As the sight of Isak'nag and Manesko kept getting smaller in the distance, the ogre turned towards the human to make him a serious question.
"So, will you follow me and my team to the capital, Rhemurus?"
"Oh right, the place where knowledgeable sages are, right?"
"That's correct. You don't need to stay in this country if you don't want, but if neither the council state nor the empire sound like good places to live in, then perhaps you could at least find some clues on how to return to Midgard, or find some other land that sounds like a good place to settle in."
"That does sound like a good amount of decent choices, I don't know how to thank you mister Hakuun."
At that moment, Hakuun had to consciously contain his desire to say "if you want to thank me, then become a citizen of the council state and put your druidic power to the service of this land" because that would be the textbook definition of guilt-tripping, and that always seeds resentment that only grows with time.
Making a potential enemy down the line is antithetical to his goals as someone who swore to protect his country.
Besides, the scenario of Rhemurus living in another land is not an unfavorable one by any means, because that would mean having an ally - or a potential spy, even - in foreign lands. Making a good relationship with the human is a much better idea than trying to force him to become a citizen of the council state.
"No need to thank me, Rhemurus. It's my job as an adventurer to save innocents from calamity."
Hakuun began to walk towards the direction the chief galloped towards, and Rhemurus followed.
The life of an adventurer does sound exciting, Tanaka thought to himself.
- Now that I think about it, adventuring was the most popular profession for fantasy heroes that got transported into parallel worlds in those mangas and novels that I read back on Earth. Maybe I could make a living hunting down monsters, or something, now that I know for certain that I can grow more powerful in this world.
Indeed, there were no doubts in his mind now that he got feel the power inside him again.
Rhemurus leveled-up, he was now a level 2 human. His mana reserves grew, and his magical stats were also higher than before.
Now that he thought back to the moments before he lost consciousness, the instant when the worg was killed he felt a powerful surge inside him, a surge that back then he assumed may have been a huge shock, but now he believes that surge could've been the feeling of his body leveling up.
- The most logical explanation is that I got enough EXP from the worg's death to reach level 2. It's only natural since the worg was a much higher level than me.
But something still felt off.
- However, why did I only got up by one level? The EXP from a level 20 monster is usually enough for a level 1 to jump all the way to level 8. And even if the EXP got split between me and the minotaur that did kill the worg, I should still be higher than level 2. And why did I got a level in a mage class instead of progressing as a druid? Am I going to get random classes every time I level-up?
Tanaka was racketing his brain - something he has been doing quite a lot since he arrived in this world - but once again he found himself at a loss. And he didn't have time to reach a conclusion either way because the one he was following suddenly stopped walking, so Rhemurus stopped walking as well.
In front of him and Hakuun was the oversized eastern gate of the walled town, its doors fully opened to greet the capital's emissary known as the golem keeper, an arcane spellcaster that was specifically trained to manufacture, maintain, and control constructs.
Rhemurus took a good glance at the keeper, it was definitely not a sight he was expecting. But if he was honest with himself, he truly didn't know what he was expecting in the first place; a well-dressed and sophisticated-looking toadfolk which made him reminiscent of the tuvegs from Yggdrasil, except that tuvegs were medium-sized creatures while the golem keeper is a large-sized one.
The big toadfolk(?) neither walked nor flew all the way to Dethford, rather the keeper rode a trusty mount that the player could recognize as a catoblepas.
Catoblepas were huge magical beasts that resembled a bloated buffalo with stumpy legs like those of a pigmy elephant or hippopotamus, their long muscular tail which they could move with lightning speed ended in a chitinous knob, and their heads perched upon a long neck that appeared to only barely support their weight, so the creature tended to hold its head very low to the ground.
The catoblepas' most notorious feature, however, was their face, which looked like that of a warthog but much uglier.
Usually, they were level 30 monsters, but their power betrayed their level because, on top of their ability to stun anyone that gets hit by their tail, catoblepas also had a supernatural ability called [Death Ray] which took the form of thin, green rays they could project up to 160 feet - almost 49 meters - out of their bloodshot eyes. Anyone hit by those rays either instantly died or received no small amount of necrotic damage.
Because of these abilities that only grew stronger at higher levels and their beefy strength stats, catoblepas made popular mount choices for riders who focused on tanky playstyles back in Yggdrasil.
Tanaka would've been impressed by the toadfolk(?) riding such a strong magical beast if it weren't for the even more impressive sight just behind the golem keeper; a mind-blowingly big platform made out of a material strong enough to withstand the weight of multiple golems of great size and varying shapes. The platform itself has several large arcane runes that emit a soft glow etched into it and doesn't has any wheels, instead, it appeared to move around by floating several feet above the ground.
How much magical power is needed to keep something like that afloat? From the looks of it, even magic can't do everything in this world because whatever enchantment was used to make the platform float couldn't make it move around, so instead, it needed to be pulled by eight huge-sized beasts of burden that appeared to be gorgons.
Gorgons were bull-shaped monsters covered in dusky, metallic scales and silver horns, and were usually large-sized, but after Rhemurus took a good look at these gorgons he immediately realized the reason for the size disparity, and that's because these gorgons were actually golems designed to look like the bull beasts.
After Rhemurus finished his quick contemplation of the golems, he moved his gaze to look at the chief of militia and the golem keeper who were having an exchange of words that appeared to be heating up.
"-and that's why you should reconsider your stance, venerable chief! Dethford would be so much safer with a transportation platform in it. You won't even pay for it, the state would gladly-"
"And I keep telling you as well, with all due respect, we don't want to be such a burden to the councilors. This experience didn't leave us weaker, quite the opposite! We are so grateful for the aid from the capital's golems, truly, but we won't be able to live with ourselves knowing that you spent more than that for our sake."
"Huh, you rural folk..."
Isak'nag keeps saying that the town won't ever be able to repay the state's kindness if they accept the offer of having a transportation platform built in Dethford free of charge, but everyone actually knows that the actual reason is simply the townsfolk's dislike of outsiders, even if they were fellow citizens of the Argland Council State.
An easier way to travel from and to this town would eventually encourage people to visit, and people that settled in Dethford in the first place did it to get away from all the noise of metropolitan cities, and the ones who were born in this town are likewise too used to their lifestyle.
So after letting out a very heavy and croaky sigh, the golem keeper finally gave up.
"Alright then, we won't build the platform. Our golems will help the townsfolk rebuild, and we will add some extra fortifications as well if you don't mind."
"We would be infinitely grateful, thank you keeper."
Finally reaching a compromise, both the chief and the keeper directed their mounts towards the gate and into the town, with the ginormous platform pulled by the gorgon golems following closely behind.
"How will the golems fit through the gate?" Asked Rhemurus to Hakuun, because even though the town gate was big, the floating platform holding the golems was even bigger still.
"Oh, there are no golem keepers in Midgard?"
"Well, there were some who took professions known as 'golemancers', but I don't think I ever saw something like this back in my native lands."
"Then pay good attention to the keeper."
Rhemurus did so, and when the gorgon golems were close to the gate, the toadfolk(?) extended his hand backward and several complex magic circles made themselves manifest in said hand.
"[Extend Magic - Mass Reduce Object]"
The magic emanating from the keeper's hand permeated not only throughout the golems but also the floating platform itself, Rhemurus was mouth agape with amazement as the colossal constructs shrank in size right in front of him, the huge gorgon golems were now smaller than horses, around the size of small ponies!
Such a spell definitely wasn't in Yggdrasil, Tanaka could tell because he was a hardcore spellcaster player himself. You could use [Reduce Person], or [Reduce Monster], but there was no [Reduce Object] in any of the available systems of tier magic in Yggdrasil, so what gives?
"Hey, Hakuun, I take it it's time to go, yeah?"
Just as the golems were making their entrance through the town gate, a goblin dressed in plain clothes was walking towards them.
Following behind said goblin was a lizardfolk - also wearing plain clothes - and a shirtless minotaur wearing a tribal necklace and an oversized backpack.
Despite the different garments they were currently wearing, Rhemurus recognized them as members of the adventurer party that saved his life, so he took this opportunity to give them his heartfelt gratitude.
"You must be the other members of Blade Cyclone, thank you so very much for saving my life!"
"Oh, hey..." Said the minotaur while looking at him. "...you're the, um, human that almost got eaten by that slippery worg, right? Hope you didn't get any rabies or something like that."
"Zagdher, do you need to be so rash with your choice of words? Forgive him, he's an airhead. How are you feeling?" Said the lizardfolk with genuine concern for Rhemurus' wellbeing.
"I'm okay now, thanks to you all!"
After hearing this, the goblin nodded with a sad expression and spoke in an apologetic tone.
"You know, I want to apologize to you. If it weren't because of my faulty trap that didn't properly work, then that worg wouldn't have escaped our grasp and you wouldn't have had to go through such a horrible experience. So I'm actually quite glad you're in good health now."
These adventurers were quite down to earth, for being the strongest ones in the whole country that is.
"Well, no point in staying longer than we need to. These folk really don't like outsiders very much after all, so are we all ready to leave?"
"Oh wait, mister Hakuun. I believe I was wearing a studded leather armor before I fell unconscious, do you happen to know about it?"
Even if that low-class armor was trash tier, it was still Rhemurus' property, and having weak armor was definitely better than having no armor at all in this world.
"So that's what that weird armor of yours is called? 'Studded leather'? But yes, we did keep it in case you wanted it back."
The minotaur removed the big backpack he was wearing and placed it on the ground in front of him. He untied the knot that kept it closed and began looking for a specific object inside it, and after a few seconds, he took out a fabric bag and gave it to Rhemurus.
"Here. We had no time to fix your armor because of, you know, rebuilding the town and whatnot."
Rhemurus took the sack and saw the hardened leather pieces inside, a noticeable smile appeared on his face despite the sorry state of his armor.
"It's okay, the fact that you took the effort of collecting my armor means a lot. I will never forget the kindness you've shown me."
"Hey, don't sweat it, we were just doing our duty."
Rhemurus closed the sack and placed it on his back while still holding it with his right hand.
So with nothing left to say, Hakuun cast a [World Message] spell to inform the higher-ups in the capital that his team will arrive shortly with a guest.
About 15 seconds passed, Hakuun had quite a lot to report after all, so the other members of Blade Cyclone decided to start a conversation with the human.
"So you decided to accompany us, huh. You're not going to continue on the journey that the worg suddenly interrupted?"
"You were traveling, right? Or maybe just sightseeing?"
As it turns out, the other members of Blade Cyclone didn't got the chance to speak with Rhemurus, and thus, they were currently unaware of his specific circumstances.
"Oh, I actually wasn't traveling, nor sightseeing either. It's a very weird story, you see-" Rhemurus wanted to give them a brief summary, but there was no need for him to do so.
"It's alright, I will update them later when we got the time. But right now we need to keep moving, so remain still for a bit. [Over Magic - Mass Teleportation]"
- Huh? What did Hakuun just say? 'Over...Magic'...? Was that a metamagic that existed in Yggdrasil?
The powerful spell instantly transported all five of them, in just a heartbeat later they were in a completely different place than before. The abrupt change of scenery made Rhemurus snap back into reality and pay attention to his current surroundings.
A gigantic, spacious circular room with an open roof that was big enough to house hundreds, no, thousands of medium-sized individuals and still have plenty of space left. This room's purpose wasn't to house countless individuals in it, however, something made clear when you looked at the size of the furniture in it.
Wooden shelves - both on the floor and attached to the walls - and even bookshelves that had categorized books and scrolls stored in them, as well as what appeared to be a red-colored pillow resting on the floor, all of them custom-made to be used by a gargantuan-sized creature, the size category beyond huge-sized.
The only thing that didn't seem to be made for a gargantuan creature was a huge door on the opposite side of the room that most likely led outside.
Just what type of creature was this room made for? That is what Rhemurus was wondering, and he would get his answer soon enough.
"Forgive me, something urgent came up in the curia court so I couldn't be here to welcome you."
That undoubtedly male voice came from above them, flying down through the open roof a gigantic dragon was slowly descending into the floor. After softly landing all four legs on the ground, he walked right into the red pillow and rested his body in it like a feline getting ready to take a nap.
Rhemurus already knew that dragons existed in this world so he wasn't that surprised at the sight, but that didn't change the fact that the dragon he was looking at was nothing like the ones he saw back in Yggdrasil; a pair of large and smooth horns that sweep back from his nose and brow, twin frills adorned his long neck, and whiskers around his mouth looked like the barbels of a catfish. His sail-like wings started at his shoulders and traced down to the tip of his tail, and his scales glistened like polished gold.
And assuming Rhemurus' nose wasn't playing tricks on him, he could also swear that the dragon emanated a scent of saffron and incense.
"Venerable Seliaxhala, it's always an honor." Said the lizardfolk Sleyvo to the dragon in front of them.
"The honor is always mine, and please, I've already stated that you don't need to call me 'venerable', I'm not that old yet!"
Judging from the words and tone of the conversation, it seems that Blade Cyclone is quite familiar with this golden dragon, with Seliaxhala. This dragon must be quite an important individual if he interacts with the most powerful adventurer group in the country on a regular basis.
"You harbor wisdom that has been honed by centuries, so it's quite hard for us to not look at you as such." Replied Vak-Mak the goblin.
"Be that as it may, I've already told you that my wisdom is still nothing compared to that of the dragon councilors, and even less to that of the platinum grand councilor in particular. And thus, it feels inadequate to be addressed as 'venerable', even if it comes from someone younger than me."
- Now this is quite the scene. Are all dragons in this world that humble and well-spoken? Mmm...my lack of knowledge will eventually start to physically hurt me. I guess I should take Hakuun's offer and find a sage I can talk to.
Rhemurus hesitated for a bit, then raised up his left hand as if to ask permission to speak.
"Ah, h-hello." He said with as much confidence as he could muster. "My name is Rhemurus, and I...uh..."
"You are the individual who got caught in the last dying embers of the latest rampage of yet another doom priest. Hakuun informed me through [World Message], and you have my condolences. These doom priests are becoming more common than they were 100 years ago, it's quite troubling indeed."
Seliaxhala said '100 years ago' in the most casual tone imaginable, the lowly human could only imagine how old this dragon was.
"But more importantly, however, is how you are right now. Is there any permanent damage that you will worry about in the future?"
"My wounds are all healed, thankfully. I really appreciate your concern for me."
"Of course, Sleyvo was raised by Lord Suveria himself, I would never doubt his druidic abilities. But I was actually inquiring about your spirit, Rhemurus. No individual would be able to recover from such an experience overnight, so you must also tend to your soul's wounds, as well."
With so much happening in such a short amount of time, Tanaka's mind has been on quite the chaotic rollercoaster. He hasn't even been able to process a fraction of the things he has learned about, neither about this new world nor about his new body, let alone what he heard about Ainz Ooal Gown.
What he needs right now is a quiet place where he can meditate without being interrupted by anyone.
"You're right. Now that you mention it, I could definitely use a little more rest-"
"But where would you rest, though? You don't have a single penny on you, unless you don't mind sleeping under a bridge?" Interrupted Zagdher, and quite rudely at that. This minotaur really had no social sensitivities at all.
"Of course, considering the current extenuating circumstances, Rhemurus could be considered a refugee of sorts. I believe I was informed that you have nowhere to go right now, and you are unaware of how far away your homeland could be from here, correct?"
"Y-yes, that's correct mister Seliaxhala."
"Mmm..." Hakuun murmured to Rhemurus' ear in a serious tone. "Sage Seliaxhala is how you should address him."
- So, this dragon IS one of the capital sages? Should have figured, in retrospect.
You don't give a large room, custom-made furniture, and such exotic decor to a random dragon, after all.
"Oh, do forgive me, sage Seliaxhala."
"Certainly. You just arrived here for the first time literally just a minute ago. Any lack of etiquette should, and will, be forgiven today."
"Thank you, for your understanding."
Rhemurus has been saying that quite a lot recently, is it luck that the individuals he has stumbled upon so far are compassionate? Or is everyone like that in this world?
- ...no, the actual first individual I came across tried to kill me, and almost succeeded! This world is dangerous, I should be grateful for crossing paths with these people...and I should try to no longer be a burden to them.
"Is it okay if I make one selfish request, sage Seliaxhala?"
"You wish to have an extended audience with a sage, correct? We do understand your circumstances and empathize with your current situation, but I'm afraid that as of right now, we can't afford to spare too much time into helping a singular refugee."
- I should've figured that as well. Who am I to demand things from a dragon sage, anyway? Just a measly level 2 human, that's who.
"Under any other context, I would have personally taken the time to assist you in any way I could, and even allowed you to pay for the audience at your leisure, it just so happens that these specific days the grand councilors have been quite...demanding..."
Seliaxhala's tone was slowly transforming into a concerned one, it appeared as if he was saying things that he shouldn't be talking about with others, so he immediately cut himself before spilling anything else.
"...oh, do forgive me Rhemurus, I spoke too much. Please remove what I just said from your mind, you need not worry yourself about matters of the council state."
"Of course. In that case, should I wait outside? Or, is there a specific place where refugees can stay? I really don't want to be a burden anymore."
It was at this moment that the members of Blade Cyclone decided to jump into the conversation.
"This city does have a place, yes." Said Vak-Mak. "However, the capital's citadel is usually only open to refugees in times of war or great calamity. I doubt a single refugee in times of relative peace would justify opening their gates, even if we ask them to do so."
"Not to mention that you're not even an official citizen of the Argland Council State. Even if you don't belong to a nation that's hostile to us, our country has no reason to give you such special treatment."
Zagdher didn't say that out of malice, he was simply stating cold facts.
"Ahem, if I please may answer our guest's question." Seliaxhala reminded them that Rhemurus directed his question at the sage, not at the adventurers.
"Like Vak-Mak said, the citadel doesn't has justification enough to make an exception for you, so the alternative in this case would be to give you sanctuary somewhere else. Hakuun told me you're a human, is that correct?"
- Huh? The centuries-old dragon sage has never seen a human before? But he definitely knows what a human is if he's asking me to confirm my race, so maybe he has only heard about humans, and I'm the first one he has actually seen?
"Yes, I'm indeed a human, as you say."
"Our country has a city called Breizen, the hub of the council state's human population and culture. As the capital's great sage, I can make a request to the grand councilors who in turn can make a request to Breizen's leader to give you asylum for the time being. If that is okay with you, of course."
The truth was that there was no need to pick that specific city to give asylum to a refugee, most settlements in the council state don't have the same requirements for asylum as the capital does, so literally any other city, town, or village in the country would do. But Seliaxhala is wiser than even his age, and he knows perfectly well how it's in people's nature to enjoy the company of their own kind, so he offered the lost human a chance to spend time with fellow humans, a state of affairs that will hopefully help Rhemurus heal his mind.
"Breizen...a city inhabited by humans? Why, of course, I would be incredibly grateful sage Seliaxhala."
A noticeable smile formed in the golden dragon's reptilian face right before he said "It's settled then, give me a moment."
Seliaxhala's eyes began to emanate a soft purple glow, then one of the shelves on the floor seemingly opened on its own and an oversized writing instrument alongside an equally big sheet of parchment began floating outside of it.
If Rhemurus were to guess, he would say that the dragon has some sort of telekinetic power. Would it be a racial ability from Seliaxhala's specific dragon breed? Or some sort of magic? He can't really remember any sort of telekinetic power like the one he's looking at being available for players back in Yggdrasil, so all he can do is continue to be amazed at this mystical world.
"Alright, this should do it." Said the great sage as he finished writing something in the piece of parchment.
"Can I ask a favor from you, Hakuun?"
"Of course, great sage. Anything you want."
"I just came back from the curia court and I have quite the amount of stockpiled paperwork to catch up with, so if it isn't much of a bother, could you deliver this letter for me?"
Right after making his request, the dragon sage pointed one of the talons of his right front limb towards the letter and a magic circle appeared on its claw's tip. Some sort of shiny arcane rune manifested itself into the parchment before it rolled into itself to the shape of a scroll.
"Gladly, sage Seliaxhala. I still have to give the detailed version of my report to the dragon councilors, so I will take the opportunity to deliver your message."
The newly made oversized scroll floated into Hakuun's hands who gladly received it.
"Now, all that's left to settle is the method of transportation. The fastest method would be to use a transportation platform which is basically a device that can teleport you through long distances, but it requires a platform in both the place you're currently in and the place you want to teleport to. Luckily, Breizen has one of their own, so if you are willing to make a legal promise to pay for the teleportation service in the nearby future, be it through parts or all of it in a single payment, then I'm also willing to make a special request to activate it for you just this one time."
"I, huh, I assume that such an efficient method of transportation is also quite expensive, right?"
Rather than just giving a straight answer, Seliaxhala simply gave Rhemurus a sarcastic smile as if saying "of course is the most expensive you silly."
"In that case, I don't mind a slower transportation method if that means I don't have a huge debt stored at the back of my mind every day."
"Of course, I definitely understand. Another method would be to use a makeshift escort team of capital officers to guide you all the way to Breizen. As a courtesy, I can request the councilors to waive this relatively lower expense so you won't have to worry about paying us back."
"Wow, an escort team, just for me...? You are very kind, but I don't know if I could live with myself if I were to demand something like that, I feel like I already owe you all so much."
Not to mention that, even if Seliaxhala is someone who doesn't minds helping a human stranger - because he truly is that kind of compassionate soul - there's no guarantee that the same could be said about the capital officers who would be ordered to stop doing their jobs in order to scort some random hairless monkey all the way to a city full of hairless monkeys they don't care about.
Yes, they would follow their orders, but begrudgingly, and seeding resentment in the hearts of council state citizens is also something that Rhemurus wouldn't be able to live with.
"Very well then, the last method would be to have you as a passenger in a merchant's carriage. Our capital has countless merchants traveling through it everyday, so there's a high chance that at least one has a route near Breizen today."
"Now that does sound like something I could live with. I don't mind seating in the cargo, either!"
With an amused expression on his face, Seliaxhala placed two of the talons of one of his front limbs on his forehead, a motion that Rhemurus recognized as the same one Hakuun used back in Dethford when talking to him with a spell called [World Message].
"Judging by the name of the spell, I assume it's related to a spell I know simply called [Message]?" Asked Rhemurus to the ogre mage who was standing next to him.
"Kind of, the [World Message] spell is a modification of the obsolete [Message] that you're referring to. Thanks to the knowledge of the ancient dragons in our country, we have been able to improve upon the power left behind by the Eight Gods of Conquest."
"Eight Gods of Conquest...that's definitely something I never heard about back in my native lands. And now that I think about it, I still owe you many answers mister Hakuun, perhaps I should postpone my journey into asylum."
At hearing the human's lament, the ogre mage simply placed his hand on Rhemurus' shoulder, but delicately of course, least he accidentally breaks the frail human's backbones.
"Hey there, don't think about that. We can always circle back to it after your mind has fully recovered, so focus on getting better for now. You will be in much better condition to answer questions, as well."
"Mmm, I do suppose you're right. I will definitely find a job and make enough money to travel back to the capital. I...can find you in the capital if I ever come back, right?"
"Why of course!" Said Sleyvo with a cheery tone. "We all live here in the capital, so if you ever come back make sure to visit us."
"I definitely will." Replied Rhemurus with full confidence.
He purposely held back the desire to say 'Thank you' yet again, because he has been saying that so many times in a row already that he feels the people helping him are quite tired of hearing it over and over and over again.
"Alright then." Seliaxhala finally spoke after a minute or so of talking with someone through the communication spell.
"I have informed Maerytha about everything, she told me that there's a particular merchant from Ikbrid, a settlement whose road to and from the capital passes near Breizen. I will make a personal request to this merchant, give me another moment."
The dragon sage once again used his telekinetic ability to make a second letter, and this time he had no need to ask a favor from the adventurers because the lizardfolk druid took the initiative and offered to help.
"I will take the letter to the merchant if that's alright."
"Of course it's alright. First you must find Maerytha so she can guide you to the right location, and you have my thanks as well."
As the second letter floated into Sleyvo's hands, the rest of the adventurers decided to go their ways.
"So I guess this is it. I will go to my house's district if you need me, perhaps I will stay some time in the steamhouse before going home."
"I will be in the casino. My pockets have been quite bloated with coins that are yearning to be spent."
"I'm going to the curia court, it's time to give my full report. So if you'll excuse me, [Teleportation]."
"I guess we should go, Rhemurus."
"Yes, lead the way and I'll follow."
Before long, the adventurers and the human exited the building, leaving Seliaxhala alone so he could resume his work.
It was still quite the relatively long way to the room's exit, however, so by the time everyone - minus Hakuun who teleported - got to the huge-sized doors, a solid 12 seconds of pure walking went through.
Zagdher casually opened the large doors to let everyone walk out of Seliaxhala's office and into the capital, except that the only one who didn't actually immediately walk out was Rhemurus.
"Huh, Rhemurus? Is everything alright? We must find Maerytha, she's out flying in the city's perimeter so we can't find her if we stay here."
"Ah, yes. I apologize...it's just that I never saw anything like this before in my entire life." Said Rhemurus as he slowly began to walk outside with his mouth agape, once again his eyes were basking in a majesty he never even dared to imagine possible before.
The capital of the Argland Council State, the grand city of Guraxus, was a jewel of civilization in the new world.
With an approximate area of 35,000 square kilometers - roughly 13,513 square miles - it was easily one of the largest cities the new world had ever seen. That said, Guraxus wasn't really the most populated city in the world by any means, rather, the reason for its enormous size was that a good chunk of its natives and permanent residents were quite large in comparison to most sapient races of the new world.
Among these gigantic residents were eponymous giants. Cloud giants and storm giants could be seen in the capital on an everyday basis, though the occasional fire giant or sand giant selling weapons and armors weren't unheard of. The colossal arena sometimes featured two or more frost giants duking it out for mere spectacle, or battling against a particularly aggressive remorhaz as well, but those frost giants were merely visitors or mercenaries from one or another northern tribe, rather than actual residents of the city.
The other prominent giants that inhabit the capital are - to the surprise of absolutely nobody - dragons who soar the skies and walk on the oversized roads.
Just like the giants, most dragons in the capital are natives or permanent residents, but unlike the giants, the few dragons that aren't citizens are neither traveling merchants nor mercenaries of any sort. Rather, if a dragon was in Guraxus but wasn't a proper citizen, then said dragon was either an important guest invited by one or more councilor, or a criminal sent for trial and subsequent imprisonment or execution.
Guraxus' prison was infamous not only for its mind-blowingly large size, but also for the incredibly vicious and violent criminals that it held, both giant and dragon alike.
However, the capital wasn't built only for the likes of giants and dragons to inhabit. The council state being the council state, everything that could be built for multiple size categories was built that way, ensuring that individuals of any size could comfortably live in Guraxus; the gargantuan roads used by giants and dragons also had smaller roads built at their sides, which in turn had even smaller roads at their own sides, with each road size being separated by walls of invisible magic force to minimize the possibility of road accidents.
The capital's general buildings and public areas were also built with variable sizes in mind, but personal residences - like a house where a family would live in - were obviously built just for the size category of whoever happened to live in it.
"This is indeed quite the sight, isn't it? I remember also doubting my eyes when I first saw this city for the first time."
Zagdher for once spoke in a sympathetic way to Rhemurus. And while they could understand the amazement of someone who saw Guraxus for the first time in their lives, they couldn't stay to sightsee forever.
Sleyvo placed his scaly hand on Rhemurus' back as a way to encourage him to keep walking forward.
"You still with us, friend?"
"Oh...oh, yeah I'm still here."
"Alright, shall we go look for Maerytha? She must be flying somewhere in-, oh look, there she is."
As if summoned by some spell, the dragon that spoke with Seliaxhala earlier through [World Message], Maerytha=Essembra, descended upon them with a graceful landing.
Her body was slim and splendid, with iridescent silver-blue scales. She had massive thighs and shoulders, with a short face and broad, smooth brow plates jutting over her eyes. Long, flat horns extended from her brow plates in a series of overlapping segments, she had backswept cheek ridges and frills on the backs of her lower jaws that sweeped forward lightly, as well as layers of triangular blades that pointed down from her chin.
Just like it was with Seliaxhala, Tanaka had never seen a dragon like her before anywhere in Yggdrasil, but what caught his attention the most was a weird-shaped necklace that was hanging from her neck. He strained his eyes to catch as many details as he could from said necklace because Tanaka could swear that its shape was familiar to him.
- That shape...it can't be. Can it? I mean, how could she know? How could anyone in this world know?
The necklace's shape was that of The Asahikage, the symbol of the Japanese National Police Agency - NPA - from back on Earth. And now that he thinks back, Seliaxhala said that the place he had come from, and the place that Hakuun teleported himself to, was called 'curia court' which was reminiscent of the place where the Roman senate of antiquity gathered.
For the time being, Tanaka will simply assume that it's a cosmic coincidence of sorts because as of that moment, he just had no way of knowing that the most powerful grand councilor of Argland, the Platinum Dragon Lord, was not only aware of the existence of players like him but had also spent considerable amounts of time with some of them.
One player in particular, the one remembered to this day as the leader of legendary figures known in the nearby human lands as the Thirteen Heroes, was the one he spent the most amounts of time with, giving Tsaindorcus a chance to learn many things from the players' native world throughout the years spent with the player leader.
And sophisticated law enforcement was a topic of great personal interest to the platinum dragon, not surprising given his numerous positions as head-of-state of several nations in the new world.
"Greetings." She spoke in a formal tone. "I'm officer Maerytha from the capital watch, I was informed that a refugee needs to be escorted from the capital to a particular city southwest of here. Yes?"
"That's correct, officer."
"I requested the attention from the merchant who passes near said city in his business travels, I believe the great sage made a formal request as well?"
"Yes, here it is." Replied Sleyvo while holding the letter up high.
"Excellent, if you could accompany me to the nearby city gate, the merchant is already waiting for the refugee."
The dragon turned around and began walking, which meant that Sleyvo and Rhemurus had to follow her along, so both Vak-Mak and Zagdher also went their separate ways while waving Rhemurus and their teammate goodbye for now.
Despite the city's size, the distance they had to walk to the nearest gate wasn't that long thanks to the proximity of Seliaxhala's office to it, but it was still a good nine minutes-long walk.
During that time, Rhemurus took the opportunity to ask Sleyvo who was walking next to him all the questions he could about the capital, learning the city's name, the great racial diversity of the residents, and even a little about its history as well. But eventually, the three of them reached their destination.
==Author's Note==
Just like the previous author's note, this one is pretty much a transition to the rest of Blade Cyclone's level sheets, and the level sheet of Seliaxhala too since it will be a good while before he appears again in this story, and his build is one that I personally think is quite important, IF you are into the mechanics of Overlord, that is.
And obviously, if you really don't care much about mechanics then you can likewise ignore the stuff below and continue the story in the next chapter.
Sleyvo Ischnek
01 - Lizardman - Racial Class
06 - Emerald Scale - Racial Class
10 - Druid
08 - High Druid
07 - Guardian of Nature
Racial Level:7 / Job Level:25
Total Level:32
[Magic Items]
- Dark Terror (Black Dragon Scale Breastplate)
- Headband of Wisdom
- Belt of Constitution
- Glimmering Periapt (Elemental Spell Buffer)
- Ring of Mana Recovery
- Bane of Giants (Enchanted Stone Club)
- Ironwood Shield
Unlike his leader's build, Sleyvo has a nearly perfect uninterrupted druid progression with the sole exception of the racial level in [Lizardman] that he was born with, so he has 31 effective spellcaster levels, one level short of Hakuun. So just like him, he can also cast 5th-tier spells - except from the divine list of druid spells instead of arcane spells - and has access to the [Over Magic] skill too, which makes him a formidable spellcaster in new world standards.
However, Hakuun still has more effective warrior levels, so even if they are close enough in magical abilities, Sleyvo still wouldn't be able to defeat his leader in a one-on-one fight. Even if druid spells can heal wounds, the level-based damage adjustment is still in Hakuun's advantage.
[Emerald Scale] is a special racial advancement that's unlocked by lizardfolk who specialize in druid job classes, it gives Sleyvo both spellcasting progression and a considerable increase to his inborn racial abilities which include better natural armor, sharper and sturdier claws and fangs, and enhanced senses.
Zagdher Galh
10 - Minotaur - Racial Class
12 - Barbarian
06 - Two-Weapon Rager
02 - Frenzied Berserker
Racial Level:10 / Job Level:20
Total Level:30
[Magic Items]
- Basilisk Skin (Hide Armor)
- Extra Rage (Horn Equipment)
- Belt of Physical Flow
- Amulet of Willpower
- Ring of Haste
- Ring of Endless Fury
- Cloak of the Howling Wolf (Adds Sonic Damage to Attacks)
- Sun's Claw (Flaming Axe)
- Moon's Claw (Frost Axe)
- Thunder Arrow (Lightning Throwing Axe)
Just like Sleyvo, Zagdher has an uninterrupted single job progression, but he doesn't qualify for his racial advancement because in the minotaur's case that requires him to specialize in ranger job class levels, not barbarian, so just like his leader he's pretty much stuck with his basic racial class.
Despite being the lowest level member of the party, he's actually the physically strongest one - just like Rhemurus pointed out - and thanks to the special barbarian trait of always giving more HP than the other job classes he's also the most durable one in the party as well, so as the melee specialist he's always at the front line.
While on paper he's a superior warrior compared to Hakuun, Zagdher has been unable to defeat his leader in even a single duel, but for the complete opposite reason that Sleyvo can't defeat Hakuun; they're close enough in combat ability, but the leader's magical expertise - and higher level overall - always tilts the balance in Hakuun's favor.
Regardless, Zagdher isn't discouraged by their power disparity, quite the opposite in fact. Each defeat only fuels the fire burning inside the minotaur, always training even harder and developing ever stronger martial arts since that's the greatest difference between Zagdher and Hakuun combat-wise, which is his ability to use this native new world power that surpasses warrior skills from Yggdrasil, hence why all melee specialists in this world regardless of race always use martial arts instead of warrior skills.
The flexible nature of martial arts is such that you can keep learning and even create new martial arts regardless if you gain more warrior levels or not, unlike the rigid warrior skills of Yggdrasil that are entirely dependent on how many levels you have and which classes you built into.
And thus, even if Hakuun is nearly 10 levels higher than Zagdher, the barbarian always gives the eldritch knight a very good close fight.
Vak-Mak
05 - Goblin - Racial Class
10 - Redcap - Racial Class
09 - Rogue
01 - Bandit
06 - Phantom Thief
02 - Master of Knives
Racial Level:15 / Job Level:18
Total Level:33
[Magic Items]
- Robe of Shadows
- Moonstone Mask
- Belt of Greater Dexterity
- Lucky Necklace
- Bracers of Armor
- Ring of Crossbowmanship
- Acidic Cold Iron Dagger
- Poisonous Alchemical Silver Dagger
- Ankle Breaker (Enchanted Crossbow)
- Mixed array of scrolls, rods, and wands of both arcane and divine systems
The weakest in direct combat, but by far the most useful and adaptable member of the party, Vak-Mak - like his reptilian and bovine teammates - also has a pure single job build, and rogue also happens to be the "favored job class" of the goblin race so he also got to unlock his racial advancement, in the goblins' case it's the [Redcap].
In Yggdrasil, only one player ever got to unlock the redcap goblin racial class. But in the new world, there are many native goblins who specialize in sneaky professions, so there are many redcaps in this world.
Despite his race's name, however, Vak-Mak doesn't necessarily has to wear a red-colored cap of any sort. In fact, because of the lack of any sort of console interface in this world, RPG terminology and nomenclature are almost nonexistent, so even the goblins that become redcaps don't even know that they're redcaps, and nobody ever calls them that, either.
Seliaxhala=Naxauri - Great Sage of Guraxus
01 - Dragonling - Racial Class
01 - Young - Racial Class
01 - Adult - Racial Class
04 - Old - Racial Class
09 - Sage
07 - High Sage
10 - Wizard
09 - Universalist
07 - Argent Savant
05 - Master of Invisible Energy
Racial Level:7 / Job Level:47
Total Level:54
[Magic Items]
- Too many to count, but none of them are usable for combat, however.
Okay, quite A LOT to unpack here.
Let's start with those racial levels, I'm sure you're wondering what's up with the inconsistency, this racial progression is nothing like the ones shown in neither Olasird'arc nor Cure Elim's level sheets, and to that I will answer you; modern educated dragon.
As stated by Maruyama in the volume 11's author thoughts, modern dragons are acquiring job classes instead of growth stage racial levels, which means that the only way for a modern dragon to advance uninterrupted in its racial progression is to not put the effort in obtaining job levels of any sort, instead relying solely on draconic instinct to survive like the White Dragon Lord did.
The most prominent dragons of the Argland Council State belong to the other end of the spectrum, dragons that had the privilege of growing up inside the protected walls of civilization, and thus, they have the luxury of putting their time and effort into any profession that interests them. Seliaxhala in particular was already part of Tsaindorcus' inner social circle even before the council state was founded, or rather, his father and mother were part of said circle - and still are - which means that Seliaxhala had his survival and safety pretty much guaranteed since the moment he hatched from his egg.
His level sheet tells us his story; ever since he was a little dragonling Seliaxhala was interested in acquiring knowledge of all kinds, so among his parents' loot he found books, tablets, scrolls, and all sorts of objects with strange patterns etched in them, patterns that his curious mind eventually learned were called "words", so he then proceeded to teach himself how to read. Instead of continuing his [Dragonling] racial progression, he obtained the [Sage] and [High Sage] job classes, as well as [Wizard] job levels after studying one particular tome about the arcane arts.
Decades kept passing by, Seliaxhala became a young dragon and during that period he discovered that magic was the topic that interested him the most, so that's the profession he kept focusing on and even decided to sacrifice specialization in a particular arcane school so he could have access to all types of spells, that's how he got the [Universalist] job class in exchange of the racial levels he would've otherwise gotten in his [Young] age stage.
As even more time passed by, Seliaxhala eventually realized that stuff like [Mage Hand] and related telekinetic spells were so incredibly useful to a busy sage like him, that even though he doesn't favors a particular "arcane school", he DOES favor a particular "energy type", which in his case is [Force], the element that makes up many awesome spells like [Magic Arrow], [Mage Armor], [Wall of Force], [Blade Barrier], etc. Hyper focusing in developing that particular element is how he got [Argent Savant] and the advancement [Master of Invisible Energy], an excellent tradeoff for [Adult] dragon racial levels.
Then, when Seliaxhala reached the [Old] stage of his age category he noticed then and there that something was different from before. Just like when Rhemurus leveled up for the very first time in the new world, Seliaxhala felt a similar sensation to when he advanced his progression in a spellcasting job class, except that this time he didn't actually advanced any of his arcane job classes, rather his body simply got older than it was before.
As it turns out, the reason modern dragons can no longer gain wild magic is because their species' innate power was replaced with a small amount of arcane magic, something they gain once they reach the [Old] racial category and keeps progressing through the subsequent [Elder] and [Ancient] racial classes. Olasird'arc in particular could use 3rd-tier spells because, of his 46 racial levels, 16 counted as arcane job classes; his 10 levels in [Old], 5 in [Elder], and 1 in [Ancient].
Now, this doesn't means that all dragon racial categories before [Old] are useless, dragon racial levels act as substitution levels for classes like [Fighter] which give great strength, innate combat ability, harder scales, and sharper claws as well as fangs, it just happens that the highest dragon racial categories give all that + arcane magic as an added bonus.
Seliaxhala is a very smart cookie, so he quickly realized that his dragon racial progression that he had been ignoring all his life so far was finally giving him something he wanted, and he could also feel himself becoming physically stronger and more resilient, as well. Because of that, Seliaxhala has made the personal decision of halting the progression of his job classes for now, his erudite mind is aching to know how far will his age advance the arcane knowledge that he had been building throughout all his life, and luckily for him, he still has room to keep growing.
Of his 47 job levels, 16 are production levels that don't actually dip in magic at all, so the remaining 31 levels are the ones that contribute to arcane spellcasting, and combined with the 4 racial levels in his latest age category makes a total of 35 arcane levels, just 1 arcane level short of reaching 6th-tier spells.