(a/n: Here we go, next chapter. Hope you enjoy!)

Ch.2: Start Anew

Gareth was at a loss.

Every menu and function he tried had failed. He couldn't call the admins or log out. Was this a bug? Did they change the date of the shut down?

No, that didn't make sense. There would've been something indicating that the date of the shut down had changed. If this was a bug, then it must be one hell of a screw up. The maps, icons and other objects typically in his view are gone.

Kane's face was actually moving and looked way more detailed than before. In fact, everything seemed more detailed.

Gareth looked about the tavern. The lights seemed softer, the skin and hair of the elf maids and the dwarf cook was astonishingly detailed.

Looking at the lute in his hands, the bard could see the wavy grain in the wood and the wear and tear in the strap attached to the instrument. The glossy lacquer on the wood felt smooth and cool to the touch. Touch? Gareth's eyes widened. He could feel, actually feel, the lute in his hands. The bard raised his hand and touched his face. It felt as if he was touching his own face in the real world.

"Kane" Gareth said, breathless "I-I can feel…"

The vampire placed his hands on his own face, tugging at his cheeks. His hands slid down to his clothes and he began to rub the fabric between his fingers.

"Holy shit…" Kane said, astonished. "Me too…"

Yggdrasil was advanced but it wasn't nearly this advanced. Not even the most recent games on the market have this level of detail. Not only were there no facial animations, the details on characters and environments weren't this good. The game also didn't have any features that simulated touch or smell, which the brothers knew for a fact.

The elves and the dwarf gave them worried looks.

"Master Gareth, Master Kane?" Lydia said as a worried look formed on her face. "Is there something wrong?"

"N-no, Lydia" Gareth answered quickly. He paused for a moment. His voice sounded different. The bard would have to worry about that later.

"It's just…" Gareth continued, struggling to find the right answer. "I wasn't aware that I had an audience."

"You just surprised us, that's all" Kane chimed in, smiling awkwardly.

"Please forgive us," the silver haired girl apologized, bowing low. "We didn't mean to intrude, but it has been so long since we have heard one of your songs, Master Gareth. We couldn't help but overhear and well…it was-"

"Beautiful." Neremyn finished, dabbing away his tears with a polka dotted handkerchief.

The dwarf chef nodded slowly. "Aye" he said, his voice was at a softer volume now. "I suppose it was. I'm not one for music, unless it involves songs of great battles and legendary heroes. Though…it has been a long time since this place was filled with music of any sort. Been too quiet if you ask me. We feared that those days were long gone. Although Master Kane has been pleasant company, we had hoped for your safe return from your lengthy journey."

Journey? Gareth repeated in his mind.

After a few moments of silence, the dwarf glanced out the window and saw that it was night already.

"It's later than I thought. Strange…" He turned to the assembled servants. "Come on you lot!" he growled, "Enough standing around. Master Gareth and Master Kane will be expecting their dinner. They must be hungry after a long journey. We'll celebrate Master Gareth's return later. Now back to work!"

Lydia and the other servants nodded and scurried off to work. The dwarf bowed and stomped off after the elves.

When they were gone, Gareth turned to the elderly mage.

"Excuse us, Neremyn," he said as politely as possible, trying not to sound panicked. "There are some things I wish to discuss with my brother in private."

"Of course!" Neremyn nodded. He returned to his seat at the corner table and began stuffing more tobacco into his pipe.

Gareth grabbed his brother's arm. "Come brother" the bard said, "Lets take this outside."

"Okay." Kane mumbled, a little distracted by the fact that he could feel his brother grabbing his arm.

The two hurried outside.

Outside in the calm and quiet night, the bard released his brother.

Kane rubbed his arm, surprised by the sensation and by how powerful his brother's grip was. He's never felt anyone grab his arm that tightly before. If that strength was for real, then Gareth could actually hurt someone, whether he wanted to or not.

"This day just gets weirder and weirder," the vampire murmured under his breath.

"I can't contact the GMs" Gareth said, running a hand through his silky blond hair. "I can't access chat either!"

"Yeah, I noticed!" Kane snapped, "I can't pull anything useful, except the master list of all the NPCs at the tavern and some useless menu listing their stats."

"Shit!"

The two continued to try and find something that will help them log out or at least understand what was going on. But after a several minutes minutes of waving their hands, gesturing, flicking the air and almost shouting commands, the two gave up.

Kane plopped down on the ground with his back against the tavern wall and Gareth began pacing back and forth.

The angelic bard spent almost an hour doing this.

"This can't be happening" The blond bard moaned, after a lengthy silence. "This seriously can't be happening! Why does this all look and feel so real? How did it get like this? Are we dead? Is this a dream or was the life we thought was real the dream all along? Are we even in the game anymore?"

"I say that's a big negatory ghost rider," Kane piped up. He nodded to the landscape behind Gareth.

Gareth turned and only one question rose above the billions that were bouncing around his mind.

"W-what happened to the forest?" the bard asked aloud.

In the pale light of the full moon, the two brothers saw that they were no longer in the Forest of Nur in Helheim, one of realms of Yggdrasil. Gone were the gigantic trees that could easily match a skyscraper in height and circumference. In its place was a sea of ordinary looking, and ordinary sized, trees.

Gareth blinked and rubbed his eyes. The new landscape was still there.

"It's official," the bard said in a soft voice "We're dead and this Hell."

"Stop being such a drama queen." Kane growled, rising to his feet and brushing dirt off his trousers. "We're not six feet under or being roasted over an open fire. We're free and we're still breathing, meaning that we're still alive…I think."

Gareth frowned at his brother. "What do you mean?"

The roguish assassin hesitated for a moment and then answered slowly. "Now I don't want you to panic" he said, raising his hands defensively "but while you were spazzing out, I discovered that I don't have a pulse."

"What?"

"Its true! I think my heart has stopped!"

The blond bard stared at his brother for a long moment, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. The vampire was known for the occasional bad prank or tasteless joke but something like this was just not normal. Seeing the doubt in his brother's eyes, Kane rolled up his sleeve and offered his arm. Gareth placed a finger where his pulse should be. Nothing. He reached up and felt around the assassin's throat, searching for a pulse but got the same result.

The bard's eyes widened. "Holy shit" Gareth breathed. "You're-you're-"

"Dead" Kane said with a sigh "kind of."

"So that means that you're a vampire…like an actual, honest to God vampire."

"I guess?"

"How do you feel?" Gareth asked with a mixture of concern and curiosity on his face.

"Normal," Kane stated blankly. "Feeling a little cold and kinda hungry, actually. I've also discovered that I can see pretty well in the dark."

"Really? How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Ha, ha, very funny. One."

The bard grinned and lowered his middle finger.

A cool breeze swept across the faintly illuminated landscape, causing Gareth's cloak to flap and swirl around him.

Kane lifted his head and sniffed. "I can smell some animals nearby" the assassin stated, "I can also hear the heartbeats of everyone in the tavern, but I don't think I can hear yours."

Gareth blinked in surprise. He searched for his own pulse but found nothing. "It would seem that I am no longer human either," the bard declared.

Kane walked a small circle around his brother, looking him up and down. "Ok so if I'm now a legit vampire," the vampire said. "How come you're not glowing? I mean you're an angel and all."

"Probably because of this pendant," Gareth reached up and grabbed the small teardrop of silver dangling from his neck by a thin chain. "I got it back during one of our first raids, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Kane said, scratching his chin. "That was the Blue Lake Manor raid wasn't it?"

"Yeah."

The vampire thought back on that raid. They were still rather young and new to Yggdrasil at the time. It was tough being non-human characters. Constantly ganged up on by shit bag player killers and treated like they had the plague. Fortunately, the two managed to learn the ropes pretty quickly.

The Blue Lake Manor dungeon was a fairly easy dungeon, often raided by noobs during their first few levels. It was perfect practice until they leveled up enough to go out on their own and take on real dungeons. The dungeon helped up their stats and granted players some useful items to help them on their journey. The item drops were random, so no two items were the same and could likely produce a dud, thus forcing players to go back and try again. Fortunately, Kane and Gareth's first run had produced some helpful experience and good items.

Kane got his Thief's Lantern, which got him out of some tough scrapes. Gareth, meanwhile, got the seemingly unremarkable silver pendant called the Tear of Janus. As long as the player wore the pendant, temporary cosmetic changes are made to the player's avatar, disguising its true form. It also masked the wearer from those who could use spells or other magical items to read their opponents stats. Even though Gareth had later attained an ability that allowed him to mask his stats and change his appearance at will, the bard held on to the pendant for nostalgic reasons and to conserve MP.

In retrospect, it was a good item drop.

It wasn't the kind of item that the more impulsive and impatient noobs were looking for. Those guys were always looking for something flashy, something that would beef up their firepower and get them noticed by the big named guilds. It hardly did.

Kane snorted at the memory. At least half of the guys on their raid were like that. Bunch of meatheads and show offs. Though, funny enough, the two brothers ended up befriending one of those meatheads, who went on to earn a serious reputation among a well-respected guild, the Shining Crusade. Kane missed him.

"I wouldn't have gotten very far in Yggdrasil if I'm gliding about and glowing like a celestial firefly," Gareth said, stuffing the pendant back under his shirt "Kept me well under the radar. Might come in handy here if we need to lay low."

"True," Kane nodded.

In his current state, Gareth looked like an extremely attractive human male or an average elf, depending on how one viewed him. His true form might raise some eyebrows here. It certainly did in Yggdrasil.

The vampire and the angel, now feeling calmer and more curious, decided to take stock of their current situation.

They both came to grips with the fact that they were now their in-game avatars. Neither of them minded. They now looked far better than they did in real life. The two soon discovered that looks, seizes and species weren't the only things that were different about them.

Both of their voices sounded remarkably different when they spoke. Gareth's voice was soft and pleasant, like fine wine, befitting a medieval fantasy bard. Kane's, on the other hand, was rough yet regal, a voice befitting a vampiric count or a dashing rogue.

The two tried out their new voices by spouting off random lines from old action films for a few minutes.

It was during this time that the vampire discovered that he could use one of his class abilities from Yggdrasil. Being an assassin, Kane had an ability called Mimicry. Essentially, this ability allowed an assassin to imitate certain characteristics of another person, including sounds and the voices, flawlessly. Kane tried out a few familiar voices and ended up spending a considerable amount of time using Lydia's to make lewd comments. This provided some amusement for the vampire, seeing Gareth turn red like a tomato.

They also began to experiment with their abilities and strength. Since the two of them are no longer human, it would stand to reason that they're both far stronger than they previously were. Gareth and Kane tried throwing rocks. The vampire buried his deep in the trunk of a nearby tree, after it tore through the trunk of another tree. The bard got the same result.

Since Kane accessed one of his Yggdrasil abilities, Gareth tried to access his.

As his brother experimented on his own abilities, Kane continued to test out his other abilities. One of his primary abilities was speed, so he decided to try running a short distance through the forest, away from the tavern, and run back while timing himself. He took a deep breath and took off.

The world around him raced by in a blur, wind roared in his ears. Kane laughed a little. He was definitely faster than the average human. He remembered having another ability that gave him a speed boost. The vampire concentrated on that ability and what he could do with it.

Suddenly, the soft sounds of the night slowed and Kane felt a surge of energy and strength. The vampire raced past trees and through bushes, all of which seemed to be standing perfectly still in the gentle evening breeze. He even passed a bug in mid flight, its tiny silvery wings moved sluggishly.

Kane quickly attempted to stop. He dug in his heels and skidded to a halt, but not before digging long ruts through the grassy hill with his heels.

The vampire breathed heavily, feeling more energized and ready to go again. He looked back and saw the tavern perched on the top of a hill, glowing like a little firefly in the darkness.

"A little too far" Kane murmured to himself. The vampire had speed and strength, which will take some getting used to. But Kane was confident that he can, with time.

For now, if he needed to fight his way out of something, the rogue could easily do so.

In a matter of seconds, the vampire was back up the hill.

"You get anything?" Kane asked, reappeared beside his brother.

"Not yet" Gareth grunted, a scowl etched on his flawless face.

"Try picturing the spells in your mind," the vampire offered as he brushed away some leaves that clung to his clothes when he raced through bushes in the forest. "Imagine the icons from the game and the spells effect, then focus on them."

The bard gave his brother a look and attempted to implement his advice.

Eager to try out his other abilities, Kane tried jumping. The vampire crouched down and jumped as high as he could.

To put it mildly, both brothers were startled when the vampire shot high into the air, much higher than the tavern.

In the air high above the tavern and Gareth, Kane accessed another ability, Glide, to hold him in the air. He floated high above and, taking advantage of the opportunity, surveyed the area around him. Behind the tavern, the assassin discovered that the pigpen was still there, as were the sheds and the stable. Behind the pigs and the collection of wooden structures, was more forest. The forest stretched on for what seemed like miles all around the tavern.

The dark ocean of trees and other plant life ran on before ending at the foot of a distant and imposing range of snowcapped mountains.

Kane turned his gaze towards the landscape in front of the tavern. Beyond the forest, he could make out rolling green hills, dotted by copses of trees and sparse shrubbery. Snaking its way across the landscape was a winding dirt road. It ran right around the forest and vanished into the distance.

A road? Kane thought to himself.

If there's a road, then that means there has to be people. The thought of them not being completely alone in this new landscape made him feel excited and a little nervous. Would they be friendly? Would they even be human? Questions began to form in the vampire's mind but they were slowly overwhelmed by the view that the vampire had.

The landscape spread out beneath him was lush and peaceful. It looked like something out of a nature documentary. Almost untouched, pristine.

The vampire never got this kind of view back home.

Stuck inside at a nine-to-five job with no windows, that would take a toll on anyone's spirit. Then Kane got at least got his walking papers. While it freed up his time and made him feel more alive, he still had to hunt for a job in order to pay his ever-increasing stack of bills.

But now, being so high up, those troubles and all his current worries seem to melt away.

It was then that a thought struck Kane. It was all gone. Not just Yggdrasil, but their former lives. Sure, it was a terrifying thought to be in a totally new environment, a whole new world even. However, the vampire realized that they had everything that a person could ever want or ask for.

They had a chance to start over. They had their own place of business and their own land. They had a wide and clear horizon of infinite possibilities.

Best of all: they had powers.

The two brothers were in their Yggdrasil avatars and already displayed superhuman abilities that seemed to coincide with what their avatars were capable of. With their good looks and their astounding abilities, this new life can be sweet. A flood of new feelings began to fill the vampire.

He always wanted to go out and explore nature, but he couldn't before. Never really had the time or the guts to.

Now, the vampire wanted to explore and see all that this world had to offer. Kane looked up and saw the stars, scattered above in the darkness like jewels. They sat there, gleaming, as if they had been polished and put on display for all to admire and admire them he did.

Normally, the experience of being so high up without any safety precautions would make Kane queasy. But he wasn't.

Instead, the vampire felt…exhilarated, free even. He felt as though he could do anything, like he was invincible. After he spent some time admiring the world around him, Kane wanted to get down. At the thought of returning to earth, the vampire began to fall. Even as the ground came hurtling back at him like a speeding truck, Kane felt a sense of excitement, though it quickly turned into concern. He didn't consider how he was going to land.

The vampire's speedy return to earth suddenly slowed. His body suddenly felt light as a feather and he began to slowly float back to the ground. He blinked in surprise when he looked and saw that his brother's hand was covered in a glowing light blue aura.

The moment the vampire touched ground, the glowing aura around his brother's hand vanished.

"Whoa…" was all the bard could say.

Staring at each other, the two brothers slowly came to grips with what had happened. After a few minutes of silence, Gareth spoke.

"I can do magic" he said.

"Yeah, no kidding" Kane laughed. "Shit, that was awesome! You took my advice?"

"Yeah. I concentrated on the various spells that I was able to do in Yggdrasil and I could see them all clearly in my mind. When I saw you falling, I did what you said: I imagined a spell, the Feather spell in this case, and I just…did it."

Kane grinned and clapped his brother on the back, which caused him to stumble a little.

"My little man is growing up so fast!" he cooed.

Gareth readjusted his cap and brushed aside some of his golden locks.

"Excuse me, Master Gareth? Master Kane?" a soft voice piped up.

The two brothers turned and saw one of the maids, an auburn haired girl, poked her head out the door.

"Yes?" Gareth said, standing a little straighter and taller.

"D-dinner is ready, sirs" the girl squeaked.

"Thank you, we'll only be a moment." The maid bowed her head and retreated inside.

Although the bard and the vampire wanted to continue experimenting and testing their abilities, they decided to go inside. Both felt hungry and were eager to try out the dinner after they both caught a whiff of meat and warm bread coming from inside.

Kane and Gareth sat at one of the round tables, watching silently as the servants brought out their dinner.

The elves had laid out a crimson tablecloth and a candelabrum on the table in an attempt to create a more refined atmosphere. Neremyn had pulled up a chair at their table and began talking about a story he was reminded of. The two ignored him, for the tales the old elf spun were as old as dirt and they couldn't bear listening to a repeat.

The vampire's ruby eyes followed the elf maids as they set a plate of raw meat and refilled his cup with blood.

Gareth cradled his lute in his arms and pensively plucking its strings as Lydia set a bowl of meat and vegetable stew down in front of him.

The dwarf cook, whom the bard remembered was called Osric, stood close by and was observing the whole process. Once everything was set out and arranged, the maids withdrew and stood close by in case they were needed.

Gareth helped himself to a spoonful of beef stew and carrots. Before he took a bite, the angelic bard noticed how awfully quite it was. Neremyn appeared to have stopped talking and was watching him intently.

In the corner of his vision, Gareth noticing that Osric, Lydia and the others looked particularly nervous.

The bard placed the food in his mouth, chewed and swallowed. He smiled with approval.

A great sense of relief seemed to wash over them all. Neremyn reclined in his chair and seemed more relaxed.

Kane went next. He studied the hunk of uncooked meat for a second then tore off chunk with his bare hands. The vampire chewed a few times and took a sip of his cup of blood. His pale expression brightened.

"Delicious," he purred. He tried to play the part of a refined and elegant vampire, though it seemed like he was pouring it on a little too thick. "My compliments to the chef" he raised his cup in honor of Osric.

The dwarf blushed a little. "Ah, well, it's-its nothing sir" he stammered, scratching the back of his head. "Just doing my job."

The two continued to eat. Kane wolfed down his dinner and guzzled down his drink a little quicker than usual. The two of them would have to look more into the vampire's feeding habits, in case it became a problem. The bard, meanwhile, took his time with his meal.

As he fed himself another helping of meat and carrots, a thought occurred to Gareth.

What about home? Would anyone miss them there? Is there a possibility of going home?

Home life for both of the brothers was grey and unremarkable. It was the same routine over and over: eat, sleep, work with a little leisure time left over, which was mostly spent online. Yggdrasil gave their lives some color and excitement. It was a video game, sure, but it brought them many happy memories and allowed the two siblings to bond. Both of them didn't have families of their own and any relatives they knew of have long since passed.

The only people they had in their lives were the friends and acquaintances that they made through the games they played.

The more Gareth thought about it, the more he found the idea of going home unappealing. He and his brother could actually hang out in person now. They could actually do something worthwhile with their lives. This could be the beginning of an interesting new adventure.

Besides, who would want to go back to such a boring life?

Gareth helped himself to a slice of warm bread. As he lathered it in butter and orange marmalade, his eyes locked with his brother's. Just by looking at his sibling, the bard could feel a sense of contentment coming from him. He glanced over to each of the elf maids and could tell what each of them were feeling, even if their faces were devoid of emotion. Gareth remembered that angels and bards, to an extent, could sense the intent and mood of an individual or a crowd.

In Yggdrasil, it merely read one's alignment, their karma. Here, it would seem that he literally could sense what people were feeling and what their intent was. Looking back at his brother, Gareth still felt a strong sense of contentment and intention to do nothing. It would seem that the vampire came to the same conclusion as he did. He smiled and took a bite of his bread.

Dinner went by rather quickly and the dishes were cleared away from the table.

Gareth plucked away on his lute and Kane was wiping some grease from his mouth with a napkin.

Osric and the elves were about to return to the kitchen to clean and prepare for the morning but Lydia remained standing near Gareth.

"Pardon me, Master Gareth," the silver haired elf piped up, nervous. "I-I was wondering, if-if you don't mind…could you tell us where you have been all these years?"

"Lydia," Osric growled, but the bard held up a hand.

"Where I've been?" he asked, looking up at the girl.

The silver haired maid nodded.

His eyes roved and he saw that the others seemed to be listening in, waiting for a reply. Even Osric and Neremyn seemed to be waiting for an answer.

He glanced at his brother.

The black cladded vampire sat there silently tracing the rim of his cup with a finger. His ruby eyes gave him a look that seemed to say, "Go on, say something."

The bard carefully considered his words. He didn't know what they were expecting but from the few clues he got from their conversations, it would seem that the NPCs were aware of them and their actions when they were in Yggdrasil. That opened up a bunch of new questions and thoughts but Gareth focused on the present. He collected his thoughts and after a few silent moments, the tavern was quiet save for the fire crackling away in the fireplace, he gave an answer.

"I went away," he said, finally. Gareth could feel his brother roll his eyes at him but Lydia and the others didn't notice. They appeared to be even more anxious.

"Where?"

"To far off and distant places. To new lands and realms in search of songs and stories."

It wasn't the truth but it wasn't necessarily a lie either. Gareth had left Yggdrasil behind for quite sometime. He wanted to get back much sooner but he got busy with work. In the meantime, he also spent a lot of time trying to mend his wounded feelings through books, music and old movies. All of this was after his old guild had betrayed him.

"Truly?" the girl asked, eyes wide with awe and wonder.

Gareth grinned "Of course! I'm a bard after all! Bard's seek out songs and stories wherever we go! We wonder lonely as the clouds in the sky, going wherever the wind may take us. No matter where we are, we're always searching and we share what we find with all those who wish to hear."

"O-of course!" Lydia blushed. "I-its just that you were gone a long time. We feared that you would never return. W-we missed you."

"And I missed you" Gareth said sincerely. He looked to Osric and then to the other maids, then to Neremyn and finally to Kane. He truly did. The tavern and his brother were never far from his mind when Gareth went away. Now they're all together again, though not in a way he expected.

"I missed all of you," the bard said, his eyes welling up a little "I've meant to come back sooner but…the road was long and rather arduous."

Lydia smiled and the elves chattered words of agreement and affection. Osric bowed his head.

"You honor us, Master Gareth," he said "Truly. We're glad that your home."

"Yes…home." The bard looked to his brother then to the assembled NPCs. "I'm afraid that we're not exactly home, anymore."

"What do you mean?" Osric asked.

"It would appear that we've been moved to another land," Kane answered for his brother.

The dwarf frowned and went to the window, as did Lydia, Neremyn and some of the other NPCs. The servants gasped in shock and questions began to fill the once tranquil tavern with worried questions.

"How curious," Neremyn said, stroking his beard.

"How could this have happened?" Lydia asked aloud, looking to Neremyn and then to Gareth and Kane.

"We're not sure exactly," Kane answered "But what we do know is that we're no longer in Helheim or any of the realms of Yggdrasil."

"What do we do?" asked one of the other maids, panic evident in her voice.

"We hold together" Gareth said firmly, rising to his feet, "and we prepare. For now it may seem peaceful, but this world may contain many unseen dangers. But fret not! Whatever this world has to throw at us, we can endure it."

The various servants murmured with worry and excitement but were silenced by Osric. He placed a clenched fist over his chest and bowed his head to Gareth and Kane.

"We will follow your lead, masters," he promised solemnly. "We will even follow you into death, if need be. After all, you are two are Supreme Beings and we owe you everything."

Neremyn, Lydia and the other elves all bowed as well.

The vampire and the angel shared a look. Supreme Beings? They mouthed to each other. They'll have to look into that later. But for now, there was much to do. They didn't know whether there was a threat coming or not. Regardless of that, the two brothers had to prepare the tavern and all its inhabitants for a worst-case scenario.

Kane began discussing possible ways of beefing up the tavern's security with maids, Osric and Neremyn.

As the discussion continued, with everyone contributing suggestions and ideas, Gareth became lost in thought.

The bard was reminded of some old movies and books about people ending up in other lands. These people had to use their wits and their abilities to survive against all sorts of dangers. Some of them even used their astonishing abilities to conquer the worlds in which they were transported. A new thought suddenly occurred to Gareth.

If they were transported to this new world from Yggdrasil, could there possibly be other players who got dragged into this world as well?

Over the years, Yggdrasil had lost a lot of players. However, Gareth knew that there have been a stubborn few who remained behind, loyal to the end. There probably would've been others who logged in to Yggdrasil one last time, much like the bard and the assassin.

If there had been any other players present during the shut down, where did they end up and, most importantly, are they friend or foe?

As Gareth considered this idea, a similar question currently lingered in the mind of another player who just so happened to be faced with a similar situation as the two brothers at that very moment.

Far to the south and a little to the west, in the vast grasslands that was sandwiched between the borders of the Kingdom of Re-Estize and the Baharuth Empire, a player going by the name Momonga floated high above this new world.

Clad in night black armor, the elder lich had hoped to sneak out of his guild base, the Great Tomb of Nazarick, undetected and investigate their new surroundings in peace.

That endeavor failed. One of the floor guardians, the demon Demiurge, insisted that he'd escort his lord and had accompanied him to the surface.

Once they reached the outside, the two flew high into the air to get a better look at this unfamiliar world.

Far beneath Momonga and Demiurge, the unfamiliar, unpopulated territory spread out beneath them, stretching out as far as the eye can see.

As he gazed down at this unexplored world, Momonga pondered the possibility of any other players, specifically his friends, winding up in this strange new world.

If they did end up here, they could be just about anywhere in this world, completely lost and unaware that he was there too.

It was then that two things happened.

The first thing was the misunderstanding of one of Momonga's comments by Demiurge. While admiring the beauty of this new world, with its tranquil scenery illuminated by the pale light of the full moon and the jewel like stars adorning the sky, Momonga had made a passing joke about conquering the world.

To the elder lich, it was just minor passing comment, a joke that he forgot as soon as the words had left his mouth. But to Demiurge, it was a stunning revelation of his lord's intent, which was quickly seared into his mind.

He immediately began to draw up plans in his mind on how he could carry out what he perceived to be his lord's wish.

The second thing was that Momonga swore to himself that he would make the name of Ainz Ooal Gown known all throughout this world. This plan of action was so that he could tell his friends, and any other player from Yggdrasil who may have ended up here, that they're not alone.

Unbeknownst to Momonga, the name of Ainz Ooal Gown would become notorious and widespread in the coming days.

However the soon to be new name of the overlord of the Great Tomb of Nazarick would also be joined by the likes of Gareth the Bard, Kane the Vampire and several others who have found their way to this world.

The names of these individuals would quickly become modern legends to all who dwelt in this nameless new world.

Some of these names would bring hope, and others would bring despair.

Ultimately, these figures would change the course of history and the world at large.

(a/n: Well, what do you think? Sorry for the wait, but I'm trying to take my time with these chapters to ensure quality. I'm also going to be pretty busy, with other stories and things in my daily life but I'll still be updating. They'll just be a little slow.

For Kane, Gareth and other OC characters, some of their powers will be drawn from D&D and other fantasy games and MMOs, since Yggdrasil has some classes similar to D&D classes but is scant on the details.

Anyway, I hoped you liked it and I'll see you next time.)