Chapter 3
-3 hours prior-
By the time Demiurge reported to Ainz about the scholarly intruder with interesting items that might benefit Nazarick, Ainz Ooal Gown found himself piqued with interest about the demon's findings. The odds of finding a map that has more details than the one he has was extraordinary. He must see this, Ainz thought.
So he ordered one of the shadow demons to follow this intruder, and summons the viewing mirror to see what he was dealing with now. He remembered Albedo as in the room with him at the time. She was as much his shadow as were the Shadow Demons themselves.
"Albedo! Come here for a moment. I need a second opinion about this "intruder"."
"Yes, my love!" Albedo moved quickly to join her master's side, and looked into the mirror with him.
He at first wasn't impressed when he saw the intruder through the mirror, but later on the fight with Kyouhukou he was intrigued. Since the mirror doesn't provide him the audio, he settled in with how the intruder would interact with the floors he's in.
When his Area Guardian was spared, instead of being killed off, he was instantly reminded of when Touch-Me was like during various PvP matches. Of course, there were times that Touch-Me would PK his rivals, but he would always spare them when they fought well, or if they acted sportingly.
Seeing this, he was curious and wished to test what he can do with this new intruder. He looked over to Albedo and asked her.
"Any thoughts, Albedo?"
The Overseer looked back at her overlord leader and replied,
"He's… good at what he's doing." she said carefully, "but I do not see how he can be so important for Nazarick in the future."
"He has something that piqued my interest." Ainz replied as he watched the intruder enter into the 3rd floor and meeting Shalltear, "For now, I'm more interested in how he interacts with the others."
As the fight continues Ainz got increasingly intrigued by it. By the time Shalltear was caught by the pillars he made a decision. He quickly messaged Shalltear before she was about to chase the intruder to the next floor. The last thing he needed was for that man to die on him before giving him answers.
"A-Ainz-sama!" Shalltear stammered as she answered the call, "A-are you going to punish me for not destroying the intruder? I shall commit my own death for this failure!""
"No!" he replied with a solid tone, "No, Shalltear, I need you to stand down for now."
"But Lord Ainz!" The first Floor Guardian whined and Ainz lifted his hand up in instinct even though she wasn't in front of him.
"No buts." Ainz sighed, mentally making a checklist to help educate his floor guardians to at least understand various battle tactics, "I'm interested in this… individual and I want to meet him. Personally"
"... Understood." Shalltear's bitter voice was heard. He felt bad for Shalltear to have her battle ended so abruptly, but this was really important.
"Forward this message to him:" He added, "that I wish to put him through a trial that will be provided by the floor guardians."
"I…!" Shalltear relented, "Understood, Lord Ainz, as you command." Shalltear replied, conflicted as she ended the Message. Ainz then sat back and waited for this new guest to come in.
"I guess this is where Ulbert's idea comes in….If he were here, he would be so excited, too." Ainz thought. Then he remembered, 'Oh, damn! The teleportation traps! I'll have to turn them off, for now. I can't have him jumping to other floors. I want to see what he can do first. It'll be hard, but I need to know… Right then!'
He opened up a group-wide message to his Floor Guardians besides Shalltear, and spoke with dignity and forwardness of a leader, "Attention all Floor Guardians and Area Guardians. I, Ainz Ooal Gown, have learned of a new threat that has entered Nazarick. What I am about to order you will not be easy, but I have plans for this stranger in the making. Your orders are as follows - and I expect them to be followed: do not kill this intruder. Not yet. Not until I am satisfied. You will fight him, you will wound him, but you will either let him pass you, or feign defeat. What you are actually doing is testing this "scholar", learn about his strengths, limits, and tactics. He will arrive fairly unharmed to the 10th Floor, via escort, and meet me in person. I will judge this audacious man myself, should he prove worthy enough for my personal attention. That is all."
There was but a split second of pause, but only a split second. Their replies were unanimous and without question. Ainz ended the call and leaned back into his chair.
"This is… quite interesting, indeed."
-Fourth Floor-
The Gate that exited out to the 4th Floor lead the vagrant scholar to an indoor lake. While he mended his wounds with a healing spell, he observed his new surroundings. The space he was in was a massive stone done. It encompassed the entirety of the level from ceiling to floor, save for the lake ahead of him. The water of the lake smelled fresh, and it looked as clear as glass. The intruder walked around it and looked into its contents. Below, he could see what looked to be an underwater cave mouth. He looked away from the water while walking it's edge, then stopped. Lexicon felt a twinge of pain from his chest, his nerves reminded him of the battle damage he received. The blood seeped out and stained the tunic he wore, and it wasn't going to stop on it's own.
"Okay, need to focus…" He breathed in and exhaled out to calm his nerves. The pain was great, but his willpower was greater. He felt worse pain long before, and the flesh could always be mended. He held his right hand to his chest and cast,
"Heal!" Green aura glowed on his chest wound. The magic spell wove the flesh of his chest closed. The torn shirt and chain mail beneath were the only proof that he was hurt. He patted his chest, happy with the recovery. He observed his new location, and when he looked up, his jaw almost dropped to the floor, "By the gods!"
He proclaimed with discovering a most astonishing sight. Before him stood a towering stone monstrosity, with features that were plain, but did not weaken the awe-inspiring presence it gave off. Its head was round and smooth, while it looked down to the lake below its feet.
"Now how did you get in here, large fellow?" the vagrant inquired. No answer. The golem remained silent. It showed no signs of life, and It made no noticeable movement. The intruder scratched his head and proceeded to the golem.
The scholar observed and studied the golem, looking for something that stood out. He could not find anything on the surface, and continued to ponder.
'Strange. Something of this size should be too obvious not to have as a defensive measure. Why have it here at all if it doesn't react to my invasion?'
He backed away from the golem and turned back to the lake. He knelt down on the water's edge and held his hand to his throat.
"Underwater Breathing! Waterproof Coating!" A flash of turquoise color enveloped his body, and then vanished. He dived into the water and swam to the cave's mouth below. It was dark, save for some crystals and coral that glowed in the water and offered some illumination. He peered deep into the tunnel, and saw there was two ways to take. He swam away from the mouth and floated in front of the cave's mouth, not entering just yet.
'A golem that won't attack me, and the only way forward on this floor is here. There may be secret passage I don't know of, but to look for it would be time-consuming. It may not be long before that golem decides to wake up and attack. There must be a trick to this…'
He looked back to the golem above the water. It still watched over the lake as the guardian that it was. The intruder tilted his head at the stone watcher, curiosity peaked. Its gaze did not leave the underwater cave entrance. Then an idea popped inside his head as the bubbles around his mouth.
'Perhaps you know something that I don't, hm?'
The scholar swam back up to the surface and out of the lake. He meets the golem at its feet and climbed upward. He climbed to the golem's shoulder while it still remained quiet and unmoving. He walked along its broad shoulder and searched its stone body for some kind of clue.
"Where would you hide your secrets then, mute watcher?"
The corner of his eye spots something. On the nape of the giant's neck looked like indentations etched into its back. The vagrant scholar climbed to the golem's neck and looked closer. The etchings revealed to be a map of what looked like a maze, and how to safely traverse it.
"Eureka!" The vagrant scholar shouted. He took out a sheet of paper and charcoal and made a copy of the map from the indentation. He descended from the golem without falling to his death, and castes a waterproof spell on the new map.
"Clever, I must say, to hide knowledge on something one would think would be without! Much obliged, oh solemn guard of stone!"
The scholar returned to the waters and to the entrance below, swimming onward and with confidence. He knew the way, and now was on to the 5th floor.
The instant the intruder entered into the 5th floor, a blizzard obscured his vision. Low temperatures froze all the water that was latched onto him preventing him from moving. He could feel the cold liquid from the lake freezing on his skin, threatening to give him severe frostbite.
"N-Not G-g-good!"
He brought his hand into his backpack and pulled out a vial of hot, red liquid. He drank the contents within the vial and breathed out. His breath was cloudy and warm, and then the ice began to melt from his body and clothes. The potion he had drank stemmed off the cruel cold of the 5th Floor, for now.
"Good thing I came prepared. That potion won't last long, though. I gotta keep moving, or at the very least find shelter."
The vagrant scholar jogged through the blizzard snow swirled around him. He disappeared into the blizzard, and could hardly see anything in front of him. His trek through the blistering snow brought him to a building; a frozened-over prison to be exact. Something about it gave off a sense of uneasiness. Still, between freezing to death and entering an unknown place, with potential danger inside, the vagrant scholar had no choice. He entered the building and closed shut the door behind him.
The interior was cold, empty, and haunting. There was not a sound in the halls and steps of the prison. Nary a pin drop could be heard over this deafening silence. The intruder treaded carefully while moving further onward. After climbing metal stairs, and passing by empty cages, he came across a heavy set of iron doors. He pressed onto the doors and pushed. The creaking of its hinges filled the empty prison and it cells, letting in colder air out. The doors now opened wide enough to slip by, the scholar entered the room.
It was dark and foreboding; the unease even more present in his mind. Iron chains hung from the ceiling above; black ice formed on the floor; dark stains and marks covered the walls, with a hint of iron in the air. Only his footsteps echoed out into the empty room, until he heard a cracking noise. He looked down, and saw something peculiar.
"Hm? What's this?"
He knelt down and moved his foot from where he stepped. It was a doll. A porcelain figure of young, childish complexion. He had stepped on its head, cracking a part of its face. He felt somewhat bad for doing so.
"A doll?"
"My baby….Where is my baby?"
The scholar shot up and readied his weapon. He was not alone.
"Hello? Who's there?"
"My...baby...where…. is my baby?"
The scholar brought his eyes to the ceiling and looked around the hanging chains. Then they widened in shock as he spotted a figure hanging onto one of the chains. It slid down, then fell from above. It was slouched over in front of him, standing a few feet away from where he was. Its appearance was that of a woman wearing a black robe, with long, flowing ebony hair. It rose up onto its feet and looked back at him.
"My baby...Where is it?" she whispered, her beady eyes staring into the stranger's "Where, where, where...I need my baby, baby, baby…"
The woman stepped closer and closer, eerily closing the gap between them both. From her left hand, she pulled out a pair of sheers; rusty and stained with old blood. When her hair briefly parted, the intruder's face turned pale. With closer inspection, he saw her face was lacking a face altogether! It was as if someone - or perhaps she - removed the skin from her face, leaving nothing behind except her facial muscles and exposed teeth.
"Well, I'm sufficiently terrified out of my wits!"
He laughed out weakly from the horror that quickly approached him. The woman darted at him, sheers parted and ready to cut him to ribbons. The vagrant scholar yanked out his battle staff and swung at her. She was faster than he realized, for when he swung, she had already jumped into the air. She fell back down with her shears closed, intending to gouge his eyes out, and still yelling about her precious "baby".
"Bloody hell on a pike!"
He jumped back, narrowly avoiding her blades with them cutting off some of his tunic. She continued her onslaught of death against him.
"Where is my baby?!" She screamed, clawing at him. Her speed was astonishing; her strength belying her lithe figure. The intruding scholar fought back, but for every parry and block he gave, she returned with swift cuts and stabs into him. For every swing and strike to her, she dodged and moved like air. He had to tip the odds into his favor, or risk a painful end.
"Acceleration!" More flashes of light and color covered his body, filling him with increased speed and attack power. He attacked again, this time able to keep up with the mad-woman's movements. Yet still, even with enhanced power, she would not relent.
'I can't beat her like this. Even if I do, I'll be too tired to move forward. I still can't kill anyone, or it will ruin my plans!' He shouted in his mind. The woman stopped fighting, swaying back and forth, now holding her shears as twin blades, chanting and asking "where's my baby?".
The vagrant scholar's mind sparked an idea. He looked back to the doll, and to the woman, who was still swaying and chanting while she approached him. He snuck back to the broken doll, careful not to grab her attention. The woman stopped when he was close to the doll again. Her gaze brought to the doll itself.
'Could she mean…?'
He knelt down, and put away his weapon. The woman, step-by-step, came closer. His hands came to the doll, and brought it to his lap. The woman gasped and growled. Her stride increased, and she charged at him! He didn't look up, for he was focused on the doll. He hovered his hand to the doll's broken face, "Mend" and a light came out. The crazed woman leaps up and brings her shears over her, preparing to stab him again.
The doll is brought up, right to the woman's face. It was repaired good as new. The tips of the shears stopped an inch from his head, frozen still. The scholar bowed to the mad woman, and said,
"My sincerest apologies, dear mother of this child. I meant harm to your baby. Here..."
She looked at the repaird doll, and like a mother with a child, she snatched it away from the intruder, hissing and murmuring at her 'child', cooing to calm the silent infant mannequin. She was far into her own world that she had ignored him and slinked off into the darkness.
The scholar sighed with relief, and wiped away the cold sweat from his brow. The wounds she left behind still stung, but all he could do to conserve energy was apply medicine to them, which he had prepared. Patching himself up, he kept an eye on the darkness as he reached the other side of the room, leaving it behind.
The vagrant scholar moved forward, still chilled from both the temperature and the previous fight. The stairwell lead him to a brightly lit room, but instead of iron and chains, it was pure ice. He had entered the insides of an iceberg below the prison. At the end of the frozen area was another door. It could lead him to the next floor he thought.
A puff of cold frost rustled his hood, and the sense of something towering over him filled his mind. His confident expression turned worried as he turned his head behind him. What stood behind him, and breathed down his neck, was yet another deadly obstacle.
Standing 5 feet taller than he did, another insectoid being looked down on him. It had deep blue eyes and a lighter blue exoskeleton. It looked like a cross between a hercules beetle and a fire ant. It had four arms and a long spiked tail behind it, with each hand holding a different kind of weapon. Something about it shouted "warrior" and "strong" just by looking at it.
"Ummm… Greetings?"
"Greetings, intruder." The cold, large, insectoid being greeted the intruder, "How did you pass... the 4th Floor?"
"I… Had to confront one woman who had lost her doll. We came to an "understanding", you could call it?"
"Nigredo…." He growled, cold air hissing through his mandibles "Strong she is, but easily distracted. Punishment is needed, I believe."
"Either that, or she may need some therapy." He instinctively stepped aside for the tall insect to pass by, but not leaving his sight of the bug warrior. The insectoid did not move, though. It instead unsheathed it's weapons and pointed his a sword at the intruder's face.
"We shall see about that." He hissed. His mandibles clicked and twitched in agitation.
The scholar smiled weakly and laughed with a nervous tone. He attempted to appease the warrior, despite his current intrusion into his home.
"You strike me as an honorable warrior, master…?" He lingers, hoping to tease out the ice bug's name, if he had one that was.
The insectoid did not move, but answered, "Fifth Floor Guardian, Cocytus." Then he readied his posture, waiting for this intruder to engage.
The scholarly intruder nodded his head, "Master Cocytus. Please don't see my continued speaking as stalling, but would it not be more appropriate to meet at the center of the room, and then fight? Surely this immediate spot isn't quite appropriate in the views of bushido…" He paused, waiting for the Cocytus' reaction. 'Let's see if that will get a reaction. The way he carries himself is similar to those scrolls' of instructions I found some time ago. '
Cocytus said nothing, his face expressionless while his mandibles were moved on their own, thinking, but ready to strike. Then after a few moments passed, Cocytus hissed, cold air breathed out from his mandibles.
"Very well." He answered, sheathing his blades away, "We shall take this to the center of the dojo. An appropriate battlefield."
With that said, he turned around and walked on, not even waiting for the intruder to follow him.
The scholar had little time to say 'thank you' to him, as the insect warrior moved forward to the center. The scholar jogged up behind him, and maintained a respectable distance of two meters. The two met at the center of the cold room, and faced one another.
The vagrant scholar pulled out his staff from his hip, twirled it around, and planted it at his side standing up. He bowed to Cocytus respectfully.
Cocytus hissed again, but bowed the same nevertheless, and then unsheathed his blades out, ready for battle head-on.
The intruder did so in kind, his staff aimed at the guardian. There was not an inch given from either fighters. Both sized the other up, the next move before acting chosen with consideration. At last they moved forward and clashed staff to balde. The katana of Cocytus clanged against the magic battle staff of the intruder. They pulled back and struck again, their weapons collided with each other once more.
The scholar spinned and swung his staff left and right in search of an opening in the warrior's stance. So far, there was none, while Cocytus' stance was strong, and his focus sharp as his katana. The scholar could only imagine what the insect thought behind such an unreadable face, which the only things that moved were his mandibles. But he could feel and see the cold, blue energy around Cocytus. It was clear that he wasn't serious, yet. 'I know this is a test, so let's pass it with flying colors!'
Cocytus said nothing and just kept his onslaught against his opponent. He bothered not to look if he even did create some scars on the ice floor. Ice pillars appeared out of nowhere, and blocked the intruder's view.
The ice pillars forced the scholar back. He lifted his staff over his head, ran at the base of the pillars of ice, and then vaulted on top of them. He landed and looked to see where Cocytus had gone, but saw nothing below. That was until he heard a "whoosh" noise behind him. Cocytus had gone around the pillar and jumped from the bottom up, then looked down on the scholar. The scholar went wide-eyed and moved out of the way to avoid damage. The warrior bug sliced down and split the pillar in half, which forced the scholar to jump off. The scholar landed, rolled on the icy floor, and reduced the impact of the fall.
Cocytus broke through the divided pillar and swings down on the scholar. In a split second the scholar spun his staff and diverted the attack to the side, but the impact shook his arms hard, and made him flinch. Cocytus turned the blade and swung left, but missed him by mere inches. The blade managed to cut a diagonal hole in the scholar's tunic, and severed off some links of his chainmail beneath. Blood spilt out again, his old wound returned to hinder him
'As much as I have to respect honor, I hate the fact that I'm no true warrior,' the scholar thought, 'and this can't be his only weapon either. Those four arms aren't for show, I know that for certain! Fighting him bare fisted would be bad, as my strongest weapon is my staff right now. Monk style and Sword style are usually even, but this being is clearly stronger than I. I need to avoid death, even if I lose a limb in the process.'
The scholar took the offensive and attacked this time. His staff clanged and banged against the metal blade, still in search for a weak spot. Then he had an idea. He swung horizontally, to which the blade deflected it. Cocytus attempted to impale the scholar, but then the scholar leaned backwards on his feet, dodging the blade. Using the staff as support, he aimed at the bug-man's sternum, the magic staff extended and hit Cocytus in the chest. The impact pushed him back a meter. Not a lot of distance, to be sure, but enough to give the scholar a short break.
The insect man huffed cold air again, and looked at the scholar. His mandibles chittered with intrigue. Without a word, a second arm grabbed another blade, and then Cocytus jumped up. Cocytus brought the two blades down on the scholar again.
The scholar backflipped away and avoided the attacks, but was blinded by the explosion of ice and frost. He lifted his staff back up in time to block the dual katanas, and faced Cocytus up close and personal.
The battle turned intense, despite the frigid air that could chill lesser men to death, the heat of their fight could melt ice and frost like the sun against an ice-cube. At this point, Cocytus wielded four blades at once, and swung like a tornado of swords. The scholar struggled to keep the blades at bay, forced to take a defensive stance. Even so, Cocytus cut deep into the intruder's body, ruining his shirt and chainmail and drawing blood.
Cocytus swung his blade and knocked the staff out of the scholar's hand, sending it flying upward in the air. The intruder was wide open. Time slowed down in his eyes as he witnessed four blades about to cut him open. Yet he was unafraid, and kept calm. He took a deep breath and yelled out,
"Ruyi Jingu Bang!"
The staff suddenly stopped its tailspin in the air, and straightened itself. It glowed brightly with a solid gold aura. It elongated and grew in width, becoming a large pillar that stood in the way of the blades. Cocytus was caught off-guard by the sudden intervention, but was more surprised at what happened next.
It had the weight and size of something much heavier, but the scholar brought it about like it was light as a feather, shrinking down to size. The scholar held the staff like a spear, and the top end of it shot forward like a bullet. The first missed, but every time it missed, it worked faster to hit Cocytus. It shot out so fast that the guardian was forced back and made to block. Now the tables had turned.
"As you will, gold-banded cudgel!" the scholar exclaimed. With each swing the staff altered its size and length, becoming harder and harder for Coytus to strike.
Cocytus only stood in his place, his eyes studied the weapon that the stranger held. However, after a few hits, Cocytus' mandible clicked and uttered only one word.
"Fool."
Before the scholar could respond back, Cocytus swung his katana almost instantaneous, and deflected the staff away. He continued to deflect each of the scholar's hits, until after what seemed to be the 15th hit, he was but a foot away up to the scholar.
The Floor Guardian swung his sword to deliver the death blow...
But the blow never came.
The scholar knew that he wasn't dead, but he could still feel the cold energy that emitted from the blade that the Floor guardian wielded. The katana stopped and hovered close to his face, right between his eyes. The scholar could almost feel the edge of it caress his skin. He stood still, his arms spread wide with the staff held away in his hand due to its weight. His legs were bent forward, muscles within his thighs and calves screamed in stress of the staff's true power took a toll on him, and this would have been the end of his life. Despite this inescapable truth, the scholar did not blink, flinch, or run away. His will was iron, and he still felt no true fear.
"You are a fool," Cocytus finished, "but you have a fire that is never-ending."
He lifted the katana away, "What is your name, scholar, for I, Cocytus honor the few who battles with fire to me."
The scholar held still, but answered, "You may know me as Lexicon. I am a vagrant scholar, and it is a pleasure to have met you, Lord Cocytus."
Cocytus' mandibles hissed and clicked when he heard the name, "Lexicon… Very well. I shall let you through this floor, for I am satisfied with the fight you have given me, despite your horrid stance."
'Ouch. That hurt…' Thought Lexicon.
He then pointed at the direction where the next floor was, "Follow that path and you'll find the gate to the next floor. We'll have another mock battle if you survive."
He finally relaxed after Cocytus removed his blade from Lexicon's face. The scholar put away his own weapon, then bowed low before the superior warrior. "Thank you very much for the battle, Lord Cocytus. If I survive, I will train more to better challenge you, if only by a grain's worth. Farewell, for not!" Lexicon turned back to go to the end of the ice dojo, and saw an identical gate he took to leave the 3rd Floor. He passed through it and would come out onto the 6th Floor; the level of humidity, jungles, and the two most dangerous beings that call it home.