Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 7

Ainz cleared his throat and purposefully swept his gaze over the surroundings.

“Now that the immediate area around us has been cleared,” he said, “We can get on with our investigation of your Racial Class Levels.”

“What are ‘Racial Class Levels?” The Baroness asked.

“Erm, hm…you helped work on the aerial transportation network, yes? Have you noted how Dragons are termed ‘Adult’, ‘Elder’, ‘Old’ and so on?”

Baroness Zahradnik nodded silently in response before turning to face away from him. Did going from talking to a woman in a blindfold and collar to talking to her back count as progress?

“Those are what are known as ‘Age Categories’,” he told her, “which are divided into Racial Class Levels that certain beings gain as they mature. Unlike Job Class Levels, it is not something one can learn – it is dependent on your species. Dragons start as Wyrmlings, then grow to become Juveniles before reaching the Adult stage. Both Wyrmling and Juvenile have ten levels to them, so combined with having at least one level in Adult, an Adult Dragon would be at least Level 21.”

“So a Dragon that has just become an Adult is about as strong as a Mithril-ranked Adventurer?”

“No, Dragon levels are somewhat special,” he told her. “They are quite powerful compared to almost everything else. Their natural weapons and armour improve, their breath weapons grow more potent and they gain the ability to cast magic innately. This is in addition to their powerful bodies. It takes a balanced team of five Mithril-rank individuals to slay even a small Green Dragon – presumably an early Juvenile, as even Juvenile Dragons are no longer considered ‘small’ after a certain point.”

“Do Humans have Racial Class Levels as well?”

“They do not. Humans, Elves, Dwarves and other species that one might consider members of the ‘fair races’ only have access to Job Class Levels. Demihumans, Hetermorphs and Monsters possess Racial Class Levels.”

The Baroness seemed to pay special attention to what he said about Humans not having Racial Class Levels. Ainz watched her from the side, waiting for the noblewoman to voice her thoughts.

“Is that an advantage,” she asked, “or a disadvantage?”

“I suppose it depends on what you’re trying to do,” Ainz answered, holding out his bony palms as if presenting two options. “Take a Goblin and a Human, for instance. Say they’re both training to become Blacksmiths. With two levels in total, the Goblin will have the single Racial Class Level in Goblin that they were born with, so they can only be a Level 1 Blacksmith. The Human, on the other hand, can be a Level 2 Blacksmith. As long as they remain equal in level and continue to focus on the same vocation, the Goblin Blacksmith will always be inferior to the Human Blacksmith because the Goblin has Racial Class Levels taking up a portion of the total levels that they could have invested in Blacksmith.”

The Baroness nodded in understanding, then a worried frown crossed her lips.

“Does…does that mean I am no longer pure?” She asked, “If I have these Racial Class Levels as one of the Undead, then it will forever diminish the potential that I once had as a Human.”

Pure…she’s worried that her build got messed up?

“Not necessarily,” he told her. “It would depend on whether the natural leanings of your Racial Class Levels synergize with your overall build. For instance, my Racial Classes Levels do not diminish my build as an arcane caster because they also qualify as arcane caster levels. Each race has its own leanings, which is why it is important for you to discover your own and consider your path with the new information in mind.”

“I see…once again, thank you for your kind consideration, Your Majesty.”

“Well, it is not an entirely selfless act – I am curious about some things as well. Now, where did we leave off…”

“We were investigating my account of Nabe’s spell leaving me unharmed,” the Baroness supplied.

“Ah, yes, thank you. Now, where did I put that dagger…”

He withdrew the enchanted adamantite dagger, holding up the weapon between them.

“We’ll be starting small,” he told the Baroness. “I will be ‘attacking’ you with this dagger. As you can see, it has a lightning damage enchantment on it. Hold out your palm.”

Without any visible hesitation, the noblewoman held out her hand. Ainz poked her in the palm: light enough to leave her skin unbroken, but enough to register as an attack. According to his Life Essence, her health did not change. He glanced over at Shalltear.

“She has taken no damage,” Shalltear informed him, “and has been afflicted with no conditions.”

“Well, I suppose that shouldn’t be a surprise,’ he put the dagger away. “Nabe is a War Wizard specialized in the air element, so if she didn’t deal any damage to you, this dagger hardly could. Now, time to make sure.”

Ainz took ten steps back and motioned for Shalltear to do the same.

“I will be casting a lightning spell of the Ninth Tier. My apologies in advance if you only have high lightning resistance – be sure to accept the resurrection, if that’s the case.”

He raised his hands, and his voice boomed out as he cast the spell.

“「Triplet Maximize Magic – Call Greater Thunder」!”

Out of the misty skies above, three gigantic bolts of lightning converged on Baroness Zahradnik. They coursed through her body, blasting a scorch mark into the ground. As with the dagger, her health did not budge in the slightest.

Ainz crossed his arms. He was immune to lightning damage as well, so several notions rose to the forefront of his mind.

“Well, I guess that’s that. It’s a good thing you get along with Nabe: the two of you would make an excellent team.”

“We would?”

“Lightning spells tend to pierce through, jump or otherwise deal area of effect damage. If you were tying up a few opponents in the front line, Nabe wouldn’t need to worry about damaging an ally – she would simply blast everyone. Your opponents would not be very happy, while you would come out unscathed and ready to finish off anyone that survived. Let’s see…are there any other new traits that you or anyone else have observed?”

The Baroness looked towards Shalltear, who shook her head in return. The noblewoman fell silent for several moments before she came up with something else.

“Someone noted that my natural weapons counted as supernatural attacks.”

“Supernatural attacks…as in enchanted weaponry? How did you confirm this?”

“The person in question was a Dragon,” the Baroness said. “I accidentally injured her with my elbow.”

“Hm…this should mean you have physical damage reduction as well, no?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know, Your Majesty.”

“As a rule of thumb,” he told her. “Beings whose natural weaponry are treated as magic weapons will also have the equivalent tier of damage reduction. This also means that beings whose damage reduction requires magic weapons to bypass have natural weapons that are treated as magic weapons. What is required to bypass this damage reduction will be an attack imbued with an equivalent or better tier of enchantment.”

He paused in his explanation, wondering how much he should cover. Experienced Adventurers knew the general principles behind physical damage reduction, but the specifics were obfuscated by the strangely vague way they went about analyzing their own performance and those of their adversaries. It tended to only go as far as ‘this material works on this monster’, or ‘this monster needs magic weapons’, or ‘Skeletons are weak to bludgeoning, but strong against slashing and piercing’. They did not understand the true mechanics behind damage reduction.

Since she was Shalltear’s vassal and by extension one of his own, he decided that it would be better for her to possess a strong working knowledge of combat mechanics. It would do Nazarick no good if someone managing their assets did so through guesswork.

“Specific damage types and special materials also may be needed to harm those with damage reduction,” he started with an example. “Low-level Vampires, for instance, require a silver weapon to bypass their damage reduction. At a certain level, one requires a magic weapon that also qualifies as a silver weapon. This escalates as the Vampire gets stronger, and weapons with higher levels of enchantment that also maintain the properties of a silver weapon are required to bypass their damage reduction. If one or the other are missing, the weapon will function as if it were mundane for the purpose of delivering physical damage.”

“Does that mean no weapon can harm Lady Shalltear?” Baroness Zahradnik asked.

“As far as local artifice is concerned,” he answered, “that is correct. That does not mean weapons that can harm her do not exist, however. Also, if a weapon delivers energy damage – like the one I used just now – physical damage reduction does not stop the lightning damage and one must possess the suitable amount of resistance against lightning to prevent injury.”

Ainz realized that he hadn’t brought any unenchanted weapons with him. He looked around for something to use. His eyes fell upon the Baroness’ waist.

“Allow me to demonstrate. Hand me your dagger, then hold out your palm again.”

Baroness Zahradnik drew her dagger, presenting it to him handle-first. Her eyes grew wide as he slowly pushed the blade through the centre of her hand.

“How does it feel, Baroness?”

The noblewoman’s hand flexed around the dagger buried in her palm.

“It’s strange,” she said. “I have a vague sense that it’s there, but there isn’t any pain and it doesn’t appear to impede my movements. There’s no blood at all.”

“The weapon does not qualify to harm you,” he told her, “so it has not created a real wound. It is simply sticking through your hand to no effect. Let’s use a more powerful weapon – that spear you were using will do.”

The Baroness removed the dagger from her palm and resheathed it, eyeing the spot where it had been buried in her hand for a moment. Reaching into the magical container hanging over her right hip, she produced a spear roughly two and a half metres long. It didn’t show any signs of the recent fight, so it must have been a spare weapon.

“That will do. Shalltear – stab her with roughly the raw force that a Level 15 Human Fighter is capable of.”

“Level 15…that will be difficult, but I will do my best, Ainz-sama.”

Shalltear held out her palm and the Baroness dropped the haft of her weapon into it. The blade of the spear drifted over the noblewoman’s body before jabbing into her arm. The Baroness winced, and blood trickled down her wrist. Before the bright crimson liquid could drip off of her fingers and onto the parched ground, it seemed to take on a life of its own, floating up into the air.

The crimson points of Ainz’s eyes followed the crimson trickle of blood. It ended up flowing into a bottle in Shalltear’s free hand.

“I can’t help but think that this is something that you’ve done before…”

“It is,” the Vampire smiled and nodded. “It is illegal for subjects of the Sorcerous Kingdom to eat fellow subjects, but Baroness Zahradnik has the right to provide allowances between species in her territory with special relationships. She created a bylaw that makes it legal for me to feed on her, so it should be alright? Since she regenerates now, I can get as much as I want as long as I’m patient.”

“Erm, how long has this bylaw existed for?”

“It’s been in place since summer harvest.”

She passed the bylaw while she was still Human? The NPCs would never willingly go against any of his orders or laws, so it could only mean that the noblewoman had offered herself to Shalltear. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what else was going on between them.

After filling the bottle, Shalltear withdrew the spear. The wound on the Baroness’ arm closed.

“Judging by the amount of damage you received,” he told her, “you should have the lowest tier of damage reduction. This also means your natural weaponry is the equivalent of the lowest tier of enchanted weapons.”

“The amount of damage I received didn’t feel like it matched the severity of the blow,” Baroness Zahradnik noted.

“That’s because it didn’t,” Ainz said. “Since your spear is mundane and does not qualify to bypass your damage reduction, the amount of damage you receive is reduced by that amount first. These numbers are inexact, but that dagger would at most deal 4 damage to you without any modifiers. Since your damage reduction is 5, it will never harm you. The spear would inflict a maximum of 8, meaning that even with a solid strike, it would be reduced by 5 to result in 3 damage.

“In this example, taking the full force of a spear would be the equivalent of a Human taking a decent hit from a dagger. You do not have to worry about critical hits dealing additional damage, as Undead are immune. There are, however, Job Classes out there that provide damage bonuses for weapon specialization. Raw strength and finesse can also add to the damage of an attack.”

Ainz thought back on what he told her earlier, deciding to amend what he had said.

“Back when I spoke of Undead taking the same damage whether they received a solid hit or a glancing blow, it was without accounting for damage reduction. In your case, glancing blows and light hits by people around your level using mundane weapons will do no damage. Against unsophisticated opponents, having both damage reduction and regeneration is a decisive advantage. Add to that the tireless nature of the Undead…it’s a bit of a silly example, but if you were put up against a million farmers armed with iron knives, you would win without taking a scratch. I can’t say how many weeks it would take for you to get through all of them, however – they’d probably flee after a while and you’d have to chase them all over the place.”

“…this is the same for other beings with damage reduction, isn’t it? Dragons, for instance…”

“A Dragon would be much better at it,” he nodded. “In addition to not taking any damage, they have strong area of effect attacks and are capable of flight. This is the reason why the nations of races like Humans must secure the means necessary to fight beings with all manner of natural advantages. Numbers are only effective if those numbers can harm their target. Some have already done this. For instance, while you may be able to wreak havoc against the levies of Re-Estize, you would be overwhelmed in a matter of seconds facing an Imperial Legion.”

It was such an insignificant thing in Yggdrasil, yet so critical in this world. Since Demihumans, Heteromorphs and Monsters started with all sorts of powerful advantages by virtue of their Racial Class Levels, Humans were usually the next closest thing to fodder. The relative inaccessibility and expense of even the most basic magic items made equipping common soldiery was something only accomplished by prosperous and well-run governments.

“You mentioned something about Vampire’s natural weaponry and damage reduction improving with levels,” the Baroness asked. “Will I experience this as well?”

“Since you possess them as a racial trait, it’s nearly guaranteed. The specific progression is something you’ll have to monitor. At the next tier of damage reduction, that spear will no longer harm you unless it is augmented by Skills, Abilities or Martial Arts. Weapons with lesser enchantments will similarly not qualify. The tier after that should be the limit of local capabilities for magic weapons, barring what are considered legendary artifacts or national treasures.”

“I suppose I should learn how to fight with my natural weapons.”

“I would not recommend that,” he told her. “When it comes to our intelligence on the local populations, we have next to no examples of beings that exceed Level 50. More to the point, even those who enter what you consider the Realm of Heroes are exceedingly rare. The Sorcerous Kingdom, on the other hand, can provide equipment that surpasses these limits to those who are worthy of them. Thus, it is better to improve your ability to wield this equipment rather than rely on natural weapons that will only ever be as strong as you are. Provided your Racial Class Levels synergize with your existing build, you should continue to focus on it. Trying to pursue another path at this point would result in, well, build contamination.”

The Baroness grew visibly distraught at his words, and her head whipped down into a deep bow.

“Please forgive me, Your Majesty! I was tempted by all the new possibilities that came with what I learned.”

Why is she begging for forgiveness? Isn’t that a bit extreme?

“There is no need to apologize,” he told her. “I understand well the excitement that comes with exploring new possibilities. If one does not consider new information, they are blinding themselves and hoping that what they already know is sufficient. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, so I doubt you’ll seriously commit yourself to any distractions from your path.”

“Your servant is humbled by your kind words.”

Her response was suspiciously close to that of an NPC. Glancing down at the top of her lowered head, Ainz was reminded that the Baroness was someone who might see him as a god.