"Sir Momon, you return." the adventure guild master quickly rushed to greet Momon, the hero in raven black armor, although it was badly damaged at the moment, as well as the beautiful magic caster Nabe who had suffered some injuries. although they came with another unknown man with a goatee. this unknown man gave him the same pressure Monon gave her. he too was injured,
"yes, I have managed to defeat and kill the vampire. the battle was much harder than expected, many unforeseen hidden trump cards were used by the vampire... but I had called upon an old friend. with his support, we 3 managed to take down the vampire." Monon said while looking towards Dracula.
"Greetings, I'm Dracula. I have an interest in becoming an adventure..." Dracula said with a smile... and so, that day, Momon became the highest-ranking adventure, Adamantite rank with her partner Nabe.
but something never heard of before, was Dracula. a new adventure who had instantly skipped copper, iron, and gold, and reached Platinum upon joining. he even joined the Momon guild, with strength said to rival him.
there were 8 ranks in the adventure guild, Copper - Iron - Silver - Gold - Platinum - Mithril - Orichalcum - and Adamantite.
"I don't feel at ease with your gear." sitting outside the stars, next to a campfire, AInz spoke while looking at the stars. with a smile, Dracula looked at his gear. it was a unique set of Gear, known as The Clothing Of A Fool.
This gear had the unique ability of allowing one to change their stats. it didn't allow them to increase it past its max, but it allowed them to lower it. I was using this ear to make my stats all lower, at level 50.
So yes, Ainz had his reason to not like this. I had 4 max-out stat and one that went above the limit. this was something extremely foolish to do. but in my case, it was perfect. but I didn't simply have just 1 stat that went above the game limits, I had two
These were my stats within the game. remember 100 is the limit.
HP:45
MP: 100
Phy.Atk: Above The Limit
Phy.Def: 95
Agility: above the Limit
Mag.Atk:85
Mag.Def:100
Resist:100
Special:100
Touch Me, the second strongest within the guild also had two stats above the limit. His HP and Phy. Atk was above the limit. I picked the speed path for a reason, I trained my reaction speed to fully use it. thanks to me being a cripple, I wanted to move around as much as I could. so in most games, I would pick such a route, the close-up and personal way of battle. I could easily be one-shotted if an attack were to ever hit, so I had to act quickly, jump around, and so on.
for this, my senses were sharp. I had locked a new sense skill. 6th sense, it was as if all your 5 senses are fused to form a new sense. the best way to explain this was one of those Assassin's Creed Games that have lived past their age. Eagle vision, which allowed the player to scan the world around them.
In the game, everything is highlighted out for me, it could even show me what a caster might be about to cast, with a 75% chance of being right. but this was the real world, instead, 6th sense allowed me to sense the world around me using any of the 5 senses, and within my mind, a map of the world around me would appear. it was so detailed that I could tell how many leaves were in a tree.
it was so detailed thanks to my Special Stat, that stat affects special skills and abilities, for example, Mind Control, Charm, and other unique non-attack defense spells would be boosted by the Special Stat. It's because of this that I could even free Shalltear from her brainwashing.
I of course had another skill better than 6th sense, called Odin Sense. it was gained from drinking the blood of Odin. Odin was said to be a human who broke the chains of the mortal body, becoming a god. he sacrificed his eye at the roots of the world tree, where the foundation of knowledge could be found, and with that, he drank from it. allowing Odin to gain what was known as Odin sense, a sense-type skill that made one almost all-knowing. Odin only increases the effect of this sense with The Eye Of Odin, the item that Dracula used to find Shalltear.
"Don't worry, this gear makes it so that I could survive just about anything with just 1/10 of my original HP. plus, it would store all of my stats and temporarily boost it depending on how much I had weakened myself," I said with a smile, to which Ainz could only sigh and say nothing else.
"Nabe, how are you liking this new world?" I asked with a smile, It recently came to my attention that I had to treat Ainz with the respect he needs as the guild master. So, when I said that it was Ainz's fault in front of everyone the other day, it was rude.
"There is nothing that beats the Great Tomb Of Nazarick. this world can't even compare." Nabe said without even a moment of hesitation, which left me speechless.
"is it? It is new, unknown, filled with mysteries, and danger. who knows, maybe there are beings stronger than me. Nabe, try and find something that could make you happy. I want to see you all go through some changes at the least, evolve." I said with a smile, making Nabe stunned
'what are you thinking Dracula? if they could change, wouldn't that mean that they could betray us? first, you fill me with thoughts of the other guild members betraying us, and now this?' Ainz cried inside,
"What father wouldn't want their child to grow? Make a friend, find a hobby, or learn new things. who knows, in a few years something might kill us all." I said softly, making Ainz go quiet for a moment. meanwhile, Nabe wanted to say something,
"My lord, I will lay down my life if the day were to ever be near. I believe everyone in the great Tomb Of Nazarick couldn't think twice." Nabe said with a serious look,
"thats not the point..." Ainz watched as Dracula went on to try and get Nabe to understand what he was trying to say. it was funny, as Nabe hated humans, and had for her hobbies? she couldn't think of anything else but serving the great tomb of Nazarick.
"I give up," Dracula said with a defeated look. Ainz laughed seeing this, but after a few seconds, his emotions were cool down. Unlike me, Ainz couldn't feel strong emotions. Vampires could feel emotions, but even I could have my emotions suppressed if they reached a high degree. I was more alive than Ainz was,
"I'm planning on leaving this party after some time," I said calmly, stunning Ainz who felt as if he had just been stabbed in the heart. he looked at me with a blank look, to which I smiled.
"Renner had told me about another vampire. another Adamantite party, I want to join them and collect information from within them. also, I wish to bring back someone from the dead. the one is known as Ninya." I said calmly, to which Ainz just listened.
Ninya was a part of the first party Ainz joined, she was a talented magic caster who could learn magic twice as fast as others. She was tortured to death when Clementine was trying to kidnap Nfirea. Ainz felt like he owed her, as he had her dairy which was helping him greatly in understanding this world.
"I want to do some test on her, what magic can she learn? what are her limits? can she learn something like my world Break? Dimensional Gap and so on. if so, could she become someone worth putting some resources into? I also want to see if I can learn this world of Martial Arts, as well as see if I can take a person's talent if I suck their blood." I said causing Ainz's eyes to narrow
The Vampire Lord, the lord of all Vampire. this race had one broken ability, Blood Thrief. With this ability, Dracula was capable of stealing a person's ability after drinking enough of their blood. yes, it would be far weaker than the original, and he could only get skills that were not limited by race.
This is how he got Odin's eyes, he even improved it by searching for the foundation of knowledge, which he spent days searching for. but once he found it, he defeated the garden of the foundation and drank from it. sadly, it disappeared, so Dracula couldn't get more. he of course searched for it once more, but it was never to be found.
pretty much, Dracula could get other player skills if he could suck enough blood from them. it sounded overpowered, but it wasn't. there were few skills that Dracula could take. sure he could use Blood copy, to temporarily gain the skill limited to another race, but it was only for 3 minutes.
there was little being Dracula ever bothered to use these two skills on, he used them on Odin to get his Odin Sense. he used them on Thor to get his Lightning skill, God Of the Weather, and the list of beings went on. but it was mostly bosses who came during special events.
"I see..." Ainz said softly, he couldn't let his emotions and selfish wants get in the way of Nazarick's growth. so he nodded his head.
"Then let's do all of the mission we can... this brings back memory. farming dungeons, camping for players. I want to enjoy this feeling, but first I want to find the basters who had the nerves to touch Shalltear." I started with a soft smile, which instantly turned dark towards the end, the aura I released strong enough to make Neba shake.
"Indeed." Ainz's rage also boiled, if he were to get his hands on them, he would do everything in his power to ensure they cruse their gods for allowing them to ever be born. Shalltear had reported everything she remembered, and currently, we were on a search for that party along with someone called Brain Unglaus.
Brain Unglaus was easy to find, after all, we knew his name. Renner also knew him. few didn't know of the man who fought Gazeof. although he lost to him, their fight was something many highly respected.
so time passed, Adamantite was a rank Dracula quickly reached. after which, he left Ainz's group and became a solo adventure, something which many of the floor guardians highly rejected too. the risks were too great, and it was even more so after they all realized I lowered my stats, so to ease their worry, I was going to fight Cocytus. Of course, everyone had gathered to watch the fight.
our spar would also take place on the 6th floor, which was guarded by Aura Bella Fiora and Mare Bello Fiore. two dark elves. on the 6th floor was the Amphitheatre, Built as a copy of the Roman Colosseum. Golems act as the audience, while VIP seats are prepared for guild members.
"from the left, is our chellanger, a floor guardian known as the perfect warrior. a man who can't bring himself to let one of the supreme being go into the unknown all alone... Cocytus." Aura, the lively dark elf yelled. She was a girl, but she had on male clothing, she was also a kid,
Anyway, from the left, Cocytus stepped out and was cheered for by the golems. but he ignored them all, his eyes focused in front of him, past Aura.
"To our right, is the strongest of the Supreme Being. The Lord Of All Vampire, the Lord of the Night... Dracula." Aura screamed, to which the place went wild with cheers. even the gardens watching were cheering, although they had to do well not to act shameful.
Dracula stepped out, an awkward look on his face. was this not a bit too much? he tried his best to ignore it, sadly he was no Ainz whose face didn't change. so the slight blush that appeared was clear for everyone to see. but it quickly disappeared as he cut everyone out of his senses.
"You're only equal to a level 50, is the gap not too big?" Cocytus asked to which I shrugged slightly
"I'm not fighting to win... just to show you that even if you're stronger, you can't defeat me," I said while holding on to danger. Cocytus nodded slightly, before equipping two Katanas with his upper hands, while his lower 2 hands held a helberd.
"you're ready?" Aura called out, and seeing we both nodding, the match began.
"Juggernaut, Odin Sense, Speed Boost, Greater Speed Boost..." Dracula went on to cast all of the enhancement he could upon himself, but would Cocytus allow that? Cocytus shot forward, his katana aiming towards Dracula's head.
Dracula didn't step back or try to block, he stepped in while twisting this body, dodging the attack. At the same time, another Katana appeared before him, which cut through Dracula with ease. but before everyone was shocked, that was only an afterimage.
"one of my job classes is Extreme speed. when I fully mastered this class to level 5, I gained a skill called perfect after image. for a short moment, my speed greatly increased, and I could leave behind an afterimage that normally can't be told apart from my real self. it also acts to draw you away from my real body." Dracula said calmly while standing far away from Dracula.
"You will tell me your skill?" Cocytus asked with a frown, to which I shook my head slightly.
"why not? now your mind is going to be filled with the question of if you're facing the real me or not." I said calmly while beginning to walk in circles around Cocytus, every step leaving behind an afterimage.
"one of these eyes is me... good look find them." after images quickly appeared around Cocytus surrounding him from all sides. Cocytus looked around, his heart heavy.
'it could be a lie and none of them is the real him. he is a master in battle, he attacks both the mind and spirit, as well as does physical damage... as expected of the supreme being.' Cocytus thought while looking around, not sure who was who. he felt like all of them were fake, as he couldn't sense anything among them that proved them to be Dracula
All of them suddenly shot towards him, and Cocytus quickly moved and swung his weapons to cut through all of them with skilled movements. but all of them were after images, with a stunned look, he looked around and just in time, moved his sword to block an incoming danger.
But to Cocyus's shock, he was sent sliding back, from the force behind that danger. he quickly moved to the counter. but Dracula moved, dodging his attacks, he even used to dagger to help him push himself around, while twisting his body in all type of ways or form to avoid getting hit by him.
'such reflectes.' Cocytus thought seeing the serouly look Dracula's head, it was clear even Dracula didn't dare to make one wrong move at this moment. after all, Dracula would need countless attacks to kill him, while he only needed one.
"World Break." Dracula suddenly moved, dodging an attack while swinging his Dagger down, each dagger using the skill World Break. World Break was the better version of Reality Slash, a 10th-tier spell.
Reality slash is capable of cleaving through the very fabric of space, and a hit from this powerful attack spell can disregard virtually any form of magical defense.
meanwhile, World Break Turns space into a blade. what was shaper than Space? Space was the sharpest thing there was. looking down at the size of an atom, and you would see there is a gap of space within everything. space was the sharpest blade.
'When did he sharp up World Break?' Cocytus thought, all his defense was proven pointless before such an attack. the world itself could do nothing before this attack, Cocytus was forced to use a skill.
"Wind Brust" Cocytus roared, unleashing his skill, creating a burst of wind that pushed everything from him. just in time as although Dracula's Daggers pierced through the wind, Dracula, on the other hand, was sent rocketing back, while the dagger fell, stabbing clearly into Cocytus's body.
"that was close," I said with a smile while whipping the blood from the corner of my mouth, that one attack killed me, leading to my original stats returning.
"amazing, such a fast reaction speed. capable of reading my actions, I was like an open book. your movements were perfect, it was like you planned everything out. One move led perfectly into the next." Cocytus said his eyes growing in amazement. He felt like an open book before Dracula, he was blocking, dodging, and paring all of his attacks, it was as if everything was within his sight.
if Dracula was at level 60 and he fought him, there was a chance that World Breaks would have hit before Wind Brust could activate. in other words, at level 60, it was unclear who would win.
"My lord, are you alright?" Demiurge and the others who came to check up on me, to which I simply waved off.
"My recovery speed is fast. By using my MP, I could easily restore my health," I said calmly, with an unbothered look. World Break used up a lot of MP, If Ainz was capable of using World Break, then he could use it about 4 times. meanwhile, I could only use it 3 times.
Just when the floor garden was about to lash out toward Cocytus, I stopped them. as if it was a duel. but Cocytus on the other hand who had the mind of a warrior was busy reliving the whole battle
"wait... my lord, how were you able to withstand my blows without being sent flying? you even moved me?" Cocytus said to which I smiled slightly.
"Juggernaut is the special skill I gained from my Extreme Speed Class. It allows me to do two things. One is to boost my physical attack and defense based on how fast I'm going. and second, I could store my speed, which I could release in the form of power. this is how I could block your attacks and not have all my bones shattered." I said with a smile, Cocytus looked at me in amazement
"so when you were making the avatar images, it was to buy time for your to charge world break, and store up speed. beautiful, truly beautiful." Cocytus roared an act that made all of the floor Guardians frown deeply. first, he hurts a supreme being and now he is acting like this?
"... where is Shalltear? I thought all of the Guardians came to watch?" I asked with a confused look, as I could find Shalltear. Albedo hesitated for a moment before speaking
"Although both Lord Ainz and Lord Dracula had said it wasn't her fault, the guilt of her actions is eating her up," Albedo said, remembering the sight of Shalltear drinking alcohol and trying to get drunk.
"I see... I will go see her then. by the way, I should do what Ainz did, and go out with someone... your little sister would do perfectly. it would be a time for father and daughter to bond after so long" I said softly, making everyone freeze at my words.
Albedo's little sister was the strongest NPC... That wouldn't be a smart idea to allow her to leave right? sweat covered Albedo's forehead as well as everyone else, they didn't know how to say no to this.
"I'm joking... I will find someone else. plus, I fear she might cut me down if she saw me." I said softly, remember how I made her. Albedo and the others sighed, that was their fear that she would attack Dracula.
'I need a human-like person to join me, Shalltear? but people have seen her before, maybe Sebas.' I thought while rubbing my Goatee... well I should ask the guild master first.