“Then tomorrow it is,” Ash said with a sad smile as he once again thought about Allice and Emelia. “Could you send Allice in now?”
“At once my lord,” the sage said with a deep bow. “If you have any more questions, just have one of the palace servants call for me.”
“Master,” Allice yelled as she flung open the door to his room and launched herself at him tears filling her eyes. “I was so scared.”
Ash gently and warmly patted her back as a smile spread across his face.
The next morning, Ash was dressed in dark red robes with silver lining. They were simple enough and not to opulent which Ash was thankful for. As he was led outside, Allice stayed a few steps behind him along with the other servants that had been assigned to him.
The ritual was to be held in the center of the capital city where thousands of demons from all over the country had gathered. There was a large platform that had been built just for the occasion. It was a simple ceremony in which all Ash had to do was say a few words then drop a single drop of blood onto the crown and have it placed on his head.
As soon as his blood touched the metal of the crown, it flashed a brilliant silver color and Ash felt as if a thousand thoughts were rushing into his head at once. Gritting his teeth, Ash kept himself from crying out in pain. After a few seconds the pain passed and Ash could hear a loud cheer fill the air as all the demons present rejoiced in their new Maoh.
After the ceremony, the heads of the different clans each came forward presenting Ash with numerous gifts, many of which were worth more than anything he had seen before. With the help of the sage, he greeted each clan leader and thanked them for the gifts.
After hearing and reading numerous stories about how evil the demons were, Ash was amazed at what he witnessed. From where Ash sat, they were no different than humans except they didn’t seem to be of fond of flashy events. Even the crowning of a new king was done quickly and in view of the entire populace. It was somewhat true that their loyalty was forced, but from the look in their eyes, they didn’t seem to resent his human blood. Allice on the other hand drew more than a few looks of contempt.
The longer Ash watched them, the more he wanted to bring them out of their solitude and back into the rest of the world. They had been secluded for far too long leaving the rest of the world to view them as the root of all things evil. The real problem was how to accomplish this without starting a larger war. The more he thought about it, the more he remembered Emelia and the war that he had been carried away from. Worried for his wife, Ash asked if it was possible to send someone to check on her and the current situation of the war. The sage quickly called a number of people over and without another word his orders were carried out flawlessly.
Emelia’s Side Story
Emelia sat on the long sofa in her study looking at the reports that her scouts had brought back as tears ran down her face.
The enemy had been force back thanks to a horde of demons that had swooped down onto the battlefield, killing thousands. Luckily they had left the fort defenders mostly alone, but after everything cleared, no one could find the body of Ash nor his slave Allice.
From the scouts report, it is believed that the demons carried off a number of people and that Ash was among those numbers. It was not the first time that there had been reports of demon abductions, but why did it have to be Ash.
Emelia couldn’t let the news of Ash’s disappearance and most likely death break her. She quickly penned a note to have the fort reinforced with new troops. The forces might have been pushed back for now, but for how long?
Emelia leaned back and rubbed her hand over her now slightly bulging belly as she thought of Ash. She didn’t know why, but she had loved him from the moment she had met him. It was his eyes that had captured her. He had such kind eyes, but it didn’t seem that the gods wanted it to be. Ever since she had set her eyes on Ash, everything had gone wrong. First there was the problem with the earl and his son and then the war. If she had pushed him away, there would have been no war but she couldn’t do it. The time she had spent with Ash had been the happiest in her life, and while he was gone, he had left something behind.
Emelia had decided that she would not undergo the ritual to purify the child’s blood. She would be just as much Ash’s child as hers and no matter what blood, the child would take over after her.
Two weeks passed with no news of attack. Emelia didn’t believe that she would be so lucky that the war would be called off so easily. Time passed and soon a month had gone by since Ash had disappeared when a letter from the king arrived. He was offering the same terms as before. Denounce Ash and have him branded as an outlaw and take to wed a man of the king’s choice and the war would end.
Emelia had to admit that it was a tempting offer until she felt the baby kick in her belly. In a few months, the child would be born and what would become of it if she surrendered now. Most likely the child would be killed since it carried Ash’s blood and that was something that Emelia could never live with. As soon as she came to her decision, Emelia quickly penned her reply.
The rest of the night, Emelia sat staring off into the sky thinking of Ash and asking herself if she had done the right thing. She had just condemned thousands of her own people to die for a man that was already most likely dead. She knew in her heart that if the king had just asked for her life alone, she would have taken the deal in a heartbeat, but she couldn’t bare it to send her child to death before she even had a chance to live.
The fort’s outer wall had been finished, leaving Emelia with a choice that would save many of her people from danger. Emelia called almost all knights and soldiers to return to the capital and take up residence within the grounds of the new fort, and then she started to plan to move her own lodgings as well. She knew they had little hope of winning the war. The best they could hope for was if they caused enough damage that the enemy thought it was no longer worth it to continue the fighting. If they lost, only the soldiers would be lost with the move to the larger fort outside the city.
Emelia left only a token force outside the fort to patrol the border and to strike at the enemy should they appear. She felt bad about ordering those small strike forces to their death, but most of them had taken it with pride. Many of the forces were made up of sub-humans that had come to the duchy in the hope of finding a place that didn’t hold them in contempt and threaten to throw them into slavery. They were more than willing to die if it gave their children a chance to live in such a world.
Five more weeks passed and Emelia knew that the baby was close to being born. She could feel it moving more and more. When she went into labor, she called out Ash’s name over and over but he never answered. After three painful hours, Emelia held in her arms a new daughter that carried Ash’s beautiful eyes. She decided to name her Ashley in honor of her father.
A week after Ashley was born Emelia received news that a large force of sixty thousand was marching on the duchy under the banner of the king. With their current pace, it would take them around fifteen days to reach the capital, but the numbers of soldiers was far more than Emelia had counted on. She would never have believed that the king himself would march on her lands. It was clear where he stood in this matter and Emelia prayed that the goddess herself would curse the man and his lineage for decades.
Looking down at her daughter, Emelia held her close with a warm smile and decided that a week before the army arrived, she would send Ashley off to live with Helen’s family. The woman was an old cuss, but she would see that the child was raised right if worse came to pass.
Notes
Name: Ash
Level: 35
Experience needed for next level: 2,036,918
Race: Human/Demon 70/30
Occupation: Intermediate Gambler
Title: First Knight
Blessings: Blessing of the Reaper
HP: 1400/1400
MP 1320/1320
SP 267/267
Strength: 74 (+10) (
+2) (+1) (+10) (+10) (+194)
Vitality: 77 (+3) (+202)
Agility: 51 (+10) (+5) (+132)
Stamina 73 (+5) (+191)
Spirit 38 (+10) (+97)
Intelligence: 67 (+175)
Endurance: 40 (+10) (+1) (+2) (+10) (+102)
Luck: 227 (+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 3-32%.]
[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 2-47%.]
[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 14% and power of earth related skills will be boosted 7%. Level 3-26%.]
[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- 22%]
[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 2-68%]
[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 3-29%]
[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 3-36%.]
[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: 36MP- able to manipulate pure mana and give it form. Level 3-51%]
[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 3-12%]
[Earth Essence: cost ***- ability to infuse MP with earth essence. Level 2-71%]
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 Legacy #9-1
With the speed of the demons assigned to scouting and spying, it only took three days for Ash to get a full report on what was happening with the war. So far the enemy army had pulled back and was holding near the border. Ash wanted to rush back home, but the sage advised against it.
“My Lord, right now the biggest advantage we have is that they don’t know if you are alive or dead. Our spies in the King’s palace haven’t reported back yet and I believe it would be best if you waited until we know all that is going on before we make a move.”
“You seem to know a lot about war,” Ash said harshly. He wanted nothing more than to tell his wife that he was ok.
Reborn: 6-10 Page 28
