“You sure picked a troublesome lady,” Zelan said between bites. “I don’t know if I should be jealous or feel sorry for you. Well, with lodgings and food taken care of, we should start training while there is still some daylight left. On the way in I saw a big yard so we will have plenty of room.”
Zelan led Ash back to the front yard where the two copper swords were stuck in the ground. “Where are the others?” Ash asked as he looked around.
“Those are for later,” Zelan said tossing one of the swords to him. “First we have to start at the basics. Do you know the most important part of the body to a swordsman?”
“The arm,” Ash answered, making it sound more like a question.
“Wrong, it is the feet. Balance and movement are all controlled by the feet. No one can master even the simplest of forms without first mastering their feet.”
“Then what should I do?”
“I will show you some katas and you will practice them until your legs hurt so bad you have to be carried back inside,” Zelan said with an evil smile.
First Ash was taught a simple stance with his left foot about shoulder width behind and slightly to the side of his right foot. It seemed simple, but every time his foot’s position moved, Ash took a stinging blow from the flat of Zelan’s sword. After half an hour when Zelan was happy with his stance, Ash was led through a series of ten movements numbered from zero to nine. It took two hours before his master was happy with his stance in each position. Then for two more hours, Zelan called out numbers at random and Ash was expected to move seamlessly into the right stance. As expected he failed most the time and his back was struck time and time again. While the strikes hurt, they only dropped his HP by one point so he was never in any real danger.
About an hour before sunset Yuki came running through the gate of the manor to see her master being struck hard on the back by an older man. “What are you doing to master,” Yuki yelled as she charged the unknown person.
Zelan looked at the small fox girl with a raised eyebrow as she jumped at him, but just before she collided with him his feet shifted and suddenly Yuki met only with air and crashed hard into the ground. Laughing Zelan lightly smacked the top of Yuki’s head with his sword.”
“Emu…That hurt,” she said looking up at Zelan with watery eyes. “Why are you bullying master?” She asked, jumping from her feet and standing in front of Ash.
To anyone looking it seemed ridiculous that a girl, not even five foot tall with a lithe body was trying to protect Ash, who was six foot one and while not covered in muscles had a well-toned body. Yet the small fox girl eyes showed no hint of wavering even though she stood in front of a man much more imposing than her master.
“Yuki, this is master Zelan,” Ash said patting Yuki on the head warmly. “He is teaching me, so you don’t need to worry.”
Yuki looked over her shoulder with her lips pinched tightly. “If master says so,” Yuki said before looking back to Zelan and glaring at him before turning and walking toward the manor.
As Yuki left Zelan let out a loud laugh. “Quite a little spitfire you have there.”
“Forgive her master, she gets excited easily,” Ash said with a warm smile as he looked toward Yuki.
“I have no reason to hold any malice to someone who was trying to protect another,” Zelan said then he struck Ash hard in the back. “But that doesn’t give you an excuse to have such a sloppy stance.”
An hour after nightfall, one of the maids told them that dinner was ready and Zelan called an end to practice. Dragging himself back to the manor all Ash could think about was eating and sleeping. He didn’t have the energy left to think about anything else. His stamina had ran out almost an hour before, yet Zelan had not let him rest. “You think an enemy will let you rest just because your stamina has reached its limit. Even if you are on the brink of collapse, you still have to be able to fight.
Ash learned the true meaning of pain once his stamina reached zero. He could still move, but his body felt heavy and each and every movement was accompanied by a large amount of pain as if his body was pierced by hundreds of needles. Even the act of walking to the dining room was excruciating, yet his hunger won out.
As soon as Ash sat in the soft chair, he felt as if he was in heaven. By time the food was placed in front of him, he was ready to cry as even lifting up the fork caused tendrils of pain to race through his arms. Then when he took a drink of the sweet juice that was placed in front of him the pain disappeared.
While he fought to eat Zelan and Emelia talked. A few times a question or statement was aimed at him, but he his mind was too hazy to recognize it. Not wanting to get up after eating, Ash just laid his head on the table and listened to the two talk.
“You might want to have someone carry him to his bed,” Zelan said as he watched Ash’s eyes drift between being open and closed.
“I will,” Emelia replied as she smiled while looking at Ash’s near sleeping face.
As if knowing what they were supposed to do two maids appeared and balancing Ash’s weight between the two of them carried him out of the room. Emelia watched them leave with Ash then turned back to Zelan. “I will say this just to make you understand. If you do anything to hurt Ash, then I won’t care if you belong to the Seven Sword Guild. I will use everything within my power to make sure that you never have another peaceful day.”
“That is quite the statement,” Zelan said as if unbothered. “Not even a king would say the same, but you don’t have to worry I have no ill will. Ash is talented, and I just want to borrow that talent, but as a reward I will teach him. It is a fair deal and I promise that no harm will come to him as long as he is my student.”
“I will believe your words for now,” Emelia said narrowing her eyes.
“Master always said that there is nothing more dangerous than a woman in love,” Zelan said with a laugh and Emelia’s face suddenly turned a bright red but she remained silent.
2-11
Ash’s eyes fluttered open as he was placed on the bed. He barely noticed as the two maids who carried him left the room.
“Master are you ok?” Yuki asked in a worried voice.
“Huh…Yuki,” Ash said in a weak voice. “I am fine, just a little tired.”
Even after eating and drinking two glasses of juice, Ash’s stamina had only recovered two points. That was the point where Ash learned that physical fatigue had an effect on stamina.
As if sensing Ash’s inability to move Yuki started unbuckling his armor for him and pulled it off. Once his armor was removed Yuki ran from the room, but she returned a few moments later carrying a large bucket. “What are you doing?” Ash exclaimed as Yuki began to pull his remaining clothes.
“If master sleeps while he is sweaty, then master will get sick,” Yuki said as she continued to pull of his tunic. Ash wanted to resist but he didn’t have the energy left to even shake off the small Yuki.
As if not bothered, Yuki removed everything but Ash’s undergarments and wiped his whole body with a warm wet cloth then rolled him under the covers. By the time she was done she was breathing hard.
Seeing the pained look on Yuki’s face Ash remembered that she had spent the entire day training. “Thank you Yuki,” Ash said as he used the last bit of his strength to lightly pat the top of Yuki’s head.
“Hehe,” Yuki giggled as she rubbed her head against Ash’s chest. Normally Ash would push her away, but not only did he not have the energy for it, he also believed that she had earned it. Though he didn’t have the strength to push her off, sleeping next to a young girl was bothering, but when he looked at the way she acted it reminded him of one of the large dogs that one of his foster parents had. Once he thought of her more like a pet, his nerves calmed down and he was easily able to fall asleep.
When he woke the next morning, Yuki was still clinging to him with a peaceful look on her face. Using his finger, he lightly thumbed her on the head and her eyes slowly opened. “Masfer ning,” she said rubbing h
er head against his chest.
Not wanting to get used to the feeling, Ash pushed Yuki off. “You need to get ready for school,” He said as he quickly dressed.
“Emu...,” Yuki pouted as sat on the bed and watched Ash leave.
Though he had been really tired, Ash had went to bed earlier than normal so when he woke the sun was still down. He checked the kitchen but found that the maids had just started their preparations for breakfast so he decided to head outside and practice the stance kata that Zelan had thought him the day before.
As he walked out of the door of the manor Ash saw Zelan standing in the large open courtyard holding two thing long swords while his leg was raised slightly off the ground. In one fluid movement Zelan jumped into the air flipped around backward and landed on the tip of one toe. The short time he was in the air Zelan made four quick strikes with both swords, but what was amazing was that both swords moved independently of each other. As soon as he touched the ground, Zelan spun around and seemed to float backward, his swords never stopping as if he was fighting an imaginary enemy.
For someone who just came to this world from his previous one might think that all one needed was high stats to make the same movements but after spending time here and leveling up Ash knew the truth. Putting points into strength did make one stronger, and agility made one faster, while intelligence made it easier to retain knowledge. This alone was amazing, but even with high strength and speed, without the knowledge of how to use it correctly it was wasted. Zelan was right when he had said a swordsman with skill half his level could easily kill him and Ash knew it.
Turning away from his master, Ash started his own practice, taking great care not to make any mistakes. The movements he had learned were simple things by themselves, but to move from one to another at the right time was hard.
After almost two hours of practice, the maids informed the two that breakfast was ready and both Ash and Zelan went inside to eat. The meal was simple compared to what they normally had, but it was still filling and boosted his energy levels. Looking up from his empty plate Ash noticed that the atmosphere between Zelan and Emelia was tense. Not wanting to inquire about what might have happened between the two, Ash quickly drank the last of his milk and left the room at top speed.
Shortly after arriving outside, Zelan joined him and the picked up where they had left off the day before. Ash was pushed to his breaking point over and over and by noon he had collapsed, unable to move. It was at this time he was handed a bamboo container filled with a thick green drink by Zelan. “Drink it,” Zelan ordered as Ash looked at him.
Bracing himself, Ash quickly gulped the thick liquid. As soon as it entered his mouth, Ash had to fight the urge to spit it out. The green drink was not only thick, but bitter. Ash started to complain, but as soon as he sat aside the bamboo container his stamina was completely refilled.
“Now that you have the basics of the movements down, we will start with practical exercises,” Zelan said as three maids appeared, each of them carrying two to three of the copper spears. Zelan took a spear in each hand and faced Ash. I will attack and you will dodge them only using the movements I have shown you.
With this until nightfall, Ash was made to dance around as he did his best to avoid the sharp points of the spear. At the beginning Ash was able to dodge one out of every five strikes. By the time dinner came, Ash could dodge three out of five.
Though tired after eating, Ash drug himself to follow Emelia to the study. Seeing Ash following her, Emelia took his shoulder and helped him sit on the long couch. “Shouldn’t you be resting?” She asked with a worried voice.
“Probably, but I wanted to talk to you first,” Ash said forcing himself. “I think Yuki needs her own room. Honestly it’s problematic to have her sharing a room with me.”
“Done,” Emelia said almost as soon as Ash finished his sentence.
“Huh,” Ash asked confused. He had thought that it would be harder to get a slave her own room.
“Honestly, I didn’t think it was good for a young man and woman to share the same room, but I had no room to say anything when she was your slave. I will have someone inform her and have a room prepared for her in the servant’s quarters.”
Since that morning Ash had been thinking about how to talk to Emelia about the problem, but now with it solved so easily he felt all the tension that had kept him going leave his body. Ash knew that he should return to his room, but the couch was so soft and his eyes felt heavy. Without notice he was soon sleeping soundly while Emelia watched him.
Emelia half rose from her seat to call a maid to take Ash back to his quarters, but stopped with a wry smile on her face. Bending down she lightly kissed Ash on the lips and placed her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.
The next morning Ash woke with his arm feeling numb, trying to move it he found something holding it down. Turning his head Ash was surprised to find Emelia clinging to his arm with a content smile on her sleeping face.
Carefully removing his arm from Emelia’s grasp, Ash laid her down and left the room. After stretching himself and shaking the feeling back in his arm Ash went outside to start his practice.
“Master,” Yuki yelled as she exited the manor to head to her first real day of school. She had been training previously thanks to Emelia but today was the first day with her new class. “Are you mad at Yuki?” She asked and Ash noticed that her eyes were red and it looked as if she had gotten little sleep.
“No,” Ash said knowing what was coming.
“Then why did master kick Yuki out of master’s room?” she asked with big upturned eyes.
“Yuki, you are too old to be sharing a room with me.” Ash explained.
“Why?” Yuki asked not understanding what he was saying.
Seeing Ash flustered, one of the maids who was standing behind Yuki let out a slight giggle. “I will take it from here Sir Ash,” and she pulled Yuki off to the side and started whispering into her ear. At first Yuki just nodded her head then her face slowly started to turn red as her eyes started to dart between the maid and Ash.
Once Yuki was released from the maid she ran over to Ash her face was still a light pink. “Master Yuki won’t lose,” She said before running out of the gate leaving a confused Ash standing, watching her leave.
“Shall we start early today?” Zelan said as he gripped Ash’s shoulder with a great deal of force. “Men who are lucky with women need some pain to even the balance don’t you think,” Zelan added with an evil smile on his face.
Stats
Name: Ash
Level: 10
Experience needed for next level: 5,740
Race: Human/Demon 70/30
Occupation: Novice gambler
Title: Novice Slayer
HP: 100/100
MP 105/105
SP 26/26
Strength: 15 (+10) (+1)
Vitality: 19 (+1)
Agility: 12 (+7) (+5) (+1)
Stamina 20 (+5) (+1)
Spirit 11 (+10)
Intelligence: 20 (+1)
Endurance: 14 (+10) (+1) (+2)
Luck: 13 (+65) (+1)
Abilities
Passive:
Devil’s Luck: 500% bonus to luck.
Fleet foot: +9 to agility. Level 4-43%
Wolf eyes: See in the dark. Level Max
Mining: Ability to use a pick to extract ore from hidden locations. Able to tell where mining locations are located. Level 3: 14%
Poison resistance: level 2-58%: 10% poison resistance.
Grave domain: Damage resistance to whole body with the exception of the head increased by 10%. Level 1- 32%
Spider senses: able to detect prey that is up to three levels higher within a 100 foot radius. Able to sense hostile intent within a 50 foot radius. Level 1-92%.
Active:
Demon Absorption: Cost 10MP: Absorb defeated enemies to obtain skills. Level 1: 78%
Bash: Cost 1SP - Slam into enemies with your body to do X10 dama
ge. Level 1: 5%
Rabbit Punch: Cost 1Sp- Using feet or hands quickly lash out with a lighting quick attack. Level 1-33%
Stab: Cost 1 SP- Thrust forward with weapon (sword, spear.) level 1-64%
Poison spit: Cost 5MP. Level 1-27%: Spit a corrosive poison that sticks to enemy doing 5 damage a second for ten seconds.
Analyze 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.
[Poison: cost 10MP- ability to make a small amount of toxin that paralyzes. Can be placed on weapons. Level 1-2%]
[Sticky thread: cost 15MP- shoot out a stream of sticky thread to trap opponents. Level 1- 0%
Skills
[You have gained the skill gambler’s boost (passive) .1% boost to all other stats for each 1 point in the luck attribute.]
[You have gained the gambler’s gambit (active) skill. Cost 20MP: boost all stats for one minute. Boost is random. Level 1-15%.]
[You have gained the poker face (active) skill. Cost 5MP: forces a calm face no matter the situation. Level 1-20%.]
[You have gained the bluff (active) skill. Cost 5MP: bluff opponents to make them think you are stronger. Level 1-8%.]
[You have gained the read (passive) skill. Chance to see what skill your opponent is using. Based on luck.]
Equipment
Iron gambler’s emblem: emblem signifying that one is a novice of the gambler’s guild. Durability 10/10 luck +1.
Sword of the Hawk: Sword belonging to a great hero of the Hawkwing family. Durability 50/50 attack 20-32 strength +10 stamina +5.
Mithra armor: Armor blessed by the god of light. Durability 40/40 defense + 20 Endurance +10 spirit +10 agility +5
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