Reborn 1-5

by D. W. Jackson

  “What the hell,” Halon said his eyes going wide.

  “Hush,” Lillanis said in a scolding tone. “We can talk inside. I am sure Ash has his own reasons,” She added before slapping the plaque and transporting them to the ninth floor of the labyrinth.

  “I think we need to talk,” Lillanis said after looking around to make sure that no one else was near them.

  “I am sorry for hiding it,” Ash said deeply embarrassed. “But there is a reason.”

  “There always is and we are in no place to judge you,” Lillanis said warmly. “Your race isn’t what we are surprised about…Well not that it didn’t surprise us, but the sheer number of abilities you have, not to mention you stats are abnormally high and you even have such an ominous blessing.”

  Seeing their reaction, Ash was silently thankful that he had made a team with them instead of another group. If he had made a true group with the earl’s son, then he could only imagine what would have happened. “If you look at my absorption ability and devil’s luck, ability I think you can understand a little,” Ash said weakly.

  “What a cheat,” Halon said, though his voice only held shock and not disdain.

  “Well, even though we are a lot higher level then you, I don’t think you will have any trouble keeping up with us,” Jacob said, almost laughing. “In truth, it might be us that have trouble keeping up with you but we can still help.”

  Ash looked closely at the three stats page. They were all in their early thirties but their stats were still below his. Still Ash was happy to have a party with them since it would make fighting faster and he would still earn the same amount of experience.

  Name: Lillanis Greenwood

  Level: 33

  Race: Elf/human 50/50

  Occupation: intermediate healer

  Title: None

  HP: 160/160

  MP 415/415

  SP 34/34

  Strength: 12

  Vitality: 32

  Agility: 17

  Stamina: 29 (+5)

  Spirit: 52 (+3) (+4)

  Intelligence: 76 (+7)

  Endurance: 16 (+1)

  Luck: 11

  Name: Halon

  Level: 31

  Race: human/ beastman 85/15

  Occupation: intermediate warrior

  Title: novice berserker

  HP: 335/335

  MP 70/70

  SP 53/53

  Strength: 69 (+9) (+4) (+1)

  Vitality: 62 (+3) (+2)

  Agility: 22

  Stamina: 46 (+6) (+1)

  Spirit: 14

  Intelligence: 19

  Endurance: 42 (+5)

  Luck: 10

  Name: Jacob

  Level: 35

  Race: dwarf/demon 75/25

  Occupation: intermediate shadow walker

  Title: light foot

  HP: 270/270

  MP 140/140

  SP 36/36

  Strength: 32 (+4)

  Vitality: 52 (+2)

  Agility: 73 (+7) (+2)

  Stamina: 31 (+5)

  Spirit: 12 (+3)

  Intelligence: 26 (+2)

  Endurance: 24 (+3)

  Luck: 22

  Ash didn’t look at their abilities and skills since he didn’t think it would be important. Their stats were slightly higher than their levels showed, but he guessed just like Zelan advised they had trained outside of just leveling.

  “We will take it slow so that we can get used to how we fight. Halon is the vanguard of our group, though it would be better if we had a knight class for guarding. Jacob is our support fighter and strikes at the opponent’s weak points. While I am the healer who makes sure that none of us dies. Since you are a gambler, normally you would play much the same area as Jacob, but given your abilities and stats I think you should be a vanguard along with Halon.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Ash replied as he took up a position next to Halon while Jacob stood behind them and Lillanis was at the rear.

  “Before we fight the boss why don’t we take a few practice monsters to get used to how we fight,” Halon said as they took off in search of prey.

  Seeing the ice walls of the floor Ash knew what monster they would find and inwardly sighed. Even though it had been a while, Ash still remembered his hellish training while fighting the yetis.

  When the first yeti appeared Halon and Ash rushed it. Halon moved to the right while Ash went to the left. The yeti turned in the direction of Halon while casting its cone of frost. Before the cold air cone could hit the warrior Ash heard Lillanis casting and a bright red light surrounded Halon blocking most of the cold air. With a completely exposed target, it was easy for Ash to strike and a black -600 rose above the monsters head as it died leaving behind a small piece of fur.

  “Too fast,” Halon said, picking up the fur and holding it out toward Ash.

  “You can keep it,” Ash said shaking his head. “I have no use for it and don’t really need it.”

  “If you insist,” Halon said sticking the fur in his pack. “I don’t think we will learn much fighting these weaklings. We should head a little farther in.”

  “Agreed,” Jacob said. “I didn’t even get a chance to fight.

  The boss fight went the same as the fight with the weaker yeti. The only real difference was that it took two strikes from Ash’s sword instead of one.

  The tenth floor was the sea nettles and another creature Ash could do without seeing again. Remembering their stinging touch, Ash moved slowly when attacking. Since it didn’t have a normal body, the sea nettle could attack both Ash and Halon when they approached. Ash was easily able to dodge, but Halon got hit twice by the electrified tentacles freezing him in place, but Lillanis quick action kept him from receiving any real damage. As Ash and Halon kept the tentacles busy while trying to close in, Jacob darted in, striking hard with his long dirks, dealing substantial damage. After Jacob’s fifth hit, the sea nettle sunk into the ground and died.

  Ash knew he could have killed the sea nettle without trouble, but he wanted to see how the team worked so he didn’t press his own attack. It was nice to see the three working together. One drew the brunt of the damage while the other attacked back and lastly Lillanis healed them so that neither were in any real danger.

  The four man group continued to fight the sea nettles for almost two hours before reaching the boss room. Ash mentioned that he could tell where the monsters were at and they could avoid them, but Halon balked at the idea. It seemed that the group liked to fight slowly on each floor, getting used to the strength of their opponents and they would never advance more than three floors on one day. Hearing that, Ash understood why after three days they were only on the ninth floor of the labyrinth.

  Ash and the other three continued to fight until they reached the boss room on the twelfth floor. It was also the floor where Ash truly began to understand the usefulness of having a team. The tall grass that the meir bobcats used to hide in were no match as the three moved out in a triangle formation. When the bobcats attacked, the one hit would yell and Lillanis would cast slow on the creature, turning it into easy prey.

  After reaching the boss room, the four warped outside and gathered to count their loot. They offered Ash an even spilt but he denied it saying that he didn’t need it.

  “Are you sure,” Lillanis asked worriedly. “It is thanks to you we were able to harvest so much. If we didn’t have your boosted luck with us, there is no way we would have gained such a haul.”

  Ash slightly blushed, but told them he already had plenty and that he wouldn’t need anything until they reached the sixteenth floor.

  After their fighting was done, the four retired to the mansion where they once again enjoyed fine drinks and food. Unlike the day before, Yuki was a little more forthcoming and pulled her seat back to where it had been previously. Seeing this, Allice followed suit and once again Ash was squeezed between the two young girls while trying to eat.

  “Master seems happy,” Yuki said as she
curled up on his bed while oiling her armor.

  “Master, no cheating,” Allice said wagging her finger at him.

  “What do you mean no cheating?” Ash asked slightly taken aback.

  “You have Emelia, Yuki, Shina, and me,” Allice said puffing out her chest. “You don’t need another.”

  “Right,” Yuki said joining in.

  “You girls get some weird ideas in your head and since when do I have so many girls?” Ash asked while laughing lightly.

  “Mou…Master is mean,” Yuki said.

  “I know,” Allice agreed as both of them turned their back on Ash while puffing out their cheeks.

  Seeing their reaction, Ash let out a small chuckle while picking up a pillow and hitting both of them with it. Turning their heads, they looked at him with pinched lips before grabbing a weapon of their own and returning his attack. After more than half an hour of playing, Allice and Yuki had tired themselves out and had fallen asleep in Ash’s room. Picking one up with each arm, he first carried Yuki to her room and laid her carefully in the bed.

  With Yuki taken care of, Ash carried Allice to her room which was next door. As soon as the door opened, her brother rushed up and gave Ash a harsh look and held out his arms for Allice. Smiling Ash placed the much bigger girl in the small kid’s arms and couldn’t suppress the smile as he watched him stagger as he carried her to the bed.

  5-10

  Over the next few weeks, Ash and the group fought through the floors of the labyrinth. Their pace slowed when they reached the fifteenth floor. Thanks to Ash’s blessing skill and Lillanis white magic, the specters were not hard but the mantises gave the group more trouble. Not wanting to rush forward, they reduced their pace. Still they were able to reach the twenty-first floor without too much trouble.

  While Ash was fighting in the labyrinth, Emelia was busy planning the wedding. On the days that Ash went to eat dinner with Emelia, she would happily talk about the upcoming event but Ash himself never gave it much thought until suddenly it was only a few days away.

  The closer that the wedding became, the more nervous Ash became about it. He had done his best not to think about it while telling himself that it was just a marriage of convenience. Even with that, with every passing day, Ash began to think more and more about the coming wedding. The same question kept popping into Ash’s mind. “Is it really ok for me to marry her?”

  No matter who looked at Emelia, they would think that she was beautiful. Not only that, but she was extremely kind and generous. Anyone would be lucky to call her a friend much less a wife. No matter how he looked at it, Ash it felt like he was taking advantage of Emelia.

  Ash had tried to bring his concerns up to Emelia herself, but each time she would put on a sad expression and Ash was quickly forced to change the topic. When he had brought up the chance of her finding someone she truly loved, Emelia assured him that even if that happened she wouldn’t abandon him. Though she had said it to comfort him, it had the opposite effect and increased his worries.

  When his new friends learned of his impending marriage, they each took a different approach. Lillanis was thrilled and happily congratulated him while Halon teased him about becoming a duchess’s toy. Jacob on the other hand went a completely different rout and had a drink for his upcoming “funeral.”

  To help keep his mind off the coming wedding, he had been going to the labyrinth and fighting nonstop. Even after the others headed back, Ash would continue to fight and thanks to that, he had raised his level and also nearly reached the next one as well. Other than levels, he had also gained a number of items and abilities. Ash had also received two orbs, but one of them he had passed to Lillanis since it suited her. The other which gave +2 to luck and +4 to agility he had used himself.

  The mantis on the sixteenth floor gave him the ability Sharp Strike.

  [Sharp Strike: cost 10SP- strike with a bladed weapon to deal 1.5 the normal damage. Increased chance for a critical strike. Level 1-0%]

  On the seventeenth floor he had fought against a creature called the fire ember. It looked like a floating flame about the size of a human child. It had given him ember ores and gifted him the ability Fire Lance.

  [Fire Lance: cost 25MP- casts a long lance of fire.]

  The eighteenth floor was a little harder than the others as it was inhabited by lesser earth golems. Now that he was level two with his absorption ability, Ash was able to absorb them with ease. They had dropped golem hearts and granted him the ability Earth Affinity.

  [Earth Affinity- cost of using earth related skills will be reduced by 10% and power of earth related skills will be boosted 5%. Level 1-0%.]

  On the nineteenth floor Ash had fought against ice sprites but thanks to his fire abilities it wasn’t a hard battle even alone. They dropped ice diamonds and gave him the Ice Spear and Ice Shield abilities.

  [Ice Spear 15MP- coat a weapon in ice giving it an added ice attribute to its attack. Level 1-0%.]

  [Ice Shield 20MP- created a shield of ice that can fend off attacks. Level 1-0%]

  The twentieth floor had sirens which looked like more like mermaids to Ash, but they used fierce mind attacks. They dropped water gems and gave him three abilities that Ash was happy with; Mental Resist, Lullaby of Subduction, and Death Wail.

  [Mental Resist- 5% bonus when attacked by a mental attack. Level 1-0%]

  [Lullaby of Subduction: cost 20MP- chance to charm an enemy confusing them. A strike releases the confused state. Level 1-0%]

  [Death Wail: Cost 40MP- a loud wail that strikes at the mind of them enemy deal direct damage. Damage based off of spirit. Level 1-0%]

  Now Ash and the other three were fighting on the twenty-first floor against a creature Lillanis called a shadow kin. They were a short goblin like race that’s skin was completely black. Ash had yet to gain an ability from them, but he had gained a number of shadow souls which looked like a small black egg. Though Ash didn’t really need the items, Lillanis who was in charge of the group insisted they spilt it 50/50 since it was his luck that allowed them to gain a drop almost a 100% of the time. From what Lillanis said, before it was good if they got a drop 20% of the time and even then most the drops were of higher quality goods. Ash still thought it should be split evenly between the four, but they refused.

  “You allow us to stay for free, give us good food, and even better drinks. Even if we had to give you ninety percent of the drops, we would be coming out ahead. Also, since we are with you, we haven’t had to deal with one fool who treated us badly because of our blood. You even sell our goods for us so that we don’t get cheated. We can’t keep taking advantage of you,” Halon had said after Ash tried once again to refuse the dropped item.

  It seemed that nonhumans, while allowed to join the adventurer’s guild, they were treated with contempt and often charged an extra fee and cheated when they sold their goods. The only reason they were even allowed to enter the adventure’s guild in the first place was so that the kingdom could keep an eye on their movements.

  “It really is much easier fighting with Ash here,” Lillanis said after they killed another shadow kin.

  “We should stay here for a year or two. Even if we hit a wall, we will be able to level up much faster than if we went to another labyrinth,” Halon said.

  “We can’t impose on Ash for such a long time,” Lillanis said slightly embarrassed. “If he has too keep feeding Jacob and floating Halon in drink, Ash will go bankrupt in that time.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Ash said faintly smiling. “Gilda said we still have plenty of drinks and the house has become much livelier since you three came. Not to mention that Milly, and Jennifer would be crushed if you three left.”

  “Well it is fine for now,” Lillanis said with a thin smile. “We can think about the rest when that time comes. Are you sure were not being a nuisance Ash?”

  “None at all, you have my word.”

  “Lillanis, stop worrying about it and let’s hunt,” Halon said, moving dee
per into the labyrinth. The part they were in now looked like the insides of a deep cave. Every sound they made echoed around them and Lillanis had to use a light spell just so they could see. It was the first floor Ash had been on that didn’t provide its own light, so he found it eerily disturbing.

  “Got another one,” Jacob said, coming back from scouting. Though Ash could find the shadow kin with his abilities, the range was limited so Jacob still scouted ahead. The shadow kin always noticed them by the time Ash could feel their presence and went on the defense.

  With movements practiced over the past weeks, Ash and Halon moved in different directions while approaching the monster. Even though Ash was strong, the monsters always attacked Halon first. Jacob had said that most monsters under level thirty could only sense the basic level of the people they were fighting so to the monsters Halon seemed like a bigger threat. Ash felt slightly bothered by this, but thanks to this very fact, it was easy for Ash to attack from their blind side.

  As soon as Halon was within range, the shadow kin struck out with a long shadowy whip. Halon knew better than to try to parry the attack as the weapon was made of pure shadow and would simply strike past his weapon and armor straight to his body. The first time they had fought the shadow kin, Halon had learned that the hard way and earned himself three broken ribs. On the other hand, Ash’s luck shield could still block the whip but it did so at a much less frequent pace than with other attacks and when it did, his MP took a large hit.

  Halon tried to dodge the whip but only managed to soften the blow by moving back a few steps before the impact. Ash took the chance and rushed forward, but as soon as his attack on Halon was done he quickly lashed out in Ash’s direction forcing him to slip to the side as the shadow whip flashed past.

  Halon didn’t rest and moved in again once again, drawing the attention of the shadow kin. Seeing the shadow kin turn, Ash pushed forward again and struck at the creature’s exposed back while at the same time Jacob seemed to appear out of the darkness, burying his dirk in the shadow kin’s head. For most creatures, this would be enough to kill them, but the shadow kin, while having a real body, were still made more out of elemental energy than blood and bone.