if you encounter something you cannot beat, if you activate this bracelet you will gain a perfect clone of my body with all of my skills and abilities... even my gear will be yours! Even... this!" Ainz said gesturing to the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown! He handed the bracelet to the shaking hands of Shalltear.
"But Shalltear you must only use this in case of..." Ainz was saying but it was too late Shalltear was already holding the item above her head activating it!
"HAHAHAHAHA!" She cackled with bliss, the thought of actually BEING her lord, it was enough to drive her mad with joy! After a few seconds, there was a flash and the real Ainz Ooal Gown was rendered unconscious and collapsed on his desk as Shalltears body became a perfect clone of her lord. Her hands immediately began running all over her new body feeling every inch of it that her bony hands could! But just as her real fun was about to begin an Eight edge assassin came down and scratch Ainzes arm doing "1 point" of 'damage". The spell was ended and Shalltear was herself again and Ainz rose his head looking in disbelief at the giggling vampire.
"..extreme emergency! Is what I was going to say!" Ainz said flabbergasted until an unseen force calmed him and he spoke calmly once again.
"Well I can see the temptation is too much for you! I... I will have to load a different soul onto that item then." He said shaking his head in disbelief. Shalltear cried but was unable to disobey and temporarily gave up her new world Item so Ainz could put a different essence into it in case she needed more power. When he loaded it with someone he figured would be a help down there he returned it, and told her NOT to use it unless absolutely necessary, to which she agreed.
Two Dark elves ran about getting their supplies and needs in order
"You all ready Mare?" Aura called out, he called back that he was and came running with his brown hood cape on, behind him were three elf slaves who wore very high-grade gear, trinkets and held incredible items of power. They also all had large packs strapped to their backs that were filled with potions and scrolls of every kind. They were all in very good spirits.
"Master Mare thank you for taking us with you!" A red-haired elf said with a bow that could imbue arrows with any kind of power she wanted strung over her back, she was a ranger before captured then bought by, the now dead, worker Erya. Her name was Kali and she loved to pick out Mares cloths for him to wear. She was wearing a brown "halter top" that had a quiver of never-ending arrows attached to the back it, she had a black cape that would offer her very high stealth stats and abilities, she enjoyed showing off her body as she also only wore a small skirt that was just as short as Mares was but brown and tight around her hips. Her necklace would give her incredible bursts of speed and her gloves allow her to shoot arrows at an insanely fast rate. Her boots let her jump as high as she needed to and would also stick to surfaces allowing her to get the perfect archer shot off!
"Yes, Master Mare! We will strive to do our very best!" The blonde elf of the three said, her hair was also short, she was dressed in a dress that was made of incredibly rare metals, and it looked like silver silk but would offer her super protection from melee damage as well as any plate armor of adamantite would. The holy chime staff she held boosted her natural powers of a cleric ten fold and her shining ring gave her enough mana regen to last most fights. She had another ring that would automatically cast [DELAY GREATER TELEPORTATION] if it sensed an enemy teleporting in, it was given to her by Mare who received it from Demiurge off the half-elf girl that hurt Mare and Aura. Her name was Wins and she was the shy one, she reminded Aura of Mare in a lot of ways. She would alway try to help Mare and Aura bath, even though they didn't need help.
"We are so lucky to have a master who is so kind that he cares for us!" The last chipper elf slave said. She wore clothes almost identical to Mares in every way, they were "failed versions" of his gear, but as she was a druid by nature, these "failed" vestments still had untold power for her to tap into. The hemp cape she had that was like Mares would boost her healing powers beyond that of any normal elf druid, He dragon scale top and dress offered her resistance to almost all physical attacks as did it boost her health or "HP" by a lot and the white cloth gloves would also return a large portion of mana used from every spell. She had a necklace that held a single cast of [GATE] in it that she could use once a day. Her boots that ran up past her knees would give her a barrier that would activate automatically when magic was incoming at her. It could only block one spell once a day but the power of that spell did not matter, unfortunately, she can't control when to use it, so it's easily "baited out". Her staff that again, looked like Mare's was cursed, but in exchange for that curse boasted insane spell buffing power for people around her at the cost of greatly reduced health or "HP". She sported short blueish hair, her name was Nissa and she secretly was waiting for her master to get older so she could ask to be his wife as she was in love with her kind master Mare. Aura smiled at the four of them and gave a thumbs up to show she too was ready.
Albedo looked distraught as she tried to cram yet another "Ainz body pillow" into her "personal dimension" she hoped that three or four would be enough to keep her company underneath the dark ground. But at the same time, she would need to save space for her "Ainz dolls" Oh! the decisions she would need to make!
Pandora's Actor chuckled deeply to himself, he had filled up his "personal dimensional" space with all kinds of weapons and gear anyone could think of, with his many classes he had access to he was able to perfectly use all 899 items of gear and weapons he packed. He picked up one in particular item and tossed it into his pocket before clicking his heels and turning dramatically and teleporting to his waiting group.
Every member assembled at the gate room and all gave a nod as they stepped through, instantly the group was sent to the Quagoa city that stood next to the giant chasm in the deep earth that they would be descending. Pe Riyuro was there to greet them with a jug of never-ending wine strapped to his back that his friend Jircniv had sent him... this was his only item he brought. He was their unofficial "lore guide" as he had amassed many rumors and stories about the chasm, at any rate, he was curious to see what kind of ore he could find for his young down there, and when he heard "the red demon" would be escorting them he felt safe form the monsters 'down there'.
"Come! I will show you where we are descending" He said to the group and they all followed in silence till they came upon a giant scar that ran from one end of the world to the other as far as anyone knew. Aura recognized this place as did Shalltear as they both had ventured through this part of the earth with their beloved Lord Ainz so many years ago. A huge gust of wind ran up from the crack and blew Albedo hair up when she tried to peer down it, she was no longer wearing her white dress but wore a suit of all back armor. Pe Riyuro moving down along the wall.
"You said you were bringing someone who could control the earth? Then I would suggest we start by making stairs leading down, we have no idea how long it will take to go down there, but I don't wanna risk [FLY] wearing off... so it's best to just descend slowly and have a way back up to boot." Pe Riyuro said showing Mare where he wanted to begin, as soon as he did Mare and Nissa began work turning the earth into a slope that would spiral around and around and around until it reached the bottom. This would take some time so they all sat down to watch the two elf druids go to work.