“Lord Ash, can we help you today?” A child of the beast tribe asked with large eyes.
“It would take all of you together to pull one tree,” Ash said doubtfully. “You should help them cut the limbs from the downed trees like you have before.”
“Yes sir,” the boy said with a slightly downcast look on his face.
After he finished working for a few hours, Ash sat aside his axe and headed to the area where the children were working. Ash pulled out three small balls that he had commissioned to be made. They were made out of cloth that was soaked in slime which made them much like large bouncy balls from his previous world.
“Sampson,” Ash yelled as he tossed the ball lightly to the kid.
The oldest of the boys looked up and quickly snatched the ball out of the air. Ash threw the other two balls one to a young elven girl and the last to one of the few human boys.
“What are these Lord Ash?” The young girl asked.
“Are they for training?” Sampson followed up before he had time to reply to the first question.
“You can use them for training, but mostly they are for playing with,” Ash said as he pulled a fourth ball from his inventory and bounced it against the hardened ground then snatched it out of the air. “Want me to teach you a game?”
The children quickly gathered around Ash and even the knights were watching him closely. Using the ball along with the side of the building Ash started to explain the rules of wall ball that he used to play back in his school days. It was simple, you threw the ball against the wall and then everyone tried to grab it. If someone missed the ball they had to touch the wall before you hit them with the ball or they were out.
The kids took to the game quickly and seemed to enjoy it and before long Ash quickly was able to sneak away with a smile on his face.
Name: Ash
Level: 35
Experience needed for next level: 10,118,220
Race: Human/Demon 70/30
Occupation: Intermediate Gambler
Title: Novice Slayer
Blessings: Blessing of the Reaper
HP: 1400/1400
MP 1320/1320
SP 267/267
Strength: 72 (+10) (+2) (+1) (+10) (+194)
Vitality: 75 (+3) (+202)
Agility: 49 (+9) (+5) (+132)
Stamina 71 (+5) (+191)
Spirit 36 (+10) (+97)
Intelligence: 65 (+175)
Endurance: 38 (+10) (+1) (+2) (+102)
Luck: 225 (+999) (+1)
Abilities
Passive:
Devil’s Luck: 500% bonus to luck.
Fleet Foot: +10 to agility. Max
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 2: 23%
Poison Resistance: level 2-81%: 10% poison resistance.
Grave Domain: Damage resistance to whole body with the exception of the head increased by 10%.
Spider Senses: able to detect prey that is up to three levels higher within a 200 foot radius. Able to sense hostile intent within a 100 foot radius. Level max%.
[Fire Resistance: 15% fire resistance. Level 3-2%.]
[Natural Armor (small). When fighting your skin acts as a natural armor blocking 10% of physical damage. Level: max.]
[Frost Resistance: 10% resistance to frost damage. Level 2-25%.]
[Yeti Strength: +10 to strength. Level Max%.]
[Electric Resistance. 5% resistance to energy attacks. Level 1-87%.]
[Water Glide. When moving in water it flows naturally around you decreasing water resistance by 25%. Level max.]
[Cloak of Shadows: When in a dark area cloak of shadows wraps you in shadows making it harder for you to be detected.]
[Dragon Sight: You can see the magical flow of items and creatures]
[Reaper’s Sight: people who have received the ire of the goddess will now appear with a small sickle above their head.]
[Reaper’s Soul: after killing a person who has been marked by the goddess you will absorb a portion of their soul and receive any abilities they possess.]
[Earth Affinity- cost of using earth related skills will be reduced by 10% and power of earth related skills will be boosted 5%. Level 1-51%.]
[Mental Resist- 5% bonus when attacked by a mental attack. Level 1-24%]
[Iron Stomach: for each ounce of iron you eat your strength will raise by 1 but at the same time your intelligence will be reduced by 1.]
[Fire Affinity - cost of using fire related skills and abilities will be reduced by 10% and power of fire related skills and abilities will be boosted 5%. Level 1-13%.]
[Blood Drain- ability to absorb 1% of a person’s experience by drinking their blood after their death.]
Active:
[Demon Absorption: Cost 10MP: Absorb defeated enemies to obtain skills. Level 3- 21%]
[Bash: Cost 1SP - Slam into enemies with your body to do X10 damage. Level Max%]
[Rabbit Punch: Cost 1Sp- Using feet or hands quickly lash out with a lighting quick attack. Level 3-29%]
[Stab: Cost 1 SP- Thrust forward with weapon (sword, spear.) level 2-65%]
[Poison Spit: Cost 5MP. Level Max%: 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.]
[Sticky Thread: cost 15MP- shoot out a stream of sticky thread to trap opponents.]
[Stealth: Cost 20 MP. Erase your presence from enemies any movement cancels the ability.]
[Fire Ball: cost 10MP. Create a ball of fire and throw it at an enemy. Level 2-82%.]
[Cone of Frost: Cost 15MP: send out a cone of frost freezing everything in its path. Causes 15 frost damage every second for eight seconds. Level 3-12%]
[Crushing Blow: cost 5SP: strike with a hard blow bypassing 55% of opponent’s defense. Level 2-22%]
[Shock Armor: cost 10MP. Covers a small area with electoral energy that will stun an opponent struck with it for two seconds. Level 1-89%.]
[Shock Strike: cost 25MP. Hit an opponent with an energy attack that paralyses the part struck for seven minutes. Level 2-37%.]
[Pounce: cost 5SP jump straight forward with great speed doing 2x normal damage.]
[Poison Vine Whip: cost 40MP. Call a vine dripping with paralyzing poison to strike your opponent. Level 1-76%.]
[Reaper’s Blessing: cost 50MP- bless a weapon or item with the goddess’s power. Lasts for twenty-four hours.]
[Sharp Strike: cost 10SP- strike with a bladed weapon to deal 1.5 the normal damage. Increased chance for a critical strike. Level 1-61%]
[Fire Lance: cost 25MP- casts a long lance of fire. Level 1-52%]
[Ice Spear 15MP- coat a weapon in ice giving it an added ice attribute to its attack. Level 1-62%.]
[Ice Shield 20MP- created a shield of ice that can fend off attacks. Level 1-12%]
[Lullaby of Subduction: cost 20MP- chance to charm an enemy confusing them. A strike releases the confused state. Level 1-21%]
[Death Wail: Cost 40MP- a loud wail that strikes at the mind of them enemy deal direct damage. Damage based off of spirit. Level 1-10%]
[Shadow Whip: cost 20MP, 5SP- attack with a whip made out of pure shadow that will follow the enemy wherever they try to run. Level 2-13%.]
[Shimmer: cost 10SP- surrounds the body with light making it hard to discern movement.]
[Shadow Armor: Cost 25MP 10SP; creates an armor made of shadows to protect the caster.]
[Mana Manipulation: Cost: 40MP- able to manipulate pure mana and give it form. Level 1-11%]
[Hide: Cost 10SP- erase your presence.]
[Boost: Cost 50%SP- Double all stats.]
[Dark Eyes: cost 50MP- strike directly at the soul of the
opponent causing them to lose strength and dealing a small amount of damage. Level 1-9%]
[Flame Sword- cost 30MP coat a weapon in flame essence.]
[Burn Out- Turn 10% of your HP into a white hot flame to attack your opponents.]
[Infuse Earth-cost ***- infuse earth with magical energy to strength it. Level 1-31%]
[Earth Essence: cost ***- ability to infuse MP with earth essence. Level 1-37%]
Skills
[You have gained the skill Gambler’s Boost (passive) .2% boost to all other stats for each 1 point in the luck attribute. Level 2.]
[You have gained the Gambler’s Gambit (active) skill. Cost 20MP: boost all stats for one minute. Boost is random. Level 1.]
[You have gained the Poker Face (active) skill. Cost 5MP: forces a calm face no matter the situation. Level 2.]
[You have gained the Bluff (active) skill. Cost 5MP: bluff opponents to make them think you are stronger. Level 1.]
[You have gained the Read (passive) skill. Chance to see what skill your opponent is using. Based on luck.]
[Gambler’s Game (active). Cost 100 MP. Call of The gambling god using your stats as chip to play against another gambler. Can only be used against those of the same rank or higher. Can only be used once every six months. Time until next use 0 days. Level-Max.]
[Luck Shield: passive/active. When attacked has a chance to block attack. Amount of MP used is depended on the attack.]
[Gambler’s Stake: cost 40SP- During a battle you can sacrifice gold in order to temporarily increase you stats. The amount of gold sacrificed determines the rise in ability.]
[Lucky Find: Cost 25MP- search the area for hidden treasure.]
[Luck Toss: cost 100MP- toss a gold coin if it lands on heads your luck will increase by 10%, if tails luck will decrease 10%. Can only be used once a day. Effect lasts for eight hours.]
Equipment
[Silver gambler’s emblem: emblem signifying that one is an intermediate gambler 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.]
[Dragon skin gauntlets: durability 25/25, defense +10, magical defense +5, strength +1, endurance +2]
[Studded Liro leather pants: made from thee tough hide of a Liro lizard. Durability 30/30, defense +7, endurance +2, agility +1.]
[Necklace of the dragon: defense +15- when HP reaches 0 necklace will break fully restoring the persons HP.]
[Superior mana ring: increase mana by 10%.]
Demon's Heritage #8-1
After the first attack, more reports started to come in though they were about much smaller skirmishes along the border. It seemed that sending the extra troops to reinforce the border made the other nobles a little more cautious. Emelia continued to send requests to the king to intervene, but so far they had been ignored as was expected. The only reason that Emelia even bothered with it was for protocol.
While Emelia continued to deal with the nobles and their concerns, Ash spent almost all of his time studying war and speaking with knights. What little time he had outside of the war room was spent working on the fort with the new knight recruits.
With Ash’s large mana pool, he was able to increase the building speed a lot while still reducing the overall cost since he was able to do the work of three earth mages on his own. Even with Ash’s help and tripling the work force, it would still be months before the land was completely cleared, let alone before the real work on the fort could be started. That was one of the reasons that every night Ash exhausted his MP trying to get as much as he could done with the time he had.
It wasn’t until seven weeks after the initial report of an incursion that Emelia’s spies sent the news that she dreaded the most. The duchies were gathering a large force and were planning to attack within the month. She knew that it was bound to happen, but she had hoped deep down that they never fully committed. It wasn’t because she was just afraid for her people, but because Ash had insisted on joining the front lines of the battle. Emelia knew that Ash was strong, but history was littered with strong warriors who fell in battle from a lucky strike.
Once the news came in about the large forces gathered, Emelia tried to talk Ash into taking a post at one of the many forts, but Ash had refused. The truth was that even at the forts, he would encounter danger, but once the commander surrendered the fort, everyone inside was then taken prisoners and none could be killed under the laws of war. Instead, Ash decided to join the advance party which would put him at the forefront of the war. Emelia wished she had more time, but as it was, Ash was planning to leave in two days.
When Ash woke, he looked over to find Shina staring at him with a sad look in her eyes. “Master,” Shina said in a pleading tone.
“No Shina,” Ash said in a stern tone. “I have told you that you cannot go with me. I need you here to look after the others.”
Shina looked down and let out of a soft whimper but didn’t say anything more. She had been trying to Talk Ash into letting her go with him for over a week, but he had flatly refused. He even went so far as to order her not to ask again. Since she couldn’t ask directly, for the past few days she had simply called his name while pouting.
Shina was not the only one who was not looking forward to his leaving. Yuki had cried for two days straight when he told her and Milly had been unusually clingy to him over the past few days.
After getting dressed, Ash quickly headed down the stairs and to his small study as he waited to be notified that breakfast was ready. Not long after, Allice came into the room, her face still showing some of the lines from her pillow. “Morning Master,” Allice said with a slight yawn.
“Allice, you are up early,” Ash said looking at the sleepy girl.
“I need to wake up when master does so that I don’t cause him trouble in the future,” Allice replied happily. She was probably one of the few people in the manor who was happy. She was getting to go with him when he left. Ash didn’t want to take anyone, but he had been informed by not only Emelia but a few of the knights as well that all nobles brought at least one attendant. Ash didn’t think the front line was a place for such things, but he had rolled his eyes and agreed. At first he was planning to take one of the older woman that worked under Gilda, but Allice had fought against him head on and her arguments had left him with little choice about bringing her with him.
“What is the plan today Master?” Allice asked with large eyes.
“Everything is already packed and the horses are ready so today will be used to spend time with everyone. After lunch we will go over to Emelia’s and spend the night there. Once the sun rises we will have to meet up with Count Erin,” Ash replied as he took the small glass of water Allice handed him.
“Understood Master,” Allice said with a slight bow.
Ever since Allice had won her argument and Ash had agreed to take her along, she had changed her attitude greatly. Most the time she acted like a normal young girl. In a lot of ways she acted the way Ash thought a younger sister might act, but now she acted just like a miniature Gilda, though not yet as proficient in anticipating his needs.
After everyone had woken, breakfast was served. Most the time it was served as soon as Ash woke but today was special. It was the last day he would be spending with his new family for a long time so he had ordered for it to be served only when everyone was ready and could eat.
Just after he finished eating and sat down his fork, Ash looked around to see everyone with a sad looks on their faces. Ash was slightly amazed that they would care so much that he was leaving. After he had taken control of the manor from its previous owner, they had showed no emotion over the change. Thinking back, their attitude toward him had changed greatly. At first they were cold and acted like machines, but now they smiled warmly and talked op
enly with him.
“Master,” Milly said, looking up at him from her place on his lap.
“Yes Milly,” Ash replied, placing his head on her head as he ruffled her soft hair.
“Milly doesn’t want Master to leave,” Milly said with slightly wet eyes.
“I don’t want to leave either Milly,” Ash said with a weak smile. “Sometimes we have to do what we don’t want to. It is part of growing up.”
“Then Milly doesn’t want to grow up,” Milly said, clinging to him tightly.
A warm feeling spread through Ash’s chest as he looked down at the little panther child who not long ago was afraid of him.
After breakfast Ash didn’t seclude himself in his study as he did most the time when he was at home. Instead, he walked around the manor talking with the different slaves and spending some time with each of them. The whole day Milly followed close behind him, her little hand often clutching to the edge of his robe. Ash kept looking back at her and smiling every time he saw the firm determination on her face.
Soon it was time for midday meal. About half way through the meal, Ash looked up to see Yuki staring at him and gave her a weak smile and suddenly she started to cry. Yuki set off a chain reaction and soon Shina was crying as well as a number of the other slaves.
Reborn: 6-10 Page 19
