Beta-read by HellkingUzumaki
Chapter 10: The bigger they are...
It had been now 4 days since the battle between Momonga and Shalltear and Minas' mind still buzzed like a hive of angry bees. Dozens of unanswered questions and possible scenarios swam in his head in circles like sharks or vultures. There were so many researches to do. The possibility of creating custom NPCs, finding and conquering other YGGDRASIL dungeons, that might have been transported into this world centuries ago, the possibilitiy of gettting a World Item or simply exploring this world were already projects of enormous meassures. In times like these Minas was grateful to have his loyal servants to ease the work a little by helping out or doing the jobs all by themselves, because they wanted to be of use for their lord.
Minas currently sat in the throne room as he thought about all the different World Class Items he had tried to lay hand on. It truly was a shame that he always had to fail at the last condition, but some were really ridiculous like defeating a specific raid boss in a 1v1 without using revival items and/or resurrection items, while doing the raid solo and in one go. Minas still hated himself for back then, but it couldn't be changed anymore. Meanwhile he observed the situation in the abyss and the world.
Minas himself just came back from a quest in the north to exterminate the monsters in an area around a small town with Lycosa. Minas expected actually a challenge as the secratry said that 6 iron ranked adventurers were required for that job, however it turned out to be only small fries. The reason why multiple adventureres of his ranked were asked to do this job was that there were several ogres, goblins and most importantly basilisks in the area. Though they were not the giant version, that was to be said to be undefeatable by close combat specialists due their tough armor and abilities. Minas would have loved to fight such a monster or to tame it. Basilisks in YGGDRASIL couldn't grow as big as they were told to be in this world.
His mind wandered to the other servants of Ouroboros. Kilthane had gone to the Slane Theocracy to gather Intel about them. The amount of information about them was much bigger then through merchants and books of course. Nile was getting along with the lizardmen of the Dragon Tusk Tribe quite well. For a tribe that mostly valued physical strength then intelligence it wasn't really suprising that a powerful saurian like Nile was accepted rather quickly. Still the floor guardian didn't really found a good opponent since everyone in the village was already out by one punch. Minas planned that Nile would visit another lizardmen vilage that wasn't that far away from the Dragon Tusk to learn a bit more. It was never bad to look at a situation from mutiple, different points of view. Raizhek worked day and night in his forge. And Nito took part in special experiment Minas had occupied him with. It was something for making an entrance on this world as Minas Morgul, the Reaper of Souls. Except of Shanalotte, who had the mission to keep careful watch over the Abyss, the surounding Areas and the scouts, only Ya-te-veo didn't really had an appointment. The researches were left to Belial who was much more talented in matters like research and creation of items. Ya-te-veo's purpose was simply to guard the 2nd floor of the Abyss, but somehow Minas thought that might be a bit too less for him. After all Raizhek crafted weapons and armors, Belial items, Nile was a good enforcer, Shanlotte a very 'convincing' interrogator. Venomia was out to carry out her Mission to create an outpost for Ouroboros and Nito could use dead matter like corpses, bones etc. to strengthen the Abyss' power. The Death Vine was able to manipulate plants and used magic to support comrades with for example recovery and defensive spells. Perhaps a fight could show Minas a bit better how strong Yateveo was. But fighting who or what? The monsters in this region were tougher then back in the plains, but Minas could see that he might overestimate himself and Lycosa.
After all Minas was on Level 80 and Lycosa just on Level 68. The monsters during the last mission were stronger then the spiders and worms they had fought last time and Minas still had not enough knowledge to say which monster was not dangerous and which was. It might be the best to Keep Lycosa here and only bring her out to appointments that would be beneficial to her and Minas' assassin classes. Minas was still searching for a way to restore his Level 100 and hopefully to even strengthen the Forces of the Abyss. If it would succeed he wouldn't have to worry so much about the safety of the Abyss and Momonga. Partly he was doing that also for his friend. Since he knew now that someone out there had a world item, Minas had ordered all guardians of the Abyss to be extremely careful in all their actions. Especially Kilthane, who was basically undercover in enemy territory.
When Minas and Lycosa had returned as Devo and Ulna the adventurers guild looked a bit shocked at the duo that had just killed all the creatures. It took three wagons to transport all the loot from the monsters and it was pretty difficult to drive three carriages at once. Lycosa still couldn't drive, so Minas was forced to use [Cutting Wire] to steer the three vehicles. The amount of money was a bit less then Minas expected, but he couldn't complain. After all, adventurers were nothing more then mercenaries, that didn't took part in wars...normally. He had heard from a few guards, which were quite in good terms with Devo since the slave trader case, that the nobles of the kingdom actually hired adventurers to fight as soldiers in the conflict between the Baharuth Empire and the Re-Estize Kingdom. Other nobles were not better then the Slane Theocracy. There were rumors of people, which abused their powers to do whatever they wanted to and others that might work for a nation in the neighborhood. Anyway the adventurers guild decided to uplift them to the gold rank since basilisk hides and blood were very valueable. Other adventurers mumbled something about them being worth the platinum rank. After collecting their payment, the two adventurers had returned home.
Meanwhile in the Azerlisia Mountains
The Azerlisia Mountains were always quite a cold region in the new world. Unlike on earth the peeks of These mountains were always covered in ice and snow. In winter the white matter would cover the entire mountians in the inner region, while less snow gathered at the outer sides. In General the region of the new world Momonga and Minas had stranded was actually equal to the temperate climate zone. The great lake in the wetlands for example was only frozen once, which was quite unusual. But then again it was another world.
Through the snow moved a group of men. They had thick beards and wore pelt and leather tunics. On their backs were clubs made of stone and ice and their skin had a bit of blue color from the cold. Now one might mistake them as cave men however These men were about 7-8 metres high. These were the frost giants of the Azerlisia mountains. It was a group of 5 in total. The giant in the front however held in his hands two massive chains. At the end of them were three adult frost dragons. Each was huge in human Standards, but unfortunately they were smaller then the giants. frost giants had the habit to use frost dragons which had lost against them in battle as hunting hounds. Dragons in the new world have extremely sharp senses when it comes to treasures. It was not greed that drew them to shiny metals and gems, but simply their nature. It could be said that dragons were a bit like birds in their behaviour in that case. They hoarded nice looking things to impress other members of their species or just the opposite gender.
Frost giants however had only brute force. They were, like the frost dragons, the apex predators of the mountains and simply overpowered all other creatures in their territory. Of course they were civilised and didn't ate humans like in old fairy tales. That was when their were other living beings around then humans. However these giants were not on a hunt. They were looking for rescources. Food, shelter, valueable objects. And if they had not any of that they simply took it from other people. And right now they looked up a legde. The dragons pulled at the direction they felt treasures and their snouts were pointed at a mountain in the distance, where a massive door was built in. The doors of a dwarven city.
"Today is our lucky day boys." one of the giants said. "Let's get some treasure." with that the giants moved towards the city of La'an.
6th floor of the Abyss, Armory
Minas walked through the shelves of the large halls which were the armory. Long shelves with armor parts and weapons stood side-by-side and seemed to be endless. The only reason why they were so Long was that Ouroboros was buildt to house many Players of all different races and classes. The most Players had left with their current gear and left their old and for them useless items in the dungeon. This was also the reason why there was an huge empty space at the end of the shelves. Once the Equipment of over 60 Players had been here, but now it reminded Minas more of a ghost town. Most Players simply used Ouroboros as a jumping pad to Level up under the protection of many others since the harassment of heteromorphs was so common. Sighing Minas finally reached the end of the shelves were he found himself Standing in front of a chest with multiple chains and a big lock around it. The chains were reinforced through Magic and the lock protected by a seal so that physical attacks wouldn't do much damage. Minas looked at the chest for a while as Belial approached him. Minas had felt him coming earlier when he was still looking through the equipment, but didn't reacted at all. Belial however looked curious at his Lord and the chest. He knew what was inside it. A few legendary armor items. Something Minas himself referred as a remnant of his past.
"Minas-sama why do you not want to use these items? After all they are rightfully yours and stronger then your current armor." Belial said. Minas didn't turned around as he answered.
"When my power was stripped of me, I felt helpless. So helpless that I have decided to not use this again as long as my power is not being restored. That's why I will not use these items." Minas replied. Belial's antanena wriggled a little as he put together what Minas had said just now.
"But Minas-sama, your report stated that you haven't been able to 'Level up' as you call it ever since you came into this world. With that being said you are basically sealing your own power away. If you die because of this..." he said. Minas turned to Belial with red glowing dots under his Hood. His Despair Aura created a massive shadow around him, making him look more intimidating.
"Are you suggesting that I should break my own word?" he said. Belial shrank beneath the reaper as the aura disapperaed and the red lights under the hood vanished. "Of course it isn't easy for me, but I hold value to the word one gives. And I swore to not use this as long as I'm not fully restored. If I cannot reach my true heigth agan, then so be it." With that Minas reached in his inventory and gave Belial a little book. "Bring this please to Raizhek once he's finished and you have time. Until then please proceed with your duties. This is very impoortant for me and the denizen of the Abyss Belial. Do you understand?" he asked. The isopod bowed in respect as he received the book.
"Of course Minas-sama. I shall not disappoint you." Belial said as he walked off. Minas looked at his retreating form before teleporting away.
4rth floor of the Abyss, sea
Minas flew across the sea that was the 4rth floor of the Abyss of Garm in a fast pace. He was in a hurry nor did he simply teleported to his desired goal. In fact he just enjoyed the Speed he was flying with. The vulcanic spires, which could remind someone at a famous lagoon in Thailand, zoomed past him. Then at the corner of the floor the water at one place became dark blue. This 'Blue Hole' was not an accessory for Minas. It was a place he should have come earlier. In fact, it was a place he should have come the first day since he had arrived in this world.
He looked down the into the abyss for a few moments, saying nothing. He just had his wings spread and hovered in the air. Then he sighed and dove into the water with a loud splashing sound. Normally water would slow a falling object down to a degree, depending on the weight and speed of the object, but also the depth of the water. If for example a pebble would be thrown into the water, it would slowly sink to the ground. If a giant meteor would crash in the ocean it would simply fall directly on the ocean floor in less then 2 seconds. The same goes for Minas. He had except his armor, no physical body and therefore almost no resistance as he pushed deeper into the water, which became darker and darker with every metre he dove deeper. In the blue hole were no marine monsters unlike the reefs of Shanalotte's torture chamber. After a short time he found himself in total darkness. A few minutes later he arrived at the ocean floor and stopped hovering only a metre above the sandy ground. He reached in his inventory and pulled out a green glowing lantern. It didn't went out as it was underwater, because the light didn't come from a flame. The [Soul Collector Lantern] allowed Minas not just to illuminate Areas with it, but also to collect and store souls by sucking them into lantern's inside. Of course the lantern didn't needed souls as fuel, but once your room is cramped flying souls everywhere, making it impossble for you to make a step it was the perfect bookshelf... or soulshelf in that case. Unlike [Sturm], which would only devour the souls and raise it's demonic level. Souls didn't had many uses in YGGDRASIL. Some could be used for spells, others were indregients for items, while others again were downright useless. Luckly Minas could use them back in YGGDRASIL, but that was something of the past.
The sickly green light of the lantern showed the sand covered sea floor. As Minas now moved further into the dark he was greeted by several decorative ship wrecks and finally a giant mountain-sized rock. Minas moved to the top and pressed his Hand against the Stone. Then he began to murmur a few sentences in german.
"Ich bin ein Teil des Teils, der anfangs alles war
Ein Teil der Finsternis, die sich das Licht gebar"
(Translation: I am a part of the part, which was at first everything
A part of the darkness, that gave itself birth to the light - Mephistopheles, Faust)
With that red cracks appeared on the rock as if hot Magma was heating it up from below. A gap opened big enough for Minas. As he flew into it, the gap closed again. Inside the rock it was dry and warm, but dark. This was Minas' prison for the creatures he didn't want to use in battle. They were stronger then any other POP or mercenary monsters in the Abyss and now they were down here. The reason for the size of the prison was answered as dozens of glowing eyes opened around him. Minas looked down and heard how something gave him growls and hisses. All of the diffrent sounds merged together into a horrifying nightmarish Sound, that probably would make even a battle hardened warrior shiver in fear. Yet the monsters did nothing to him. After all Minas was the one who had not only tamed them, but also had hatched a few of them. It was possible in YGGDRASIL to get pets without the Beast Tamer Job class by simply buying them or hatching them from eggs. The eggs for these monsters however came partly from dungeon raids and couldn't be simply bought at any market. Still even if they didn't emit any hostility, he could feel their hateful gazes. Everywhere around him were monsters he had collected over the years with Orochimaru. Monsters, that were about Level 85 and higher. And he had locked them up in this dark prison.
"Hey guys. Sorry that I couldn't visit you earlier." Minas said as he looked at the eyes beneath and in front of him. "I know I should have come here earlier. I just wanted to make sure that you don't go insane down here." The face of a giant monster drew closer until Minas felt how it nudged him. "Yeah love you too." the reaper said, stroking the creature's head. Then he ascended once again to the entrance. "I'll come back little ones don't worry." And with that he left them once again in the dark. As Minas ascended to the surface again, he noticed the giant shadow that swam beside him, but didn't left the darkness with him. Only gigantic yellow glowing eyes, that looked at him ascnding to the surface remained in the darkness of the depths.
6th floor of the Abyss, throne room
Minas had teleported back to the castle as he walked to the throne room. He always could teleport, but walking was actually enjoyable for the reaper. It was one of the few things, that reminded him that he once had been human. As he opened the doors to the throne room he was greeted by Lycosa, Yateveo and Shanalotte, who looked like they had expected him.
"Is something the matter?" Minas asked.
"It seems like the dwarfs have a problem. A group frost giants with frost dragons is moving towards their city." Shanalotte said turning the [Mirror of Remotive View] to Minas. Through the valley walked indeed 5 big humanoid creatures. They wore pelt tunics and had massive frozen rock Clubs with them. A giant at the front Held massive chains with 3 frost dragons in front of him. These dragons were much bigger then the juveniles Minas had killed earlier, but the giants were even taller.
'They use the dragons to find something valueable and then they strike. A bit primitive, but efficient. Still I cannot let them destroy what I have buildt in all this time.' Minas thought. "I see. Shanalotte put the security Level of the Abyss to the Maximum. We are moving out." he said.
"Of course Minas-sama." Shanalotte said.
"Lycosa, Ya-te-veo. You come with me. We have giants to kill. Get combat ready in 5 minutes." Minas said.
""Of course Minas-sama."" both NPCs replied. Then Minas contacted Nito.
"Nito how is your experiment going?" he asked.
"It is going fine, but I'm afraid that it is not ready yet. Please forgive this servant's failure." Nito said.
"It's fine. It cannot be helped that it isn't ready yet. I know you do your best to finish IT." Minas said.
"Thank you for your forgiveness Minas-sama." Nito said.
Outside La'an
The dwarfs have sounded their alarm as they saw the frost giants from afar. The door was closed and locked, while archers went out and ballista were loaded. The giants didn't minded that. They liked it when their opponents were struggling. As arrows and bolts were shot at them they simply used their clubs or the dragons as shelds. Only few projectiles pierced the giants' Skin and those didn't dug deep enough to make something more then a scratch. With one swing of their clubs they could destroy the entire defensives of the dwarfs on the outside and the dragons could break the door open.
Even Frombur, who was as miserable in shooting as he was good in drinking, knew that. Against this force they stood no chance. Still as a warrior of this City he couldn't let them just go as they wanted to.
"Keep firing!" someone yelled as every Thing was thrown at the intruders what the dwarfs had in ranged firepower. Still the giants and Dragons kept moving Forwards as if they didn't even noticed their attacks. Soon they were at the wall and the dragons began to scratch and bang against the door. One of the giants raised his giant Club in the air.
"Everyone take cover!" someone yelled in the mass as the dwarfs began to run out the clubs way. The massive weapon came down with an enormous destructive force that it ripped a hole through the balcony, making many dwarfs fall off the wall and die. Giant debris were send flying and had to be dodged by the paniced dwarfs. "Retreat!" came the order and the dwafs ran back inside the City walls. Frombur was still at the entrance and saw how the giants did their worst to conquer this city. He knew there would be no survivors. The giants would simply take what is valueable and leave them be. In such situations it might be better to give up. But not this dwarfs and not in this city. Frombur remembered Devo, the man that had saved his life and the elf's live. Who had bestowed them with treasures of Long forgotten times. No he wouldn't let These overgrown pricks take what they had built in centuries. Not now not ever.
"Let's hope that this will make a difference." he muttered as he walked out to the balcony where he came face to face with a giant. "Listen here you frost. If you think that you can take this town then you have to pass through me first." Frombur said. The giants laughed loud at that.
"You little shrimp wants to stop us? That's too good hahaha!" they laughed. Frombur then threw one of his throwing axes at the giant that was the closest to him. The weapon hit it's mark and landed in the giant's eye. It cried out in pain and held it's wounden eye. It gazed hatefully at Frombur as he tried to crush him with his hand.
"[Fortress]!" Frombur shouted before the hand coiled around his body, while hacking and slashing at the frost giant's skin. However the skin was hard as a glacier and the grip of the giant was strong. In the end Frombur's martial art only prevented his death for another Moment. The dwarven warrior tried to break free as the pressure became stronger and stronger.
"Come on! Scream a bit for us!" the giant demanded as he held the dwarf in front of him.
'So that's how it is going to end. Sorry Devo, I wish we could have drunk a bit mead together.' Frombur thought as he was ready to embrace death. But then he heared something. Like something fast had zoomed past him in the air.
"[Essence Cutter]." And then the pressure suddenly eased and there was suddenly silence.
"It seems like I came too late." a voice said. Frombur opened his eyes and looked at the one who had spoken. It was a humaniod figure about 2 metres high, wearing a dark cloak with several armor plates. The hood was pulled over the face so one saw only darkness in it. However then Frombur registered more details. In it's hands was a sinister looking scythe and on the back two skeletal wings came out looking like they were formed by mist. For Frombur it indeed looked like he was facing death himself. But then again he was still in the giant's hand and the giants, dragons and dwarfs were looking at the figure.
"Who the hell are you?" asked the giant that held Frombur. The figure did a mocking bow.
"Minas Morgul, The Reaper of Souls. And who might you be that you are attacking this city?" Minas said. "But you know what is even more fascinating? That despite your very weak strength and your incredibely stubborness your actually still being able to hold that dwarf."
CRACK SPLATTER
As Minas finished that sentence suddenly a long cut appeared not only at the wrist of the giant, but also on it's torso and the wall behind it. Minas' [Essence Cutter] just had cleaved the giant in two with one swing. Then Frombur realised that he was falling. But before he made crashed on the ground he was grabbed by the reaper that slowly descended towards the ground.
"And you must be Frombur. Devo had said one or two things about you," Minas said. Frombur looked wide-eyed at the reaper as he realised it. The contact Devo had stoken about was no human, elf or dwarf. It was the grim reaper himself. "You know we can talk later. First I have to harvest a few souls." Minas said as he put Frombur down and ascended once again into the sky. THe giants both angry and terrified looked at the reaper.
"What are you doing? Get him!" the giant shouted that had the chained dragons.
"[Forest Binding] [Power Draining Vines]." Another voice said as giantic roots shoot out the ground and held the dragons down. The giants spotted the intruder. A humanoid plant that stood in the distance and raise a staff. The dragons struggled to break free, but the roots slowly 'devoured' their strength, before they lost conciousness. The giants looked dumbstruck at the druid magic and then to the reaper.
"What's the matter? Have centuries of using dragons for your dirty work made you forget who to fight for yourselves?!" He shouted as he dashed towards the closest giant. Paniced the giant tried to swipe him away like an insect, however Minas was very manouverable in midair. He simply dodged the arm, flew around it and dashed to the giants throat. The giant noticed this and clapsed his throat with his hand, trying to crush Minas between the hand and neck, however he didn't felt anything. "[Treacherous Slash]" Minas murmured as he cut out the giant's nape, aming it drop dead on the ground. The last two giants looked in fear at the reaper and wanted to run, but the mountain they wanted to conquer now was in their way. Their own greed had led them into a dead end. "Frost Giants, you have committed sins against the dwarfs of this town without any act of provocation and have killed many of their people. Therefore you shall suffer!" Minas proclaimed.
Then one of the giants dropped dead as Lycosa had pierced a vital point on the neck of a giant with her long bladed legs. She had been there since Minas had caught Frombur. She simply used [Silent Kill] and [Concealing Sound] to not make any sound. The last giant raised it's club to crush Lycosa like the spider she was, but was intercepted as another giant root wrapped around it's arm. As the giant tried to rip the palnt out two other roots pierced right through it's knee caps. The giant cried out in pain as Ya-te-veo was walking over with something in his hand. Then he wrapped his fingers around it and punched a hole in the giant's skin. He pulled out the hand as the giant started to scream in pain. Everywhere on the giants back the skin started to break. Blood smeared branches erupted from it's body, which twisted around eachother and formed tree trunks. Thick roots snaked around the giant's limbs and digged into the ground. The plants grew and grew and grew as the giant stopped struggling. In that moment as Minas felt it's death, the trees grew branches, which filled themselves with red leaves. A quite disturbing but yet beautiful sight in this snowy landscape. Minas also looked suprised at this.
'So this is one of the more extreme and violent combinations of druid and death vine skills. First implanting [Leech Blood Tree] into the victim to deal damage over time and slow the target down, but accelerating the process with [Birth of the Rainforest]. Normally only one tree would sprout, but perhaps the giant's body was filled with so many nutrients that it simply 'overgrew' it's limitations. Perhaps that is something Ya-te-veo worked on with the POP monsters.' Minas thought. The dwarfs looked shocked at the brutal display of power that the trio had shown them and was quite careful what to do next.
Then Minas shouted up to them.
"It's fine. The giants are no more threat towards you." he said. Still no reaction. 'Perhaps they are scared.' Minas thought. Then Frombur ran up to them and shouted up himself.
"Guys open the door. We can't let our saviors stay outside here in the snow all day." he shouted.
"Are you drunk again Frombur? These monsters have just slaughtered these giants." Some other guard shouted down. Then Minas saw the major of La'an in the crowd, who looked shocked at the destruction.
"Frombur what is the meaning of this?" he asked. Minas saw Lycosa tense up as her master and 'father' was simply rejected as he had saved the dwarfs.
"Major this people have saved our City. Isn't it normal to invite a friend to a glass of mead?" Frombur said. Then Minas walked in front of him.
"Greetings Major of La'an. I have heard much of you and you have already heard about me." he said. The major raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure you remember that my contact Devo had given you metals and artifacts. I am the one, who asked him to do so. I am Minas Morgul." Minas proclaimed loud enough for every dwarf and Juviel to hear. The major's eyes widened in realization as he remembered the stories Minas had told them as Devo. About the heteromorphs that had once protected his village and the one who had shown the dwarfs so much generosity by giving them back what was theirs to begin with.
"Open the gate." the Major said, but the dwarfs were still frozen in fear and disbelief. "I said open the gate. Let our saviors in and show a bit of gratitude." he now yelled the dwarfs hurried to the mechanics and the lock was opened. The dwarven guard and the Major came out eyeing the sleeping Dragons carefully.
"Don't worry they will sleep until we say something else." Minas said. "Now then Major, I believe you want to ask me a few questions. And I will be glad to answer." he said.
"Of course." the Major smiled. "Come let us go inside. You and your companions must be freezing." he said as the trio of Ouroboros moved into the City.
An hour later
Except of the thick tension through the entire walk through La'an once more and the Looks the citizen gave them, Minas couldn't say he felt bad. He had delivered justice to those, who had decided to walk the path of a killer. Still Minas wasn't so sure if he had done the right punishment. After all one shouldn't repay same with same. Yes these giants wouldn't have changed, no matter how many years they would have rotten away in the Abyss and they had killed without regret. In fact Minas had always thought back in YGGDRASIL that those who don't Show mercy to others, shouldn't receive any in return. That's at least how he had killed so many PKers in game.
Aftr a while they had arrived at the major's house and sat on the big table like when Minas had found this place. The dwarfs were during the conversation very stressed despite the fact that Minas had shutdown his passive abilities to ease the Situation a bit at least. They all sweated like hell and always shot sideglances towards Exits or guards. They wanted to know who he was, where he came from and especially what he planned to do now. The last question was the only real Topic, but minas killed it by replying with: "Not much." After a few rather trivial questions the Major finally asked a question that was not a complete waste of time,
"Is it true that you want to wipe out the quagoas?" he had blured out. Minas tilted his head at him.
"Why would I do that?" he asked.
"W-well Frombur told me that he had asked Devo to give you a message. So that you might help us with this Problem of ours." the Major said.
"And in your opinion the only solution is exterminating their entire species? Do I see this correct?" Minas said not sounding very pleased. Another dwarf on the table slammed his Hands on the table.
"The quagoas have been an harrassement to our people ever since. They have killed countless dwarfs and are still trying to invade our territory. Of course they Need to be exterminated like the vermin they are." he said. Minas only shook his head disapproving.
"I don't agree with the methods of the quagoas, but I would like you to see it from their perspective. So far I only heard stories about these mole like beastmen, but as Long as I don't have any Information how the things are on the other side, I will not go and mindlessly slaughter them. Yes they most likely deserve to die, but Extermination of a species has nothing to do with justice." Minas replied in a calm tone. The dwarfs were not shocked or taken back by his Statement. It sounded like common sense to first gather Information and to act accordingly to this after that.
"What about the frost dragons outside?" another dwarf asked.
"What about them?" Minas asked.
"What are you going to do with them? Surely you don't intend to simply let them free." Minas thought about this indeed. First he could try and Keep the Dragons as new pets to see if his beast Tamer skills were still working, but then again the Dragons were not simple beasts, but more persons so that already wouldn't work. Then he had an idea.
"I will let them go, but they will deliver a message for me." Minas said. The dwarfs raised an eyebrow.
"A message?"
"Yes. You see These dragons have been held capitive for who knows how long by the frost giants, which are clearly not interrested in a more peaceful coexistence. I will let those dragon's go, but in return they will not harm this city or the dwarven kingdom. It is rumored that a dragon did take over Feo Bekarkan, your old capital. Why not send these reptiles a message saying: "Hey, if you do that ever again, I'm going to tear your wings out and through you from the highest mountain I can find." Minas said in his more carefree voice. "You know, I'm actually capable of that." Then he stood up. "Now if that was everything I guess it's time to say goodbye." In that moment the major really jumped up from his chair.
"WAIT!" he yelled, before sitting down again. "We are grateful for everything you have done for us and we won't forget this. Therefore I would like to make a proposal to you." Minas looked at the major before replying.
"Sorry. I'm not gay and I don't really know you personally." Minas joked, making a few dwarfs chuckle at this.
"Not that kind of proposal!" the major shouted. Minas chuckled at this, followed by the dwarfs as the tensions became lighter. "I'm sure you know about the council that rules over the kingdom." the Major said. Minas nodded. "I know they will not like this but I would like to have La'an under your protection." Everyone in the room looked at the old dwarf, but no one said a word. All of them knew why he said this. The attack of the giants had shown them that they were unable to defend themselves when needed. Minas thought about this. He basically had already all necesarry informations he needed. But perhaps the dwarven kingdom in the south might hold the one or the other secret as well.
"I'll think about it. When I have decided what to do, I'll send a messenger." Minas said as he and his servants walked out the house and the City.
In front of the gate laid the frost dragons, still tied up and unconcious. Minas poked one of them at the nose with his scythe. "Oi wake up." he said. The dragon slowly opened it's eyes, but as soon as it realised that it was trapped it trashed around like crazy. The other two woke up as well and shouted curses and insults at the reaper. At that Moment Minas lost his cool again and he erupted in a pillar of dark energy ascending into the clouds. "SILENCE!" he shouted over their roars and slammed the scythe into the ground. Everyone fell silent again. "I've freed you from your shakles of the giants, you're free once more." Minas said, before making a small gesture with his Hand behind his back. Ya-te-veo's roots shrank back into the ground and the dragons were freed.
"What do you want from us then?" a female frost dragon asked.
"Simple. I heard there is a frost dragon in the south, who might wants to know that he's not without competition in the mountains anymore. Tell him that and tell me about this Dragon if you know something about him, then you're free to leave but never to return here." Minas then held out his scythe at the Dragons. "Am I undestood?" Minas said in a more commanding then asking tone. The Dragons nodded before they took off. "Alright then let's go home, shall we?" Minas said to Ya-te-veo and Lycosa.
"[Gate]." the death vine casted as a ripple in space opened and the three of them returned to the 6th floor of the Abyss.
Later
Minas was currently sitting on his throne as he tried to figure out what to do next. He also had Belial replace the chair he had been sitting with something more stylish. The result was as terrifying as it was looking awesome for the reaper. The new throne looked like it was made of Obsidian and had the shape of dragon's head without the lower jaw. What would have been curved horns at the temples now were armrests. The dragon's 'forehead' had a crest of horns going straight up, forming the backrest. Emerald stones were placed beneath the armrests to look like eyes and red lines drew themselves from the yes over the upper jaw. Belial must have put in some mechanism to make the eyes and lines glow slightly when Minas sat on the throne. With other words the throne looked badass. Though it was a bit bigger then the last chair, it was really comfortable as the crimson cushion basically hugged Minas' body. Though he regretted a little bit that he did that. After all the guild was used to be just a jumping pad for others and nothing fancy like Trinity or Ainz Ooal Gown. This was simply an item that one of the former members had made as a present. A shame that it was only put out now. However Minas' Train of thoughts was interrupted as someone knocked at the door.
"Enter." Minas said. The door opened and revealed a familiar brunette mermaid as she walked over and kneeled towards her master. "Shanalotte is something the matter?" Minas asked. Two days ago he had asked her to gather more informations about the world around them. Therefore Shanalotte should put her attention on a nation next door, the Baharuth Empire.
"Indeed. I might have found a useful piece of information Minas-sama." Shanalotte said.
"Well and what could that be then?" Minas asked.
"The emperor of the Baharuth Empire is protected by 4 royal knights. The military elite if you want so Minas-sama." Minas gestured her to continue. "Among the four of them there is one that seems to hold Little to no loyalty to the emperor my lord." That was unexpeced by Minas. A royal Knight that wasn't loyal to their leader? For what was this person a guard then?"
"I see. Please tell me more." Minas said.
"Apparantly the knight's name is Leinas Rockbruise. It is rumored that she was cursed and her face was damaged gravely." said Shanalotte.
"Her face?" Minas raised a nonexistent eybrow at this. "What does her face have to do with this?"
"You see Minas-sama...The information isn't confirmed yet, but Leinas seemed to be the daughter of a noble family, that cut all ties with her ever since she had been like this. She has joined the guards of the emperor to find a way to change her appearance back to what it used to be." Shanalotte said.
"How did you find out about this?" Minas asked.
"Your spies in form of regualr species of birds are very useful to infiltrade nations. I took the freedom and send them into the capitals of the Baharuth Empire and the Re-Estize Kingdom. A flock of birds is also traveling south for the outer regions of the Slane Theocracy." Shanalotte replied. Minas thought about this. As a royal guard this Leinas could really become an useful addition to their information network. Also he knew one or two things about curses, however as Long as he hadn't seen her face he didn't knew if he was able to help her. A bit he pitied this Leinas already. It reminded him a little bit of himself, but his emotional restriction quickly pushed those feelings down.
"I think I know where you're going with this Shanalotte. However until these informations are confirmed, I want you to continue searching for any clues of YGGDRASIL Players and/or dungeons. For now we let the Baharuth Empire be."
"Of course Minas-sama." Shanalotte said as she withdrew. As she wanted to leave Nito entered the room. Shanalotte left the room and closed the door behind her. Nito walked up to his master before kneeling.
"Nito what brings you here?" Minas asked.
"I came here to talk to you Minas-sama." Venomia said. "It's about the minions. I believe they would be more helpful if they would be...improven."
"Improven?" Minas looked at Nito in silence, trying to figure out what he had said. The minions he spoke about were servants of the Abyss. They were simple monsters, that fulfilled the same tasks as NPCs that had more roleplay job classes like craftsman or chef. However their working power was unfortunately not very high and Raizhek created far better equipment then they did. That being said and given the size of the Abyss of Garm, there were a lot of minions in the Abyss. There were three possible types of NPCs that could be inside a guild base. First were the POP monsters, mobs that spawned without the usage of in-game gold and would respawn once they would be destroyed. The downsite however was that a POP monster couldn't be above Level 30. Second were the mercenary monsters, which needed gold to be summoned and respawned. The last were the Custom NPCs that were created by the Players like the floor Guardians. As far as Minas knew the minions were mercenary monsters with an high adabtability.
"Minas-sama, the minions are...weak. Weak in their minds. There is no doubt that they would throw away their lifes for you, but I doubt that they will not be able to hold invaders for too long if they are not given the tools to do so." Nito said. At this an idea popped up in Minas head.
"I see. That is indeed a troubling case then. But I think I know how to solve this problem Nito." Minas said as he stood up.
"Really? Please enlighten this unworthy servant." Nito said.
"Simple. It is an experiment to say so. Ever since we came into this world I asked myself, if it was possible to strengthen Ouroboros. On the physiological plane it is unfortunately still not possible, however I figured out that if we cannot grow stronger, we can at least grow smarter through experiene and learning." Minas explained. "Perhaps this is a good opportunity to put this up to a test. I want you to tell the minions to gather in the Castle as soon as Venomia is finished with the dungeon at the border. She as our housekeeper will know how to teach them the Basics of house keeping like cooking, cleaning and so on. And perhaps Raizhek could Need one of 10 Hands helping him in the smelter." Nito looked at his master, though Minas could know what this soulless stare meant.
"Truly a magnificent plan. I would never have thought of such a thing." Nito said. Minas just stood there a bit shocked.
'Heh? He would not have thought that he would just let them learn how to be more efficient in their Tasks? If that's the case, what did Nito meant?' Minas thought. "You Sound very suprised Nito. It seems that you already had something in mind for them. Please feel free to tell me." he said.
"No no it's nothing special Minas-sama. I simply thought about turning them into undead and give them items that would increase their agility would be helpful." Nito said.
"I see. Undead don't tire after all, however turning my subordinates into undead like myself would be far from wise, Nito. Still I will consider your idea about the items. Now if that was everything, I still have some buisness to take care off." Minas said.
"Of course Minas-sama." the skeleton bowed before he left. In the moment the floor guardian left Minas teleported to the 3rd floor. It was nightime on the floor which made the volcano look very intimidating with it's never ending flows of lava. With the master console, which still worked in this world much to Minas' suprise, it was possible to Change the weather of the floors to anything one wanted, but Minas wanted to save that for something like a big Event. The 2nd. 3rd and 4rth floor had an ordinary day and night cycle. Anyway Minas walked through the charred wasteland as he saw a few of his pets and a few of the weaker monsters.
The first figure he recognised was a giant buffalo like creature. It's brown rock like skin provided it with enough protection to withstand arrows made out of enchanted steel and could take quite the punch. On their heads sat a pair of curved horns which ended in the armored forehead of the creatures. With a height of about 4 metres These Muspelheim Yaks could survive in almost every environment and they had a level of about 50. Since they were mostly passive they were no real threat as long as they were not threaten. The reason however why Minas had tamed them was something else. These creatures were also capable to devour metals and ores and converted the raw metal in their stomachs into quite pure forms. It was something Minas hadn't even found in the forums of YGGDRASIL, so Minas never told anyone about this. With other words these creatures were able to make out of one bar of iron at least 3 of better quality. Through this Minas had multiplide several times ores and metals back in-game, but he wasn't sure if this ability was still working in this world. He would have to let Ya-te-veo do researches on this matter.
The monsters, that gave them company were bipedal creatures better known as kobolds. They were one of the more primitive creatures, about as intelligent as cavemen. Summoned by the dungeon they actually had only little will on their own. A kobold's size could vary from the size of a child to average human size to even 3 metre giants. All of them had fin like ears and a tail sprouting from their waists. The head of a canine and clad in leather clothes they really looked primitive. But then again Minas wasn't the one to judge that. After all the current state of the lizardmen in the south reminded him a lot of prehistorical tribes or the tribes of the native americans, before the settlers slaughtered them. They had no weapons with them, but their muscular bodies should be enough to protect them from lighter weapons.
Minas then flew over to the vulcano, right into the section that was used for a few minions. Everything a blacksmith would need was here. A smelter, an anvil, tools of many sizes and shapes for any kind of action almost like in a surgency room. And from one place to another were rushing the minions. Small humanoid creatures, which were clad in red robes. Only their white eyes were looking out of their hoods as they carried tools or worked on red hot metal with hammers and other tools. (Think about the red minions from League of Legends) Minas watched the minions work for a few minutes until he walked into the room. Almost immediately the minions stopped in their movements as they turned to the reaper. Soon the creatures kneeled to the reaper to Show their deepest respect. For Minas however it was more then just an awkard Moment. It was so uncomfortable for him that he thought about just teleporting away before the emotional supression kicked in. But he couldn't do that right now.
"Raise your heads, minions of the abyss. I shall inform you about something that will occur in the next couple of months." Minas said. "I heard from some personalities that the Quality of your work has started to...decrease." the reaper said, carefully choosing the words to not make anyone sad or angry at him. However soon the room was filled with murmurs of dozens of minions. As the volume started to rise and some minions seemed to Insult one another Minas stomped on the rocky ground. The ground shook violently at the Impact of the armored foot making everyone shut up at once. "Therefore you will under go a Training under the already skilled workers of the abyss. You will increase your Efficiency and with no doubt you will learn a few new things to strengthen the Abyss even more. Now continue with your work. I'm sorry for the interruption I caused." Minas said. All the minions glanced at one another or Minas, before breaking out in high pitched cheers. It was no real language, but since the language barrier only existed in the written form in this world Minas heard numerous praises and agreements to this action. Before the scene could become even more awkward Minas left the minions alone to return to his throne.
On the next day
Minas hovered above the Azerlisia Mountains, the place he hid the Abyss of Garm inside. In the last days he had set up a Network of Magic barriers that would prevent People to spy on him even by accident. Before he had met Momonga he would have called this paranoid and he had to say that indeed was paranoid, however if out there was a world item user that could use mind control even on those creatures that usually couldn't be affected by it, was just a risk that was too hot to take lightly. He gazed over the ice covered peaks and the snowy Valleys as he ascended even higher.
And higher.
And higher.
With every metres he crossed in his ascendance he became faster and faser. Eventually Minas activated his passice abilities and a few spells for disguise as he was surrounded by a black and violet shining Aura. For someone who saw this in the disance it looked like a purple falling star ascending back to it's rightful place in the night sky. But Minas was far from being a star. And so he zoomed past clouds and accelerated even more. An hour or two later the blue of the sky had vanished and was replaced with the darkness of the universe. Minas had probably left the atmosphere of the planet as the first Person at all. And that without a rocket, shuttle or satelite. But Minas Goal was not to simply reach out for space. No. He wanted to reach higher and higher grounds. As an undead he didn't just had no Need to breath, eat and sleep. He simply couldn't so the vacuum of space was just felt empty, but that was it. The environment that would have killed most other organisms that had ever evolved on Earth was simply nothing to the reaper.
And so he flew up to the next celestial body, the moon. The journey took him 4 days with nonstop flying at high speed. As an undead his body couldn't tire out. Finally he arrived at the gray collum of rock. It was not much different from Earth's moon. Gray rocks, a lot of craters and nothing else. To be honest Minas at least would have expected something like traces of someone who had decided to fly up here before in the centuries before he and Momonga arrived in this world. But now being on the moon made him somehow think about his Situation in this world. Now that he thought about it he could probably say that they were in another dimension or perhaps even another universe. Was there even a way to go replicate the phenomenon, that had brought him and Momonga here like a gate to other universes? Or perhaps back to Earth? As soon as that thought crossed his kind he shook his head. Minas didn't want to go back to a dying world like that. He had lived a life and always thought about others, but in the end he had nothing, but sadness, hatred and jealousy towards the other humans that were able to live normal lifes. Minas reached into his inventory and grabbed a single item. It was a red flag with the Symbol of Ouroboros. Rearing his arm up once, he planted the flag into the rocky ground of the moon, before unfolding the flag so the emblem was visible.
"Hereby I declare this celestial body as my property. Is there anyone to deny my right?" Minas shouted into the void, but there was no sound. "Right vacuum..." Minas realized as he now actually landed on the moon as the first undead being, leaving his footprints on the moon. He saluted once before the flag, before he took off again. Minas stayed for a Moment and looked at the beauty of the world he now called home. It was already breathtaking as he saw the planet from above with all it's continents and oceans, but now he saw this world once again, but from the moon. It made him want to explore this new planet once again and then when he had seen everything what was out there in the dephts of space.
Shacking his head Minas used [Message].
"Alright Ya-te-veo. I'm coming home." he said. Minas was unfortunately not the best Magic Caster, no one would deny that, however that didn't meant he wasn't able to use it at all. The number of spells a Magic caster in YGGDRASIL could learn depended on it's Level, while most spells needed a certain Job class to be casted. Each Level provided the Player with 3 spells which made Minas able to learn and cast 240 different ones. However Minas had a very small MP pool, so the usage of a 10th Tier spell like [Reality Slash] would probably already take everything from them. Sure there were items to restore them, but here Ouroboros had still to search for alternatives and ways to restore such items.
And then there were the Super Tier or 11th Tier spells. A player could learn an overranked spell each level after Level 70. That being said a level 100 Player Magic Caster was able to learn up to 30 different overranked Magic spells. Super Tier Magic didn't consumed MP but instead had a harsh cooldown time. Also only every tenth Level one could use overranked Magic once more per day, making it only possible to use the first overranked spell about 4 times per day, while every other could be used less times. Also the overranked Magic had two Major weak points every YGGDRASIL Player, except for newcomers, knew about. One overranked magic needed a long period of time to cast. Once enough damage was done on the caster the casting process would be interrupted. Also the defenses of the caster would be decreased during the process making it even easier to stop the casting of the spell. The second weakness was that even if a cash item was used to reduce the cooldown time, the spell still had a cooldown that could not be lifted up by any effect or item preventing Players to constantly cast overranked magic.
With that in mind Minas casted a simple spell. "[Greater Teleportation]!" In a violet flash of light Minas vanished from the moon.
Only the flag remained as a proof that he had been there.
New World Azerlisia Mountains, The Abyss of Garm
Minas felt the sudden change from no gravity to earth like gravitiy like a Punch in the face. He almost fell down on the ground as he entered the atmosphere again. He was in the crater on the surface as he spotted the familiar door, the undead and gargoyles and of course the Guardian of the second floor Ya-te-veo, Standing just a few metres away.
"Minas-sama. I take your experiment was sucessful?" he asked.
"Indeed. That confirms one theory. Once a start and end point are known to the user a simple spell like [Greater Teleportation] can reach even a place such as the moon, however one would probably need a fixed point the user must concentrade on, so someone cannot just teleport to the moon since he's moving to fast. You need a specific Point on the moon." Minas said. Ya-te-veo nodded.
"I see. So that's why you took a flag with you. Very cunning Minas-sama." the guardian praised his master who waved him off.
"It's nothing. But let us talk about some over things." Minas said. Indeed there were two more reasons why Minas had flown up to the moon. The first two reasons were his curiosity and the test of his Magic capabilities on a larger scale. The third reason was that Minas wanted to have a place he could move to in the case that he could come into a life threating Situation. This world was still very unexplored, even by those who inhabitated it far longer then himself and Momonga. From the moon he had a very nice view on the continents and oceans of this world so he could certainly say, that out there, behind the borders of the maps he had seen so far, was far more to explore.
The last reason had something to do with his trackers. Right now he had tested the trackers on several names of YGGDRASIL Players he had met over the years, but there was no reaction. That's why Minas wanted to use the trackers not just as a compass to find them by showing him the direction or sending him a message once they arrived, but as a full scale Navigation System across the planet if necesarry, since he didn't knew what Kind of interferences there might be. Trackers could be blocked by magic barriers like those of guild bases, meaning that Momonga had been outside Nazarick when Minas had send his tracker. If he then returned to the Great Tomb of Nazarick was not that much of a matter for Minas. The tracker would have flown to the last place he had felt the Skeleton and when he came out again the tracker would simply have changed course.
"But Minas-sama..." Ya-te-veo said. "Was the other Experiment really necesarry?" the death vine asked. Minas knew exactly which Experiment he meant.
Flashback
Two days after the Shalltear incident Minas had a thought. What if the entry to the Abyss or the mountain the dungeon was standing on were destroyed? Strangely nothing inside the floors of the abyss showed any effect for what happened outside in the mountains. Even on the 1rst and 2nd floors nothing happened as a snow storm happened. Not a single Sound. So Minas used his [Essence Cutter] several metres below the crater. The guardians actually questioned Minas' actions, though they didn't stop him.
"Milord, are really sure this needs investigations?" Lycosa asked as she stood on the crater's edge. Minas flew a few metres away from her chargin his [Essence Cutter].
"Yes Lycosa it does. The dungeon is more or less an enigma in this world. Something that came from YGGDRASIL here. That being the case, something could be possible different to it then any other structure, that was buildt in this world." Minas said. Lycosa then went back into the abyss and closed the doors. Minas waited a few minutes as he had stationated the present Guardians on the diffrent floors to Report immediately should something happen. "Is everyone ready? Raizhek?"
"I'm ready." Raizhek replied from the 1rst floor.
"Ya-te-veo?"
"Everything is ready." said the Guardian on the 2nd floor.
"Venomia?"
"I'm ready." the gorgon said from the 3rd floor.
"Shanalotte?"
"Ready." she replied.
"Nito?"
"Ready as always." Nito replied.
"Lycosa?" Minas asked the last servant he had stationated.
"I'm finished." she said. Minas then reared the scythe back and started to Count down.
"10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. [Essence Cutter]!" he shouted as he swung his scythe. An etheral cresent blade of green energy rushed inside the mountain's side and came out the opposite side. Minas quickly flew to the other side to inspect the created cut. The blade had nearly decapitaded the mountain, because it wasn't wide enough, but still a clean cut was visible on both sides. If Minas was right he should have cut through the 3rd, 4rth or 5th floor, but the guardians said nothing. Panicked he used message. "What's the Status?" he asked.
"Unchanged."
"The same as always."
"The 3rd floor is unharmed."
"Nothing unusual here."
"Everything is fine milord."
"The 6th floor remained unchanged. Belial also reported no changes in the treasury." the guardians replied one after another. Minas sighed in relief. He probably would have been the first person to destroy his own dungeon.
"Very good guardians. Thank you for your coopration. The experiment is over. Please return to your usual tasks." Minas said as he flew up to the entrance again.
Flashback ends
"Yes Ya-te-veo it was." Minas replied. "With this one of my theories is confirmed."
"I see. Excuse me for my lack of insight." Ya-te-veo said.
"It's fine." the reaper replied. In fact Minas wanted to know this for a Long time now. Even in YGGDRASIL he had asked himself if it was possible to just dig a way to the lowest floor. But now he was certain about something. The dimension the YGGDRASIL dungeons existed in was a bit like the inventory of the Players. Rather then existing within the same dimension as the environment, the dungeon's main Body existed in the case of the Abyss and probably the Great Tomb of Nazarick in a seperated Dimension that was untouched by any influences of the outside world. Instead there was maybe only one Point that connected both dimensions: the entry of the dungeon. It could be attacked and even being destroyed from outside. With other words: As Long as the gate was secured the People inside were safe. However that also meant that a destruction of the gate would leave the People inside trapped if the gate wasn't restored. For the Abyss this would be less of Trouble since with all the different types of monsters and plants inside these halls the denizens would simply start to produce Food from them. Still living for all eternity in an Illusion that showed you a world that laid outside would probably drive someone insane.
This was a very useful Information for the future if other dungeons from YGGDRASIL still existed out there. And Minas was very sure that they were out there. Eryuentiu the former capital of the Eight Greed Kings just sounded far too much as their former guild base. No he was sure, that this Floating Castle was a YGGDRASIL dungeon brought to this world 500 years ago like the Abyss and Nazarick now.
The thought of Nazarick made him think about Momonga and Touch Me. It was a shame that he hadn't found anyone else yet. It was as if he only wasted his time with this researches while out there other YGGDRASIL Players could struggle like him to survive in this world like he and Momonga did. It made him think about all the People he had met in the game and a certain Event.
3 years ago Helheim
In one of the few towns in Helheim, a realm of YGGDRASIL, that gave heteromorphic Players an Advantage, Minas had been sitting in a bar. It was just a day after he had met Touch Me and Momonga as he simply rested from another assassination of some PKer wanna-bes. Just as he was lost in his thoughts a Player sat next to him, making him turn around. It was a quite unusual sight even among the heteromorphic Players. Most Players that Chose to Play as 'monsters' looked terrifying, intimidating or at least impressive. And sometimes like an average human to prevent PKing Minas was sure he never had seen a single heteromorph Player, that Chose to look cute or harmless like butterfly insects without at least claws.
However this person just looked...pink. It was literally the only word Minas could describe the person next to him with. The creature lacked facial or body structure completely as it's body seemed to be made of jelly. Thin tentacles like spaghetti grabbed the table board as the slime climbed up the chair. As it sat down it seemed to turn to him (it was hard to tell since it the slime had no eyes at all).
"Hi there." a female voice said to him.
'Okay that kinda was to be expected. I mean come on. Which dude would paint their slime character pink?' he thought. "Good evening miss." minas said. The slime waved her arms.
"Oh you don't Need to be so formal." she said as she Held out one of her tentacles. "I'm Bukubukuchagama by the way." she said in a cheerful voice. Minas looked at the tentacle, before deaactivating his passive ability and grabbing the spaghetti like appendage.
"Minas Morgul." he said as he shook hands/tentacles with the pink slime.
"Ah named after Lord of the Rings, huh?" Bukubukuchagama said.
"And you named yourself with quite a 'weighty' name." Minas joked. The slime only chuckled a little as she seemed to straighten herself.
"I used to be strongly build, but I've you know, that I already lose a lot of weight." she said proudly.
"My congratulations Bukububkuchagama-san...Light." Minas said. Bukubukuchagama let out a girlish giggle like one of those lolita anime characters as she heard that. "So by what do I own the pleasure to have you as a companion today?" Minas asked.
"I just like to talk to people and I enjoy good company. Also I'm waiting here for my shitty little brother." Bukubukuchagama said as she balled one of her tentacles together and punched it in another one. Minas only raised an eyebrow at that.
"He can't be that bad. Siblings should stick together after all." he said.
"Little brothers have to to listen to their big sisters." the slime said.
"And all big brothers have to to spoil their little sisters, right?" Minas asked. Bukubukuchagama gave him a thumbs up, which looked a bit weird since it was like a little dome was forming on her balled fist.
"I think I like you already." she said, As Minas wanted to ask what she meant with that statement, a third person joined them on the table. It was a birdman with white feathers like an eagle and a golden mask on his face. His armor looked light to not disturb his movements, however a lot of his feathers were unprotected. He carried a bow with him. Minas didn't knew what Kind of bird he tried to resemble, but in all honesty for him he looked like a humanoid chicken with extra chicken wings on the back.
"That would be a new one. Like you never had a boyfriend when you were in School." the birdman said. Bukubukuchagama grabbed the bird's throat and slammed him face first into the table.
"Ignore my stupid little brother for a while. He's just a pervert." she said.
"I'm not a pervert." the birdman argued. "Anyway I'm Peroroncino. Nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine." Minas said.
"You only say that because you don't know him yet. The NPC he created is the definition of lolicon." Bukubukuchagama said.
"It's not!" Peroroncino tried to win this argument with his big sister, even if he knew he would never win.
"That reminds me of a quote of an anime I've seen in the Internet." Minas said, gaining the Attention of both of the siblings. "'There are two types of men in this world. One are the open perverts that admit it and the second one doesn't. And I love panties!'" the wraith said.
"Sounds like my brother in a nutshell." Bukubukuchagama said.
"Excuse me!" the birdman exclaimed. "I love more then just panties!"
"Well there you have it Minas-san. He's a 'bird brain'." the slime said, trying to be make a pun before Minas did.
"Don't listen to her. I'm the best archer in this game. All my sister does is eating and taking the shots."
"So you're the new hawkeye, huh?" Minas asked. Still that didn't stop Bukubukuchagama to argue with her brother.
The argument went on and on, before Minas clapped once with so much force a small shockwave and a loud bang silenced the siblings. Sure they were on Level 100, but they didn't expected Minas to do something like that.
"I apologize for the loud bang, but I think you two are quite a good tag team. One that shields her own brother with her Body and a brother that shoots down those who want to harm her. Sounds nice doesn't it? And Peroroncino-san, you should be nice to your sister. Girls like boys who are nice to them and are not complete wieners." Minas said with a smily icon. The siblings looked at each other before Peroroncino stood up and put his arm around Minas shoulder.
"Peroroncino approved." he said with a thumbs up. "One question: right or wrong? You have to be honest." he said to the wraith.
"...sure shoot." the wraith said.
"Is large justice?" the birdman said. As soon as the words left her younger brother's beak, Bukubukuchagama threw her chair at Peroroncino.
"That's not what you were supposed to ask him, shitty brother!" she yelled at him as she threw her own body at him and covered the birdman on the ground with her sticky goo like body. To be honest to Minas that looked perverted so he made a screenshot. Soon the scene turned into a classic bar fight, which the siblings dominated. Minas however slipped through the crowd thanks to his body and passive ability [Dematerialisation].
Flashback ends
Unfortunately he never heard of them again and wasn't even able to add them to his friend list. A shame now that Minas thought about it. He liked these two. He asked himself what had happened to those two. He shook his head. He would never know.
With that he returned to the 6th floor and wandered through the Castle as the minions cleaned up. It was quite funny to see them with buckets of water, brooms and even aprons and many more tools for housekeeping running around, however Minas was with his thoughts elsewhere. He walked through the Castle and walked past a row of rooms. Each room was once made to provide comfort and personal space to all members of Ouroboros. Minas then stopped before sighing to himself. He opened a door and looked into the room. A bed, empty book shelves, a desk with a lamp and a lamp hanging from the ceiling. In that Moment more memories flashed into his mind.
Flashback
"So you're leaving too?" Minas said as he leaned against the door frame. With crossed arms he looked down the hallway as a silhouette stood behind the bed and seemed to pack things in it's inventory.
"Yeah." it answered in a quite tone. As it was finished it stepped out the shadows of the room. This time it was an half elf Player, a human race. It was a Young woman with Long silver hair and violet eyes. Her pointed ears kept the hair from flowing over her face as she wore a white robe over her body. How many times had Minas seen this scene already? Or why did he still do this? Everytime someone left the guild he at least said goodbye to them. Was it kindness? Ensurance? Perhaps hope to make them stay a bit longer? Minas didn't knew.
"It will be a lot more lifeless without you around." Minas said. The half elf woman shook her head.
"It was already when Umbra left. And you kow that you made this guild to make it easier for beginners to Level up." she said. Minas knew that. Umbra and this woman had become close friends during their time here. Probably they were going to explore YGGDRASIL together now and jump in dungeons totally clueless what to do. They were the chaos sisters of the guild. But for some reason Minas wanted at least some of his friends to stay here. There was no point in a guild when there was no one else with one to enjoy the game with.
"Guess you're right." Minas said as he stepped out in the hallway followed by the woman. They then vanished to the 1rst floor in front of the gate that led to Niflheim. With a thundering Sound the gate opened and the snowstorm came inside the halls. "But it was her who deleted me from her friend list."
"You called her a caterpillar one time too much. Don't worry Minas. I'll be fine. Remember when you got this project done with Orochimaru?" the woman said. Minas chuckled.
"Yeah. That was fun." Minas said as both of them walked outside into the snowy wasteland in front of them. After a while of walking they had left the range of the defensive spires as the woman gave Minas her guild item. Minas opened his menu and deleted the Player from the guild list. She was free again.
"Goodbye Minas. It was fun." the woman said as she pulled the hood over her head and walked into the snow. Minas on the other hand returned to the Abyss.
Flashback ends
It was always like this when someone left Ouroboros. And now he was alone in this dungeon they had built together. Minas shook his head as he walked away from this part of the castle. He wasn't sure how future would unfold, but the only thing he could do now was hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
And we're finally at the end of this little chapter. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. With this we should have covered up a part of the time of Volume 8 at least and we can finally move on to Volume 4. I hope you're still up for more.
With that being said we see each other next time. Have a nice say.