Ash didn’t fear that he would be killed by the Jinn. With his strength and speed unless the Jinn had an unexpected and deadly ability, he was relatively safe as long as he stayed on his guard. What really bothered Ash was that he was so close to his goal and the only thing standing in his way was beating the Jinn.
If the Jinn was pure essence, Ash had an idea. Ash invoked Dark eyes while looking at the Jinn’s eyes. The Jinn let out a loud piercing scream and the weapons in its hands started to flicker, but after a few seconds it regained its strength though its body did seem slightly weaker in color. It was too faint to tell for sure so Ash quickly used Dark eyes again and once again the weapons in the Jinn’s hands flickered but this time Ash could clearly see that the Jinn’s color had become weaker.
Ash quickly used analyze on the Jinn and it was clear that the Jinn’s Max HP had been reduced. This had made Ash look closer at the Jinn and not only had it gotten slightly weaker in color it had only lost a bit of its size. Ash continue to watch the Jinn’s stats and noticed that its max HP was slowly recovering, but not at a rapid pace. Ash wasn’t sure but since the Jinn was a being made up completely by essence, then the soul attack effected it to a much larger degree then it would other creatures. When he thought of this, Ash used Shadow Whip and just like he expected the whip did not pass through the Jinn, but stuck it hard forcing it to move back about five feet while leaving behind a dark red wound on its chest that seemed to leak out a fine red mist that slightly resembled steam.
After Ash had attacked with the Dark Eyes and Shadow Whip the look on the Jinn’s face changed. It no longer had a look of indifference about fighting, now it looked as if it were not outranged but slightly worried. Ash had fought many monsters but most of them didn’t have enough inelegance to feel complex feelings but higher level spirts were different. Even if they were born within the labyrinth which limited their growth, unlike wild monsters they still closely resembled those that you would find in the darker parts of the world.
Since Ash had been forced to spend much more time working lately so when he did have a few spare moments, he had spent it studying about the different monsters. Ash had expected to find something like a game manual book with pictures and descriptions, but they were more like dictionaries. They were full of information, but Ash had tried to keep from reading about monsters he had yet to fight in the labyrinth since he enjoyed the challenge.
Ash used his Dark Eyes then quickly followed it by using his Shadow Whip making it impossible for the Jinn to dodge. Ash could see the hate radiating from the Jinn’s eyes, but that only made the smile widen on his face as he knew that the fight would soon be over. When the Jinn’s whole body began to flicker like a flame in a strong wind, Ash jumped forward using Shadow Whip one more time and the Jinn disappeared in a flash of smoke, leaving behind a large and small red gem.
[Jinn’s Heart- heart filled with the fire essence of a dead Jinn.]
[Jinn Core: +10 spirit, +5 Intelligence.]
Ash’s first thought was to sell the core, but with the current tension between the duchy and the kingdom, Ash didn’t see the benefit of selling a core that would end up strengthening what may become a future enemy. Shina mainly needed to focus on agility and stamina. Yuki also focused on agility, but her second focus was strength. Since neither of the stats were of use to them, Ash pushed the core to his own chest. He knew that he really didn’t need it but after researching the top fighters in the kingdom, Ash knew he was still lacking in many areas. The kingdom itself could not match any guild for the top in one field, but overall they had the most balanced strength. For instance knight mages at the highest ranks were about level seventy while guilds had a number of level eighty fighters the only difference was that the kingdom had far more level seventy mages then any one guild had level seventy and eighty mages put together. The level seventy kingdom mages had an average of four hundred point in intelligence and two hundred in spirit while the guild mages had an average of four-hundred and fifty points in intelligence and two-hundred and fifty points in spirit. It was not just limited to mages either, each area had about the same differences. Yet while the guilds focused on one area the kingdom had a large amount of occupations.
Ash had sat a goal in mind to reach the point where he had five hundred points in each attribute. At first it seemed daunting, but thanks to the boost his high luck gave him, it no longer seemed out of reach. High level stats mixed with his numerous abilities could make him comparable to any one of the top ranked members of any guild.
After absorbing the dead Jinn, Ash sat in the corner of the room and pulled out a large book and a few pieces of parchment. It would take a bit to recover the stamina and MP he had used and while he could still continue fighting without much worry he still preferred to be fully recovered before attempting a new floor.
The book was one of the few he had bought on his own since neither his nor Emelia’s library contained what he had wanted. He had thought the book would be easy to find, but in the end he had to search high and low for it before finding it and paying a hefty sum of two platinum coins for it. The book was simple enough as it detailed different abilities and families and occupations that they were mostly found in.
From what had learned before, everyone was born with at least one ability though most were born with two or more. The most a single person was born with was six abilities and that was considered extremely rare. Abilities were passed down from parents to children. Just like anything else inherited, most the time it was the strongest abilities that were passed along. The ability Ash had gotten while hunting the bandits called mana manipulation was not that rare, but it was one of the abilities that was highly sought after in the mage guild. It alone could only do so much, but it was essential to make it possible for people to learn certain skills or make use of other abilities to their fullest. Lore had stated that the abilities were originally handed down by the gods but the writer of this book believed that they had come from the first adventurers who had gained abilities from scrolls from defeated monsters. If that was true, then all abilities that people had could also be gained from monsters.
Ash pulled out a second book that detailed known monster abilities and tried to cross reference not only their names, but how they worked. He had found a number of abilities that had different yet similar names but the descriptions of the abilities had the same effect.
The main reason that Ash was researching the abilities was because of the gnomes. From his research, they had two abilities that he could use. Ash already had Earth Affinity so that was out but the other was very enticing. The books he had read suggested that gnomes had the Earth Essence ability which was also a skill that master earth mages learned. It allowed them to turn MP directly into earth essence. He had a little trouble understanding the books description of the ability, but it sounded like it would be a great aid to him in his current endeavors with building the fort. The only real drawback was that while the book didn’t have the cost for using earth essence the skill had a high cost which is why it was only learned after one had reached the master level as an earth mage.
Even after having found out everything he could about Earth Essence Ash had continued his line of study as he looked for other abilities that could be useful for him.
Knight's Code #7-11
Setting aside the two books, Ash rubbed his eyes and checked his status to see that 95% of his stats had recovered. Stretching his stiff muscles, Ash walked toward the large double doors and pushed them open.
As he walked through the doors Ash found himself in a large open area that looked like a never ending garden. The scent of the flowers floated in the air and was relaxing. The grass and flowers only reached to Ash’s ankles so it didn’t seem as if it would block his view. Thanks to the large open area, Ash didn’t have to go far before he spotted his first gnome.
Unlike the garden gnomes that people put in their yards in his previous world. The gnomes were about a foot tall and were nude with light g
rey skin. Their faces were somewhat humanoid, but they had a virile and rabid look.
When Ash got close enough that a Gnome spotted him, it gave an evil grin that showed off its pointed teeth. The gnome pointed his hand at Ash and suddenly, three spikes made of earth formed out of thin air and flew toward him. Ash acted quickly, rolling to his side but the gnomes attack was so unexpected and fast that one of the spikes grazed him but his luck shield flashed absorbing the damage and reducing his MP by seventy points.
“Dangerous little bastards,” Ash said to himself as he gripped his sword hard and rushed toward the gnome that was still almost fifty yards away. Before he had crossed half the distance the gnome had easily launched three more attacks each of which Ash had dodged, though each time he had to stop his charge toward the gnome.
When Ash got within ten feet of the gnome, it raised both its hands and a wall of dirt rose from the ground. Ash struck the dirt wall with his sword but it was as if the sword had struck lead as it only left a thin cut on the wall’s surface.
Before he had a chance to think of his next action, five spikes shot out from the wall forcing him to take a step back. Thankfully the spikes remained attached to the wall and didn’t fly toward him. Ash tried to rush to the side to find an opening, but as soon as the gnome saw him a second wall appeared and once again Ash’s approach was blocked. Slightly annoyed Ash let out a string of curses as more spikes appeared in the arm one of them clipping him on the arm though it did little damage.
“If I can’t come from the front or side, let’s try from the air,” Ash said under his breath as he jumped in the air as high as he could. Stretching out the wings on his back, Ash put all of his strength into raising higher into the air. The gnome’s walls were only about seven feet high so it was not hard for him to get over them. If it hadn’t been for the spikes he could have easily climbed over them but now he was only left with one choice.
It only took the time of a few heartbeats for Ash to clear the walls though to him it felt like it was much longer. As soon as he was over the walls Ash pulled in his wings and pointed his sword down and plunged down skewering the gnome with his sword. A purple 602 appeared in the air as the gnome died.
After absorbing the gnome Ash picked up the small bottle of black dirt that was left behind.
[Essence Infused Earth (good quality): earth that has been infused with the purified essence of the earth.]
Ash quickly put the bottle away before continuing his search for his next target. Ash invoked Hide this time in hopes of sneaking up on the next gnome he saw but just like before when he came within fifty yards of it the gnome started to attack. Just as before Ash quickly drew close to the gnome but before he could strike it erected a stone wall to block any of his attacks. Not wasting time, Ash once again used him demon wings to clear the wall and kill the gnome, but his stamina was quickly being depleted. There was no real fear of running out of stamina, but due to his high amount in stamina yet his low endurance if he completely exhausted his stamina, it would take days for it to completely recover.
The next gnome he saw, Ash stayed further back and used Shadow Whip. After the second strike, the gnome caught on and quickly put up its stone wall even though Ash had been keeping his distance. The Shadow Whip had done a lot of damage but with it alone, it would take a minimal of five hits to kill the gnome so Ash was forced to attack from above once again.
Since Shadow Whip didn’t work, Ash tried a different approach. Paying close attention to his distance from the gnome, Ash advanced on his next target and when he was within fifteen feet he used cone of frost and then rushed in close before the gnome could recover aiming his sword at the creature’s thick neck. Almost without any resistance the sword passed through and the gnome died. After having found a way to kill the gnomes without any trouble, Ash mimicked his earlier tactic. Ash didn’t pay attention to the time, his only goal was to kill as many gnomes as he could so that he could gain their abilities, nothing else mattered. He didn’t know how long of a time passed but he nearly yelled when he heard the welcome ringing sound, “Tring.”
[You have reached the absorption level for gnome. Abilities available; Infuse Earth (active), Earth Essence (active).]
“Tring.”
[You have been randomly awarded the ability Earth Essence.]
[Earth essence: cost ***- ability to infuse MP with earth essence. Level 1-0%]
Ash had gotten what he wanted but he was curious as to what the other ability was since it had not appeared in his books. In truth, the ability Earth Essence alone was nearly useless. Anyone could use it to strengthen magical armor or weapons but it really showed its use when you used it alongside mana manipulation. Ash could already use mana manipulation to attack with though it wasn’t very effective.
Now that he had Earth Essence Ash wanted to try it. First Ash used his MP manipulation to create a long spear of mana then infused it with earth essence. The MP manipulation cost Ash twenty MP while adding earth essence on top it cost another forty for a total of sixty. Though it was expensive it would allow him to attack in a number of unexpected ways.
Still excited, Ash continued to hunt gnomes until he once again heard the welcomed “Tring.” Sound.
[You have reached the absorption level for gnome. Abilities available; Infuse Earth (active).]
“Tring.”
[You have been randomly awarded the ability Infuse Earth (active).]
[Infuse Earth-cost ***- infuse earth with magical energy to strength and control it. Level 1-0%]
Ash placed his hand on the ground and tried to reproduce the gnome’s wall earlier. Suddenly a thin wall of earth shot up from the ground. Ash struck the wall with his sword and just like with the gnome’s wall it only let a thin mark on the dirt wall. Checking his MP Ash noticed that the wall had cost him fifty-three MP. It seemed that as long as he had MP to use then he could freely control the earth.
“Ready to go?” Ash asked Shina with a bright smile.
Shina yawned slightly and nodded her head. Laughing, Ash walked to the boss’s room and placed his hand on the plaque and warped outside to find that the sun was still up. It wasn’t until he was halfway home that he noticed that the position of the sun was off. It wasn’t that he had finished before the sun set, it was that he had stayed in the labyrinth for a full day.
“Master,” a loud yell sounded when Ash neared his house. Looking up as he tried to keep his eyes open he noticed that Allice was running toward him with a relived expression on her face. “We were worried when you didn’t come home,” Yuki said with slightly reddened eyes.
“I am fine,” Ash said as Allice wrapped in a tight hug. Reaching down he patted her soft hair lightly. “I just got caught up a little when I was fighting. Sorry if I worried you.”
Though Ash was tired, he knew that if he went straight to sleep his sleeping pattern would be completely thrown off so the only option was to force himself to stay awake. After taking a long bath and putting on new clothes, Ash drank three potions to restore his stamina and MP.
Though everyone else had already eaten, Gilda prepared something for Ash. Not only did Gilda bring food, she also brought in a strong bitter drink that helped wake him up though it did make him slightly jittery.
After eating, Ash left the house though Shina stayed behind. It looked like Shina was going to succumb to sleep instead of fighting to stay awake. Ash thought about ordering Gilda to keep her awake, but he felt that was being a little too evil.
Ash headed straight for the city exit so that he could try out his new abilities and see if they could be put to use on building the fort. Just like a few days before, the people were working hard to cut down trees and pull up stumps. Even though Ash could cut down trees extremely fast, anyone could do that work the main problem was the lack of people on stump removal. Walking up to the first stump, Ash placed his hand on the ground and started to try and force the stump out of the ground. After three tries with no result Ash looked around until he found
the young earth mage that was working on stump removal.
“Master mage,” Ash called out drawing the young man’s attention.
“Lord Hawkwing, did you need something?” the mage asked with a slight bow.
“Yes I was just wondering just how you remove the stumps from the ground.”
“Well first I sense the area around the stump and loosen the ground around the stumps roots the push up at the bottom of them stump until it comes free. My masters say that it is good experience in learning to increase my control over magic, but after the first few it just becomes monotonous.”
“I bet it is, but both I and the duchess are very appreciative of your hard work,” Ash said with a slight smile before leaving.
With the new insights he had gained, Ash returned to the previous stump and tried again. Just as the mage had suggested Ash spread his magical power into the earth and tried to find the roots of the tree. It was much easier than he had though since it felt like a void to him since only the roots and large rocks escaped his new power. Once he had a rough idea where all the roots were he started to loosen the ground around them while urging the ground directly under the stump up.
Unlike when the young mage did it, the stump didn’t pop out of the ground like a piece of wood on water, but it did slowly come free and after more than a half hour of work Ash could pull it free from its earthly confines.
The overall cost of removing one stump cost one hundred and thirty MP. Far more than what the mage had said it cost him when Ash had asked him a week before. Ash believed a lot of that had to do with inexperience in using the ability and could only hope that the more he did it the less MP he would use.
Ash was able to pull six more stumps free before he had used up too much of his MP to be willing to try again. The last stump had taken him only eighty MP and only a quarter of an hour to pull free.
Even when he was finished, the sun was still only slightly past its midpoint in the sky yet Ash was having trouble keeping his eyes open. As he stumbled toward the town entrance a chorus of shouts drew his attention. When Ash saw a horde of children running toward him, he didn’t know if he should laugh or cry.
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