Even before my eyes opened, my other senses were already up and transmitting information into my head. That's how I felt the beautiful and nigh-divine presence of my companion before I even opened my eyes to see her ethereal beauty.
The soft and warm figure of Nix lay in my embrace, in my arms as I kept her close to me.
It was of little surprise that I felt my lips curling up into a content smile and felt my heart beat in delight at the sight. This is what I'd been working for. This is what I struggled so hard and fought all obstacles for. Just this feeling of content and freedom.
I just knew today would be a wonderful day with such a beautiful start to it. I could take on this whole world and any challenge thrown at me. I was motivated like never before. Honestly, it was amazing to see what waking up to a beautiful woman (who loved you unconditionally) in your embrace does to your psyche. All sorts of good things happen to you. And some funny things too, I suppose.
I chalked my other bodily reaction to a simple affirmation that– yes, that part of my body seems to be working just as intended. Moving on…
Perhaps due to my movements, Nix started to wake herself. I was greeted with an adorable sight where my partner seemed to be momentarily confused at her surroundings. The very first thing she saw was my clothed chest. Then her gaze drifted upwards in confusion and, dare I say, blooming anticipation. The moment our gazes met, the most beautiful of smiles ever seen blossomed on her face, and my day somehow got even better.
"Good morning, my love."
My next move was purely guided by my instincts as I leaned down and sought to touch her lips with mine. Nix seemed to understand my intentions and mimicked my movements.
Our lips met, and I felt something take hold of me as I deepened the kiss and held her tighter, feeling her own grip on my back tightening in response.
Her fingers clutched at my shirt, and she seemed to want to become one with my body as she pressed her warm and supple body onto me.
As our mouths opened to begin a more passionate war of tongues, my hands roamed over her soft body, learning and memorizing her exquisite curves and contours. I wanted to be very familiar with them— with all of her. It was a goal I swore to strive towards.
After some time, I finally let go, feeling somewhat content yet also deeply unsatisfied with the turn of events. On one hand, I had thoroughly enjoyed my gorgeous Nix's delicious lips, which just made me happy and soothed my weary—now healing—soul; but on the other, I felt myself wanting for more, more than just kissing and light caressing.
Looking down at the panting and flushed face of my partner, I tried to find hints of the same want, same desire. For more. For a lot more. Any excuse to escalate matters and take the next few remaining steps here and now.
But to my amusement—and slight disappointment—she seemed to be too dazed for her to have such thoughts. Alas. Though it was clear that she was feeling very delighted. I'd never seen a smile so… dopey on her. Then again, she'd been a mere NPC with limited expressiveness until yesterday.
My thoughts wandered from there to the game and then to my plans, and I found my thoughts shifting as I mused over said plans. That little respite from the carnal actions was enough for both my body to calm down from its lust-driven high and for Nix to come out of her daze.
I don't remember how long I stayed there, subconsciously holding Nix close to me as I planned the events of the coming day.
Admittedly, I found myself quite excited about things to come. Of course, most of it had to do with waking up next to my supernaturally beautiful Nix, but also, a part of me really was eager to explore and discover things in this New World with all these power and resources I now had at my disposal.
A little while later, Nix finally pulled me out of my reverie.
"My love?"
Hearing her melodious and love-filled voice, I turned to look at her.
"Hm?"
At my curious hum, she replied.
"I truly loathe to even suggest it, my love. As I have never felt so comfortable and happy as I feel right now, in your embrace."
I smiled reflexively, but it was clear there was more to it than just that. Still, I was pleased to hear her speak the same things I myself felt at the moment.
It was true that I'd also never felt so comfortable and happy before in any of my lives. I wanted to convey that thought back to her, preferably with another tangle of tongues, but instead I let her finish her words.
"However, we have a long day ahead of ourselves. I have to perform my daily duties and make sure nothing has gone amiss during our rest. It's the first time in a long while since I've taken a rest from my work. I worry."
I hummed again in affirmation, while keeping that last tidbit in my mind.
"True. I too was thinking about the upcoming day. I suppose we should be up and about, yes?"
"… Yes."
She spoke, but a quiet, almost resigned sigh followed her words.
Was she not feeling up to the task, perhaps? Or was there something else bothering her? Her emotions had become slightly muddy after she regained her composure, and I couldn't say things for sure; her Mental Immunities were working against my extrasensory skills.
Still, as her partner, I felt it was my duty to make sure my beloved companion wasn't feeling down for whatever reason. No, that certainly wouldn't do.
"Does something bother you, Nix?"
She parted her lips to speak, drawing my attention to those delicious treats and a desire to capture them, but I held back. Now wasn't the time for it. She needed them free to speak after all.
"Ah, my apologies. It's nothing, my lord."
Those words, for some reason, rang an alert bell in the back of my head.
I'll admit I'd had a very dry romantic life. By which I mean drier than most deserts on Earth. But I had been in one short-term relationship that sank before it could be called a proper relationship. And from that I learned one crucial thing. Women—well, people in general, but this one is relevant to women in particular—often meant something else when they said 'It's nothing.' There was always more to it than that.
So, carefully, I prodded Nix for more.
"It's alright. You don't need to apologize. You've not done anything to require that apology. But do tell me what's bothering you. It bothers me that my Nix is troubled by something."
"Ah, my lord."
She flushed anew, hearing my words. I knew damn well how flowery and maybe even cringey it might have sounded to anyone else if they heard me say these words. But I knew, here and now, in the confines of my bedroom, Nix didn't feel that way. Her delight at hearing that I cared for her was palpable.
She pushed her face to my chest, and I started to caress her beautiful platinum hair. The silky smooth hair felt amazing to caress. After a small pause where I simply took pleasure in holding her like this and caressing her head, she pulled back to look at me.
"It's unfair, my lord."
She quietly whispered.
"What is?"
I asked, quizzically.
"The love you give me. It's too much. I find myself overwhelmed sometimes."
I don't know what I expected her to say in response, but this wasn't it. I found myself short of a reply for a moment and simply stared at her head. After a brief pause, I spoke, hesitant.
"I… see. Does that bother you?"
Even as I asked the question, I had begun thinking on things to admonish myself with in case the answer did turn out to be a 'yes.'
Shit. Damn it. Was I being too pushy? Why didn't I realize? … Was I seriously being too demanding or grabby with her and not even realizing? Did I misread the cues she was giving, or… Ugh. Damn it, you idiot. Stop thinking with your dick!
I would have continued to berate myself mentally and used less polite words to describe it had Nix not responded in haste.
"No! No, my lord! Never! I've felt nothing but your love and care, and I'm truly happy to have received it. The thing that bothers me… well…"
I noticed a hint of embarrassment enter her voice.
"… My lord, would you think of me as being too greedy and selfish if I said I didn't want to leave your embrace right now? The very thought makes me want to wish I didn't have any duties to perform, so I could stay like this for longer. If possible, forever. In here, with you, I feel like I have everything I'd ever need…"
She stopped, now looking sheepish but calmer, as if an invisible weight had left her shoulders.
It took me a moment to grasp her words, and then I reflexively laughed out loud.
"Oh. Oh, I see."
Oh, thank goodness. That almost had me question my entire life. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, me. No need to overreact, yeah?
I soon stopped laughing when I heard a quiet mewling noise and saw Nix looking abashed, trying to curl herself into a ball of adorable goodness—at least it looked like that to my biased, tinted eyes.
I highly doubted she was feeling the same way, though.
Realizing my small 'blunder' immediately and feeling my heart twinge but also coo at the scene, I pulled her face up and planted a soft kiss on her lips. I held it until I felt her melt into it. For a lasting moment, all was forgotten as we shared the tender moment, basking in each other's presence and the warmth of our bodies.
Now ensured that she had calmed down and also happy to have gotten another taste of her lips, I separated, and with the most caring and gentle tone, I spoke to the now pacified-looking Nix.
"Nix, I'd never think of you like that. I, too, wish to spend more time with you. Leaving this bed is just as hard for me, if not more."
She nodded demurely, understanding my intent finally.
Sighing, I added as an afterthought.
"But alas, we must."
"Indeed, we must."
She parroted with a longing but resigned tone.
And yet, despite saying that, we remained in the bed, embracing one another, simply waiting for a certain moment or signal to come when we'd separate or for the other to make a move first.
When all was said and done, I was indeed feeling very reluctant to leave here. Leave her. It was so comfortable, holding my Nix in my arms and enjoying this feeling of contentment at long last. Why couldn't we just stay like this and forget the world for the time being? It wasn't as if the New World was running away from me. We had all the time in the world—
I blinked as two steady knocks pulled me out of my procrastination-filled tirade.
"Come in, Grayfia."
I spoke almost reflexively, even before my conscious mind caught up with my subconscious, which had already noticed the presence that was approaching outside the door of this room. And while there wasn't a hint of demonic aura, my connection with the said being made me acutely aware of their nature and identity.
The doors opened gingerly as Grayfia took a step inside, her head bowed in polite greeting.
"Good Morning, my lord, my lady. Is it a good time to ask if you and My Lady would like something to eat and drink?"
Seeing her as a signal to finally get up, I mentally sighed, followed by a resigned smile.
Yeah, it wasn't meant to be. Can't laze around when I have so much work to do and people to manage. Everyone else is probably already up and running. It'd leave a bad impression if I, their leader, and their vice-leader are lazing around while they work.
I used this to finally signal my lethargic side to suck it up and get going.
"I think I would, Grayfia."
I replied to the Head Maid with a smile.
I turned to my partner in bed, who was still cuddling my side, not at all bothered that Grayfia would see us like this. Not that we were in any compromising position. Cuddling in clothes was as PG as it got between two lovers. Furthermore, Grayfia had yet to even raise her head and look straight at us, not that she needed to physically 'see' to sense our cuddling forms, her own extrasensory skills allowing her more details passively. Was she intentionally not looking our way, perhaps as a show of politeness? I appreciated the thought, not that it was needed.
"Shall we have our breakfast in bed?"
I queried, pushing away the intrusive thoughts.
Nix, after a moment of consideration, turned that question back at me.
"What would you like, my love?"
"Hmm."
Thinking a little, I decided against it.
As convenient as it sounded, I had just decided not to be so lazy. It'd set a bad precedent and give me an excuse to stay longer in bed. Now that Grayfia had seen us like this, I found it harder to stay and laze around in bed like a bum.
Actually, did she even sleep? I had no clue. I hoped she did, but… Hn, I'll have to ask her later.
"Perhaps we should have it in the dining room. It's about time we got up and working, anyway. Speaking of, what time is it, Grayfia?"
The diligent maid promptly answered my query.
"It's half past 7, master. Though I'm unsure if the clocks we use match the exact time of this region of the world. The watchers reported that the sun arose 2 hours 15 minutes ago according to our clocks."
"I see."
I spent a moment wondering if there was ever a mention of the time difference between New World and Ygdrassil. I knew there was a time difference between different 'planes' of Ygdrassil.
The in-game UI clock I had was obviously gone, along with all the other menu screen items, though I still had instinctive awareness of a lot of those functions.
We also had plenty of digital and mechanical clock items in the guild, mainly as decorations.
It'd be a pain to change all of their time in case of time dilation. The maids will have work ahead of themselves in such a scenario.
Said maids probably won't see it as a bother, though. If my maids were anything like Nazarick's maids… yeah, likely they'll enjoy the work.
Hold on.
"What about the self-readjusting magical clocks? Did they change their time?"
I asked, reminded of the existence of those items in the guild's possession.
Magic Clocks were low-level items that were used as a redundant source of time and in certain crafting recipes. Their one notable feature was that they shifted to match the local time of the region/plane they were in. Well, that and some of them came with some quirky or joke abilities built in, courtesy of some April Fool's updates that filled the game with a bunch of those often useless and pointless items.
I wondered if these things were still working or not.
"My apologies, master. I have not inquired as such. If you'd give me a moment…"
"Ah, there's no need, Grayfia. I believe I have one of those with me."
I raised my hand as, with a subconscious thought, a translucent and shimmering portal appeared in front of me. My hand entered through it and did not come out on the other side, instead going into my Inventory subspace. With but a thought, I had the item I needed in my grasp inside that willowy space, and I pulled it out, looking down at the decorated pocket watch to see the time.
7:42 AM
Hm, so it's showing the same time as the other clocks in the guild.
I noted.
"Here, you can have it, Grayfia. It might be of use to you."
I had spares anyway. I had hoarded a lot of valuable and junk items in my Inventory due to my fear of losing them in transit.
"Understood, my lord. I shall certainly make good use of this gift from you. And I shall go and set the table for you two."
Hm?
With a bow deeper than before, Grayfia took her leave, likely to perform her task and also prepare our breakfast.
Wait, did she take it as a gift? But it's just a junk item, though?
I smiled wryly and muttered to myself.
"Well, I can always give her something better later."
I nodded mentally and then finally spoke.
"Then, it's time to get up and work, I suppose."
My eyes glanced at Nix's face one last time, drinking in the beauty of it.
I'll have plenty of time to spend with her.
I let Nix use the bathroom first, only to realize I had multiple bathrooms attached to my suite, and then felt like an idiot as I used the spare one. Damn, I was not used to my newfound richness, despite spending so long and having decorated this place myself. But considering those rooms were a one-and-done sort of thing from years prior, it was understandable that I forgot about them.
-x-
The breakfast was a quiet but delightful affair. The entire table had been filled with a frankly absurd number and assortment of food items, some of which I could recognize from the game, while others eluded me, yet greatly pleased my taste buds.
During this time, I also heard back from my maid about my inquiry.
"Master, all the Magical Clocks in our possession, except the ones in the treasury that are inaccessible to us, seem to be showing the same time. There is a slight difference between them and the non-magical ones, however. Our scouts outside have used several arcane and magical means mentioned in the Grand Library on Floor 7 to determine the local time. If this world indeed works on the same 24-hour day/night cycle as our Diviners and Time Mages have predicted, which our watchers have claimed to be the case, though we are yet to confirm it to the millisecond, the Magical Clocks seem to be showing the correct time."
"I see."
That was way more thorough than I expected, but it was a pretty decent way of confirming the time.
"Very well. I'll ask the treasurer to check on those clocks as well, just to be sure. But I think we're fine on that front. Is there anything else that needs to be reported? And has there been any worthwhile development since I and Nix went to rest?"
With our exceedingly lavish breakfast over, both Nix and I were sitting on the sofa, hearing the reports gathered by my diligent maid. Even if it wasn't her duty exactly, she seemed to have gotten all the necessary information to report to me anyway.
If there ever was doubt of Grayfia's diligence and competence, it would very much be quelled after this. Not that there were any such doubts in my head ever.
"The scouts have surveyed the lands around the spire and made several noteworthy discoveries, including sightings of multiple sentient and sapient beings. Following your instructions, they have maneuvered to remain undetected while gathering detailed information about these encounters. Would you like me to recite each of their report, Master?"
I rubbed my chin in curiosity.
Sentient life, huh. I wonder what they found.
I nodded for her to continue.
"I was given the following compiled map an hour ago from the leader of the scouts."
She spread a neatly hand-drawn map of the region centered around the spire on the coffee table. I tilted my head to look at the map and blinked at the size mentioned on it.
The marked land was more expansive than I had anticipated.
The scales mentioned stated that a radius of over 250 KMs (around 155 miles) around the tower had been explored by the scouts, while Diviners, the ones with skills in Divination and Spacial Scrying, in the guild roster had been given the task to scope out the greater landmass as a whole to make the rough outline of the larger continental region and its surroundings bodies.
That's how I had a map of almost the entire continent and a more detailed map of a smaller but still large region marked. And it was still being explored and updated on an hourly basis.
Once again, I had to applaud the efficiency and speed of the summons and everyone involved with the given task. I took a mental note to do so later, once the task is over, and this is being discussed with the Floor Guardians. Good work deserves praise after all. It's just common sense.
The report about the discovery of sentient life ended up taking over an hour as Grayfia recited pretty much every single encounter or discovery that had any worth in their eyes. I had to applaud her ability to cite it all without looking at any document or cheat sheet. It probably helped that she was a High Level, and thus had obviously superior mental faculties than regular people.
Once the hour mark passed, however, I had to finally step in and tell her to shorten the report to only the most significant details. Otherwise, I had a feeling I was in for another several hours of the same thing. Most of the information I received wasn't something that really interested me, but it was still important for our intelligence division. Yes, we had one. Mostly in name until now, but with the real-world patch, it had become a real thing. So, like a good leader, I told her to pass it off to them and let them create a heatmap of threats and interests and ponder over it. I only had eyes for a few things from the report, namely, sightings of human settlements, demihumans, and, most importantly, Dwarves in the mountains.
Up north, a pair of dwarves had been sighted entering and exiting mountainous caves. If I had to hazard a guess, they could have been the dwarves from that Dwarven Kingdom in the mountain range, possibly at war with kobolds or whatever their species was called. That would mean the place Nexus was transported to was the southern tip of the Azerlisia mountain range. But that was still only a hypothesis. I didn't know if there were other Dwarven Settlements in other mountainous regions of the New World. There could have been. So, I wouldn't jump to any conclusion yet.
The scouts who had found the pair of dwarves were now secretly tailing them to locate their base and also map out the tunnels and caves they were traversing. The mountain range where the dwarves were located had plenty of such structures, and some preliminary reports told of the complex catacombs that were still barely being mapped.
It was risky, and if I didn't know the capabilities of the Summons, I might have told them to retreat. Still, making contact with the dwarves early could prove beneficial. They were reclusive, in need of help which we could provide, and could prove to be valuable as an allied workforce, even if there was no real need for it in Elysium Nexus. Dwarves did make the best fantasy weapons, or so the common theme went. Not that I had too high hopes from the ones in this world, given what I remembered about their culture from the Overlord series. I'd still like to get my hands on their runecraft.
Runecraft and Wild Magic were the two things in this world that intrigued me. The latter more so than the first.
After thinking a little about it, I gave an order to keep an eye out for Kobold or Werewolf-like species residing in the caves, and no one raised a single question about my rather specific orders. Anyway, finding those Kobold/Werewolf species would increase the chances of the place being the Azerlisia mountain range several-fold. Knowing our current position in the world was quite important at the moment, as that'd decide a lot of my early plans. It'd be painful to travel to the well-known kingdoms and settlements I knew from the Overlord series if it turned out I was on a completely different continent or something.
The other report came from the southeast, where our hidden scouts encountered multiple demihumans resembling bipedal frogs, a male and two females, travelling in a marsh forest, carrying what seemed to be another demihuman that vaguely resembled a crocodile, likely dead, given its lack of motion and the way it was carried, bound to a long and solid piece of wood.
Demihumans were indeed one of the sentient residents of the New World, living in tribal communities near the region known as the Great Lake or something along those lines. There were also Beastmen—named differently than demihumans, but I wasn't sure if the Beastmen and the Demihumans in this world were completely different or shared origins—who had formed kingdoms and had their own cultures. It'd be something I'd likely wish to explore in the future once we settle down in our new residence.
Finally, the last reported sighting was of two females and a male resembling humans, in the far South, past the mountain ranges, and in the sparse and plain regions of the surrounding forest. They were seemingly exchanging some packed goods with a set of Demihumans that resembled Centaurs. The reports mentioned that in exchange, they received a basket of wild berries and other assortment of fruits and vegetables that the Centaurs either grew locally, or more likely collected from the wilderness.
The personal descriptions of any of the parties involved didn't arouse any familiarity in my head. The scouts also learned the name of the humans' village from their conversation, which happened in a language unknown to the guild denizens. That was, however, solved by the use of Translation Magic, known by the Shadow sentinels and some liberal use of gesture and lip-reading. I actually didn't know that those summons had such spells in their arsenal. In fact, I was pretty sure they didn't explicitly mention having such skills in the game. But somehow, the ones sent out did. Curious.
Also, I had sort of expected this, but was until now unsure of the language barrier thing, as my vague knowledge of Overlord didn't quite cover that subject in detail. I had little to no idea if there were foreign languages spoken in the New World. Realistically, and logically, that'd be the case as this wasn't Earth. But I had sort of hoped everyone would speak either Japanese or English (or a weird mix of the two?). It was a silly thought in hindsight. But one point in favor of that argument was the presence of Players in the New World's history. It'd be understandable that they would try to spread their mother tongue in this world during their lifetime. Of course, all that was assuming this was the same New World as the one from the series.
Anyhow, the name of the village was Roa village.
I had no recollection of a village by that name, so it was likely just a normal village, and not of significance to the plot of Overlord.
Still, finding a human settlement was a big deal in and of itself. The scouts were ordered to continue focusing on gathering intel from the village while more scouts were being sent to take their place in the map-making process.
This could be a possible entryway for Nexus to make contact with the local humans without arousing too much suspicion. For that, we needed to learn about the locals, their language, their culture, and act accordingly. Not try to match their culture necessarily, but at least not do anything that'd be seen as hostile or cause unrest.
Other than that, there were multiple other sightings of demihumans throughout the land, most leading back to small tribes or settlements of their species. Most of them were deemed incapable of sapience, however, and were marked off as points of friendly and civil contact for the time being.
With the report over, I decided it was time I acted.
I had two tasks on my agenda. One was to meet with the remaining two floor guardians and then step out to see the world outside with my own eyes.
After everything was said and done, I still hadn't taken a step out from my base and actually taken in the world, or the part of it that I could see from my vantage point, anyway.
Part of it was due to safety reasons. Naturally, the entirety of the surroundings of the Astral Spire had been scoured for any traps or hostile entities on the orders of the Guardian Overseer Nix once my intention to go out was known to her and others. I had the report from multiple scoutings to confirm this, first by low-level disposable summons to scope the surroundings and then by high-level scouts and anti-diviners for a more thorough check. Only once it was deemed truly safe and unwatched by any third parties by Jibril herself was it deemed acceptable for me to venture out.
I wouldn't condemn or laugh at the overprotectiveness of my guardians, especially Nix. In that instance, it was a prudent decision as we were completely in the dark about our surroundings. Any accomplished Yggdrasil player would tell you it wasn't a good place to be in the dark and surrounded by the unknown.
Anyway, with my initial plans for the day decided, I acted on them promptly.
.
My first visit was to the Eighth Floor.
Among the two NPCs that I hadn't yet met face-to-face, both the Eighth and First Floor Guardians had their own special circumstances. And since I had plans to visit outside, which would naturally take me through the first-floor GATE, I decided I would check on the Eighth Floor guardian first.
Teleporting to the only available spot on the Floor, I arrived at the large central platform, the heart of the entire area. Pathways branched out from here, leading to other floors and the few rooms scattered about, including some special regions accessible only to certain entities in the guide and, of course, me, the Guild Master. I began walking toward the singular 'room' on this floor—an otherwise expansive void where the nightmares of the human mind lay in peace. This place was not for residence or anything, but specifically designed to dispose of any intruders who somehow managed to reach this area.
The Cthulu mythos update was largely regarded as the most mind-bending and brain-melting, yet also overdone and lame update by the community. The developers often overdid themselves in the strangest aspects of the updates, and this update was a good example of that. The storyline, quests, and rewards for the updates turned a few heads, but overall, it felt mostly like a gimmick and a cosmetic add-on pack for most parts. It was the visuals and animations where this update truly shone. Namely, the mind-melting visuals that seemed to capture the uncanny, eldritch theme so well.
Reaching the door that led to the void, I knocked and waited as I mused.
Maybe that's why it was so easy to buy all the one-time purchase 'monsters' and NPCs from this update. Well, that and towards the end of the Ygdrassil, a lot of the items and NPCs often went on Sale in the store.
"c̵̛̹o̵̒ͅm̷̹̔ḛ̸̂ in, my lord."
A tiny voice replied, reminiscent of a young girl barely into her double digits in age, but layered with a chilling inflection that crept into the minds of those unprepared, threatening to shatter the weaker ones like fragile glass on a cold, hard floor.
I opened the door and was met with the full, grotesque glory of the eldritch horror beyond.
"ah, lord all4one… i am so d̷̞͝e̴̯͋ļ̶͊i̸͔͗ĝ̴̱ḧ̸̰́t̶̪̔e̵̯̔d̶̼̒ to see you…"
The voice was flat, devoid of warmth—except for one fleeting moment when it fractured, sounding broken and unsteady. In front of me, the young girl's face twisted into a grotesque mockery of a smile. It felt wrong. She should have looked like an innocent pre-teen, adorable and carefree. But everything about her was disjointed, like a cracked, macabre puppet barely held together.
Her hair was a tangled mess of pitch-black strands, absorbing light and life, shifting subtly in a way that defied logic. It framed her unnaturally pale face, a visage both unnerving and, somehow, achingly beautiful—an unnatural, almost worshipful beauty that unsettled as much as it captivated.
Her pitch-black irises drilled into me with unsettling focus, devoid of any humanity, reflecting an abyss that threatened to swallow one whole. Shapes resembling voids rather than shadows danced around her throughout the room, flickering like restless spirits, whispering secrets of ancient horrors. The air here was heavy, thick with a scent of decaying reality and something inorganic, as if the very essence of the void and unreality was seeping into the room, clinging to my skin like a predatory, acidic fog.
The being in front of me could arouse every primal instinct known to man, and some they probably never had even known existed. All of it, combined, screamed in unison: to flee, to run away from this abomination, this absolute monstrosity.
Yet my feet were rooted, held captive by the horrific beauty of this abomination before me.
"Zero. Was your vessel damaged during the transit?"
I sighed and shook my head, looking at the sight of the dishevelled girl.
Walking closer, I entered her dark abode with my perfect vision, not having any difficulty making out even the unusual, mind-breaking details scattered among the otherwise ordinary bedroom of a pre-teen girl.
Behind the dark, shadowy visage, so much pink, covered by so many more shadowy tentacles, was hidden. It sounded like a really bad hentai horror plot, if I'm being honest.
I reached out, and the shadows surrounding her almost parted, letting me see her 'face' clearly.
I let out a small huff and cupped her face fully, my large hands easily encompassing her delicate features. Her skin was cold to the touch, like porcelain left out in the winter, yet beneath that fragility, there was an unsettling tension, as if something unearthly stirred just below the surface.
"Looks like your vessel is leaking. How did that happen? I was sure this body wouldn't break even from a 10th Tier offensive magic barrage."
The girl looked at me with the same inflectionless face and replied in her monotone voice.
"i lost c̸̓͜o̵͇̚n̵͈̆t̶̩̃ṛ̴͂o̵̖̒l̷̮̀ when i ẁ̸̬͓͑o̶̪͍̓͆k̴͍̿ḙ̷̟́̾ up. the shifting of reality from unreality was too sudden."
I blinked as the words registered.
"I see. Tell me, what did you experience?"
"it was like i w̸̜͌ó̴̺k̷̦͗ȇ̵̖ ̸̨͌ṳ̸̀p̸̮̕ ̵̥̍ for the first time."
… Oh. Oh boy. That felt like it had some heavy implications. But as far as I could tell, there was nothing wrong with Zero or the surroundings. Zero was behaving as expected, honestly. It was just a quirk of her bio.
"Is that so? And are you feeling any discomfort? Anything unusual, other than your damaged vessel, I mean?"
"i can't feel anything. i think my vessel is too d̴̥̓ǎ̵̡m̵̺̿a̴͚͝g̴͕̎ȅ̴̤ď̴͍. can i please have a new one, m̵̭̎â̵̤̞s̸̖͆t̸̩̅e̶̬̟̾r̶̨̦̽?"
I gave it some thought and then nodded.
"I'll arrange for a suitable vessel for you. We might have to get creative if even this body couldn't handle you. I hope you can tolerate this one until that time."
I wonder… was it the shift from the game world to the real world that caused this? I rechecked the systems and sent a query [Message] to Nix just to be sure. Everything was fine, within expectations, though. Nix didn't find anything strange. Weird. I couldn't see or feel anything wrong either… well, excluding the multitude of disturbances that the existence such as Zero created, but my passive resistance was high enough to ignore the entirety of the passive effects of Zero. Though it'd be better if no one below Level 80 went close to her when she was like this.
"Ah, Zero, can you rein in your aura? It is causing some damage the the surrounding reality."
The girl did as asked immediately, and the surroundings became a bit brighter. Still not happy and sunny, but at least the elritch vibe had reduced to very unsettling rather than mind-breaking and reality-obtusing.
"Well, contact me or Nix if you want anything. I'd like to see you with the rest of the guardians once your new vessel is ready. Until then, try not to move too much in your current condition."
"yes. i'd be h̸̬̣̾̅̀ă̵̜̪̓̽p̸̫̅́̚p̸̢̋͊͠y̵̡̛̤̮͌̒̀ͅ to be there. With my toys."
The uncanny smile was like a status attack in and of itself that rammed against my mental defences like a horde of eldritch tentacles and utterly failed to have any effect on me.
I smiled back and left the room as it started to calm down and look less like a hive of eldritch black tentacles.
-x-
Yeah, that was… strange.
Very strange. The way the black eldritch tentacles moved with Zero's every word and the way they seemed to create illusions of teeth, mouth, and eyes that bore down on anyone who saw it…
I'd like to call it extremely bizarre, but thanks to my new body, powers, and protections, and my previous jaunts into this area, it was not very surprising. Mostly, I was surprised that Zero's current body could crack like that. What was the point of using Divine Tier items if they couldn't even hold an O̷̸̷̴̴̵̴̷̶̵̵̴̸̸̷̷̴̵̶̡̝̺̺͍̭̠̩̣̘̝͔̺̫̐̕ų̴̵̸̵̵̴̶̷̸̶̷̷̵̴̵̷̷̵̴̸̵̸̴̵̷̶̷̷̵̸̸̷̷̷̵̴̵̴̸̷̶̶̶̵̸̶̸̴̴̸̴̴̸̛̦̜̘̮̮̲̤͚͈͙̫̹̠̘̹͇̮̻͓͔̥͙̄̊̈́̑̊̿̓̿̏͛̑͒̉̏̂̓̐̏́̄̀̿͆̚̕͠ẗ̴̴̴̴̶̵̵̶̵̸̵̷̸̶̶̸̵̶̸̴̸̵̸̷̶̵̴̸̴̸̶̸̴̶̶̸̴̴̵̴̴̸̷̛̛͍̹̦̘͕̠́̓̏̀̾̂͆̿͑́̔͆͊̏̇̈̌͋̒͊́̌̽̈́͛̾̚̚̚͝͝͠ę̴̴̵̸̵̶̶̵̸̷̵̸̶̸̸̷̴̵̵̸̸̷̷̵̴̵̵̷̸̷̷̸̴̴̵̸̴̵̵̴̴̵̵̷̷̷̵̶̛̼̖̮̮̠͙̼͈̻̰̖̲̭̯͕̭̺̪̻̜̟̩͚̀̎͋̍̐̇̆̋͗͌́̀̂̀͘͘͘͜͜ͅr̶̵̵̷̷̸̷̵̸̷̷̴̶̸̵̷̵̶̶̶̷̴̴̸̷̶̶̸̵̴̸̵̷̵̶̶̵̶̷̸̷̶̶̶̴̸̶̵̴̴̵̵̵̸̴̷̸̴̶̴̷̷̶̢̛̞͇͓̣̳̟̜̞̬̞͉͙͇̺̹͇̤̤̮̱̘̳̙̹͚̟̻͙̩̂͛̀̾̍̌̆̍̊̓̅̊̀̊̈́̈́̀̀͛́̑͘͜͝͠͝͠͠ͅ ̷̴̸̷̸̸̴̵̷̷̴̵̴̶̸̷̷̷̷̷̴̶̸̸̶̷̵̷̸̴̵̷̸̵̸̷̷̷̴̶̴̸̶̶̵̶̶̴̸̴̵̸̛̺̖͉̱͓̱̪̜̭̤̭̗̟̗̭͓̠̠͂̈́͐̿̄͆̉̈̊̈̇̓͗̀̒̏̏́̋͋͗̾͗͆̐̈́̓͗͝͝G̶̵̸̷̷̶̴̴̴̸̵̷̵̴̴̶̴̸̵̸̵̷̶̶̷̸̸̸̶̸̷̷̸̷̴̵̵̵̶̵̶̵̢̛͈̠̤̑̓̽̽̑͛͂͐͒͊͌̾̈͗͒͊͋̍͑̔̒͐̌̈́̓̈́̀̄̕͘͘͜͝o̴̸̷̷̸̵̵̹͒͐͛d̸̷̴̸̶̷̷̷̴̶̷̸̵̸̶̸̷̶̷̴̶̴̵̶̶̷̴̶̷̷̵̸̶̸̵̸̷̵̷̶̷̵̵̶̸̡̛̩̙̤̥̭̱͇̣̪̺̮̮̱͚͎̝̞̺̩̻͍̤̝̙́̔̃́̏̒̂͒̋͋̽͛̃̿̒͌̄̑̾̔͘͘͘͝͠ ?
I guess I'll need to get some top-end resources taken out of the Treasury to build a new body for Zero.
Still not sure what happened for Zero's vessel to crack like that, though. I could have asked for more details, but I didn't pursue it as I could feel how fragile that body was and the effort Zero was putting into not cracking it further.
If Zero had made too many motions, it could have fallen apart and leaked out her true body. Now that'd be a mess and a half to fix.
And as much as I was strong, I didn't want to deal with Zero's real body leaking out in this reality. It was a risk dealing with her kind in-game. I could only imagine how it translated to the reality patch.
Well, Zero seemed normal and receptive, so I didn't worry too much.
-x-