Amelia and Ophelia: The Former Grand Duchess and Saintess.

As the day continued, the duo plus the Black Guard contingent were in an open field directly east of Callipsburg. The sun overhead was covered by a mass of clouds which allowed a very generous shade that blanketed the land. The people of the field before the duo ranged from different species and different heights and ages, some of them were wearing the tribal robes from the clans they came from while others were wearing leather or steel pieces of armor such as chest plates, gauntlets, and the like. 

"This is quite the variety" Wendel remarked as he looked at the group before them 

"Well, some of them are familiar faces I believe you recognize, others are some volunteers sent by the clans" Amelia added as she also analyzed the group before them 

Out of the gathered group before them, there was a set of girls who were easily standing out more than the rest. They were a group of adventurers that Amelia had once met during her time training Sharon near the town of Shander, they were known as the "Violet Brigade" and out of everyone from the Erstad adventurer's guild that had escaped alongside everyone else, they were the most experienced in terms of being an adventurer as the ones who had come along for the ride were mostly newer recruits who came from the orphanage in the duchy. Even Amelia was surprised that they were part of the list of escapees but after being informed beforehand by Percy, it turned out that Lily was the daughter of a servant of the Erstad manor, she was also going to join the manor staff but she decided that she wanted to go on a life of adventuring. 

"Ah, good to see you all here, how is the Violet Brigade?" Wendel stated as he and his monarch walked near the group of girls standing in the center of the larger pool of people 

"We are all fine. It's kind of exciting to be here in all honesty" Lily Rymor, the leader of the adventuring party stated with a small smile as she twirled her short but curly brown hair 

"That's good to hear Lily, I will be relying on your party to help whip these people in shape" Wendel added with a smile 

"We will try our best guild master" Lily replied with a nod 

"Alright. So let's get started on discussing what to do" Wendel stated as he turned to Amelia who nodded at his words 

A few minutes later, the group before them were now sitting on chairs and tables made of roots that sprouted from the ground, all eyes focussed on the blonde monarch and the guild master, and all were waiting to hear their words. 

"So to start, I would like to thank you all for attending this meeting today. I know that all of you except for one group are unfamiliar with what being an adventurer and adventuring is as a whole despite your volunteering" Amelia began as she scanned the faces of the crowd 

"To put it simply, adventurers are to act as gatherers, hunters, and protectors who fulfill requests from people. You will explore dungeons and fight the monsters there to get stronger or you can do the same thing but to cull monsters and harvest them. You will also be sent to gather items such as materials of different kinds like flowers or even materials obtained by killing monsters. And you will be compensated for your actions by being paid the amount depending on the request, do you understand?" Amelia finished as she looked at the crowd, with their heads nodding in agreement but with Amelia still left unsure. 

"If there are no questions I shall continue" 

"For starters, there is a power ranking system in the guild. It is based on the power ranking system already used by the world ever since its creation. With F-Rank at the lowest and SS-Rank at its highest, I have a skill called [Appraisal] which allows me to see your power level since I have a much higher one, and from what I see so far, excluding the Violet Brigade, everyone else here is around the D to C-Rank in power level. Although I understand if you will be discouraged or disheartened to hear about it, I assure you this does not mean you are weak, not at all. Instead, see it as a guide to where you are and use it as motivation to move up and get stronger, because the higher you go in rank, the harder the tasks are assigned and the rewards are also increased" Amelia added, seeing several faces go from sad to hopeful 

"Umm, Your Majesty...what rank are you?" One of the young wolf beastkin asked as he raised his hand, 

"Ah, I am SS-Rank. It took me a long while to get where I am, I also had a very good teacher to help me get here" Amelia replied with a smile and a nod, seeing the eyes of some of the younger adventurer-to-be eyes light up with amazed expressions 

"Does this mean you will teach us personally?" Another from the crowd asked her  

"Unfortunately no, I will leave the teaching of how to be an adventurer and the learning of skills to be an adventure up to the Violet Brigade, the most senior adventurers present excluding me, even Wendel will teach you, so rest assured you will be taught well" The blonde empress replied with a smile 

"Now with that being said. I hope you are all ready, we are going to start recording your power ranking using this specially designed ranking crystal" Amelia stated as she pulled out a palm-sized clear crystal from her item box and held it up, the cylindrical crystal reflecting some light off of it. 

"Form a line please and let's get started" 

Following her words, the group before them lines up and each person takes a turn giving their name, their age, their specialty in magic if there is any, their weapon of choice, and other personal information, like their home. They then place their hand on the crystal, pour out some magic into the crystal, and watch it glow, with all of these things being recorded by Wendel who was fired up properly as he really loves to fill out guild paperwork as he was also a former secretary. 

Amelia was also helping out, as she brought out another ranking crystal and then also began to log down the names and power ranking. A smile on her face as her plan was slowly starting to come together, and she was determined to show that the plan was a success, to show that her ideals were not simply just a dream and unachievable, it also served as her way of proving to herself that she can be just as bright as her lover. However, that last reason may be skewed as both of them truly support and love each other no matter what. 

About ten to fifteen minutes had passed before all of the group had listed their names and their power ranking had been recorded. So far, there were about a hundred or so participants before them including the five members of the Violet Brigade, with 47 of the participants having the power ranking of C-Rank while the other 48 of the participants were D-Rank. Not the most powerful but not the weakest bunch either. A good starting power level that could soon be molded into a proper adventuring force. Another hour was then spent dividing up the 95 people present into their own adventuring parties as they were all too weak at the moment to be alone and it was a good opportunity to build bonds between everyone gathered and get them used to cooperating with one another. 

"Alright. Now that everyone has an adventuring party. We will begin a trial of sorts, there is a set of dungeons not far from here to the west and it has monsters that are right for your current level, we will take turns entering and exploring these dungeons to get you all familiarized with what you are to going to be doing as adventurers" Amelia stated with a smile as she tapped a crystal she had on her waist that showed the people before her a map of the area she was speaking of

The parties of people before her were about nineteen in total with five members in each team and the races were also diverse since the groups were an amalgamation of natives from the clans and the people who had escaped with Amelia, for example, there was a group that comprised of a native human, an escapee arachnia, a pair of native elves and then an escapee dragonkin, with the natives being adept in being front liners while the two escapees were better at using magic. These groups were going to be sent in sets of five, with two members of the Violet Brigade escorting them as they went dungeon diving, with the groups being instructed on what to do in dungeons, how to gather materials, and how to fight.  

Another twenty minutes later, everyone was gathered in front of a trio of caves of similar size. But the similarities ended there as Amelia sent a small Black Guard contingent to walk only a few steps into the cave and they each gave her a different direction in which the cave went. 

"Alright. I will be taking the first group down, Lily, come with me please" Amelia stated as she turned to the B-Rank mage 

"Understood Your Majesty, Set One! With me!" Lily called out after she nodded to her empress, turning to see a group of twenty-five people assemble behind her 

"Everyone stay vigilant and alert, we don't know what is down here so keep your head on a swivel" Amelia stated as she began to walk into the cave, with the group following close behind her and Lily. 

They went through the center cave as it was the one that seemed the least strange due to the Black Guard sent in a few minutes earlier reporting back that it just went straight. So far it did, with the group continuing to go straight but Amelia could feel they were slowly descending, and wherever this dungeon was leading to, it was hopefully worth it for the newbies to gain some experience.

Amelia led from the front, her right hand held up in a closed fist except for her pointer finger that aimed upwards and was emitting a little but bright flame that illuminated the dark cave path ahead of them, their steps filling the air alongside the soft shuffle of rocks being pushed or kicked aside by the group behind her. Lily was at the rear of the group, keeping them protected via a barrier spell she had placed behind her that would intercept anything coming from behind, it also had several layers and would harden with each layer being broken, this barrier spell was called [Multi-Dome], and it is a very useful protection spell. 

"OK, so for starters everyone. When venturing into dungeons it is always good practice to keep your head on a swivel and scan for anything, although we are in a cave, certain monsters enjoy funneling their would-be pray into larger chambers through pathways such as the one we are currently going through. An intelligent adventurer would note the structure of the cave, does it look monster-made? does it look natural? Questions like these help keep people alive when dungeon diving" Amelia began as they continued walking through the cave passage 

After a few more minutes of walking, they stopped before a much larger chamber, although it was still pretty dark, the flame emanating from Amelia's fingertip was able to give enough light to show where they were. By the looks of it, they were on the top of the chamber, with the pathway they just exited having a small cliff where they could stand and then peer down to see a large drop that led to the bottom of the chamber. Although it was barely visible, Amelia's heightened senses and her appraisal abilities told her the chamber was one giant goblin and ogre nest. 

{A/N: Now, a small explanation on Goblins and Orges and Orcs in the world. Despite all three races sharing the same similarities, Orcs are the more civil and mentally advanced race, while Ogres and Goblins are more akin to savage barbarians who failed to evolve the mental capacity and thinking of the orcs but kept their ability to use tools and make weapons. It is also worth noting that, unlike the Orcs, Ogres and Goblins are spawned inside Dungeons} 

"Hmm, an Ogre and Goblin nest...did not expect this" Amelia mumbled as she looked at the dark chamber below

"Should we turn back?" Lily asked as she walked up beside her 

"No, it will be fine. by the looks of things, this is the only entrance and exit, meaning the ogres and goblins have to  walk up through the slanting side of the cave to our left that serves as a ramp" Amelia replied as she gestured to the left side of the cliff that linked with the cave wall that was slanting downward and creating a ramp that led straight to the ground 

"It seems the plan has changed, we will explore the other caves another time, gather everyone here, we are going to clear out the nest as a starting activity" The blonde empress stated with a small smile as a plan formed into her mind 

A few minutes later, the rest of the adventurers-to-be arrived with the rest of the Violet Brigade, all of them currently nervous about what they going to do. Amelia smiled as she placed a soundproof barrier around them and then scanned the group before her 

"OK, so change of plans. This entire chamber is a massive ogre and goblin nest, they are mostly D and C-Rank in power, meaning they are just your speed. I will remain up here and light up the place while all of you will be going down there and working together to clear out the nest. Although the dungeon will respawn them in weeks' time, this will serve as a training ground for you all, so before you go down there, come up with strategies with your teammates, cooperation is key in times like this, and while we will try our best not to intervene as much, the Violet Brigade will take point and assist you during the mission" Amelia said as her eyes scanned their faces, seeing their nervousness and anticipation 

"All of you have had some sort of experience in fighting monsters so I expect you all to be able to at least survive, if you get hurt, I will heal you with some spells I have, no one is going to die, believe me. Now, with all of that being said, cooperate with one another, help each other, and keep your head on a swivel for it is time to go adventuring! Go get em!" 

After her instructions and words of encouragement, the group of adventurers-to-be began moving down the rock ramp pathway to the left of them and when they reached the base of the ramp, Amelia fired off a bright flare from her fingertips that hovered in place above the center of the chamber, illuminating the entire place in a bright light that stunned and confused the ogres and goblins below. But before the monsters could do anything, the roar of the adventurers charging forward caught them off guard, with many of the goblins and ogres still processing the bright light above them being slaughtered by steel or by magic unleashed by the adventurer parties surging forward. 

One party comprising of a pair of humans, an elf, and another pair of dwarves rushed forward at a group of goblins and ogres wielding crude metal weaponry and armor. The elf hung back and fired off lances made of earth and sent them hurling at the group of monsters while his human and dwarf teammates lunged forward with their war hammers and bastard swords, crushing and slashing away at the disoriented and disorganized monsters who recoiled from the impact of the lances made of earth earlier and had left themselves open to the cold cruel steel of the weapons wielded by the adventurers. 

Another adventurer party comprising an arachnia with a pair of dragonkin and then a wolf beastkin, a kitsune and a siren thrashed a charging horde of ogres with a blazing bombardment of fireballs and dragon breath fired from the hovering dragonkin while the arachnia and her fellow grounded party members slashed away at the screaming and charred monsters before them, with pools of purple blood spilling out from each wound made upon their greenish-blue skin. 

Even the Violet Brigade was busy slaying monsters, the veteran adventurers turning the monsters into ash or cutting them up thanks to their weapons and battle experience. Lily blasted away a group of charging goblins via a spell called [Fire Blast] while her best friend Erma charged down another group with her tower shield and bastard sword, leaving the goblins screaming in pain as she trampled on them before decapitating the damned monsters, meanwhile, the other team members, Gilly, Tilly, and Pillia were busy bringing down the disorganized and still disoriented ogres thrice their size with precision cuts and smashing their heads into mush, painting the floor, their weapons and their apparel with the purple blood of the dead. 

Amelia watched the carnage go down from the safety of the cliff while using her superior vision, a smile on her face as she was ecstatic, to say the least as she could see the adventurers-to-be doing well and showing that they were capable of coordinating with one another during battles, although there were the usual suspects of some being too arrogant and not being too cooperative, those were things that could be handled later on, but for now, it gave her a cause of joy and something to hope for and another reason add the growing list on her mind to serve as her drive to do better and make a good change on this new continent. 

"RAAAAAGH!" 

{!}

A deep roar then came out from the chamber, shaking it slightly due to its force, the adventuring parties were stunned moments after they had finished the last of the goblin and ogre hordes, the roar came from the center of the chamber, under a large pile of rocks and twisted rough steel, while the other adventurer parties stood vigilant, the Violet Brigade slowly inched forward to determine what had made the sound

"Everyone pull back!" Lily ordered as she turned to the other adventurer parties, with all of them following her orders and rushing back to the base of the rocky pathway upwards 

"Lily, we should pull back too" Erma said as she leaped in front of her, with the roaring growing louder and the ground also shaking 

"Yeah we should" Lily agreed as she and her party also turned tail to join the other adventurers 

As they did so, the pile of rocks and unprocessed still tumbled away and made way for a larger ogre than any they fought earlier, the beige skin and twin heads of the beast were marked with scars and wounds that showed it had survived against tougher monsters, the four arms of the thing had jagged metal clubs fused to the skin, the hands of the damned thing almost invisible to those looking at it, it let out another guttural roar as it looked at the adventurers and then lumbered forward to destroy them. 

Amelia looked at the situation below and without a second thought, leaped down and placed herself in front of the gigantic monster and the adventurers currently holding their position on the pathway. 

Name: Ungöl The Undying

Power Class: A-Class Monster. [Ogre/Orc Hybrid]

STR: 900

DEF: 990 

MP: 440 

DEX: 790 

SPD: 370 

Skills: 

Harden [Hardens the body of the user for a limited time. Can only be broken by a high-power attack]

Battlecry [Let's out a roar that stuns nearby opponents of weaker levels, does nothing to higher levels] 

Attack Flurry [Increases attack speed for a short burst of time doing double damage]

Tags: 

‘Resistant Blob’ [Defeating this monster will grant a bonus] 

"Ohh, this just got good" Amelia voiced as she finished reading the stats of the monster before her, an idea quickly popping into her head 

"Alright, everyone! We are going to bring this thing down!" She quickly stated as she turned to them, seeing the shock on their faces after they heard her statement 

"What?!" Lily exclaimed as she broke the silence of the adventurers 

"Just follow my lead!" Amelia quickly answered her before dodging out of the way of a metal club that slammed into the ground where she once stood. 

The adventurers turned to the Violet Brigade for orders while they watched their empress easily dodge the blows from the behemoth of an ogre before them, seeing the giant monster get more and more enraged as its blows failed to connect and seeing his target continue to pester it with her existence. Both heads of the giant ogre let out a deafening roar as it used its skill [Battlecry] in hopes of stunning Amelia, but failing to do so. Instead of stunning Amelia and leaving her exposed to its next attack, the opposite occurred. Due to the monster standing still while it used its skill, Amelia quickly closed the gap and slashed both heels of the damnable abomination, forcing it to fall face-first onto the ground and immobilizing it. 

"Alright! Everyone! Surround it while it's down and hit it with everything you got! I shall place a barrier around the area to prevent you all from being stunned by its roar!" Amelia stated as she stood on a jagged rock near the downed ogre, turning to the adventurers waiting for a command, with some immediately doing so 

"You heard the empress, go! go! go!" Lily quickly added as she recomposed herself and rallied the adventurers who were still not moving

The adventurer parties quickly placed themselves around the squirming ogre as without hands and legs, it could not get itself back upright, it tried to swing wildly with its extended reach thanks to the clubs by the adventurers all took up positions on piles of rocks and unrefined steel out of reach. With all of them in position in a matter of minutes, the mages of the parties then began flinging fireballs, earth lances, air lances, and other elemental attacks towards the downed monsters, with its cries of pain filling the chamber air as it cried from the immense barrage striking it from all sides. 

Once the barrage of spells had stopped the front liners charged forward, all of them unleashing strikes that failed to penetrate the thick hide of the ogre, with blades, spears, axes, lances, and halberds either bouncing off or being stuck in place after breaking through the skin of the beast. Thankfully, many were able to pull their weapons back out and then began to help those who were still struggling. The ogre then tried to retaliate to the ones near it by swinging its arms but found itself unable to move them, something it did not understand. This was due to Amelia's barrier that she had set up in the chamber, basically ensuring that the adventurers would not be harmed and that they would be able to kill the A-Class monster and gain the bonus that came with slaying it. 

"Keep going guys! Just keep attacking, I made sure it won't harm you, so use this chance to improve your attacks!" Amelia stated with a smile before sitting on the rock 

About twenty minutes passed by as the C-Rank and D-Rank adventurers unleashed attack after attack, grinding away at the now unmoving ogre that let out cries of pain and roars of defiance as it still tried to retaliate with anything but still being unsuccessful, even the Violet Brigade were unleashing attacks on the thing, with everyone trying their best to pierce the thick hide of the orge and finally score that killing blow. Said killing blow was delivered by a young dragonkin named Homir who was able to finally pierce the thick skin of the beast after he blasted it on the same spot repeatedly with his dragon breath before plunging his spear through it and finally ending the monster's life, allowing it to let out one last defiant cry before going limp and unresponsive. 

{!} 

Once the thing had died, everyone except Amelia received a notification in their stats. They had received the bonus from killing the Dungeon Boss, and it was a passive skill titled [Thick Skinned] Which gave them increased durability and resistance to magic and non-magical attacks upon the body, and it was a skill that stacked with any other skill that also gave increased durability. 

"Congrats on earning a skill everyone!" Amelia said with glee as she dropped down to them and smiled with joy 

"Right, now here comes the final but important part of being an adventurer, harvesting the materials from a dead foe. Although you may be wondering if the hide will still be as thick when it is dead, let me assure you that it is, but the better part is that despite it retaining its original thickness and toughness, it will be easy to harvest as the usually resistant cells inside the body of the monster no longer resist due to it being dead, allowing anything to cut through and allowing the process of safe harvesting. Now, the key things an adventurer must harvest are the hide, the meat, and the most important one, the monster crystal, if that thing is not harvested from the body of the beast, it will reactivate and revive the thing after a day, so be sure to act quick and secure it. After those three crucial items, you can harvest the rest of the body, but if you already harvested the monster crystal, the unharvested corpse will turn to dust after several hours, so get out your knives and bags everyone, time to harvest!" She added as she began to harvest the thick neck of the beast 

With everyone quickly following her lead, the adventurer parties began to harvest not only the giant ogre but the other monsters they had just slain. Bringing a smile to the blonde empress as she felt that this was a good start to the guild, a guild that she hoped would continue to grow and prosper in this empire that belonged to her and her beloved. 

A/N: And here we go! I finally got to finish this after so long, sorry for the wait hehe. Anyways, after this, we will have a small arc with Ophelia in the dwarven mountains, and then we will have the first main action arc of the volume, the conquest of the Kingdom of Amma, so stay tuned and I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I had fun writing it, if you have comments or reactions, leave em below for me to read and as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!