Volume 2- Wizard of the King, Pt. 1
The boy took another sip from a silver flask, wiping away the sweat from his face using a white towel. Despite his ragged clothing, he was being attended to by a maid in a palace-like building, though she seemed to view him with apprehension.
The brown-haired boy gulped down his drink and twisted his gruff expression to an innocent one with his eyes closed.
"Thank you!"
The servant rushed off, dismissed by an armoured hand.
Sitting beside him on an equally beautiful luxurious sofa was a hulking being in jet-black armor coated in darkness. He waited for the boy to finish.
"So, do you remember anything? From your old life, I mean…"
The boy grinned brilliantly. "Nope!"
Ainzly sweated. "Not a thing?"
The brown haired boy twisted his head, as if trying to recall something. "Yeah… I think I was born in this village on the remotes of some religious kingdom. Rai something, I can't remember. My mother… I think she was like Ukina or something. Or was it Asa?"
Ainzly flinched slightly, but stayed quiet.
"Anyways, we've sure got an eccentric bunch of servants, huh?"
Ainzly felt more beads of sweat run down his forehead, remembering the first encounter "Suzuki" had with the NPCs of Ainz Ooal Gown.
Two hours ago…
Ainzly looked, shoulders stiff and unable to move as Suzuki slowly stood, shivering slightly in the rags bathed in protein. The clear fluid was produced by the demon parasite to keep its host alive, but in all honesty it wasn't an exactly pleasant mixture.
Suzuki coughed and began in a raspy voice. "Y-yo."
Ainzly was cut off from his shock as the throne room doors were thrown open, a figure in white with a melodic voice speaking urgently to him.
"My Lord! Is this a good time for us to talk about our—"
Albedo, overseer of the guardians, froze.
"What the fuck is THAT?"
Unsheathing her bardiche, her eyes turned into a look of pure rage, hurtling towards her enemy with barely suppressed killing intent. Ainzly panicked.
"Yeah…" Ainzly trailed off.
"Anyways, our guild is great! It was an entertaining time, wasn't it, fighting off those world gods and eldritch horrors that could end worlds in one swoop? Remember when you got voted to be guild master?"
"Sure…"
"Kicking ass is great too, right? That idiot, Nigun… we put the fear of the gods into him, eh?"
"Uh huh. In hindsight, we should have done a bit more. Specifically, I wanted to test if vampire thralls made by Shalltear would retain their memories. That would have been a convenient source of information, given how the angel summoners easily died under the hands of Neuronist. Skills like [Palm of the Puppeteer], Demiurge's [Command Mantra], and Shalltear's [Dominate Will] should also be used in the future." Ainzly explained.
"Yeah, only the knights didn't have resurrection anchors, so I guess that was a potential information source lost." Suzuki muttered, as if disappointed.
While this was technically a loss to Nazarick, the Sunlight scripture was quickly prevented from resurrection with a death curse from one of Ainzly's blades. Only the highest tiers of resurrection magic could revive them now… and attempting to do so would reveal their location immediately.
One didn't make it to second place in a world championship playing fair, after all.
The boy looked curiously into the ceiling, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Also, why didn't you turn on any of the [Warrior Spirit] passives? We almost fainted quite a few times."
"W-well, about that, uh…"
"Oh, I know! You must have wanted to train our actual mental strength!"
"Yes, exactly. That's exactly what I intended."
"..."
"I have a few more questions, if you don't mind, Suzuki."
"No problemo!" He cheered enthusiastically.
"How much do you remember of the guild? The types of conversations I had with the guild members?"
"Um… Yeah, I can recall most of 'em. Ulbert, Touch Me, Tabs, Pero… your closer friends are what I would call "iconic". My favourite conversations are about the artistic effort that went into the creation of the NPCs and the base itself, which is interesting. It sure makes me want to be an artist, with how good they are."
"What did you think of them?"
"For the most part, the guild was pretty good. Touch was an asshole, but at least he admitted it. The rest? I thought a few of them were a little too focused on attaining money and power… let's see… Tabula was nothing less than insanity, and I thought Lucy and Ulbert were too hooked on the idea of us being villains. That warrior guy, whatever his name was… Peroroncino and his sibling; many of them were pretty dramatic. Not that I mind, really. It helps bring out the fun!"
"Wait, you said Lucy? You mean Luci-Fer?"
"That's her name, right?"
"Oh, but he was a g-... ok, I see. What I meant was, didn't she sound kind of masculine to to you?"
"Nope. I heard some angels are like that, though, since they are made in the image of some dude god. It must be because you are a demon, so you can hear something closer to her [Divine Voice]."
Ainzly tilted his head, but nodded.
"Huh? Oh, I see. Now, tell me more about the conversations I- I mean, we had?"
"The usual. We talked about pretty casual stuff. Life, money, jobs, monsters. That sort of thing. Yolanda best girl?" He inquired.
"What?" Ainzly blinked.
"Yolanda? The first guild girl we met, remember? Put a bounty on our heads as soon as our cover got blown?"
"Oh…" Ainzly recalled. The memory suddenly rushed back to him, and he took almost a minute of silence to process it.
"So…" The boy leaned back. "Now all that stuff is done, what do you think of this New World?"
"Me?" Ainzly was at a loss. "It seems there are those from YGGDRASIL periodically transferred here. The distinct lack of strength in this world means that even a level 30 would be considered a legend, which means that a level 100 would be regarded as a god-like being. Accounts of these beings appear every other century or so… I've no doubt that many of these claims are in fact describing entities from our world; any being from YGGDRASIL transported to such a weak realm will surely display their power for their own gain… but there are outliers; the cautious may remain in hiding."
Suzuki chuckled. "You really are smarter than she thinks."
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing. Anyways, what's our next step? My memories are always a bit hazy, since we're using drugs all the time."
Ainzly blinked. "Drugs? You mean the stim abilities?"
"Yeah, the not-steroids."
The demon chuckled. "I see. Well, for now we're still gathering information using the doppelgängers and shadow demons. As for resources, we're mainly focused on construction of a few hidden locations to act as farms and warehouses, for gold income and such. YGGDRASIL seeds are taking a toll on the local soil, but with magic that can be fixed."
Ainzly took a sip of his tea and set down the China carefully. For his race, this amount of water was all that he needed for a day.
"We'll discuss further soon. Now, I'm sure you're eager for a change of clothes. Perhaps something to fit your class?"
"Sure. Oh, I just remembered, super tier magic is lost, unless you use [Champion's Expertise] on a super-tier seal, right? I don't know if I can learn super tier, but it's worth a shot."
"You wish to learn magecraft? I can't object to that. It will be helpful if we were both level 100 and able to fight together. Right now, your class is… 2 levels of [Witch], and a level of [Worker], is it not?"
"Yep! Should we do arcane magic instead?"
"That's what I was thinking. We're not in need of an offensive caster, so a support or utility caster with a repertoire of super-tier spells is the best. A summoner is also welcome, given that we can use anchors to make summons permanent."
"Alright. Faith is not very useful because we're all rather low on the karma spectrum and my current eastern witchcraft… that's too resource intensive. I think an arcane support and utility build or an elemental summoner is the best."
Ainzly shrugged. "Your call, ultimately. You can even do both, since you don't have race classes as a human."
"Right. Well, those servants you called should be here any minute now. Seeya!"
As Suzuki hopped out of the room for a change of clothes, Ainzly sighed. He didn't know what was going on at all.
Let's review. My level 80 mage host was replaced with a level 3 witch who is also a younger version of me, for unknown reasons. I believe this is related to either my racial lore (which I don't read at all), or being transported to the New World… maybe he is supposed to be the more human part of me.
Other than that, "Suzuki" is completely normal. His personality, while bearing some parts of my own, are different, most likely due to us having different experiences. Judging from what he said about a few NPCs, he also seems to believe that everything was alive back in YGGDRASIL.
The demo clutched his hands. He was in a strange situation now.
Should he consider "Suzuki" his ally?
Should he tell the guardians about his situation?
He wasn't sure. What he did know was that somehow, by a miracle of the gods, Suzuki Satoru from the alternate universe of YGGDRASIL managed to become the Demon King Ainzly's host.
"Albedo?"
Ainzly looked around the room he had assigned to the guardian overseer. It formerly belonged to Tabula Smaragdina, the wacko teammate; that one guild member with questionable sanity.
Ainzly preferred to dismiss Tabula's strange ravings about Cthulhu, cosmic horrors, and insanity as a phase, like his very own eighth grader syndrome that definitely had nothing to do with a Nazi uniform fetish.
"Albedo?" He furrowed a non-existent eyebrow.
He was here for a very specific purpose. After inquiring from Narberal (a loyal supporter of Albedo) of the succubus' possible whereabouts, Ainzly decided to check the demon's bedroom.
"You'll have to excuse me for not knocking… I mean, I did knock, but you didn't answer."
Checking with his [Soul Link] on Suzuki's well-being, Ainzly turned his head to a more secluded section of the room.
And he swore, he looked everywhere. Behind every curtain and under every piece of furniture he cast his perception abilities, mapping out the entire room. His echolocation eventually revealed an interesting hidden door, disguised by the perfect positioning of the furniture that would distract whoever was looking for it.
How clever… This is Tabula's room, so I guess he would have designed it like this.
Entering the room, Ainzly first called out to the demon before discovering the hidden chamber to be empty; nothing except a few magical lights. What was curious, however, was a strangely dirty corner that was slowly rotting away.
Whatever was here had been stomped on and spat on for… a long time, he guessed.
As expected, none of my seeking skills are activating because she has most likely used an item of some kind. I'll return to the throne room and use the guild weapon's admin privileges to locate her if it comes to that.
Disappointed that he had not yet found anything, Ainzly looked to the last place he hadn't checked.
There's no way she's hiding under the bed. No one's that stupid, right?
Sighing, he considered the possibility that it was a bluff, a result of the overseer's intelligence.
"Um…" he was going to say something, but he abandoned the thought completely.
"Albedo?" He called out, kneeling to the ground and looking to his side. He almost had to use [Enochian], as his gigantic horns were getting in the way.
His eyes widened as he saw the form of the guardian overseer, curled up on the ground and her dress crumbled. The ground was overflowing with tears that descended from the succubus like a garden hose, though she was somehow quiet the entire time. He could, however, see her sniffle every other second or so.
"A-Albedo?" He approached nervously.
There was no response from the demon.
Ainzly felt uneasy. "What's the matter, Albedo? What's wrong? Come on, talk to me."
Albedo sniffled. "L-lord Ainz-" she tried to start, but broke into tears again.
"Ainz?"
"L-lord Ainz-" She tried again, but couldn't finish before crying again.
"Fine. Call me Ainz." He decided, seeing her inability to finish the phrase.
"I-I"
"I'm sorry Lord Ainz!" She cried, unsheathing a shortsword and preparing to plunge it into her stomach.
"Wowowo w-wait a second Albedo! You didn't do anything wrong!" He stuttered, waving his hands frantically.
"I…"
She stopped.
Ainzly felt his stress increase by several layers. "What was that?"
"I-i almost k-killed Lord Ainz." She breathed.
"What?"
"I-I t-thought there was an I-intruder, b-but it really was Lord Ainz's host-" that was when she couldn't hold it anymore and began crying.
Ainzly sweated. "Come on, Albedo. It wasn't exactly your fault."
"Y-you're just saying that for m-me… how benevolent, my Lord, but…" she looked at the blade in her hands again.
"I must do this to forgive myself!" She cried, raising the blade.
Ainzly growled.
I've had enough of this...
"ALRIGHT YOU BETTER FUCKING STOP RIGHT THERE ALBEDO I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD, I AM NOT SPENDING FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND OF MY FUCKING HARD EARNED COINS TO RESURRECT YOUR ANGSTY ASS IS THAT CLEAR?"
"M-my Lord?"
After apologizing for his outburst, Ainzly departed to leave the succubus alone for a while, his panic stabilizers kicking in several times.
I swear, I'm going to get a headache from how many times this thing activates.
Fortunately, the overseer picked herself up and seemed intent on following Ainzly to apologize to Suzuki.
Phew… Suzuki was very stoic about it, but I can't be sure that's his actual reaction to how Albedo almost killed him.
Ainzly looked back at the demon walking behind him again. He decided to walk to Suzuki's temporary guest suite to give Albedo time to prepare… But also because he himself needed time to think about things.
I was originally planning to become an adventurer using my "Momon" disguise… but now that this issue has come up, I first need to level up Suzuki so he can protect himself. There's no doubt about it, all my skills and records have confirmed that he is my host, which I require to live.
The first thing he needed to do was to inform all of Nazarick that Suzuki was not to be harmed.
[Demiurge…]
[My Lord?]
[Are you aware of the full functions of my race?]
[I am, My Lord… I know of every possible affliction the demonic shell race can have, and the exact instructions for surgeries of any kind… I also possess these skills for every type of being in Nazarick, including humans. In fact, I am working on an organ farm for potential replacements if our healing spells prove insufficient to counter high-tier curses.]
[I see… I congratulate you for your forward thinking, Demiurge. Come to me when you have the time to receive a [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown]. But that's not what I'm here for, Demiurge. Were you aware that I required a human host to live?]
[A-ah! I was not aware, My Lord! I shall begin immediately to work on potential replacements—]
[That's not it, Demiurge. I first need you to spread this information to all the inhabitants. My host, who is known as "Suzuki", is under my protection under the name of Ainz Ooal Gown, which I lead. We are to spend resources to improve his magic casting abilities.]
[It will be done, Lord Ainzly!]
Ainzly sighed in relief. The exchange had went on without a hitch. Despite Demiurge's sadism and dislike of humans, it was apparent this personality was for a very rational reason, judging by how he easily accepted Ainzly's announcement.
Now… I followed some tips from a book about leadership in the library. The first thing I learned was that getting along with your subordinates is essential. When I think about it, I myself would have appreciated a friendly and encouraging manager, so I guess I'll try it.
He pondered how he could approach Albedo in a conversation, using things he learned from an old university lecture about social science.
I have to approach them with a prepared topic I know they enjoy. Albedo, according to her settings, is… a workaholic, but not exactly. She's similar to Tabula, in a way. She acts normally whenever possible, not using her great intellect to come up with grand schemes and betray the supreme beings. She only employs her intelligence when the subject is interesting or necessary to her, though I don't know what those subjects could be… I'll assume it's working for Nazarick to the best of her ability. That will be it, then.
"Albedo. How goes the management of Nazarick? Describe to me your daily duties..."
The guardian corrected her posture quickly. "My Lord, I begin the day by making sure everything is in position for their assignments, and assign tasks to anyone with time. I then review the reports of the lesser overseers, and allot the appropriate budget to each division. I then process all of the major requests, which are sent to me for approval…"
"Excellent, Albedo. Do you enjoy these tasks at all? Do you require breaks? It is not that I doubt your stamina, but for a healthy mind, some time off is always the best."
The succubus shook her head. "Not at all, my Lord. I do not require rest thanks to the [Ring of Sustenance]."
"Hoh, is that so? Be aware that it is a magic item and that we are not aware of potential long-term side effects."
"Huhuhu… Could it be that Lord Ainz is concerned for my safety…?"
"What?"
"Nothing!" Albedo beamed.
Ainzly raised his non-existent eyebrows.
"By the way, lord Ainzly… May I continue referring to you as lord Ainz instead?"
What? Is this some sort of test?
"Of course. I do not mind what you call me."
"Hehe… am I the only one allowed to address you in such a way?"
"Why not. However, you should not do this in front of others. I do not want anyone to believe it is some sort of pet name."
Why did I say that?!
If demons could blush (which they could, but Ainzly ran out of colloquial expressions to use), then Albedo was the apex of that genetic trait. Her blood boiled so that Ainzly could feel the heat touching his cheeks, even through his armor.
"Hehe… pet… Lord Ainz." The demon curled up into a dream-like state.
He shifted in his tracks. "Oi! Stop this indecency! Overseer Albedo, I-i order you to stop!"
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
Eventually the heat of the situation died down and Albedo instantly reverted back to her professional state. The guild ring on her left hand was adjusted to a perfect straight angle and was perfectly polished. The ring of sustenance was on the other and Ainzly busied himself looking at the item, wondering why everyone, including Mare of all people put their magical rings on the ring finger.
"There's something else that's been on my mind as of late, Albedo."
The overseer looked surprised. "What is it, my Lord? Have I done something wrong? If so, I will do whatever it takes to make up for my offense!"
Ainzly chuckled. "Of course not, Albedo. It's something that I've thought long about, and I plan to include in our next meeting, but I require your input."
Albedo smiled. "There is no decision you, Lord Ainz would make that displeases us servants of Nazarick, my Lord."
Ainzly shook his head. "This is different, Albedo. It has to do with the… use of space in this dungeon. More specifically, I'm talking about the rooms and various unoccupied spaces of my fellow guild mates…"
Albedo appeared to be shocked, judging by how her hand went up to quickly cover her mouth. "Y-you mean…"
"Yes. I wish to remove the chambers of the Supreme Beings to save expenses."
The overseer appeared shaken by this new announcement. "I understand your concern, my Lord, but I fear that despite their rationale, many inhabitants will be unhappy with this decision due to their loyalty to their creators."
Ainzly sighed. "Some displeasure will be inevitable, Albedo. But I hope I will be able to convince them."
"I have faith in you, my Lord."
"Oh, it's you! Hello, Albedo!" Suzuki cheerfully greeted, swaying in his new red robe.
The succubus lowered her head. "There's no need to be friendly with me…"
"Aww… It wasn't that bad, right? You were just doing your job!" He bared his unusually clean teeth in a teasing way.
"You are right," Ainzly stiffened at Albedo's response. "But it should have been my duty to identify the vassals of my Lord."
"But Momonga here's a strong warrior, right? He can put a stop to anything if it ever comes to that."
"I feel the same way, but it is irresponsible for me, a servant born to serve Lord Ainz, to inconvenience him in any way, especially if he has to raise a blade when I am supposed to be his meatshield."
They're all getting my name wrong! Ainzly clutched his head internally in frustration.
In that moment, Ainzly thought back to his previous conversation with Albedo, where he agreed to be addressed as "Ainz" by the overseer.
He also recalled a skill he had— [Memory Safe], which allowed him to view his host's memories. He did not know, however, how these two events were connected.
Does Suzuki have that ability as well?
"Oh? If it really bothers you that much, then Momonga should decide your next course of action."
"I will have to object to that." Ainzly broke in. "As Albedo is the overseer of the guardians, she would serve Nazarick better in her current position."
"But she would be more at peace with herself, right? As a servant, she should feel better if her guilt was accepted instead of dismissed." Suzuki argued.
Ainzly thought he saw Albedo's lips twitch downwards for a moment, but then she was smiling serenely again. The demon turned to look up at Ainz with a pleading expression.
"Lord Ainz, he speaks the truth! I am ready willing to accept any punishment you decide…"
The conversation did not stretch on much more after that. Ainzly promised to think of an appropriate punishment for Albedo and both parties finished without dispute.
The apology to Suzuki thus went off without a hitch. Both Albedo and the boy smiled calmly as they left, though something… was off with the exchange. Ainzly just couldn't help place his finger on it; he felt that Suzuki would have acted with a slight hint of awkwardness, but there was none in the village boy who had his life taken away by a demon.
I'm sure it's just my paranoia, as usual. It looks like they're getting along fine.
"So, I assume you wish to be addressed as Suzuki, not Satoru?"
The brown-haired boy nodded. "Yep. Satoru's my last name and I want to be called by my first name since it feels more… casual, I guess."
"I see." Though he seemed to show understanding, Ainzly was conflicted on the inside.
When I was on earth, my first name was Satoru and my last name was Suzuki, not the other way around. I wonder what this means… maybe he got it wrong?
"Are you, are you sure? You said your memories were blurred and I'm about to register it in the next meeting, so I don't wish to get anything wrong."
Suzuki shook his head. "It's all good! I can remember my own name, all right! My memories haven't deteriorated that bad."
Ainzly nodded. "My apologies."
While Suzuki was currently dressed in a beautiful gold-and-red royal garb, they were about to select something more fitting for combat.
As they walked, Ainzly realized that he could have just given Suzuki a [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown], but his mind quickly corrected himself. He did not want to put off any NPCs that were against humans by giving a worshipped treasure to someone no one had ever met until now, even if that someone was his host.
He wanted the NPCs to build a respectful view of Suzuki, after all.
As they chatted on the way there, Ainzly was relieved that there was finally someone he could talk to casually for once. Despite the presence of the Eight-Edge Assassins, he made them swear to never divulge the information he discussed with Suzuki to anyone… except the other Supreme Beings. He didn't want to be seen as suspicious, after all.
It was interesting, he supposed. In the past, he had gotten used to having little social interaction, because he had entertaining tasks to focus on, like solo-hunting and endless hours of PvP to help upkeep the guild's expenses. He had even taken up streaming once, managing to bring in large sums of in-game money until his viewer base ultimately plummeted due to the game's population decline.
But now, he was under pressure from the flashy entourage of guards that surrounded him at any given moment, and he was not contributing much to the guild at all.
I ordered the construction of farms and warehouses to bring in coin, but the NPCs would have come up with that without me. I could honestly do something more useful than order people around.
As they came upon Ainzly's suite, the two abandoned their bodyguards and were immediately accompanied by several servants, who each bowed before opening the door for Ainzly, slightly glaring at Suzuki.
Ainzly accepted the gesture by lowering his head, while Suzuki gave a carefree mock-bow before moving on. Some of the servants took this as a sign of offense, but quite a few took the move as charming. The demon ruler pretended to not notice the antics and stood still on the circular platform, waiting for the elevator to descend.
That reminds me, I should pick a cape while I choose some gear for Suzuki.
In the game, he did not bother with getting a cape or cloak accessory. They counted either as a part of the armor or a stand-alone cosmetic item and did not really contribute to a better build. He initially wanted to get one, but YGGDRASIL favoured many aspects of realism. Horns on helmets could be grabbed and used to disable an opponent. This was why the armor around his horns were wide and sharp; if the enemy tried to exploit it, they might take damage from the sharp edge and his [Hellfire Horns] skill.
The reason players like Touch Me could get away with having a cape was due to cosmetics bought with real money— those did not have hitboxes and did not count as part of the armor.
While Satoru could certainly afford such a cape, he thought he could pull off a unique look without it.
Now that I think about it, kings all seem to wear capes.
As they reached his armoury, Ainzly inspected the golems that maintained it, watching their smooth, robotic movements that cleaned every corner of the structure. Dust was infrequent here; as he noticed in the dwellings of higher-leveled NPCs. Lower ranked beings had weaker cells in general and would refresh them more often, creating most of the dust that collected on floors. Demons like Ainzly, however, had skin cells healthy enough to survive getting blasted by several hundred holy orbital lasers.
I like the sound of that… Just think of it! "Go! [Holy Orbital Laser]!"
"Um… We going or not?" Suzuki looked curiously at the demon, ignoring the glares from the servants.
"U-uh, of course. Let's get going." Ainzly muttered, breaking out of his daydream.
Turning instinctively towards the more magic oriented section of his personal treasury, Ainzly began his explanations.
"We'll begin with some cash items that don't have a power restriction. In this world, level requirement works differently. The further the user is away from the item's level requirement, the weaker the item's enhancements are and the less abilities they can use. Even if we were to give you a high-level robe, you would not be able to use it effectively.
"While we haven't decided on if you'll become a summoner or utility-based caster, starting out as a [Sorcerer] is best, since we have items that make up for the penalties."
"Wait, you said I should learn more about the spells of this world, right? According to statistics, [Wizard]s are more adept at learning new spells and developing their own magic."
He's right. Ah, I keep forgetting to take lore into account. I guess reading those lore books really wouldn't hurt now.
"Excellent! I congratulate you for your forward thinking, Suzuki. A new tenth-tier spell wouldn't hurt for Nazarick!"
The boy smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, it's not like your suggestion was worse. Sorcerers do have generally more casting power, after all."
Ainzly chuckled. "Now, now, we shouldn't be distracted. We'll start with this."
The demon tapped a glowing ring on the pitch smooth black walls. The structure shook into action, a rectangular section of the door sliding out and folding open like a closet to reveal rows of strange trinkets attached neatly to the surface. There was a spring coil, several plastic toys, office supplies and several unrecognizable and crudely labeled objects.
Ainzly plucked an item from the storage. It was a small vial sealed with a wooden cork, the contents of which was a finger sized glowing green crystal. Ainzly removed the seal carefully and handed the object to a birdman servant.
"Add hot water to the vial and have Suzuki drink it."
The birdman clutched the air before him and pulled out an electric kettle. This item was called the [Kettle of Infinite Heated Water] and did exactly what it said.
With effects only a magic item could have, the green crystal began dissolving into green motes of light in the warm water. The birdman squawked and served the item to Suzuki.
Ainzly scanned the drawer for more items of use. The item he had just given Suzuki was the cash item [Class Reset I]. While getting killed to reset one's levels was more cost effective, they did not know exactly how respawning would work here.
Ainzly frequently had to tweak his build before an unfavourable matchup or just to prove his theorycraft, so he had a whole stash of cash items devoted to respeccing. Additionally, it was tedious to kill himself— his HP was simply too high and Ainzly liked to believe he was a man with dignity.
The respecc item he had just given Suzuki did not replace classes, but was a cheaper item that erased the XP entirely. This was because Suzuki was too low leveled anyway— giving him even a 300 yen consolation prize would be considered a waste of money.
That makes me sound very cheap, doesn't it?
He grabbed several more items, including a [XP Booster I] before closing the low level the cash item closet. Ainzly walked from storage to storage, retrieving several vital early-game items. Eventually, the servants grew irritated and offered to obtain the items for him, to which Ainzly reluctantly agreed.
"[Magic Backpack]... [Infinity Compass]... [Potion Injector]... [Mana Charm]..."
The items he chose were mostly either utility items or universal cash items. One specific item was a gacha prize— a yellow wizard's robe that gave only minor (level 13) boosts to magic, but had several utility skills and gave its user's magic attacks a yellow cosmetic effect.
In other words, the items were almost completely worthless to all except the newest of players, but they could be equipped by those of any level.
Suzuki happily stored the items away into his inventory and he was even given a [Magic Safe] for any of his personal effects… it was empty, to say the least.
Now decked out in a flashy yellow robe, the boy put on a brown pointed hat— also a cash item. When asked about the effects of the XP-reducing cash item, Suzuki reported it as a strange sensation— like he had lost something.
He then promptly lost most of his skills in eastern witchcraft. He could recall all the rituals and spells and skills, of course, he could still use a talisman, but his skills all lost effect and he couldn't cast any spells. They all came out instead as a fizz of mana.
His body also became more frail due to the level loss. The only reason he had not collapsed was due to Ainzly's internal nutrition distribution system. The clear fluid was potent enough that a droplet could feed a grown man for a day and over time the amount of energy increased their physical attributes. Suzuki was almost always submerged in that fluid, like an unborn child.
"Alright… I'll be starting the class change." Suzuki declared.
Ainzly watched with interest. He did not know how the NPCs would view the level system, especially the beginning class selection scene.
This would also help point me towards whether or not he's more like a player or NPC.
He blinked in surprise as a yellow screen popped up in front of him. No, not Suzuki, Ainzly. The demon looked curiously at the translucent screen, seeing no reaction from any of the NPCs.
Only I can see it?
Before him was something that resembled the game screen, almost like a follower manager tool. On it laid ordered lists of class names. They were labeled similarly to the game, but it seemed more basic compared to the starting screen. There were also tabs which organized the classes into magic, warrior, rogue, and other categories, and each category also had its subsections. Magic, for example, had four basic categories: arcane, divine, mental (eastern), and other. Each of these sections also had different categories. Divine, for example, had a category of beginner classes for paladin-related jobs and also a section for priest-related classes.
In the game, after choosing a starting class, a player would receive the corresponding beginner level gear and a small amount of money, along with a few starting skills or cantrips and an optional randomly generated backstory. NPCs did not receive this screen and were born loaded with levels. For followers and clan servants, the owner player would choose their build as they accumulated XP, just like a player.
It's some kind of follower manager, then, but it doesn't seem like the full thing. I haven't used one for a while, so I wouldn't know.
Tapping on "magic", Ainzly selected "arcane" and chose [Wizard]. In an instant, the screen was dismissed from existence and there was a strange glow around Suzuki. Ainzly sensed the boy's mana pools grow slightly, though the exact amount was an unknown. His magic related stats also increased by about two points.
"How are you feeling, Suzuki?" Ainzly questioned.
"I feel… I don't know, strange? Arcane magic is still new to me. I gained a bit of knowledge about it, but I don't think I learned any cantrips, like you did."
Suzuki was referring to Momonga's first steps into the game. He had initially wanted to play as a crusader human (inspired by his edgelord nazi phase), but after much consideration he thought a skeleton overlord wouldn't be half bad as well. He yet again changed his mind when he heard about the [Spirit Spellsword], a class that used mental-type magic and melee weapons. It was the eastern counterpart to the paladin. Eastern magic was less popular than arcane, so in a world where individuality was oppressed, Momonga wanted something different.
So, he had not started as a full-on warrior. As a [Spirit Spellsword], he had been able to cast mental-type magic before his transformation into a demon parasite. The reason he abandoned magic was because he enjoyed melee combat more and felt weak compared to the full-on warriors.
"That's not an issue. I have a few cantrip tomes here, but we'll be heading to the treasury to now for the rest of your equipment. Golems?"
The automaton servants heeded his response.
"Retrieve all of the arcane cantrip tomes here."
For the sake of saving time, Ainzly ordered a [Gate] to his location and the pair headed for the treasury.
As Ainzly heard Suzuki bid farewell to the servants behind him, the demon stared up at the entrance to the treasury.
Oh right, my NPC's here! I was so stressed about other things that I totally forgot about him.
Looking to the maid that was on duty in the area, Ainzly deposited his [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown]. The girl was baffled at the sight of Suzuki and was slightly nervous.
It seems Demiurge's news hasn't spread out yet. Oh, right, the next break for the maids hasn't happened yet. That must be why she hasn't heard about Suzuki.
Ainzly was interested at the opinions of the servant NPCs on the outside world. The most iconic ones like the floor guardians were your human-hating monsters, but servants like the maids actually feared the outside world due to previous invasions on Nazarick.
Suzuki treated the nervous servant as he did with any other and Ainzly was not sure how well it worked, seeing her mixed reaction. Ainzly retrieved a [Gas Mask] and a [Hazmat Circlet] from his inventory and handed the items to Suzuki. He himself had already donned the necessary protection from poisons.
Soon, they were upon the treasury itself. Literal mountains of gold filled the halls of the treasury, the ceilings reaching so high that even for Ainzly, who had enhanced vision, had to do a double take.
Wow… it's even more impressive now that it's real!
In his heart, he couldn't help but feel a little pride for every treasure he saw that had a tale behind it. It didn't matter if it was a failed or abandoned project, stolen from others, or looted from city invasion events, he felt at home.
I'm among a treasury of memories…
Suzuki seemed to share some of his enthusiasm. He would point out the items that Ainzly had fought for or found, bringing back many memories from his earlier days of the game, some even before meeting Touch Me.
I totally forgot… but what did Suzuki mean when he called Touch an asshole? He wasn't that bad, right? I mean, he never got along with Ulbert, but he didn't treat me poorly. Could Suzuki be referring to Touch Me driving out Beholder?
He was not sure. Ainzly, however, thought it really wasn't the time to talk about that and should wait until Suzuki was settled down. He also feared for Suzuki's well-being— speaking poorly of the guild members usually went badly for the offender.
"We're close to the mausoleum." Ainzly noted to the distracted boy.
Entering the hall of the "dead" brought back many unpleasant memories and Ainzly averted his eyes from the poor imitations of his guild mates.
"Yeah… I'm not exactly an artist either." Suzuki reminded the demon.
Ainzly pushed open the door to the inner treasury to reveal a large room that was almost like the reception to a museum, except with a much more… luxurious tone. At the centre of it all stood a Knight in beautiful platinum armor that was adorned with a red cape. The visors that allowed vision out of his helmet was not unlike that of a masked hero.
"Pandora! We're home!" Suzuki yelled, as if pretending to be a mother returning to greet her child after shopping for groceries.
"Pandora?" He yelled.
At the doppelgänger's lack of response, Suzuki mocked a distressed tone. "Where are you, Pandora's Actor?"
Um…
As if only now noticing the knight in the centre of the room, Suzuki began a more theatrical act. "Oh no! A strange man is in my house and my son is nowhere to be seen!"
What?
Suddenly, the armoured figure that was the knight was no more. In his place was an… egghead, for a lack of a better term. It was dressed in a 4th Reich Neo-Nazi uniform. With hollow eyes and mouth not unlike the visage of a carved doll, the one thing that separated it from a toy was its grotesque claw-like hands.
Said doppelgänger bowed dramatically. "Welcome, my creator, leader of the Supreme Beings and esteemed Suzuki, with words that charm us at every turn! My eyes are teary and I rejoice at the return of king and host… but what purpose might your great visit to my humble abode mean for the future? Could it be..." He swirled around dramatically.
"Could it be… you wish to arm Suzuki, host of the king, with the ways of the mage? I see the robes of and the gears of an adventurer on him!"
He's kind of…
Lame.
Ainzly resisted the urge to massage his armoured forehead.
How do they know each other in the first place?
"My creator?" Pandora's Actor asked, slightly apprehensive this time.
"Nothing, nothing… but you are correct. We are here to retrieve some gear for Suzuki. Also…
"I was thinking of a cape or cloak to suit my future public appearances."
"Ooh! Ooh! I will select you the finest of garments myself, my creator! Let me serve you to the best of my abilities!" He cried.
No… why is he like this!
"Of course, Pandora's Actor. I trust your judgement. Return to me once your task is fulfilled."
Why am I encouraging his behaviour?!
Suzuki chuckled. "That's right! Best son will select a good cape!"
What?
The neo-nazi bowed deeply.
"Let us be off! Ask and I, Pandora's Actor, loyal servant of the Fuhrer, will complete!"
The shapeshifter ran off, leaping dramatically in circles like a ballet dancer. The stunned with shame Ainzly slowly took his eyes off where the NPC disappeared into a mass of cosmetic items.
And here I was, thinking about an appropriate greeting. It wasn't necessary at all.
Sighing, Ainzly summoned the appraisal eye and ordered it to highlight the items with the specific data crystals he was looking for. The legendary class cash shop item activated one of its skills and a green wave of light, not unlike that of a scanner from science fiction, scanned over the treasury. Without any findings, it moved to another area and the next.
Suzuki watched he item with interest. "Handy, isn't he?"
"Indeed. It's well worth the fortune it costed."
The appraisal eye was a modified cash item originally called the [Old One's Gaze], which could appraise items and any hidden skills in them. It was combined with another cash item, the [Toy Radar], and a legendary-class relic, [Alarm Eye]. It was finally infused with several utility data crystals to maximize its effectiveness.
"I suppose I don't need to explain to you the workings of the items you have? You've been wearing them for a while now and the passive appraisal should have kicked in, right?" Ainzly asked.
"Yep. They have pretty good stats for cosmetic items."
"Hoh… do you think there's any merit in infusing it with the higher-tier gear you will eventually use? Disguising your attacks is a useful thing to do."
"Well, the effect is passive and can't be controlled unless I have [Magic Item Comprehension III]... It would confuse our enemies, that's for sure, so I think it's a good plan."
"Also, we'll probably change your current scheme, too. I apologize for the clown suit of items." Ainzly explained.
It was true. The items on Suzuki's body were mismatched in a fashion sense. Combined with the plain-looking cash items, he looked ready to perform in court as a jester.
"It's good! I'm not going out anytime soom, so it won't matter."
As the appraisal eye found one of the items— a bright golden sceptre with a red gem embedded to the top. Ainzly picked up the highlighted item and his summon rushed off to find more.
"This summoning sceptre is called the [Dance of the Elementalist]. Contrary to its title, it's not an elementalist's weapon, but rather a staff that allows the summoning of lesser to greater fire elementals. Your current level won't allow you to summon any, but keep it for now."
While Suzuki would start out as [Wizard], the class could be converted to other ones, such as [Arcane Caller] later on. Not only was this the most convinient option, Ainzly wanted to see if "talent" applied here. Were YGGDRASIL beings capable of taking any class as long as their build allowed it, or was there a cap?
People here have a much lower level cap. Unless they have the [Genius] or [Talented] modifier, most people can't even reach level 15 on novice classes, much less progress to the next class. The stronger people (after analyzing the local adventurers) take two or three similar classes, with 2-8 levels in each. It's a decent way to build a character, especially if you don't have many levels to spare.
Suzuki whistled and juggled the sceptre in his hands, wavinng it around until he accidentally burned his hands on the fire gem.
Self damage, huh…
The boy smiled sheepishly as Ainzly took a medicinal herb from his inventory and rubbed it on Suzuki's slightly charred hands.
"Careful with that thing, your [Magic Item Affinity] isn't high enough."
"Got it!"
Chuckling, Ainzly picked up another highlighted item and then several more. They ranged from powerful recovery items to robes to staves, and each was stowed into Suzuki's inventory. They were all mid-to-legacy tier items and were brought out now for convenience.
"But most importantly, Suzuki, are these two items." Ainzly held them out in his hands.
In his left hand was a necklace. Well, necklace was a generous word. Shackles would have been the more accurate term to describe the silver chain with a glowing blue stone attached to it. The stone itself was locked away in a miniature box of reinforced clear crystal.
"This here is a teleportation anchor linked to me, with six charges a day. Once it's activated, it'll teleport you to my location, or away to a "safe" location of my choosing, since I have the better reaction time out of us two. This will get you out of any unfavourable situation."
In his right hand was a hand-sized figurine of a knight in full plate armor. The metal was a pale dark grey with pale yellow edges. Ainzly squeezed the item in his hands and it dissolved into cracked pieces and dust.
"This is called [Knight's Cowardice]. Watch."
The cracked pieces that fell to the floor suddenly rose and in a split second they had enlarged and teleported to encase his body. Ainzly now wore the figurine's armor.
"While you're wearing it, no attack skills, weapons, spells, or items can be used, but your speed and health will rise dramatically— essentially becoming a tanky speedster. Every debuff and attack will allow you to move faster. It's perfect for escaping. You're still a rather low-level mage, after all. You won't be able to win many fights, regardless of equipment."
Suzuki nodded. "With the exception of world items. Remember that guy?"
Ainzly stopped, as if to think. He slowly nodded. "Right. That guy."
Suzuki was referring to an incident where the GMs gave a world-class item to a new player for giggles— and Ainzly turned out to be the unfortunate victim. It was arguably the most embarrassing death in his history of playing YGGDRASIL.
I was just trying to test the income of the [Bandit] class… well, I made my revenge, alright.
Ainzly responded to the move by raiding the city where that particular player respawned. The local clan was wiped out by the flames of vengeance and the respawn points taken. That new player was then spawn-camped until he quit out of frustration.
"Good times, Suzuki. You know, with what I did… did we go too far?"
"Nope. As Ulbert would put it, we're the 'demon gundam' of this guild— acting like anything less than a benevolent dictator is a sin! I don't even know what half those words mean!"
"That's a fairly accurate assumption. But I don't want to go on like those 'supervillains' Ulbert keeps talking about. I'd do anything for Nazarick, of course, but needless slaughter only tarnishes our reputation— to say nothing of the more… morally responsible inhabitants."
"Yeah. This place has grown on me, too. Wouldn't want to see someone like Sebastian betray us."
"Sebastian? You mean Sebas Tian? Oh, I see… I'm not very good with western names, I'm afraid."
Suzuki grinned. "Sly bastard, wasn't he, that Touch Me?"
"Hoh, indeed. I'll admit it though, I admired him at one point. After meeting him, I believed there could be such a thing as a hero."
"What a sham that turned out to be."
"I'd rather not talk about my comrades and in extension, your comrades this way, Suzuki. They're gone, aren't they? Even if they're alive, out there somewhere, I'd keep the good memories to heart."
As Ainzly himself walked to inspect a blade, Suzuki retreated to his thoughts, the voice so quiet it was barely a mutter.
"... to think that even everlasting beings such as players can die…"
It's surprisingly easy to pretend that I'm familiar with this guy, Ainzly thought.
With this conversation, I was able to find out more about how he thinks of everyone. His karma is at a steady 0– complete neutral and it's reflected in his personality. He doesn't think Demiurge or Neuronist is evil, or believe that Aureole is "good" or idealistic.
Did karma really affect personality? He decided to use himself as a comparison. For Ainzly, his biology certainly prevented him from truly caring about morality on a deep level, but he did not feel his karma was affecting him at all.
Carne village, for example. I only truly believed I should save them to test my strength and to appease Sebas. My new biology easily rejected my moral compass by showing me there was more at risk if I intervened in what was clearly an incident involving a nation. If Karma affected me, I would have preferred to simply slaughter and rape everyone like Shalltear.
His decision to save the villagers for his own gain was more in line with what a neutral evil character would do, but he was at a karma rating of -300, which was "great evil". The game lore compared this type of evil to those who would kill and… cause pain for no particular reason.
But I didn't. So I want to assume that personality is what matters in the end. Karma appears to affect certain opinions regarding others and moral matters. For example, those with negative karma should have a negative opinion of those positive karma and vice versa. More testing is required, as the lore book doesn't seem quite consistent here.
He activated a time stop and wrote down his thoughts into a notebook— "Changes to the System." It mainly recorded his experiments of the changes to YGGDRASIL's mechanics, such as magic and skills and how the NPCs responded to them. His first entry recorded the exchange with the twins about friendly fire. Aura had accidentally activated her [Forest Breath] skill and Ainzly could smell it, though it didn't affect him at all. The twins were then baffled when Ainzly asked them why it was attempting to attack him, who was a friendly.
Friendly fire. At least I don't specialize in aura or AOE skills… otherwise I would probably accidentally kill an ally if we fought in a team.
While he was pondering how fortunate he was, Ainzly was struck with an unsettling thought.
If Ulbert ever comes back, that means he won't be able to cast his spells right in our faces anymore. That means several strategies out of the game already…
Shaking his head, Ainzly went to check on Pandora's Actor.
"That should be everything we need now, Suzuki. Let's check on Pandora's progress."
The trek back to the mausoleum was silent, both figures thinking deeply about the former guild mates as their figures looked over them.
"What do you think Pandora will pick? I think it'll be something we like. After all, he's our creation, which means he carries some of our tastes and personality."
"I somehow doubt that. I made Pandora during a… different part of my life."
"I think he's grown on his own since then, to be honest. Even though he didn't get abandoned by his friends [given that he has none], new tastes don't develop from nothing. He should be on to something."
"That's being hopeful." Ainzly replied dejectedly.
Pretending to be familiar with this guy is really easy, since he thinks we're good friends.
"Don't be so down, man. If it doesn't work out we can just change his settings!"
Hearing those words made a chill run down Ainzly's spine.
That's an interesting way to look at something that's intelligent and alive.
They stood in Pandora's office, Ainzly with his arms crossed as they waited for the return of their "son".
My god, this is embarrassing. I hope he doesn't see Suzuki as his mom or something.
This thought was uncomfortable at best. He was going to be teased endlessly with gay couple jokes, wasn't he?
He's literally my alter self. Calm your slash fanfics!
He felt like banging his head into the wall.
A/N: Cut! So, how do you guys like my depiction of the young Suzuki Satoru? Did you pick up on those hints? To answer some questions:
First, no, this isn't the pairing. If I was going to ship Momonga with himself of all people, I would have advertised that. [LOGIC ERROR] is the best girl, I swear.
Second, he's here because of Ainzly's race. His demon parasite race requires a human host to live and vice versa, but since his host in the game had no backstory settings (imagine making an NPC and not giving it any settings), it was filled with him instead.
Third, this gives Ainzly a helping hand, but doesn't drastically increase his power. Suzuki must stay in the radius of Ainzly every twelve minutes, or they will both expire. If Suzuki gets damaged, then Ainzly will receive de-buffs (including death) and vice versa. This means against a high-level opponent, fighting together is very dangerous for Ainzly because despite his warrior classes, he has no protection skills since he is a PvP and PK specialist.
Last thing regarding power: Suzuki will eventually become a level 100 mage, but he cannot cast super-tier spells.
Response to Reviews:
UGANDAN KNUCKLES: Despite your sinful name, I thank you for your kindness. Perhaps even devils can be kind.
TheGreatBubbaJ: Momonga is terrible at naming things. He wanted to be a cool demon king. I will change it back if there's enough complaints.
gearblade: and good
sonic: Gotta go fast!
Lair of the East: Oops. I'd like to talk to an AU version of myself, though. Maybe he's a musician. Maybe he's a prostitute. I'd like to know.
Lapis: WHAT? NANI LAPIS TELL ME ARE YOU OKAY?!
shiroyuu012: None taken! Thanks for the compliment. I'll consider changing it then, would be funny to do a scene where everyone is cringing at his new name and he finally changes it to Ainz.
Guest: Fascinating— someone likes my writing?
guest: Ainzazel is a bit too far into the realm of stealing names. Ainzly doesn't want to be recognized as a YGGDRASIL player for now since [Azazel] is from earth. No one in the NW knows what Christianity and Judaism are, so it's Ainzly for now.
