When he had asked if the Earl would hire outside help, Emelia had laughed. As soon as the challenge was issued, she had sent a message though her guards that anyone helping the Earl would be punished. She might be new to being the lord, but her family had been in control of the city and its surroundings for generations and had been kind lords as far as the people were concerned and none wished to see their young lady saddened so the chances of the Earl receiving help within the city would be low. No matter how low it was, there was still a chance, so Emelia had sent spies to watch the Earl and his men to help ensure nothing happened.
Bringing his mind back to the current situation, Ash waited for the darkness to clear and reveal the boss. When it did, he found himself facing what looked like another zombie but instead of the light green skin it was blue.
Thinking it would be an easy fight, the zombie jumped forward at a speed that didn’t fit its rotten body. Ash quickly dodged and was only barely was able to dodge the zombie’s claws which caused sparks as they scraped across his armor. Cursing himself for letting his guard down, Ash took a defensive stance. Just as before, the blue zombie jumped forward but this time he was ready. As the zombie flashed past, he brought his sword up, scoring a small hit on its side. Since it wasn’t in a vulnerable area, only a small red 12 appeared above the monster’s head.
Ash repeated this five more times, and only once was he able to get his sword in position to score a critical. It was slow work, but the zombie had yet to land a hit on him. It was fast, but thanks to his boosts in agility, he could keep up. Other than that, it followed a standard attack pattern making it easy to fight as long as one was careful. After two more passes with one more critical, the zombie’s eyes started to glow red. Unlike before where it stood on both legs, suddenly it crouched on all fours and the snapping of bones could be heard throughout the large room.
Knowing something was off, Ash rushed forward and quickly struck the zombie’s exposed head and a large purple -28 appeared but then the zombies head turned and its red glowing eyes fixed on him as it jumped forward. As its claws dug into his leg, Ash could feel his HP decrease by 25 leaving him only 60 left. Three more attacks like that would be the end of him. It was the one downside to fighting alone, there was no one to take the pressure off when one was in danger. Once again he wished he had a healer to fight beside him or rather behind him.
While he was thinking, the zombie flashed past him again hitting his other leg for another 25 HP. Fear striking at his heart, Ash closely watched the zombie as its legs seemed to buckle as it made a quick turn and raced back toward him. The previous two attacks had caught him off guard, but this time he was ready. Sticking his sword into the ground in front of his feet, Ash braced himself as the Zombie collided with the blade. A large black -63 floated into the air as the zombie was split in half due to the force of the impact.
His body sprayed with gore made the bile in Ash’s stomach rise and he was forced to empty the contents of his stomach on the ground. He tried to absorb the blue zombie but the familiar notice appeared letting him know it was impossible. “Figures,” Ash said as he searched the ground to find seven copper coins and a black orb.
[Dead Essence (average quality): The essence of one who has died filled with resentment. Used by necromancers and priests in specific rituals.]
“Not bad, it looks like a decent item and it even gave 250 experience,” Ash said as he sat on the floor in front of the door leading to the next level waiting for his HP to be restored. He still had the health potions, but he didn’t want to waste them unless he was forced to.
Once he was recovered, he pushed open the door and walked down the stone steps into the next floor. Ash found himself in dark forest. Unlike the forest on the fourth floor, this one had a sinister feel to it as not a single bead of light penetrated the canopy above. Ash cautiously moved forward as he scanned the area for monsters. Once the door back to the previous floor could no longer be seen Ash felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck as if he was being watched. Looking around, he found nothing but he couldn’t shake the feeling. After a few more steps something sticky wrapped around him causing him to crash hard into the ground. “Webs?”
Seeing the white material that had suddenly trapped him, Ash looked up and his fears were confirmed as a spider the size of a large dog started lowering itself to the ground. Ash struggled against the web, but the more he did, the more it dug into his skin. Thinking frantically, Ash used his poison spit and the webs started to melt away. “Why is it called poison spit? Shouldn’t it be called acid spit?” Ash asked himself as the name of the ability didn’t fit its nature.
It didn’t take a moment for the acid to eat through the webs but Ash remained on the ground testing the strength of the remaining webs. He was sure that he could easily escape but there was no reason to rush. Just as he suspected, the spider continued toward him. Ash had to suppress a shiver as he looked at the numerous eyes and large pinchers as they dripped a light green ooze.
Once the spider was close enough, Ash jumped to his feet running his sword through the spiders head and instantly a black -115 appeared above its head. After absorbing the spider Ash laughed as he checked the ground. Four copper coins littered the ground. The way the coins dropped didn’t make since either to Ash. They went from a few iron pennies to coppers so quickly. Monster bosses only dropped a few more coppers than the normal monsters. Then again, the bosses were only slightly stronger than the regular monsters. That was another bonus of this labyrinth that made it great for beginners. Other than the copper coins, a small bundle of silver thread was left behind.
[Spider Silk (good quality): High grade silk that is used by tailors to make high quality dresses that are oven sought after by women.]
Checking his status he was amazed to find that the spider had given him fifty experience as well. “Jackpot,” Ash said as he moved further into the dark forest. He only needed to kill nineteen more spiders to reach level 10.
Hunting the spiders was much easier than he could have imagined. For the most part, the spiders stayed high in the trees until they captured their prey. Once they had trapped Ash, they would lower themselves to the ground where they were easy prey. They had soft bodies for the most part so at the most he only needed four strikes to kill one. The only hard part was keeping the spider from retreating if he didn’t kill it fast enough.
In less than three hours Ash killed his nineteenth spider and the welcomed “Tring,” sounded in his mind.
As soon as he reached level 10 Jun and Rachel appeared in the air. “Congratulations,” they both said with a warm smile. “You have reached the start of your journey. You can now find a trained to impart you an occupation. Though you have taken your first step into this new world please remember that there are countless others that are still far stronger than you,” Rachel said in a booming voice then she smiled. “Now that the formalities are over, we are allowed to give you a beginner title for reaching the tenth level. Consider it our farewell gift…Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” Jun echoed, though his voice sounded slightly saddened.
“Tring,”
[You have been awarded the title novice slayer: permanently increase all stats +1. Additional 10% to attack damage when this title is equipped.]
“Goodbye,” Ash said, his heart slightly aching as he looked toward the empty air where the two fairies had been moments before. For the first time since coming to this world, he felt completely alone. No matter what had happened before, the two fairies would be there if he called but that was no longer true. Ash thought that he was used to being alone, but now he felt the pain far worse than he had before.
With a deep sigh Ash made his way back toward the entrance of the floor keeping an eye out of spiders and dodging them instead of engaging them in combat. Within moments he was back through the door and looking at a small plaque. Reaching his hand out, Ash warped himself back outside.
As soon as the fresh air brushed across his face
Ash felt better. Looking up he saw the sun was up though it was still another two or three hours before noon giving him plenty of time to find a job before the match.
2-4
Though he had been in the city for more than a few days, Ash had only spent a little time within the city itself. Most of the time he had went straight from the manor to the labyrinth with the exception of the time he had visited the slave market, though he was not completely unprepared as a few days before he had asked Emelia where he could get assigned an occupation.
It seemed that besides special occupations, most jobs could be found around the adventure’s guild. It was hard to call the adventure’s guild a real guild though. You could join it, but even without joining it you could use most of their facilities. They got most of their money by brokering jobs for people. Other than the adventure’s guild, there were other guilds such as the warrior’s guild, sailor’s guild, merchant guild, and so on. For the most part you could only join one guild, though the adventure’s guild was the exception. No matter what guild you were in you could still join the adventure’s guild.
“What should I chose as an occupation?” Ash asked himself and once again he wished that Rachel and Jun were around to give him advice. There were so many choices but he needed to pick one that suited him. As he walked down the busy street Ash read one guild sign after another as he tried to decide.
“Young man are you looking for an occupation?” An old man with a sleek smile asked.
“Yes,” Ash replied as his eyes looked behind the man to see a broken down building with an old sigh. “Gambler’s Guild.”
“I know it looks bad but step inside. I promise that you won’t be let down,” the man said, his face showing confidence.
“I do have great luck,” Ash said to himself. “What could it hurt? I still have plenty of time before the duel.”
As Ash entered the decrepit building he wasn’t very impressed as the inside was as bad as the outside. The man walked behind a small counter and asked Ash to sit in a broken down chair that looked like it would be at home in a trash heap. “Now let me explain the benefits of the Gambler’s job. First you get a .1% increase in all other stats for every point in luck. While that might not seem like much it adds up quickly. Even one of the great heroes who fought the demon lord two hundred years ago was a gambler. Not only that, it also gives a number of luck based skills that can be used inside and outside of battles.”
“If it so good then why is the guild building like this?” Ash asked skeptically.
“Well that is one of the downsides to the gambler’s guild,” the man said with a sigh. “Every ten years the guild houses get together and have a tournament. Depending on how well the house does regulates their funding for the next ten years. Sadly, the past four competitions our house has done poorly. As you know, this is a great place for beginners but we have few advanced level members making it hard for us to earn suitable funding.”
“I don’t think this is the right place for me,” Ash said quickly standing up.
“Wait…Please don’t leave,” the man begged. “If you join, I can promise you many benefits, and I can tell the job of a gambler suits you. You have extremely high luck so I don’t think any other job would help you as much and I will even throw in an ability book I won.”
“Why would you be willing to give me an ability book just for joining? If you sold it you could earn enough to support the guild house for a number of years,” Ash said as he looked at the book the man hastily put on the table.
“It is simple, I think you have great talent and the next contest is in six years. If you would agree not to change guild houses until after the next competition then I will gladly hand over the book. Honestly, I have been thinking of selling it but the thought of beating those other guild masters is worth far more to me.”
“Can’t you beat them yourself?” Ash asked still not confident.
“No, only guild members can join in the contest. Guild masters are the judges to make sure that everything is fair.”
A job was very important, once chosen it was nearly impossible to change it. If he picked wrongly, it wouldn’t just be today he suffered, but for the rest of his life. Yet being a gambler might be useful given his ability of devil’s luck. He would also get an ability book and one that was really useful. “Ok,” Ash said hoping he was making the right decision.
“Great, sign here,” the man said pulling out a long piece of parchment with numerous magical formations on them. “Now I just need a drop of blood,” the man added holding a small iron needle.
As soon as the small droplet of blood dripped on the paper a small light shone and Ash heard a small “Tring,” sound in his head.
[You have accepted the occupation of novice gambler.]
“Tring.”
[You have gained the skill gambler’s boost (passive) .1% boost to all other stats for each 1 point in the luck attribute.]
“Tring.”
[You have gained the gambler’s gambit (active) skill. Cost 20MP: boost all stats for one minute. Boost is random. Level 1.]
“Tring.”
[You have gained the poker face (active) skill. Cost 5MP: forces a calm face no matter the situation. Level 1.]
“Tring.”
[You have gained the bluff (active) skill. Cost 5MP: bluff opponents to make them think you are stronger. Level 1.]
“Tring.”
[You have gained the read (passive) skill. Chance to see what skill your opponent is using. Based on luck.]
“What do you think?” the man asked smiling brightly.
“It seems as if they could be good or bad,” Ash replied honestly.
“That is the life of a gambler. If you have good luck then it’s great, but if you have bad luck then…”
“I see,” Ash said as he picked up the ability book and opened it.
“Tring.”
[You have gained analyze (active) ability. Cost 5MP: Ability to see opponents name, level and skill as long as they are no more than 5 levels above you. Level max.]
“It says novice gambler,” Ash said as he looked at his stats.
“Yes there are a number of levels in the gambler occupation. Level 10 novice, level 30 intermediate, level 60 master, level 90 grand master. Though even if you reach the level you have to be tested to reach the next level in your job.”
“Anything else I should know?” Ash asked narrowing his brow. “I don’t like surprises when there is no need for them.”
“Like any guild, there are a few rules that you will have to learn, but it would take hours if I went over all of them with you and even then you would forget half of them before we finished. It would be best if you take this,” The man said, holding out a thin book that had a little over a hundred pages. Taking the book, Ash read the title. “Gambler’s Guild rules and regulations.”
“Well since I am busy I need to be off,” Ash said, half expecting the man to stop him but instead the man waved at him with the same slick smile he had when he had first seen him. Small red words appeared above the man’s head. “Poker face.”
By time he reached the manor, the sun was already nearing its apex and a sizeable crowd had begun to gather around the manor. As he approached the crowd split for him. Many of the people smiled at him warmly while others said encouraging words and a few made rude comments calling him various names.
Soon after he walked through the gate he found Emelia waiting on him. “What happened?” Ash asked, seeing the worried expression on her face.
“Nothing,” she replied quickly. “It seems that Klien will be Julien’s Representative. Neither the Earl nor any of his people has searched out any others though a few of his people have been following you while my men have been following them. Is it true you went into the gambler’s guild?”
“Yes,” Ash replied. “I thought it was a job that suited me.”
Emelia placed her hand on her forehead. “I can’t say they are a bad group, but for fighting they
don’t have the best abilities. I was sure that you would choose either a fighter or a knight. If you would have asked, I told my men at the knight’s guild to allow it.”
“Too late now to regret it,” Ash said though inwardly he was cursing the man for calling him into that decrepit building.
Seeing his reaction Emelia let out a small giggle. “Maybe being a gambler does really suit you.”
“So where are the Earl and his son?” Ash asked changing the subject.
“They are still in the hotel room they rented last night,” Emelia replied.
“What, they spent the night in a hotel,” Ash said quickly. “Then we didn’t need to share a room last night.”
“Mou…T-that is true but,” Emelia said, her face turning red up to the top of her ears.
“Well I guess there’s no helping it since everything happened so fast,” Ash said, trying to clear the awkward feeling in the air.
“That’s right,” Emelia said, her face still slightly flushed. “Why don’t you rest until your duel,” Emelia offered as she turned around so he couldn’t see her face anymore.
Taking Emelia’s advice, Ash found a small shade tree and sat underneath it. Pulling out the rule book he had received Ash began to read.
Most of the rules were simple and easily enough to understand. No fighting between guild members they are only allowed to challenge each other through games of chance. Each guild member must pay a tithe depending on their level to their home guild house every year. All guild members no matter their level must also wear their guild badge. As he flipped through the pages Ash didn’t see any rules that would interfere with his life until he neared the end of the book.
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