Reborn 1-5

by D. W. Jackson

  “Now that you mention it she hasn’t,” Shina said, slightly tilting her head to the side.

  “She is your daughter,” Ash said knitting his brows. “Don’t you think you should be a bit more worried about her? Just please go check where she is. She is never this late without letting someone know why.”

  “Mou...I care about Yuki,” Shina said, pouting as she left the room.

  Ash was worried about Yuki, but his stamina was at its limit so shortly after Shina left Ash drifted off to sleep.

  “Master wake up,” Ash heard a panicked voice say as he was violently shaken. “Master Yuki is gone.”

  Hearing the word gone, Ash’s mind was shaken awake and he shoot up to look a tearful Shina in the eyes. “Yuki…She…waaa.”

  “Calm down,” Ash said grabbing Shina’s shoulders. “What happened?”

  “Her teachers said she left school, but she never arrived at home,” Shina said trying to hold back her tears. “She’s gone.”

  “Go get Emelia and Zelan. Tell them what happened,” Ash ordered Shina. “I will meet you down stairs after I get dressed.”

  Shina quickly left and Ash dressed in his armor. He had an idea what had happened though he wasn’t sure. As he strapped on his sword, Ash berated himself for not having someone watch Yuki after the guild master had warned him. He had thought that they would come straight at him and not kidnap her.

  Rushing down the stairs, Ash found Zelan already waiting him wearing his full gear. A few moments later Shina rushed down the stairs followed by Emelia who was still wearing her night gown. “Ash, why aren’t you chasing after Yuki?” Emelia asked, seeing him waiting at the door.

  “I don’t know where she is,” Ash said his voice showing a hint of his panic.

  “She is your slave. You should always be able to tell where she is,” Emelia said as if Ash was an idiot.

  Ash closed his eyes and focused and just as Emelia had said he could faintly feel the connection between him and Yuki as well as Shina. Without saying a word, Ash rushed out the door and in the direction that he felt Yuki was in. The feeling wasn’t strong, but neither was it weak, so Ash figured that she was still within the city.

  Ash didn’t hold anything back as he ran in the direction that he felt Yuki was in. As he sped through the city streets, Ash was slightly amazed at how fast the buildings were passing by. Not once since he had gotten his boost had he had the chance to go all out in a manner that truly let him know how much he had changed from the past. Looking at how fast he was going, Ash was sure that he could easily win a gold medal in the Olympics if he were back in his previous world.

  Looking back over his shoulder, Ash found that Zelan was barely keeping up with his speed while Shina was more lagging far behind. “Don’t slow down,” Zelan said as Ash slowed his pace to let them catch up.

  Sighing, Ash turned his attention back on the path he was following. Ash quickly passed by the market district and started to head into some of the bigger houses that some of the more wealthy merchants owned. Just as he entered one of the gardens belonging to one of the large houses, Ash felt the bond between him and Yuki weakening. Fearing that something had happened to Yuki, Ash didn’t slow as he jumped through a one of the buildings windows and dashed through the halls in the direction that Yuki was located.

  After running down the long hall and taking two turns, Ash came to a set of rather sturdy doors but he didn’t stop as he kicked them with his full might shattering them into splinters.

  “What, who dares!” A loud voice yelled while another lighter voice simply yelled.

  “Y-you…What are you doing here?” The man Ash had met a few weeks before asked, but Ash ignored him and continued to look around the room.

  The room had four people. The young boy that wanted to buy Yuki, his father, another man who Ash didn’t know, and Yuki who was currently bound and gagged laying on the floor in front of the unknown man and the young boy.

  “Step away from her otherwise I will kill you,” Ash said, releasing his sword from its sheath.

  “Young man you should have just let it go…Guards!” the man yelled as loud as he could. Ash quickly looked around the room but all he noticed was Zelan who calmly walked in behind him.

  “I don’t think any of your guards will be able to hear you…Or move for that matter. At least not for a few days,” Zelan said with an evil chuckle.

  “Y-yo-you,” the man said advancing on Ash. Seeing the man was unarmed Ash quickly used analyze on him.

  Name: Raven Tellamor

  Level: 7

  Race: Human

  Occupation: merchant

  Title: None

  HP: 50/50

  MP 105/105

  SP 13/13

  Strength: 12

  Vitality: 11

  Agility: 10

  Stamina 13

  Spirit 10

  Intelligence: 21

  Endurance: 10

  Luck: 16

  Seeing his low level not to mention his stats, Ash couldn’t muster any fear of the man. When the man reached in front of him Ash slapped him hard with the back of his left hand sending the man sprawling onto the ground and doing 10 damage to the man’s HP.

  “Leave my father alone,” the young boy said charging at Ash.

  Ash didn’t say anything and once again used the back of his hand to strike, though this time with a lot less force. As the father and son cowered on the ground, Ash advanced on the unknown man and Yuki whose red eyes looked up at him.

  “Sir, I hope you know that I am a member of the slaver trader’s guild. If you harm me then you will regret it. Also, even if you steal this child no member of the guild will change her salve status without a proper note of sale,” the man said proudly though his words lost a little effect with the way his knees were shaking.

  “What are you talking about?” Ash asked as he walked toward Yuki and began to cut the ropes that held her feet and hands. “She is already my slave.”

  “Master!” Yuki exclaimed with large tears streaming down her face. “Master…masfer…Uguh.”

  “What is this about?” the man demanded though his words were not pointed at Ash, but at the man cowering on the floor.

  “I don’t know what this man is talking about,” Raven said weakly. “This man sold the rights to the slave to me only this morning.”

  Ash grabbed the old man by his collar and lifted him from the ground effortlessly. “I did what?” Ash asked, as he fought against the urge to gut the man. “Yuki hand me the rope,” Ash ordered as an idea struck him.

  “Did this man show you a bill of sale?” Ash asked turning to the slaver.

  “Yes, here see for yourself,” the man said his face colored with anger.

  Ash took the parchment and to be sure it looked much like the one he had been given when he had acquired Shina from the old gambler. The only difference was that he knew that the small drop of blood in the corner of the paper could not have been his. “What happens when the blood is not the true owners?”

  “If that comes up then the owner of the blood is often charged with theft. All receipts of sale are kept in the slaver’s possession for a year after contract exchange for just such matters.”

  “Is there any way to see who the owner of the blood is?”

  “Yes, a slaver can use his contract magic to follow the trace of blood to its owner much the same way that a master can find his slave,” the slaver explained.

  “Then I suggest that you do so because I will be reporting this matter to the Duchess Hawkwing,” Ash said as he turned back toward the man who was still held within his grasp.

  “What do you think you are doing?” The man asked when Ash sat let him go as he gasped for breath. “I will have you in chains for this.”

  “We will see,” Ash said as he started to bind the man’s hands. As Raven continued to complain, Ash used the dirty rag that he had used for Yuki’s gag and shoved it in his mouth. “Be quiet.”

  “What are you
going to do to my father?” the boy asked after mustering up his courage.

  “Take him to the duchess to be tried for theft,” Ash replied with a sneer, not caring that the boy was only fifteen.

  Slinging the man over his shoulder, Ash walked out of the building. A few maids looked as if they wished to stop him, but none of them dared to block his path.

  Unlike the run to reach Yuki Ash took his time on the way back. As soon as they entered through the gate of the manor Ash was greeted by Emelia who was now fully dressed. “Ash, what happened?” She asked then her eyes floated to the man slung over his shoulder. “Who is that?”

  “His name is Raven Tellamor. He is the one who had Yuki kidnapped,” Ash said as he threw the man to the ground like a sack of grain.

  “I see,” Emelia said raising her hand.

  Four well-armed guards appeared and escorted Raven away. As soon as he was out of sight Emelia walked up to Yuki and bent down so that she could look in her eyes. “What happened Yuki?” Emelia asked in a caring yet firm tone.

  “I left the school and was coming back with Tina. After we split up, I stopped by my favorite place to get a small apple pastry. After eating it I got really tired and when I woke up, I was tied up on the ground and my slave mark was burning. Then master appeared and saved me.”

  “Yuki, I will need you to go with Lilliana and tell her everything you can remember,” Emelia said as one of the maids came forward and placed her hand on Yuki’s shoulder. “Make sure to tell her everything no matter how small. This way we can make sure that Ash doesn’t get in trouble and the right person is punished.”

  “Mou…I understand,” Yuki said with a determined look on her face.

  “Ash, this might be more trouble than I thought,” Emelia said as soon as Yuki had entered the building. “Raven himself is only a passible merchant who makes his money selling his families wares. It is that same family that might cause troubles as they are the largest family of alchemists within the country. I don’t know if they will take an interest in this, but if they do things could become complicated.”

  “What is going to happen now?” Ash asked, wishing he had just gutted the man before.

  “I will notify the family that there will be a trial on the first of next month. That gives them and us a little over a week to prepare for the trial. I will be the judge, but I still have to follow the rules of the law, otherwise it will cause trouble with the people and merchants. At worst, I will have to allow Raven to go free.”

  “If he goes free, he goes free,” Ash said with a tight grin.

  “I promise we will do our best to make sure that he doesn’t come away free,” Emelia said with a worried expression.

  “Don’t worry, no matter what happens I won’t blame you,” Ash said, guessing the reason for her discomfort. “Right now though, I am tired and could really use some sleep,” Ash said heading toward his bed.

  Laying in his bed, Ash closed his eyes and tried to calm down the beating in his chest. The fear of losing Yuki had struck him hard and even though he now knew she was safe within the manor his heart still had not quieted.

  After more than an hour of trying to sleep Ash heard the door to his room open. Without any light, Ash couldn’t see who it was but when he felt a soft tail brush against his leg as Yuki crawled into his bed Ash held back a smile.

  Yuki pressed herself against his back and wrapped him in a tight hug. This was a first time for Ash. Most the time Yuki would only hold onto his arm she had never before hugged him, then again if she did it when he was sleeping he would have never known.

  “Thank you master,” Yuki whispered as her hold tightened for a moment.

  Ash didn’t respond but his heart quieted and soon he drifted off to sleep.

  4-8

  The next morning Ash tried to continue with his training as if nothing had happened. The only problem was that he was worried about Yuki so it was hard for him to concentrate fully on the wooden swords that were being swung at him. Though he wasn’t paying much attention to the attacks, he was still circulating his magical energy.

  While his mind was absorbed in his own thoughts, Ash noticed that he wasn’t receiving any more attacks. Looking around a blue flash flashed in front of his eyes as the sword Shina was using bounced back against an invisible barrier.

  “Tring.”

  [The skill Luck Shield has been created.]

  Before Ash could check the skill information Ash was struck hard in the back, sending him to his knees. “Waittttt!” Ash yelled scrambling across the ground to escape Zelan’s next attack.

  “Give me a moment,” Ash said as he struggled to get to his feet.

  [Luck Shield: passive/active. When attacked has a chance to block attack. Amount of MP used is depended on the attack.]

  “I got it,” Ash said happily. In truth the skill was even better than he thought that it would be though he could see an instant drawback. The skill was a mix of active and passive so it didn’t need to be invoked, but the fact that it would activate on its own would mean that his MP could be depleted in a flash. Then again what use was MP when one was dead?

  Ash explained the skill to Shina and Zelan. “Boy your luck is too good,” Zelan said after hearing the explanation of Ash’s new skill. “Well now that you have your skill we might as well test it out,” He added with the normal evil glint in his eyes.

  Before Ash could protest, Zelan’s speed increased as he attacked Ash. Strike after strike came in at Ash. Ash desperately tried to block the attacks but no matter what he tried Zelan’s wooden sword would flash past his guard. Out of ten attacks though only one made it through his magical guard, but those few that made it past sent waves of pain through Ash’s entire body and the ones that didn’t drained his MP by 10-25 MP per attack. Seeing the damage of the attacks that made it through made it seem that MP was reduced by approximately two thirds of the amount that his HP would have been reduced had the attack went through.

  When Ash’s MP was decreased to zero, all the attacks started to come through and Ash found himself kneeling on the ground with Zelan looking down on him with a happy smile. “I think with this, your chance of winning the duel is 100%. Though even without this, I think it would be hard for you to lose, even against one of our top ranked lower members thanks to your cheat-like stats.”

  “Does that mean I can take a break from training?” Ash asked hopefully.

  “Yes and no,” Zelan said sternly. “Given the time that the letter of challenge was sent, we still have plenty of time before the challenger should arrive, but that isn’t a certainty. I said that you would win, but I don’t want you to just win I want you to win effortlessly. During the fight, you will be able to use your skills and abilities. The seven swords guild considers themselves to be above other guilds, including the few other high guilds. I want you to take this chance to show them that they are just as weak as the rest of the world.”

  “I thought it was your guild,” Ash said surprised to see Zelan’s adamant declaration.

  “What of it?” Zelan replied, his voice tinged in anger. “They are so full of themselves, it will be good for them to be knocked down a peg or two. I want them to know that just because they are considered strong now doesn’t mean they should stop looking behind them, otherwise they will be passed.”

  “I don’t really get it,” Ash said, scratching his head. “What does that mean about my training?”

  “It means that in the morning you will practice your katas and after that you will fight in the labyrinth. The only difference is that now I want you to fight using all of your strength, skills, and abilities,” Zelan said laughing. “There will no longer be odd rules and limits placed on you. So starting tomorrow, you will face the boss of the tenth floor. Neither I nor Shina will accompany you from now on. This time, I want you to train yourself. I have taught you everything I am allowed by the guild, so now it is up to you…But let me tell you, if you happen to lose the duel, I will punish you in ways tha
t you could never have imagined.”

  Hearing what Zelan said, Ash didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. While he was deciding if this was a happy occasion or not, Shina started to whine. “Master needs me,” she declared when she heard Zelan say that she was no longer allowed to accompany him into the labyrinth.

  “No, what he needs now is to depend on himself,” Zelan demanded. “While I doubt he thinks much of you helping. There is a part of him that knows that if he gets in trouble, you will help him and that will hinder his growth. If you wish to go to the labyrinth I won’t stop you but…”

  Shina looked at Ash without saying a word, but her eyes were large and pleading. “No, Master Zelan is right,” Ash said and immediately Shina’s head dropped. “But if you are that determined, then you can fight in the dungeon as long as you stay at least two floors away from where I am.”

  “Mou…Understood,” Shina said though her face was still sullen.

  “Don’t worry, I will accompany you,” Zelan told Shina though instead of being encouraged she let out a mournful sigh.

  Laughing, Zelan helped Ash to his feet. With his MP spent and his HP dangerously low Ash’s whole body hurt. Trying to take a step forward Ash’s legs gave out and if it had not been for Shina catching him, he would had fallen hard to the ground.

  Ash felt slightly embarrassed to have Shina help him over to the shade tree so that he could rest, but given the current state of his body there was little that he could say or do about it. After sitting down, Shina pulled Ash’s head down so that it was resting on her lap. Ash tried to resist, but Shina won out and if he was honest Ash would have admitted that it felt good to have his head rested against her soft thighs.

  With his body in bad shape mixed with the warm sun and the soft feel of Shina’s legs below his head Ash quickly drifted off to sleep. When Shina heard the soft breathing coming from Ash she let out a contented smile as she ran her fingers through his messy hair brushing it away from his face.