06-14-2018, 11:59 AM
For a short while Crocodile and Ainz just awkwardly stood around. Perhaps the hook-handed Pirate was thinking about what he himself should do next, but Ainz had no way of telling. Not that he hadn’t tried, of course, but neither Examine nor Inspect were working - spells that in Yggdrasil had been used to determine a character’s equipment and stats and in the New World had allowed him to read the superficial thoughts of others.
“I believe that I should take off too”, he finally said. “I wish you good luck on your adventures.”
“Hm. You too”, Crocodile replied, which caused the cigar between his lips to bob up and down. Ainz turned away from him and aimed his staff forward.
“Gate.”
“...”
“...”
Nothing. Not even the slightest flicker in the air. Ainz frowned, or he would have if he had skin on his skull to form frown wrinkles with, and retried to cast the spell without the staff as his catalyst. Still no effect.
“Summon Primal Fire Elemental. Summon Middle Tier Moonlight Wolf. Create Lesser Magic Item. Body of Effulgent Beryl. Magelight.” He tested out a variety of skills both belonging to the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown’s and his own repertoires, but the result was always the same. No effect. Nothing happened where he was aiming to cast the spells, his stamina and mana reserves did not decrease, nothing at all.
“You recitin’ some sort of weird prayer?” Crocodile interrupted him after a bit. “I thought you were gonna take off.”
“It would appear that this place blocks my attempts at teleportation magic”, Ainz replied. “That is... rather inconvenient.” Of course, he withholding just how ‘inconvenient’ this was for him. He was unable to return to the New World, he had no way of knowing if the Great Tomb of Nazarick and his NPC subordinates were still around, let alone contacting them, and his magic wasn’t working. Body of Effulgent Beryl was a 10th tier spell different from the others, in that it did not perform any sort of teleportation magic but was a self-buff, and Create Lesser Magic Item did exactly that, convert magic energy into items. And Magelight was a 1st tier spell that functioned yet differently to all the others. Four spells of entirely different workings, and none of them worked. This was far more than inconvenient… it was a large problem.
Summing up his situation: he was alone in an unknown world with his powers and magic inhibited, possibly blocked completely. He did not know if Nazarick and his Guardian NPCs existed in this world, and if they did he had no way of contacting them. His only potential ally was the pirate who’d introduced himself as Crocodile, and it didn’t take a psychologist to figure out that he wasn’t an altruistic hero. Could he be trusted? In the right circumstances, perhaps. But Ainz didn’t see himself having the time to figure things out, and even if he did he doubted that he would draw much benefit from it. They were both newcomers to a stranger world, neither knew more than the other. Had it been Drake, then yeah. Maybe it would have been beneficial to stick with him until he knew more. But in these circumstances it was better to search for the Floor Guardians and other NPCs, and test out - in secret - what powers he had lost or gained, and which ones remained. To travel with someone else would hold him back.
“Magic, eh. You sure you didn’t eat any Devil Fruit? A bitter-tasting fruit with a spiral pattern on it?” asked Crocodile while Ainz was spinning these thoughts.
“My body doesn’t have the organs necessary for digestion, so eating one would be pointless, even if any such ‘Devil Fruit’ existed where I come from. But it matters little now that we are here… it’s possible that no magic exists in this place at all, or in a different form.”
“What with that Omnilium thing we were told about, eh?”
“Yes… in either case, I should depart, on foot this time. It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Crocodile.”
The pirate tapped the ash off the tip of his cigar. “Sure.”
This time Ainz departed on foot, rather than reattempting teleportation. What direction to, though? There was no way to tell what dangers were out there and he didn’t know where to even begin looking for his friends. He could follow Drake, the other Prime had likely departed towards somewhere not dangerous.
Ahh… and I don’t even know what happens if I die. Omni’s introductory words had been vague enough that he couldn’t rely on them. How did he know if he “interested” him? What would Omni even consider interesting? He still was Satoru Suzuki deep in there, working as the manager of a group of people in his company, someone who was boring. He wasn’t some sort of Shonen anime protagonist to whom interesting things were the norm. Of course, now as Ainz Ooal Gown things were different, but if he’d lost his powers, his magic, everything that made Ainz Ooal Gown exceptional other than his knowledge, maybe, was he still “interesting”?
And even if he was, who was to say how long this rebirth took? And would there be penalties? In Yggdrasil death meant five level-downs, which weren’t too difficult to recover, and a loss of some gear, which could be far more problematic, especially if the staff in his hand was the Guild Weapon and not the fake one.
The green aura flared to life and his rising panic was suppressed once more. No, there was no point in worrying about the details right now. He needed to keep a level head not just for himself but for his friends and subordinates as well, if they were here. He needed to find a settlement, perhaps. Ask around a bit. Oh, and disguise.
Strangely, that worked. Though Create Magic Item did not have any effect, as he focused on his “Momon” persona he felt his academic gown and even the staff disappear, only to be replaced by heavy armor and the twin swords on his back. It felt strangely comforting, though he was weirded out that this worked. Why could he summon his armor, and where did his items disappear to?
He tried focusing on his gown, and the process happened in reverse: the armor vanished, the light robes were draped over his body and his fingers wrapped around the staff. So it appears to be stored away somewhere… I see. He summoned his armor once more and inspected its integrity, then, feeling satisfied, he began to move. I could just risk going through one of those things… they look like big portals.
It took him a while to get to the one he'd picked as his destination, and he wandered through.
“I believe that I should take off too”, he finally said. “I wish you good luck on your adventures.”
“Hm. You too”, Crocodile replied, which caused the cigar between his lips to bob up and down. Ainz turned away from him and aimed his staff forward.
“Gate.”
“...”
“...”
Nothing. Not even the slightest flicker in the air. Ainz frowned, or he would have if he had skin on his skull to form frown wrinkles with, and retried to cast the spell without the staff as his catalyst. Still no effect.
“Summon Primal Fire Elemental. Summon Middle Tier Moonlight Wolf. Create Lesser Magic Item. Body of Effulgent Beryl. Magelight.” He tested out a variety of skills both belonging to the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown’s and his own repertoires, but the result was always the same. No effect. Nothing happened where he was aiming to cast the spells, his stamina and mana reserves did not decrease, nothing at all.
“You recitin’ some sort of weird prayer?” Crocodile interrupted him after a bit. “I thought you were gonna take off.”
“It would appear that this place blocks my attempts at teleportation magic”, Ainz replied. “That is... rather inconvenient.” Of course, he withholding just how ‘inconvenient’ this was for him. He was unable to return to the New World, he had no way of knowing if the Great Tomb of Nazarick and his NPC subordinates were still around, let alone contacting them, and his magic wasn’t working. Body of Effulgent Beryl was a 10th tier spell different from the others, in that it did not perform any sort of teleportation magic but was a self-buff, and Create Lesser Magic Item did exactly that, convert magic energy into items. And Magelight was a 1st tier spell that functioned yet differently to all the others. Four spells of entirely different workings, and none of them worked. This was far more than inconvenient… it was a large problem.
Summing up his situation: he was alone in an unknown world with his powers and magic inhibited, possibly blocked completely. He did not know if Nazarick and his Guardian NPCs existed in this world, and if they did he had no way of contacting them. His only potential ally was the pirate who’d introduced himself as Crocodile, and it didn’t take a psychologist to figure out that he wasn’t an altruistic hero. Could he be trusted? In the right circumstances, perhaps. But Ainz didn’t see himself having the time to figure things out, and even if he did he doubted that he would draw much benefit from it. They were both newcomers to a stranger world, neither knew more than the other. Had it been Drake, then yeah. Maybe it would have been beneficial to stick with him until he knew more. But in these circumstances it was better to search for the Floor Guardians and other NPCs, and test out - in secret - what powers he had lost or gained, and which ones remained. To travel with someone else would hold him back.
“Magic, eh. You sure you didn’t eat any Devil Fruit? A bitter-tasting fruit with a spiral pattern on it?” asked Crocodile while Ainz was spinning these thoughts.
“My body doesn’t have the organs necessary for digestion, so eating one would be pointless, even if any such ‘Devil Fruit’ existed where I come from. But it matters little now that we are here… it’s possible that no magic exists in this place at all, or in a different form.”
“What with that Omnilium thing we were told about, eh?”
“Yes… in either case, I should depart, on foot this time. It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Crocodile.”
The pirate tapped the ash off the tip of his cigar. “Sure.”
This time Ainz departed on foot, rather than reattempting teleportation. What direction to, though? There was no way to tell what dangers were out there and he didn’t know where to even begin looking for his friends. He could follow Drake, the other Prime had likely departed towards somewhere not dangerous.
Ahh… and I don’t even know what happens if I die. Omni’s introductory words had been vague enough that he couldn’t rely on them. How did he know if he “interested” him? What would Omni even consider interesting? He still was Satoru Suzuki deep in there, working as the manager of a group of people in his company, someone who was boring. He wasn’t some sort of Shonen anime protagonist to whom interesting things were the norm. Of course, now as Ainz Ooal Gown things were different, but if he’d lost his powers, his magic, everything that made Ainz Ooal Gown exceptional other than his knowledge, maybe, was he still “interesting”?
And even if he was, who was to say how long this rebirth took? And would there be penalties? In Yggdrasil death meant five level-downs, which weren’t too difficult to recover, and a loss of some gear, which could be far more problematic, especially if the staff in his hand was the Guild Weapon and not the fake one.
The green aura flared to life and his rising panic was suppressed once more. No, there was no point in worrying about the details right now. He needed to keep a level head not just for himself but for his friends and subordinates as well, if they were here. He needed to find a settlement, perhaps. Ask around a bit. Oh, and disguise.
Strangely, that worked. Though Create Magic Item did not have any effect, as he focused on his “Momon” persona he felt his academic gown and even the staff disappear, only to be replaced by heavy armor and the twin swords on his back. It felt strangely comforting, though he was weirded out that this worked. Why could he summon his armor, and where did his items disappear to?
He tried focusing on his gown, and the process happened in reverse: the armor vanished, the light robes were draped over his body and his fingers wrapped around the staff. So it appears to be stored away somewhere… I see. He summoned his armor once more and inspected its integrity, then, feeling satisfied, he began to move. I could just risk going through one of those things… they look like big portals.
It took him a while to get to the one he'd picked as his destination, and he wandered through.