Chapter 11: The Forest

  Nemu Emmot Bareare sat there. Next to her was a group of three, two of them she knew personally. The st one she knew of, yet had never met yet in person. She had met the man sitting besides her when she was but a ten-year-old.

  The girl next to him was his neophyte, Tatania the arcane gunslinger. Next to Tatania, sat Evil Eye of blue roses’ fame. The short stack magic caster was here on her own, hanging out with Darkness, she guessed.

  Nemu had decided to become an adventurer a while ago, about five years ago, after she had turned eighteen. She herself was 23, at least if the author is remembering right, which he probably isn’t. She looked back to the man talking, or undead rather.

  “So, as you all know, there has been a cave that has been discovered in the Great Forest of Tob. This cave appears to be extremely rge, and partially colpsed. The entrance to the cave seems to be partially covered as well,” the oddly attractive female lich said.

  “Where is this cave located, in retion to the forest itself, I mean?” Nemu asked, and the other groups nodded their heads in agreement to the question.

  There were many of them, the other groups of adventurers. These men and woman were trained by the guild itself. Same as her, at least partially the same. Many, if not most adventures outside and in the past of the national guild, had been self taught.

  Now a days, they are trained by the best in their respective fields. Rangers, like her, were trained by the best of the rangers. Fighters were trained by the best fighters, so on and so forth.

  There were about twelve different adventuring parties in this meeting room. the table the majority of them around was a circle. The table was hollow in the middle. With enough room for ten average sized men to stand abreast.

  “It is exactly in the middle of the center of the forest, as you can see on this map,” the lich who had no name continued while moving to the side so they could all see the map.

  “As you can see here,” they said while pointing to the X in the middle,” it is marked by an X. We have already explored the first path, and that leads down into a rather rge cavern. We have not explored any of the five branching paths leading from this main cavern,” the lich expined.

  Momon the raven bck hero, who Nemu had known for more than half her life now, raised a hand. The rest of the hall stopped what they were talking about to each other, and looked at the famous man. The silence that followed was deafening.

  “How big is this chamber? Has it been mapped out as well?” he asked, and the lich answered.

  “The cavern is rather rge. With a ceiling that reaches thirty feet at its peak, and twenty-five feet at it lowest. The main chamber that we have encountered has been fully mapped out, and lighten up with magic and mundane lights,” the lich answered, “now, as you all know, we wish to explore these five branching paths that we have discovered. There is one near the top of the cave, one below that, and three more at regur intervals around the edge of the pce. You will all split into groups and map out the paths forward. We would like you to write detailed reports on what you all find,” the lich finished.

  The others nodded their heads. Nemu did so as well. As a solo adventurer, she was used to such missions. Caves were often too small for rge groups to go in at once. So, the guild would have undead wraiths following to make sure that the person was safe.

  While she had also some experience with working in groups, as she had with the goblins that followed Enri around, it wasn’t a permanent thing. Now, she had to work with many groups, and she was nervous because of it.

  Though, she was mostly excited for the chance to explore such a rge and cavernous pce. Sure, there might be an undead or two, but she had killed plenty of monsters by now. What was one more?

  Memories of her training repyed in her mind. The killing of countless ghouls made by the death knights. Some of them still looked like people, their faces twisted.

  She shook her head of those memories. Nemu had been trained harder than most, the ghouls she had sin had been soldiers of the Re-Estize kingdom at some point. The men had been turned during the battle of the Katze pins. The surviving men from Re-Estize had been hunted down and killed by the death knights.

  Ainz Ooal Gown, or just Ainz as he had told Nemu to call him, had kept some of them for the training of his adventurers. Or so she had been told.

  “Is there any more questions?” the female lich in the garb of an office dy asked, “if there is none then you all will leave in three hours.”

  The adventurers around the room all looked at each other and got up. Conversations began to spill from everyone’s lips. They all made haste to the rge, two doors that led to the main meeting hall.

  …

  Evil Eye couldn’t believe it. Well, she could, she had been on the receiving end of the workshop to the city, after all. Yet, a lich, a fleshy one to be precise, as a guild receptionist. While it was strange, it wasn’t too strange, she guessed.

  Yet, the simple fact that a lich was a worker in the guild and no one seemed to care, other than the men that were starring at her ass, was shocking. Alos, Evil Eye hadn’t any idea that a lich could retain their flesh after undeath. It wasn’t that weird of an concept, yet she was shocked that it hadn’t been explored before.

  She thought of these things as she, Mr. Momon, and his neophyte walked out of the building and moved to the parking area and the stables for animals. She wanted to ask him something, yet she felt as though it wasn’t the right time, at least until they got into the carriage.

  As they walked out of the building proper, and made their way down the steps and onto the sidewalk that led to the parking area, she couldn’t help but marvel slightly at the sight of the statue of Mr. Momon.

  After she was done gawking, and they had made their way into the magical beast’s area; They soon found Hamsuke, ying upon her back with a death knight wrapped up in her tail. Evil Eye looked at this, and then sighed. Sure, why wouldn’t she be best friends with a death knight? This day was getting weirder and weirder anyway.

  “Now, Hamsuke,” Mr. Momon said to get Hamsuke’s attention, “we need to get the carriage ready. So, could you please get up and get ready for an ride?” Mr. Momon told the beast, and she then got up.

  “Of course master. This one was wondering when we would move out to the cave you have been talking about for the past week,” she said and stretched then yawned.

  …