AUTHOR'S NOTE: There were some errors with the 'fight' between Icarus and Dominion Authority. I read the reviews, this will not be a rehash of the canon, it just looks that way cause it's only been like 3 chapters. Icarus is the guildmaster, there is no Momonga. Energy and aura will be explained in this chapter. Hope that cleared things up!
CHAPTER 4
Frozen Prison, 5th Floor...
Nigun abruptly awoke, as he smelt blood. His gaze was groggy and his body ached. His focus eventually fell onto the being in front of him. It was a massive humanoid blob with tentacles and heavy makeup. But what scared Nigun out the most was her outfit and the room he was in, as it was cold and filled with sharp painful objects.
"Oh it seems like you're awake..."
Nigun tried to scream or run, or do something, but he found out the were clamps across his forehead, wrists, and ankles. He was spread eagle against a stone wall with a ball gag in his mouth secured around his head with a strap. He was also naked, in short, he was completely exposed.
"Ahaha...stop resisting, there's no way a measly human can break through these chains. I need to to wring all the information out of you, so that I can impress Lord Icarus and steal him from that whore Albedo and bitch Shalltear." said the humanoid.
Nigun felt something when he heard the name Icarus. He then remembered the man who single-handedly slaughtered his entire unit and the trump card he had. He felt a twinge of sympathy for Icarus as he imagined this monstrosity trying to flirt.
Suddenly, the monstrosity came forth, each of its tentacles holding a different tool of torture.
"Now, I'm Neuronist Painkill, your conductor. Let me hear your 'singing', hmm?"
The creature's giddy tone only served to heighten Nigun's fear, and he could also see its eyes. Its eyes showed clear joy, joy at attacking weaker beings. They were scary eyes, eyes that reminded Nigun of himself, an he remembered what happened to those that he had looked at with such eyes. None of them had happy endings, and he realized neither would he.
"W-Wait...WAIT! I'll tell you everything" he tried to scream.
The stupid ball gag caused him to not be able to properly speak, his pain tolerance was low, as he was a magic caster that attacked from a distance with his summons. The most that would ever happen was that he would feel tired from low mana, as there were few opponents for his force. He desperately tried to show that he would be compliant, but the next words he heard caused shivers to run down his spine.
"Oh, you're complying? How cute! But you're going to tell me everything either way, so why wouldn't I have some fun beforehand?"
The first tool cut through Nigun's flesh easily, as his skin provided no resistance. Within seconds, the blood started flowing, and the screams followed immediately afterwards.
"Please...save me, gods..."
But the gods didn't save him. Nazarick was a place were even the 'gods' that he believed in, would not dare to go.
He screamed and screamed. His screams would echo within the Frozen Prison for a very long time.
E-Rantel...
E-Rantel was near the intersections of three nations, thus, it was heavily fortified with three concentric walls. (Attack on Titan?)
Within the city, the air was filled with noises and smells, along with sights to see. Vendors shouting out prices for their wares, people haggling over produce, children running around while their mothers chased them. It was everything you thought of when you thought of life in a medieval time. And within the biggest plaza, was a two-floor building labeled "Adventurer's Guild". Inside was just another normal day in the Adventurers Guild, until two particular people walked in. As people noticed, they went silent and stared. As people noticed the actions of others, it caused a chain reaction until the entire room was silent, and all eyes were on the duo. A figure, clad in pristine white armor with countless golden runes swirling all around. His equipment seemed too beautiful, too perfect to be created by man. He looked like an angel that has come down to the land of mortals. This was his [Holy Set], a Legendary Class armor and his strongest set of armor for his Archangel form. His partner was similarly stunning, contrasting her snow pale skin, her ponytail, cloak, and tapered eyes, were all as dark as night. Her sharp gaze and cold eyes shot down all those who were thinking about approaching her.
As the pair made their way to the receptionist desk, the armored figure spoke while the other remained silent.
"Me and my partner are travelers from a faraway land, we wish to register as adventurers."
"Very well, you will both start off as copper plates." said the receptionist, as she handed them their copper plates.
"Really? Copper?"
Adventurers and their teams has ranks, which gave a rough idea of their experience and power. From lowest to highest was copper, iron, silver, gold, platinum, mithril, orichalcum, and finally adamantite.
"I-Is there any way to start off higher?"
"No, I'm very sorry, but you will have to work your way up with merit and accomplishments. What will your team name be?"
"Team name, oh yeah...I never thought about that. Fuck."
"Umm...our team name will be Yin Yang."
"Understood, your team Yin Yang has been registered as a copper ranked duo."
Wanting to leave as soon as possible, he hurriedly asked, "Is there any place were we can stay that you would recommend?"
After the receptionist told them the directions to an inn for new adventurers, they left without another word. As if their departure were a spark to light a flame, the building's occupants burst into discussion.
"Where do you think they're from?"
"Judging from the gear, I'd say the Holy Roble Kingdom."
"I've been there and I've never seen any paladin wearing armor with moving runes on it, or a sword that thin!"
"What about that lady, talk about cold! She looked like she would reject someone before they even said anything"
The duo's origins and power became the new hot topic among the adventurers of E-Rantel.
As Icarus was walking to the place he was directed to, he internally congratulated himself.
"Whew, i saved myself there. I really just thought that up in the spur of the moment, as my armor and Nabe really make each other stand out."
As he approached and entered the 'establishment', it reminded him of a Wild West era tavern.
The inside was similar, to the outsides appearance, and a quick sweep showed everyone here had either a copper or iron plate. Just like in the Adventurer's Guild, all eyes and attention were soon focused solely on the two. He walked up to the innkeeper, who as served as a bartender, and asked for a room for two. The bartender, a scarred bald man, looked up and took in their copper plates.
"How long?"
"One night."
"That will be five coppers a night, food is oatmeal or old bread with vegetables. If you want meat, that's an extra copper. You know, there are three inns for adventurers and this place is for low-rank or new adventurers who usually share a room to know their comrades better and build parties. If you don't have sufficient strength or teamwork, you will die out there against the monsters. Use your brain, or is that flashy helmet empty? So, do you want a room for two or a shared room?"
"Room for two, no food." came the reply, unchanging.
"Hmph, very well, that'll be seven coppers upfront."
After the battle with the Sunlight Scripture, Icarus had taken all the possessions of the dead, be it money or equipment. He had few gold coins but he had a large amount of coppers, as well as silver coins. After he paid the money, he was handed a key.
"Up the stairs, first room to the left. You can store your things in the chests. Don't cause too big of a problem."
"Understood."
As the pair turned to retire to their rooms, a man stuck his foot out, blocking their path. Icarus was not in the mood for some small fry to bully him, and as he looked at the offender, he noticed the silver plate hanging around the muscular man's neck.
"That's interesting, I thought only iron and copper plates stayed here."
Icarus promptly stopped and delivered a hard kick to the man's foot. However, the only reason that man's foot didn't fly away, was because Icarus restrained himself. After he came back from Carne, he realized the reason he was underestimated was because he had on a ring that hid all of his power. In YGGDRASIL, player names normally displayed colors so you could tell their relative strength, and his ring made his name the default gray. But there were no floating nametags here, so the ring instead masked all of his aura. He had then realized the importance of aura. Aside from appearance and prior knowledge, You could judge from an aura, their strengths and alignments. While this wasn't set in stone, if someone's aura made it hard for you to move, and felt like nasty things, its pretty clear that they're evil and stronger then you. Furthermore, it was like real life, where you could pull your punches, he could also lower his abilities and strength. As he started experimenting and attempted to lower his strength, his strength had dropped far more the intended. Eventually, he figured out the secret. If his power was 10, and he wanted to lower himself to 6, he would suppress himself by 2, and he would use another 2 in order to suppress that 2. In short, he had to suppress half the power he wanted to lower. He was currently around tier four, Level 25. After he delivered the kick, the man immediately shot up.
"Oi,oi,oi! You kicked my foot."
"Yeah, because your dumbass thought it would be a good idea to stick your foot out where I was walking."
"Huh? You bastard, your lucky I'm nice. I'll let you off if you give me your woman for one night."
Narberal was livid.
"How dare this filthy human do that?! I'm a Pleiades, meant to serve only the 41 Supreme Beings! I will kill him for-"
Her thoughts were cut off as her master put a single reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"My partner is not an object to be bartered or traded."
Icarus calmly spoke, then single-handedly lifted the man by the neck.
"Fuck off, you trash." was the last thing the man heard before his vision went blurry, and he felt a massive pain on his head, something shattering, then he blacked out.
Icarus had thrown the man against the wall, and he promptly fell down onto a table, breaking a potion and causing the woman who sat there to scream.
The silence that followed was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Everybody was silent as they once again stared at the duo. Icarus turned to continue up the stairs, only to find a red haired woman blocking his way. her bright red hair was short, her tanned skin and sharp eyes were proof of years of experience and work.
"...Pay me..."
"Huh?" Icarus had noticed her iron plate and mistakenly assumed she was another thug. He was about done with these adventurers, but the woman's next words brought him back to reality
"You broke my potion...my potion that I had to save up...save up so long for!"
"It's just a potion..."
"That potion was one gold and twenty silver, now a rich guy like you must have some potions on him, give me a potion or the money."
Icarus was annoyed at her attitude, but he was also wise enough to realize he was in the wrong. He handed her a [Minor Healing Potion], one of plenty he had but never used. The woman glanced at it suspiciously before nodding and leaving without another word.
""About fucking time."
Icarus sighed in exasperation as he and Narberal finally made it to their rooms without another interruption.
" Once again, their departure sparked conversation.
"Whoa, they're pretty strong, to have lifted a silver plate with one arm."
"Maybe the armor boosts his physical strength, he didn't seem to have any weapons."
"He's probably platinum, and that girl would be an a similar level."
"Platinum? No way. I bet even most mythril adventurers couldn't do what he did!"
The next bit of gossip made its way around E-Rantel. Soon, everyone knew that the new copper plate had easily thrown a silver plate with one hand.
Up in their room, Nabe and Icarus sat down to discuss plans.
"This place is disgusting. How dare they make you stay here, Lord Icarus."
"Narberal, remember our plans. I am Light, and you are Nabe. I'm a magic warrior, and you are a magic caster. We are the duo Yin Yang who come from a faraway land. You are to limit yourself to 4th tier spells unless given permission, do you understand?
"Understood, Lord Icarus."
"Nabe..." Icarus's tone was a warning.
"Sorry...Light." Narberal hurriedly fixed her mistake. But it felt weird for her to call her master in such a causal way.
"I guess that's that. Now what the fuck is going on?!"
He sat down onto the bed, and the wooden frame creaked in sighed, and reviewed all the events that had happened in the time between his return to Nazarick and his departure for E-Rantel. First, within his office He had gone over reports and they stated that no contact has been made with any other YGGDRASIL players, which was a great relief, as being maximum level wasn't exactly impressive. The game had been out for 12 years. Icarus was always ranked in the Top 100 out off all the countless players of YGGDRASIL. But he knew that NPCs were very different from players. He was still unsure about resurrection, and it would be a nightmare if a handful of elite players or a peak player just stumbled onto Nazarick and started ravaging the place. For now, he would lay low, and gain more information, when he was sure of this world's ability, then he would make his move.
"Nabe, do you hate humans?"
"Yes. They are all weak and disgusting bugs." the reply came without hesitation.
"I guess almost all the NPCs hate humans, i mean Nazarick has no human inhabitants. Ainz Ooal Gown wasn't exactly a human friendly guild."
"Nabe."
"Yes...Light?"
"I see that she still isn't used to my new name."
"I never told you guys this, but I want to thank you all for always being there for us. The Pleiades, Floor Guardians, all of Nazarick's inhabitants. I'm glad we made so many memories. I don't know where I'm going with this, but I really want to thank you for your loyalty. It's just that sometimes...I feel like I don't deserve it."
"What are you saying, Lord Icarus?! We were made to serve you 41 Supreme Beings! Now, you are the last one left! We all wish to serve you with everything we have!"
"...I'm happy to hear that, Nabe. Goodnight."
Meanwhile, In front of a workshop, Brita, the girl from earlier stared at the door. AS she pushed open the door, the bell mounted on top rang out to alert everyone within of her entrance.
"Welcome!"
It was definitely a male voice, but not a man's.
She saw a teenage boy standing before her, dressed in heavily used coveralls ,with blond hair covering half his face. He and his grandma were some of the most famous people, due to their talents and abilities.
"…Are you Nfirea Bareare?"
"Yes, that's me."
"May I know the reason for your visit at this time?"
"Ah, yes. I have a strange potion that I would like to appraise."
"…May I see the potion?"
Nfirea brought the potion close to his face, and swept away his hair, revealing a beautiful youthful face, with a pair of steely eyes.
"...Could you follow me inside?"
His tone was giddy, and his face had a massive smile on it, so Brita agreed, and entered a messy room with a massive table in the middle and shelves on the walls.
On the table were all sorts of scientific equipment, such as flasks, test tubes, mortars, funnels, beakers, and various other items. The shelves on the walls were jam packed with all sorts of herb and mineral.
The person who was already within the room stared at the two intruders.
She was a very old woman with wrinkled skin, pure white hair, and an even more beat up pair of overalls.
"Grandma!"
"What is it, you brat? You know my ears work fine, right?"
Nfirea's grandmother, Lizzie Bareare, was unanimously known as the greatest herbalist in this city.
"Come check this out."
Lizzie accepted the potion and studied it with a focused gaze.
"This potion…where the hell did you get this?! Impossible…did you raid a ruin?"
Lizzie's eyes, which were now full of suspicion, turned to gaze at Brita, who felt uncomfortable under the unmovable gaze.
"Umm...someone gave it to me as payment."
"…Huh?!"
Lizzie's eyes became even more suspicious.
"Who the hell gave this to you?"
"It was some man in a set of full plate armor..."
"You know that herbs and magic are used to make potions, right? The more magic and less herbs are in a potion, the better it is and the more rare and expensive it is. Your's is definitely a purely magic potion, but...yours is red...and everyone knows that all potions turn blue in the process. I've never seen a potion like this so I'm going to check out this item with some spells.
"[Appraisal Magic Item]"
"[Detect Enchant]"
"AHAHAHA! Look at this potion, Nfirea! This is the perfected form of all potions! Everyone in the business of making potions have studied for so long, but we haven't been able to achieve this. This potion won't deteriorate even without preservative magic! It's the perfect potion! Ancient legends say that the original healing potions wer made from the blood of the gods. They were just legends, so people often joke that the gods had blue blood."
After her tirade, Brita was shocked in to silence. The silence was broken by Lizzie:
"...This potion is equivalent to a second tier healing spell, so it would fetch around eight gold. But if you consider the rarity, people will kill you without blinking for it."
To an iron plate the potion's base value was already very high, to say nothing of the rarity."
"I'll buy it for thirty two gold pieces."
Sensing Brita's hesitation, Lizzie asked her a question
"Can you describe the person who gave you this?"
"Umm...he was covered in a full set of white plate armor, it had golden stuff swirling on it, and he was with a pale girl with black hair and a black cloak. I think they were both copper plate adventurers."
"...Interesting..."
The next morning, as the sun rose, Icarus entered the guild again. It was morning, and everyone came to get the best jobs available as they were first come, first serve. There were warriors with massive swords, robed fellows wielding staves, and all sorts of people. Icarus moved forward to the counter, where three of the guild's receptionists were stationed. As Icarus was surveying the adventurers he noticed the large frequency of gold and silver plates, he also noticed that people took the parchments on the board to the receptionists. He remembered a Relic Class item he had in his inventory, called [All Seeing Eye]. It gave him the ability to see all traps under tier seven. Apparently it now gave him the ability to read everything that was written. He grabbed a parchment that called for a escort for a rich merchant and his family.
"I would like to take this job."
"I'm sorry, but that job is only for mithril plate adventurers…"
"I know."
"Er...if you fail the job, many people will die..."
Hearing this, Icarus slowly sighed, and noone here was an idiot. Everyone understood that he was sighing in exasperation, or anger.
"The person behind me is my partner, Nabe. She is a magician of the fourth tier."
A collective gasp filled the air, and everyone looked at Narberal in shock. In this world, the third tier was the limit for most people.
Everyone's eyes the shifted to Icarus's stylish full plate armor.
Adventurers wore equipment which matched their abilities. A copper plate would not have an adamantite sword, and an adamantite plate would not be using a rusty dagger.
Icarus continued on:
"I am a magic warrior on a similar level to Nabe. I do not wish to belittle anyone, but we didn't become adventurers to fight some animals for a few pieces of copper. If you doubt our strength, we can show it to you."
Murmurs of agreement were heard, after all, adventurers valued strength, and they understood that Icarus and Nabe simply wished to use their full abilities.
However, the counter girl was unmoved.
"…I am very sorry, but we cannot let you take this job."
The receptionist lowered her head in apology, and Icarus sighed in defeat. Before he could continue, he heard a voice call out:
"How about helping us?"
He turned around and saw an adventurer team of four, all silver plates.
"What's the job?"
After hearing his response, the leader led him to a table on the second floor, with chairs all around it.
They sat down, the four on one side, Icarus and Narberal on the other. He noticed their actions which did not fit their appearances of young adults around the age of twenty.
"Before we begin discussing the job, let us introduce ourselves."
"I'm the leader of the Swords of Darkness, Peter Mauk." said a blond hair blue eyed fellow.
"That's the eyes and ears of our team, Lukrut Volve."
Lukrut was a blond man in leather armor . He was slender, and his brown eyes contained a hint of amusement.
This is our magic caster, Ninya, The Spellcaster."
"...Hey..."
He was the youngest person in the group, with dark brown hair and blue eyes.
"He?! That is definitely a female!"
Ninya's face was androgynous, with pale skin, and a higher-pitched voice than the others.
"...Peter, can you not use that embarrassing nickname?"
"Nickname?"
"He's a talent holder, and a brilliant magic caster."
"Oh…"
"According to Nigun, talent holders are born with special abilites that give them a massive advantage over others. What about martial arts? Neither of these exist in YGGDRASIL, but their definitely similar. Martial arts are like skills and the spells are mostly all from YGGDRASIL, albeit their low level. Talents aren't that rare, it's like a 0.5% chance you have a talent, but then again, a warrior won't need a farming talent, I doubt there are many overly strong talents."
"His talent lets him learn spells in half the time it takes others to." Peter bragged, as if Ninya was his own child.
"Half? Hmm, that is pretty impressive. Imagine only having to school for half the time."
"...it's nothing, really. There are plenty who are more famous than me."
"Are you talking about Nfirea?" Lukrut asked.
"Who's that?"
"...Are you not from around here?"
"C-Correct. We only arrived at E-Rantel yesterday."
"Oh, okay then. Nfirea Bareare is the only grandson of a famous herbalist. His talent allows him to use any magic item. If it has magic, then he can use it. Its as if the limits and restrictions don't exist for him."
Icarus sat back, lost in wonder.
"How overpowered. Does that mean he could use the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, or World Class Items? Did it have limits?"
He was someone to be wary of, but he could be very useful as well.
Returning his attention to the four, he realized the last one, a plump man with a full beard, was unknown to him.
"...And who is your friend there?"
"Ahh, Dyne Woodwonder. He's a druid who uses healing spells and nature magic. He has plenty of medicine on him."
"Nice to meet you!" came the greeting.
"Well, my name is Light, and this is my partner, Nabe."
"Um, what's your relationship with Nabe?"
The Swords of Darkness tensed as they heard Lukrut's question, but Icarus was unaware of this.
"We're just traveling partners." Icarus answered.
"Nabe, I love you! Please marry me."
"Die, you filthy maggot."
"How cruel! How about we start off as friends, then?"
"Shut your mouth you lowly insect."
Attempting to ignore that, Icarus hurriedly asked about the mission.
"Ah yes...about that job, it's an escort mission. We don't know much, we're supposed to meet the client today."
"So why would you ask for my help, me and Nabe are copper plates."
"About that...our employer asked specifically for you."
Hearing this, Nabe stood to rose, as she thought it was a trap. Seeing this, Icarus quickly stomped on her foot underneath the table, to prevent her from causing a commotion.
Continuing, Peter added on:
"And we also heard about what you did last night to a silver plate."
"I mean, I would gossip if I saw that too, but isn't this too quick?!"
"I-Is that so? Shall we go and meet them then?
"Yes. He should be here soon."
Soon, a blond teen with hair dangling in front of his eyes greeted them as he came into view.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Nfirea Bareare, the one who put out that job."
The boy nodded, and Ainz returned the gesture.
" So, can you give me the details about this mission?"
"Very well, I think it would be for the best if I explained in detail. I am Nfirea Bareare, a herbalist in this city. I'll be heading into the nearby forest in order to harvest herbs. I was hoping that you could protect me. You will be paid after the mission, and you keep any profit from the monsters"
"Bodyguards. Seems simple enough. Go with Nfirea while he gathers herbs and don't let him die."
"Understood, when will we be leaving?"
"We will leave around tomorrow morning."
It was nighttime, and within E-Rantel's graveyard, a hooded person walked the catacombs with silent steps.
The figure shed its hood a young woman around the age of twenty. She had a pretty face, with a cute smile, but that smile didn't reach her eyes, which were cold and sadistic.
A skinny bald man, dressed in a dark red robe, clutched a black staff with his shriveled hands.
"Do you have the item?"
"Of course Kajit. I just came here just to bring it to you."
The girl flashed him a smile and reached under her cape. There was the sound of clattering, and then the girl held out a beautiful circlet.
"T-That's a Crown of Wisdom! That's one of the treasures of the Slane Theocracy!"
"Yep. I saw a girl wear it, so I stole it, and she went crazy! I mean, it's beautiful, but is it really that important?" the girl teased.
"You knew exactly what would happen. As a former member of the Black Scripture, you know that the Crown turns them into mindless puppets. It can only be used by one in a million girls, how the hell do we find someone?"
"..Anyways, Khajit Dale Badantel, I have an idea. Have you head about that kid in E-Rantel?"
"No i have not. What about the kid is so interesting?"
"He can use any magic item, meaning that he can also use the Crown of Wisdom."
"...Interesting, Clementine, interesting indeed..."
Currently Known Equipment and Abilities:
EQUIPMENT
-[Holy Set] (Legendary Class Armor Set) (Archangel)
ITEMS
[All Seeing Eye] (Relic Class Item) (see all 6th tier or lower traps/read all written languages)
SPELLS
-[Cruel Contortion] (4th tier)
-[Implosion] (8th tier)
XXX
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I also fixed the Character Sheet for Icarus to make more sense. I'm sorry if it was uncleared but Icarus was way too overpowered and I didn't plan him like that. His forms all have different strengths and weaknesses. Divergence starts around the fight with Clementine and Khajit. 7/20/20
-ASAI