The warm sun shined on my skin, a beautiful day for sure. Unfortunately for it, I was a night person through and through.

Hurriedly rushing across to shade, I relaxed under the largest Oak tree in Auiver. The mountains in which me and my fellow Monks lived directly within my line of sight from the tree.

A frown overtook my face.

Head Abbot Thegar had taken me in, and I was grateful for that, but the rest of the Monks were… not pleased with having a Dhampire in a holy place. One meant for fighting monsters, not inhabiting them. Especially since we weren’t known for our control.

However, I prided myself on it. I was a Monk, after-all.

Ainz Bloodweaver

Level: 10

Experience: 310/330

Minor Regeneration 

Minor Disguise 

Minor Charm

Power Strike + 5

Force Blast + 1

Swift Step + 3

Shockwave + 1

Guardbreaker + 2

Meditation + 1

Art Of Patience 

Points: 0

Although my level was a little, incy-wincy-bit low for my age, that being 17, it wasn’t like I was too far behind. The expected level matching your age until adulthood, wherein gaining levels was much harder at that stage.

The reason for my falling behind was simple. I had the Aspect of the Defender. Which made me only gain experience from protecting something.

In this day and age… that made me basically disabled when it came to experience gain. Luckily it wasn’t as bad as something like the Aspect, more like curse, of the Barbarian.  Which made it so you could only gain experience through fighting.

And although protecting might seem like exactly the same thing as fighting, it wasn’t. I could engage in a fight and be brought to death’s door and not gain any experience if I wasn’t protecting another in the process.

And I couldn’t just protect buildings either, they had to be under active threat to count for that.

Basically, my only currently reasonable method to gain experience was through verbal spats and jumping in to ‘protect’ one or the other. Or for one of my fellow Monks to play the ‘damsel’ and need me to protect them in combat training.

Obviously, this was not very popular.

Soon, my thoughts went adrift as I watched the moon rise from the horizon.

Knowing that I had spent too much time in idle, I began to walk towards the mountains where my fellow Monks resided.

It would only take an hour of walking from where I was to return to my room.

The moon rose high into the sky by the time I had returned. Noting the odd lack of Monks up and about, even at this time, I began to search the Hold.

The Hold was made back when the beast waves were still a thing, meaning it wasn’t too large but could sustain itself easily. Whether that be from hordes of attacking beasts or from famine.

Marching towards the head office, I found that… everyone was gathered around a group of two people. A beautiful young woman with blue hair to her shoulders in priest clothes and a dashing young man with jet black hair wearing a warrior’s armor.

All eyes turned to me as I entered into the room. The presumable warrior and cleric turning to Head Abbot Thegar a moment later and speaking. “Who is this?” The warrior asked.

“Ah, he is one of our trainees. His level is only 10. However, I do suggest him for your quest because of his Aspect. The Aspect of the Protector. However, it’s still your choice,” Head Abbot Thegar said, giving me a recommendation almost too blinding. “Also, he is one of our hardest workers. If not the hardest due to his lacking points.”

Now it was too blinding.

Loud murmurs began after Thegar’s recommendation of me for this.. quest? A quest that was related to protecting things?

“Objection, Master Thegar,” a loud voice interrupted the murmurs. “But, a level 10 for the Hero’s quest? I have nothing against fellow disciple Ainz, but we have to consider the immediate as much as the long term.”

The loud voice was none other than Head Abbot Thegar’s personal disciple, Zegar. The ‘gar’ having been taken from Head Abbot Thegar’s own name.

The.. hero’s quest? What was that supposed to mean?

The man with jet black hair looked at me and then Zegar. “I cannot deny your claims, Zegar. However, it is paramount that I think of the future more than the current. As my position of Hero demands.” Taking a replenishing breath, he continued, “So I suggest that whomever is the most skilled in combat, with no physical enhancements, will be chosen for my quest.”

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Zegar nodded, a slight fire in his eyes. He knew that this would be no easy battle. Even if normally I would be crushed during to his overwhelming amount of stacked enhancements compared to mine.

But.. would I even want to go on this quest?

Yeah.

Head Abbot Thegar’s eyes traced over both Zegar’s body and mine, but eventually he nodded. “Very well. However, I do suggest you place some sort of magical armor on them, Hero Lexus.“

In the next moment, a wave of magic rolled over both me and Zegar. Luckily, not holy magic. Otherwise, I would have been burnt to a crisp if it were powerful enough.

The now named Hero Lexus and his companion moved from the center of the gathering hall. Only Head Abbot Thegar staying in the center.

Zegar and I walked to the center of the square, eyes meeting. Although I had to look down slightly due to my barely a finger in width hight advantage.

Head Abbot Thegar opened his mouth, but before he could speak the floor under us began to rumble. A roar of incalculable sound blasted out my ear drums.

My balance was sufficiently disrupted from this, causing me and many others to fall face first unto the floor.

This was no ordinary roar.. it must have been coated in magic to cause such destruction. If it wasn’t, then a beast capable of producing that couldn’t be stoped by nothing less than the highest level fighters the kingdom had.

Getting up from the floor a moment later, my ears having already began to heal, I looked back and forth to assess the room. Hero Lexus bad already began to run towards the door, the Priestess casting mass healing on the fallen monks.

Looking back towards the Hero, he had already left the room. Head Abbot Thegar and several of the older monks following.

Then, as I looked back towards the Priestess, I noticed something severely wrong. A heap of magic was forming directly under her feet.

Not even thinking, I rushed towards her and shoved her out of the way. Sadly, however, I was not pushed back myself due to my own natural strength from levels and my heritage.

If you wanted more details on it, read a the book on it written by Paul Greyrat. He knew of this effect very well.

I should probably be more concerned that I’m already halfway through the portal.

For the briefest of moments, I was in a free fall.

Until I was not.

Landing with a heavy thud on the… reaching my hand out to feel what I had landed on, I decided it was very smooth stone. Jumping back unto my feet, I looked back towards where I had fallen.

And found a lack of any portal.

Narrowing my eyes, I turned my head left and right. The sound of battle coming into my ears. Much more intense than any I had been apart of, or witnessed, at the mountain Hold.

But, I was more shocked my the towering buildings. Nearly a 10th of the height of the mountains me and my fellow monks resided.

After having my head nearly taken off by s stray… something, I stoped gawking and kicked into gear. Casting Swift Step on myself for 2 mana, normally 1.7 with my upgrades (5% decrease in cost and 5% increase in power per upgrade, but it could be supercharged like so) but the extra oomf was more needed right now.

It would have been better if I had an ability to increase my reaction speed, rather than purely my own speed, but it would due.

Rushing around to try and find some sort of cover, I was interrupted by some sort of gigantic bat creature flying at me. A sonic screech making my ears bleed. Again.

I should get a sonic protection skill.

Dozens of others were flying about, too. Coming from several portals in the sky.

Ignoring the already muted pain from my regeneration, I poured the full 1 mana into Power Strike and timed my blow with the bat creature’s descent unto me.

Only for the bat creature to get grabbed by a gargantuan hand, must be a giant, and get crushed into bloody paste only a small distance away from me.

Looking towards the giantess, who had olive skin, I saw them open their mouth and speak something that was obviously not in common.

Also, what was with their weird outfit? It was sleek and tight fitting, covering everything. Was it magical armor? Leather, maybe?

“Common, please?” I said, only for the giantess to look back at me in equal confusion. Rummaging through my memories, I spoke a tid-bid of giantish, “Hullo?”

I cringed at my accent.

The giant still didn’t understand me, so I simply sighed and signaled for the giant to go. I didn’t need protection from these bats, and that… earth elemental behind the giantess looked quite a bit more threatening at the moment.

Tapping on her ears, the giant pointed in a certain direction before turning around to fight the earth elemental.

Oh, she probably thought I couldn’t speak to her because of my blasted ears. Maybe that sonic boom had more of an effect than I thought, too? Perhaps they disrupted language somehow?

There was no way someone in a role like the giant’s would fail to speak common.

Shrugging, I darted off towards the direction the giantess had pointed at. After running for about a minute, I found myself in a major dilemma.

I had, in fact, leveled up. From my ‘protecting’ of Priestess Aurora. A whole 33 experience for it.

That meant I could spend my 11 points right now to go and try and protect more people from the bats and other assorted monsters coming out of portals on both ground and air.

Or I could haul ass and not get mauled to death by the imps prowling the roads. Especially at my low level, it was likely I’d get torn to bits.

…

I spent 3 points on the third-level ability ‘Arrow Time’. After which I bought the fifth-level ability ‘Physical Enhance’. Saving four points for an emergency, I cast both the abilities on me after a second or two of delay. In which I was gathering the mana needed for them.

It was a very important part of any class’s training to be able to draw mana quickly, because what was the use of Power Strike or Magic Missile if your enemy could kill you in that time? It was even more true for the former, as a broadcasted strike was no strike at all. Whereas Magic Missile had tracking.

Leaping gracefully unto a low-hanging balcony and then one slightly higher than that, I scoped out the surroundings from it. Seeing not a single soul beside the giantess, who, upon closer inspection, seemed to be a shape shifter instead. Rapidly growing up and down in height.

Continuing my survey of the surroundings, I found a pair of imps attacking a building. More specifically, a doorway. Presumably, people were inside.

Leaping down one balcony out of time, I arrived behind the imps as they were turning around. Their actions in slow motion as the effects of all my enhancements were still ongoing.

Using the 1 mana of the power strike about to fizzle out in my fist, I struck the imp on the left directly in its long, pointy nose. Breaking it and continuing on to is skull, wherein another cracking sound reached my ears. A bit of blood on that hand as I had used far, far too much force to kill that imp. Its nose was simply paste now:

Stepping around the wild swipe of the remaining imp, I grabbed its arm and kicked its elbow with my knee. Shattering it to bits.

Using the imps distraction against it, a half assed Power Strike to the side of its neck ended its life. Dusting myself off, I turned towards the door to the building.

Peering in through a large gash the wooden door had sustained, I spied a fearful few people with improvised weapons at the ready. Shaking while standing.

Were all these people non-combat related classes?

Or was something else fishy going on here? A portal meant to take a Priest like Aurora had to lead somewhere dangerous and odd, after all.

And that shape shifter, why were they increasing their size back and forth? What class did that?

What class…