Chapter 1 The wards
Harry had had trouble deciding the race he wanted to be. At the very beginning, when he was creating the avatar he strongly suspected would be made "real", the only thing he was sure about was that he didn't want to be something as boring as a human.
He didn't want to give up magic either. With this condition in mind and after seeing the options Yggdrasil gave, he finally settled for being a Djinn, something similar to the Genie of the lamp. He had been tempted to be a Necromancer like Momonga, mostly because it would be an internal joke if he could get the subcategory of "Master of Death" as his friend had done. Who would have guessed he could have that title twice? But in the end, he figured he would be uncomfortable if he couldn't take an appearance that somewhat resembled a human, so he had given up that idea.
The Djinn were a race heavily specialized in magic, in Yggdrasil, their description was "An invisible shapeshifter that can appear in the form of a human or an animal" and even if his original form looked like humanish smoke, the shapeshifting category allowed him to have a physical body that resembled his own. As such, he looked the way he was used to, white skin, black messy curls, emerald eyes, and a slightly short height.
In this body, physical attacks weren't his forte, but as he reached the maximum level of 100 he considered he could at least defend himself long enough to escape if it came down to a close-range physical battle.
His original body, the one he had before being forced into the game's avatar, had been stronger. Living for as long as he did, he had learned all kinds of fighting in his travels, and had a very big arsenal for physical, magical and mental battles. He wasn't sure if that would apply now that the game was made reality, which brought him to his current test.
Sneaking out of Nazarik without being noticed.
He had told the maids he was retiring for the night, so he was alone when he used a mix of his Djinn magic and his original magic to make himself invisible, odorless and silent. Using the ring of Ainz Ooal Gown, he teleported to the first floor, and noticed Demiurge's most trusted guards at the top of the staircase.
Silently wondering why they were out of their assigned posts, he was about to start walking when he saw Demiurge and his guards looking in his direction, looking confused and alert. Blinking in surprise, he tried to think how he had been discovered so soon when he realized he had done nothing to hide his aura. Demiurge probably sensed his magic and the aura he had as a "Supreme being" even if he couldn't see or hear him. Cursing softly, he admitted defeat and canceled his concealing magic with a flick of the wrist.
"Greetings"he said with a smile, nodding in their general direction as he walked closer to them. Once he reached the top of the stairs they kneeled as one, with Demiurge at the head.
"Hadrian-sama. May I ask why you have come here, without your escort?" asked Demiurge from his kneeling position. Was it his imagination or his tone held a slight reprimand? And here he thought only Sebas would voice his concern.
Harry knew the demon had wanted to ask why he was invisible as well, but was grateful he didn't. The answer "because I wanted to sneak out unnoticed" probably wouldn't have been a good one.
"There's something I need to do outside, please don't pay me any mind and continue with your assigned duties" was Harry's non-answer. He wanted to test out the limits of his power in this world and how much he could mix it with wizarding magic, among other branches he had gained from previous experiences in other worlds.
"Pardon me, Hadrian-sama, but I cannot allow your noble self to proceed unaccompanied. I am aware that it may inconvenience you, but I hope that in your boundless mercy, you will permit one of us to escort you." said Demiurge still with his gaze down. Ah, his intention by going out was to try to put protective wards in Nazarik, and wanted to be alone in case it was a failure… but Demiurge wasn't likely to allow it. Seemed he would have to attempt it another day.
"Hmm very well, then one of you may come with me" he said before walking towards the entrance, another pair of steps following him.
The sky was very beautiful.
He couldn't help but admire it from his place flying in the sky, relaxing at the silence that was only broken by the sound of the wind and Demiurge's wings as the demon flied behind him.
"Yet another world to explore. It's bound to be interesting, don't you think?" he muttered softly, without taking his gaze from the night sky.
"Of course, Hadrian-sama. Another world… If your servant is allowed one question, may I inquire on the number of worlds my Lord has known?"
"Hm? How many… well, if you count the world Nazarik was located in originally, I'd say I've visited at least 50" he answered, turning around to meet the demon's surprised gaze. 'Visited' was the right word alright, it's not like he had actually stayed in all of them. There had been a few too violent for his tastes, and others were his original magic was partially blocked, so he had refused to live on those.
And then, there were a few where he had ended up as a political advisor, the true King in the shadows. It had all the fun of strategy without half the complications, which made it very entertaining.
Not paying attention to the soft gasp coming from the floor guardian, he instead focused on the moving ground that Mare was using to conceal Nazarik. His magic certainly was impressive.
"I'll go pay a visit to Mare" he said looking at Demiurge's frog-like face. He nodded and excused himself, saying he had a previous compromise. Considering the task he had given him and Albedo, they were probably still discussing the best security system for Nazarik.
"You may go"
Harry flew slowly, waiting for Demiurge to get farther away before activating again his concealing magic. This time, he also called in the magic and aura that usually surrounded him, hoping it would be enough.
Nodding to himself, he slowly flew down until he was on the ground, surrounded by Nazarik's tombs in the graveyard area. The graves seemed placed at random, and with only the light of the moon upon them it made for a nostalgic scenario.
Ah, he would have liked it if Momonga had stayed. If only for companionship's sake, at least he would have had someone he could speak normally to. The NPC's, being servants, always talked to him with respect and adoration, and, in case of Shalltear and Albedo, with infatuation.
He had changed Albedo's settings from being a slut to 'chooses her romantic partners carefully', since he would have dreaded to have her succubus instincts compromise a mission. As such, it had been an honest surprise when she had stated her love for him when he asked the guardians about their opinion of him. He should have expected that, considering he was a 'Supreme being' and thus, supposedly unable to make any mistakes…
He was getting out of track. Kneeling on the dirt, he placed his left hand on the ground while the other one summoned the elder wand. The three objects never failed to follow him, no matter where he went, but he couldn't help but feel sad that his other belongings had stayed in the polluted world from before. He had a lot of things from other universes in his bag; he would have to ask Death to retrieve it soon.
"Focus" he reprimanded himself. Closing his eyes, he started to chant in his mind the routine of protections he placed whenever he designated a place as 'home'. The air surrounding him became warm and he could feel his magic giving soft pulses to the ground, a sphere invisible to anyone but him starting to grow around Nazarik's external walls.
The place he needed to cover was huge; he could feel his magical reserves getting slowly drained. By the time he was about to finish, he had lost a considerable amount of mana.
He was focusing on the finishing touches when three panicked voices saying "Hadrian-sama!" reached him.
Raising his head, he blinked in surprise at the sudden appearance of Demiurge, Albedo, and Mare, all looking at him with worry. They had knelt in front of him, when did this happen? He could see his own hand on the ground, so his invisibility must have disappeared at some point during the warding. Albedo had both hands together as in prayer, her ring shining under the moon's light. Ah, now he knew how exactly they had surprised him.
He had given rings of Ainz Ooal Gown to all the guardians, stating that it was necessary for the security of Nazarik. In case of an invasion it was better if they could travel freely from one floor to the other, so he had accepted no objections for this. They must have teleported here.
"Hadrian-sama, what's happening? Is everything alright?" asked the sweet voice of Albedo from his right side.
"Oh, I'm…" He began to say before pausing, how could he explain the meaning of wards to them? Better keep it simple.
"I'm using my magic to protect Nazarik. In my world, they're called 'wards' and serve as a magical shield against most forms of attack." They also served for concealing and what not, but it would take too much time to explain it fully.
"B-but, Hadrian-sama is… w-why are you hurt?" said Mare nervously, kneeling in front of him. Couldn't they see his HP was fine ̶ ? Oh, maybe it wasn't. Considering a part of the wards required some living force… Harry wondered how much HP he had lost without realizing.
"I'm fine, it's part of the process since I need to kneel so I have contact with the ground. I have finished now, please don't worry" Harry answered rising from his previous spot. The guardians stayed kneeling, and didn't seem less worried so he added "Why did you come here?"
"Demiurge said you were going to speak with Mare so I wanted to see you… but when we arrived Mare said you never graced him with your magnificent presence and then the air seemed to change. We came to see the cause, and when we found Hadrian-sama in such a state, we didn't know what to do! Please forgive us Hadrian-sama, we have failed!" was the crying response of Albedo, a few tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Mare was in a similar state while Demiurge looked outright depressed.
…What was going on? What was affecting them so much? Did they think they had failed because they mistook him as an enemy? Thinking about this, Harry decided to try another approach.
"This brand of magic is from my original world, there was no way you could have recognized it so please don't worry about it." he said softly, making calming motions with his hands. Letting out a sigh, he suddenly felt very tired.
"I must apologize; it seems I have distracted you from your assigned duties so I will retire for the night. Thank you for your hard work, I'm very pleased with you" Harry said giving them a warm smile. The last thing he saw before teleporting back to his room was the faces of the still depressed guardians. He would have to reassure them in the morning; right now he was feeling like shit.
"We have failed" were the sad words of Albedo when their leader left, the other two looking at her with sorrow.
"H-Hadrian-sama sacrificed so much…" was the trembling response of Mare, before breaking down crying. Their Master had lost a terribly high amount of mana and health. When they arrived he was kneeling with his eyes closed, and wouldn't react no matter how many times they called for him.
"We have failed Hadrian-sama. Even when he set us the task of Nazarik's security, is evident our effort wasn't enough. Why else would he come and do it himself if not for our incompetence? We must double- no! triple our efforts! Least he decides to leave us! We must work hard to be deserving of his mighty rule!" said Demiurge, his form was slightly trembling and his tail moved from side to side in obvious distress.
The other two looked at him with determination. They would NOT fail their dear Master a second time.
AUTHOR NOTE:
Hi new readers! Just a quick message~ This was my first story, and it is probably a good example of the growth of an author as they gain more and more writing experience. The first chapters could have been better written, but as it is all I can do at this point is thank you for reading, and hope you'll make it to the last chapters haha.
Thanks for reading and see ya' around!