Tests and Autoevaluation
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Makoto pointed his finger, preparing to cast a spell on the strawman in the corner of the arena.

Makoto did not know many pure damage spells. Instead, he focused on summoning spells with buffing effects. As a result, he was less effective against strong entities one-on-one. He should have selected a simple damaging spell against a target like the one before him, but Makoto’s levels were largely in summoning-commanding classes, which strengthened his summoning spells and comrades. However, the effectiveness of these spells was several notches below a character whose class levels enhanced combat spells.

He glanced curiously at the children to the side, whose eyes were glittering in anticipation. He chuckled as he wondered whether he could live up to their expectations.

Then, Makoto peeked at the two huge monsters.

Their massive bodies were three meters tall and resembled inverted triangles.

Their skeletal structure was a mix of humans and dragons and covered in corded, sinewy muscles, which were in turn sheathed by a layer of scales that were harder than steel.

Their faces resembled those of dragons, while their tails were as thick as tree trunks. They were wingless and bipedal, like a dragon standing on its hind legs. Their arms were wider around than a man’s torso, and each was about half the length of its body. They bore weapons that resembled both a shield and a sword.

These monsters were called Dragonkin, and under the control of Aura’s beast tamer skills, they rearranged the Colosseum to her liking.

Although they were level 55 monsters with no special abilities of note, their powerful arms and prodigious stamina were a match for higher-levelled monsters.

Makoto sighed softly, and then looked back at the strawmen.

It was a little troubling to have people look at him with expectation in their eyes. His objective this time was to verify that he could use magic.

The reason for allowing Aura and Mare to witness this experiment was to impress his power upon them before the other Guardians arrived. In this way, they would learn that opposing Makoto was a foolish course of action.

The two kids did not seem like they would betray him, nor did he feel that they would betray him. However, if he lost the ability to use his magic, Makoto was not confident that they would stay loyal to him.

Aura treated Makoto like an old friend, but to Makoto, it was the first time they had met. He could tell that the twins were the lovingly crafted embodiment of his guild members’ hard work.

However, there was no guarantee that their design and programming was perfect. In the face of countless situations and stimuli, a discrepancy or weakness might appear somewhere.

They were intelligent beings who could think on their own, so flaws in their reasoning must exist somewhere. If they were not programmed to be loyal to weaklings, what would that mean for him? In all likelihood, they were not written to be slavishly loyal. That would mean that whether or not they obeyed the order would depend on who the giver was. And it would be bad enough if they did not listen to him, but what if they betrayed their guild leader after finding out that he was powerless…?

It was not good to have too many doubts, but blind trust was not a wise move either.

The only ones he could trust are the NPCs created by him.

[...If they are foolish enough to attack you, there won't be enough retaliation for ten lives.]

Replied the Akasha Relic, Shiro.

[Denying the blessing of the Gold, they would be blind to strike such grandeur.]

Back up the Laplace Relic, Kazuki.

...He would cross that bridge when he came to it. Makoto turned his mind to the present.

Another reason for coming here was that if he found that he could not use magic, he could discuss the situation with Aura and Mare.

The twins thought he had come to test the power of the Staff, so now that its power had been proven, he could cover up any ineffectiveness of his own magic.

It was a pretty good plan.

Makoto could not help but congratulate himself. Had he always been so cool and calculating in the past? However, there was nobody here who could answer Makoto’s question.

He cast aside the doubts in his mind and focused on using the magic of YGGDRASIL.

There were over six thousand spells in the game, from Tier One to Tier Ten, as well as Super Tier magic. These spells were divided among various types and schools, and Makoto could use seven hundred eighteen of them. A normal level 100 player would only be able to use three hundred of them, so Makoto was an exceptional case.

Makoto had memorized almost all of these spells, and he considered which one to use now.

To begin with, because the restriction on friendly fire had been lifted, he needed to know how the effective radius of a spell would show itself.

Therefore, he decided against a single target spell but picked an area effect spell. Next, considering his target was a strawman, he should...

In YGGDRASIL, he could cast a spell by tapping its respective icon. However, there were no icons for him to touch. Therefore, there had to be some other way.

He was not sure, but he had a faint idea of how to use his magic.

It was a power hidden within him. Just like how he had deactivated his negative touch, like his #######, Makoto focused within himself. An icon appeared, as though floating in mid-air.

And Makoto smiled in delight.

He was fully aware of information like the spell’s effective radius, its recast delay, and so on. Knowing this information, being sure of his power filled him with a surging excitement and warm satisfaction. Unlike in YGGDRASIL, he felt that the magic was part of him. This was a satisfaction he could never have experienced in YGGDRASIL.

He channelled the jubilation in his heart. although his mood calmed quickly, he could still feel joy and excitement, into his fingertip, and spoke the words.

[Fireball].”

An expanding globe of flame shot out from the finger pointing at the strawman.

The fireball struck the strawman unerringly, as he had predicted. It burst, releasing a wave of scorching flame that blew the strawman away. The inner part of the fireball exploded, turning the strawman and the surrounding area into a sea of fire.

All this happened in an instant. Then, besides the blackened strawman, there was nothing left.

“Fufufufu…”

Aura and Mare watched Makoto snicker, clueless as to what was going on.

“Aura, set up another strawman.”

“Ah, yes, at once! Hurry up and do it!”

One of the Dragonkin picked up another strawman and placed it beside the burned one.

While this happened he took out the ring in the right index. This time what appeared was a Rubik's cube that fits in the palm of his hand.

This one was also part of the Ten Relics of the Beast set.

[Who will we be executing next?]

The Execution Relic, Fear in Cube.

[This time it shall be just these strawmen.]

[But I see foolish lizardmen right there.]

[They are allies, Fear.]

[Understood.]

She is a good girl….normally.

Makoto then started playing with the Rubik's cube with one hand, clicking each cell with tremendous speed.

[Emulation start!]

“5th Mechanism. The Stake of Vlad Tepes!”

From thin air a purple stake covered in black blood appeared, it was so dreadful a sane person would be screaming at the sight of this.

[Curse calling!!]

Makoto grabbed the stake and paced around the strawman, before throwing the stake, drawing a beautiful beeline to its objective, the strawman's ‘heart’.

Luckily the strawman was impaled beautifully because...

[...Crush it!!!]

The big stake disappeared and long, smaller ones appeared around it, turning it into a porcupine.

It was the basic attack of the Stake. Throw it around the battlefield and impale those unaware of the skill.

There was no way a high-levelled player would be impaled by such a straightforward attack.

[AHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!]

It seems she was happy with the results. She was laughing...no cackling maniacally.

[Ahhhh, so beautiful, if just it was alive. Their screams...ahhhh]

Meanwhile...

[...Really, is that all?]

[Against a moving target that would never hit. Aren’t you quite useless in battle?]

[What are you talking about? I’m an expert in making people scream. I’m different from you two who only bicker with each other.]

[...What a haughty little sister.]

[That is the prove of inexperience.]

“Perfect,” Makoto said, his voice filled with the same satisfaction he felt in his heart.

“Makoto-sama, should I prepare more strawman?”

Aura still did not understand. She was already aware that Makoto was a mighty ruler, so she did not feel the show before her was anything special.

However, that was the impression Makoto wanted to give them, and from the look on the twin’s faces, it would seem he had succeeded.

“…No, there is no need. I wish to try something else.”

After rejecting Aura’s suggestion, Makoto began his next experiment.

[Message]

The first party he tried to contact was a GM. In YGGDRASIL, when one used the [Message] spell, as long as the other party was within the game, one would hear a call tone. Otherwise, there would be no sound, and the spell would immediately terminate.

What happened now was somewhere between both of those. It felt like something was constantly reaching out, as though looking for something to connect to. This was the first time Makoto had experienced something like this and it was difficult to describe.

This feeling continued for a while, and in the end, after failing to connect, the [Message] spell ended.

A profound sense of disappointment flooded through him.

Makoto tried casting the same spell again. This time, he did not choose a GM.

This time, he picked one of his comrades from the past, a member of Ainz Ooal Gown.

He cast the spell, though his heart was filled with one part of hope and ninety-nine parts of resignation. As expected, there was no response. He tried to contact the forty, no, forty-one members of the Guild with a [Message], but after receiving no reply, Makoto gently shook his head.

In truth, he had expected this outcome and had resigned himself to it, but actually being confronted by that fact-filled him with an incomparable feeling of despair.

In the end, Makoto decided to contact Sebas.

It got through.

This proved that the [Message] spell was working and that most likely, it could only contact people within this new world.

“Makoto-sama.”

A voice of deepest respect echoed through his mind. Makoto considered that Sebas might have been bowing to him on the other side of the [Message].

Just then, Sebas spoke again, as Makoto fell silent from thinking about these ridiculous things.

“…May I ask if something is wrong?”

“I spaced out there. That’s right, how are the surroundings like?”

“Yes. We are surrounded by plains, with no intelligent creatures in sight.”

“A plain… not a swamp?”

The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick should have been bordered by a swamp that was inhabited by frog-like demihumans called Tuvegs. The swamp was shrouded in mist, and it was poisonous.

“Yes. There are only plains around us.”

Makoto could not help but smile.

All this was too much…

“In other words, the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick has been wholly transported to a different place? …Sebas, is there anything floating in the sky, or did anything as a message appear?”

“No, there is nothing like that. The heavens are as boundless as the Sixth Floor’s night sky.”

“What!? Did you say night sky?… Is there anything suspicious around you?”

“No… I have not seen anything unusual. Besides the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, there are no other man-made structures in sight.”

“Is that so… is that so…”

What should he say? All Makoto could do was grab his head and try to think. But in his heart, he knew that this was most likely the case.

Sebas’s silence was a subtle hint that he was awaiting orders. Makoto glanced at the strap on his left wrist. In another twenty minutes, the other Guardians would arrive. If that was the case, there was only one order he could give.

“Return in twenty minutes. When you come back to Nazarick, head to the Colosseum. All the Guardians will be coming, so when you arrive, I hope you will tell them about what you saw.

“Understood.”

“Then, gather as much information as you can before you return.”

After hearing Sebas’s acknowledgement, Makoto terminated the [Message] spell.

Just as Makoto was about to sigh in relief that everything was over, he remembered the expectant looks on the twin’s faces.

He had already told them he was going to verify the Staff’s power, so he had to let them see it. Makoto grasped the Staff and pondered which fraction of its might he should reveal.

The numberless powers within the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown seemed to be begging Makoto to unleash them.

Right now, he needed a flashy spell.

[Summon Primal Fire Elemental]

In accordance with Makoto’s will, the Orb of Fire grasped within one of the Staff’s snake mouths pulsed with puissance. Makoto could feel the movement of mighty, invisible power and thrust the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown forth. A vast ball of light bloomed from the tip of the Staff, and a vortex of roaring flame spilt forth from that globe of radiance.

The fires spun faster and faster until the tornado of flame reached a width of four meters and a height of six meters.

The crimson inferno threw off gusts of scorching air in all directions.

From the corner of his eye, he could see the Dragonkin protecting Aura and Mare with their vast bodies. The searing winds made his cloak flap violently. So intense was the heat that it would not have been unusual for a normal person to be burned by them, but Makoto had acquired a complete immunity to fire damage with this equipment in order to negate one of the weaknesses of the undead, so it had no effect on him at all.

Soon, the vast cyclone of fire, swallowing the surrounding air as it burned hot enough to melt metal, began to flicker and shudder as it took a humanoid form.

Primal Fire Elementals could be said to be among the highest-ranking among all elemental monsters. They were over level 85. Just like he had with the Moonlight Wolves, Makoto felt a mysterious connection to the Primal Fire Elemental.

“Uwah…”

Aura was watching it intently as she made noises of surprise.

As she looked upon the top tier elemental, something that even her summoning powers would not be able to bring forth, Aura’s face bore a look of excited admiration, like a child who had just received a dearly beloved present.

“…Do you want to fight it?”

“Eh?”

“Ehhhhh?”

After a moment of hesitation, Aura grinned innocently. Compared to a normal child’s smile, hers was a little, no, the truth was that it was quite scary. In contrast, Mare’s smile from the side seemed more like that of a child.

“Can I?”

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine even if you defeat it.”

Makoto shrugged to indicate that it was all right. The Staff could summon one Primal Fire Elemental a day. In other words, the Staff could summon another such being after one day had passed. As such, defeating it would not be a great loss.

“Ah, I suddenly remembered that I had something urgent to do…”

“Mare.”

A hand reached out and firmly grasped Mare’s arm, not allowing him to escape. His sister had no intention of fleeing. Aura’s smile stopped Mare in his tracks. Perhaps to Makoto, it might have been a cute girl’s smile, but to the other person present, who looked almost the same as Aura, it was anything but cute, and Mare’s face froze solid as he looked on it.

She dragged Mare in front of the Primal Fire Elemental. Mare’s eyes looked around, and he looked desperately to Makoto for help.

In response to his hopeful smile that blossomed delicately on his face, Makoto simply clapped.

The flower of hope promptly wilted.

“All right, try your best, you two. Don’t blame me if you get hurt.”

“Kay~”

Aura responded energetically, in contrast with Mare’s nearly inaudible and despondent reply. Makoto felt that as long as Mare was around, neither of them would get hurt. Thus, by the power of the connection between himself and his summoned creature, he ordered the Primal Fire Elemental to attack the twins.

As the conflagration that was the Primal Fire Elemental approached them, the twins met its attack with Aura as the frontline while Mare was the rear guard.

Aura slashed at the Primal Fire Elemental, holding her whip in both her hands, while Mare used magic to deal damage.

“Well, it seems it’ll be an easy fight.”

Even with his buffs as a Summoner, there was no way Aura and Mare would lose.

Makoto’s eyes left the one-sided battle taking place before him and began to ponder the other things he needed to investigate.

He had already finished verifying that he could use and activate his spells and equipped magic items. Thus, the next things he had to check on were his other items. Scrolls, wands, and rods were particularly important. All of them were magic items that could produce a spell-like effect. Scrolls were one-use expendables, while rods and wands had charges, which they consumed to produce their effects.

Makoto possessed many magic items. He was a hoarder by nature and did not like using expendable items because he felt it was a waste, to the point where he did not even feel like using high-end recovery items when he encountered a boss. This went beyond mere prudence to miserliness, which was why his stock of items was so great.

In YGGDRASIL, all of these were stored in his personal inventory. Then, in this world, where had his inventory and all its contents gone?

Makoto recalled how he had opened his inventory in the past, and reached his hand into the air as though searching for something. It felt as though he was reaching his hand past the surface of a lake, and an observer would think that Makoto’s hand and part of his arm had vanished into nothingness.

Then, like he was opening a window, Makoto swept his hand to one side. A hole appeared out of nowhere, and within it were many beautifully-crafted magic staves. It was exactly like the inventory in YGGDRASIL.

He moved his hand in a scrolling motion. In the space revealed, one could see all manner of scrolls, wands, weapons, armour, cosmetic items, gems, potions, other consumables… the sheer number of magic items in there was awe-inspiring.

Thus relieved, Makoto could not help but laugh.

Not only his equipment with his entire inventory...

If this were the case, Makoto felt that he could guarantee his own safety even if everyone in the Tomb set themselves against him.

Makoto took out two swords from his inventory. Both were European swords but the whole one shone brilliantly in azure-sky colour, other shone black as tar.

These are part of the Ten Fangs of the Beast set.

The Heavenly Sword of Purity, Millium.

[Yahooooo, How are you doing Makoto?]

The Fallen Sword of Purity, Altina.

[...Greetings, Makoto.]

They were also the first creation of him using his Soulcraft job. He has a deep trust in them.

Now that he thinks about it, he created the Fangs and the Relics in groups of two, with Millium and Altina being the first of the Fangs and Kazuki and Shiro the first of the Relics.

He was very happy to hear their voices. He let them float around him calmly.

As he absently watched Aura and Mare’s intense battle, Makoto considered the things he had learned so far.

Were the NPCs he met programs?

No, their sapience was such that they were indistinguishable from human beings. Programs could not show such complex emotions. He could assume that for some mysterious reason, they had ended up like human beings.

And what was this world?

He had no idea. Since he could use YGGDRASIL’s magic here, it made sense to think of this place as being in YGGDRASIL, but after observing various discrepancies, it did not seem like he was in a game. Was he in a game or a new world? The answer was probably one of those.

How should I deal with future events?

Makoto had already verified that he could use his abilities from YGGDRASIL. That being the case, if the data for the monsters and NPCs of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick had carried over as well, he could be reasonably sure that they were not his enemies.

The thing was if they were not data programs, but some other kind of being, then he would have to treat them differently. For the time being, it would be best to display the attitude of a superior being.

In what direction should I proceed in the future?

He should search hard for clues. Although he was not sure what was going on with this world, for the time being, Makoto was simply a clueless wayfarer. He had to take small steps and carefully gather information.

If this is another world, should I try to return to the real world?

There were doubts in his heart. If he had friends in the real world, then he should go back to it. If his parents were still alive, he would desperately find a way back to them. If he had family members to care for or a girlfriend…

But he did not have anyone like that.

He lost everything before.

His life was an endless cycle of going to work and returning home to log onto YGGDRASIL, where he would prepare for his comrades to come back. But now, none of that waited for him. Then, was there any point at all in going back?

“Why someone would want to go back to that world...”

Makoto’s quiet mumbling carried softly through the air.

 

Surprise! Another chapter. I hope you have a good time. In Spain, I'm trapped by the COVID and the snow so I wrote this chapter really fast. The next chapter the Guardians and their adjutant will appear so vote in the poll in the previous chapter. Also, I will put the names of each title as I wasn't fair so if you want to change your votes you can. Stay tuned

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