Lucy Heartfilia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lucy_heartfilia) wrote2022-11-26 01:50 am
lucy_heartfilia) wrote2022-11-26 01:50 am
The bard of Nazarick part 3
David was certainly feeling nervous as Albedo lead him through a portal to the more civilized portion of the great underground tomb of Nazarick. In many ways the lower most floors could be compared to an elegant royal palace combined with the modern comforts and conveniences of a shopping mall. One might be baffled that this place would house so many different shopping centers when they were confined to an underground tomb, but the great underground tomb of Nazarick could be considered its own small community. There were so many residents in Nazarick from the player and guild crafted npcs like Albedo, to the summoned swarm minions, to hired magical mercenaries, and even a few new inhabitants from this world like Princess Renner, that all of these places still saw use. Rather than an exchange of coin or currency, products and services were given to those who worked and lived here as part of their benefits to simply living here. They did not work because they were paid to do so (although perhaps some of them initially did), they worked because they wanted to serve the greater glory of Ainz Ooal Gown.
Perhaps that is what made David so nervous to be walking down these halls towards the throne room. He had rather different motivations, and yet if he were to remain in this world he would ideally like to share this same living space with those that lived here. There were alternatives that might not be too terrible, but the worst of fates would certainly be the frozen prison... or even worse than that, Demiurge's "sheep" farms. He supposed his first priorities were to secure his life and his usefulness to Ainz, then he could worry about his living arrangements.
The double doors of the throne room opened, and Albedo lead him towards the throne where Ainz himself was seated. It was all well and good to see him on a TV screen where he was a bunch of animated pixels, but a real life undead was quite another matter entirely. He could see the glowing points of red in his eye sockets that were surely scrutinizing him, and he couldn't help but wonder if Ainz had his passive aura of fear enabled, of if he simply was this intimidating while seated on his throne. He was so taken in by the sight of Ainz he had barely noticed the battle maids, or Albedo making his introductions until she turned to him expectantly, and he offered Ainz a humble bow.
"So, you are the human from Earth I have heard about? You're a bit younger than I had expected, but that is of little consequence. You have caused quite a stir here in Nazarick with your arrival David, but let me cut to the chase by asking you a question. What is your goal now that you are here?" Ainz had a rich voice that David found rather soothing in contrast to his skeletal form. It wasn't that he even disliked or was terribly afraid of skeletons, but Ainz certainly knew how to be intimidating when he wanted to be... or simply when he wasn't thinking about it.
"If I may be frank Lord Ainz, my first objective is to simply survive. I know what can happen to those you deem to be enemies, and death can be a mercy compared to what some of them go through." That statement earned a chuckle from Ainz, one that given the context was a little bone chilling. Sometimes he wondered where his undeath began and his humanity ended.
"Forgive me, I wasn't trying to make light of your concerns, but I would like to assure you that you have nothing to fear in that regard. From everything I have heard from Demiurge, you are a victim of circumstance, and the fate you are referring to is reserved for those who have truly angered me. At the moment you may consider yourself a guest, and I will promise your safety until you leave." As Ainz gave an imperious wave of his hand, David heaved a massive sigh of relief. They didn't see him as some sort of invader, so he was probably safe from the worst of the treatment he might receive. As a human the other denizens of Nazarick probably still didn't like or trust him very much, but he could work towards that.
"Now I would like to wait on hearing the full details of the information you claim to know about Nazarick and its enemies until I have time to speak with you privately, but before that I understand you wished to offer your services to Nazarick? Services that we currently lack no less? Tell me David, what services do you believe you can provide for Nazarick besides the information you plan to share?" Ainz was scrutinizing David again, and he could hardly blame him since he wasn't exactly a being of phenomenal comic power or anything, but rather than the nervousness and trepidation he'd felt before, this time he had a surge of confidence.
"Lord Ainz, I have examined the strengths of your guild closely, and it's almost impossible for me to find anything I'd actually call a weakness, but there are a few classes that are missing in your arsenal... so to speak. Most glaringly, I have noticed that you lack anyone in all of Nazarick with any professional musical talents. I would like to be your bard, or minstrel, or musician by any other name you can think of, and I think you may find my talents in that regard quite satisfactory." David finished his sales pitch with a flourishing bow, and Ainz simply rubbed his jaw bone in thought.
"An interesting notion... Bards were not a very popular class in Yggdrasil due to their lack of decent damaging combat abilities. Typically a player would need to find a guild that was willing to babysit them, or they would need to supplement the class with some more combat oriented classes. Ultimately the buffs or debuffs a bard could provide were deemed not useful enough by most of the players, when other classes could achieve similar effects by simply using spells. I am not overly familiar with everything the bards in Yggdrasil could do since they were so uncommon, but we are not in Yggdrasil now, so perhaps the rules are different for this world. Undead were usually immune to the buffs a bard could grant since they were usually morale oriented, so my experience is even more limited in that regard. Tell me, do you use a musical instrument?" David had listened to Ainz speculate the pros and cons of bards in Yggdrasil for what felt like an eternity, and his mind had begun to wander. When he was asked the question regarding an instrument it wasn't until Albedo turned to look at him with an arched eyebrow that it registered that Ainz was referring to him!
"Oh! Yes, yes I do! I can play quite a number of musical instruments, but my specialty is electric guitar. When you learn to play an instrument it's pretty easy to pick up other instruments since you already know the notes. I also write music, poetry, lyrics, and I can conduct, but my passion is really singing and guitar." Ainz did look somewhat impressed, and he looked like he was reaching into the void of his inventory for something. What he pulled out was what appeared to be a small harp, that seemed to glow with a golden hue.
"David, I'd like to see if you're capable of playing this instrument. It is an item from Yggdrasil known as Bragi's lyre, and it should turn into any instrument its wielder desires, if they have the skills necessary to use it." David looked to Albedo for reassurance that it was okay to approach, and she simply nodded. He knew it probably was okay since Ainz himself asked him to, but he wasn't sure if he was supposed to approach Ainz and take it, or wait for someone to bring it to him. He didn't want to offend anyone, but it seemed like that shouldn't be an issue here. When he reached Ainz, he took the instrument from his bony hands, and his eyes widened as he did!
This was no ordinary harp! Or Lyre! Or whatever the hell you want to call it! His mind felt like it had expanded just from touching the thing! Inspiration poured into his very soul, as he felt the instrument transform in his hands into the comfortable shape of his beloved guitar from back home. He knew that he could play just about anything with this instrument, but more than that, this instrument could create an entire orchestra of sound from just one wielder! He knew exactly what he wanted to play for Ainz to showcase he knew what he was doing, but he could make this even better with just a little help.
"Lord Ainz! Could you summon some death knights for me?! Twelve should work, or any undead with deep monotonous voices!" Ainz seemed slightly surprised that not only had the lute changed form so readily, but that David would make such a request. It was hard to tell since Ainz was undead, but it seemed almost as if he was smiling?
"Am I to take it then that you intend to give us a performance with your borrowed instrument? I'll confess I'm quite curious to see what results you will produce, so I shall allow it, and grant you the use of twelve death knights. Everyone? This should be quite a memorable show if my hunch is correct, so pay close attention." Ainz rapped his hand against his throne twelve times, and a dozen death knights rose from the floor through portals. It would seem the throne room had its own defenses that could be implemented, and Ainz found it simpler to summom them this way.
"Death knights! Obey this man's instructions!" The death knights turned as one to David to await their orders, but David was already gesturing for them to form up behind him. If he understood the magic of this instrument correctly, because they were relatively mindless beings instructed to follow his orders, the instrument itself would compel them to do their part in his musical number. This was going to be his finest performance ever!
Perhaps that is what made David so nervous to be walking down these halls towards the throne room. He had rather different motivations, and yet if he were to remain in this world he would ideally like to share this same living space with those that lived here. There were alternatives that might not be too terrible, but the worst of fates would certainly be the frozen prison... or even worse than that, Demiurge's "sheep" farms. He supposed his first priorities were to secure his life and his usefulness to Ainz, then he could worry about his living arrangements.
The double doors of the throne room opened, and Albedo lead him towards the throne where Ainz himself was seated. It was all well and good to see him on a TV screen where he was a bunch of animated pixels, but a real life undead was quite another matter entirely. He could see the glowing points of red in his eye sockets that were surely scrutinizing him, and he couldn't help but wonder if Ainz had his passive aura of fear enabled, of if he simply was this intimidating while seated on his throne. He was so taken in by the sight of Ainz he had barely noticed the battle maids, or Albedo making his introductions until she turned to him expectantly, and he offered Ainz a humble bow.
"So, you are the human from Earth I have heard about? You're a bit younger than I had expected, but that is of little consequence. You have caused quite a stir here in Nazarick with your arrival David, but let me cut to the chase by asking you a question. What is your goal now that you are here?" Ainz had a rich voice that David found rather soothing in contrast to his skeletal form. It wasn't that he even disliked or was terribly afraid of skeletons, but Ainz certainly knew how to be intimidating when he wanted to be... or simply when he wasn't thinking about it.
"If I may be frank Lord Ainz, my first objective is to simply survive. I know what can happen to those you deem to be enemies, and death can be a mercy compared to what some of them go through." That statement earned a chuckle from Ainz, one that given the context was a little bone chilling. Sometimes he wondered where his undeath began and his humanity ended.
"Forgive me, I wasn't trying to make light of your concerns, but I would like to assure you that you have nothing to fear in that regard. From everything I have heard from Demiurge, you are a victim of circumstance, and the fate you are referring to is reserved for those who have truly angered me. At the moment you may consider yourself a guest, and I will promise your safety until you leave." As Ainz gave an imperious wave of his hand, David heaved a massive sigh of relief. They didn't see him as some sort of invader, so he was probably safe from the worst of the treatment he might receive. As a human the other denizens of Nazarick probably still didn't like or trust him very much, but he could work towards that.
"Now I would like to wait on hearing the full details of the information you claim to know about Nazarick and its enemies until I have time to speak with you privately, but before that I understand you wished to offer your services to Nazarick? Services that we currently lack no less? Tell me David, what services do you believe you can provide for Nazarick besides the information you plan to share?" Ainz was scrutinizing David again, and he could hardly blame him since he wasn't exactly a being of phenomenal comic power or anything, but rather than the nervousness and trepidation he'd felt before, this time he had a surge of confidence.
"Lord Ainz, I have examined the strengths of your guild closely, and it's almost impossible for me to find anything I'd actually call a weakness, but there are a few classes that are missing in your arsenal... so to speak. Most glaringly, I have noticed that you lack anyone in all of Nazarick with any professional musical talents. I would like to be your bard, or minstrel, or musician by any other name you can think of, and I think you may find my talents in that regard quite satisfactory." David finished his sales pitch with a flourishing bow, and Ainz simply rubbed his jaw bone in thought.
"An interesting notion... Bards were not a very popular class in Yggdrasil due to their lack of decent damaging combat abilities. Typically a player would need to find a guild that was willing to babysit them, or they would need to supplement the class with some more combat oriented classes. Ultimately the buffs or debuffs a bard could provide were deemed not useful enough by most of the players, when other classes could achieve similar effects by simply using spells. I am not overly familiar with everything the bards in Yggdrasil could do since they were so uncommon, but we are not in Yggdrasil now, so perhaps the rules are different for this world. Undead were usually immune to the buffs a bard could grant since they were usually morale oriented, so my experience is even more limited in that regard. Tell me, do you use a musical instrument?" David had listened to Ainz speculate the pros and cons of bards in Yggdrasil for what felt like an eternity, and his mind had begun to wander. When he was asked the question regarding an instrument it wasn't until Albedo turned to look at him with an arched eyebrow that it registered that Ainz was referring to him!
"Oh! Yes, yes I do! I can play quite a number of musical instruments, but my specialty is electric guitar. When you learn to play an instrument it's pretty easy to pick up other instruments since you already know the notes. I also write music, poetry, lyrics, and I can conduct, but my passion is really singing and guitar." Ainz did look somewhat impressed, and he looked like he was reaching into the void of his inventory for something. What he pulled out was what appeared to be a small harp, that seemed to glow with a golden hue.
"David, I'd like to see if you're capable of playing this instrument. It is an item from Yggdrasil known as Bragi's lyre, and it should turn into any instrument its wielder desires, if they have the skills necessary to use it." David looked to Albedo for reassurance that it was okay to approach, and she simply nodded. He knew it probably was okay since Ainz himself asked him to, but he wasn't sure if he was supposed to approach Ainz and take it, or wait for someone to bring it to him. He didn't want to offend anyone, but it seemed like that shouldn't be an issue here. When he reached Ainz, he took the instrument from his bony hands, and his eyes widened as he did!
This was no ordinary harp! Or Lyre! Or whatever the hell you want to call it! His mind felt like it had expanded just from touching the thing! Inspiration poured into his very soul, as he felt the instrument transform in his hands into the comfortable shape of his beloved guitar from back home. He knew that he could play just about anything with this instrument, but more than that, this instrument could create an entire orchestra of sound from just one wielder! He knew exactly what he wanted to play for Ainz to showcase he knew what he was doing, but he could make this even better with just a little help.
"Lord Ainz! Could you summon some death knights for me?! Twelve should work, or any undead with deep monotonous voices!" Ainz seemed slightly surprised that not only had the lute changed form so readily, but that David would make such a request. It was hard to tell since Ainz was undead, but it seemed almost as if he was smiling?
"Am I to take it then that you intend to give us a performance with your borrowed instrument? I'll confess I'm quite curious to see what results you will produce, so I shall allow it, and grant you the use of twelve death knights. Everyone? This should be quite a memorable show if my hunch is correct, so pay close attention." Ainz rapped his hand against his throne twelve times, and a dozen death knights rose from the floor through portals. It would seem the throne room had its own defenses that could be implemented, and Ainz found it simpler to summom them this way.
"Death knights! Obey this man's instructions!" The death knights turned as one to David to await their orders, but David was already gesturing for them to form up behind him. If he understood the magic of this instrument correctly, because they were relatively mindless beings instructed to follow his orders, the instrument itself would compel them to do their part in his musical number. This was going to be his finest performance ever!