4

"This isn't good," I said, looking at the surrounding, a large desert. completely normal, other than the fucking ocean in the distance. An ocean? Not in my Muspelheim. Unless it was a ocean of lava.

"Aah"

"Woah!" I heard in my ear as Nyx entered the balcony. Turning around, I saw her beautiful appearance enhanced by the light.

She appeared completely captivated, and I followed her gaze to the day sky. It was an ocean of blue, vast and open, stretching out endlessly in all directions. Large white masses of varying shapes, like colossal objects, decorated the sky – clouds.

Such a sight was an impossibility in the cold, dead world of 2138. We were living in a dying world, the culmination of the sins of humanity having brought us to such a state. Forced to wear a gas mask, unable to breath the air, unable to taste any natural foods or drinks. The old world had been completely ruined, ravaged by mass wars, pollution, and climate change.

I reached out my hand towards the sky, as if I could touch its majesty and capture the beauty of the blue expanse that had captivated me as well. I stretched out my arm fully, but I was forced to accept the inability of a mere human to grasp the beauty that belonged to the world.

Am I still human? I thought as I retracted my arm.

"Fly!" I came out of stupor and looked at Nyx.

"What are you doing? Are you insane! It's too dangerous!" She completely ignored me and flew higher into the sky. "Damn it! Fly!" Why doesn't she listen? I thought to myself as I flew after her.

Women are too emotional, even as an undead. After a few seconds, she finally came to a stop and turned around, looking at me with a face full of undescribable emotions.

"Isn't this amazing? It's so beautiful!" She said, then turned back around and looked at the sky with a face full of wanderlust. "It's like those stories... From the past. I always thought they were just stories."

I flew close enough to grab onto her hand, holding on tightly to prevent her from flying away. "Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it? But you shouldn't fly away from the base it's dangerous." I told her, but she responded with a snort. "Tsk," I clicked my tongue.

We stayed floating in the air, taking in all the beauty for a few more minutes, with my hand still holding onto hers. Looking back around, I also took in the view of the majesty of the Pyramid of Veles. The Pyramid was a high-level dungeon that took the entirety of Mystic Fall's one hundred players multiple attempts to be able to conquer it.

The boss of the dungeon was Veles, a deity of death, fitting for a pyramid. It was even more difficult to defeat due to it being a dragon boss. Unfortunately, the guild wasn't able to gain the bonus 300 levels that would have been awarded if they had completed it on their first attempt. However, it did drop a world item upon death.

The guild originally had eight floors, but with the power of money, they were able to increase it to eleven floors. And we also increased the level cap from 3,000 to around 5,750, which was quite substantial. However, some guild bases even exceeded that level.

Refocusing on the balcony, I saw Karthus kneeling on it. He must have come to report the task I had assigned him. I hoped he hadn't been there for long.

I flew towards him, pulling Nyx along with me. She was about to say something, but she shut her mouth when she saw Karthus. We landed in front of him, and he continued to kneel.

Karthus serves as the guardian of the fourth floor, a vast forest dominated by towering trees. This primordial forest is extensively overgrown with foliage and is home to a multitude of creatures that my friends and I have meticulously crafted. Karthus resides within the "Yggdrasil's Offspring," an ancient tree that towers above even the other colossal trees. The interior of this tree has been consecrated to create living quarters for Karthus.

Karthus, an elf, is dressed in a green robe adorned with foliage such as leaves. However, despite his movements, none of the foliage seems to fall off, as if it is enchanted. His face is covered by a white mask, within which his eyes glow with a green light. His hands are protected by metal gauntlets, suggesting that beneath his robe, he is fully armored. By his side, he carries a large sword made of a large, dull stone.

"Lord Ashurbanipal, Lady Nyx." He says.

"Karthus, it has been a while. I permit you to stand," I told him lifting my right hand. He proceeded to stand up. "What is the report?" I inferred that he was contacting us due to the task I had assigned him.

"Yes, my lord, I have scoured the perimeter of The Pyramid of Veles as you have asked. It has seemed the Pyramid has been-"

"Moved" I interjected, as it was something I was already knew, to expedite his transition to the next topic.

"My lord, while we remain within a desert, the landscape has indeed changed. As you can see, an ocean lies in the distance. I have explored for thirty miles in all directions and, for the most part, the terrain remains barren, with only harmless wildlife to be found." Karthus has concluded.

I nodded, and turned to Nyx to see if she wishes to ask Karthus something, she looks at me and shakes her head.

"Thank you, Karthus please keep this information between us for now. Have you told anyone else?" I asked, I wanted to keep this secret from the other guardians for now, we have concluded that at least Sephiroth and Karthus are loyal. So it's safe to assume the others are ass well however I need time.

"Other than Sephiroth, Noone else my lord and lady." Karthus said in a servile manner. He waited for his lord or lady to speak.

"Thank you for your hard work, Karthus," I said, "please return to your normal station. I'll contact you if I have any further orders." He bowed to me and Nyx one more time before exiting the room.

A sigh escaped both our lips. "Talking to the npcs is stressful. They're so overly respectful and servile I'm not used to it." I said to Nyx to which she concurred.

///

"So, we've confirmed that we're no longer in Muspelheim, and given the fact that we're clearly not in Yggdrasil, it's safe to assume that we're not in the same world," Nyx said, maintaining a neutral expression. It was impossible to gauge her thoughts on the situation.

"New world." I muttered. We're currently in the one of the 100, residential rooms in the 11th floor. Sephiroth had assigned us both maids, from the 100 maids that we created for role-playing purposes.

I've been stressed all day. Not to mention now I'm going to have someone following me 24/7.