Chapter 39: Boring Fights

'That was quick.' Ainz thought as he ascended the stairs to his private suite. 'But I could finally use my new abilities against a professional opponent who knew what he was doing. And I won.' Ainz was proud of himself, going from a mage-oriented fighter to becoming a close combatant. Still, he was no near beating Cocytus.

'Using [Resilient Form] to hide that such an attack would do damage to me was essential, so people still believe I'm not unbeatable. [Power Strike] surprised me, as it seems that when I put less strength into my attack, the damage done by the warrior skill decreases. Had I put my full strength into it, I might've killed that guy instantly.' The more Ainz delved into the magic of warriors, the more he wanted to use them and find new combos he could try out on his next opponents.

'But the best thing I did was use an ability from my Unholy Champion class, [Senseless Pain], together with [Power Strike]. He thought he got no damage from that when in reality, he suffered lethal internal wounds. And I must say I pulled it off quite well for my first time.'

While he had revealed three of his abilities to the world, he knew they wouldn't fully understand them since warrior skills were unknown here.

Entering his balcony, he saw Narberal already waiting beside him.

"Well fought, my lord." She said, bowing her head shortly.

"Yes, yes. Now come sit down with me." He said, taking a seat at the edge and looking down toward the arena where the next fight was about to begin.

'I'll finally see this so-called Optics in action. Not much is known about his skills, so it's important to gain vital information about him from the fight. I'm sure I'll face him since the other candidates don't seem really impressive,' Just then, the commentator announced the next fight.

"For our second round, we have a special guest. On the right, the leader of the Heavy Masher! Gringham!" A small, chubby man in full-plate iron armor entered the arena, a small shield hooked on his left arm, holding a battleaxe in his right.

"Facing him is a figure known quite well in the Dragon Kingdom. An adventurer who instills fear into his enemies. The one and only Optics, ladies and gentlemen! The Crimson Swordsman!"

Gringham gritted his teeth, seeing his opponent enter, his walk full of confidence. 'Don't think you'll win so soon now, Optics!' He thought, but still, some doubt lingered in his mind.

Optics towered over Gringham, making him look like a child cranking his neck up.

"Both formidable warriors! Let's see how this turns out! If you're ready, I'll start the fight in 3, 2, 1, go!"

Gringham stood still, waiting for Optics to make the first move.

'I consider my defense to be pretty good. If he wants to defeat me, he'll have to try harder to the point he'll exhaust himself.' Gringham grinned, slowly working out a plan to beat Optics.

But like him, his opponent did not move, simply staring at Gringham.

"If you surrender now, I'll not even put a scratch on your armor, Gringham." Optics offered.

Sweating, Gringham considered accepting that, but he couldn't embarrass himself like that in front of all these people. Because of his cowardness, he might lose future jobs.

"Can't do. Now come at me with all you have! Or are you scared, perhaps?" Gringham tried to provoke Optics, who simply smiled.

In a flash, he unsheathed his sword, activating a martial art.

"[Flow Acceleration]!"

He closed in on Gringham in an instant, aiming the pommel of his sword at Gringham's helmet.

Without even seeing the attack, the short man felt a tremor in his helmet, making him fall unconscious.

"Well, uh, that was unexpected, but I guess we have a winner! Optics, ladies and gentlemen!" The crowd cheered, though some were angered by the fight's shortness.

'Not bad. The other dude was way below his level. Still, he showed little, and that on purpose.' Ainz mused.

While the battle was quick, Ainz found it beneficial. He thought it would be better this way since he wouldn't have to stay here much longer.

"Now, our next fight will be between two well-known warriors. One is an experienced veteran, having been in the field for ages. And the other is a young warrior, with high spirits and charged with energy. Our next challengers are Parpatra, leader of Dragon Hunt, and Hekkeran, leader of Foresight!"

The two entered, and the crowd's preference was clear.

"Is there no love for an old man like me?" Parpatra smirked, hearing the people chant his opponent's name. But he wouldn't discourage himself now.

"I'm just saying, Elder, are you sure you want to continue? I don't really want to hurt you." Hekkeran said.

"No, please, don't treat me differently because I'm old, and we've known each other for a long time now. Think of me as a simple opponent you'll have to face. Because I will." Parpatra stated, and Hekkeran laughed.

"Alright, don't think I'll let you win. I have been waiting quite a while for a chance like this." Hekkeran said, drawing his dual curved swords.

"Then let's see if experience proves more valuable than strength!" Parpatra said with a sly smile.

"Now, let the battle begin!"

Both warriors took caution. Their every move thought two steps ahead. They circled around each other, both weapons ready to parry the other.

"[Gale Acceleration]! [Dragon Fang Thrust]!" Parpatra launched a consecutive two-hit piercing attack, the tip of his spear bending as if like that of the tooth of a dragon.

"[Physical Boost]!" Hekkeran moved out of the first attack and then blocked the second easily.

But Parpatra did not falter, continuing his assault. His courage and aggression worried Hekkeran, giving him no time to counterattack. He had to block blows from Parpatra constantly, but he knew he would have to stop sometime, and if Hekkeran wanted to play it safe, he should only need to make no mistakes until then.

"[Dragon Mouth Thrust]!" Parpatra activated his next martial art, one of which Hekkeran didn't know of. Instead of two consecutive hits, four would follow.

"[Twin Blade Strike]!" Hekkeran answered with his own attack, blocking all four attacks with both of his swords.

"Not bad, kid." Parpatra said, almost proud. "But not enough."

"[Gale Acceleration]! [Dragon Claw Swipe]!"

Parpatra made a clean slash at Hekkeran, resembling a dragon's claw nearing him. Just the thought of it paralyzed the leader of Foresight for a millisecond before he could think clearly again.

Executing an imperfect block, Hekkeran was hurled back.

"[Dull Pain]!" He called out, feeling nothing from getting sent back a few meters.

Quickly, Hekkeran got back on his feet, bruised but not beaten. If Parpatra was a bit younger, he wouldn't even have given him time to stand up. But the veteran seemed to guard the remaining of his stamina, not betting on wasting it.

Seeing this, Hekkeran knew he had the upper hand. While it seemed Parpatra was winning, he had spent much of his energy being aggressive. Perhaps he had a memory of his earlier days, forgetting how old his body actually was.

"Getting tired, Elder?" Hekkeran asked, seeing Parpatra's slow movements. He got no response, simply a blank stare. "Alright."

"[Limit Breaker]! [Physical Boost]!"

Hekkeran tried to find an opening, but there was none. Parpatra maintained perfect balance, meaning, Hekkeran had to disrupt it.

"[Piercing Dragon Tusk]!" Parpatra attacked again, yet this time, Hekkeran was prepared.

"[Iron Fist]!"

Hekkeran met Parpatra's spear with his fist, the collision so great that the spear swung quickly, getting the old man off balance.

"[Twin Blade Strike]!"

This was Hekkeran's opportunity. He used his martial art at the perfect moment. Parpatra was forced to block the attack with his spear, which was still swinging from the impact. At this point, he knew it was already over.

Hekkeran's twin blades met Parpatra's spear, knocking it off his hands and disarming him.

"You lose, Elder." Hekkeran said, pointing his sword at the veteran on the ground.

"Mmh, well done. It was a good run." Parpatra accepted his defeat, reaching out for a hand, which Hekkeran gladly gave.

"We have another winner! Hekkeran from Foresight! An applause, everyone!"

Their fight really sold, as the people cheered louder than usual, indicating a satisfied audience.

"For the next fight, we have come up with some changes. Since one of the attendants seemed to disappear, someone else took his place." The announcer stated. Yet his voice became a blur to Ainz's ears as he became less and less interested.

'Well, I'm not sure what else I can learn from my opponents, and I think I have enough of today.' Ainz stood up, Narberal following, but Ainz quickly interjected.

"No, you stay. Watch the fight and report to me if you find out anything interesting. I will be in my chambers for tonight." Ainz said, and Narberal nodded, understanding her assignment.

'Finally, some rest.' Ainz thought, closing the door behind him. He was greeted by a king-sized bed, perfect for one of his size.

The armor stayed on, and Ainz hoped the bed would hold him.

'Not as good as in Nazarick, but it does the job.'

As he stared at the ceiling, he remembered something suddenly.

'Right, I need to see if everything's going as planned with Pandora's Actor.' Even while he wasn't fond of hearing his voice right now, mostly because it annoyed him, he had to follow through with the plan he had given his creation.

"[Message]"

The spell connected, creating a link between him and the Doppelgänger.

{Pandora's Actor, is everything going well?} Ainz asked.

{Of course, my lord! I have successfully relocated the assets for the "play" to the 4th floor. Everything is in order and ready to operate the moment you wish it.} Pandora's Actor affirmed.

{Good. Also, I don't want them to get badly damaged since they belonged to Tabula once. Even if they're low-level, they are, were, still his possession.} Ainz explained.

{We will do our best, my lord!} Pandora's Actor responded.

{Good. I will give you the locations and all that later. Also, any progress with the NPCs on the 8th floor?} Ainz questioned.

{Well, they do not seem to want to follow orders from me or are rather reluctant to do so, even as the personal creation of yourself. Even when I turn into your form, my lord, they hesitate.} The Doppelgänger answered.

{Mmh, that is troublesome. When the time comes, and please do not deny it, that I may be compromised, abducted, or even eliminated, you must take the mantle of Ruler of Nazarick, meaning every NPC has to obey your orders. If the 8th floor does object, that will become a problem in the future. Maybe I'll find a way, but since I'm away, I entrusted you with this task. I won't scold you if you fail, as this is rather difficult to achieve, changing the settings- the personality of a creation after we were transported to this world.} Ainz explained.

{If I may ask, my lord, why is that so? Why could you, and the other Supreme Beings, change and create NPCs freely, and here you cannot?} Pandora's Actor asked out of curiosity, not knowing what a challenging question he just asked.

{How should I tell you this, since it is rather difficult to explain. Let's say in Yggdrasil, the world had different rules from this one, which allowed the creation of NPCs, changing them however we desired. As an example, take the different biomes that exist here in the New World. In some places, you can sow weed, and it will grow, whereas it wouldn't be possible somewhere with cold temperatures and dry dirt. Now imagine that on the scale of a world. Some things you can do in one world, whereas in another, you can't.} Ainz said, hoping his creation would understand his words.

{But isn't Nazarick protected by a world item, meaning the rules of a world would not apply to it?} Pandora's Actor continued.

'That's a good point.'

{Let's say besides the rules of each world, there was also some system integrated within, working side by side with world items and the such, making them not see the system as a threat. Yet, no system that governs the world exists here, so we do not know the rules or ways to create NPCs. We were powerful but not all mighty. Creating life in Yggdrasil, a real being, not summons, golems, or the kind, needed an external power that guided us on how to achieve the creation of an NPC. Like a guidebook but much more complicated.} Ainz explained in ways he didn't even know he knew of.

{I understand. Meaning, if we could somehow recreate the system from Yggdrasil here, you would have access to all the abilities you once had, or am I missing something, my lord?} Pandora's Actor inquired.

{Yes, but how would we achieve such a thing? I was not the master who made the system, so I do not know how it works and how it was created.} Ainz responded.

'[Wish] could potentially help me find some answers on how to achieve that, but it is still limited, and I'm not sure it could answer a question like: How did the devs of Yggdrasil program their game or: How can I recreate Yggdrasil rules and its system in this world? But I could always try…' Ainz wasn't sure. He lacked knowledge, which he couldn't get at since he was in a different world altogether. Perhaps he could create his own kind of system.

{I see. Then maybe a world item could do the trick?} Pandora's Actor asked.

{Surely. But first, we need to find a wish-granting world item and the knowledge of how to articulate our wish. If we are too blunt, we might create something we don't want. Still, we do not know how one of the twenty would work here in this world. We simply have to be careful.} Ainz answered.

{As expected of my creator, wisdom beyond comprehension. I will follow that advice with all my being, Lord Ainz! Thank you for explaining it to me!} Pandora's Actor said enthusiastically, Ainz facepalming his helmet as he knew the Doppelgänger made some weird WW2 gesture right now.

{Yes, yes. Enough of that. Now, I don't want to disturb you any longer. Goodbye, Pandora's Actor.}

{Aufwiedersehen, mein Führer!}

{STOP SPEAKING GERMAN ALRIGHT!}

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A much quicker update, but it was needed after all the time it took to publish the last one.

You might be asking what the "play" is, but it will all be revealed soon.

Also, Ainz isn't using martial arts; he is using warrior skills from his new classes called Unholy Champion and Darkest Knight, as well as other warrior skills he has acquired through leveling up. He has 3 new slots per levels that he can invest in either a spell or warrior skill.

Warrior Skills are abilities that are not used by spending mana but have a cooldown and a limit of how much you can use a skill per day.

Here's Ainz's new class levels:

Racial Level:

-Unknown - 3 lvl

Job Classes:

-Master Tactician(genius) - 3 lvl

-Armored Mage - 3 lvl

-Dark Knight - 3 lvl

-Unholy Champion - 3 lvl

-Unknown - 2 lvl

Total Level: 117

Note: Since his classes are all over the place, the only benefit Ainz has when fighting another level 100 player is that he has slightly better stats because of his level-up and his over-the-place classes.