New World
Unknown Forest
For the remainder of the evening and into the early hours of the next morning it was a withdrawn and soundless Cereza that Albedo dragged behind her as she continued their trek from the previous day. Any attempt at conversation with her Lady was meet with silence and a blank expression, even touching her lady would give no response, causing a growing concern to build within Albedo.
While Albedo knew that her beloved Lady had issues in the World of the Gods, she never thought that she would see it manifested before her eyes. Never before had she seen the Supreme One so quiet and still, it unnerved her. In their walks through the graveyard of Nazarick in times like these she only had the power to listen and be a comforting companion, but now that she had the power to talk and comfort her Lady, yet she had no idea how to.
It also most broke her. How could one of the Supreme Ones be like this?
How could a simple servant, who didn't understand a thousandth of a Supreme One's mind help her?
Cereza for her part looked a bloody mess. Elven blood was caked on her skin around her mouth, with dry run lines going down her neck to her upper chest area from the feeding frenzy the previous night. With blood splatter marks on her dress that had harden and likely to permanently stained it.
At least that Albedo knew how to fix that once she got her Mistress stripped and changed. Even better the crimson colour of the dress would make it even easier for her, though it meant she would have less time cleaning her Lady's cloths.
I wonder what it smells like?
Brief thoughts of nefarious actions with Cereza's clothes briefly flashed in Albedo minds, but her focus on helping her Mistress drove those thoughts from her mind quickly. Getting Cereza back to being in proper Lady like state was first on her mind.
No longer was Cereza the prime and proper leader of Ainz Ooal Gown, projecting strength and power in spades. Now she was the scared woman that would tell her fears to Albedo after another terrible day in the Realm she would visit when she wasn't with the denizens of Nazarick. Even when she had one of her worst days in the World of the Gods she still had it in her to speak of her tales.
She is worst then she was when she would take me and Shalltear on her walks. Albedo reflected.
Thoughts of the other guardian brought a sliver of anger to Albedo. Where were the other Guardians of the Last of the Supreme One? Where were they to protect their Lady and Mistress?
But her rage at the other Guardians, while strong was not as strong as her hatred to those who had hurt her Lady so much.
Oh, she knew what caused this. The filthy elves caused her Lady to be like this. The next time their paths crossed they would get no quarter from her. Their deaths would not be enough to satisfy her hatred for them, she would torture, maim, anything to cause pain to them all for what they did to her Lady.
A promised made to herself Albedo refocused back on her task of leading her Lady westward.
For the remaining sunlight hours not much changed in the scenery around them. The forest seemed unending in their march.
As the sun set for the day Albedo set up camp by a stream that was to cross their route within the next hour of their trek. After setting Cereza up upon a falling tree Albedo busied herself gathering wood for fire while checking the parameter, hoping that there would be some elves to vent her anger on. Finding none and with an arm full of wood Albedo completed her walk around the parameter before heading back to her Lady.
Arriving back to the camp site Albedo set out the wood for another fire. Recalling how her Mistress set it ablaze last night Albedo checked her inventory to see if she had any potions or scrolls that would suit lighting the fire.
Finding no such items Albedo huffed in defeat as she looked into the built fire pit.
Think woman, think you are the Overseer of the Great Tomb of Nazarick seconded to only the Supreme Ones is mind. There must be another way to light the fire for the Supreme One. All those skills and knowledge on how to be the perfect administrator, leader and wife and you don't know how to light a fire. Lord Tabula would be ashamed of you.
Looking around the small camp site she made, Albedo kept thinking of ways to light the fire. Her eyes landed on Cereza before she tried her luck at get a response, but the only acknowledgment she got from her Mistress was her turning her head before looking straight ahead again.
With no luck there Albedo turned her gaze to her hands, lost in thought on what to do. But she kept thinking of other options she had to light the fire.
Like a light bulb going off in her head Albedo thought of tying to use one of her few spells to light the fire. While primarily spec'd and skilled to be a defensive melee warrior, being from the Demon race she had a number of low level demonic spells as part of her race class levels, including ones that could be used to light a fire.
[Hell blaze]
Hell blaze was a Tier 3 spell that all Demons who had at least 5 level in their racial class. Low powered and weaken as it was, it was enough to start light the logs in front of her.
With that done Albedo used it to light the fire in front of her. As small of a victory as it was, it was a success story for otherwise dismal day.
Next, how to get the Supreme One to talk.
"Well done" an angelic said from beside Albedo.
The first words from the Supreme One all day was praise to Albedo's action. The thrill that went through her sent shivers down her spine resulting in her wings giving a little flutter, which in turn got her a giggle from Cereza.
"All I'm doing is making you comfortable, My Lady." Albedo eventually mumbled back. Shaking her head she continued. "Would you like a bath in the stream? I'll be more them happy to assist you in any way possible."
A feeling of anxiousness overtook Cereza's face for but a brief moment before it returned to normal, or at least a closer to it.
"No, I rather be by myself if that is ok" Cereza's voice was timid and soft in her response.
Leaving no room to argue she got up quickly and made her way towards the fore mentioned stream that she could hear in the distance.
Albedo could only watch as the last Supreme One disappeared into the scrubs. A primal fear of abandonment struck her to her core rending her paralysed as Cereza walked away.
Cereza slowly made her way through the woods towards the stream, its soft sounds guiding her forward. Her mind on the other hand was still lost in the memory of what she did, of what she has become.
She a vampire, a blood sucking killing machine from games and books she loved to read in her old life. She knew when they arrived that her senses where sharper, her body stronger and knew that her body had change to that of her vampire model from YGGDRASIL. But Knowing, in your mind at least, you were one and Being a one where two different things for her.
And the blood…..
In her first life, as she referred to it now in her own mind, she was uneased with blood to say the least, odd for someone who loved the lore and idea of vampires. Even a paper cut was enough to freak her out. Drinking and effectively bathing in it during her blood frenzy last night; she wasn't surprised she had retreated to the back of her mind like she did.
It wasn't a first for her either, to retreat into her mind, at least now after years of doing it she could somewhat pull herself out of it, unlike the first few times. The first time that it had happened was on her way home from her dead-end job, it was so bad that she was stuck in her shell for a week. During this period she didn't even play her favourite game, just eat, sleep, work repeat; a human alive but not living.
But now having dealt with it for several years she had got better at getting out and dealing with the issues that got her there. Mainly using Albedo, Shalltear and Pandora Actor to dump her thoughts, feelings and insecurities to.
Or just playing YGGDRASIL in general.
The feeling of the water lapping her feet quickly brought Cereza out of her musing. In her absent mindlessness she had arrived at the stream and had stripped herself on autopilot. Her heels she had been wearing laid abandoned by the bank, the blood stained dress was off to the side, folded over a branch in the water leaving her in the default undergarment that the dev's applied to every model to abide the no 18+ action laws for DMMO-RPG.
I'll give the dress to Albedo when I get back. I'm sure she will be up for the challenge to clean it.
Satisfied that she had at least tried to clean her dress, even if it was merely letting it wash in the stream, she began to take the final layer off. After all this was the first time she got the chance to do so given all the restrictions in place for DMMO-RPGs and then the devilish succubus companion she had she hadn't had a moment to check out herself.
She didn't have anything to complain about.
While in her first go at life she had been a fairly plan looking girl, neither ugly nor good looking in her opinion. She was lucky in that she didn't have to do too much to maintain what little good looks she did have. But now she most certainly fell into the second category.
Put in simple terms she was stunning, the girl of her dreams almost.
Her arms where slim with the clear signs of muscles protruding in her upper arm, while here forearms where slimmer yet still powerful looking. Her legs where similarly toned and powerful, smooth, and not a hair could be seen. Her torso was in line with her extremities, toned yet not overly muscular with clear lines where her abs where while her breast were perky, a solid C cup. A quick feel of her back side left her nothing to complain about either.
All and all she was quite happy with the change, a body like this in her old world was out of reach for her. Between her job, the terrible food and barely having enough money for a gym membership or something similar her health wasn't the best. Thinking back on it the health over the world wasn't the best.
As she washed her hair in the stream the stray thoughts of the limitation of her old life washed away with the water, so too where the issues that plagued her at work and then in her mind. Here she was out of reach of those demons, sure some may pop up from time to time like her recent episode but she still had Albedo to help her through them.
But now in this New World, with a beautiful and powerful body (minimise the need to feed of blood), an actual friend (companion may be a better phrase she would think on later) and the chance to explore this green untouched world the sky was the limit.
A new life to go with the New World.
With the past behind her thoughts of the future began to form in her mind. Where were they? Where were her Guardians? Are there humans in this world or it this a World of Elves?
The appearance of the elves, their garb and weapons were leading her to believe that she was in a medieval fantasy world. Were it YGGDRASIL or some other planet was yet to be determined, but she was leading towards a New World given the weapons used by the elves, something she didn't notice at the time but in YGGDRASIL Dark Elves weapons tended to be daggers and short swords while the ones that had ambushed (Albedo's innocence of food selection was the primary cause in Cereza's mind) had a mix set of weapons.
Shelving those thoughts for later as she had finished her bathing, Cereza made her way back to the bank; collecting her dress on the way. Arriving on the bank Cereza went through her inventory searching for the appropriate attire.
Selecting a mixture of low-level quest rewards from the last few missions she had completed; she went about redressing herself. Firstly, the with default undergarment before a matching set of leather leggings and light body armour with a long traveling coat over the top and hide knee length boots all made of various materials from a dragon. Opting not to have a weapon out for the time begin she made her way back to Albedo with her wet clothes in hand.
Seeing her companion in front of the fire she made her way to join her.
"Thank you for keeping me moving today Albedo" Cereza said softly as she sat beside her.
"For you my Lady, I would do anything to help you" Replied Albedo. Sighting the dress in Cereza's hand she strikes out, grabbing it out of her hands. "I'll take it from her Supreme One, you dress will be as good as new once I'm done."
Having left no room to argue Albedo racing off down the path that Cereza had come from, dress in hand and a crazed look plastered on her face.
Leaving the succubus to her own, Cereza got up and started to wander around the clearing looking for some where to sleep for the night. Settling on a soft patch by the fire Cereza set herself down and tried to get to sleep.
For half an hour Cereza tossed and turned trying to find sleep to no avail. From behind her she heard Albedo arrive back from the stream, rolling over she cracked her eyes to she her setting up the dress to be dried be the fire.
Noticing eyes on her Albedo faced her Lady before asking "May I know why you are lying on the ground my Lady?"
"I was trying to get some sleep tonight."
At first Albedo didn't show any response to the answer, but it wasn't long before a crack in her blank expression appeared, shortly followed by a small giggle.
Like a hammer it dawned on Cereza what it was that cause the giggle to bust through the normally stoic Overseer. Fortunately, it was the same undead nature that meant see wasn't going to die from the embarrassment that was running through her.
"You have had your fun now Albedo, let keep going then" Cereza said quickly recovering from her embarrassment.
"Of course, My Lady." Albedo replied once she had regathered herself. "Your dress has been clean as well and I placed it in storage"
Still getting over her moment of forgetfulness, Cereza started to walk westward trying get over her embarrassment for her forgetfulness.
If I don't have the need to sleep, we may be able to just keep going till we get out of this lazy forest. Finding civilization is still the number one prior to working out where the hell we are.
With the task in mind, she restarted the march westward with purpose in each step.
Throughout the night the two continued their journey with Albedo again in the lead forging a path for them. This continued throughout the night with no interruption to their march and into the next morning before they started to notice the easing of the trees, with more sunlight breaching through the canopy above as dawn approached.
Albedo, taking the initiative, quickly took off to get a look at their surroundings above the tree line. Upon her return she confirmed that they were reaching the end of the forest and that there appeared to be a road off in the distance that travelled perpendicular to their current path.
This led Cereza to think on the remainder of the journey of which direction they should go. With no idea of the geography of the planet they were on, nor were any town or city were located did not help the matter. Nor did Albedo unfortunately, the only response she would get when asking for her opinion was that Cereza's own ones were the correct ones. After all, how could a Supreme Being be ever wrong?
It was close to mid-morning before the two finally got out the forest, and as reported by Albedo there was indeed a road not to far in the distance. With open grassland as far as the eye could see beyond, interposed with the occasional small hill with small bushes and trees along the pathway.
At first Cereza was concern that the sunlight would affect her similarly to the last time that she had tried to travel in the light. Luckily for her she felt nothing, no heat, no weakness, nothing at all this time around. It almost felt like back at home, the lack of warmth in what little sunlight shone through the cloud cover brought back unpleasant memories but where squash as quickly has it came.
The only idea she had on why it was different this time round was that she had recently feed on blood, but that would be an experiment to try out later.
However, this brain wave did not help her with the decision in front of them. Albedo was looking at her expectantly, waiting on her choose as the two made their way to the path.
"South" Cereza murmured under her breath as she was looking at the pathway in front of her.
"What was that my Lady?"
"South Albedo, south is the direct we will go" Confirmed Cereza as her eyes followed a set of footprints in the dirt. "If we follow the tracks they should lead us to people, people who we can get information from, information on where the hell we are."
"Tracks my Lady?" A confused Albedo questioned, appearing to be paying attention to the ramblings of Cereza.
Her question stopped Cereza short of answering straight away. How could Albedo not see the tracks so clearly along the path! There were four sets of them, large and unmissable, likely to even of been heavy footsteps, men in armour most likely, to make it even easier to see.
"What do you mean, can you not see them clear?" Cereza said as she pointed to the obvious tracks in front of her.
"No, I don't have any hunting skills obviously" Albedo said with a sigh, "Unlike yourself my Lady."
Her answer made sense to Cereza after a moment of thought, after all some of the passives of being a True Vampire was a set of hunting skills. Albedo being a demon and not having and Ranger or Hunter skills didn't have the same passives as she did.
"Fine, well, umm." Tailed off Cereza as she did the mental calculations of if she had made the correct call to go south. With a sigh she committed to her decision and started the march south.
Authors Note:
Hi all, hope you all are liked the story or at less given it a go.
To the people who are liking the story so far, thank you for reading and I hope I can keep your hopes up throughout the journey I plan. To those who dislike the story, well you gave it a go so I guess I can live with that.
Anyway, this story is for me (selfish I know) but what I mean is that I always liked stories and have thought out several them in my head over the years leading me to give writing a go; which for a dyslexic fuck like me is very daunting. If I do well fantastic, if it goes poorly, well I have given it a go and can be happy with myself.
Till next time,
VS