Author notes:
I have made some edits to the chapters 1-3, fixing some mistakes and blunders, while also improving some grammar and syntax. You can check if you desire. (Thanks to Mad-Dan90 for pointing that)
And now…
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN OVERLORD
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CHAPTER 5: IT'S INDEED A BRAND-NEW WORLD
Alkor ziggurat
Six Floor
Throne room
Both angels stood silent for a little while.
What a ridiculous scenario they were placed into.
Becoming their avatars was something dreadful, because it meant that they had turned into program data, and by that they were subjected to all rules of it, meaning susceptibility of deletion or file corruption. But that at least had some realistic basis, because it could be considered a hyper advanced form of cyberkidnapping.
However, the nanomachines destroyed completely that theory.
And that was because there is no logical reason for the nanomachines arriving with them.
They are something physical, like their own bodies. Or rather…well…former bodies.
The only thing that could have happened is that their minds only had made that sort of travel to (hopefully) another world, considering that they were stuck in their avatar bodies.
It didn't make sense at all.
"Maybe we are still in the machine if we think again. There is no logical reason why the nanomachines are here. After all, they are an interface with the computer, and they must be interfacing with something".
Leoric/Touya turned to his son, who was as clueless as him
"Dad…any clue?"
"None…"
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…silence…
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"…Are we sure that we are in another world, son? I mean-" He pointed at his forearm "Why those are here?"
"The very fact that they are inside us is the clear fact that there is no "man in the machine" scenario. Remember the "Isekai Phenomena" dad: gamers usually got stuck in the form of their avatars or directly transported as themselves."
"And the nanomachines?"
"Don't forget that they are an interface of sorts with the dive gear. If we have been transported, that means that the nanomachines accomplished their function in synchronizing us with whatever happened. Hence we are here, with the nanomachines inside us."
"Still, we can also be program data in some sort of way, son. And that's because the nanomachines are the interface… Well, we could have achieved a 400% sync rate with the YGGDRASIL main processor unit, and we are inside some temp files of sorts."
"That's true. However, I think that "Isekai Phenomena" is the answer here. You see that nothing works like in the game and is more…natural?... to do it now. That implies instinctive actions. And the fact…"
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"Looks like we are in another world" finally concluded Soichirou/Aidan
"IF there is another world outside".
That horrible possibility of being floating into nothingness was still very strong.
Of course, the fact that the nanomachines were within them make it possible that the Isekai Phenomena happened, but still…
"Let's hope that we haven't become data files about to be erased." The young angel mind was praying for that, very nervously.
And again, the feeling that they could tank those psychological trials was present.
"According to most fantasy, angels are avatar of order and balance, regardless of the intensity of the emotion they could represent. Are we becoming inhuman now?"
"Dad, how about we… explore a little bit the ziggurat? We can't stay here forever isn't?"
The elder angel was very weary of the possibility of the NPC not being completely loyal to them, so carefulness was mandatory.
However, hiding in the throne room is worse than not facing whatever happened, so in the end he has to accept his son proposal.
"Dad, let's keep Rodoph and Kurenai close to us. They are loyal to us at least. We aren't sure of the other NPCs."
"…Yes, we can do that." A still weary Leoric agreed. And both of them slowly walked to the entrance.
They opened the doors and immediately both NPC kneeled before them.
"Good. Looks like these two are still very loyal to us. For now."
"My lords, we were waiting for you" A somewhat relieved Rodoph greeted their lords.
"Something happened?" Asked the guildmaster.
His question was answered (somehow) by an arriving female angel NPC who, being aware of their lords exiting the throne room, landed and kneeled properly.
"My deepest apologies for not requesting an audience with you, great lords. I will accept any punishment that you decide to give me. But I considered of extreme importance that you come to the surveillance room."
Both players looked at each other
[CHAT]
"Seems that she is also loyal to us. That was a very formal request."
"Yes dad. And she also requested a proper punishment for her…well…lack of protocol?"
"Yes…so what now?"
"Well… looks like we are some sort of royalty, according to those two. At least let's act like proper leaders."
"Technically I'm the leader, so this will make a bit easier."
[CHAT OFF]
The guild master then faced this new angel.
"Polaris, calm down and elaborate."
"Supreme leader, the surroundings of the grand ziggurat of Alkor have changed completely."
"…what do you mean?"
"The cold tundra and snow plains surrounding the ziggurat are no longer there. There are instead partially grassy plains and hills. There is even a sea not much far away."
Both players looked at each other, a WTF?! face clearly painted in their faces.
"Please great lords, come with me, in the surveillance room I can show you what we have detected." Requested the angel Polaris.
"Ok, lead us. Rodoph, Kurenai, come with us."
"Yes, young lord" The three NPC answered simultaneously.
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+++B+U+U+J+A+C+K+++
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The ziggurat was rather unremarkable compared to other guild dungeons. Of course, a lot of marvelous guilds bases were products of players who had a lot of money to waste on, commitment that could easily be classified as addiction and, sadly, not very much else in where to invest their money. With that in mind, it's easy to understand why the ziggurat looks underwhelming.
However, it was still a very beautifully crafted dungeon, clearly a show of the dedication and care for the guild and its members.
Now, the unusual event that has transpired at midnight have given it the vitality that should have, being it real. And the halls became an excellent example of that.
The torch and chandeliers now irradiated some kind of warmth along with the light. The paints looked extremely real now (despite in reality being mere photos that the guild members took of some events and of themselves) and the carpets felt classy and comfy now.
The biggest change was, of course, the NPCs: originally, they were cosmetically modified demi humans (in order to make them fit the "animal ears" trope) dresses with maid and manservant uniforms.
What once were simple NPC following a preprogrammed patrolling path and other minor action and reactions have become a true maid and manservant corps that were efficiently executing what, as servants, were supposed to do.
Cleaning, organizing, tiding, keeping everything in order and kneeling when their lords walked through.
Sadly, considering the circumstances, there was no time to enjoy it. Still, they made a mental note to check everything later.
Their destination now was the surveillance room.
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+++B+U+U+J+A+C+K+++
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Alkor Ziggurat
Surveillance room
Six Floor
Another experience was entering the surveillance room. Like the halls, the NPC were preprogrammed into certain actions, patrolling paths and others.
And now, a very lively room where every NPC were doing their respective activities regarding a surveillance room.
But as before, no time to enjoy all of that. They will check all that later.
"This way, great lords."
The angel called Polaris guided both players to the center of the room, where an interesting, sci-fi like structure was placed.
[CHAT]
"Dad… is that…"
"Yes… it… works?"
"It was supposed to be an over glorified mirror of remote viewing and crystal monitor combination."
"And now, it's properly functional. Like everything"
"Looks like there is a lot of stuff to check after all, dad."
"Priorities first. We need to know what the hell she meant by all of that."
"Yes"
[CHAT OFF]
"Tesseus!"
The angel located next to the surveillance structure immediately turned around and kneeled before his lords.
"Great lords! Thank you for coming."
"Polaris informed us about the changes of our surrounding. Please elaborate."
"Yes, young lord. Let me show you."
The angel Tesseus immediately turned back at the construct and started operating it.
Suddenly, they received images of outside the dungeon. And they were very right in being worried about the surrounding.
Grass plains and hills were in the place where the frozen tundra and snowy steppes of Jotunheim had. And it gave a (correct) feeling of a temperate/warm climate.
Zooming a bit revealed a patch of trees here and other there. Possibly Mother Nature tried to grow a forest there but got lazy and left it incomplete. Something that looked like a small city, but it looked deserted, ruined too. And finally, they could see the sea, which shores weren't of sand, but gravel.
[CHAT]
"Well dad, there goes the 'inside the machine' theory."
"Yeah… excellent…"
"I know that you see it very cliché, cringy, but I think that this is better than being floating in the nothing isn't?"
"Yeah, I know."
[CHAT OFF]
Save for Leoric/Touya's cringyness about the Isekai wish fulfillment trope, being in a solid and… well… "real" world made them feel much safer. At least the risk of data deletion wasn't there.
Although it was still too early to lower their guard. This also could be another type of game. Not a game as a videogame, but something else.
"I may be overthinking and concluding that idiocy, but…. Damn, I think that my annoyance of having to accept the possibility of being in another world is leading me to this".
He looked at his son, who looked more relaxed than him.
"Why I can't be more like him? Damn me and my overthinking of everything."
"Tesseus! Zoom there!"
The sudden raise of voice of his son startled him a bit, but he soon payed attention on what he was pointing.
The angel Tesseus did as instructed and soon four figures were shown. Four riders. And there was no doubt that they were looking at the ziggurat, considering their physical conduct and behavior.
Although…
"Those two riders on the right look weird…"
"Zoom again" ordered the younger angel.
The zooming on the spot confirmed his suspicious.
"Centaurs"
His father was surprised too. And while he was glad that something solid and real was outside the dungeon, the fact that there were centaurs revived partially his earlier doubts of being inside de machine. And there was also the fact that one of them was riding some kind of weird… bird?
[CHAT]
"Son, are we sure that we aren't in the game? I mean…"
"Yeah, looks like Midgard isn't?"
"Yes. Although that bird… I have never seen something like that in the game before."
"It looks like a mount from the game Final Quest: Dragon Fantasy. Still, I think that the transportation event theory is still solid. Remember dad: according to the… hehe… "rules", the new world is similar to the old one."
"You may be right."
"Let's see now what they do."
[CHAT OFF]
They could see how they attempted to analyze or rather understand the ziggurat, and a small try to get close that put everyone in alert.
Fortunately, the one who seemed to be the leader ordered a retreat.
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The atmosphere turned tense. They were in an unknown situation, wondering what to do, and now someone became aware of their presence.
"What now" both angels were wondering.
They looked into each other eyes, and this time, there was no need to use CHAT to communicate.
Both of them had developed the simple but logical course of action.
Soichirou/Aidan nodded, with prompted his father to speak.
"Rodoph! Kurenai! You have noticed that someone has been aware of our presence. So, I need to put everyone on alert! We don't know the consequences of having been noticed. We don't even know where we are! And because of that, I need to raise the security of the ziggurat. Understood?"
"Yes, supreme leader!" Both NPCs proceeded to execute his commands.
"Tesseus! How far away is the nearest settlement?"
"Not very far if we get there flying, supreme leader. Those four, judging by their speed, will take one hour. Maybe a little more."
"By the way, how strong do you estimate them to be?"
A very valid question. Touya/Leoric was grateful of not being alone. His son always had a knack for picking up small but very important details, which became extremely important later on.
"I wasn't able to properly gauge their power, young lord, I apologize for that." Tesseus bowed immediately. "However, as a raw estimate I can tell you that I could take all of them in a physical fight and win easily."
Now THAT was surprising.
Tesseus wasn't a combat NPC. Rather, his racial and job classes were more suited to work as a support party member, healing and buffing his allies. And some of those classes were used to give him divination abilities that allowed him to use the construct, for example.
That class build left him with a small pool of offensive abilities.
And to top it, he wasn't level 100 unlike Rodoph or Kurenai.
So, him saying with utmost confidence that he could take the four of them in a physical fight meant that those four were level 30 at most.
"Considering that this world can be measured in YGGDRASIL terms" added to himself the younger angel.
If those four there comparably that weak meant that, for now, they were not in immediate danger in case of being attacked. So, for now, they could breathe easily.
However, there was also the little fact that levels could now be just a mere number.
[CHAT]
"Dad let's see outside. It's better to get to know our surrounding at least"
"Are you nuts?! It's supposed that we must be careful isn't?!"
"Well, dad. You made a little mistake now, sending Kurenai and Rodoph AWAY from us".
The elder angel froze.
A mix of fear and anger at himself ran through his spine.
How careless of him…
"Dad, thinking again, it's better that way. The NPC of this room are loyal to us too. Showing that we can command them with ease and not need to hide behind anyone helps a lot to assert authority isn't?"
"…yes, you are right."
"Seems you really got into your supreme leader role isn't?"
"Ah shaddap!"
"Hehe. Anyway dad, we need to go outside to see by ourselves. It's better the sooner that we get to know around here."
"…yes, you are right, again."
"And we will be taking Kurenai and Rodoph with us."
"…I understand Kurenai, but Rodoph can get out of the ziggurat? A NPC cannot go outside isn't?"
"We'll know a bit later if that is still true."
[CHAT OFF]
"Great lords?"
Polaris was confused and slightly worried. Their lords were saying nothing.
And she was pretty sure that they weren't looking at anything either.
"We were considering the steps to take from now on. My apologies, I have make you worry". The guild master said.
"I wasn't aware that you were deliberating, young lord. My apologies for my insolence." She answered, bowing deeply.
"C'mon, you did nothing wrong. Why apologizing?"
Both angels will eventually realize that they are going to have to deal with that from now on.
"…kay. In any case, we have instructions to you." The younger player begun.
Polaris and Tesseus immediately closed the distance and kneeled to their lords
"…well, guess we have to deal with this too".
"I will need you to make a deep scan and scry of our surroundings. We need to learn exactly where we are and what is the area like."
"Yes, young lord."
"Once you have done that, elaborate a map with the information gathered, and compare with the geographical information we have about our previous location and other areas we have knowledge about" added the elder angel.
"Yes, supreme leader"
"Wow. You really are getting into your role as a guild leader" Taught to himself Soichirou/Aidan "And too easily. Looks like we have already accepted our new existences".
"Feel free to message us if anything relevant happens."
"Yes, supreme leader."
Having assigned the duties, he signaled his son to follow him outside the surveillance room.
"Ok dad, that was very king-like you know, isn't?"
"Well, looks like I am the king and you are the prince. Sort of."
Neither of them was comfortable with their current positions. However, that was something that they will have to work from now on. Whatever they like or not.
What followed was a silent walk through the halls in order to reach the floor gates that communicate to the other floors. Now they have a bit more freedom to see more clearly the halls and surroundings.
"Ok, after we explore outside, I definitely have to check the treasury. If the surveillance room is alive and working now the way it's supposed to do instead of the mashup we made back there, that means resources usage."
He chuckled a bit.
"And now we have to check EVERYTHING in the dungeon. What to do, what to do…"
"Dad". His son awakened him from his management plans. "Why are we walking?"
"Because we have to go to the entrance and we can't… teleport…"
Another little mistake.
Especially because before, they have tested that some YGGDRASIL mechanics works (like spellcasting)
"Ok, then, how we do it?" asked the father.
"Let me try''
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+++B+U+U+J+A+C+K+++
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Alkor's Ziggurat
First floor
Rainforest
Both angels suddenly appeared into the entrance of the first floor of the dungeon, which was a very large stone arc in a rocky wall.
To the opposite was the floor itself, which was modeled after a rainforest.
The visual impact of a beautiful, night-time rainforest was astounding. Even in its least active stage, it was impossible to not appreciate the inherent beauty of it.
It was a blessing having an avatar with the racial skill dark vision.
However, the biggest impact came from what could be registered by the ears and noses.
They could hear the forest. The trees, the leaves, the wind, the little insects, the water…
And the smell. They could smell the humidity of the air. Pure, fresh, clean air.
Joy, sorrow, euphoria and sadness mixed in their hearts.
This was beautiful.
Something that only could exist in history, tales, fairy tales and virtual reality now was there.
They could see the sky, the clouds, the stars…
Tears started to flow from their eyes. Something so lively and beautiful was filling their hearts.
"How many would kill of this?" Was the thought inside their heads.
The nature was calling them. They wanted to enjoy everything of it. They wanted to walk in the grass, weed or whatever was in the floor. They wanted to swim and dive in the water body present in the floor. They wanted to fly in the sky, completely forgetting (or not) that they were in an… still artificial?... area.
But they can't do that yet. They have to do very important stuff before indulging in their now alive dungeon.
So, they make an effort to reign in their emotion and calmed down. A feat more difficult to the younger angel, because in that floor there was something that he really wanted to see.
After some breathing (with ironically made the task harder, because they were really enjoying the air), they calmed down.
Turning around to face the entrance of the floor they found two figures entering the floor.
They immediately put on guard.
It could be an intruder. A player maybe?
But they should have been warned isn't?
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Fortunately, the "intruders" were Rodoph and Kurenai, who were surprised to see their lords down there.
Regardless of their surprise, they immediately kneeled. And this time, both players avoided rolling their eyes or whatever gesture to express discomfort.
Yes, they were adapting really fast.
"What are you doing here?" Asked the elder player.
"As you asked, we were strengthening the security of the ziggurat, and we decided to start with the sentries outside." Answered very diligently Rodoph
"Thank you for your diligence. We are glad that you are so assertive. And in fact, makes us feel safe."
Being praised by the guild master and commended on their usefulness brought joy to their hearts, and their chests swelled a little bit with pride.
"My lords, if I may ask, what are you doing here?" Asked Kurenai.
"We decided that it would be very disadvantageous to be ignorant of our surroundings. Because of that, we are doing a small, short-range recon". Answered the elder angel.
"Understood my lords. Let us prepare an appropriate escort."
"Escort? But we already have our escort right here." Said the young angel.
Both NPC understood immediately what he meant, and a wave of pride and dutifulness ran through them.
"There is a possibility that we go to the skies in order to do it, so I am guessing that you have means of flying isn't it?"
"Yes, young lord. The lords gave me the ability to fly" Answered Rodoph
"And I still have the amulet of flying you gave me a long time ago" Said Kurenai, with a sweet smile that made the younger angel's heart flutter.
"Ejem, if everything is ready, then we should go outside" Soichirou/Aidan mentally thanked his father for saving him of that corner.
Both NPC raised and followed their lords. The smaller angel gave a final glance behind him, at a specific spot of the rainforest, and turned his head straight.
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The outside of the ziggurat was a beautiful grassy hill that surrounded it and extended long in all directions.
Once outside they could see how beautiful was the world. The night sky was breathtaking. While the sky inside the first floor was beautiful, it couldn't compare to the one they were seeing now.
The grass, the hills, the start, everything surrounding them was so real.
The air here was drier, a bit cooler and had a much softer smell than the first floor. And they could also feel the temperature of the environment. Also, a bit cooler than the one of the first floor.
Not that it affected them in any case.
They could feel also the grass beneath their feet. How it crunched when they walked over it.
A wave of joy and unrest started to fill them, and, without speaking to each other, they started to run. Running without thinking too much, without direction. Just running.
Feeling the wind in their faces. Breathing the fresh air. Stretching their legs and pushing the ground below their feet.
"My lords, wait!"
The two poor NPCs were confused with their lord's behavior. They weren't able to understand why they were acting like everything was new to them. They attributed it to the unexpected…transportation? of the ziggurat.
Yes, that could explain the actions of their lords.
However their actions became even more confusing as the suddenly sled to the grounds, rolled into the grass, …swam? within the grass and started a grass throwing battle, with eventually turned into a small greenish maelstrom as they decided to flap their wings.
They relaxed after all that nonsense, calming also the NPC following them.
However, the expanded wings on their backs and the open sky above them were an excellent catalyst for a small but very fast-growing desire they had when they decide to exit their dungeon.
"Ready to take a flight?"
"Let go"
Both angels took off the ground, putting their flying experiments on the throne room into practice.
[FLY!]
Both NPCs took off the ground too, Rodoph by the spell, Kurenai by using her amulet.
What followed was an erratic flight pattern because both angels were doing nonsensical trajectories and maneuvers, culminating in the father chasing (and failing) to catch his son.
"This is fun, dad!"
"Yes. I never expected to feel something like this."
Rodoph's confusion only increased. What the supreme leader meant by that? He knew that he could fly anywhere in YGGDRASIL. Why is new for him?
"Was the phenomena?" he could only wonder.
While Rodoph was even more in the dark then before, Kurenai had an idea.
"You couldn't be able to truly enjoy all of this before, isn't it, great lords? Always going on a mission, having to get stronger, protecting yourselves, me, the great ziggurat… Maybe this world is more peaceful, allowing you to enjoy this little flight."
A small smile showed in her face. She was happy to see her young lord not being worried about anything. She could understand completely. In YGGDRASIL you have to be really careful. You may find something you don't want. Or worse, be found.
"Dad, follow me! Above the clouds!"
His father complied. Soon both angels, followed by the NPC were going a race to see who breaks first.
The younger one won, and soon a beautiful view of the starts and moon revealed to him.
"So beautiful…"
His arriving father could not agree more.
"To think that we can enjoy something like this" added.
They stood a while observing the sky, and now there was nothing that prevented the tears from flowing.
Rodoph and Kurenai were behind, seeing how they lords dropped tears of joy.
Rodoph confusion rose even more. "What prevented my lords to enjoy the sky and air? YGGDRASIL was extremely diverse, as I heard from the lords. It's impossible for them to not have experienced any of this. Why…"
On the other hand, Kurenai's suspicious were confirmed.
She always heard her lord talking about the other plane, across the void. He hated it, constantly filling him with sadness and despair, barely able to bring it joy or conform. And in YGGDRASIL, he was always working, building the ziggurat, fighting and powering up. And later, training her.
And now, for the first time in years, his lord was doing nothing except enjoying the world they were into.
"Enjoy all of this, my lov- lord… After everything you have done for the great ziggurat… for allowing us to exist, for giving us a purpose... Smile my young lord."
Time passed. Tears flowed. Joy, anger, sadness, melancholy, warmness… All those feelings washed them.
"How many would kill for this?" was the unspoken question of both players.
Rodoph shortened the distance between his lords. Having no clue regarding the actions and development of their lords, but also wanting to understand without exposing his ignorance.
"Is this… Midgard?" Was the timid question.
What surprised him even more was the amused look that both angels gave each other.
"We… don't know…but I think not. I think this is something new." Was the answer of the younger angel.
"This is your first time outside, isn't?" asked the elder angel
"Yes, supreme leader."
"Maybe my son is right. This place might not be Midgard. But this is how it looks like"
Poor Rodoph was never able to go outside the guildbase until that moment. He heard stories about how the nine worlds were. Stories that his lords told each other. And anything that the archives had about them.
"Young lord, are you happy?"
The young player looked back at Kurenai, still crying.
"Yes"
Smiles were interchanged between the two of them. Seeing her young angel being this happy filled her heart with joy.
The elder angel resumed his stare at the beautiful night sky, smiling. And still crying.
Rodoph was feeling annoyed by the fact that something was happening that he didn't understand. And jealous of Kurenai, because she can, by virtue of being different than every servant on the ziggurat, including himself.
"My lords" he decided to interrupt, earning a scowl from Kurenai, for interrupting the connection with her beloved one. "I deeply apologize for interrupting you, but we were requested to escort you while a short range reconnaissance is done"
Both players suddenly woke up from a dream, and returned to reality and the tasks that must be done.
"Yes, you are right" The young angel was annoyed by having been "woken up", but also very embarrassed for that little moment. And adding the fact that the elf was being logical and prudent, he decided to control himself by being dutiful.
"Dad, we must explore our surrounding as planned."
"Then let's go."
The father then started to fly backwards, when he suddenly stopped.
Everyone stopped too.
Both players started to look at each other, their facial expressions changed from surprise, concern and uncertainty. They looked around themselves and then looked at each other again.
"Are they…"
"Talking? Yes. We have seen the lords do that a lot of times."
As Rodoph said, they have seen the great lords communicate between each other without words. They used the special ability called "private chat" to do it, which was far deeper and safer than what you can do when using [message].
Rodoph was always wondering what kind of power allowed them to do that.
Kurenai has conflicting views about that. In one hand, she always was curious and marveled about that kind of communication. Her time at the side of her young lord allowed her to see how they communicated talking and not talking. In a sort of way, she was envious of that too. She always wanted a way to bond and communicate much deeper with her young lord.
However, she knew very well that the "private chat" power was somehow connected with their ability to travel through the void. The sole mention of void scared her. She, lacking the ability to travel back and forth, was stuck there, in a state of complete stasis, who knows for how long, barely aware of her existence…. Wondering if she existed or not.
Until the young lord pulled her from there and took her with him.
Both NPC saw the players' faces go through a lot of expressions before setting on a very serious and assertive one.
Then the guild leader spoke.
[Bless of Titania][Lead of Yagaratsu]
A small fairy protruded from his right hand and a three eyed raven from his left.
"Guide us to Alkor ziggurat"
Both beings immediately flew from his hands and started to fly in a straight line
"Let's go"
Following the little summons, they started to approach again the sea of clouds that they crossed before.
"Very interesting" a surprised Kurenai commented.
"Exactly what do you mean by that?" Rodoph wasn't sure what she meant, but surely being impressed by their supreme leader summoning both guide spells at the same time was not.
"I have seen the great lords summoning either Titania or Yagaratsu to guide them to one specific paths. But never at the same time."
"Really?! I expected you of us all to have seen everything about the great lords. Well, at least most."
"I am sorry for failing your expectation" smirked back Kurenai "But to tell the truth, not even half of my knowledge of their abilities is by being an eye witness. Most of it is by what the lords told each other."
"Still, that's far beyond any one else of us could have seen ever."
"Yes. There was no way I could experience all of the great lords greatness. Remember outside the ziggurat, I was bound to the young lord, following him wherever he went". Kurenai said the last part with great pride, clearly flaunting the fact that she was the adventuring companion of the younger remaining player.
Rodoph felt jealous of her.
"…yeesss…I guess that there would be a time to tell me all of tha-"
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"…Rodoph?"
"Now that's interesting" Rodoph pointed at the guide summons.
"…indeed".
Bless of Titania lead the user to the destination through the safest path. Lead of Yagaratsu through the shortest path. And seeing that both spells guided the lords exactly in the same line gave the NPCs a lot of relief regarding the safety of their lords.
"I have to admit that this was a pretty unassuming but very effective combination of spells"
"If you could have seen the great lords unleashing their might, Rodoph. The combination of skills and spells were able to produce effects that I never thought possible."
"The might and wisdom of the great lords always was undeniable. Even now, Kurenai. Those two spells are telling us a lot of the dangers of this world"
"They were always facing dangers before. Even now, they are still on guard. Always calculating, careful of what lies ahead."
The conversation between the NPCs was not unheard by the players, even if they tried to not speak loud.
[CHAT]
"They bought it!"
"Looks like. Still, this not going to be the first time we need to save face. Nice idea, by the way."
"Thanks dad."
[CHAT OFF]
Soon the ziggurat became visible. Both angels were relieved, feeling much safer.
The elder angel dispelled the guide summons, having already fulfilled their function.
"Ok, the three of you. Now we must make circles around the ziggurat and start analizing anything relevant or possibly threatening. Each time we complete a circle, we expand and cover more area. We will be doing this three times. Understood?"
"Yes" Then three answered. Both NPCs became overt serious and started the assignation my utmost diligence.
Soichirou/Aidan was very proud of his father, seeing him acting as the leader he was back in YGGDRASIL.
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Green Hoof post
Kar-Meera Kombine
Potro and Corcel finally arrived at the post after their little adventure with the humans of the neighboring nation.
The structure seen there was simply otherworldly. Magical. Too different to everything they have seen before. Worthy of belonging to any magical tale and legends they were told when they were younger.
Worthy of something belonging to the Sorcerer Kingdom.
A mix of excitement and fear ran though their bodies, very eager to know what was going on, but pretty scared of what could mean. That unnatural mist unnerved them to no end, and they had to turn back. They really wanted to do something meaningful out there.
But most importantly, it was not within them to decide what to do. And this was too big to left it unattended.
This has to be known.
"Call the First Ranger!"
"Hey Potro, wha-
"NOW!"
The elf in guard reluctantly complied. She rarely saw Potro losing composture. But never he looked so desperate.
"You are telling me what is going on later."
"Agreed"
The elf disappeared then.
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A long wait ensued. Possible scenarios of what would happen next appeared.
Will another legendary figure reshape the continent?
Will another Sorcerer King appear?
Or the harbingers of destruction have arrived?
The fact that the first ranger was taking too long only increased the already built-up anxiousness.
"…what do you think will happen now?"
Potro had no real answer, only maybes and ifs. He only knew that this was going to be an event that will shake the world they knew. He only looked back at Corcel, his eyes screaming 'I don't know'.
He couldn't stop himself from laughing at his little brother's luck. Always dreaming with having a romantic adventure and in his first night, this.
He couldn't start giving him a reason of why he was laughing, nor an attempt to theorize what would happen next, because loud stomps were approaching.
The door opened and a very beautiful centaur lady appeared though it. Blond hair in braids and a very feminine and very powerful build marked her as both nobility but formidable warrior lady.
Her face showed signs of anger and lack of sleep.
"There must be a really good reason for calling me in my free day, Potro." She said with a lot of annoyance in her voice, covering her eyes from the light of the lamps.
It was painfully clear that she was suffering from a hangover, so they decided to go straight to the point and avoid her wrath.
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Ordon Outpost
Lysterimac League
"Are you being serious?!"
"Yes lieutenant. We can request confirmation from the Green Hoof post of the Kombine if required."
"…."
"…"
"Start again please. And don't omit any detail."
The old man and the young lass recalled all what happened (obviously avoiding telling the suicidal intentions of the older man), starting with the blue pillar of light, their encounter with the centaur brothers and the scouting of the pyramidal structure.
He absorbed every detail told, and let his hands fell on the desk, completely exhausted.
"…he…he-he-he… great. This is great."
Lieutenant Conan has been going through a very nasty week, and the last thing he wanted to hear was more trouble on the horizon.
However, this wasn't a mere problem.
This was something much bigger than what he can fathom.
Tales and legends he heard and read told him about the arrival of heroes and mythical beings from a world much different from them.
World changers and bringers of a new order.
Like the Skull Warrior, champion of the Persis Kingdom.
Or the Goblin King, founder and first king of the Goblin Kingdom.
Or the First Sorcerer King of the Sorcerer Kingdom of the far west.
The legends of the ones predating the Sorcerer Kingdom also came through those events. And let's not even start with the story of other continents.
Every one of them had a common point: those legendary figures appeared without any advice or alert, regardless of the mythology that surrounded them, like the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown origin legend.
And now, he was announced of the arrival of one of those.
He looked into his desk and retrieved a pair of coins, from a faraway land.
Examining one, he saw one side a very intricate design, which represents the flag of the sorcerer kingdom. And on the other, something that resembles a smiling mask.
The coin was a Satoru, the official currency of the Sorcerer Kingdom and its vassal states. Also, a valid currency in its allied nations.
Yes, everything pointed to the arrival of a new legend to the world.
"What do you think Oran?" He asked to his second in command, a short haired woman in her thirties.
"I guess the same as you, sir". Answered back Oran, with the certainty of a lifetime of camaraderie.
The balding lieutenant just nodded at that "Schultz!"
Almost immediately a boy no older than seventeen years old appeared.
"Yes sir?"
"Prepare my horse, immediately!"
"Yes sir!" The boy quickly disappeared.
"I'm going to Crow Nest. Oran, you are in charge of the outpost until my return. You know what to do in these cases. Old man, you are coming with me."
"Yes sir!"
Having finished giving his instructions, he proceeded to take his horse and depart with the older man.
He knew that this was going to be a big game changer in the politics regarding his nation and the neighboring ones.
He just hoped that those changes are for good.
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A dirt, wide road
Kar-Meera Kombine
"Why now. It was supposed to be my free night."
The first ranger couldn't lament enough the situation. She was suffering the worst hangover in her entire life and was forced to work in her free night.
However, she knew very well how delicate was the information she received.
Something that fairytale like what had happened could have been considered an absurdity, product of a drunken soldier's imagination. But it was obvious that this wasn't the case.
After all, the world was shaped by those inexplicable events, and the foundation of the Kar-Meera Kombine was and indirect side effect of one.
The heroes of the west and middle continent had appeared without explanation, like the demon gods.
And this was the first time in a very long time that the eastern part has been blessed with such event, the last meaningful one was the appearance of the Skull Warrior.
Her travelling forced her to go to Cabalgata walled city. Not very far, she could arrive before sunrise, even with her reduced mobility.
She was going alone, something against her own training and recommendation to her underlings. Sadly, Green Hoof was understaffed, so nothing could be done.
And that was the official reason. The real reason was that her nausea was building up, and she knew very well she wouldn't make it without throwing up. No way she was doing that show in front of anyone.
And a few minutes later, she was ready to puke.
Unable to hold back any longer, she drifted a little from the road and spilled everything out.
All that good liquor (and maybe part of her stomach) wasted.
Well, it may become a good fertilizer and make some plants grow. After killing most of the original grass around, of course.
At least the puking did wonders with her hangover: the headache was still there, but the weight on her stomach disappeared.
"I can breathe a lot better now."
She also took a little time to take some deep breaths and grumble about her having to personally relay the information.
Yes, the outpost was at a frontier, one of the safest areas of the Kombine, a border shared with the League, their allies in almost every sense. And yes, they had economic and problems and lack of resources. But that wasn't an excuse to be that poorly supplied.
No message crystals or scrolls available, insufficient adequate equipment…
The [message] spell might be not hard to intercept, but at least can work as an alert (and safety measures can be easily added). And she was pretty sure that those pictograph boxes weren't that expensive.
Everything was making her head hurt.
Fortunately, in front of her was the hut that she always used when she wants to hide and drink her ass out, like in her free nights. Her little secret drinking hideout.
Quickly going there in order to get some water to wash her face and rehydrate, in a few minutes she felt way better than before.
Not impeded any longer by her stomach, she could go much quicker now. Also, she could ignore most of the headache.
"I hope that idiot is still there. He is the only one who could know how to deal with all of this".
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Outside Alkor ziggurat
It was quite the experience doing the reconnaissance of the surrounding of the ziggurat.
The irregular terrain, the patches of tress, the beginning of the gravel beach and looking the ruined citadel from a bit afar was very enjoyable. Sightseeing all of that was so refreshing and calming. Being able to accomplish the priority activity, which was gathering data by a personal approach, felt secondary.
Now that they have successfully assessed their surroundings and concluded that there was no real danger near them for now, they returned to the entrance.
[CHAT]
"Well dad, nothing to worry about."
"Yes, but now we have to decide what to do."
"At least now we know that we are far from any city or town, giving us some degree of freedom of action."
"And the most important of knowing where we are is that we won't get LOST again, son."
"Hehe, yeah"
[CHAT OFF]
"Ok, let's land. We have completed our scouting."
Leoric/Touya felt pride and relief seeing how the NPC obeyed him. And his son was into the roleplay, which made everything better.
Time to decide what to do.
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Trivia:
Mist elves are a race not normally obtainable by normal means. It could be obtained as a reward of being a regular of the Open Beta of YGGDRASIL and later obtainable in a special gacha celebrating the anniversary of the Valkyrie Downfall update. Porco Rosso, the first guildmaster of Arkandia, obtained the data core winning the 1:5000 chances of getting it.
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Author notes:
Hello there! Again, with another chapter (and this one is quite long). As I promised, I edited the previous chapters and fixed some mistakes, so take your time to reread them a bit if you want.
Next chapter is in April. And it will be the longest so far in order to finish this "prologue" arc.
Buujack out!