Overlord chapter 3.
The mines had been abandoned some 20 to 30 years ago, and records suggested that available ores and minerals have since been fully mined. It was a huge mining project when it was discovered, bringing great prosperity to the nearby small towns, but resources do not last forever. All that's left now are sealed mines and flooded quarries that has since been slowly reclaimed by the surrounding natural vegetation, and what was once a massive quarry is now disguised by the grasses and scattered trees.
The request that came to the adventurers guild was to exterminate the monsters that recently claimed the mines as it's own, and the monsters has started to attack passing caravans along routes near to the mines.
"You ready to go, Anna?"
"Yes." The brunette lady replied. She tied up her shoulder length hair into a ponytail. made some final checks to her equipment, and turned to reply, "Yes. Ready." She walked out of her room and headed downstairs to gather with the band of adventurers.
"Ah everyone is here. Let's start. The adventurers guild commissioned 3 teams to attack the mines. We, the Black Spear as the last of the 3 that accepted the request. The mission is simple. Head out to the mines and kill all the monsters you see, and then into the mines and destroy any monsters that made a nest or base there."
"Who are the other 2 teams?" Anna asked of her leader, Tevas.
"2 other platinum ranked adventurer groups, the Dragon scale Band, and the Eastern Fear." Tevas was a muscular, 40ish man. He carried with him 2 large battle-axes on his back, and wears a thick leather jacket with steel chains woven into it. "They have already set out from the northern approach and western approach respectively. We will be taking the southern approach."
Tevas looked around his band. There were 6 others, including himself for a total of 7. They have been adventuring together for the past 4 years and now can claim to be platinum ranked adventurers as well. "The southern approach is the old road, so likelihood to encounter monsters is quite high."
"What sort of monsters?"
"Quite mixed, from the guilds' early reconnaissance reports. Some goblins, some cat like beasts, some spiders. Rather unusual for a nest which normally only has one type of creature. If it's a nest."
They ran the odds in their heads. Goblins, catbeasts and spiders were well within their abilities. But them together is an unusual combination, so it suggested something else together. Or perhaps just an odd combination of coincidences, which doesn't merit a combined explanation.
"Its not exactly a nest, is it?" A tall, slender man asked. He looked like he is in his 30s and had a longbow slung over his back, and was the Spear's ranger and monster specialist. "If there is a reason that links all of them together, it may not be something we can handle."
"The guild must have felt strange as well, and that is why 3 teams have been commissioned for the task. We will slay what monsters that we can and retreat if we are overwhelmed. We don't have to be too daring."
The rest of the band nodded, agreeing that it was probably the best course of action. They were not reckless. With nothing else to discuss for now, the band gathered their necessities, got their relevant buffs, and then set off on horseback towards the southern approach to the mines.
...
The southern approach to the mines is the mountain pass, and was the old route before the mines were open, and the wider northern and western paths were build to accommodate the export of minerals from the mines to the nearest towns for processing and smelting. The noble at that time, had invested some labourers to have southern road expanded but it still remains a relatively under-travelled road, except the traders that want to head towards the demihuman lands beyond the mountain ranges to the north.
The entire trip to the mines would take 3 days on horseback, and halfway through the journey, things weren't so bad. Surprisingly, the monsters they encountered were few and far between. But while they thanked their luck so far, it isn't safe yet.
It was at the start of the Deep Mountain Passes, that the spider problem that the guild described in their briefing really emerged. The spiders were native to the land, and traditionally kept away from the main roads and passes, so seeing them here meant something was amiss. But there are really a lot of reasons why spiders move out of their traditional habitat, some of it as natural as overpopulation, or the destruction of their traditional habitats, or maybe its' just seasonal migrations. It was entirely possible that, it is not the mines that caused the problem. On its own, these mountain spiders are harmless, being animals that mostly used its thick webbing to trap small passing birds and insect for food, but when the path before them was entirely coated in webbing, then they were a slight nuisance, unless you had mages in your party.
[Burn]. Anna and her teammate, Harde were both mages. Whilst Anna had access to only tier 2 spells, Harde, a 40 year old mage like Tevas had enough practice and experience to use some tier 3 spell. Getting through webbings quickly usually involved some form of fire, or some form of wind that blows all the webbing away.
As the webbing burned, emerged from behind the fires was a giant spider about the size of a human. It hissed loudly, signifying it's annoyance at being burned.
"Giant Kavar spider! Change to crushing weapons and shields up!"
[Burn] Anna and Harde both casted it again, and a hairy segment of the spider caught fire. The fire may have just provoked it further, and so it rushed towards the party.
Facing the charging giant creature, Tevas grabbed his battle-axe on his back, whispered a few words of magic, [Imbue Fire] and flung the enchanted axe right at the giant spider, hitting it squarely between its fangs, slicing through its shell and splitting it's face in half. And the spider dropped lifeless on the dirt, greenish goo dripping out of the wounds.
"That was unexpected." Tevas walked over and pried his axe out of the body. "Do you think we might be facing a spider Queen?"
"Unlikely, Kavar Spiders don't get along well with black spider queens." The team's ranger replied, while approaching the spider and cutting off the spiders fangs, putting it into his pouch. "Giant Kavar spider poison is useful though, you can sell them for a fair bit of money."
A while further from the pass, they came across a small stream and decided to set up camp. As they started to cook their captured animals for food over the campfire, the group's ranger said: "But, if we do face a spider Queen, we may have casualties if we fight."
"Yes I would rather not fight it then. So, if we encounter it our strategy is to retreat and flag this up to the adventurers guild so they can upgrade the difficulty on the quest." Tevas said. He knew it is better to live another day than earn that extra bit of money.
The deer meat was still not cooked. "So far, anything else unusual?" He turned the stick around, hoping to cook the other part.
"Why mines?" Spiders normally pick thicker forests for nests, whereas catbeasts do not normally even group together, and goblins are the only ones that do make some form of dwelling in caves.
"Perhaps some kind of goblin mage is behind this?"
"With a spider Queen? They would rather kill each other."
Realising their deduction was getting nowhere, they decided to switch to light banter, joking about Tevas's age and his alimony payments to his ex wives, or Harde's future plans when he grows tired of the adventurers' life. Perhaps teaching.
…
By noon the next day, they arrived at the quarries, where the entrances to the mines sit. The quarries has since been covered in shrubs and grass, with some small trees here and there. The mines themselves had vines growing into it, except one.
That was where the boss lies. If there was one.
Surveying the perimeter before descending into the quarries, they captured a goblin that seemed to be fleeing. After some threats and interrogation later, the goblin spilled all he knew.
Turns out the goblins were not working together with the spiders.
The goblin, before they killed him, left a warning. "A huge monster has emerged in the northern mountains. It has conquered many goblin homes and it will conquer yours soon."
The goblins fled. And they came here hoping to seek refuge but instead found a spider infestation. The members of the Black Spear breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps it is just a spider Queen. Perhaps it's just spiders over-breeding. That would be a lot more manageable, though preferably avoided.
Outside the mines, they made their preparations, changed their gears and then went inside.
"A team of people left here recently. Probably yesterday or the day before. Humans." the ranger said, pointing to mud and sands, and the directional imprint on them.
"Do you think the other 2 teams came here already?"
"Certainly a possibility."
They were both disappointed and also relieved. If the other party walked away alive, that is a good thing. But they may have gotten away with the good stuff, if there were loot.
The mines had spiders. Though there were signs the cobwebs have been cut recently, there were new spiders that worked to rebuild the webs. Still, not an actual obstacle for the Black Spear.
Deeper inside, the air a little more moist from the dripping waters, there were larger spiders, but they too was no match for them. Three hours in, and a few giant spiders later, they soon came to a dead end.
The road ahead had collapsed. The roof of the cage fell through and large rocks now block their path.
"Damn."
Anna though, had a very queasy feeling in her chest. There was a voice. And it called to her. It was a faint whisper….
"Did anyone hear that?" The rest of the team shook their head, but entered into a defensive stance. Any ominous gut feels are not to be dismissed.
There was nothing.
"Spread out to 2 teams. Maybe there's another way."
They searched nearby. Nothing.
"Well, let's leave then and report what we find."
"Strange."
As they turned around to head back, Anna saw a glint. It was in between the rocks at the side. Somehow, she walked over and moved the rock aside, and saw a tiny iron ring, made for a slender lady's fingers. It's basic and had a really old design and she reached out to hold it, and put it in her bag.
Travelling back to town a few days later, they reported their findings and collected their reward for slaying the monsters. It was a reasonable sum for the work they did, though they suspected they did not solve the problem. Something was causing the monsters to spawn there.
After Tevas distributed the rewards to the team, he too left for his quarters, visibly tired of the journey.
Back in her room, Anna remembered the old iron ring that she collected, and casually tried to wear it. It fit perfectly on her ring finger.
…
…
Animals and humans generally follow the natural life cycle, of birth, growth, maturity and death. But beyond that exists creatures of magic, things that spawn when the conditions were right. Or there were a mix of both, where the presence of magic enhanced the birth and growth of those surrounding it.
Magic too, comes in all types, and of many different natures. Different types of natural "mana", supported and promoted the growth of certain types of creatures.
Deep beneath the sewers, lies the heart of the "dungeon". Where the mana streams that gathered here are the thickest.
And this was the first of many.
The possibility of a new home, in the new world.
Standing in the middle of the chambers where they fought the Spider Queen previously, he reached out his hand and tried to mentally connect to the mana stream that flowed through the chambers.
A wispy voice spoke to him in his mind. "200." He shut his eyes and some flashing images later, and he soon got a sense that 200 meant levels. If he remembered correctly, Nazarick could support 2750, so the sewers was a paltry one-tenth of that. Each dungeon in Yggdrasil had a value, a value suggesting how much NPCs it could support.
He saw flashes of spiders, of rats, of snakes, of demons in his mind. Then he had a better appreciation of the nature of mana that flowed here. It was the energies of the negative kind, and you could not support Angels using the energies here. Or maybe you could? Would the negative energies corrupt the Angel?
Then the wispy voice spoke again, "Do you accept?"
"Yes."
And a the wispy voice flashed some objects in his mind, and a mental image of items that seemed to suggest it is bonded to the mana.
"The key of the dungeon." In Yggdrasil too, every guild-owned base or dungeon had an item or a creature that symbolised ownership of that place. Defeating that creature or destroying the item would cancel the ownership, and render the dungeon claimable again.
He reached into his inventory, and took out a crystal orb, then willed that the orb bond with the stream of energy that now circled him. The orb glowed a little, and then with it in his left hand. The crystal orb was an empty sealing stone, used to keep spells of the 6th to 8th tier.
The orb was the conduit of the energies that manifested here. He felt within the orb, he had a pool of energy to tap to, and through it, he had a mental image of the domain covered by the dungeon. From the chambers, to the 2 pathways along Lvl 3, to the pathways on Lvl 2, and up till the boundaries of Lvl 1 and Lvl 2. The actual city sewers is not in its' sphere of influence, and perhaps that was why there were no giant spiders there.
He turned around and manipulated the earth to create a pedestal, and placed the orb on it.
Screech, Fury Swipes and the Fire Elemental was still standing watch over the giant spider queen, that he decided to spare.
"Do you know of the energies here, Spider?" He looked at the giant spider, now without its' 4 of its legs. Left on it's own, it would probably be able to regenerate them after some time. Arana, as the spider queen introduced itself, had a black carapace, a large abdomen, and small red spots along its' back. She was literally, and figuratively, a giant black spider.
"No, my lord. I was born here, and I grew here, but have never seen the energies you speak of." The ambient energies, unfocused and undirected, and the spider unknowingly lived and breathed them, and so the energies enhanced her, giving her the giant form and the heavy armor.
He smiled, and then touched the orb again. From the orb, emerged dark energies that surrounded Wololo, and then he looked at the spider, and the energies then flowed towards her.
"Spare me, my lord! Spare me!" The spider begged, thinking he was going to destroy her.
"Zap."
The dark energies hit the spider, and the entire spider glowed dark purple. And then the entire glow changed shape, and took the form of a humanoid. About a minute later, the glow faded, and a dark purple haired girl stood where the spider once was, her skin a light purple. Naked, he could see her light purple breasts, her slender waist, and her skinny legs. She looked at Wololo with her pitch black eyes, her face visibly confused.
"I have not killed you, Arana." Of the 200 levels this dungeon had, he had assigned 30 levels to her, and at the same time transformed her, in his will, into a humanlike girl about 25 years old. Perhaps that was how NPC customisation worked. "I've made you stronger, but now, you belong to me."
Through the orb, he could have a sense of her stats. In terms of power, she was about Lvl 30 now, compared to previously a level 15-20 giant black spider.
She tried to stand, but fell. But she tried again, and held onto Fury Swipes' claws to support herself. "I am… human?"
"No, Arana. I have merely given you your human form. You are still a spider, and you can transform back into a spider." He observed her, visibly trying to adjust herself to her new form, trying to stand and touching herself. He walked over, lifted her chin up so her eyes face his, and said. "Now Arana, I am Wololo, your lord. Remember that well."
"Yes, Wololo-sama." Arana said.
Inside, Wololo was smug. Taking over the dungeon worked better than he imagined it to be. With the orb in hand, he realised he could give instructions on other things as well.
The number of generic spawns or defenses depend on the number of levels (or perhaps a % of the total available levels, he couldn't be sure based on only one sample) assigned to it. Being a low level dungeon, the base defense of the dungeon was Lvl 5 spiders, and if he assigned 100 levels to it, it would bring up the basic level of ordinary spawning creep to lvl 10, which would deter most adventurers from entering.
And he also realised he couldn't put 100 levels into just one monster, unlike Nazarick. The power level of the boss could not be too different from the base level of the average creatures, and the "boss" multiplier for this dungeon was 8. So the max level he could put into a "boss" was 5 times 8 = 40.
He assigned 50 levels to base defenses, which brought up the base level of spiders to about Lvl 8 and already had 30 levels used on Arana. He wanted a summoned creature to protect the orb, because as the key, it could not leave the "heart" of the dungeon.
So, he once again called upon the dark energies of the orb, and summoned a lvl 30 undead champion. A skeletal being armed with a huge broadsword, a round magical shield and a tattered black cape appeared from the concentrated dark energies. He wondered whether Ainz-san's undead would be significantly stronger and has an influence on dungeon NPCs.
"Introduce yourself, champion."
"Gabbadar, at your service."
"Your duty is to defend the orb. No one shall touch it except me."
"Yes, master."
He looked around the bare chambers that they were at, and the fire elemental that was the chamber's only source of light. If he recalled correctly, Nazarick didn't have to use levels for decorations.
The sewers had a second entrance/exit, which is located outside of town, where the city waste was channeled out into the rivers. He then used 10 levels to summon a goblin handyman/worker, and tasked him with repairing various broken doors, bridges, and widening the second entrance so he could use it, and also to spruce up the main chambers where the orb lies, and install some lighting.
There was still a bit of levels left unused, but he decided to think about it some other day.
…
…
He heard of the old mines from the passing adventurers, they mentioned the call for platinum-ranked adventurers to resolve the spider infestation and the goblin outbreak. Though he wasn't too interested in the spiders or the goblins, he wondered about whether the mines are similar to the sewers.
After some friendly banter with the adventurers, he got the location of the mines, and set out the check out the mines for himself.
After the markets close, Wololo returned to his newly claimed underground chambers. Teleporting easily into the chambers (it had no teleportation protection), he saw his new servant, Arana was still figuring out her new found powers and how to move about in her new form. She's gotten the basics down, though, so progress is pretty fast. The fire elemental, Screech and Fury Swipes have been sent back to the aether (keeping them around was an unnecessary drain on mana), and so the main chamber is rather empty, with only the skeleton that stood watch stoicly, and Arana who seemed to enjoy running around and jumping everywhere in her human form.
"Arana, come." Surprised at her master's presence, she stopped running around, and walked over to her new master. .
"Yes, master." She bowed.
He, still in this human trader form, waved his hand that activated the teleportation spell, and teleported them both to the old mines. It wasn't hard to find which of the mines had the been claimed by the creeps.
Inside, the mines were packed with spiders, and he would have to fight them, if not for Arana. As a spider queen, she radiated a command aura that gave her temporary control over neutral lesser spiders, and so they gave way to them willingly as they made their way into the mine's end.
There was nothing much there, but he knew very well, that adventurers are always looking for a prize.
And he reached into his inventory, and placed the rings all over the mine.
If there was no prize here, he'll leave them some. And he let out an evil laugh.
…
…
It fit her fingers snugly. It almost seemed as if it changed shape to fit the fingers. Really comfortable too, though its' appearance a little lacking.
She tried to take it off.
It wouldn't move.
She tried relaxing her fingers.
No use.
She tried to get some oils to slip the ring out, didn't work either.
After about 10 minutes of trying she gave up, and decided to try again some other time. She's a little tired from the day's journey back from the mine, and decided to sleep. She crawled into bed, turned off the lights, and fell into sleep easily.
…
…
It's dark. Really dark.
Around her was darkness. Everywhere she looked.
"Where am I?"
"What's your name?" A voice spoke, and it seemed to come from all around her.
"Anna." She spoke, trying to look for the source of voice.
"Why are you here, Anna?"
"I don't know. I fell asleep and here I am."
"No, Anna. Why are you here?" The voice was louder this time.
"I don't know!"
"You stole something, didn't you?"
"No. I didn't!"
"Yes you did."
A beam of light shone right on Anna from above, illuminating her. She could see her hands covered in blood, and from the dark floor, various streams of dark energy came up and grabbed onto her leg. They were like tentacles, grabbing her, and trying to pull her.
"No! Let me go!"
"Anna, you've been a bad girl. Didn't they teach you not to take things that belong to others?" More dark energy tentacles appeared. They grabbed onto her arms, swallowing it. She was now covered in a thick dark slime, only her head was now left uncovered.
"No!"
"Anna, Anna." The dark energy tentacles seemed to dance around her head. And then it came over her like a wave.
"Noooooo~~~"
…
…
She was jolted from her bed, drenched in sweat.
She looked around her, and she felt a huge relief at seeing the familiar sight of her rented room at the adventurer's inn. She looked at her 2 arms, palms outstretched.
The ring was no longer there.
"That was a nightmare." She said, softly to herself. Well, of course it was. You don't have wake feeling vulnerable otherwise. She touched her messed up hair, then tried to give herself a scalp massage with her fingers. It was something she did to try and calm herself down.
It's already morning. A little bit of light filtered through the curtains, and landed on her lap. She's alive, and what she just saw was a bad dream. A strange one, but still a dream. As she got up and got herself changed into her adventurer's outfit, she saw in the mirror something that chilled her.
Her shadow was standing next to her.
"Hello, Anna." It spoke, in a wispy, girly voice. It sounded like Anna herself, and being her shadow, maybe it was.
Her legs gave way. She fell onto the floor, and the shadow extended a hand to her, almost as if its is trying to help her stand up.
She stared at the black shadow that now looms over her, and wondered whether she is going to die.
…
…
[new OC]