A/N Well, someone decided to take the whole adult scene with Albedo and then pasted it in a review- which is fine for people to make it easier for people to read though as a warning if you do go read the reviews and you're not looking for that kind of content... well, that's a warning. It also might get removed by the site- I can't do that given you can't remove reviews unless they're anonymous so we have that then.
I don't remember if I commented on this before, but someone in the reviews mentioned about having Suzuki being able to change into his Overlord form- the problem I have with this is that it seems 100% way too overpowered for something in Yggdrasil, and also questionably useful. There is a spell called Undead Form which is canon which I think I've mentioned of the Third Tier which gives you all the properties of being undead... a spell/skill that would let you use things like the Eclipse class seems way too overpowered. And I like to stay within the realms of what I think would be possible in Yggdrasil.
Regarding the underwater scenes- I just kind of mentioned it as most video games do involve them and I'd expect for there to be something like an Atlantean or Mermaid kind of racial class in Yggdrasil, and maybe even a large section of the game submerged in the ocean. Don't know how things would work with other characters as we've never seen an underwater battle in the anime or in the LN.
Phillip had heard of the term 'godspeed before'- to move so lightning fast as the gods could only do.
But this- this was like nothing he had ever though possible before. The moment in which Catastros launched into a gallop, it was as if his stomach had been left behind as they lurched forward.
Many aspects of physics were different in the New World- including the lack of air resistance. Fortunately for Phillip, there was no sound barrier either- else he would have shattered into a million pieces.
If there was a small mercy to the trip- it was that it was over very quickly. Catastros came to a halt, and then Phillip got off. His knees felt weak and he fell to the grass. He felt like he really needed to vomit.
Suzuki spared him a glance- while a part of him said that Phillip deserved this given he had already been given an out and an option to stay away- after all, it was Phillip who insisted on tagging along (and was now acting up as if he couldn't handle it). He turned to look at Albedo and noticed her look of disgust at the keeled-over man.
That actually convinced him to help the man out- he had long since learned that if Albedo disapproved of something it was likely the (morally, if not practically) correct thing to do.
As a matter of fact- seeing Phillip made several scenes flash before his eyes. The scene of a woman with red eyes and a runny nose working all night, popping pills to control her fever. The sick leave policy of his company- which was basically 'don't get sick.' A senior executive had suffered a heart attack at work and had to be carried away in an ambulance. And above all, the image of a woman lying on the floor, the smell of lasagna still lingering in the air...
He had no level in Cleric or Priest-like classes, and he would not use a consumable potion for something as simple as motion sickness. Weighing everything, he decided to use one of his Ring of the Unicorn Lord's heals on Phillip, who immediately felt better.
It was a bit of a waste- but the number of heals the ring could use would reset the very next day, and till now, Suzuki had only needed it a handful of times.
The interaction even got him thinking- what if he could set up a health insurance system for his workers?
Although the organization that Suzuiki presided over- which included the Eight Fingers, many minor nobles, Fluder, Necropolis, and Carne Village- had no real name, he liked to think of it as a conglomerate of various corporations. At least, that was the only way that he could wrap his head around the whole thing.
His undead did not require health insurance for obvious reasons, though was it possible to extend such a system to his human workers? The way that the system of healing magic was set up in this world was rather inefficient if one considered the costs to life and that MP regenerated- no, now that he thought about it, that would only be true for a high-level priest from Yggdrasil. Spells like [Mass Heal] could be used to cure a large crowd of people but he would be unable to find someone capable of using that Seventh Tier spell.
Perhaps he could loan out some of the magic items he had, but the kind of people who would be able to use such items effectively were few and far between. And even if he found such people, this would place the risk of such items falling into the hands of his enemies...
...not to mention that as his organization grew larger and larger, it would not be possible for him to keep such a system running. Maybe he could deduct a small feel from people and then place it in a pot to pay off healers? Oh- it looked like he had just invented taxes.
The reason that Albedo had likely never brought this up was because she would have seen this as completely wasteful.
"You have my gratitude," Phillip said as some color returned to his face.
Suzuki dismissed Catastros and then used [Summon Undead Ninth Tier] to summon The Headless Horseman. An undead creature of rather low power, but a powerful effect.
It took the form of a headless rider mounted upon a skeletal horse. The rider was dressed in a nobleman's clothing- though torn and tattered in places. In the crutch of its elbow, it carried the rider's severed and rotting head.
Despite its appearance, it was quite weak for such high-tier undead- the reason for such a thing was that it was actually a Ranger, boasting a rather strange ability.
It tossed its own head up in the air, and a red light emerged from both of those eye sockets, illuminating the area around them. The strange light cut through the forest even at the height of noon, and it soon revealed a set of footprints visible only to Suzuki's eyes.
Found it boss, the summon said through its mental link.
"Lead the way then," Suzuki said to his summon. He didn't need to voice that command- but neither Albedo nor Phillip could see through their mental link, and unlike in Yggdrasil, there was no way to switch 'off' friendly fire- and he didn't want an accident inadvertently happening.
As they walked forward, it became clear that they probably did not need a ranger in the first place given the large trail of destruction that they happened upon. Trees had been uprooted completed and flipped over like mere twigs, and a massive swath of clear area had appeared, as if Moses had split the ocean of green himself. Either a large contingent of trolls had passed through the area, or something much larger- like a dragon.
They didn't need to go much further when they happened upon what they were looking for a dragon near a riverbank, drinking. It hadn't noticed them yet so perhaps they could-
-Phillip stepped on a twig, creating a loud crunch! that echoed through the forest. It might've gone unnoticed- but the forest was unusually quiet here.
The dragon immediately started, staring right at them, before giving a loud roar as it leaped across the river, landing a spear's throw from them.
Surprisingly, Phillip was one of the first ones to react. He grabbed a nearby rock and chucked it as hard as he could at the dragon- though this fell far short of it.
The action was so monumentally stupid that Albedo was actually distracted from what she was doing as her mind froze to a halt- struggling to comprehend the depths of Phillip's tactical genius (or complete lack thereof).
Suzuki however, brushed it off as a natural response to a threat- it was not that far off from throwing a stone at a rabid dog to keep it at bay- though it would definitely not work on a dragon.
He was therefore the next person to react. His Headless Horseman immediately threw itself between him and the dragon, eager to sacrifice itself for its summoner. Then, Suzuki tried a spell- "[Paralysis]!"
The fact that the Fourth Tier spell, without any metamagic enhancements, worked to immobilize the dragon immediately told Suzuki that it was of no threat at all. He followed this up with "[Dominate]!" and felt the creature come under his control. Much like with his summon, there was an invisible tie connecting the two, though it felt alien to him. He could not communicate orders to a Dominated creature with just his thoughts.
Unfortunately, here he made a mistake. He stopped his [Paralysis] when his [Dominate] took place automatically, which freed some of the dragon's muscles.
And then a foul odor reached his nose.
At first, he couldn't believe what he was seeing- and then when he could, he groaned inwardly.
The dragon had wet itself. A large puddle of urine began to spread out from beneath its stomach.
Any attempts that it could have made to make itself look intimidating were ruined now. As a matter of fact, now that he looked closely, its belly was protruding now, and something about it made it look oddly lopsided.
Suzuki backed away, hoping to get away from the odor.
Albedo had a look of absolute disgust on her, raising her halberd. "Shall I get rid of this eyesore for you, Suzuki-sama?"
The whole scenario had taken the wind out of Suzuki's sails, but he still, in an exasperated voice, told her to sheath her sword. 'No... I need to ask it something... you! State your name if you have one!"
"H-Heijinmal!" the dragon said. Its voice did not sound threatening either, rather, it strangely reminded Suzuki of an otaku coworker he had- one who actually brought his waifu blanket to work.
"Did you drop this?" Suzuki asked, waving the Runecraft book in front of its face like a police badge.
"Y-YesthatwasmindbutIwouldhavenoproblemsifyoutookitfrommemylord!" Heinjinmal said.
Suzuki scratched his head.
"I believe this thing is saying you could keep that book if you so wished," Albedo said.
"Ah, right, but I have more questions," Suzuki said. "Where did you get this book?"
"It was in my family's library!" Heijinmal answered.
"Library... do dragons really value such things?" Suzuki asked.
"Welll... not really, the books were just part of what we had looted and were lying around," Heijinmal said.
"Explain further," Suzuki said.
Heijinmal gulped. "Uh well, you see... I wasn't there because I hadn't been born you see... but uh... the Dwarven City capital my uh... father took over it and the treasury and made it a nest. And then I was born and found the books but um... he died... or was killed actually..."
"Hmm? How?" Suzuki asked.
"One day, this Elder Lich walked in..." Heijinmal said, now looking like he was about to start sobbing. "And he walked up to my father's throne and... I don't know the details because I uh, wasn't there, but killed my father- he then tried to enslave all of us, but some of us fought back... and died too... I managed to escape through a hidden door after I grabbed anything I could... and I ended up here..."
"...why did you run from a rock?" Suzuki asked.
"I uh... got scared... and it was nighttime so...I panicked..." it replied pathetically.
Suzuki placed a hand on his forehead. Just speaking to this dragon was beginning to give him depression.
"Do you know the way to the Dwarven cities?" Suzuki asked.
"Uh... yes..." Heijinmal said.
"Then you will lead us there," Suzuki said. "And we will need more people..."
Heijinmal yelped. "B-Back there? To that Elder Lich?"
Suzuki glared at him and Heijinmal shut up immediately.
Suzuki began plotting out the trip in his mind, thinking of people whom he should bring along, what it was that he should bring along, what kind of items to brin-
-his thoughts were interrupted as a loud growling noise emanated from Heijinmal's stomach.
"Uh... if you don't mind... could I have something to eat first?"
While Suzuki was making plans for his expedition into the Azerlisia Mountain ranges, some things from the mountain managed to find him first.
The two Night Reapers who sat atop the two ends of the gates to Necropolis were ever-vigilant, though till this day they had never needed to see combat, being undead they were immune to such things as boredom or lethargy.
As such, they were ready to move into action nearly immediately when the attack happened.
The walls of Necropolis were well-guarded, but the city's inhabitants, as well as other workers under Suzuki, worked far beyond its walls- doing various tasks such as farming, harvesting grain, or managing Ignonick ranches.
As such, these workers were unprepared when the attack came.
Zombie Worker #1456 had no name, as it was, he was simply one of the many vast creations of undead that Suzuki had made. He was mindlessly carrying water when the ground beneath him erupted.
His senses told him of an enemy coming from beneath him, though his attempt at striking them was cut short as their head was crushed and his unlife came to an end.
All around him, many similar low-level workers were popping out of existence- though this did not go unnoticed for long.
An Elder Lich, unnamed, but the 723rd one that Suzuki had created, was the first to respond. Some undead had a natural ability to tell when nearby members were slain- much like how a horde of zombies would react if one of them was killed. However, no such system existed in this world, but that didn't mean that the Elder Lich couldn't tell that two of its fellow summons had been killed.
It saw its enemy even in the darkness as clearly as if the midday sun was still up. It was a creature that it had not seen before, and its shared knowledge with its creator, Suzuki Satoru, didn't give it any further information.
It stood on two legs and had claws- in a way, it resembled an overgrown mole, and from beneath it another one popped up. And a third one. And several more thereafter.
"Invasion," the Elder Lich uttered beneath its breath- and did what any magic caster would do in this situation- cast [Fireball]. The nature of the AOE spell meant that several low-level zombies and skeletons would be caught in the blast, and while in Yggdrasil this wouldn't have mattered at all, it would meant the end of those creatures in this world.
And yet, the Elder Lich did not hesitate to use the spell [Fireball], because it knew that its matter would not have cared, prioritizing the destruction of these creatures over the borderline worthless unlives of the average worker in Suzuki's undead empire.
With satisfaction, it noted that the spell connected and that not even ashes remained of its foes, though all around it more of those... things began to pop out of the ground.
The Death Knights had already swung into action- the weaker undead began to retreat when they could and made for the city gates.
However, it was here that they ran into a problem. The Night Reapers had been ordered by their summoner to keep the gates shut in case there was an invasion or attack, and as such they would not open it, even for the city's own citizenry. The only one who could've countermanded their orders would have been Suzuki Satoru himself.
As it was, the invaders would have hardly been a problem for the undead gathered there- if it were not for their numbers and how widespread they were. Suzuki had only about fifty high-level undead guarding the area, and there were holes where their defenses could not reach in time. Of course, there was the matter of the city's garrison as well, but they had similarly been ordered to stay within the city in case of an attack.
The result was that the demihumans who assembled themselves around the gates were slaughtered either directly or by Liches casting magic upon them, but those further out were free to cause mayhem...
...for a time that was. Eventually, even numbers could not hold against the might of the undead, and the creatures were forced to retreat back into the holes they had come from.
The thoughts of a dog are not very complicated.
The thoughts of a zombie dog are even less so.
Pandora's Actor Jr. was quite content to do nothing but stare at the wall all day long. Unlike a normal dog, it did not really see the need to go out and exercise, or have the desire to run around a park. Suzuki had initially instructed the Elder Liches looking over it to take it outside anyway- just out of a sentimental reason regarding what a dog would normally want. But, with more pressing matters he had forgotten to really renew the instruction, and as such, Pandora's Actor Jr. spent its days doing... nothing. Which it was very content to do in the lower floors of New Nazarick, endlessly wandering around the floor.
Until this time- when it began barking. It had sensed something... coming from the wall. It began barking- not even entirely aware of what it was barking at or for what reason, it just knew that it didn't like what was on the other side of the wall, much like a normal dog would bark at the mailman.
The Liches and the Death Knights would normally pay this no heed- but it was then that the wall began to crack. And the crack widened into a gaping hole from which an arm reached out.
Pandora's Actor Jr. began barking even more loudly as a spark flew over its head- the use of [Fireball] in a crowded space like this was not a good idea, and such [Lightnigh] was instead the attack of choice. going through whatever enemy this was and then striking whatever was behind it as well.
A scream echoed which was quickly silenced. There was a moment of reprieve where it seemed that that was going to be it, when the walls all over the place began shaking.
New Nazarick was essentially just a giant hole dug out in the ground. Its walls could be breached- and it could even be collapsed in on itself it an enemy managed to undermine it. It did not have the protections of a guild base like the original Nazarick or even Necropolis which would've prevented this, and it also did not have any other systems that would prevent someone from digging under it.
Granted, Suzuki and Albedo had done their best to reinforce the structure as they did consider it their 'second guild base' at one point, but these projects had largely been abandoned after Necropolis had been founded.
As such, Pandora's Actor Jr. realized it was time to stop barking and instead hide under one of the reinforced sections of New Nazaric. Being a summon it didn't particularly have any problems sacrificing itself in battle, but it was also aware that it couldn't do anything in this scenario. Who was it supposed to bite? Who could it charge at when it was the earth itself that was their enemy? There was no easy enemy to attack- lightning bolts flew over its head, and the Death Knights slashed their swords. The other undead would have no problem sacrificing a weakling like itself, though they also made a slight effort to not hit it if possible.
As such, it allowed its handler to find it and lead it to a safe hiding spot for the time being.
Granted, capsizing New Nazarick would do little to the undead. Most were strong enough to be able to withstand the damage from the falling debris well enough, and they had no need to breathe. They would simply crawl out of the earth like worms.
No, what would be a problem would be several artifacts of their master which were still kept here and had not been moved to Necropolis.
Those treasures- they would guard with their unlives.
Amidst this chaos, Camula was spending time mapping out another region of the forest.
She had received a missive from Suzuki earlier that day to begin scouting out the base of the Azerlisia Mountain range- though for what purpose she had no idea and had not been told. She had however been told to avoid combat wherever she could and to avoid killing where possible. Such a task could've been given to the Elder Liches, though it was a possibility that the reason Suzuki wanted her to do so was that she had a bit more imagination and agency than a summoned creature.
There was also the fact that perhaps, he knew about her betrayal... and was sending her off to be killed. But there was little she could do even if that was the case. So long as Veronica hung in the balance, she was even more powerless to disobey than if she were under a necromancer's domination.
The only thing that she had found initially was the Lizardmen and Toadmen tribes- which were of no real concern or interest to her and had already been well documented. Near the foothills, however, quite a way out of the beaten path, she found a tunnel. Not being dumb enough to dive headfirst into an unknown tunnel, she used [Summon Undead 1st Tier] to bring about a Zombie Dog who wandered into the tunnel. She did not have access to [Necromantic Slave Sight] and so could only wait as half an hour later, the dog returned, unharmed.
She then crawled into the crevice, the darkness and stale air not bothering her in the slightest.
She had actually made it quite a way before she encountered them.
That is to say- the Myconid- the fungus people.
Unbeknownst to her, she had actually been climbing over a huge colony of them until she reached a large clearing that illuminated them better. The Myconid had done nothing to impede here or her summon- so much so that she had mistaken them for rocks until she spotted a slight bit of movement.
She then readied herself for an attack... that had never come.
The Myconid, as she was introduced to them, was a largely peaceful race. All they did was feed on dead and decaying vegetable matter- and as such they did not come into contact with many other races, given they preferred the darkest and dampest places where many would not tread. Add to this fact that they, as a defense mechanism, they secreted poison into their bodies so that none save the Slimes would hunt them for food- and even relative weaklings like them were not scared of Slimes of all things. They did not even seem to have those trained to be warriors.
Quite frankly Camula was surprised at how... cooperative all of them were. Either they were really desperate for guests, or they had no concept of being under attack. They were far too open with what they told her... though she could see why. Even though she was certain that she could kill them- perhaps even all of them- there was no benefit to doing so. It might've been that they were partially plant-based, but she did not feel the natural hatred the undead had for the living when she went near them.
They gave her a long and detailed history of who they were- she had probably found out more about the Myconid than anyone had ever had before (or even wanted to, for that matter). Their mycelium network spanned for hundreds of miles underneath the Azerlisia Mountains, and at the core was the Fungal King- though he mainly remained dormant and asleep, though he was capable of releasing acid, paralytic, and poisonous spores if attacked.
Very little of it was of any interest and she found herself zoned out many times throughout their tales. She would've written them down but she hadn't brought a notebook within her bow like a certain other vampire might- though they did notice that there had been some strange acitivity in a few tunnels above them.
The only other thing that Camula could find to do was to collect some of the spores- (perhaps the alchemists had some use for them?) and then leave. By this time, it was better to return and report her findings, useless though they might be.
The toadmen settlement was located around forty miles from the lizardmen villages.
The toadmen, if it were to come to direct hand-to-hand combat would no doubt lose to the lizardmen in terms of sheer strength. However, the toadmen had adapted and evolved by taking advantage of their natural abilities that gifted them with enhanced bard-like skills.
In Yggdrasil, if one were to attack Toadmen, their natural alarm would sound off, and the player would soon be bombarded with a huge number of them coming in from miles around the area. It was not as efficient as the [Message] skill, as it could be blocked with sound-blocking spells or techniques, not to mention its range was somewhat limited- however, it could alert a large group over a large area nearly instantly, who would then add on to the call. This gave them a combat advantage even in this world, if they encountered a foe they could slay with numbers, they would all rapidly gather in an area to wipe out that enemy- if they could not, they would scatter in all directions to escape them.
Their skills were not limited to just communication, however. They had also learned how to use their voices to tame and control some of the monsters that lived within the depths of the lake- the most popular of which were the Kelpies. Much like the lizardmen, the Kelpies were amphibious, though they preferred to stay within the confines of the water. They were quite similar to Hippocampi- only that they were adapted to freshwater rather than saltwater. Their arsenals were not limited to just them, however, as they had also tamed hydras, large carnivorous fish, and at one time- even a sea serpent.
At one time, the lizardmen, in a desperate attempt to expand their territory during a time of famine, had attempted to wage war on the toadmen. This had led to their complete and utter defeat- though a part of the toadmen realized that in a way, this was less an attempt to defeat them and more of a way to thin the lizardmen's own numbers just for survival.
While the world was not easy for the toadmen, they were not as subject to famine as the lizardmen. They had developed large farms of kelp beneath the depths of the lake which they tended to in order to feed their Kelpies. They hunted large schools of fish after entrancing them with their songs. And they would sometimes eat other creatures that wandered too deep into the lake- they had once sung a hydra to sleep and drowned it.
The current leader of the toadmen, Prince Rana Jr., was quite skilled when it came to bard abilities- in terms of levels he would be roughly level 30. He was an exceptional bard, much like his father before him, and his abilities in this regard were even greater than those of the leader of the Adamantite team Silver Thread Bird, Freivalds.
Something had occurred to upset their normal lifestyles. A large host was noted moving past the lake- initially, he had thought that it was an earthquake, but only later did he discern that it was actually the footsteps of a large host- larger than he had ever seen or heard of, moving past the lake. It was at least ten thousand in number and a species he had never heard of, though they were coming from the mountain range. That would imply that they were either invading the area or were fleeing something. Thankfully they could either not swim or were extremely poor at it as none had followed them into the water.
"Do you think we could try flooding the tunnels they come from, Your Highness?"
The idea had been debated by the toadmen for some time- some of them had Druid and Priest abilities, and the thought was that they could move some of the water into the tunnels, drowning these things.
"No," Prince Rana said again. "We don't know what they're after and they haven't deliberately chased us down. Best not to make enemies of them. Let us remain in hiding for the time being and watch their movements. It is possible they might have a way to cross the water."
The host moved away from them- making Prince Rana wonder as to what they were trying to do. Based on their movements, it seemed as if they were heading toward something- and given they had not stopped around the lake, it appeared that they already had a target in mind, and as such, they did not seem like they had been driven away by either the Frost Giants or the Frost Dragons from the mountain range.
Prince Rana was just feeling sorry for whoever they were headed towards- he did not think that anyone could fight off an enemy that numerous which seemed to be as plentiful as all the drops of water within the large lake itself.