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The Great Caretaker of Gaia (Overlord SI Player)

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Starting 10 years early is an interesting start, hopefully with a good amount of change to come.

I admit I'm not the most familiar with the setting though, because while I liked the first season of the anime...I could not get through the third LN. Ainz' hypocrisy and casual cruelty and the rest of (most of) Nazarick's outright evil just turned me off too much. Especially since it was clear even by then that they weren't ever going to really lose. Or change their terrible ways. At best, some other, weaker, faction would just get some even more horrifying and grisly details to make Ainz look better in comparison.

But looking back at this story...while it's clear to me that Eien isn't going to be mustering up the kind of firepower to bust down Nazarick's doors if Ainz doesn't end up getting flustered into not skipping down the path of stupid-evil...defensive power and projective power are very different things. Not letting Nazarick or anyone else run roughshod over the world is a much more manageable outcome with a support focused build, especially with the time to actually leverage it and build up allies.
 
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Yggdrasil Sheet - Abilities and Powers: Eternity in Eden (Eien)
  • Informational
    • AN: Sorry it isn't a chapter! But I figured why not write this down just in case I forget to do it. Don't worry though, Chapter 3 is on the way! Hope you enjoy this little bit anyways. <:3

    The sheet will update as the story goes along, and while I will list the spells, some will be hidden or their effects will be hidden.

    But there will be some spells that I will list the effects of [Old World] & later on the Hidden [New World] effects, but while the [New World] effects will not be written (for now), I will instead write down the Flavor Text of the spell. Some may even be incomplete.

    I will also be listing some skills and abilities, innate, passive, and others.

    Note: Skills, Abilities, and Spells are separate categories.


    -=-=-=-=-=-

    Yggdrasil Sheet - Abilities and Powers: Eternity in Eden (Eien)

    -=-=-=-=-=-    ​

    =-= Spell List =-=
    Total Spells     - 369
    + Spells - 300 from Level 100
    + Additional Spells - 69 from Passive Skill

    = 0th Tier Spells =

    = 1st Tier Spells =

    = 2nd Tier Spells =
    + Discern Enemy     - Identifies target's estimated level.
    + Detect Life - Identifies whether target is alive or dead.
    + Detect Enchant - Detects and analyses the type of magic in which the spell cast upon.
    + Detect Poison - Detects if the target is poisoned and analyzes the poison effects.
    + Detect Magic - The spell is used to detect magical traps or magic items that are hidden in the midst of the user's presence.
    + Detect Locate - Identifies the landscape surrounding the caster, as well as providing information on possible traversable routes.
    + Detect Undead - Detects whether the target is Undead or not.
    + Message - Creates a mental connection with a target. Used for communication.

    = 3rd Tier Spells =
    + Fireball     - (A Wizard's Most Careless Spell) Generates and launches a ball of flame that explodes upon contact in a 30 foot radius, burning its targets.

    = 4th Tier Spells =
    + Control Water     - The caster can take control of any body of water within a 20 foot radius around them. Can be affected by [Metamagic] such as [Widen Magic] in order to control a larger area of water.
    + Summon Forest Spirit - Summons [Forest Spirit] type monsters of Low Tier such as [Wisps] and [Wild Treants].

    = 5th Tier Spells =
    + Control Plant     - With this spell, the caster can grow plants and control their growth pattern and movements. As well as growing certain plants from memory. Note: In Yggdrasil this spell is a favorite of Alchemists and potion makers.

    = 6th Tier Spells =
    + Observe Target     - Combines the effects of [Discern Enemy], [Detect Life], [Detect Enchant], [Detect Poison], [Detect Magic], and [Detect Undead] into one spell. The spell upon being given a target, will provide the caster with a full list of information on the target. The spell can be affected by [Metamagic] like [Widen Magic] in order to select multiple targets at once.
    + Earth Surge - A spell that moves the earth to form high columns of earth and dirt that can be used to block and defend against attacks.
    + Summon Forest Spirit 6th Tier - Summons [Forest Spirit] type monsters of Middle Tier such as [Tree Kin] and [Arboreal Sunbringers].

    = 7th Tier Spells =
    + Create Greater Item -     This spell creates magically-made items such as armors, swords, halberds, and so on.

    = 8th Tier Spells =
    + Tree of Life Sapling     - The caster generates a [Tree of Life Sapling] in an orb that darts to the ground before it rapidly erupts into a [Tree of Life], the [Tree of Life] is a permanent object but can be targeted and damaged by mobs. While the [Tree of Life] is active, the caster and nearby allies receive minor boosts to their stats, and major boosts to their HP and MP/Energy Regeneration. HP Regeneration boost functions like a constant [Heal] spell at 1/2 strength.

    = 9th Tier Spells =

    = 10th Tier Spells =
    + Nature's Shelter -     It is a 10th Tier divine spell which can summon forth a bunker from the earth. The inside of the shelter gives the illusion of an endless sky.
    + Perfect Warrior - By using that spell, one could temporarily become a half-baked level 100 warrior. It also carried the benefit of being able to use certain pieces of arms and armor that would normally require specific job classes to access without penalty. Downside is that magic caster levels are transformed to fighter and equivalents, and no warrior job class skills would be obtained from the spell. In essence the spell is used to provide a magic caster the capability of being a warrior without the true skills of one.

    = Super Tier Spells =

    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-​

    =-= Job Class Skills =-=
    = Passive Skills =
    + Mark of Gaia (Caretaker of Gaia 1)     - Buffs received from a [Tree of Life] and other similar trees are increased. New additional buffs are applied to the marked when in vicinity of a tree. Only applicable to those with this passive skill.

    + Reaping Willow (Caretaker of Gaia 1)
    [Old World] Effect - After obtaining the skill, instead of normally gathering EXP from slain enemies. The user can choose to instead store the EXP in a separate pool to use for later.
    [New World] Effect - ??????
    Description - The Cycle of Life is an ever present state, Life runs its course and is claimed by Death, then the death of that life will make way for a new generation of Life to restart the cycle all over again. But Life does not need to run its course to be claimed by Death, for often times Nature is not fair. The Caretaker of Gaia is one force of nature that merely quickens the cycle, it does not interrupt such a delicate affair.

    + Immortal Garden of Life (Caretaker of Gaia 3)
    [Old World] Effect - User can passively generate EXP per second and store it into the same pool [Reaping Willow] uses for later use.
    [New World] Effect - ??????
    Description - Life is in all things, it is in the air, the water, the earth, and not simply in just the living breathing animals and sentients of the world. The Caretaker of Gaia listens to the Song of Life and takes in the Breath of the World, and with it the Caretaker stores them for the Cycle.

    + Sage's Insight (Sage 5 | Sage 10) - ??????

    = Active Skills =
    + Gift of the Caretaker (Caretaker of Gaia 2)
    [Old World] Effect - The user is capable of using stored EXP in order to produce a [Gaia Apple] filled with [Levels], consuming a [Gaia Apple] will transfer those levels to the eater. The user is capable of measuring the EXP needed for the [Gaia Apple], with the max number of [Levels] that can be given is 70 using the [Perfect Gaia Apple].
    [New World] Effect - ??????

    = Special Skill =
    + From Great Death Comes Great Life (Caretaker of Gaia 5)
    [Old World] Effect - ??????
    [New World] Effect - ??????
    Description - ??????

    + The Gift of Life's Cultivation (Caretaker of Gaia Secret)
    [Old World] Effect - Creates an [Unknown Seed] buff that can be given to a target, the buffed target will initially have no changes. However EXP gain will be given a major increase, and upon level up the target will have a chance to have extra stat points to allocate.
    [New World] Effect - ??????
    Description - Each Life in its time in the Cycle is meant to grow into a gift that will inevitably reach Death. So many are similar, in so many and so little ways. However despite this, some will surprise even the gift maker. For within each life lies the potential to become something truly spectacular. A little [Unknown Seed] of potential, ready to grow into something... More.

    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-​

    =-= Racial Class Skills =-=
    = Dryad =

    = Greater Dryad =

    = Treeman =

    = Ancient =
    + Ancient of the World - ??????

    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-​

    =-= Race Traits =-=
    = Dryad =

    = Greater Dryad =

    = Treeman =

    = Ancient =
     
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  • Informational
    • Back with Overlord, nicce.
    I was hopping for a New World prepper(there's no good ones), but I'll take this. She can basically grow her own guild and country before Nazarick arrives.
    I wonder what the conflict will be since she knows Ainz, maybe his NPC's will get insulted on his behalf and she won't allow them acting like monstas?
     
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    I think it's kind of interesting how her skills also have New World effects. It makes you think if there is a little bit more slapped onto her then just a character from a game in the new world.
     
    Concern about exp loss when making an apple? Mc could always 'lass boss' create it in a mana rich environment or battle field.
     
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    Chapter 3: Thoughts and Confusion
  • Threadmarks
    • -=-=-=-=-=-
    Chapter 3: Thoughts and Confusion
    -=-=-=-=-=-    ​

    It's been two days, and I've been quite busy in terms of decking out my new home. I've always been a sucker for Japanese scenery and architecture. For some reason it always seemed the most elegant to me, plus the Katsumi within me was really liking how this place was turning out so I'm double happy. Though Little Sapling seems to be jealous that I'm growing more trees around it, don't worry Little Sapling, you'll always be my favorite!

    Anywho, I've been reviewing some of my memories. I'm actually getting more and more comfortable with addressing myse- I mean Katsumi as me. I should be concerned, but really it's not all that bad, I think. Does this mean I'm losing my identity? I mean it can't be, because I can still remember my life... uhh I meant my first life before Katsumi.

    Back to the memories bit, I have established quite a few things, one is that I(Katsumi) was actually really nice, but I was also surprisingly the most subtly sassy little shit ever. It actually makes me laugh looking into some of the memories of me talking nicely and looking innocent while murdering some poor player with nothing but words.

    Secondly, I heard hints about how bad my(Katsumi's) real life was, but it did NOT prepare me for what I saw in my memories. The earth was fucked, plain and simple, you couldn't go outside without a mask filter and a lot of people couldn't even afford better masks or filters than the ones they already had. Some of them even had to make do with buying second hand pieces of older cheaper models just so they could take it apart to keep the one they have already running and sometimes that failed too. You even needed special iron/steel coats to protect yourself from the acid rain that seemed to pop up out of nowhere most of the time.

    I was part of the fortunate few who was born without financial troubles, though despite my family being well off with our business and corporation, we were nowhere near the very top of the corporate hierarchy who could afford to live in Biospheres. Those places were considered an untouchable paradise, no smoke, no acid, no deaths, the few natural plants left alive were all there in an artificial environment that simulated the old world before it was ruined, and last I heard they were planning to try and recreate extinct animals. You could walk inside the artificial light and weather without a mask and BREATHE the air inside without trouble.

    The downside though was that admittance to these Biospheres were really fucking EXPENSIVE, like you just needed trillions of credits JUST to become a possible candidate to be admitted to a Biosphere. It was disheartening, and even more so when I could recall that every day there was a new death nearby, and sometimes there would be a whole group of people that died and people would just look on as if that was normal. No wonder Momonga and Blue Planet preferred to stay in Yggdrasil more than the real world, especially since Momonga didn't really have anyone and Blue Planet wanted to keep seeing what the earth looked like before it was turned into a dystopian megacorporate hell.

    On to less depressing thoughts, another thing I found out was that I was a bit of an exploiter. But not the game breaking lets abuse this for the hell of it, but more on 'how far can I stretch the rules until this gets seen as a felony?' kind of exploiter.

    I got a message from a developer saying that watching me try to loophole some of the stuff in Yggdrasil was fun, and kind of helping them fix some bugs. Granted Yggdrasil devs kind of left a lot of bugs and exploits in the game, I'm starting to think their mindset of these things amount to 'It's a feature.' which to be fair isn't bad.

    Especially since some of the glitches and bugs they left in that let someone exploit the game are actually kind of hilarious, they let me keep my upgraded passive [Sage's Insight] when they could have just degraded it back to [Sage's Intuition], usually you'd only be able to get that upgrade when you hit [Sage 10] but turns out the passive didn't NEED ten levels in [Sage], only five and you could get that by being in a party and having someone else start the quest from the Grand Sage NPC.

    Ah right, my new home. Let's get back to it. There wasn't really any tunnels when I explored the massive cavern, so that meant that there were two possibilities, the cavern was closed off aside from the hole in the ceiling or there was a tunnel under the lake. When I dived down to check, I did find a tunnel but I didn't explore that just yet, only making a mark of where the underwater tunnel was.

    I used [Tree of Life Sapling] and tossed some around the cavern, mostly as outliers to the whole cherry blossom trees I'm planting around here using [Plant Control] along with some other tree types. Also, with me planting the [Trees of Life] I personally didn't feel all that different when I started receiving the buffs, but when I planted the second one I was sort of disappointed to feel that I didn't actually get another stack which is sad. But then again even one set of buffs from a [Tree of Life] is enough to turn me into a literal Raid Boss in terms of tankiness... Actually that gave me an idea, I'll see if I can explore that later.

    But anyway, after I planted a forest ring around the cavern, I then used [Plant Control] to make myself a small shrine to live in. If I wanted to expand I could probably use [Earth Surge] and [Nature's Shelter] to pretty up the place. Hmm, maybe I could do that anyway since [Nature's Shelter] would turn this place into a bunker, plus at least it would let me see the sky. Eh I'll do that some other time.

    After that I actually decided to try a few certain things. Such as [Summoning], I was a subscriber to the Momonga school of the [Thematically Fitting Character] apparently so I had a lot of summons that pertain to the forest, nature, and the like, I even had elementals due to my levels in [Elementalist]. Though a stray thought went through my head and I couldn't help but wonder, can I still cook? In both lives I love cooking, and despite Katsumi's real life food was kind of borked she still enjoyed the act. Which makes me wonder why doesn't Eien have levels in the [Cook] job class. Ah wait no focus, the first summon I tried out was a Low-Tier one, it was a level 10 spirit called a Wisp and I found it interesting that it doesn't swirl into existence, no this time it came out of one of the regular trees I made.

    With that I learned a fun fact, these wisps whisper Enochian and I could understand them, I thought Enochian was the language of angels according to my memory. But looking further into my memories I found out that the wisps speak enochian but it is of a different dialect, which is fascinating. Speaking of the wisp, I'm also curious to find out if there is anything in relation between the summon and my 7th tier spell [Wall o' Wisps], but I digress I summoned a few wisps to help me watch the forest and cavern. They weren't powerful combat wise but they could alert me to anything that is happening in their area.

    Now within the two days of renovating, I found out something interesting. I don't really need to eat, to which I say to hell with that. I loved eating just as much as I love cooking in my first life, and while I(Katsumi) wasn't such a glutton in my second I did love tasting my cooking.

    Which leads me to wonder if I can eat summons. There is probably a whole bunch of ethical issues related to summoning and eating the creature you summoned. Speaking of the eating situation, the reason why I don't need to eat is tied to my racial nature, turns out as a [Dryad] and other plant-based race, I can get nutrition from water and the soil. Don't know about sunlight but so far I've not gotten hungry yet despite lacking the sun rays.

    Anyway, my renovation is pretty much done, I've got more trees, and aside from the trees I actually grew some vegetables, fruits, and berries. So I'll keep them stored for later or something. Several [Trees of Life] are scattered throughout the cavern, and though while the buffs don't stack from each individual tree, the buff I get from the [Tree of Life] is different from the buff I get from [Sapling of the World Tree] which meant those two buffs stack. I can definitely feel that and I have to be careful to not fire off anything destructive in here lest I bring the whole cavern down on my face.

    I now have a little home here and this place is populated with some level 10 wisps, though I should probably see if I can summon more powerful guardians. Coughing a bit, I clear my throat and raise my hand towards a flat piece of grassland. "Let's see... [Create Middle-Tier Forest Spirit: Tree Kin]."

    At first nothing happened, then a greenish-gold light ejected from my hand and darted into one of the trees nearby that then actually started to twist and turn.

    Wait what.

    I snapped my gaze over to the once regular sakura tree and watched as the branches curled inward, the once pink petals turning into streams of green magic that flowed into the tree before the trunk split into pieces as the once normal plant twisted into a shape that barely resembled a humanoid. It had the stature of a hunched figure, two gnarled logs for arms, and a mix of hard knotted bark and thick vines for their body with leftover bits of the main trunk of the tree acting as additional armor. With random branches sticking out of its back and shoulders, and finally its head had formed from bark into a macabre imitation of a skull with a green glow within its eye sockets.

    The first thing I thought of, of course was. THAT WAS SO COOL! Like a hell of a lot cooler than the animation they had in Yggdrasil, after the spell finished casting the Tree Kin just burst from the ground as if he was a Kool-Aid man.

    Ah, wait, priorities. The Tree Kin are a summon that is actually a really tanky summon, like just summon a couple of these guys and throw them at a the enemy if we don't have a tank or I'm not feeling like playing the tank. Although they have trouble when it comes to armor piercing and fire attacks, they make up for it with a high health pool for a level 30 and the fact any other attack is woefully ineffective.

    So as long as I keep healing them then they can slug with enemies and you can leave them there and forget about them, they become even more effective if I plop down a [Tree of Life] to buff them too on top of any other buffs I can cast. While they won't be able to kill enemies by themselves with their somewhat lacking attack stats, they make for effective frontline combatants when you just want something to keep the enemy tangled. Sad that I can't create a Firebark Elder, that would have made it so fire would be no problem, but I don't want to test if the fire they generate is real in this enclosed cavern.

    But still, for the Tree Kin to come up like this raises questions within me. Can I only create Forest Spirits from trees and plant life in the area? In the game they appear from a magic circle on the ground like any other summon, but here they required a medium of sorts? Hmm, is this how Momonga felt when he created his Death Knight only to eat a corpse in the process for its creation?

    I wonder. This New World is already affecting some of my abilities, especially the effects of a [Gaia Apple] and [Unknown Seed] will be alien to me until I find a way to find out the effects myself. I can study Gazef-chan for the [Unknown Seed] and maybe I can eat a [Gaia Apple] myself to see what happens. Though it might not affect me in the first place considering my levels, but this whole world doesn't really run on EXP so whatever the [Gaia Apple] does, it might do something else.

    Ah wait what am I doing, let's take a look at the Tree Kin. I should have a connection to it, like I did back in Yggdrasil. Sure enough it is there and hellooooo, what is this? This is new, you my friend should be temporary and not permanent, not to mention you have a little ability here. Though it has no name, what does it do? Well let's find out, I order the Tree Kin mentally to use its new ability.

    What happens next fascinated me as I saw the Tree Kin turn to a tree before it then, oh dear that is actually kind of unsettling. The Tree Kin sort of 'sank' into the tree before positioning its arms to look like additional larger thick branches of the tree, and the 'head' of the tree kin was just slightly poking out with the glow of green gone from its sockets. Creepy, but cool. Let's call that ability 'One with Nature' which is hilarious given the fact the Tree Kin is already made from said nature.

    Before anything else I heard a voice call out to me, a very familiar voice. Turning my head to look at the source I grinned and saw Gazef waving from the top of the spiral stairway. Finally found a reason to come visit eh? Turning from my work I walk back to my little home and decided now would be a good time to see if I can cook without levels in [Cook] class.

    Gazef Stronoff POV

    "That is the last time I let any alchemist come anywhere close to something I might eat." I couldn't help but grumble at the air as I walked down the long steps. I was planning on actually visiting the probably lonely woman right after the experiment with Opal, but luck wasn't on my side and I actually became bedridden for that day and the next.

    On the bright side, the experiment despite putting me in bed rest actually left some noticeable effects on me. For one, I seemed to recover my stamina far better than I usually did. When I started off from E-Shozel with a run, I realized I could run far longer, nearly twice as I usually could before I needed to rest. I'll have to ask that alchemist what the hell did she put in that stew, because I'm actually contemplating on braving another meal of that mess.

    I swear, when I ate that stew I swear I could hear faint laughter in the back of my mind. Whoever that stranger was probably found amusement in my predicament, and I think I could feel [Silversong]'s own amusement in my plight. Speaking of which, I was disappointed I couldn't talk to Eien yesterday, I wanted to talk about the greatsword and the stranger in my head.

    Ever since awakening from that place, I've been trying to return there but to no avail. Why is it that I came upon that place that one time? I wasn't thinking of that before I went to bed, so what happened?

    Hopefully I'll be able to get my answers from Eien, because I have a feeling that the boon she granted me is responsible for this. Nothing really bad has happened so far, but it would be best if I stay on guard just in case.

    Hmm, is something cooking? I reached the bottom of the spiral stairs and saw a little column of smoke leaving the chimney of Eien's quite modest abode. To be honest I expected something massive, but then again she is a creature of the forest, so she might not really want for much? That still doesn't explain the smell of- oh that actually smells rather good.

    As I reached the small house, I noticed there wasn't a door. So I just knocked on the wall, it's only polite to announce your presence in someone else's home after all. Though considering the soft giggle I heard, it would seem I didn't need to do it. "You definitely didn't need to do that sir Gazef, you are always welcome here in my home."

    Eien's exotic features are refreshed in my mind as her head pops from around a corner with a wide smile on her face. "Please have a seat! I'll have the meal ready in a few minutes!" Before I could say anything, she ducked back around and I couldn't help but think if she was the same person I met two days ago. She was far calmer and less energetic last time?

    Lo and behold, a few minutes later after I took a seat she came out with a large pot that smelled nice. By the gods what I wouldn't give for something good after the horror that was Opal's 'experimental dish', though I made sure to bow my head in thanks at her hospitality. "Thank you miss Eien, though I'm afraid I didn't initially come here for a social reason."

    I kind of regretted my actions as they seemed to take the wind out of Eien's sails as she visibly calmed down and the dryad returned to how I saw her a few days ago. "Oh? Come to take something from me?" There was a tone to her voice that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise up and I shook my head in response to that.

    "No, no, nothing like that. It's more of a... predicament I am in." I could see that my words caused the ancient woman to pause before she sat down at the table and stared at me before motioning with her hand for me to continue, so I did. "That night on the day you gave me your boon, something strange happened to me. I woke up to a vast grassland and found a structure that seemed large on the outside, only to be vastly larger on the inside. In there I found the 'boon' you gave me on a pedestal and what seemed like countless statues of myself in different occupations."

    As I spoke more and more of what I saw, I could tell that Eien was thinking heavily on what she just heard. But I wasn't finished yet. "Then I found a stranger." At that Eien snapped her gaze upwards and towards me with a look so intense I couldn't help but feel nervous.

    "Define stranger?" Was all she spoke, she seemed serious. Might as well explain as best as I can with the information I got.

    "The stranger was wearing maroon armor and was a head taller than I am, he had a red cape with a hood that covered most of his head, the only visible thing peaking through the hood was his grey beard. He called himself Marikorrmar." I explained and was privy to Eien leaning back in her chair looking thoughtful.

    "I know the statues are likely to represent your strengths and how far you've come with them. I don't know of any additional entities that could come from the seed aside from the seed itself. Whoever and whatever this stranger is... he didn't come from me." The ancient woman said and I'm inclined to believe her, she hasn't lied to me so far, but that only gives me disappointment that I'm nowhere closer to figuring out Marikorrmar's intentions.

    "I apologize, my answer may be not exactly what you wanted to hear." I heard the apologetic tone in her voice and quickly shook my head. I waved her apology aside.

    "It is fine miss Eien, I kind of expected that to be the answer to be honest." Not really, I was hoping for actual answers. But at least I know that what Marikorrmar said about the statues were correct, so that is a plus.

    My eyes stray down at the table wood, thinking of possible answers when a bowl of stew slid into my vision. I blinked and looked up to see Eien holding her own bowl raising it to her lips. "I think for now at least you shouldn't dwell on such stressful topics. You can do so after you eat."

    Amused, I saw her own mirth dance in her eyes so I simply shrugged and decided to follow her advice. I'll think about Marikorrmar and my suspicions after the meal.

    Tasting the stew, I let out a sigh of relief. I could almost feel the taste of Opal's monstrosity leaving me forever, I nodded at Eien. "Thank you for the meal, it is delicious." I only got a soft smile in return before we finished our meals in the peaceful atmosphere.

    Though I couldn't help but think about something. "Are you planning on leaving your home anytime soon?"

    At that Eien stopped her movements before she set the bowl down looking at me with a contemplating look on her face. "Perhaps, I might set foot outside, it would be interesting to see how the world above has changed since the old world. Though I'm still thinking on how do I introduce myself outside if I do leave."

    I spotted an opportunity and raised my fist and pointed it at her with a grin. "You can be a mercenary and join me!"

    Though she let out a loud laugh and said just as boisterously as I did. "I refuse!"

    If I was a lesser man, I would have cried at the quick and fierce rejection. But I didn't, besides it's more that I didn't mind if she would have actually went with me or not. So I just shrugged with a wry grin. "Well, I tried."

    "That you did sir Gazef, you get points for trying." Eien said with a soft tone of amusement in her voice, again I shrugged at her words before I saw her face look serious. "In all honesty I'm still unsure if I'll be heading out, I MIGHT but perhaps that would be for a different time."

    A shame really but fair, I can't expect her to come with me despite her giving me such a boon in our first encounter. Which is why I should tell her now before I leave. "Fair enough, though I'll have to apologize because I'll be heading further out soon with a bunch of coppers and E ranks."

    Her answer to my statement were a bunch of slow blinks before she tilted her head at me. "Coppers and E-Ranks? What are those? Your mercenary ranks?" Ah right she didn't know about how adventurers and mercenaries rank themselves.

    Clearing my throat I spoke about them. "The Coppers is a rank for the adventurers in their Guild, the E Rank is for the mercenaries. We are heading out together in a group to meet up with another group of coppers that found a goblin nest near a village, usually the adventurers would be enough to take care of this kind of job but sometimes their numbers are too low so the guild hires mercenaries like me to assist."

    Eien let out an inquisitive hum before she looked at me with a curious gaze. "What are the ranks for each group if you don't mind me asking?"

    I shrug, there didn't seem to be any harm with telling her that information really. "From low to top? For the adventurer's guild it is copper, iron, silver, gold, platinum, mithril, orihalcum, and adamantite. While for the mercenaries, it is E, D, C, B, A, and S rank. Though both have sub-ranks within them to more accurately gauge strength. The adventurers use Low, Mid, and High as sub-ranks like Mid-Iron or Low-Gold. While the mercenaries use the numbers one through five to show how strong we are, when we get admitted we are tested to see how strong we are in the tier. When I joined the mercenaries I was admitted as a E2, with E1 being the strongest of that rank."

    Looking at Eien, I saw she was fascinated by the ranking system apparently, though I don't seem to know why. Though I should probably get going if I don't want to get left behind by the others. "If you want, when I come back I can tell you more?"

    That got Eien to smile at me, that was the correct thing to say it seems. "That would be much appreciated, it seems that while things seem different, there are some aspects that still are the same." The wistful tone in that voice reminded me that this woman is old, she probably has seen numerous ranking styles.

    Anyway, I stood up and rolled my shoulders to crack them before I heard her speak. "Leaving so soon sir Gazef?"

    I gave her an apologetic smile. "Yeah, gotta head out before the others decide to go on without me. I'll be right back after the expedition!" I say as I wave before beginning my jog to the stairway.

    "Don't be a stranger sir Gazef!" Hearing that I waved at Eien before I started my way up the stairs. This was going to be my first true combat, while I helped the village guard against goblins before they were almost always feral things that attacked without much of a mind behind them. This one though was an organized nest, so here is hoping things go well.

    Though I thought I heard something in the wind, but I could have sworn I heard Eien faintly say nobuff, what is nobuff?
     
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    • Chapter 4: Rising Wood
  • Threadmarks
    • -=-=-=-=-=-
    Chapter 4: Rising Wood
    -=-=-=-=-=-    ​

    It's been a few days since Gazef visited and he left for that extermination expedition, I still can't stop thinking about the several things I've learned that day. An inner world in Gazef's mind? A strange man squatting inside his head? Thankfully he seemed to buy my bullshitting when I said the statues represent how far he's come in that particular field, now to be fair that might be the case but there is a chance I'm very wrong still. But what worries me is that entity sitting in his mind, Marikorrmar.

    I don't have any concrete theories as to who or what he is, but by the name alone I think I have an idea. But it is just an idea and I don't really have any evidence that supports it, which is why I sent one wisp to follow him, they have a really nifty ability to possess animals or phase into a tree. So the hero hopeful has a bird with green eyes following him from above, and with the [Message] spell I should be able to keep in contact with the wisp.

    Another thing that I'm glad I found out was my ability to cook, turns out that I CAN cook, but my meals don't have any buffs attached to them. Is it because I used normal ingredients? Back in Yggdrasil the ingredients had all these fancy names attached to them but the ingredient's magical quality could be how buffs are applied. But then again it could just be something as simple as me not having the appropriate levels in [Cook] class, those players run the 'Great Food Game' in Yggdrasil selling consumables that apply a lot of different buffs or even outright healing. I found it hilarious that even undead could 'eat' the consumables also as apparently healing food is an exception to the rule of healing as eating those consumables also heals undead.

    Then there is that ranking system, did the main Overlord world have that ranking system in the new world or is it just native to this one? Regardless, everything is so interesting and it makes me want to go out into the world and experience it all for myself. I'm not really beholden to anyone, so as far as I know I have a lot of personal freedom to go wherever.

    Hmm, maybe there was merit in what Gazef said about becoming a mercenary. But then again being an adventurer might be more thrilling than being a mercenary. Though there was one problem that I remembered from watching the anime, the written language is different.

    Though I think now is a good time to sort out through my loot goblin horde of an inventory, maybe I'll find a set of translation glasses. Try as the developers might to make it so that the language barrier is not that big of a hassle, due to their desire to input as many languages and their written form into Yggdrasil. It made reading some of the stuff quite a chore, so they created a fairly uncommon item called [Translation Glasses] which is pretty on the nose and tells exactly what they do.

    I am particularly hoping that with some of my abilities effects changing, perhaps that would also apply to certain items and equipment as well. It would make my life so much easier if I could just wear that and my written language troubles become nonexistent. But dear god I(Katsumi) was such a messy inventory keeper, like I personally might have been a loot goblin in my past life but I at least sort my inventory. But my current inventory is so jumbled up that two of the same items are in separate inventory bags, why did I do this to myself?

    Though on a side note I actually have a few rare items I recognize from the show, the [Mirror of Remote Viewing] being one of them and apparently the same mask Momonga has. Turns out it was a Christmas event item one got from logging in at a certain time, which was nice. I'm not wearing that though, Momonga definitely would wear it better than I ever could. Ah! There you are [Translation Glasses] and thank the heavens that they don't look extravagant, they look like a pair of normal glasses, the only way one could tell they aren't was if they could see the 'runes' in the lens.

    I put it on and pulled out a random mirror from my inventory, and yes I apparently kept a whole ass body mirror inside there. Might as well try on some of my other items, and while I could use [Create Greater Item] to make a disguise, I probably have something better hidden away.

    Actually, I stopped a bit as I thought of WHAT exactly am I going to introduce myself as? Do I go as a [Druid] or do I pull a bone daddy and play a different class? I mean I could technically do an elemental mage since I have levels in [Elementalist] after all. But the irony of being a magic caster but playing a melee class kind of made me want to troll people with it. I couldn't help but look into my inventory to see if I'll get any ideas when I found something that looked rather strange, it looked like a giant black rectangular club on a stick with gold accents to it.

    Curious about it, I decided to pull the thing out of my inventory space and was surprised that it was actually bigger than I thought. Eien's height is a rather normal 5'8", I'll thank my lucky stars Eien didn't shrink to my(Katsumi) height of 4'11. I'd rather not be very short thank you very much.

    But anyway the handle was a foot long and the rest of the rectangular box was like a good six to seven feet long? I gripped it with one hand and tilted it around inspecting the thing, it had like six colorless gems, three on each side and a few seamlines. I wonder what is it? Hmm... [Observe Target]

    -=-=-=-=-=-

    Name: Promise
    Primary Weapon Type: Great Lance
    Secondary Weapon Type: Spell Storage

    Rarity: Divine Class Rarity
    Class Restriction: Druids, Fighters
    Description: Created for Eternity-san as a weapon she could use to destress via enforcing physical trauma. Included spell sealing crystals just in case there was a need for magic damage.

    -=-=-=-=-=-

    Uhh... that was all the description says? I slowly look through my memories about this thing and actually I did receive an anonymous gift from someone though for some reason that memory felt incomplete, and thankfully I found a bunch of instructions from that memory too on how to use this thing...... IT'S A GUNLANCE! Well technically it's a Spell Lance, but I can charge those gems I now recognize as [Sealing Crystals: Spell Type] with [Fireball] spells and do big kaboom!

    I immediately tried to take a swing with it and just before I swung it the rectangular box extended like three feet more and a blade slid out on one side and stopped at the tip. Some winds kicked up as my weapon appeared as if it was glowing, that is really cool. Though despite the fact that this was equipable on [Druid] class, I would probably be able to use it better if I had some [Fighter] and [Warrior] levels. Let me just cast [Perfect Warrior], one of the few spells I was fine with learning because there are times where I(Katsumi) wanted to throw hands in game.

    Almost instantly I could feel my stats change slightly and briefly I wondered if the spells are intent based before I took a another swing of [Promise] at the air, and again just right before I swung, the box unfolded with the blade extending once more. That was going to need some getting used to.

    Looking again in my memories I found the way to fold it back up and watched as it shifted back into the blunt box I saw before. It would be good for me to practice folding and unfolding it as well as learn how to keep it folded, I'd rather not accidentally kill someone with the bladed part.

    I'll spend some time later on how to charge the crystals, but now I have my weapon. I don't really particularly care if I get noticed wielding a strange weapon, but I might have unwanted watchers if they see that I have six spell sealing crystals on my weapon. It would be good to just keep it in box blade for now and use it as a kanabo. [Perfect Warrior] may not be as effective on me due to some of my classes not being affected by the spell, [Caretaker of Gaia] is one such class but thankfully because of my stat allocation I wasn't that weaker of a false warrior even after switching my magic caster classes for temporary fighter based ones. It helped that even as a mostly a support character, the way I built my [Druid] before allowed me to use melee weapons if I was desperate enough.

    Eh, I shrug as I then deactivated [Perfect Warrior] in favor of looking through more of my inventory. I had just found my proper divine class battle regalia when one of the wisps I sent up the staircase to watch over the cave tunnels alerted me. I wasted no time in casting [Message].

    "You have something for me little one?" Mentally speaking was a weird sensation, even if I was the instigator of the spell.

    The wisp replied through the two way connection in the enochian language which I was glad that I somehow understood it. [["A small intruder ran into the entrance to your sacred abode, do you wish for me to reveal myself and escort it out?"]]

    Blinking, I thought of what they meant by small intruder before I had the epiphany that it might be a child, so I quickly replied. "No need, I will head up there myself. Is there anything else?"

    [["The small intruder seems to be frightened, it is a human."]]

    A small frightened human? A scared child? That doesn't sound good, quickly sorting through my inventory I closed it and used [Control Plant] to have a large vine erupt from the ground take me up the staircase to the hole in the ceiling of my cavern.

    I had decided to go ahead and use [Create Greater Item] after all to don a set of armor. Though I didn't specify what armor in my rush. I only wanted armor and the spell might have looked into my mind which was something I would realize later on. As the armor I now donned looked remarkably similar to the ones the integrity knights in Sword Art Online wore, complete with a helmet even, but the greaves and boots were noticeably thicker and more armored.

    Though in my focus I didn't think about it because well there was a child that was possibly in danger and I'd rather not sit idly by. Especially since I was planning on heading outside and I don't want my hunger for exploration getting spoiled.

    Reaching near the top I leaped from the large root and and onto the stairs before I ascended the rest of the way. I jogged up the stairs with strangely perfect balance and exited to see a wall in front of me, turning to the right I saw a dead end, but turning to the left I saw a pathway.

    This is the first time I actually left the cavern, I didn't even set foot in this cave because I was busy renovating. Ah, wait focus me. There might be possible hostiles and I'd rather not waste time, instinctively I got ready to produce a [Perfect Gaia Apple] just in case I get unlucky and find myself against some random person who just so happened to be one of the few high levels of this world. If there are any of course but as far as I know I highly doubt it.

    Hearing a noise I stopped and strained my hearing a bit, they were little sniffles and whoever it was, it sounds as if they were trying to keep quiet and failing. Almost immediately I picked up the pace, and to be honest I almost felt like I was back in Yggdrasil. The few times when I went with a bunch of other players who wanted to protect others from being PK'd.

    Turning around a corner, I stopped as I saw that the source of the noise was closer than I thought. It was indeed a small child, it was a little red haired girl. She didn't seem to have noticed me yet, rather dangerous but considering she is a child I think I can let it slide. Though oddly enough she seems... familiar? Though before I could dwell on that more I heard voices coming from the distance.

    "Find that brat! I'm not having us lose that one, the noble specifically said that he wanted a red haired slave and that he would pay four times the normal price for her." A gruff voice yelled out, and immediately I was feeling more than a little hostile. Slavers.

    "But boss, the kid went into this place. I heard rumors that there's something deep in these caves, what if the kid got eaten?" A higher pitched whiney voice... well, whined and I could feel myself freezing up at that. Rumors? About something in this cave? Was I too careless and accidentally get noticed by someone other than Gazef?!

    "Bah I call bullshit on those rumors, the first time it was a nest of giant hornets, then next a trio of ogres made camp here, then the next one said a sleeping dragon was sighted here! Whoever made those rumors were just yankin yer twigs for arms!" The voice from earlier called out and I slightly relaxed a bit, though the rumors about this cave concern me.

    I'll have to investigate it myself or with my wisps. If some monster is nearby then adventurers or mercenaries might be dispatched to take care of it and they might stumble upon my abode if I'm not careful, I might need to set up some illusions near my entrance and key only Gazef in when he returns.

    Turning from the direction and back to the child I saw that she was now looking at me with wide eyes and a fearful look on her face. I slowly lowered myself down on one knee and placed a finger to where my lips would be and mimed a shushing motion. "It's ok little one, I'm here to help. What's your name?"

    Granted I could have just used [Observe Target] to find out everything about her, but one that is rude and two she isn't my enemy. I don't really need to waste the mana to find out about a child when I can just ask her.

    Though I'll give her this right now, she's being cautious with how she is looking at me nervously up and down. "M-mom said n-not to give m-my name to s-strangers." The girl softly said as she curled up a little, hoping that I wouldn't hurt her for talking back like that. Despite her fear she's got spunk, I like that.

    Nodding at her, I spoke as I strained my hearing to listen for those slavers voices if they were nearby. "You mom is a smart woman, and you are a good girl for listening to her." I could tell that with my voice and me praising her mother, the redhead was slowly starting to calm down in my presence. "How about this, I tell you my name then that way we won't be strangers, then you can tell me your name?"

    Usually children despite a lot of them are capable of being cruel little shits. A lot of the time they follow the simplest logic, so here is hoping that she is the same. As the red haired girl thought about it I listened for the voices, I heard them in the distance again, and it was a female voice?

    "Boss, something's off about this cave. The warg I tamed is feeling very skittish, as in she doesn't want to be here." Ah, animal instincts. She is probably either sensing the source of those rumors... or she is sensing me.

    "You sure? Maybe the warg is just scared of enclosed spaces, I see those mongrels like running out in open fields." Ok can that man turn down the assholery for one second?

    "No boss, places like this cave? Wargs would love it, they'd have a field day jumping around inside to strike at prey from awkward angles. No, the warg is acting like she is in dangerous territory." Smart creature, if I were you I'd start leaving.

    "It's just an animal, it doesn't know better. It can't think for itself." The whiner taunted and I could feel my brain cells disappearing from hearing that guy talk actually.

    "Oh if my warg can't think for herself, then what does that make you?" The female's got a sharp tongue, too bad she chose the wrong profession.

    "Ok miss..." I blink as that was the voice of the child sitting right beside me. I turn to her and saw she was looking at me with wary but more hopeful eyes now.

    Carefully I sat down so as not to make much unnecessary noise and whispered to the child. "Alright then, my name is... Matsuki, my name is Matsuki. What is yours little one?"

    I watch as the little red head curled up her knees to her chest before she spoke softly. "R-Ranam."

    Letting out a near silent hum, I nod my head to the little girl. "It's a good name." That got a small but shaky smile from the the red head in front of me.

    Slowly I stood up and the girl slightly slid backwards to move a little away from me, while that action slightly hurts my feelings I understand why she does so. "Listen little Ranam, you might... hear some screaming, so I'll just be warning you once. Cover your ears and when am I done I will let you know. Ok?"

    Ranam slowly nodded at my direction as she turned around and put her face a corner before she started to shake even more with her hands on her ears.

    With that said and done, I had one of the nearby wisps watch over the kid. Meanwhile as for me? I think it's time I show these guys my opinion on slavers.
     
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    • Oh neat, Gun Lances are very fun. I thought she would do a bit of a Bagpipe(Arknights) cosplay with that weapon, but a Gun Knight is good too.
     
    Nice chapter as always can't wait till the next one. I loved MH and the Gunlance was a fun weapon to use.

    Though I might suggest changing the title of the chapter being a child at heart myself you can guess what my first thought was when seeing it.

    Not sure for a better title name maybe Natures Advance? best I can think of.
     
    Hmm...I could see her letting the Monster Tamer live? The others are write-offs for-sure, but if you want to take down a technically illegal (it IS technically illegal in the current Kingdom right? Widely practiced with how corrupt the nobility and powerful the criminal syndicate is, but still illegal) slaving operation, the two methods to do it quickly are either an extreme amount of force saturation to literally find all on-going operations and bust open concealed operations...or aquire intelligence somehow.

    From there, well, Eien could either threaten a slaver with torture before death (not likely since she's not nearly as close to sociopathy as Momonga was even before Class-enforced apathy that she DOES NOT have), or she could offer to let them live...with a watcher to make sure she doesn't just warn her buddies before Eien can move in.

    And while her living would be one slaver scum escaping death...there are unfortunately quite a lot like her in this world. One more won't change anything either way, whereas establishing a reputation and the start of the strength of her word (ie keeping promises, something very important in all scenarios, but especially feudal ones and when the person in question is an authority figure)...well, that's worth quite a bit more.

    In the opposite case of offering to let her live and then killing her anyway? There's no chance to confirm her information, and no wider benefit for Eien.

    Of course, I guess this all depends on if Eien wants to come out quite yet anyway, and if the apparently most intelligent bandit would trust the overwhelmingly powerful 'Fighter' to keep her word and not just kill her anyway (remember, world full of assholes to make Momonga seem decent in comparison) and thus lie out of spite.

    But the former has been heavily hinted at, and just got a major push in the form of an objective to take down that appeals to Eien. And since she's not nearly as cautious/paranoid as Momonga and HAS the meta knowledge to know that nothing in the Kingdom is a threat to her...pissing off the criminal syndicate and their noble backers is no deterrent.
     
    Slavers in stories are usually used like the fantasy-world version of Nazis in first person shooters; acceptable targets you can feel good about wiping out.

    I see value in keeping someone around to interrogate, but the thing about letting them go afterwards is that they'll probably just go out and do it again, and since we allowed it to happen, that would partially be on us. Sure, there's plenty of slavers in the world, but that's hardly an excuse not to do something to help when you can.

    There are good uses for a reputation, but is this the time and place to start building it? If a criminal makes it back to their bosses with a story about someone incredibly powerful hanging out in the wilderness, she'll only be a target and have to worry about defending her Sapling. Better to become known as an itinerant adventurer or something, and hunt slavers that way, isn't it?

    Long story short, I'm not into massacres, but I'm even more doubtful about leaving survivors here.
     
    Chapter 5: One Side
  • Threadmarks
    • -=-=-=-=-=-
    Chapter 5: One Side
    -=-=-=-=-=-    ​

    Kalea Kamul woodenly thought about her current situation, how many lives did she doom now with her actions? All in the name for her own survival? The young blonde haired girl turned to look at her 'handler', of course right when she was suspected of owning a talent she was taken by a sneaky group. It was thankfully just because her talent needed her conscious that she wasn't... sampled.

    Although the same could not be said for the other girls that came with her, poor things. A lot of them were thrown to the side after only a few hours, which probably was more of a relief than a punishment to be honest. Her talent [Voice of Beasts] allowed her to speak to and tame beasts, even magical beasts, which was how she got her only best friend her warg.

    On a side note wargs didn't have true names and instead they were named after a defining feature of their body, Blackfang was her name. Turning to her warg and away from her handlers Kalea looked on worriedly as she saw Blackfang appear so reserved instead of uncaring, her tail was between her legs and her ears were pulled back flat against her head. The warg was clearly hesitant to go even further into the cave, she is sensing something and to be frank if she had the power to just ditch these guys then Kalea would have done so a long time ago.

    "Blackfang, can you tell me what it is that you are sensing now?" The blonde asked in a quiet tone a few times before but it was of no use as it was almost like the warg's voice was taken away with how tense she was. Which is why Kalea was so surprised to hear her voice now.

    ["Speaker, it is only due to our friendship that I tell you this. Run. This cave is home to something ancient and those foolish humans are likely going to intrude on its den."] The somewhat growl accompanied by a rough female voice never ceased to amaze her but now was not the time. Something ancient? What did she mean.

    "You know that I can't just leave, they'll hunt me down and then I'll probably be in a worse spot than I already am. I don't want to be used to... to give pups. I am not even remotely close to ready for that." That was another thing that Blackfang talked about, she wanted me to leave but one can't just leave, these guys have powerful friends. Kalea guarantees that as soon as she sets herself free, they'll find her within a day or Six forbid within the hour.

    ["I did say that I'd stick by your side Speaker, but know that should whatever I am sensing comes close. We won't stand a chance at all, so plead with whatever it is or else we will both die."] On that Kalea could agree, here is hoping that- the young woman saw her companion freeze before she let out a low whine that attracted everyone.

    The boss, who was a heavy plate wearing man, turned around and hefted his broadsword over his shoulder to look at her and her contracted. "What's the matter whelp? The mongrel getting cold feet?"

    Before Kalea could answer, the warg let out a higher pitched whine as she instinctively looked more hostile than before. ["ITS HERE!"]

    Gulping Kalea readied her bow and prepared an arrow that caused the other members of their slave hunting party to look more serious than before. Despite the fact she wanted to leave them all to die, she still had to protect herself. "She says something is coming, and that whatever it is, it is dangerous."

    Her words drew a scoff from the boss, but he nonetheless obliged and turned around to look deeper into the cave. Everyone else was also readying their weapons while waiting for whatever it was that was inside the cave.

    "To be honest... you should have heeded your warg's warning and left." A low sensual female voice called out so clearly, Kalea thought that whoever it was, it was right behind her. Turning to look over her shoulder, her beating heart calmed a bit upon seeing no one was there, when she turned back to look to her front though she understandably took a step back.

    The strange figure was shadowed, it had horns, and Kalea could almost make out a green glow from its head, it had a cloak and a large strangely shaped weapon in its hand. The boss looked like he could relax, he even started to speak arrogantly. "A mercenary? Say, you wouldn't happen to see a little red haired girl around? We got contracted to look for our employer's daughter." Kalea could only hope that the figure bought their lie, because she didn't want to fight this one.

    Compared to other mercenaries and workers, this one... this one exudes an almost invisible aura of power. It was only because Blackfang taught her how to sense [Intent] that she had an idea of how powerful the stranger in front of us was.

    The group heard a click of a tongue, and the stranger knelt down to pick up a rock. "So not only do you dare to chase a child, but you have the gall to actually lie about it? Your fate was sealed the moment I found the kid."

    ["Speaker, stay behind me."] Blackfang barked at her and frankly Kalea was more than happy to oblige, though the stranger's head turned to face her and those shining green orbs disturbed her the more she looked into them.

    No one saw what happened next, only the sound of wind rushing through their ears and the sound of something going splat was any indicator. No knew what happened, until the screaming started. Turning their heads to the sound they saw their scrawny archer screaming his head off clutching at the stump where his left leg used to be. Kalea heard a tutting sound and saw the stranger place a free hand to their chin.

    "Hmm... I need to work on my aim a bit more, I was aiming for the head. Oh well, you won't survive the next one." They said nonchalantly and frankly that scared her more than the immediate danger.

    The boss dashed forward yelling in anger, for someone in heavy armor he moved rather fast. He swung his broadsword at the stranger, only to be stopped dead in his tracks as the stranger raised the same hand to catch the broadsword in between two fingers. Much to the disbelief of many. "What?!" The boss yelled out baffled.

    They then heard the stranger hum to themselves. "Hmm... level 11, Gazef would have have an easy time with you." Everyone was left confused at that statement, but what followed next terrified many.

    No one saw the swing, but one moment the boss was there but the next only his lower half was the remaining piece of him left there. Followed by a large crack and turning their heads to see the large weapon was now unsheathed and it crashed into the wall, slowly the weapon was pulled away and the rest of the party saw the boss' bloody remains was splattered all over the wall and weapon.

    Kalea shook as perhaps just maybe she should have left earlier when she had the chance.

    Eien POV

    Tch, the guy got blood in my eye. I let out a small inquisitive hum as I distractedly pulled [Promise] away from the wall. I would have thought that I'd feel bad for killing, but all I feel is satisfaction and neutrality, or is it apathy? I don't know, but I do know that I won't have problems wiping these guys out. Using [Observe Target] on him showed the guy was only level 11, and he was the strongest of the group.

    Though that tamer girl is interesting, especially that little skill called [Voice of Beasts] as there wasn't anything like that in Yggdrasil, also I didn't expect the girl to be so young. Granted she looked far older than Ranam, but she looked more skittish than these bandits, a hostage perhaps?

    A plink on my armor interrupted me from my thoughts and turns out one of the other archers tried to shoot an arrow at me, I made a show of dusting off my armor and looked at them. "Was that all?"

    They weren't that good, and frankly when the archers aside from the tamer and recently amputated man kept loosing more arrows at me. Only to find they either bounced off my armor or outright broke upon impact. Such weak attacks, this will be quick.

    I didn't want to waste time being more theatrical than I should be, I'm not bone daddy after all. Pandora's Actor had to have gotten his dramatics from somewhere aside from his programmed personality.

    So I took one step forward, and dashed over to the nearest bandit. There were ten of them, not including the young woman and the amputated guy. I swung [Promise]'s blunt form into the bandit and watched almost in slow motion as the body crumpled and caved inwards before he got launched into the cave wall.

    Finally the others started screaming and the few melee bandits came at me with swords and spears. Too bad for them, I may be a support, but I'm one of the tougher tanks of Yggdrasil. So I let them come closer and let their weapons shatter on my armored form before taking one wide swipe and carried five bandits with [Promise] before slamming their piled up bodies the ground, blood splattering in a puddle as I stood up.

    The remaining four bandits who were archers were now backing up slowly with fearful looks on their faces. I began walking forward and without much fanfare stomped on the head of the man I amputated earlier, crushing his head into paste. So far I felt no disgust in my actions, only satisfaction that their dead bodies will feed the earth.

    Though my actions did cause the remaining bandits to turn tail and start running away, now we can't have that. So I used [Teleportation] I didn't need to use [Perfect Warrior] here, it was frankly not needed so I had some spells to use.

    I appeared right in front of the furthest bandit and grabbed him by the face before tossing him at one of his compatriots before swinging [Promise] at the closest bandit and killed them instantly. Following that I leaped and kicked a bandit in the chest and I may have used a bit too much force as the guy went flying down the tunnel about thirty feet away from me.

    Looking at the last two bandits, I saw I had mangled one of their arms and one of the bandits died already. Finding nothing else I just dropped [Promise] on his face, watching as the life left their bodies.

    Finally I turned to the last remainders of the bandit group, the woman and her little warg. Slowly I walked towards her and stopped when I saw the warg despite looking scared, jumped right in between me and the girl I [Observe Target] before. Named Kalea and she was about level 6.

    What surprised me even more was the fact that the woman immediately got down on her knees and bowed her head to the floor of this tunnel. "P-p-please s-spare me!"

    Considering I was contemplating on doing that, I was glad I had something to break the earlier tense air now that I'm no longer so keen on committing physical violence. "Now why would I do that? Are you not with them?"

    My voice caused the woman to shudder before she spoke hesitantly. "N-not exactly." Hmm, my suspicions were right apparently. She's not a true bandit, must have been picked up for her usefulness then.

    Regardless now was a good time to get some information that Gazef might not have. "Oh? Do tell your story."

    Apparently my little drawl caused the woman to whimper in fear before she started speaking. "I-I don't know w-what m-much to say really... I w-was just a g-girl from E-Rantel that wanted to l-learn about T-Talents. When I got my Talent scanned on a whim, these guys found out and abducted me before giving me orders. I never wanted this life!"

    Hmm, a girl from E-Rantel eh? If these bandits casually kidnapped her from that fortress city where a lot of adventurers and mercenaries are possibly stationed. Then that meant these guys are no ordinary slave catcher party. "Life can be cruel. Now who are these bandits, I've... heard about E-Rantel's guilds, for them to swipe you from underneath them could not have been a normal feat."

    I want all the information on these guys, they could be a good source to test out some of my spells and skills, especially since I need to test out [Reaping Willow] to see if anything changed there. Kalea slowly looked up from her prostrated and I figured that it would be ok to use my [Treeman] racial ability [Seasonal Change], this would allow me to change the color of my 'hair' and slightly alter the structure of my face and color of my 'skin'. No drastic changes though like with [True Polymorph] or [Shapeshift] which is kind of sad.

    Taking off my helmet, I 'revealed' myself as a white haired lady with 'rosy' colored skin and green eyes. Hopefully a color palette swap would help me sell this persona as a separate person better.

    She stared at my face with barely disguised awe before she closed her mouth and bowed her head again. "T-the group belongs to a criminal guild, I t-think I heard some of them call the whole thing Eight Fingers. B-Blackfang overheard some of them say that there were a lot of nobles who were supporting them in secret."

    I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes, why am I not surprised? Corrupt nobles dipping their sticky fingers in the sweet but rotten pies of the criminal underworld. But still, this girl if she wasn't taken then she probably would have been encouraged to become an adventurer or a mercenary, from what little I've read of her little Talent she would have made a fine [Beast Tamer], if she grew right then she might even reach [High Tamer] class.

    Regardless, I'm going to have to make a quick decision on what to do with this girl. I could just kill her, but I also recognize that she is a victim, but has she even tried to escape or help the other slaves? But of course, I think I can bring her with me instead? Hmm, decisions...

    Maybe I'll let her live for now, bring her along with me and Ranam, I still need more information and with Gazef gone this girl will be the perfect substitute. "You will come along with me and Ranam, I'm planning on heading out and traveling a little. Understand?"

    The woman shuddered before she bowed deeply to the ground, and even the warg seemed to bow her head. "T-thank you for your mercy!"

    Waving my hand, I told her to stand. I dislike boot lickers. "Were there more of you and are there other slaves nearby?"

    As Kalea stood up, she nodded her head although she was still afraid. "Y-yes to both of them, though the guards at the caravan should be no match for you! I'm sure of it!"

    Hmm, considering she might have been with them for a while, she must have a somewhat decent estimation of their strengths. For now I'll treat everything she says with a grain of salt, but for now I turn to the massacred bodies and thought that I don't exactly feel any change. Am I supposed to do something? I idly spoke while I begin to bring a free hand up. "Stand further away, I cannot guarantee your safety if you don't."

    I heard the sound of frantic scrambling before the sound of footsteps echoed faintly, I concentrated on my passive skill. [Reaping Willow] and kept my eyes open to see if anything happens, and lo and behold something did. I didn't flinch as a bright bluish-white light burst in my hand and illuminated the entire tunnel. Judging by the twin sounds of yelps behind me, I may have accidentally blinded Kalea and her warg Blackfang. Eh I can just heal them afterwards if they actually did go blind.

    Right now I need to focus, I watched as the bodies and blood splatters all seemed to 'twitch' before a cloudy blue orb left their bodies. In total I now had twelve blue orbs that looked as if there were roiling black clouds twisting inside them. What are these? Well, one way to find out. [Observe Target]

    ...

    ...

    ...

    What? I cast [Observe Target] again, though it seems like that whatever I was holding wasn't an applicable target? Curious, I used a free hand and poked one orb and nearly had a panic attack when it shattered into a stream of dark bluish-white light before it went into my body. The same phenomenon spread to the other eleven orbs and I watched with nervous breath when they all were absorbed by me.

    After that the bright light disappeared and the whole tunnels were cast back into darkness with the only light coming from the fallen torches. Waiting a minute or two, I determined that whatever happened wasn't harmful and I inspected the corpses and found they still looked the same after I unalived them. I should come back and use their corpses for some of my more malevolent summons, just in case the summons functioned like when I created the Wisps and Tree Kin.

    For now I want to see the outside... I(Katsumi) want to see the outside... While I do remember my own life and the world before it got ruined by megacorporations, I didn't get to see nature in its prime. I never got that chance in my first life, and I(Katsumi) didn't get that chance either.

    Turning to the low level tamer, I nod towards the corner where I last left Ranam. "We'll take Ranam with us. Try not to scare her, both of you." The unspoken 'or else' line wasn't needed, I could see the two got the idea.

    As we approached the corner, I sensed the presence of the little one and she was remarkably close as if... she didn't stay in place, quickly I walked a little bit faster. Right after I rounded the corner, I felt something small impact my leg, though thankfully the cloak was there to soften said impact. "Y-you did it!"

    I inwardly cringe, if she knew that much that meant she decided to watch the massacre. It seems even here, telling a kid to do something would probably make them do the opposite thing. Regardless I pat the little red haired girl on her head, though she stiffened because she saw the warg, but once she saw the Kalea she relaxed. Interesting.

    "It's the nice girl with the big dog!" Oya? That's new information, I turn slightly to look over my shoulder to see Kalea had a bitter smile on her face.

    "I'm not nice kid, I'm just not as bad as them." That sounded self-degrading, I silently watched as Ranam actually walked on over to the warg and the wolf-beast just licked her face making the red headed girl giggle.

    Eyeing the warg and Ranam, I saw from the corner of my eye that Kalea walked closer. "Name's Matsuki. Does the little one have parents?" I curtly spoke out my fake name and my question, but with a low tone so as not to attract Ranam's attention.

    I felt the gaze of Kalea from beside me, though I didn't turn my head to her. "Kalea, and it was when we passed by her village. It was bad luck that she was outside of her house at night when the boss ordered to take her, her father tried to protect her but he got ganged up on by the boss and a few others, and he was killed. Don't know about her mother though."

    A shame, that means the little one is most likely an orphan now. If these bandits wanted a red headed slave, they would have easily taken the mother too once they put together that little Ranam got her hair color from her parents. But the fact that they went after her meant that they didn't find another with hair like hers.

    Taking a deep breath, I walked forward and pat the Ranam on the head. "Come on little one, we have to help the others."

    Ranam turned to look up at me and nodded with a nervous smile before she looked shocked as I picked her up and pushed her face into my cloak. "You shouldn't see the mess I've made." I whisper and started my way, and looked at Kalea jerking my head to motion to her to lead the way.

    Judging by the shaky nod I got from her, my order was followed without complaint. Kalea and Blackfang took point as I didn't exactly know the way out of this cave system. But I made sure to memorize the pathway, and while I did so I used [Message] to order some of the wisps near the entrance of my home to watch over the corpses.

    I saw a light up ahead and let out a soft hum. I wonder how Gazef is doing right now? Though I wouldn't know until he returned that he was in the most danger... out of combat.
     
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    • Welp, we have our Momon. Can´t wait when Bone Daddy hears of the famous wandering Knight Matsuki, I know that is rather far, but one can dream.
     
    If she was forced into this and won't continue slaving, letting her live in the end certainly becomes more ethically viable. On the other hand, she was perfectly willing to have other women raped and enslaved for her own benefit, so she can go to hell for all I care. Meh.

    Anyway, the skill effects changing is pretty interesting. Eien will need to go through and experiment with all of them to sort out what she has now.
     
    RusselsSilvrware said:
    Really bummed that her empathy seems to be gone. I was hoping that would be a big, interesting difference between her and Momonga.
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    sorealcru21 said:
    I honestly expected her to have some empathy you know being connected to nature and all that jazz
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    Oops, that is not what I wanted to convey. Though I guess that is my fault, but I'll say that the [Self Insert] is shone through here. I don't trust easily, and I look at a few things in suspicion. Katsumi is far more empathetic, but I'll give ya something.

    The merging between SI and Katsumi is not yet done, so there will be times where one will slightly overpower the other. This time it was the SI's distrustful side, because I'm not trusting a slaver I let live until I truly confirm that they aren't just pretending.

    Does that make sense?

    Ashuron said:
    I got one question. Is Eien gonna grind down the stupid bag of bones down into bonemeal?
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    Depends in the future.
     
    Ashuron said:
    I got one question. Is Eien gonna grind down the stupid bag of bones down into bonemeal?
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    I got the impression she would plan ahead to steer the Bag of Bones away from doing the stupid. It was mentioned that Bonehead was Eien´s customer and considering his obsession in regards to hoarding, he would jump at trying to appease Eien, if he figures out she in the NW.
     
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    Interlude: Concerning Attention
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    • -=-=-=-=-=-
    Interlude: Concerning Attention
    -=-=-=-=-=-    ​

    Gazef's boots stomped on the ground as he hopped off the cart, it took a few days to travel to the meet up, hopefully the situation did not worsen. The young man looked around the hill they were gathered on, seeing quite a few new faces, some that were even not human.

    He sees like four dwarves talking with what looks like an adventurer group they seem to be talking business. One five person team of elves who seem to be keeping to themselves. Then there were even two lizardmen, they look friendly judging by their interaction with a mercenary group. To him this might have been too many people for a simple nest extermination.

    Looking around even more, he was interrupted from his thoughts when a voice sounded off behind him. "You seem lost there young man."

    Turning around, Gazef spotted an elderly man with a white beard wearing strange armor and wielding a spear and two curved swords on his left side. By habit Gazef stood straight and bowed his head at the elder, paying his respects to him, which caused the older man to chuckle good naturedly. To which Gazef replied to with a small grin. "I'm not lost, I'm just wondering why there are so many adventurers and mercenaries here, I thought this was a routine nest extermination?"

    His words caused the old man to lose his jovial expression and turn serious, Gazef looked on as he turned around and pointed at the cave in the distance. "Things have changed, some of the scouts and rangers found there were ogres and hobgoblins in the cave. Some are even speculating that there is either a goblin champion or goblin lord leading them."

    The hairs on the back of Gazef's neck slightly raised up as he suppressed a shiver, goblin champions and goblin lords were scary stuff. A lot of experienced people say that they require at least one High Silver adventurer or one C4 mercenary to kill a Goblin Champion, and Goblin Lords were said to need a Mid Gold and B5 rank.

    Gazef saw the old man turn back around to face him and he could see him smile almost without worry. "But we have an adamantite rank here with us young man."

    Something about the old man's smile seemed almost mischievous, but Gazef offered a relieved smile nonetheless. Adamantite rank adventurers and S rank mercenaries were all on a whole tier of their own. If they even had just one member in their task force with that level of strength, then things would go smoothly. They could deal with either of those monsters while the rest of the expedition can tie up the rest of the nest. "Thank you for the good news honored elder."

    That made the old man let out another series of chuckles before he patted Gazef's shoulder with a free hand, his blue eyes showing the mirth he had within him. "Think nothing of it young man, and my name is Vesture. No need for that 'honored elder' stuff, I am not your teacher. You've already offered your respects the first time."

    Compelled, Gazef chuckled himself as he nodded at the old man. To the young man, the older fighter was clearly strong and he was stronger than himself by a large margin. "Then my name is Gazef, you still have my thanks for the heads up. I fully expect that with the adamantite rank here, the whole job will go smoothly."

    Letting out a laugh, Vesture nodded his own head. "Let us hope that is the case young Gazef." With that, the two exchanged pleasantries before the old man headed off somewhere.

    Meanwhile Gazef looked around for a place to lean or sit against and found a nice tree with some shade, though there was a person sitting by it, cradling their rather large two headed axe and wearing such bulky looking silver armor that it was hard to tell who was underneath it. Regardless the young man approached the figure and asked with a friendly smile on his face. "Excuse me, but is that spot taken?"

    As he pointed at the empty space by the tree, he saw the armored person tilt their head to look at him from what he assumes is the corner of their eye. He felt an unknown pressure fall onto his shoulders but thought nothing of it, especially when it lifted. He was answered by a surprisingly female voice coming from underneath that armor. "... Go ahead."

    Nodding his head with that friendly grin still on his face, Gazef thanked the apparent woman and slightly apologized just in case he annoyed her. "Thank you, I'm sorry for intruding."

    The woman in armor shook her head while Gazef sat down and leaned against the tree on another side as he listened. "Don't be. I didn't expect to be talked to in the first place."

    To Gazef that sounded like a shame, but then he remembered that some people either are fine with that or just don't want any kind of social contact. He's seen a few people like them, maybe she is one too? "Well to be fair, your whole figure gives off a dangerous air to it."

    "Yet you seem to be fine with that." Well, she got him there. Gazef let out a good natured chuckle as he heard the armor shift as if to look around the tree to eye him.

    "Well, I'll admit you cut across as a very intimidating figure. But I'm training to become strong, can't let something like fear get in the way of that right?"

    "Then either you are very brave or very stupid." When she said that, he could feel some form of amusement behind her words. So he jokingly replied.

    "Can't I be both?" His reply seemed to have stunned the woman before she started chuckling.

    "Haha... interesting, you might just be the most interesting one here." Gazef couldn't help but be oddly flattered at those words, he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before speaking again.

    "I'm clearly not interesting, honest! I'm not even that strong yet." The young man's words seemed to have gotten the interest of the armored woman even more for some reason.

    "Yet you say? Are you that confident that you will grow strong in the future? Who is to say that you will survive this expedition?" Sharp words from the armored woman cut into his inner being and Gazef couldn't help but turn silent for a few brief moments.

    The only sound between the two is the fluttering of their cloaks and the rustle of leaves and branches, along with the distant chatter of the other adventurers and mercenaries.

    Gazef looked up into the air as he spoke. "Because I have a dream, an ambition, and I won't stop until I fulfill it. I want to become strong, and I want to become a hero. A hero is supposed to surpass all odds right? Well why not start now?"

    Lowering his head, he nearly let out an undignified yelp at seeing the armored lady's helmet so close to his face. "A foolish sentimental view, yet there is something about you... that maybe, just maybe you might be able to make the cut."

    Slowly the woman moved away from the young man and inwardly Gazef let out a sigh of relief. Now he was slightly intimidated for a different reason, but Gazef could see that the woman when standing up was actually shorter than he was but he could feel that her strength eclipses his own. Was she the adamantite adventurer? He didn't see the plate on her person though and doubted it, but who was she? "You might want to head over there, they seem to be starting."

    When Gazef turned his head to the rest of the group, he saw that they were indeed starting. He turned to look at the armored woman who just stood there with her axe in hand. "What about you?"

    "I can hear from this distance." Gazef either had to conclude that either she had a [Talent] for hearing, or she wasn't human to be able to hear from this far away. Regardless, the young man stood up and nodded his head at the woman with a smile before he started to walk away, unaware of the eyes locked on his form.


    As the young fighter left the vicinity of the tree, the armored woman kept his gaze on the interesting young man for a bit longer before she tilted her head. As the branches above her rustled in a certain pattern.

    "We approaching the old man yet?" A higher pitched female voice drawled out from above her head.

    Though the question still stands, the armored woman thought about if for a while before she decided to shake her head, much to the surprise of her current companion. "Later... perhaps after this expedition and after we found the item. I've just found something interesting."

    "Ooooh~ Are you talking about that rough looking boy? Didn't know you liked that type and liked them so young." This only elicited a huff and low chuckle from the armored woman.

    "Do you want to die in training?" She said that in the most pleasant tone possible, and judging by the panicked squeak coming from her companion, it intimidated her quite a bit.

    The armored woman turned to look up at the tree and saw her much younger companion there. A short girl in her black top, shorts, boots, and gloves, a mask covering her mouth and a black cloak wrapped around her shoulders. The few bits of exposed flesh was covered in fishnets excluding her head. Her hair was blonde and her eyes were red, she waved her hands in surrender as her eyes darted to the side for an easy route of escape.

    Though the armored woman just turned to look at Gazef in the distance. "Something about him seems off, and I want to figure out what."

    "I feel sorry for the guy for whatever he did to grab your attention." Her companion stated with a lower toned voice as she squat on the branch she was on before standing up and turning her own head to eye the young man.

    "It's not about what he did... I believe it's about, what he WILL do." The armored woman stated and if anyone heard her statement, they would probably imagine a wide smile on the lady's face.


    AN: Soup rice. :3
     
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