Reborn 1-5

by D. W. Jackson

  Cover made at http://melchelledesigns.com

  Hello, this is a new series I am writing and I will be doing it in a new way… At least a new way for me. On the first and fifteenth of each month, I will publish what I will be calling chapters. Though in all honestly, they are simply parts of an ongoing story line that will be roughly the size of a novelette. They will be priced at 2.99, the lowest amount I can make them while receiving a fair percentage of the sale price. You might complain that this is too expensive for what you are receiving, but honestly it’s cheaper than a lunch at a fast food joint for something I will be putting at the minimal of 120 hours into. If that is still too much then every five chapters, or two and a half months, there will be a compilation volume that will be sold for 9.99

  1-1

  Derrick browsed through the small stack of games in a cardboard box he had found at a small garage sale. It was his junior year of high school, but while most kids were having fun, he had spent most of his time working. Growing up, moving from foster home to foster home, he never had what one would call a real family.

  His current home was not the worst he had been in, but it was not the best either. The few homes that seemed nice, often ended up short lived. Thankfully, his current parents allowed him a deal of freedom as long as he worked. They made him pay if he wanted anything but second hand clothes.

  Derrick had often heard his friends talk about the games they played. Even the girls spent a good deal of time on their smartphones and computers. Being a gamer was no longer seen as something only for nerds. That said, Derrick didn’t have a computer, nor did he had a cell phone. He could buy one, but he had long ago decided that what money he didn’t spend on clothes would be saved for when he lived on his own.

  A few months ago, he had ran across an old game system when he visited a garage sale, where he was looking for cheap books. It had only cost twenty dollars and had even came with an old style cartridge game.

  He found the game simple yet entertaining. Today, he was out looking for some more cheap books, and maybe some more games. He didn’t want to spend a lot of money, nor did he want to waste a lot of time playing the game. After looking through the bin, he picked out one game called Loki along with four books.

  As soon as he was back in his room, Derrick hooked up the system. As he pushed the small square power button, he saw a small red light to show that it was working. Suddenly the room started to spin around him. Derrick closed his eyes and tried to steady himself.

  “Welcome to the special edition of Loki. You have been chosen to be one of the tributes,” A soft voice said. Opening his eyes, Derrick found himself in a large brick room alone with one other person. She looked like a child, though her eyes seemed to look through him and she smiled at him with a devilish grin.

  “Tribute?” Derrick asked with a stunned look on his face.

  “I might as well get this over with,” she said with an annoyed look on her face. “As you know, the population has risen to unacceptable levels and has started to strain the resources of your world. This often happens with worlds after a given amount of time. With more souls than can be used, the gods take some of them and move them to newer worlds that fall under their control. And before you ask, yes, you are dead. Right now you are nothing but a soul.”

  “God, what god? And what do you mean dead?” Derrick asked, raising his voice.

  “Loki is the high god over this universe. As for being dead, I thought that would be the easiest part to understand. Right now your body is lying on the floor, no longer drawing breath. The doctors will find that you had a stroke.”

  “High god?” Derrick asked, still unable to understand the situation.

  “Why do I always get the dumb ones? There are different levels of gods. The highest is that of a true god, who rules over an entire omniverse. After that, you have high gods who rule over a universe. Then you have lower gods who rule over a galaxy or two and then world gods… that one would be simple to understand. There are also demigods and lesser gods who work under world gods. This time the higher god thought the name Loki would be the best for his intention. If you really wanted to go into the details, we might be stuck here for a couple centuries.”

  “Loki? Isn’t he the god of mischief? I didn’t even think that people still worshiped him?” Derrick asked, still feeling numb.

  “Loki has gone by many names over the years, just as the other gods have,” she said, rolling her eyes. “He picked the name Loki because it seemed to fit this method the best. He has always had a weird sense of humor.”

  “What happens now?” Derrick asked, his mind covered in a type of fog that seemed to numb him to everything that she was saying.

  “You will be taken to one of the ten worlds that Loki has designated for relocation. It takes a lot to explain, but your world has reached its limit and will soon collapse upon itself. As the world reaches its end, the gods create new worlds so that they can increase their power.”

  “What do I do next?” Derrick asked.

  The lady looked at him and tilted her head slightly to the side. “You are taking this better than the others,” she said then gave him a thin lipped smile. “You will need to pick one of the races, or pick random, which will be a mix of races. This can be good or bad depending on the mix you get.”

  Derrick nodded his head, but remained silent to let her continue. “Humans have the shortest life span, but level up the quickest. They also have the most jobs and skills that you can chose from. Elves have one of the longest life spans, at an average of three thousand years, but they level up the slowest and have a more limited skill set. Dwarves lives are five times longer than a human, but level up five times slower. There are also the Demi-humans with over a hundred different tribes, each with their own characteristics. You also have monsters who have a varied life span that depends on how you live. As a monster, you start out as a goblin, but as you level up you can evolve. If you choose the monster race, you will be given a more detailed description. The last race is that of the demons. Like monsters they level up as well and are immortal, but have weaknesses that can be very debilitating. Knowing this, which one would you like to choose? Be warned that once chosen you will not be able to change.”

  Derrick was more than a little shocked, but oddly he wasn’t scared. “So it is a little like a game?” he asked confused.

  “Well it depends on how you are reincarnated. Loki took a great deal of interest in the games made in this world and even spent quite a few years sampling them. When it came time to migrate the souls, he decided to directly reincarnate a select few. While most souls will lose all memories the few he chose will get his blessing and retain them. I don’t really understand everything myself, since I think it is foolishness, but gods do tend to be a little odd at times. Now please choose, I have a lot more souls to separate and I would prefer not to have to spend an eon just talking to you.”

  “I think I will take random,” Derrick said after giving it a fair amount of thought. “A little chance sounds like fun.” While that was what he said, in truth, Derrick was still new to games and he wasn’t fond of fantasy novels. He preferred sci-fi when given the choice.

  “Not many people have chosen that one,” she responded with a smile. “Now, for your last choice, would you prefer to be male or female? Men tend to be stronger while females tend to have more intelligence and skill with magic.”

  “I think I will stay a man,” Derrick replied quickly. Being female might be fun for a day or two, but he didn’t find men attractive and if given the choice, he wanted to have children. If that was a possibility in the new world.

  “Ok, step through the door and you will find yourself in your new world,” She said, pointing toward an arched doorway that shimmered slightly. “Goo
d luck,” She said as Derrick quickly walked through the magical portal to start his new life.

  1-2

  As soon as he stepped through the archway, everything went white. When his eyes cleared, he found himself laying on the cold ground under a canopy of trees. “Where am I?”

  A small light appeared on his chest and then two small creatures appeared in the air. If he had to put a name to them, they looked like fairies out of a child’s storybook. One was obviously female with fiery red hair and large green eyes and pale milk white skin. The other, a male, had dark hair and eyes with light tan skin. He floated almost motionlessly as the other fairy darted around.

  “You are in the southern forest, near the town of Yourgrim.”

  “What the hell are you?” he asked, nearly jumping to his feet in surprise.

  “Guides,” the dark fairy replied.

  “Yes, we have been appointed as your guides in this new world,” the red headed fairy said while they both bowed. “I am Rachel and this is my husband Jun.”

  “In this world, everyone lives in a game-like system, unlike the world you come from. There are levels, titles, jobs, skills, abilities and many other things you will get to know over time.”

  “You know about my world?” he asked slightly dumbfounded.

  “Yes, I don’t know when it was, but we once lived there as well. Like you, one day we were…Called… Yes that’s a good word for it. We were called and until that time, we have been taking classes about this world and watching the people of it so that we could be become first class guides. You are our first customer, so please take care of us,” Rachel and Jun bowed again after they had made their introductions.

  “Ok... Could you tell me a little about the world’s system you were talking about?”

  “Yes…Of course,” Rachel said with a small frown. “First, either say aloud or inside your mind [status] a small screen should show up.

  As he was told, he says the word inside his mind and a large transparent screen appears in front of him out of thin air.

  Name: Ash

  Level: 1

  Experience needed for next level: 100

  Race: Human/Demon 70/30

  Occupation: None

  Title: None

  HP: 50/50

  MP: 50/50

  SP: 10/10

  Strength: 10

  Agility: 10

  Vitality: 10

  Stamina: 10

  Spirit: 10

  Intelligence: 10

  Endurance: 10

  Luck: 10 (+50)

  “My name is Ash,” Ash said as he looked over the screen. He tried to recall his previous name, but his mind stayed blank. He could remember his life, but not his name. “Why is there an extra number next to my luck?” He asked after looking over the screen again.

  “Passive ability,” Jun said as he sat on Ash’s right shoulder as Rachel sat on his left.

  “Jun, you have to tell him more than that… Sorry, Jun isn’t one for many words,” Rachel said with a light laugh. “There are four major screens that you will need to use; [status], [abilities], [skills], [Inventory].

  “What’s the difference between abilities and skills?” Ash asked, knitting his brow.

  “Abilities come in two forms, passive and active. Passive abilities are always active and do not require the use of MP, while active ones require you to activate them and spend MP. In a lot of cases, it’s hard to tell the difference between active abilities and skills, but the main thing to remember is that skills relate to a specific job. So once learned, they can only be used if you have the corresponding occupation. For right now, you will not have any skills, but the system should have granted you two random abilities to start with. I would suggest that you check them out.”

  “[Ability],” Ash said out loud. Another screen replaced the one he had been looking at.

  Active Abilities:

  Demon Absorption: level 1- 0%

  Passive Abilities:

  Devils Luck: Level Max

  “I know what they’re called, but what do they do?” Ash asked slightly aggravated.

  “Think about them,” Jun said in his normal short manner.

  As he was told, he said the names of the abilities in his mind.

  Demon Absorption: Cost 10 MP

  Absorb defeated demons and monsters once the absorption rate has reached 100% for a creature you will be awarded on of the creature’s abilities at random.

  Devil’s Luck

  Born with a small part of a demon’s soul your luck is boosted 500%.

  “What in the world… This is really a cheat ability,” Rachel said, her small eyes widening.

  “Indeed,” Jun agreed.

  “Cheat?” Ash repeated their words, not understanding.

  “Did you not play games back in the other world?” Rachel asked, slightly flabbergasted.

  “I played Tales of Fantasy,” Ash said defensively.

  “Wow… that is a classic… Can’s believe our first assignment is a noob.”

  As Rachel talked to herself, Ash heard a few words that while he didn’t know what they meant, he was sure they were not complementary. After a few moments of self-commentary, Jun tapped on Rachel’s shoulder, reminding her that she was being watched.

  “Well I guess this will be fun in its own way,” Rachel said, shrugging her shoulders. “First try out [inventory], then find a few weak monsters to fight. After that, you should head into town and learn a little about this world on your own.”

  Ash did as he was told and called his inventory screen in front of him. A large outline of a human body was on the left side. It had pictures of the white shirt and black pants he was wearing on the outline. Pulling the edge of his shirt Ash wondered where it had come from.

  Beginner shirt: Durability 5/5 Defense: 1

  Beginner pants: Durability 5/5 Defense: 1

  Next to the human Silhouette was ten small boxes. The first one a small sword in it. The others remained empty at the moment. Touching the sword, a small white light flashed in his hand and then a small short sword appeared.

  Novice sword: Durability 5/5 Attack: 0-3

  Taking a look over the inventory page again he noticed a small bag at the bottom. Platinum: 0, Gold: 0, Silver: 0, Copper: 0, Iron pennies: 10. “Must be the currency. Looks like I only start with ten iron pennies, though I have no clue how much that is,” Ash said out loud to himself.

  “Hum… It’s hard to equate it with the currency of the other world since things have different values. First it takes a hundred Iron pennies to make a copper, a hundred copper to make a silver and so on. An iron penny won’t buy you much, but for twenty of them you might get a small pastry.”

  “Then what can I get for ten?” Ash asked slightly depressed.

  “A few pieces of fruit,” Jun said in his normal matter of fact style.

  Closing the inventory screen, Ash took a look at the sword. He could feel the cold metal hilt in his hand and the weight felt slightly odd in his hand. After taking a few practice swings, he slipped it into the small scabbard that had appeared at his side and started moving through the forest in the direction that Rachel had said the town was.

  After he had walked no more than a hundred feet, Ash noticed a small white creature jumping towards him. At first he had thought it was a rabbit, but as it got closer he noticed something was off. It had long ears and a fluffy tail and moved like a bunny, but it had long sharp teeth like a sabretooth cat. When the creature had gotten close to him, it stopped and looked at him with large beady eyes then suddenly jumped toward him.

  The unexpected attack caught Ash off guard and he took the brunt of a head-butt into his chest. As he was knocked to the ground, a small number appeared in his mind shocking him. “-5 HP 45/50.” He had lost 5 HP from one attack, if he got hit ten times then he would die. “What happens if I die?” Ash asked in a worried voice as he watched the weird bunny.

  “If you run out of HP then you will die obviously. The world
is not so forgiving that it will let you be reborn endlessly,” Rachel said with a serious face. “So try not to die too quickly, otherwise we might get a bad mark on our record as guides.”

  Fear gripped Ash as he nervously held the sword. Just as before, the rabbit jumped toward him, but this time he was ready and moved to the side swinging the sword down hard hitting the rabbits shoulder. As the sword hit the creature, a red -1 appeared above the rabbit.

  Ash had fought bullies before with his fists, but never in his life had he used a sword. The weapon felt odd in his hands, but he forced himself to fight. The rabbit followed a simple pattern of moving away and jumping toward him with its fast speed. Even if he noticed the pattern, it didn’t mean that he could easily fight against it. The rabbit was much faster than he was and it would randomly move behind him and launch an attack at his back.

  In the end, Ash took six attack before a lucky strike caught the rabbit in the head making a large red -7 appeared above the rabbit as it fell motionlessly to the ground.

  “Don’t just stand there absorb it,” Rachel said in a hurried voice. “Hurry before it disappears.”

  Ash knelt beside the rabbit and said “Demon Absorption.” A white light flew from his hand and enveloped the rabbit and the creature started to fade as if it were made of mist leaving behind two black coins and a small piece of white fur. At the same time he looked at his abilities section and saw a new addition under Demon Absorption.

  Saber Bunny: Absorption rate 2%

  Ash quickly check his stats page, but was disappointed when he noticed he still needed 95 experience to reach his next level. Not only that, his HP was down to 15/50 and his SP was down to 8/10. “How long will it take for my HP to return?” as soon as he thought the question a small window appeared above the HP. HP regeneration 1% per minute. That would mean it would take two minutes to regain one HP point. If he met another enemy for the next hour he would easily get killed.

  “How far is it to the town?” Ash asked nervously.

  “It’s about a mile in that direction,” Rachel said pointing in the distance. “But before that gather the drops.”