Reborn 1-5

by D. W. Jackson

  “Wait…How did you know I had gotten stronger?” Ash asked, looking at Zelan as a thought hit him.

  “I could feel it,” Zelan replied. “I don’t have the analyze skill, but one can tell a lot just from the aura that a person gives off. A warrior who can’t read his opponent’s strength will never be anything but a third rate chump. I don’t have the analyze ability to check a person’s stats. Heck only government officials would care about it, unlike the inspect ability or skill it isn’t very useful in real life.”

  “Inspect ability?” Ash asked having not heard of it before.

  “Yes most merchants try to get it or learn it. It allows them to see the quality of an item without having to use an identify crystal.”

  “Really…Does analyze work on the same principle as the inspect ability?”

  “Yes the analyze ability can be used to inspect objects and in more detail but it costs MP while inspect in a passive ability so it is more valued in the merchant trade.”

  “I see,” Ash said while in deep thought.

  “Enough of that, time to get back to practice…But first I think we should add a few more weights,” Zelan said with an evil glint in his eyes. In the end, every space in the suit he was wearing had been weighted down and he was still able to move fairly freely though his feet sank slightly into the ground when he walked on the grass. Thanks to the weights, Ash didn’t feel much of a change his attacking speed or strength so it was actually made it easier to dodge the incoming attacks. After his first large boost, he had learned that an increase in stats wasn’t always a good thing as it took time for his body to readjust to the boost.

  As Ash moved his body, he found that he was much stronger than he had expected. Checking his stat page, he found a welcomed surprise. Ash had almost forgot about his gambler’s boost which had now reached level two. Ash remembered reading about it in his gambler’s handbook. At its highest level, it would reach a .5% bonus per point. If a person was considered a top tier gambler at 200 points in luck then most people never got above a 100% bonus. Of course if a person won a lot of gambler’s games, they could increase their skill higher, but there were risks involved, not to mention a person could at most challenge another twice a year. If the person challenged only bet 1 chip and lost all five rounds then it was hard to win any real amount of stats. That was one of the main reasons that there were not a large number of people with extremely high stats within the gambler’s guild. That aside, right now with his level 2 gambler’s boost he was getting a 123.8% bonus to his stats that were already abnormally high.

  4-5

  Ash continued to practice and the next few weeks passed quickly with him staying on the tenth floor. Ash felt it was time for him to move to the next floor, but Zelan cautioned against it since the labyrinth here was feared because the strength of the floors jumped dramatically after each ten floors. If one was to say a level twelve party could fight easily on the tenth floor, then on the eleventh floor a group of level fifteen would be needed. It might not sound like a large gap, but considering how long it took to raise a level after the tenth level so it was a large change in difficulty.

  As he trained, Zelan no longer added more weights to him, but instead every few hours of training Zelan would take one away. Within the first week Ash had gotten two of the abilities from the sea nettles and early in the second week he earned the last ability that the creatures had. Like normal when he earned an elemental attack, he also earned the corresponding resistance skill for it. In truth, Ash would have gotten the abilities earlier if he just had to kill sea nettles, but Zelan wouldn’t let things go that easily. With his boost in stats also came an increased difficulty in training. Now he was even made to fight them blindfolded.

  [Shock Armor: cost 10MP. Covers a small area with electoral energy that will stun an opponent struck with it for two seconds. Level 1-0%.]

  [Shock Strike: cost 25MP. Hit an opponent with an energy attack that paralyses the part struck for five minutes. Level 1-0%.]

  [Electric Resistance. 5% resistance to energy attacks. Level 1-0%.]

  [Water Glide. When moving in water it flows naturally around you decreasing water resistance by 10%. Level 1-0%.]

  Since meeting Zelan, Ash had learned a number of new skills, but he had not had the chance to try a single one out. He was a normal young man and wanted more than anything to use magic during a fight, but so far he had been made to endure. Other than not being able to use his new abilities Ash was also slightly bothered by the fact that he had not gained another level up even after weeks of constant training.

  Ash was sure that he had killed at least three hundred sea nettles, but he still needed 3,415 more experience to reach his next goal. It was bad enough hunting by himself, but Ash hated to think how long it would take with a group.

  When Ash had asked Zelan about this the man had laughed. “As long as there are no more than six people in a group, they all receive the same amount of experience without it being lowered. Also, monsters in a labyrinth tend to give a lot lower experience than those in the wild. Most believe that 60% goes to the labyrinth masters while 40% goes to the adventurer. To offset this, the monsters continue to respond so there is never a shortage of monsters to kill. “Honestly the labyrinth is a great source of income, that is why so many people have their eyes on the little ladies title and land. I think most nobles would offer to sell their souls to a demon if they would make a labyrinth in their land,” Zelan had said while laughing.

  After weeks of training, Ash had today and the next day off since tomorrow was Yuki’s birthday. Right now Emelia was talking to the palace staff to make sure everything would be ready on the following day. Ash himself didn’t have much to do, so he decided it was a good time to stop by the gambler’s guild.

  It had been half a year since he had last been here and at that time, he had only been inside for a brief moment. At that time, he hadn’t even taken the time to learn the name of the guild master who had talked him into joining.

  Thinking back, there had been a lot on his mind at that time. He had just bought Yuki and he had just been challenged by the Earl’s son to a duel. It had been a trying time, but also enjoyable in some aspects. Thinking back to his past, Ash was amazed at how much he hand changed in such a short period of time.

  Before he didn’t have friends or family. He spent his time work or alone. A few times people tried to get close to him, but he had always pushed them away telling himself he didn’t have time to spend on them since he would be leaving soon anyway. At that time, he didn’t think it mattered if he was alone, but now things had changed. He couldn’t imagine his current life without the people he had come to know and trust. “Was this what having friends and family were like?” Ash asked himself as he walked down the road. If so, then the god in the previous world must have truly hated him to make him live a life devoid of such relations.

  The building looked much the same as last time, though there seemed to be a new sign hanging above the entrance. Unlike his first visit, the guild master was not outside trying to rope people into entering the building. As he entered, Ash was surprised to see the guild master sitting with his legs kicked up on the desk.

  “Sir Ash, nice to see you,” the guild master said with a warm smile.

  “Ahhh…You too guild master,” Ash said, feeling slightly out of place.

  “What brings you here today?”

  “I have been thinking over a few things and had a couple questions.”

  “Go ahead,” the man replied while looking uninterested.

  “It’s about gambler skills,” Ash said while moving further into the room. “I have heard that each guild has a number of skills other than those learned when one first joins.”

  “That’s true...But first let me ask you. What is a skill?”

  “It’s a job orientated ability,” Ash replied quickly.

  “I will give you fifty points,” the man said while waving his hand back and forth. “That is only a part
ial truth. Then let me ask you how do you think a skill was first created?”

  “Huh…Well…I don’t know,” Ash answered as in a halting voice.

  “Someone created it,” the guild master said lazily. “The same goes for occupations. To create an occupation isn’t easy and it is even harder to turn it into a recognized guild. Skills are easier to create than an occupation, but they still take a lot of effort. First they have to be related to the occupation otherwise the god system will not allow it to be born. After that, it has to be practiced over and over but for gamblers that is where the real trouble comes in. Most people think that a gambler occupation is only about winning money through bets, but because of the high luck over the years, the view of people about them have changed. Most copper plate and above gamblers have at least a few combat related skills.”

  “Then you can teach me some of those skills,” Ash said, getting annoyed at the long lecture.

  “Listen to me,” the guild master said with the same lazy tone. “Over the years, the gambler’s guild has spilt into factions. Most those factions are based out of a guild office. Remember me talking about this during your initial joining. In each guild a new member is given an upper echelon member in the guild to follow and that person is in charge of teaching skills. Sadly though, there are only six people registered to this guild station. Of those, I am the only one above the novice rank, but sadly I have never been much of a fighter so the only skills I have taken the time to learn are the basic ones for gamblers.”

  “Then why did you join the gambler’s guild in the first place?” Ash asked stunned.

  “Because I like to gamble. Why else would I join? If you are a member of the gambler’s guild you are allowed entrance into a number of games that one would never have the chance to enter. It is a great chance to earn a great deal of gold,” as the guild master said this, Ash noticed a greedy smile spread across his face while his eyes gleamed like small diamonds. “My advice for you would be that you take some time and try to figure out what kind of skill you want to have and then try to make it yourself. It might take you years to do or only days, but in the end if you create it yourself, it fill fit you much better than any skill that someone could teach you.”

  “I have one other question…How in the world does the guild earn money?”

  “That depends on the guild house. Larger guild houses have a gambling hall, but sadly a few generations back they outlawed that here after the duke at the time lost a large amount of his fortune. Now the only way we can earn money is by the yearly membership payments of our guild members,” seeing Ash’s sudden sullen look the guild master laughed. “Don’t worry, membership fees are only ten silvers a year, and doesn’t need to be paid until the end of the year.”

  “Just ten silver…Can I pay early?” Ash asked. “I don’t want to forget about it or have to worry about it if I go out traveling for a bit.”

  “There’s no rule against it,” the guild master said with the odd twinkle in his eye.

  Pulling out a gold coin from his inventory Ash tossed it to the guild master. “That should take care of me for the next ten years.”

  “Ohhh,” the guild master said catching the gold coin. “Such a good member. Is there anything else?”

  “No…I think I learned everything I could for the moment,” Ash replied.

  “Before you go let me give you a little information,” the guild master said his face turning serious for a moment. “A little birdie I know told me the other day that a certain person has his eyes on a little fox and has been looking for people who are willing to help him catch the prize. If the owner of that fox wants to keep his pet, it would be best to keep an eye on it.”

  “How did you hear about this?” Ash asked as goosebumps rose on his neck.

  “Just by chance,” the guild master replied his face returning to its normal lazy look. “There aren’t a lot of gamblers in the city so when my friend heard about it he passed the news onto me.”

  “Thanks,” Ash said with a slight bow.

  “Think nothing of it,” the guild master replied with a wave of his hand. “I only told you because you decided to stop by. It’s not as if I sought you out to let you know. Not to mention it has been a number of days since I heard the information so it might not be relevant anymore.”

  “All the same, thank you for letting me know,” Ash said before leaving the guild.

  As he walked back to the manor Ash thought about what the guild master had said about skills. It made sense that someone at some time had to create the skill. It was also true that gambling was a pretty wide concept. All it took was to out something on the line and take a risk. People did that every day and adventurers more so than others. The real question was what kind of skill did he want and how to go about creating it.

  When he reached the manor he was still thinking about what kind of skill he wanted, but he couldn’t keep his mind focused as the small twinge of worry about Yuki kept popping into his mind. He was sure that the fox that the guild master had been talking about was her. He didn’t think that the boy’s father would give up easily, but since he hadn’t heard anything about it in weeks it had slipped his mind, but now worry once again started to plague him. The only thing he could decide on was that he needed a sword skill, but nothing else came to mind.

  Stuck, Ash decided to seek Zelan’s aid who was currently at the back garden of the manor talking with a young brown-haired maid. “Seri, please don’t be like that,” Zelan said in a whimpering tone. “I didn’t do anything with Lilly. She was just helping me.”

  “Helping you get out of your clothes,” the young woman said with venom filled words. “Now leave…Some of us have work to do.”

  “Master,” Ash said, thinking it was a good time to interrupt.

  “Ash…I thought you were going to the city today,” Zelan said turning to face Ash. “Did you miss training so much that you rushed back here?”

  “Not so much,” Ash replied. “I have been trying to think of a skill that would suit me, but so far I haven’t been able to think of anything. No matter what it has to involve gambling, but nothing comes to mind.”

  “Ah…Creating a skill. It has been so long since I have done that. Most professional adventurers have personal skills they have created. I myself have four.”

  “Well master, do you have any advice?” Ash asked with a hint of frustration in his voice.

  “Creating a skill isn’t hard, nor is it easy. The skills I have were made by using the same attack over and over again while pouring MP into my sword, while I was thinking about what I wanted to happen. For a gambler though I don’t have any idea about how you would make one. My best advice would be to look at what you have and what you’re lacking. Skills are useful, but only if you need them. This is something that only you yourself can decide on, otherwise there would be no point in creating it.”

  Gaining little help from Zelan, Ash returned to his room to think while Zelan went back to trying to win back the affection of the maid.

  “What do I need?” Ash asked himself as he looked at his stats and abilities. “I have a number of abilities that are extremely useful. Thanks to the devil’s luck boost mixed with gambler’s boost Ash’s stats were higher than most level seventy warriors. No matter how he looked at it, he wasn’t really missing anything. That said, stats weren’t everything. In the end he was human and that meant all it took was a strike at a vulnerability to cause a fatal strike and end his life. He had a few defensive abilities, but now that he thought about it they didn’t seem to be enough.”

  “How do you make a defense skill?” Ash asked to the air as he laid on his back and stretched out his hand while looking at it. A shield could be used, but no matter how good he became with it there would always be the chance of someone being better. What he needed was something that could guard him no matter how fast or skilled the other person was. The only real question was how. Suddenly an idea flashed through Ash’s mind, but it was a dangerous o
ne. “No risk, no gain,” Ash said to himself as he sat up.

  Ash found a maid and asked them to find Shina for him and instruct her to come to his room. The maid gave him an odd smile when she heard his orders, but didn’t say anything before running off. About a half hour later the same maid returned and told Ash that Shina had went into the city for the day. Without any other choice, Ash went to once again find Zelan who was sitting in his room drinking with a striking red welt on his face.

  “What is it boy?” Zelan asked in a sour mood.

  Ash explained his idea and Zelan’s eyes widened in surprise. “That is a good skill for anyone to have, though I don’t think as a swordsman I could use it. I don’t know if it will work, but helping you try it out might relieve some of my tension,” Zelan added with a half-moon smile.

  For the rest of the day, Ash stood while Zelan struck him with a staff while focusing on his magical energy. Ash was able to block one out of twenty strikes but the ones that went through hurt badly. When the sun finally sat Ash limped back to his room his body covered in purple and black welts.

  When he returned to his room, Ash found Yuki sitting on his bed like normal caring for his weapons that had been left inside. “Master,” Yuki shouted while jumping from the bed to cling to Ash’s waist.

  As soon as Yuki grabbed ahold of Ash he let out a loud scream of pain. “Master what’s wrong?” Yuki asked, looking as if she was on the verge of tears.

  “Just a little sore,” Ash replied, trying not to let Yuki hear the pain in his voice.

  Yuki quickly ran to the bed and pulled back the covers. “Master should lie down,” Yuki said her face still showing worry. “Yuki will get master something to eat.”