Reborn 1-5

by D. W. Jackson

  With everything going through his mind he had completely forgot about what lay on the ground. He picked up the two Iron coins first and they suddenly disappeared. Ash checked his inventory and found that he had gained two iron pennies. Next he picked up the small section of white fur. As soon as his fingers touched the soft material a small window appeared in front of his hand.

  [Rabbit fur: Soft material that is often used for clothing for the winter months.]

  Ash touched the rabbit fur to the inventory screen and suddenly it disappeared and reappeared in the first small box with the number 1 in the bottom right hand corner of the box.

  Shrugging his shoulders Ash closed the inventory box and moved in the direction of the town while keeping on high alert. Though the town wasn’t very far it still took almost half an hour to reach it while walking through the dense woods while watching out for anything dangerous.

  Ash didn’t know what he expected but it definitely wasn’t what he found as the trees cleared. It was more a village than a town. There was only a handful of houses and only a few of them were made of stone.

  As Ash approached the small village a man wearing dark leather armor with a sword on his hip stopped him with an outstretched hand. “Who are you?” He asked while his hand rested menacingly on the hilt of his sword.

  “I am called Ash and I got lost in the forest,” he replied quickly holding his hands up slightly.

  “In the woods,” the man said relaxingly slightly. “You’re lucky that you were able to make it to town. Do you happen to have your identification on you?”

  “Oh the people in this world carry a small metal plate that has their identity on it. You will have to get one, and don’t worry you are the only one that can see us.”

  “I lost it running from some saber bunnies in the woods,” Ash replied quickly.

  “Then I will have to escort you to get a new one,” the man replied his hand never moving from the hilt of his sword. “Do you have the five copper for the cost of a replacement?”

  “I am sorry but I lost my coin pouch as well as my other belongings on my way here,” Ash said looking crestfallen.

  “Don’t worry you can always work off the cost but if you try to leave before your debt is paid…” the man gave Ash a strong glare leaving the rest of his sentence hanging ominously in the air.

  The guard led Ash to a stone two story building in the center of the town. The inside of the building looked much like a bank with small windows with iron bars with people standing behind them. Ash was led to one of the empty windows and the guard explained that he was in need of a new identification tablet. Ash was made to place his hand on a large metal plate that glowed a light blue then the woman behind the counter made a slight noise and handed the card to the guard.

  “Hump… Should have known that a penniless vagabond would be a sub-human,” He said with a tone of disgust. As I said you will pay me back within ten days otherwise I will have you sent to the slave blocks.”

  The instant the guard had looked at the ID his attitude had changed and it was not for the better. When the small metal square was placed in his hands Ash looked at with a worried look.

  Name: Ash

  Race: Sub-human

  Occupation: None

  Special: 10 day loan 5 copper to guard Ruffas.

  “What does it mean special?” Ash asked looking at the tablet again.

  “It means that if you don’t pay it here and have it removed and try to run then we can track you anywhere you try to go,” Ruffas said sneering at Ash’s question.

  With a debt hanging over his head Ash wasn’t sure what to do. When he noticed a small building with different items in front he remembered the small piece of white fur. Taking it out of his inventory ash walked in with a bitter look on his face.

  “Can I help you lad?” A slightly balding man behind the counter asked as Ash approached it.

  “I would like to sell this,” Ash relied sitting the small piece of fur on the counter.

  “One piece of rabbit fur that will be seven pennies. Is that ok son?” the man asked with a warm smile.

  Ash simply nodded his head then received the seven black coins from the man sticking them in his pocket and secretly sending them to his inventory. Seven iron pennies for one piece of fur to pay off his debt that would mean he would have to acquire 79 more. It seemed like an almost impossible number but it was the only ray of hope he had at the moment.

  As he walked back toward the edge of the town the smell of fresh bread made his stomach growl. He knew that he couldn’t afford to waste money but starving himself would only end badly so he bought a small loaf of bread for nine iron pennies. It seemed like a small fortune but as soon as he started eating his heath quickly refilled. Checking his status he noticed a small food sign next to his HP. Within five minutes the rest of his HP had been replenished.

  “If I get a piece of fur after each fight as well as two iron pennies it will only pay for one piece of bread. If I have to rest and eat each time I will never make five copper coins in ten days but it’s worth a try.”

  With his mind made up he headed back into the forest and started looking for prey. It didn’t take him long before he found his first saber bunny. With his experience from the first fight and the knowledge that if he didn’t pay back the debt he would become a slave fueling him he won the fight while only losing ten health. “I can do this,” Ash told himself after absorbing the bunny and picking up the two small coins and scrap of fur.

  With his current level he was able to fight a total of five battles before he had to retreat to town leaving him with only nine HP left. It was risky but he had no other choice. Out of the five bunnies four dropped scraps of fur but all of them dropped the coins. “When I get stronger I could get rich killing monsters,” ash said as he thought about the system.

  “Odd,” Jun said in his normally short way leaving Ash confused.

  “Understanding my confusion Rachel continues to explain what Jun meant. “We have watched a lot of adventures move throughout the world but we have never seen monsters dropping coins before. I didn’t know if I should say anything before but you are the only one who can make money this way. I wouldn’t get used to it though… It might not last forever.”

  “Good to know,” Ash said slightly disheartened. Ash decided to keep the stack of fur in his inventory until he had enough to sell and used the few coins he made to buy another piece of bread. This time as he ate he watched his HP and MP to see how they reacted.

  After eating the bread his HP and MP rose by twenty points in five minutes before the small food symbol disappeared. Ash was tempted to sell a few piece of fur so that he could buy another piece of bread but he resisted the urge and instead went to the well and drank a cold glass of water. The food increased his HP and MP but it didn’t help his stamina which was sitting at a 2/10.

  “What happens when my stamina reaches zero?” Ash asked as he whipped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm.

  “You will pass out until it regains at least three points,” Rachel said as she flew around his head like a fly.

  “Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?” Ash exclaimed as his body shook with fear. If he had kept fighting and passed out he would have been easy picking for the monsters in the forest.

  “You didn’t ask,” Jun replied with in his trademark fashion.

  “Jun is right we are guides you have to ask to get the answer,” Rachel added with a beaming smile. “We aren’t babysitters.”

  As was able to go out and fight two more times before the sun started to set killing a total of elven more bunnies. Once the sun was down Ash didn’t want to go back into the woods afraid of what might come out so he found a small place out of the wind to sleep. The town had a small inn but he found that it cost one copper for the common room and five for a single room and that was money he didn’t have nor could he afford at the moment.

  Before closing his eyes Ash looked over what he had gai
ned in his first day. He only needed 15 more experience to gain his next level and his absorption level of the saber bunny was up to 34%. His clothes and sword durability went down to 4/5 during the last groups of fights. He hoped that they would last until he could pay off his debt. Rachel said that a blacksmith and tailor could repair them but like everything it cost coin and coin was one thing he didn’t have.

  Right now he had nine iron pennies to his name as well as fifteen pieces of fur. If he was able to keep up this pace than getting five copper coins in ten days wouldn’t be a problem but even knowing that didn’t help alleviate the knowing fear of having the debt looming over him.

  Wrapping his arms around him body while leaning against the side of a building Ash closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. At least it wasn’t in the middle of winter.

  1-3

  Ash woke to find the sun had started to rise into the sky. “Must have been more tired than I thought,” he said to himself as he rubbed his eyes. Looking around he noticed that the two little fairies were nowhere to be seen. “Maybe they only stay the first day,” as the thought crossed Ash’s mind he felt slightly alone. “Rachel…Jun,” ash said barely audible.

  With a light pop the two small fairies appeared in the air. “Did you need something?” Rachel asked as she ran a small comb through her hair.

  “Just wondering where you were,” He said slightly blushing.

  “It’s still morning...We need to sleep too,” Rachel said wagging her small finger at him.

  Laughing Ash quickly stretched his stiff muscles and heads straight into the forest. His stomach complained but until he killed his first round of bunnies he wasn’t going to waste what little coin he had on bread when it wasn’t needed to refill his HP.

  He had gotten good at fighting the bunnies but he still go hit from time to time. During the fight. As he killed his third saber bunny, a small “tring” sounded. You have leveled up and received 4 attribute points please designate where they should go.

  Before Ash could ask Rachel started explaining the attributes to him. Most of them were pretty straight forward. Strength increased his physical strength and attack. Endurance increased his defense. “What should I put them on?” Ash asked completely stumped.

  “It depends on what you want to be,” Rachel said nonchalantly. “Warrior needs to focus on strength and endurance a mage needs to focus on intelligence and spirit.”

  “Sounds too complicated I think I will just go with what I am lacking,” Ash said after a few moments thought.

  “Noob,” Jun said shaking his head.

  Ignoring the two fairies Ash looked at his status again. When fighting the rabbits the big problem was his lack of HP and speed. If his defense was higher he would lose less HP when hit. There were so many choices. In the end Ash decided to put one point in each agility, Vitality, stamina, and Endurance. He thought about putting on in intelligence as using demon absorption was costly but decided against it in the end. Right now living and making money was more important.

  Other than just leveling up Ash noticed that his HP, MP, and stamina had been completely refilled when he had reached a new level. For his next level he needed 200 Experience. Wanting to try out his new level Ash found his next target.

  As he approached the saber bunny he let its first attack land and noticed that instead of five points of damager he only received four this time. Beside the increase in defense Ash found the slight increase in speed helpful in dodging though he still couldn’t out maneuver the faster bunny.

  Thanks to the new level Ash could now fight nine bunnies before he was forced to take a break. His HP could take one or two more fights but his stamina was depleted. Back in town Ash bought his normal bread this time even getting a small glass of juice. Surprisingly he found the juice helped with stamina regeneration though it only gave him 2 points per glass and cost four iron pennies. After eating and resting for a little over an hour ash returned to the forest to fight again.

  He continued this for the entire day never stopping to take a rest unless he was forced to thanks to his low stamina. When night once again fell he returned to the small alley he had slept in the night before and once again looked at his gains.

  Unlike the day before he had longer to fight and had been able to kill sixty-four of the bunnies today. Out of those sixty-four, fifty-two of them dropped fur. His sword durability was down to 2/5 while his clothes were down to 3/5. His clothes could last another day but his sword was close to breaking that meant that tomorrow he would have to get it repaired. He decided that once it reached 1/5 he would find a blacksmith.

  With what he had found the day before he had a total of sixty-seven pieces of fur. He only needed four more for enough to pay his debt. Other than the fur he also had seventy-eight iron pennies.

  After reaching level two the bunnies only gave 3 experience. Thanks to that he still needed seventeen more experience until he reached the next level. This time he was determined to put two points into Intelligence. He had learned the downside to low MP as more than a few of the bunnies had disappeared without being absorbed thanks to his lack of sufficient MP. As it stood right now its absorption level was at 92%.

  As soon as he woke Ash used his iron pennies to buy three breads so that he could refill his MP after fighting so that he could finish absorbing the bunnies needed to reach 100% and see what happened. As he walked into the forest he felt slightly giddy as he wondered what would happen once the absorption reached 100%.

  After his fourth bunny of the day fell to the ground Ash hurried over and started to absorb the creature. As the light faded a slight “tring” ringed out and a transparent window appeared in front of in.

  Saber Bunny: available abilities- Fleet Foot (passive), Rabbit Punch (active), Flee (active).

  Looking at the three choices Ash wasn’t sure which one would be the best to receive. Before he had the chance to give it much thought the screen disappeared and was replaced by a smaller one. [Fleet Foot has been chosen randomly out of the abilities of the saber bunny.]

  Ash quickly opened up the abilities tab and looked at what he had available.

  Passive:

  Devil’s Luck: 500% bonus to luck

  Fleet Foot: +5 to agility. Level 1-0%

  Active:

  Demon Absorption: Absorb defeated enemies. Level 1- 5%.

  “Cheat,” Jun said watching Ash moving back and forth checking out his new ability.

  “Why is it a cheat?” Ash asked in a slightly annoyed voice.

  “You don’t really understand…Then again, how could you? As I said we watched people in this world for years before we could become guides. Skills can be learned as long as you have the right job and someone to teach you or a corresponding skill book. Abilities on the other hand are hard to get. Sometimes monsters drop books with their abilities but it is very rarely maybe .001%. Because of this most people are lucky to have more than one or two abilities. Those with money will buy ability books but even the cheapest run more than ten platinum coins. But you can simply absorb monsters to get their abilities…It’s a huge cheat.”

  “Cool,” Ash said after listening to Rachel’s rant.

  “Noob,” Jun said shaking his head.

  Shaking his head Ash went back to hunting bunnies. Thanks to his increase in agility Ash found it easier to dodge the bunnies attack. After killing two more he heard the familiar “tring” as he gained another level and 4 more attribute points.

  Having given it a lot of thought over the past day Ash quickly allotted his points. Two went into intelligence giving him ten more MP. One point went into vitality and the last went into Stamina. Not only did he get a level up his sword’s durability was not down to one meaning it was time to find a blacksmith.

  Once back in town Ash quickly found a blacksmith by asking around. The forge was small and Ash could not see any swords nor other things he expected laying around. All he could see were horseshoes and other normal metal works. Laying his sword on a smal
l table Ash waited for the smith to finish what he was doing. After a few moments the smith noticed him and gave him a warm smile. “Lily we have a customer,” the smith yelled his loud voice booming over the sound of his hammer striking the metal.

  A few seconds later a young lady in her late teens to early twenties wearing a thing dress that showed off her slender shoulders and ample chest. “Sorry I was in the back… Can I help you?”

  “Umm… yes,” Ash said after shaking his mind free of the thoughts that drifted though his mind. “I need my sword repaired.”

  “Nice,” Jun said settling on my shoulder.

  Rachel fluttered over and slugged Jun in the arm and pinched Ash’s cheek. With her small hands it hurt a fair amount. She didn’t say anything but her eyes made it clear what was on her mind.

  Lily picked up the novice sword and looked it over. “It’s really in bad shape but pa can get it back to new. It will cost one copper and will take about an hour before it will be finished.”

  “Ok…Then I will pick it up in an hour,” ash said nodding his head.

  After leaving the smithy Ash headed to the small store to sell his furs since he didn’t have enough to pay for the repair fee. He found the same bald man standing behind the counter that was there a few days before. “Got another piece of fur to sell today,” The man said while greeting Ash with a smile.

  “Yes,” Ash said placing seventy-two pieces of rabbit fur on the counter.

  “You must have good luck,” the man said counting out the furs. “Seventy-two furs at seven iron pennies apiece come to a total of five copper and four pennies.”

  As the coins fell into his hand Ash felt as if he was the richest man in the world. He had enough copper to pay the debt but then he couldn’t pay for the repair fee on his sword. He still had plenty of days left to get the last little he needed to pay for his debt so investing in his sword right now was the better choice.

  After picking up his sword and paying the one copper fee Ash headed back to the forest to look for more bunnies to kill. He needed two hundred and fifty experience for the next level.