OVERLORD:The Prince Of Nazarick

Baby Steps At Becoming A Man

Right after they landed, Alf started projectile vomiting; everything he ate a few moments ago now lay in a pool of vomit. Aura quickly dashed away from Alf.

"ULBERT'S BEARD! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Alf was on all fours, trying not to fall into his own vomit.

"I know dimensional move is a more rough way of teleporting, but it has basically no cast time, which makes it a perfect fit for damage-focused mages."

"SO I AM GOING TO HAVE TO GET USED TO IT?" Alf slowly got up to one knee and cleaned the dirt off his pants.

"Here, take my handkerchief." Aura reached her arm towards Alf, and he took it, cleaning his mouth.

"What a waste of a meal."

"Up, up. We got stuff to do." Aura raised Alf to his feet and moved into the forest.

Her lessons to Alf were survival in the wild, what could be poisonous, how to handle wild animals without killing them, and finding his way if lost.

"I am sure you will learn to teleport yourself before ever needing these, but you never can be too careful," Aura commented on their lessons together.

"Indeed, you can never be too careful... I don't want to depend on teleporting when I don't have to."

Alf killed a few beasts he came across and trained his sense of direction. The day came to a close after a few hours of walking in the forest.

"It would seem this tame forest has become too easy for you, Alf. I will notify Ainz-sama and get confirmation for our next location. But that will be for our next lesson. Let's finish it here."

"Thank the supreme beings; I thought you would leave me and ask me to find my way back to the tomb."

"I was honestly planning on it, but you ruined it by teleporting here. So be prepared for that in our next session; let us return home."

Upon arrival, Alf immediately went up to the bathhouse to shed his exhaustion, and in there, he met a familiar face.

"Ah, Albedo-Sama. Good evening." She didn't react; she was staring intensely at the wall. Alf reached out and touched her shoulder.

Albedo shrieked, then turned her back, but her towel didn't accompany her on that journey.

"A..." When does a boy become a man? When his parents pass away? When he lays with a girl? Or when he moves out on his own.

Whichever it is, Alf didn't qualify for none. But at that moment, he became aware of the question. (What am I feeling...)

"Sorry about that, Alf, but you shouldn't sneak up on me like that." Her face was all red.

"B-b-but I called out to you... you wouldn't answer... I apologize for my behaviour..."

"D-Doesn't matter..." Albedo slapped her cheeks and left the bathhouse. After she left, Alf realized there was a hole in the wall she was staring into—a carefully carved hole that had a clear vision of inside the men's side. When he looked into the hole, he saw Ainz inside, sitting alone in there. (This explains everything...) Alf got out of his clothes and got himself a towel, joining Ainz afterward.

"Good evening, Ainz-sama." Ainz turned his back and saw a lonesome Alf standing there.

"Good evening, Alf... (He looked around to see if someone accompanied him) Is there someone with you?"

"No, my lord, but we can never be too careful. Someone could barge in, or worse, someone could be listening in."

"Nobody comes here except me, or when I force people to come here." Ainz sounded confused. Alf decided that he wouldn't spill Albedo's beans. Her favour could come in handy. (I'm sorry, Suzuki-sensei, I'm selling you out for another.) He felt strangely interested in Albedo, like he never had before.

"You taught me that no one could ever be too careful, Ainz-sama. I'm merely following your guidance."

"You sound... strange... But no matter. Come, join me, and tell me about your day."

Alf told him about his day; they laughed, and they continued on chatting.

"Ahh, Alf. I truly treasure our time together; you are growing up to be someone I can rely on to have fun conversations." (That's how I designed you to be anyway.. My cure for loneliness.)

"Your words are too kind, sensei. I, too, treasure our time spent together. Say, You wouldn't happen to have the book we left that day, would you?"

Ainz took a side glance at Alf; he had that passion in his eyes again.

"Sigh I guess we can continue. I believe you've learned the difficulties of acquiring power. But this doesn't mean your training stops, understand? You have a long way to go."

"Yes, sensei. I wouldn't have it any other way. I enjoy our destruction classes; I feel I will use the experience the most in my future."

"Mu... Alright then, where were we..."

Ainz took out the book from his inventory and found the page they left off...