Chapter 3 part 4

After returning to the “Golden Pavilion” where he was staying Marv asked the receptionist how he could get a hold of Momon. He was told that Momon also resides in the Golden Pavilion, but was currently away on his duties as the enforcer of the Sorcerer King. The receptionist offered to relay Marv's desire to meet to Momon.

Meanwhile, Ainz was agonizing about how to approach the adventurers from the Holy Kingdom. As he walked the streets of E-Rantel he was deep in thought.

"I can't just approach and ask them about their experience, that would seem suspicious. After all, as a higher ranked adventurer, I shouldn't be that interested in their performance. Hmm, I could make it seem like I am asking about it as part of my duty to help calibrate the dungeon difficulty... no, that would make it sound like whoever designed the dungeon, wasn't an all-knowing being... ah, playing an Overlord is so troublesome."

He was still thinking of what to do when he found himself in front of the “Golden Pavilion.”

"This is where they are staying, perhaps I can accidentally bump into them inside?" With that thought, he headed inside.

“Welcome, Momon-sama. There is an orichalcum adventurer of the Holy Kingdom named Marv Elen, he wanted to speak to you,” Ainz was told by the receptionist.

“Is that so? And where is he now?” Ainz inquired.

Upon learning that Marv was in his room, Ainz asked the receptionist to go ask him if he wanted to have that chat now. A minute later the receptionist came back with a tall and muscular man.

“Momon-dono it's a great honor to meet you, I am Marv Elen, the leader of an orichalcum adventurer group “The Young Blood” from the Holy Kingdom,” the man introduced himself.

“I am Momon, the leader of “Darkness,” Ainz introduced himself. “So, Marv-dono, you wanted to talk to me about something?”

“Yes, Moknak, an adventurer you know, had told me you might be able to offer some advice. You see, we had attempted the third wing of the Adventurer's Dungeon today. Unfortunately, we were unable to defeat the last boss.” Marv explained. “I was wondering if perhaps you had some insight on how we can defeat it.”

“Is that so? I might be able to advise you, but first let me hear about your exact experience,” Ainz replied.

Sometime later Marv had finished his story and Ainz nodded in satisfaction. It seemed the dungeon wing turned out just like he wanted, despite the issues of being unable to calibrate the exact difficulty of encounters. He had also learned some interesting things, especially about the talent that the magic caster in Marv's group had.

“That seems like a very powerful talent,” Ainz commented upon learning the exact mechanics of it.

“Certainly, however, it's only useful when possessed by someone with a great aptitude for magic. Such a talent would be wasted on me.”

"That's true. It's not just about having useful talents, but also being trained in the art that can best make use of such a talent. Without a system to identify and then nurture such individuals, it falls upon chance, which would explain why there are so few people with properly developed abilities to fully utilize their innate talents." Ainz thought, as his mind raced over the possibilities.

“Truly, I think that demon was just too powerful for my group. But I would appreciate any advise from such a renowned adventurer as you, Momon-dono.”

“You might be right about the demon's power, but you did not lose because of it, did you?”

“No, at least not entirely. We lost because it kept attacking our magic caster, and with its wings blocking our attacks we could not stop it from doing so. It also seized the initiative, rushing our magic caster almost immediately.”

“On top of that the demon's defensive move by spinning leaves you at a disadvantage – if you stay close you'll get hit by a surprise attack if you stand back the demon can use the distance between you to rush other members or to cast spells,” Ainz said as Marv nodded his head an agreement. “The main problem is that you are unable to control the flow of the battle.”

“That's right. Our usual strategy clearly didn't work against it.”

“But your ranger was able to land some shots, despite the demon's defense. He was able to do so because he attacked at the same time as the demon. Meaning the demon cannot both defend and attack simultaneously. Armed with this information you should be able to win, as long as you can control the flow of the battle,” Ainz explained.

“But how? We were unable to do any damage to it, and it mostly ignored us when we... “ Marv began.

“You need to change your formation. Attacks from the flanks or back won't work. You need to attack from the front, it's also the most advantageous position for you,” Ainz interrupted the warrior.

“You at the front, Shola behind you, then ranger and then magic caster. It puts the magic caster behind the three of you, making it impossible to rush him. Shola behind you can either heal or engage the demon when it gets past you, giving you time to recover and re-engage,” without noticing it, Ainz got more and more into the strategy aspect of the encounter.

“Ranger and Magic caster can assist you and distract the demon when it tries to attack you. Additionally, it solves the issue with its defense – if it tries to spin you can just step back and let the magic caster unload on it. It's spinning wings defense should prove useless against spells. Your job isn't so much to do damage, but to block it from attacking your party mates or letting it cast spells. If you can do that, you will win.”

“Ohh, that's truly astonishing, you were able to come up with such a clear strategy, identifying our strengths and weaknesses in such a short time... even amongst adamantite adventurers your strategic insight is unmatched,” praised Marv, his voice full of admiration.

“Think nothing of it,” replied Ainz, after a quick glance to make sure the adventurer was not mocking him.

“Will you be challenging the dungeon tomorrow?”

“I wasn't”t sure, but now, armed with your tactical insight, how could we pass up the chance?” Marv said, with a smile on his face. “By the way, the third boss encounter was rather difficult as well. Two Elder Liches... Moknak mentioned that you've offered him advice on how to defeat it. I'd love to know what it was.”

“Ho, indeed. However, Moknak's group is still lacking in power to properly execute it. On the other hand your group...”

“It's simple, the Lich's main strength is its formidable magic power. However, once engaged in a melee combat its capability decrease tremendously. In this way, the short distance inside the dungeon puts it at a disadvantage.”

“Indeed, attacking two Elder Liches in an open field would've been a suicide,” Marv nodded.

“This weakness also makes it very tempting to use a strategy where you tie up an Elder Lich in melee combat. This was the strategy you've used. However, it leaves you exposed should another opponent appear. Even if it works in this dungeon, what about the world out there? What if a powerful enemy which requires the entire group to defeat appears? You can't leave the Liches alone, but your group also can't survive without all its members engaging the new enemy. The goal of the dungeon is to teach adventurers how to best handle various situations, not to fine-tune them to handling a specific one. That's why the encounters change.”

“I see, so you would suggest we try to take one of the Liches out as quickly as we can before the encounter gets more complicated.”

“Exactly. Now, given your group's composition here's how I would go about it...” Ainz said as he once again began to explain various strategies one could use.

He didn't realize it, but Suzuki Satoru had really missed dungeon crawling with his friends. This conversation had reminded him of the time long ago after he met TouchMe-sama. Back when he and the other member's of ”Nine's Own Goal” adventured together as newbies through low ranked dungeons. Strategizing over encounters and the various tactics to beat them. Speaking to the adventurer in front of him Suzuki felt nostalgic.

It was quite sometime later that the two of them parted ways.

After Momon had left, Marv went to collect the other members of his group to inform them that they will be taking another crack at the Adventurer's Dungeon the next day.

Next day inside the adventurer's guild

Marv had come to the Adventurer's Guild to have Ainzach accompany his group to the Dungeon once again. However, upon arriving at the guild a receptionist told him that the guild master was currently busy, and asked them to wait.

While they spent the time looking at the equipment displayed for items one could get with the Dungeon tokens, a door opened upstairs and two people walked down. As expected one was the guild master, Pluton Ainzach, the other one was a dwarf.

“Next time I visit you I should have some real beauties for you,” the dwarf said.

“Oh, I look forward to seeing your newest creations, Gondo-dono. Although, the ones you've shown me today are quite impressive already,” - the guild master replied.

Once they had descended the stairs the two shook hands, and the dwarf left.

“Oh, there you are. Here to have another crack at the dungeon, are you?” Ainzach asked Marv after greeting him.

“We are. Would you accompany us to the Dungeon again?”

While the five of them rode to the Adventurer's Dungeon Marv was talking to Ainzach about the dwarf. He learned about the runesmiths coming over to the Sorcerer Kingdom, as well as the dwarven kingdom, becoming an ally. Apparently, the dwarf he saw earlier was the point man between the runesmiths and E-Rantel. He had come over to deliver a new batch of equipment for the Adventurer's Guild.

“Since we don't have any adventurers ranked over mithril, except “Darkness” who don't need new equipment, we focused

on getting enough of the lower level stuff at first, so we had enough for our lower ranked adventurers,” Ainzach explained.

“Now that we have a good amount of the lower level equipment, the dwarves have begun to focus on producing higher-end equipment.”

“The stuff one can get with the silver tokens looked pretty good to me, how much better is this “higher end” equipment?” Marv asked.

“Well, as you've probably noticed, these equipment is enchanted via runes rather than magic. The items we currently have available for silver tokens have been enchanted with two runes. The items Gondo showed me today have three runes. And he says the next batch should have four,” Ainzach told him excitedly.

“Four?! Assuming the strength of each rune remains the same, it would make for some very powerful equipment. In fact, it would outclass most items out there, except the stuff of legends, and the Sorcerer King plans to make these items available for... gold tokens?”

“His Majesty wants adventurers to explore the unknown, and is committed to providing the resources necessary to adequately prepare such adventurers for what they might face.” It was easy to see that this topic was very dear to the guild master's heart and made him very excited.

They continued to chat the rest of the way. And soon they've arrived at the Dungeon. Ainzach once again wished them good luck, and Marv and his group had found themselves at the entrance of the Right wing of the dungeon.

They made their way through the dungeon, easily clearing the first two bosses. There were no hidden passages this time, and they had made their way to the third boss uneventfully.

After a bit of preparation, they were ready to begin.

“Now, remember what our plan is, also, keep in mind that the encounter might have changed, so be on the lookout for that,” Marv instructed his group, as everyone nodded.

“OK, everyone ready? Then Shola, go!”

His shield raised, Shola advanced towards the two Elder Liches in the middles of the room. He was immediately met by echoing [Fire Ball] incantation, as both casters attacked.

A moment later Marv started to rush towards the Lich on the left, his path was to the side of Shola's and far enough that he wouldn't get caught in a [Fire ball] aimed at the cleric. At the same time, both Kiza and Zirek stepped into range and began targeting the Lich on the right.

[release spell 1]

Kiza activated one of three spells he had stored with his talent, a [Firebolt] He followed it up by casting another [Firebolt]

Two balls of fire flew across the room before exploding against their target. Though he was worried about his shield breaking from the damage, Shola was able to block both spells without losing his footing or taking any damage, his left hand going numb from the impact aside.

Meanwhile, a ball of fire flew at the Liches from their side as well, followed shortly by another one along with some arrows. Aimed at the undead on the left, the first spell exploded, knocking the undead on its back. The second spell knocked it further, as its body tumbled along the floor.

Marv saw the second Lich begin casting another [fireball.] Normally he would've tried to attack it, hoping to inflict enough damage to interrupt the spell. However, Momon had suggested a different strategy.

Marv ran at the casting Lich, and crushed into it, using his shoulder as a battering ram. The undead, which was much lighter than Marv was thrown back, its spell coming to an end.

He did not waste any time, as per their plan, Marv rushed towards the Lich which had been targeted by Kiza's spells. Meanwhile, Kiza and Zirek had switched their attacks to the Lich which Marv crushed into.

The Lich was still getting up when he got to it. Marv unleashed a fury of attacks on it. A few seconds later he was joined by Shola, who used his mace to inflict bludgeoning damage to the undead. A few more seconds their target would be dust...

The walls of the room came down, and like before there were some skeletons behind metal bars, this time they were armed not with bows, but with vials of what must've been poisonous fluid.

[lesser protection against arrow]

Kiza cast his ranged barrier, though it did not extend far enough to cover Marv and Shola. Then he went back to casting [Firebolt] at the other Lich, while Zirek directed his arrows at the skeletons behind the bars while keeping an eye on their backs in case zombies or other monsters attack them from that direction.

It was reasoned that as long as the Liches were prevented from casting, this encounter would be fairly simple. Additionally both Marv and Shola could take some damage from the undead archers, so they decided that keeping the Liches from casting was more important.

The two of them continued to attack the downed undead magic caster. When they heard the sound of a large group of zombies coming from behind. At the same time, a door opened in front of the room and from there came out another undead.

“Another Lich?!” Shouted Kiza.

“I'll handle them! Shola, smite that thing while I rush it,” Marv shouted.

[lesser smite] A ray of light hit the Elder Lich that had emerged from the door. Undead did not feel pain, and so the Lich was unaffected and started to cast [fireball] without skipping a step.

However the distance between them was too short, Marv easily closed in and used the same move as before to crush into the undead, which was sent into the wall behind it. As he did so he heard Kiza cast [fly] and [fire storm]

According to the plan, Kiza and Zirek would slowly retreat towards the other two while eliminating zombies and archer skeletons which were attacking from behind. This meant that until Shola would finish the first Lich, Marv would have to occupy both Liches, preventing them from casting. Luckily both undead were near each other.

Marv moved a few steps and unleashed a flurry on the other Lich, before moving back and kicking the undead he crashed into, which was trying to get up, then turning back to deliver more attacks to the other one. It was a frantic engagement, but he only needed to keep it up for a short time.

“I've got the other one!” Shola yelled from behind, as Marv moved towards the downed Lich.

Running at full speed Shola used his shield to crush the undead against the wall, following it up with a devastating head smash with his mace. His target couldn't have been far from dying.

[4th tier summon undead] One of the Liches used a spell.

This was a natural reaction from a magic caster which could not contend with Marv's physical prowess. There were now eight skeletons behind Shola and Marv.

[sweeping slash] Marv responded to the new arrivals with a martial skill that set his swords in a horizontal arc. The two undead closest to him fell to the floor. Seeing Shola shatter several skeletons as well, Marv decided to turn his attention back to the Lich.

The magic caster was in the process of casting some spell, but a sword through its eye socket put a stop to it, although the undead didn't die from the attack. He continued to attack and was joined by Shola shortly. The two of them quickly finishing the hapless Lich.

“Well, that sure went much easier than yesterday,” Said Kiza, after the Elder Lich with the red armband, congratulated them on clearing the third boss.

“Yea, Momon's idea of quickly eliminating one of the Liches, while pushing the other one back towards where the third undead emerges worked splendidly.”

They had barely sustained any damage, only Zirek needed a bit of healing from the damage he took fighting zombies. Better yet, Kiza still had two of his slotted spells available for the main fight.

After a quick rest, they continued through the dungeon. Also, Zirek found a hidden pathway, they did not pursue it, choosing instead to focus on their goal – beating the final boss of the dungeon. Sometime later they were standing in front of the room with the winged demon.

“OK, here we go,” said, Marv, after they've prepared for the battle.

He and Shola moved towards the demon while behind them Kiza cast [firebolt.]

The Demon took notice of their arrival and moved towards them. An arrow flew at it but was deflected by the demon's wings.

[release spell 2]

Two flaming balls flew one after another at the demon, which had no choice but to use its wings to protect itself.

“Good, it seems it can't protect itself from magic,” shouted Shola, after looking at the charred and burnt wings of the demon.

Marv smiled as he finally reached the demon, in a sense, it was a one vs one fight. He swung his sword, which was deflected. Unlike the last time though, he didn't commit to the attack, he didn't need to.

After his sword was deflected Marv stepped back, denying the demon an opportunity to grab his sword hand – a tactic it used rather effectively the last time. The demon roared and swung its mace.

[fortress] [instant counter]

He blocked and countered. His counter-attack would likely be stopped, however, the demon was hit by an arrow and a [lesser smite] providing enough distraction for his sword to stab into the demon, which stumbled backward a few steps.

Kiza cast [Firebolt.] After counting two seconds Marv jumped backward so he wouldn't get caught up in the blast as the spell hit the demon. More arrows flew towards the smoke covered demon. While Marv closed the distance again right after, denying the demon an opportunity to cast its spells.

Per Momon's advice, fighting it with all party members being in front of it was proving to be very effective.

Seeing Marv moving into melee, the demon began to spin, using its wings to block any attack. Prepared for this he simply retreated out of range of any attack, while the demon got hit by another [lesser smite.]

The demon ended its spinning defense and moved towards Marv. After its mace attack was blocked the demon

rushed forward and collided with Marv, sending him tumbling backward. It raised its left hand and cast [fireball.]

However, the other three had already adjusted to Marv losing his position. A [lesser smite,] an arrow and two [firebolts] awaited the demon. It had no choice but to cancel its magic and use its wings to defend.

The demon wanted to counter after the spells hit, but as its wings moved away it saw that Shola had already moved into melee range.

Shola swung his mace, but the demon caught his hand and countered with its own weapon. He blocked the mace with his shield, but his hand went numb instantly. The demon was already preparing a follow-up attack when an arrow hit it in the face.

Roaring, more in frustration than from damage, the demon shoved Shola backward with both hands, and as he stumbled back it jumped back as well.

[fireball]

'That bastard!' Shola thought to himself, the demon's attack was aimed not at him, but at Kiza. He was too far to prevent the demon from casting.

[lesser magic shield] Kiza had realized this too and prepared to take the damage. A few arrows hit the demon, but it had committed to this course of action. After a [fireball] flew from its hand it followed it up with [lightning]

“Switch! Heal Kiza,” bellowed Marv as he ran at the demon from behind Shola.

Their strategy was to always stay in a line formation, which is why Marv moved behind him, instead of rushing the demon right away from the side.

Another arrow hit the demon, but it didn't care, it was going to hit Kiza with the [lightning] spell.

[lesser heal] If Shola couldn't prevent the damage, he would at least make sure that Kiza was fully recovered from it.

Meanwhile Marv ran past the cleric towards the demon.

[twin strike] Both swords stabbed deep into the demon's flesh. In the middle of its spell, it tried to block the attack with the mace but was not effective. Using his momentum to stab even deeper Marv forced the demon to stumble back, as he pulled his swords out.

The demon didn't waste any time though and had caught Marv's sword arm. He had anticipated this and immediately responded by slashing at the demon's hand.

Perhaps it was the damage it took, but the demon wasn't able to respond in time and his strike had severed the tendons in its wrist. It swung its weapon at him, but Marv crouched and used the opportunity to stab the demon's foot. Before jumping backward – they were ahead, there was no need to over-commit to an attack.

[lesser smite] [magic arrow]

Two spells hit the demon, along with an arrow. It roared in blind rage and moved forward with a powerful swing. But due to its injured foot, the demon's footing was unstable, and the attack lost most of its power.

[fortress] Marv blocked the attack and stabbed it with his other sword. An arrow flew and pierced the demon's eye, sending it into a roar of pain. Marv wasn't going to let such an opportunity go.

[twin strike] Once again both of his swords stabbed into flesh.

Its blood spilling in copious amounts, the demon fell to its knees, before collapsing to the floor under the continued onslaught.

“Congratulations. You have defeated the final boss of this wing and can now be considered as adamantite ranked adventurers,” announced an Elder Lich with a red armband, which was observing their battle from the side.

After handing Marv six silver tokens the Lich informed them that they can leave through the door which appeared on the side of the room.

On their way back to the city they decided to go straight to the Adventurer's Guild. After all, they've sustained very little damage, and they wanted to share their accomplishment and pick their rewards.

“I see, so you were able to defeat the final boss following Momon-sama's strategy? To think he could grasp the strength and weaknesses of your group and come up with the right strategy after just one conversation. He really is something,” said Moknak after hearing Marv's story.

“It's a shame we don't have the time to try the adamantite wing of the dungeon,” Marv said.

“Perhaps you can come back and give it a try another time?” Ainzach who came down to congratulate Marv and his group said. “And as promised, you can purchase any of the rewards here, with your 26 silver tokens.”

“In that case, here are the items we would like to purchase,” Marv replied as he walked over the displays and pointed at the Runecraft™ equipment they wanted.

As they walked into the “Golden Pavilion” a receptionist informed them that Potemur was looking for them and that he was in his room.

Marv went upstairs and knocked on the door, Potemur opened the door and let him in.

“How did it go at the dungeon?”

“We were able to win, following Momon-san's strategy,” - Marv replied with a smile, he was satisfied with their accomplishment, and their rewards.

“That's good to hear. The Sorcerer King had asked us to prepare and to meet him at the gates of this town tomorrow, we will be going back to the Holy Kingdom.”

“Did he say how? I still don't understand how we will get there in time, is it magic?”

“I wasn't told. However, given what you have seen here, in this town, do you doubt the King's power to do so?”

It was a rhetorical question. Marv was certain that they would make it to the Holy Kingdom in just two days. But he was still curious as to how.

“We'll be ready tomorrow."