The gates of Orario are always busy during the morning, many carriages left by the early hours of the day in order to get to their destination while the daylight was still out, however there a few carriages going in to the city, in one came the former dark lord once known as Sauron.

The evil being left the carriage and gave the driver, a human older than 40, a thanks before walking towards his destination. 16 years ago Sauron had escaped the void, for a nano-second a microscopic opening had appeared, but Sauron grabbed it, nurtured it, expanded it, and escaped his prison.

The adventurer's guild was always full, be it morning, evening or noon, there were always adventurers picking quests, discussing strategies or simply having fun in a delightful conversation, yet many had still noticed the young elf who walked through the doors. Sauron considered himself lucky for being reborn as an elf in this new world, although "elf" was too strong a word, these elves weren't nearly as graceful or powerful as their middle-earth counterparts, regardless, it was certainly better than being a human or some animal-man freak.

"Hello young lady, I would like to become an adventurer." Said Sauron to the half-elf at the balcony, she took a few seconds to recompose herself and before responding to him.

"Right, for that you will need to fill up this contract, normally you would need to pay a small fee for a few basic equipment, but I can see that you already have weapons and armor." Said the half-elf, giving the contract with a pen before pointing to the smith's hammer hanging on Sauron's side.

Silently the former maia filled the contract, giving the Name of Annatar. "You don't have a surname?" inquired the young half-elf.

"No, i'm an orphan." Said Sauron, pretending to pretend he wasn't uncomfortable with the question. It wasn't a lie, Sauron was indeed an orphan once he was reborn, he grew in a poorly managed orphanage in a small port-city, he was the only elf in the whole city, because of that many had tried to abuse or mistreat the former dark lord, these people had dissappeared.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to touch an old wound." She quickly said before signing his contract and giving it the seal of approval, to play the part of the poor orphan had always worked, pity is such an easy thing to manipulate.

"Don't worry young lady, you had no way of knowing." He said courtly.

"Well, since I was the one to sign your contract that makes me the one responsible for you, any questions you may have are for me to answer, there is no need to feel embarrassed, even veteran adventurers need help, in case you come when i'm not in balcony, just ask for miss Eina." She spoke like an automaton. "How many times had she said this exact script?" Wondered Sauron.

"I do have a question, tell me, do you know of any small familia that started recently? I imagine those will be more likely to accept me in their ranks." That wasn't a complete lie, he just failed to mention that small familias would be easier to control, and that he could stay easier in the shadows until he became strong enough to truly begin his plans.

"Well, I do know one, it's a familia composed of one adventurer and his goddess, I imagine that is far too small." She said with a small whince.

"No, that is actually perfect, where can I find the goddess of this familia?"

XXX

Today was a day of surprises for Bell, he almost died to a minotaur, found the love of his life, yet he didn't imagine he would get home to find his goddess talking happily with an elf.

"BELL, look, a new member to our familia." Said Hestia, she lifted herself and the young elf from the sofa and went towards Bell and gave him a bear hug.

"I knew things would start getting better." She said before releasing the white haired boy.

"Uhum. My goddess might you introduce me to this... Bell you said his name was?" Said sauron.

"Yeah, right, Annatar met Bell, he is my precious child and the first to join my familia. Bell met Annatar, he just became an adventurer today, but I took a look at his status and they are great." She said, Bell looked at the elf up and down, the elf is tall and has black hair with yellow-orange eyes similar to fire, he gave Bell a strange feeling.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Bell, I hope we may become more than just members of the same familia, I would really appreciate a friend in this new town." Said Annatar with such grace that it washed away all doubts Bell was feeling about him. He extended his hand for a handshake.

"He is so formal, I guess that is understandable since he is an elf. Come on Bell, I also brought home extra potatoes that the owner of the stand was going to throw out. After I look at your status, let's feast like kings today!" Said Hestia, finally her familia was growing, elves are rare, to have one be part of her familia would for sure make more members come in by the dozen.

"Thank you, Mr. Annatar, I also hope we may become friends." Said Bell before shaking hands with evil.

As the night came and they celebrated, Bell ended up telling his goddess about what happened today, although he was super embarrassed to talk about his new crush with a stranger in the room, however Annatar gave Bell great advice. "In truth i never fell in love, such things matter little to me, but I can tell you, Bell, if you truly want this girl, if you want her more than anything, you need to go after her with a plan in mind, you have the cards stacked against you, going without a plan will result in failure." Annatar said with a hand on his chin in a thinking pose.

"So you think there is a chance?"

"Nothing is impossible for those who are determined and smart, all the world is within our grasps at every moment, you must simply be smarter, faster, and more determined than everyone else to get it, according to your description this girl has many men courting her already, so I would recommend for you to focus in becoming stronger, or perhaps learn magic in order to stand out among the crowd of man trying to pursue her." Offered Annatar, Bell's eyes opened wide, it was good to see someone who had at least some faith in him.

XXX

It wasn't just the gates of orario that were busy during the morning hours of the day, the streets within the city can be quite full as well. After a pathetic scene were the boy was embarrassed to have his goddess hug him while he was asleep Sauron knew this boy would never achieve his goal of seducing this Aiz girl, Sauron never cared for love with mortals, but he knew that their females liked those with confidence and strength, two qualities the boy simply lacks.

Suddenly the former dark lord felt a presence like he was being watched, just like Sauron, Bell began to look around with a paranoid expression, he felt it too.

"Hmm excuse me?" A voice from behind them about to touch Bell's shoulder. In half a second Sauron turned around and lifted his hammer high, ready to annihilate his attacker, only to find a plain looking girl, with the expression of a stag about to be hit by a carriage.

"Sorry, i was startl-" Sauron tried to say, but was cut by a knife that flew out from one of the establishments, Sauron parried it away easily enough, however the knife was not going to hit even if he hadn't, it was just a warning shot. In front of the establishment, a restaurant it seemed, stood an elf looking at Sauron with anger in her eyes, behind her were other woman from different races, but only the elf had a weapon, they stood watching each other for a few seconds, she had knives for throwing and Sauron had his hammer, Bell and the girl were frozen with fear.

"May I help you?" Said Sauron, leaving his defensive stance.

"Yeah, you can. Please tell me, why did you almost hit one of my employees with a hammer?" Asked a fat lady while waking in front of the elf.

"She scared me, that is all."

"HA. She scared you? Look at you, wearing all black and with eyes like fire, i would say the opposite is more likely." Said the fat lady.

Sauron had to pinch the bridge of his nose in order to calm down and not say anything stupid.

"Look, me and my friend are adventurers, we deal with terrible monsters, of course my first reaction when startled is to draw my weapon, i'm sorry for making you worry." Sauron said, he could simply tell them to go fuck a goblin and be done with it, but felt like the diplomatic approach might be better.

"Yes Mama, it's alright, I shouldn't have tried to touch someone I don't know before making myself known to begin with." Said the plain girl, she gave Sauron and the woman, apparently her mom, a bow.

The girls all gave Sauron a glare before going back inside to continue their jobs.

"Hmmm, can I help you?" Asked Bell.

"Yes, here you dropped this." Responded the girl, she extended her hand and gave Bell a purple crystal.

Bell gave her a confused look and took his backpack from his back to see if it was loose. After a bit of checking Bell knew that it wasn't, he also was pretty sure he exchanged all the stones he collected yesterday, but decided not to question her.

"Thank you for returning it to me." Said Bell before taking the stone.

"I must thank you as well." Said Sauron. "Most would not have and simply kept the stone."

"But that wouldn't be right, i had to give it back to you." She responded with a smile.

"Well, thank you nonetheless we must get going, work at the dungeons never ceases." Said Sauron, but before he could leave a growl comes from Bell's stomach. Immediately Bell's face goes red and the girl gave a small laugh.

"Didn't you have any breakfast this morning?" She asked Bell who couldn't even bring himself to look at her face so he just nods.

She suddenly runs to the restaurant and brings back with her a little basket of food.

"The restaurant isn't open yet, so all i can offer is my morning rations..."

"No, no, no my dear, there is no need for that, we can just stop at some local cafe of street vender to buy something, besides we can't just take your breakfast." Interjected Sauron.

"I can't leave you hungry like this. It would make me sad as a person to do that. So please, Mrs. Adventurers, accept it, for me." She said. Sauron then understood what was happening.

"By doing this selfless act she can later cash-in some sort of favor for most would feel to guilty to refuse her." Thought Sauron.

Bell accepted her offer, she then closed her eyes in a thinking pose before opening them and saying. "Since i'm making this sacrifice for you now, how about you repay me by coming to dinner here tonight."

Sauron could feel nothing but shame, he should have seen this coming the moment she offered the crystal. "Am i losing my edge, has the time in the void made me... I think the orcs called it "rusty"?" Thought Sauron.

"Well then, I'll be seeing you here tonight." Said Bell.

"Yes, I'll be waiting." She said with a little laugh.

"Wait, we haven't actually introduced ourselves, I'm Bell Cranel." Said Bell.

"I'm Annatar." Said Sauron.

"I'm Syr Flower." She Said.

After their introduction they waved and parted ways, Bell and Sauron to the dungeon and Syr to the restaurant. Sauron kept replaying the events in his mind as they explored the dungeon, it was so obvious, yet he still only realized what was happening after a full minute of interaction, the old Sauron would have known that something was wrong the upon 5 seconds of conversation and would have cut it short.

During his moment of thought a kobold almost managed to surprise attack Sauron, but he just turned around and slammed the hammer on the monster's face.

"I made a mistake, I need to not do it again and stop worrying about it." Sauron scolded himself and began to better concentrate on the matter at hand. Together Bell and Sauron went to the middle point of the second floor, Sauron could keep going, he wanted to keep going, but Bell was afraid and Sauron couldn't just leave him behind, that would anger his goddess. They got plenty of loot by fighting goblins and kobolds, at some point a well organized group of kobolds nearly managed to hit Sauron by surrounding him, but before they could touch the dark lord a large explosion emanated from him body obliterating the kobolds, Bell gave Sauron a look of pure admiration upon seeing that spell and Sauron bathed in the admiration without shame, it was overall a good day.

XXX

Annatar Level one.

Strength: G-235 G-248 Defense H-123 H-131 Dexterity G-257 G-274 Agility G-261 273 Magic G-290 F-300

Magic: flame manipulation: The ability to create and manipulate flames at will.

Skill: Forger: (ineligible)

When Hestia compared the diference between Bell's and Annatar's growth there was no denying it, something was not right. There was also that skill she couldn't read, but her worry over her precious boy made her not carry about it.

Sauron could not believe in that growth either, that would require further investigation.

After Bell and Hestia had a fight over Bell's growth, a fight Sauron found to be stupid, the 2 adventurers went to that restaurant they were manipulated into promising they would go.

Upon entering "The benevolent mistress", as the restaurant/bar is called, Sauron wanted to immediately get out, the place was full of all sorts of miscreants and cretins. A dwarfess, the same one that called Sauron scary, attended the counter while cat-girls served the food and took orders.

"Bell! Annatar! You really came!" Said Syr as she came to greet them.

Sauron grabbed her right hand and gave a kiss on the air above her knuckles.

"It's bad manners to break a promise to a lady." Said Sauron. Syr blushed a little before guiding them to two seats at the counter.

"Hey, look who it is! It's mister bunny and fiery eyes! Haha didn't think you would come, if a little girl makes you so scared you almost blow her brains out I imagine such a crowd must make you terrified." Joked the dwarfess.

"As I told Syr, I promised I would come, so I did. A gentleman must keep all promises he makes, especially to ladies." Said Sauron.

"Ooohh. How charming I might just fall in love." Said the dwarfess.

Sauron leaned over the counter and said. "I wouldn't mind if you did." With a sultry voice.

"HAHA! Syr where did you find this fella? You need to bring more 'cause he is right up my alley. Well just sit tight and enjoy the food cause i will keep it coming." Said the dwarfess before leaving to attend other people.

"Heh. I like her." Said Sauron.

"Yeah, Mama Mia tends to be to much for most at the beginning, but it's nice to see someone who can immediately keep up with her." Said Syr.

"Well, she reminds me of a... friend." Said Sauron.

"A friend? Who was he?" Asked Bell.

"Just a friend, don't worry about it, let's just eat." Said Sauron.

The night was pleasant, Bell and Sauron made their order and made good talk with Syr. Sauron also found some new respect for Mama Mia, he initially wrote her off as a funny woman who had only girls in order to attract gullible idiots to her bar, but in actuality she runs a good charity that gives women with nowhere to go a chance to restart.

The doors suddenly opened and they came in, Loki familia, the giant-killer familia. Everyone began to whisper amongst themselves while Sauron paid little mind to them and kept eating his spaghetti, having to eat is something Sauron hates, but he can't deny that some foods are simply amazing.

"Yeess! Great day out there in the dungeon today, people! Time to cut loose! First round is on me!" Announced Loki, much to everyone's happiness.

The whole place partied throughout the night, something that Sauron woth his acute hearing didn't appreciate, until a wolfman from Loki's familia said. "Hey, Aiz. Tell us that one story!"

"...What story?" Asked Aiz.

"You know the one, about those minotaurs on the fifth floor. The one about the tomato boy." Said the wolfman.

"The one about the minotaurs that we allowed to escape at the seventeenth floor?"

"Yeah, that one. That 'adventurer'! Damn newbie kid. Got cornered like a bunny was shaking like one too, bet was he was about to shit himself. Haha. Actually what happened to him again?"

"I think Aiz killed the minotaur before it killed the kid right?" Responded another member from Loki's familia.

The wolfman began to laugh even harder. "Kid got soaked with cow's blood hahahahaha."

The whole interaction left Sauron confused, they failed, because of them someone almost got hurt, yet here they are laughing, Sauron shrugged, mortals were never known for being intelligent or logical anyway.

"It's been a long time since I have seen something so disgusting! He is a man yet all he did was run away and cry! I mean someone who would cry like that shouldn't even be in the dungeon, right Aiz?" Asked the wolfman. "Weak cowards like that give the rest of us a bad rep, they should just give up already." He added.

"Would you just shut your mouth Bete? We let the minotaur escape, the boy had nothing to do with it. Stop drinking and learns some respect." Said an elf girl from Loki's familia much to Sauron nonsurprise, elves were always more logical.

"You elves and your pride. 'Our fault' bullshit, you're lying to yourself in order to protect that trash, but that is what he is, trash is trash and I will call it how I seet it." Said Bete the wolfman.

"Geez, Bete, Reveria, relax, you are both killing the mood." Said Loki.

"Heh, hey Aiz what have got to say about that pathetic little shit? Do you think he deserves to stand beside us as adventurers?" Asked Bete.

"... I can't blame him for what he did." Said Ainz.

"What is with this goody two-shoes attitude? Ok, better question, as male, who would prefer to mate? Me or him?"

"What the... what is this question Bete?!" Said a very horrified Reveria.

"Shush it hag! If that worm came to ask you out, said he liked you, would you take him?" Said Bete, and Sauron had enough.

Sauron put the money to pay the bill on the table and stood up.

"It was overall good to dine here, the food is good, but it could certainly have some quality control over who is allowed in." Sauron told Syr before taking a very sad looking Bell by the right arm and leaving while Loki's familia argued with each other.

After a minute of walking Bell stopped.

"What is wrong, Bell?" Asked Sauron.

But didn't respond instead tears began to flow down his face.

*Smack*

The hard slap from Sauron made Bell fall on the floor.

"You listen to me, Bell, and you listen good. Do NOT cry over what that idiot said because he was wrong about everything he said, if you had fought that minotaur you would have died and left your goddess alone, running was the right thing to do, it was the smart thing to do, 'honor', 'bravery', all of that means nothing if you are dead, so survive, use every technique available, and when someone calls you a coward you smile, for you know you will live longer than they will." Said Sauron, his patience was gone and he would not deal with Bell crying over what some nobody thinks of him.

"But how could I stand beside Aiz that way?" Asked Bell.

"How will you stand beside her if you are dead?" Sauron asked back.

...

...

"If you want to 'stand beside Aiz' then we are going to the wrong place." Said Sauron before he took Bell's hand and began guiding him.

"Where are we going?" Asked Bell.

"To the dungeon of course, where else will you become stronger?" Sauron asked back.