Author Notes: I appreciate all the good feedback, especially those who fact check cause it allows me to go back and correct my mistake. Thank you! Now, enjoy the new chapter; hopefully it's up to standard :)
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Yggdrasil Dungeon Master
- Chapter 3 -
The wind blew as leaves flew off the trees; two figures walked the road toward the citadel of Alessa. The first figure wore an immaculately embellished robe, giant iron gauntlets, and a mask that looked like a demon's face grinning; he is known as Momonga, the supreme being of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
The second figure, Claire, is short in stature, around 5'3, and wears a puffy blue shirt with eight buttons lining up the center, with an opening at the chest. She also wore a short blue skirt with white frails lining the base.
Furthermore, she wore white thigh-highs to the edge of her skirt. She also has gorgeous green eyes, and her hair is blonde like the shining sun, but the most notable characteristic is her pointy ears signaling that she's an elf. She also wore a blue beret with a white outline at the bottom, which narrowly covered her ears.
Momonga took a close look and eventually noticed the elven elements he didn't see before.
'Oh? She's an elf; how Interesting; in Yggdrasil, elves were fairly prevalent. I didn't expect to encounter one so early, but thinking about it was probable, or maybe the city of Alessa is an elven settlement? Hmm... No, the probability of it being an elven settlement is scarce. Rather, there's most likely some high diversity which is somewhat good since it means I can blend in better.'
"You alright, Momonga?" Claire asked as she looked perplexed.
"Huh? Oh, yes, I am; why?" Momonga replied.
"You looked stuck in thought; something bugging you?" Claire asked, bothered about what could pester such a powerful man.
"Omu, I was thinking about what I should do after I finish my business in the citadel of Alessa. Nothing to stress about, so let's keep walking."
Momonga started to walk down the road getting just ahead of Claire.
"Alright!" Claire responded to Momonga as she strode behind him.
However, it only took a few minutes before they were in front of the citadel of Alessa. It stood upon a hill, and its walls glittered in the sunlight as its giant wooden gates remained open for visitors. However, this opened gate was occupied by two guards, which slightly concerned Momonga.
'Oh? It seems like they have a few guards stationed outside of the gate. Do they perhaps have an identification procedure to gain entrance to the city? Although they could be watching out for intruders, they could easily do that on the walls. So it's most likely the second one.'
Momonga let out a faint sigh.
'Well, I'll need to find a way to get passed them, but how should I do it? Hmm…'
At that moment, Claire, realizing that Momonga was hesitating, decided to walk up to the guards. Momonga seeing this, followed suit shortly after. However, as they approached the gate, one of the guards asked them to halt and started to speak.
"Do you have any form of official identification?" The guard asked in a stern tone as if he was trying to enforce authority.
'Official identification? So my previous speculation was correct. They are stationed here to maintain who goes in and out. But that is an issue as I don't have any official identification. It would also become a bigger problem if they asked me to take off my mask. Although I have illusion magic, it would be challenging to hide it from someone with countermeasures to it, particularly a player. So what should I do? Could I just wing it and hope for the best? It seems like that's the only current option. If worse comes to worst, I can always retreat.'
Claire gave the guard her identification card, which he examined; after a second or two passed, he handed her the identification card and gave her the green light to go into the city. However, after the guard handled Claire, he turned to Momonga requesting his identification card, which Momonga responded quickly to.
"I currently do not have a form of identification on me. Is there a feasible way that I can obtain one?" Momonga asked.
The guard let out a faint sigh, realizing this meant more work for the day but only a little bit.
"There is one way to get into the city: purchasing a temporary license. It cost 300G upfront. It'll last you three days. After that, you'll have to pay for an extension." the guard stated.
'300G? I wonder if Yggdrasil gold would work? No… I can't use Yggdrasil gold here; that would be openly stating that I come from someplace else. Then what should I do?'
From the corner of Momonga's non-existent eyes, he noticed Claire approaching as if she was about to say something.
"I'll pay for him," Claire said out of nowhere.
"Huh?" Momonga and the guard said, reacting in sync.
Claire then pulled out 300G and handed it to the guard.
"Here you are, 300G," Claire said.
The guard looked at the pouch of gold for a second as he was considering allowing this or not. Then, however, he decided not to argue against her paying for him as it would cause more bad than good.
"Thank You; I'll get his temporary license now; stay here." The guard said while he ordered the two to stay put.
"Why did you do that?" Momonga asked Claire as they walked through the gate.
Claire put one of her fingers up her mouth as if she were in thought.
"Don't know, you just seemed like you were in a pickle. Plus, you did save my life earlier, so it's the least I could do." Claire said.
Momonga took a second and recalled the goblin attack.
'I guess she has a point. She does owe me for saving her life. But I can't help but feel like there is an ulterior motive behind her action. Well, no matter, that's a problem for future Momonga.'
Claire then started to speak up, evidently wanting to change the topic at hand to something more relevant.
"Anyhow, I think we should head toward the town center. There's a tone of markets there. I think you'd find it interesting." Claire said as she recalled the few times she had visited the citadel of Alessa and the amount of money she blew on goods in the town center.
"Sounds rather interesting. Let's go then." Momonga responded, and Claire started to lead the way. However, they didn't expect to see such an afternoon rush once they reached the town center. Nevertheless, people were moving around carts, market stalls were almost sold out, shopping corners were packed with people, and kids were playing on the street. It was a true sign of a blossoming city, giving Momonga more hope for his current situation.
"This is quite a sprawling city," Momonga said, admiring the area.
"Yeah, Alessa has always been a pretty prevalent city regarding commerce. But that might be because a dungeon lies nearby, so there are plenty of resources. Unfortunately, though, it's not as popular as a port city would be since those are connected to the sea." Claire said, being a bit envious of port cities, though she has no real problem with them.
"Dungeon?" Momonga said.
"Yeah, the dungeon near here it's not as big as other dungeons around the world, but it's decently sized. I heard it was claimed only a few days ago by a large raid party hosted by the adventure's guild." Claire said, imagining what it would be like if she took the time to join the guild.
'Oh? Adventure's Guild?" Momonga said as if he was asking another question which Claire caught on to.
"You don't know about adventure guilds? Honestly, I'm surprised since their everywhere; anyhow, the adventure's guild is a guild that people sign up to do missions. This could be killing quests, dungeons, exploration, or even helping the locals. There are also ranks in the guild for those who are strong and want to gain glory. If you want, I can take you to the adventure's guild; I've wanted to sign up for quite a while but never had the chance." Claire explained.
'Interesting, so it seems like the adventure's guild has some merit in this world. Most of the time, I hear the title of "Adventure's Guild" from a cliche web novel that doesn't have a spread of creativity. But in this world, it's different since they do the "exploring" aspect; that is what "Adventure" means.
"I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd lead me there," Momonga replied.
Claire's eyes seem to sparkle at Momonga agreeing.
"Okie! Follow me then!" Claire said as she went toward the adventure's guild. However, it didn't take them very long to arrive at the adventure's guild.
Arriving at the front door, Momonga and Claire quickly glance at each other to say, "You ready," and nod slightly simultaneously. Momonga then opens the entrance to the adventure's guild; what is revealed is quite surprising. The interior design of the adventure's guild is beautiful, a wooden floor that shines from the lights above, tables spread around filled with experiences chatting about. This quest board seemed littered with all sorts of quests, and finally, the receptionist smiled as Momonga looked in her direction.
Although Momonga blocked Claire's view of the adventure's guild, she had to poke her head off to the side of the Momonga. However, when she saw the inside of the adventure's guild, she immediately pushed passed Momonga, the excitement notable in her movements.
"So this is the adventure's guild; I'm surprised that it is so beautiful. I should've come in here earlier," Claire said in an eager tone.
"Mhm" Momonga responded.
Claire then looked at Momonga and then quickly glanced at the receptionist. With that glance, Claire decided to approach the receptionist and start a conversation.
"Hey!" Claire said, slightly waving her left hand.
The receptionist seemed to tidy herself up a bit and then started responding.
"Hello, I'm Nell; what can I do for you today?" Nell said in a kind tone with a beautiful smile.
"Well, I was wondering what it takes to sign up as an adventure?" Claire asked in a kind manner.
"Well, you'll need to pass the examiner's trail' that's pretty much about it," Nell responded, a little skeptical of Claire's abilities which Momonga was unsure of as well.
'Didn't she get beaten up pretty badly during the goblin attack? If she can't defend herself from goblins, then why is she trying to become an adventurer in the first place?'
"Claire, are you sure? You'll need some sort of ability to fight monsters." Momonga said, giving Claire a slight pre-warning.
Though, his warning was utterly tossed aside.
"I'm pretty sure I want to do this. I know magic; I just wasn't watching how much mana I used when defending myself from the goblins. I accidentally used all my mana in two massive attacks, which was rather stupid. If I had managed my mana well, I probably would've gotten out of there alive. But! But! that's not saying I'm not grateful you came to my rescue!" Claire said while also not trying to sound rude to Momonga. However, her face turned red during her attempt, and she hung her face down a tiny bit to hide it. Although Momonga didn't notice, he was more focused on something else.
'Interesting, so that she can use magic? Although I'm a bit skeptical of her Magic power, she might be great to help me gather information about how Magic works in this world. So how would I get her to stay around so I can do that research?'
"Anyways, Momonga, do you want to partner at a party?" Claire asked.
'Well... problem solved.'
"Sure, I wouldn't mind," Momonga responded.
"Alrighty, Nell, put us in a team!" Claire said
Nell seemed hesitant initially, but she was obligated to do so.
"You two are now counted as a team, but first, before anything, we need to test you against our examiner," Nell said. Though, this got Momonga a bit curious about the examiner.
'Examiner, she says? I wonder what level he'd be; since he's testing people's strength, he should be at a relatively high level. Maybe he'll be around level 50 or 65? That seems like a reasonable level.'
However, just as Momomga was wrapping up his thoughts, Nell interrupted.
"This way," Nell said, leading Claire and Momonga to a room in the back. It had rigid stone walls, and a few archery ranges seemed like a room for adventure training. Nevertheless, Claire and Momonga quickly noticed the examiner as he stood out in the room.
The examiner stood tall, holding a gigantic battleaxe, wearing black spiky armor, and had horns coming out of his head. A slight smirk crossed his face as he noticed Claire.
However… as he looked at Momonga, a chill ran down his spine. It's as if every bit of adventure's instinct tells him to run, but he can't move a muscle. The fear froze him in the place where he stood. It was as if he was looking death itself in the face, but he had to snap out of it; he was a veteran adventurer, after all.
"You alright, Donadrond? You look a bit pale." Nell said.
This caused Donadrond to snap out of his grasping fear and recompose himself. He cleared his throat and put back on his brave face.
"Yes I am." Donadrond said.
Donadrond then looked toward Claire as if he was inspecting her.
"You first, young lady," Donadrond said, to which Claire responded by entering the battlefield.
Claire then prepared herself, setting herself up far from Donadrond, which gave him the impression that she was a magic caster.
"Ready?" Donadrond asked.
"Yes!" Claire said, eager to begin.
Donadrond took a mighty leap forward.
"Begin!" Donadrond yelled
Claire had little time to react and dodged out of the way. And only milliseconds later, Donadronds battleaxe hit the ground so hard that it caused a cloud of sand to lush up into the air. But with a quick reaction, Claire counterattacked.
"[Iceland," Claire said as an icicle in the shape of a lance appeared and shot forward. Though, it was quickly taken care of by Donadrond slicing it in half.
"[Fireball," Claire yelled; this second attack caught Donadrond off guard, giving the attack the luck of striking true.
As the fireball smashed into Donadrond, an explosion ringed out, and a cloud of gray smoke covered the area reducing visibility.
"Where is he?" Claire said out loud, not knowing her mistake of revealing her position with such simple words.
Behind her, someone whispers into her ear, "right here," as he swings his axe down hard, slashing her back. Claire screamed out in pain but quickly gathered herself, backing up and gaining a small distance. At the same time, the gray cloud of smoke diminished, and there stood Donadrond. Though he had a few scratches and burns, it seemed he wasn't nearly out of the fight.
"[PosionCloud]" Suddenly, Claire cast a spell, and a green plum of smoke spread across the area, hitting Donadrond off guard. He tried to hold his breath but couldn't and breathed in the poison, which heavily damaged him.
However, he wasn't out of the fight yet; he ran up to Claire in a ditch effort. She had no time to react as he launched a mighty punch forward. However, suddenly a red haze covered Claire; it was something he had seen before, and when he punched Claire, it was like it did nothing like she suddenly became more resistant to physical attacks.
"What?" Donadrond said in disbelief.
Claire then put her hand in front of Donadronds face
"PosionCloud" Another poison spew shot forth directly at Donadrond, taking it full force. Dondrand moved backward, but it was too late. He collapsed to the ground, coughing.
"I'm done, I'm done; good job," Donadrond said
Donadrond then got back onto his feet and started to speak.
"You did well; I didn't expect to lose to you," Donadrond said; cuts, bruises, and burns all over his body, though when he took out a healing potion and quickly used it, seems all damage was quickly healed.
"Thanks, I expected to lose, but I did better this time, controlling how much mana I used. Unfortunately, I got careless when defending myself from a group of goblins earlier and used all my mana up in just two attacks." Claire said, feeling a bit proud that she had improved and also embarrassed that she had made such a mistake in the first place.
"Haha, yeah, you have to watch that. It can lead to sticky situations once a magic caster loses their mana." Donadrond responded, giving a slight chuckle at Claire's beginner's mistake.
Donadrond then looked toward Momonga, the feeling of dread still looming over him. He took a large gulp and prepared himself mentally.
"Now… it's time for you." Donadrond looked toward Momonga.
"Mhm," Momonga responded, getting into position. But, unfortunately, he didn't take as much of a distanced stance as Claire.
'Even though Donadrond seems relatively strong, it doesn't seem like he is even close to a level 15 NPC. Which is weird; you'd think an examiner would be stronger than that.'
"Ready?" Donadrond said that even though he was not prepared for this fight.
'Hmm… how should I handle this? I don't want to seem overly strong, but I already showed a lot of power to Claire in the forest. Should I display the same power here? No, that would go wrong. I might accidentally kill the guy. So I'll just use 1st tier and 2nd tier magic and see how he does.'
"Indeed I am," Momonga responded, utterly relaxed.
"Began," Donadrond said
Donadrond tried to do the same leaping action he did against Claire. However, he didn't expect Momonga not to dodge; instead, when his axe crashed down upon Momongas head, he put up his hand and caught it.
"[Triplet: Magic Arrow]" in a sudden burst, three magic arrows appeared, striking Donadrond. Blood spews from his armor though he isn't out of the fight yet.
'Was that too much? Hm, no, it seems like he's alright for now.'
He let out a loud grunt pulling the axe away from Momonga. Although, Momonga knows he doesn't have the strength for that and merely lets it go on his initiative. Donadrond then ran around Momonga, slashing at his back, but suddenly a magic shield blocked his attack, surprising him as it was not an ordinary skill.
"What!?" Donadrond said; he tried to pull back his axe, but it was too late.
"[Paralyisis]" With one quick cast by Momonga. Donadrond fell to the ground, not being able to move. Momonga then walked above him, staring down at him.
"Do you forfeit?" Momonga asked.
Donadrond looked up in disbelief but eventually conceded.
"I do," Donadrond said as the paralysis spell released. Momonga then reached out a hand toward Donadrond.
"Huh?" Donadrond said, not expecting this type of humility.
"Well fought," Momonga replied as he helped Donadrond back onto his feet.
"Not really, haha; I knew I was going to lose that from the get-go," Donadrond said, letting out a defeated chuckle.
'Even though that was quite easy, it's better to be humble. I rather not have any enemies in the adventures guild. But, especially if I'm planning to use it as a source of information, Allies will become useful later on in that aspect.'
Claire then walked up to the two.
"So, did we pass?" Claire asked as a cocky smile could be seen on her face.
"Indeed you did. But don't expect me to go so easy on you next time." Donadrond said in a happy tone as he joked a bit.
After a bit of silence, Nell spoke up.
"If you'd follow me, I'll issue your guild IDs," Nell said as she walked Momonga and Claire over to the next room.
The three then entered a room, and Nell issued their guild ids. She handed it to both of them, and Claire seemed quite excited.
"Now that you two have your guild id, don't forget to come back and select a class once you've reached an efficient level and unlocked the right skills," Nell said, hoping they would remember.
"Okie!" Claire said, happy that she finally joined the adventures guild.
Though, Momonga didn't respond.
'Classes? Interesting, so even in this world, they have classes. I wonder if it resembles anything similar to Yggdrasil? Well, no matter; I'll have to check that out sometime later. I still need to acquire some information and see what "dungeon master" is all about.'
"Do you know the nearest place for information about the surrounding area?" Momonga asked Nell.
She thought about it for a second and responded.
"Well, the best information about the surroundings of Alessa is probably here if that's what you were wondering," Nell said.
"It is, but I'm also wondering if there is a place I can get a few books on Magic? or world history?" Momonga asked.
"Uhh… well, there are probably books about magic in the market center, but historical books, not so much," Nell responded.
'How disappointing. Though I can gather information about the city's surroundings, I can't get anything further out. I'll have to travel to other settlements, and I'll probably need money to purchase the books about magic, given that I'm broke. Ugh! If only I could use Yggdrasil gold, but it's too risky.'
"Can you tell me about the area?" Momonga asked, in-which? Nell responded by explaining the current surroundings of Alessa for three hours.
'I see; the city of Alessa is quite strategically placed. Both politically and environmentally, it's close to a garden the called Demon's Wolf's Garden; it has high-level monsters, and its recent activity has recently increased. But now, thinking about it, the Demons Wolfs Garden might be a good place to put the Great Tomb of Nazarick or test out dungeon master.'
Momonga turned to Claire, who seemed to have fallen asleep during Nell's explanation.
"Claire wake up; it's time to go," Momonga said as he woke up Claire.
"H-huh? Oh-" Claire said while rubbing her eyes. She quickly got back onto her feet.
Momonga turned back to Nell.
"Thank you for explaining all that to me; sorry for taking up so much time," Momonga said.
"Oh. No, no, it's fine; it's my job to inform adventures." Nell said.
"Well, I'll be taking my leave now," Momonga said as he opened the door to the adventures guild taking his leave. Claire shortly followed after she said "thank you" to Nell.
Momonga and Claire walk down the road. Though, Claire is unaware of where they are heading.
"Where are we going?" Claire asked curiously.
"Omu, we are heading toward the Demon's Wolfs Garden," Momonga said calmly.
Claire's face seemed to mix disbelief, shock, and confusion.
"We can't go there! It's way too dangerous!" Claire said in a slight panic.
"Hm? Is it that dangerous? If I recall, adventures have traveled that area before." Momonga said.
"It's not the same! They are much higher than us; I know I saw your strength in the forest, but I'm not sure it's enough." Claire said, highly worried about Momonga's safety.
'I know she's worried, but I believe I'll be fine. Though, given the fact that everyone I have met is greatly under-leveled, their terms of strong might be different.'
"I'm going to the garden; if you don't want to come, that's fine; you can wait in the city for me."
Claire puffed up her cheeks in frustration.
"F-fine, I'll wait in the city! But don't you dare get yourself killed out there." Claire said her frustration was getting the better of her, though she realized she couldn't stop Momonga from going.
"Alright, I'll be back in two hours or so. You can wait for me in the town center near the marketplace," Momonga replied.
"Alright…" Claire responded.
Momonga started to walk away; Claire did the same, heading toward the town center.
'Ugh, even though I get her worry, she's a bit clingy. No idea if that'll bite me in my back later on. Anyways, time to head toward the Demons Wolfs Garden, see what I can accomplish.'
Momonga walked through the town, eventually going through the gate. He traveled the long road through the forest, finally reaching a part of the forest that seemed to be deader than the other half.
'Interesting, it seems that wildlife has abandoned this part of the forest for some reason. Could there possibly be a nearby mini-boss, or maybe this area has a passive negative status effect? Though, I probably have resistance to it if that's the case.'
Momonga continued, eventually reaching a clearing that led into a massive plain. Flowers, bushes, and all sorts of sizable rocks covered the area. Momonga could tell there was monster activity because a few monster bodies spread across the plain, and he could see some monsters flying in the sky.
'Oh? This area has some high monster activity though they don't look strong. But that's cause I'm used to Yggdrasil, but that makes me wonder. Are there any Yggdrasil monsters in this world?'
Although Momonga wanted to determine if Yggdrasil monsters were in this world, he remembered coming here to learn more about the dungeon master title.
'I should find a place to activate dungeon master.'
Momonga looked around and spotted a part of the plains with high hills and scattered trees.
'That'll do; if necessary, we can cast illusion magic or create dummy hills to cover up.'
Momonga headed toward the location he saw, reaching it in a few seconds.
'Now let's see how this works.'
Momomga looked at the dungeon master title, then at the associated ability "summon floor 1 of the Great Tomb of Nazarick".
'Does it summon the first floor? I'm afraid to try it out in case something goes wrong. But…'
Momonga hesitated for a few more seconds. But after thinking about it, he decides.
Just then in that moment, Momonga used the ability associated with the dungeon master title. A bright light shrined, blinding everything in a two-mile radius, and when the light dimmed, there was the Great Tomb of Nazarick. However, it was split apart and deconstructed; titles, bricks, etc., all scattered in the air though they are moving as if the Tomb is slowly being built. And in the distance, in the middle of the floor in construction, was a vampire with beautiful adorned clothing and radiant purple, white, and red dress; however, it seems her body is not yet entirely constructed as it's being generated slowly over time.
"Shalltear Bloodfallen?" Momonga said, surprised.
Chapters Quote:
"Slowly but surely Momonga will show the world the true meaning behind Supreme Being!" - Mikezilla
After writing: This was probably my most challenging chapter to write yet due to all the rewriting, and transitions between scenes. Overall I'd say it turned out well! And I'm glad that you read through it, hopefully you stay for what is to come as Momonga travels the world of Reincarnated as a Sword!