Reborn: 6-10

by D. W. Jackson

  After the other two women were gone Tolarea turned back to Ash who was desperately trying to think of a way to escape when he noticed the same gleam in her eyes that he saw before a battle. All he could do was let out a small whimper when she advanced on him.

  Demon's Legacy #9-10

  After two days of intense training, Ash still had trouble fighting against Tolarea in a pitched battle, but he was getting more accustomed to his new abilities. The main benefit was that Ash was becoming more aware of his abilities and what each one could do. Before, he always had to look at the list and try and pick which one would be of use, but that was hard to do during the heat of a battle and sometimes it caused him a great deal of trouble. Part of it was inevitable as he just had too many abilities, but the more he used them the more he got to know them and the easier they came to mind. Just like with his sword training, the abilities were being relentlessly trained in how to use them.

  Ash couldn’t believe that it had taken him this long to understand the true meaning of the training he was currently going through. He had been in the demon lands for almost a month now and most of that had been spent doing nothing but training his abilities. Most people only had a few abilities the rest of their fighting ability came from personal strengths and skills.

  Unlike abilities, skills were almost all focused in one direction. If you were a warrior, they would be related to fighting up close. If you were a mage, then they would be focused on magic. On the other hand, his abilities were very diverse and spread out and could be used in a number of different ways. He could fight on the front lines or cast magic from the back. He didn’t have many support abilities yet, but he was sure that they would come in time.

  When it was time for him to enter the labyrinth again, Ash was escorted by his three wives. Since the number was increasing, there were two parties formed this time. One was made up of him and his wives and the other was made up of higher level guards in case they ran into unforeseen trouble. Unlike before, Ash wasn’t the only one to lead at the front when the fighting started as Tolarea walked right beside him with Seia in the middle and Celina bringing up the rear. It was a good combination and the only real thing Ash felt was lacking was a healer, but from what he had learned earlier that was going to be the next step.

  The first day thanks to Tolarea, Ash and the others were easily able to reach the nineteenth floor. While it was easy it was not easy to keep with the large woman who rarely stopped long enough to catch one’s breath. In fact had it not been for Celina’s limited stamina they would have made it much farther before they were forced to retire from the labyrinth.

  The second day in the labyrinth went much the same as the first with Tolarea rushing through the enemies as if they were made of paper. Ash was able to get in a few hits, but it wasn’t until they reached the twenty-sixth floor that Ash was truly able to enter the battles though it was not much. The only real thing that bothered Tolarea was that it was a large humanoid creature using a shield that was large enough to block her sword.

  The sage had told him that labyrinths grew depending on the type of creature that they fed on. Since Tolarea and her tribe were warriors who used force were the main ones who fed the labyrinth most the monsters were much the same. There were a few times that the monsters used magic or other arts to fight but it was less than 15% of what they had encountered so far.

  “Doesn’t it make it hard for you to fight against other kinds of attacks if all you train against are the same king of foe?” Ash asked as they preceded to the next floor.

  “That is why when we are younger we tour different clans to fight,” Seia said as she moved closer to Ash. “We spend five years moving among different clans spending six months training at each one. Not only does this help us fight against monsters that we otherwise would be unable to battle it also helps smooth relations between clans.”

  Time passed by quickly and soon it was time for Ash to leave. As he mounted the bird, Ash thought about Allice who was waiting for him back at the Maoh’s palace. Even surrounded as he was, Ash missed her. He had wanted to bring her with him, but the sage advised against it and Ash had ended up leaving her behind.

  When they reached the next clan, Ash found the elder winged man, Tegan, waiting on him along with a large group of others.

  “Nice to see you again my lord,” Tegan said bowing before he pushed a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties forward. “This is my granddaughter Li. As you might have guessed, she will be your future wife. She is a bit shy but she is an honest and good woman so I hope you treat her with care.”

  “I will do my best,” Ash said trying to put on a warm smile.

  After a number of introductions, Ash was taken inside a large open building. Unlike the other palaces he had been in, the building was square and the roof was done in glass so Ash could easily see the sky and feel the warmth of the sun.

  The look and feel of the whole place was completely different than what Ash would attribute to the demon race. If you had asked Ash before what he would imagine it would be a dark castle filled with the bones of their defeated foes but what he found was completely different. For one thing he learned that demons were only demon in name and not in stature. If they were a mix of human and monsters than of course there would be a clan that was mixed with the creatures belonging to the light element. So far Ash had not fought any of these creatures and from what he heard they were a rare sight so he was looking forward to entering the labyrinths of Nehalem clan.

  “My lord unlike the other clans the Nehalem clan have only a few ways to attack so there is little need for fighting practice. Instead all you really need to do is gain the abilities and understand how they are best used. Still we ask you to stay the full week so that you don’t make our clan lose face to the others.”

  “What abilities will I be gaining during my stay?” Ash asked getting straight to the point.

  “One is for attacking, one for defense and a number of others for healing. As long as you have Li in your party, she can do most the healing but it is still a good idea to have some abilities that allow you heal in the case of an emergency.”

  Ash had no abilities that related to healing at the moment and they were something that Ash had always desperately wanted.

  During the whole discussion,Li never said a word. She just silently looked down at the table only looking up every now and then to Ash her face turning a light shade of pink each time. Ash couldn’t help but watch her and her. Each time she blushed Ash could have sword that her wings even took on a pinkish tone though it could have just been a trick of the light. Along with her snow white wings Li had a milky white completion and large round sliver eyes. Her hair was also white though it didn’t make her look old instead it gave her a dazzling pure feeling.

  “Now that everything is settled, why don’t we get the wedding over with so that it is out of the way?” Tegan said, shocking Ash out of his thoughts. Each clan had held the wedding on a different day but he had at least been given a day to get to know his new bride. Ash looked from the clan head to Li and finally to the sage but none of them seemed to give him an option. On each face it looked as if they were saying that he might as well get it over with.

  Sighing, all Ash could do was to nod his head and be led to before the statue of the goddess like a living sacrifice. When it came time for their oaths, Li still never said a word and only nodded her head when she was asked if she consented to the bonding of the two. Ash didn’t know why but all he could think about was what her voice might sound like.

  Once the wedding was over, Ash was taken and Tolarea tried to follow him and Li to the room and only by the combined efforts of Seia, Celina along with the sage were they able to dissuade her though from the look on her face she was anything but happy with the decision.

  When Ash closed the door and turned around, he found that Li had already removed the thing white cotton dress that she had been wearing and now stood before him only wearing a nervous smile.
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br />   “Morning,” Li said her voice weak making Ash think for a moment that he had only imagined that she had spoken.

  Since the night before Li had only said a handful of words and none of them had been strung together to make a full sentence. From her shy demeanor to her weak looking body Ash had the urge to protect her. At that moment it was Allice who popped into his mind. The two women had a lot in common and they brought out the same feelings of wanting to protect them in his heart.

  After getting dressed Ash and Li left the large room only to find Tolarea and the others waiting on him in the hall. “Morning,” Ash said happily as he waved his hand at the three waiting women. “Shall we get the day started.”

  Unlike what Ash expected the Nehalem clan didn’t have any strong guards among their own numbers. Instead the guards came from the smaller clans that served the Nehalem clan. Ash had been unclear between the differences between a main and sub clan but the sage had enlightened him. The people in the main clans all had the blood ability while those in the sub clan were married into the main family. Ash didn’t really get it so the sage explained further.

  “Let us say that a young man in one of the clans was born without the blood ability. As I told you the blood ability is passed down but unlike yours it can be present in a number of people at any given time. When someone is born without it they lose their place in the main family. At first they were wed to other families but when children as more children were born without the ability small clans began to form. Now the clans keep these people to marry into their own families so that the chance of having a child born with the blood ability increases though still a number of them are married off to other families so that the bloodlines don’t stagnate.”

  It seemed a little complicated to Ash but it wasn’t information that he had to know. He wanted to listen to more but when the sage started talking about how the first sub clans were born only thanks to captured human and other races used for breeding stock Ash quickly lost interest. Well more that he didn’t want to think about the darker history of the demon race than he lost interest.

  Once again Tolarea had to be held back from going into the labyrinth with Ash when it was time to leave. Ash wasn’t sure if she was overprotective or simply jealous.

  Oddly enough the first floor they went to was the first floor where they found a monster Ash had seen before. It was a slime though it had a slightly different color than normal. Unlike the others he had seen it had a slight golden sheen to it though it could still easily be seen through.

  “Tring.”

  [You have reached the absorption level for Radiant Slime. Abilities available; Heal (active).]

  “Tring.”

  [You have randomly received the ability Heal.]

  [Heal: cost 10MP- heal 5HP. Level 1-0%]

  “Only five HP for ten MP didn’t seem very useful but in a dire situation it was better than nothing,” Ash said to himself.

  After they finished collecting the radiant slimes they headed to the twelfth floor where the guars slaughtered their way through what appeared to be cupids. The first time Ash bent over to absorb one of the miniature white winged pixies Ash couldn’t help but feel bad.

  “Tring.”

  [You have reached the absorption level for Angelic Pixy. Abilities available; Mend (active), Light Arrow (active).]

  “Tring.”

  [You have randomly received the ability Mend.]

  [Mend: 20MP 5SP- Mend a cut. Level 1-0%.]

  As the day passed Ash watched as the guards killed a number of different monsters though few of them really looked like monsters. In fact most of them looked as if they were something out of a children’s storybook. While he was absorbing the monsters Ash tried to talk to LI but no matter what he said she would only answer with one or two words. Giving up the conversation as a lost cause Ash checkered his newly gained abilities as they left the labyrinth.

  [Light Arrow: cost 25MP- shoot an arrow of light to attack an enemy. Level 1-0%.]

  [Recovery: Cost 100MP- recover 25% of HP. Level 1-0%]

  [Clear: cost 40MP 10SP- remove curses or other abnormalities.]

  [Holy Light: cost 60MP- fill the air with a holy light that drives off and damages creatures of the darkness element.]

  Once the fighting was over Ash was once again called to the large meeting room where they would discuss the abilities and how best to use them. Being from a family of people who used light magic Tegan was the one who did most the talking but the sage did explain things when they seemed to flow over Ash’s head.

  For the most part the abilities were self-explanatory. As they leveled they would work better or at a reduced cost. Of all of them though it seemed that mend was the one he most needed to level up. At level 1 it could only seal external wounds while once it reached level 15 it could reattach severed limbs. If one wanted to it could even regrow limbs though the number of times it would have to be cast was so high that it was nearly impossible for one person to do alone without years of time.

  “So what will you do next my lord?” Tegan asked once the discussion was over.

  “I will enter the labyrinth so that Li can get some experience with working with my other guards and wives. I don’t think it would be right just to rush ahead so we will stay for the remainder of the week. After we fight in the labyrinths I will also be practicing my new abilities. I really need to get them to a higher level so that they can be of use when they are needed,” Ash replied having given it a lot of thought during his quite hours within the labyrinth.

  “I thank you my lord,” Tegan said with a smile and a slight bow of his head.

  Demon's Legacy #9-11

  The next day Ash and his four wives went straight to the labyrinth after they finished eating. “I don’t want to run through the floors like we did before,” Ash said as they entered the first floor. “I want to gain all the abilities I can since it doesn’t seem like the clan head wishes us to rush like the previous ones. During the fighting I want Tolarea to stay near Li and the others so that if they find themselves in trouble you can help her. Li I want you to heal anyone if they seem to be in danger but if it is not urgent allow me to do it after the battle so I can level up my new abilities. Seia and Liam I want you to fight as normal.”

  “My lord our job is to protect you not each other,” Tolarea objected harshly.

  “I know that and if it should seem necessary then you may do so but unless it does I want you to stick to my orders,” Ash said firmly.

  Tolarea didn’t look pleased with Ash’s order but she didn’t raise another protest. Since Ash already had the abilities of the monsters on the first floor they quickly passed through and moved onto the second floor. When they were fighting before to get the abilities they just skipped from one floor to the next so Ash was unsure what they would be facing so he enjoyed the unknown anticipation.

  Though Ash knew the monsters would be weak he didn’t let his guard down. He had learned long ago that even a weak creature could pose a threat if it had an unexpected or dangerous ability. The boss of the first floor was a giant radiant slime. It was not Ash’s first time to fight such a monster but unlike before when the slime’s health got low it would heal itself, making it far more dangerous though with the damage that Ash could do alone it didn’t take long before the monster dissipated into a pile of liquid.

  On the second floor Ash found a small creature that looked as if it was a mix between a fairy and a plant. Signaling for the others to stay back Ash moved toward the odd looking creature. The small fairy watched Ash as he approached it while tilting its head. The small petals surrounding its face curled slightly as it gave Ash a devilish smile but it never made a move.

  Ash felt a shiver run up his spine but ignored it as he swung his sword down at the smaller creature. Just before his sword would have touched the fairy it started to spin and burrowed into the ground. Once it was within the bounds of the earth only its head was visible and it moved around as if the dirt was water. Afte
r circling around a few times it let out an ear shattering yell that made Ash flinch and did five damage to his HP.

  Ash didn’t respond and simply watched the small creature as it moved only attacking whenever it stopped. After the fairy had attacked three times Ash noticed a pattern. When it was circling Ash it moved outside the range of his sword but when it attacked it moved in directly behind him and was so close that if he took a step back he would flatten it. Once he noticed the pattern Ash waited until the monster had made three more circles around Ash and then he felt it moved close behind him. Suddenly Ash turned around and stabbed his sword into the ground. As soon as his sword entered the ground it spilt the monster down the middle making a small pool of green liquid puddled on the ground.

  After having faced the monster alone Ash went to find the next one. Unlike before Ash allowed the others to help and the monster died when it was cleanly shot through with an arrow before it even had a chance to enter the ground.

  With all five of them fighting together it took less than an hour for them to kill enough for Ash to gain a new ability.

  “Tring.”

  [You have reached the absorption level for mantagora. Abilities available; earth shroud (active), screech (active).]

  “Tring.”

  [You have randomly received the ability earth shroud.]

  [Earth shroud- cost 15SP enter the earth to hide. Level 1-0%.]

  Though there was still one ability left Ash decided that it would be best to move on. Ash already had a number of abilities and had one that already was based on sound and didn’t see the need for a weaker version of it.

  Ash and the others continued through the floors just as they had the second floor with Ash fighting the first monster alone and the others joining in afterward so that he could gain abilities.

  Due to the slow pace Ash was taking the first day they were only able to make it to the boss room of the ninth floor before Seia informed him that it was time to head out. Out of everyone he had knew she had the best ability to tell how much time had passed even when they were in the lightless world of the labyrinth. Though their pace was slow Ash was able to gain a number of abilities.