Reborn 10 - Demonic Valor

10-1

After learning of the movements of the kingdom against Emelia and her duchy, Ash had been very busy. Ash had been working on training at a leisurely pace, but over the past few weeks he had been forced to speed up his progress. The main difference was that now, once he had gained his new abilities and trained in them for a few days, he would move onto the next demon clan instead of spending time within their labyrinth to train himself and his new guard and wife.

Over the past few weeks, Ash had been able to make it to five different clans, though he didn’t get to spend much time in any single one. He would arrive and go straight to the labyrinth. Most the time, Ash wouldn’t get to sleep until late and then he was only afforded a few hours before he was forced to start training. His time had been pushed so thin that his eyes started to gain permanent bags underneath them.

In the end, not a single second was wasted. Ash knew that he had to rush, but he felt bad about neglecting the new wives he had collected at each clan, but whenever they saw him they never gave him a judging look which made things much easier to bear.

Mia was a short demon who belonged to a tribe that looked like a short version of an elf. They were very connected to nature as they were created from plant type demons. Lena looked like what one would consider a typical demon with ash grey skin and large bat-like wings. Tina was a robust young lady with a forked tail that had been descendent from animal type monsters. Gena was another warrior who, unlike Tolarea, had a short slender frame. She used a single handed sword along with a shield. Eun was the latest addition and Ash had yet to learn much about her. She was a tall woman with long blue hair and silver eyes. She used a mix of magic and a spear to fight.

The abilities he had gained were as varied as his new wives. Most of them were simple, but it seemed that each clan had one that stood above the rest. The best abilities as far as Ash was concerned were the passive abilities since they didn’t require him to do anything for them to be of use.

[Echo Location: advanced hearing that allows you to the placement of people and items even in total darkness. Level max.]

[Darkness Resistance: 5% reduction in damage from any sources using the darkness element. Level 1-0%.]

[Darkness Affinity: cost of using darkness attribute skills or abilities will be reduced by 10%. Level 1-0%.]

[Dark Soul: turn 100HP into soul MP.]

With an extra way to increase his soul MP, Ash was happy, and since his HP recovered faster than his MP, it was a godsend. The more abilities that Ash gained, the more he began to understand that the demons had thought out their training program well for the demon lords. Though his passive abilities were his favorite, Ash also liked many of his new active abilities.

[Dark Spear: Cost 80MP create a spear of pure darkness that will last for five minutes. Can attack through armor as long as it is not blessed. Level 1-0%.]

[Infuse Darkness: cost ***- infuse the air with Darkness energy to strength and control it. Level 1-0%.]

[Darkness Essence: cost ***- ability to infuse MP with the darkness essence. Level 1-0%.]

[Sword of Illusion: cost 40MP 10SP- create three illusionary replicas of your sword blade that can do 10% of the original strike. Level 1-0%.]

[Phantom Strike: cost 10SP- attack with a phantom strike that does no damage but can deceive your enemies. Level 1-0%.]

[Armor of Thorns: cost 40 MP cover your body with thick wooden armor that is covered in thorns. Lasts for 10 minutes. Level 1-0%.]

[Tremor: cost 75MP- Shake the whole earth within five hundred square feet. Level 1-0%.]

[Wind Slash: cost 10MP 5SP- eject a blade of wind that follows on a straight path. Level 1-0%.]

[Wind Wing: Cost 15MP 30SP- create wings made of air that can let you fly and increase your speed by 5%. Lasts for 5 minutes. Level 1-0%.]

[Total Destruction: Cost 300MP 100SP- create a massive storm of pure magical energy and physical force that spreads out over fifty yards attacking everything within its range. Level 1-0%.]

[Agis Shield of Protection: cost 120MP create a large massive shield that can cover fifty square feet. Can take a total of 150 HP before disappearing. Level 1-0%.]

A lot of the abilities that he had gained were costly, but would be of great use in a large scale battle. Ash wasn’t sure, but he figured that the sage had changed the normal training to focus on what would be useful to Ash in concerns to the upcoming war.

At level 1, most of the skills were still useful, but not as good as if they were at a higher level. Ash tried his best to get them to level them up, but it was not something that could be done overnight.

As the time passed and the coming battle drew nearer, Ash started to reflect on his new skills and the last large battle that he had been in. At that time, Ash had only been in small one on one battles against other humans. He had been slightly overconfident at first, but after his near death experience while running from the scouts, he had learned that no matter how strong he was, he was still vulnerable. His stats were high and he had a number of impressive skills and abilities, but all it took was one fatal strike to end his life.

The main difference between Ash and one of the monsters that one might fight was that he was human. The monsters had weak points that could be taken advantage of, but they were often small or well concealed. As a human, he had many weak points that could cause his death. Not only that, in a way his whole body was a weak point. If he got a deep would, he would bleed and his HP and SP would quickly drop as the blood left his body. If he lost an arm, it was nearly impossible to get it to regrow, though it could be done if he could find a person with the right ability, or if he got his own mend ability ranked up high enough. Though it was hard to tell how long that would take.

With this knowledge, Ash spent the small amount of free time trying to envision on the best way he could fight when faced off against more than a few people at the same time. If he only had the same abilities as before, he would still be limited but he was sure that now he could do better, though he knew part of himself would still be scared. No matter how much time passed, that was one thing that didn’t really change. It was different than when he fought against monsters in the labyrinth. When he fought against humans, his heart beat so fast he could feel it beating against his ribs like a beast trying to escape its confinement.

With his new abilities, Ash was sure that he could fare much better, even though a few of them that would be good to use against heavily armored opponents cost a great deal of MP. Ash had thought about upgrading his own gear and after spending time not only discussing it with the sage, but also his wives, Ash was assured that before they left the demon kingdom to prepare for the war, they would stop by the demon Maoh’s castle and he could take what he wanted from the treasury.

From what the sage said, the castle’s treasury was filled with a number of things that each Maoh had gathered over the years. This was not only weapons and armor, but also ability books, monster cores, gold, gems, and a number of other precious objects. When Ash heard this, he made a quick decision that he would not only take things for himself, but for his wives as well.

As Ash lay back against the headboard of the bed he was currently using, he looked up as if he could see through the darkened wood of the ceiling to the sky above. “It is almost time,” he said to himself. Though his words were uttered softly, Ash felt Eun shift next to him.

So much had happened lately it was hard for Ash to keep it all in mind, but one thing was sure. His training for the time being was over and tomorrow they would head to the Maoh’s castle so that they could prepare for war. Ash wasn’t sure how long they would be there before heading to the front lines, but he knew that many of the demon clan heads would be at the castle as well to help him prepare. Many of whom Ash had yet to meet other than the quick greeting he had gotten from them on the day he had taken the role of the next Maoh.

The demons could be placed into four main groups. There was the flying troops, scouts, mages, and melee fighters. Each group could be broken down into a number of different smaller parts, but due to the diversity of the demons it was hard for Ash to grasp. Many of the demon clans had similar abilities or at least it looked like it on the surface, but how they put them to use was completely different. For instance, there were two major clans that used light magic. One of them used it mainly for healing and support, while another used it for attacking and defending.

Ash had asked the sage to give him papers with an overview of all the clans and their main abilities, but Ash hadn’t had enough time to go over them well enough to learn much. He couldn’t even recall a quarter of the clan’s names, let alone their abilities and how they could be best used in a large scale battle. Before, Ash had only been one among a number of other soldiers with only a small amount of responsibility, but now he was the at the head of the proverbial snake. It put a lot of pressure on him and it was something that he felt most keenly. Each day that passed, it felt as if more and more weight was pressing down on him, as if an inviable giant was sitting on his shoulders. A few times late at night, Ash woke sweating. His eyes wide and his chest tight as if it refused to let him draw in breath. Ash knew that it was a weak version of a panic attack, but he was too ashamed to tell anyone about them. A few times, one of his wives woke up with him, but he was able to defer any questions by merely saying he had to go to the bathroom.

As he lay there, Ash had tried to sleep a number of times, but each time he only ended up fidgeting until he finally gave up and sat up and started to think of what would be soon be happening. Ash couldn’t really do much planning on his own due to his limited experience, not only with war, but also the demons. It would be like playing a game of chess for the first time, completely blindfolded while being spun in a circle. The only thing he could do, was try and imagine how things might go. Though each time he tried, it didn’t end very well within his own mind.

It was not that Ash thought that they would lose, but he feared about how many people would be lost fighting a battle that was not their own. He hated the thought of using the demons for his own personal goal, but he had been left with little choice. He had only known the demons for a short time and while he had enjoyed their company and there were a few he might even consider friends, the truth was that none of them could compare with how he thought about Emelia, Yuki and the others. He would gladly trade a thousand of their lives to save any one of them. When Ash thought of this fact, he started to wonder if that made him evil or just selfish. He knew deep down that it was wrong, but no matter how much his conscious fought against him, he remained determined. Most the time he alleviated some of the guilt by telling himself that he would be building a better world for more than just himself, but it was like putting a band aid over a severed arm.

Looking to his side, Ash looked at Eun and a pang of guilt ran though his body. He planned to fight at the front of the army during the battle in hopes to save as many as he could using his abilities and heightened stats, but that would mean that Eun and his other wives would be front and center as well. Ash knew that if he tried to keep them back, that it would not work. At most, he would only be able to reduce the number that would tend to him at the time, but most of them would still be in danger.

Ash couldn’t say that he loved any of his wives and that alone still bothered him. He had agreed to marry them for the sake of tradition and at the time, he had not seen any danger to doing so, but now he was thinking differently. If he could go back in time, he would have thrown off the shackles of tradition. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his new wives, but it was the complete opposite. Ash didn’t love them, but he liked them well enough and the thought of them dying pained him. He thought it would be better to not have gotten to know them at all, or at least wait until after the war to start taking them as wives so that that he wouldn’t know so many of those that he was putting in danger. It was a selfish thought and Ash knew it, but it was one of his many honest thoughts. Looking once again at his wife, Ash turned on his side and closed his eyes and attempted to sleep.

10-2

Ash woke when he felt Eun stir beside him. His eyes were red and it felt as if he had only closed his eyes for a few short seconds, even though he knew that he had at least been asleep for four hours.

The flight back to the demon lord castle would take more than half the day. It was for that reason that they would be leaving as soon as the sun was high enough for them to see. Ash had wanted to leave earlier, but the sage had told him that it was impossible.

After waking, Ash quickly dressed and woke Eun before he left to find the others. It didn’t take long to find everyone as they were gathered in one of the large meeting rooms talking amongst each other.

“My lord, it is good to see you awake so early,” the sage said as soon as Ash entered the room. “It will still a bit before we can take flight, so the clan head has saw fit to prepare an elaborate feast. Since you haven’t had much chance to enjoy even a decent meal as of late, I thought it would be a good change of pace for you.”

Shortly after Ash had been seated, the food was brought out. When the sage had said a large feast, Ash had thought that it would just be a decent sized meal, but he had been mistaken. Ash had never eaten a heavy breakfast since it normally left him feeling as if he didn’t want to do anything for hours afterwards.

Of the dishes that were brought out, many of them were Ash’s favorites. There was fried toast with syrup, though in his previous would they would have just called it French toast. There were flapjacks, sausage, bacon, and eggs cooked in every way one could imagine. There were also a number of things on the table that Ash had no clue what they were. He tried to just eat a little of his favorites, but each time his plate was almost clean, someone would put something else down on it until his stomach was so full that he was afraid that if he even dared to take a deep breath, he would rupture something inside.

After the meal was finished, Ash and the others headed to a large open field where their riding mounts were already waiting on them. As Ash climbed on the back of the large bird, he felt his stomach protest.

Once he was mounted, the large bird reared back on its hind legs and kicked off the ground, coming to soar through the air as it wings flapped furiously.

It was not the first time that Ash had ridden one of the large hawks and he knew that the only rough part of the ride was the takeoff and landing. The rest of the time, as long as a shield was in place, it was even more comfortable than riding on the back of a horse.

Thanks to the large meal that had been forced upon him, Ash had to force the contents of his stomach to remain in place as the bird too flight. His face paled slightly and Ash felt light headed and used the little strength left in his body to stay in his seat.

With the long flight, Ash had plenty of time for his stomach to settle and as the time passed he took more and more time to enjoy the scenery that passed below him. From so high above the earth, the land looked beautiful no matter where you flew. It made a lot of the problems that had been pressing down on him for the past few weeks seem insignificant and lifted Ash’s spirits.

Due to the long flight and the large amount of food that had been stuffed in him, Ash found himself feeling sluggish and tired. Knowing the danger of falling from such a height, Ash used the small harness to strap himself to the saddle. Ash knew that he could fall at any moment if something happened that he wasn’t expecting, but he rarely used the harness since it pinched his body uncomfortably, and if he tightened it too hard it would leave large red marks on his legs that would stay for hours after and make his legs fall asleep. Since Ash had his own pair of wings and could slow his decent should he fall, the sage only complained every now and then about his reluctance to wear the safety harness.

Ash woke a number of times during the flight, but he always quickly fell back asleep. The last time he woke was when the large birds started to circle around the demon lord castle as they prepared to land. Ash didn’t enjoy the takeoff, but the landing always left him feeling more than a little queasy and dizzy. After landing, it always took a few moments before Ash regained enough of his baring that he could walk again without the fear of tripping over his own feet.

“Master,” A light airy voice called out as soon as Ash entered the large castle as a bolt of white flashed through the air before hitting him hard in the chest.

“Allice,” Ash said, patting her head a few times before pushing her away. Ash had hoped that after the weeks of separation, she wouldn’t be as clingy, but it seemed as if he had been mistaken as she looked and acted the same as before. Letting out a heavy sigh, Ash pushed her away and started introducing her to his new guards.

Allice had a complicated look on her face when she heard Ash refer to the other women as his wives, but she retained her silence. After the introductions were finished, Ash had Allice show the women to their room while the sage took Ash to the hidden vault.

At first Ash wanted to take the women with him, but the sage had refused. It seemed that only the Maoh and the current sage was allowed to know the location and enter the vault.

It was the first time that Ash had head that there had been previous sages and after a few questions, Ash learned that just like the title of a clan head and Maoh, the sage was one that had been passed down for hundreds of years.

Surprisingly, the vault was far better hidden than Ash would have thought. First he was taken to his personal room. It was just as he remembered it. On the far side of the room was a large mirror about seven foot tall and five foot wide. Ash had thought that it was so large since the size of demons varied greatly, but when the sage moved beside it, pulling the silver and gold claps on its corners, it slid to the side and he started to understand.

When the mirror was pushed aside, it revealed a hidden set of stairs that lead downward. Lifting his hand, the sage said a few words and a small globe of light filled his hand. “Shall we go my lord?” the sage asked politely.

“Why all the need for secrecy?” Ash asked as he started down the stone steps. “By nature, the demons cannot revolt against their lord, so why the need to go through all this trouble?”

“It is true that they cannot openly revolt,” the sage admitted. “If they did, all the current Maoh would have to do would be order them to take their own lives and it would be over, but that does not stop them for secretly doing so. Just like with any race, there are both good and bad among the number of demons that live within the kingdom. There are more than a few that would let go of their better judgement and try to take whatever they could get their hands on.”

“I see,” Ash said as he once again started to think about the demons. He still knew far too little about them to call himself their king, even though that was what he was, no matter what name they gave to it.

They continued down in a spiral for so long Ash was sure that soon they might reach the center of the earth. To help pass the time and to keep himself busy, Ash started to count the steps as they walked further down. He didn’t know how many he had passed before he had started counting, but Ash counted 547 before he stopped at a large steel door that looked as if it would take four men to open.

“Place your hand on the plate my lord,” the sage said as he pointed to a set of small gold plates slightly bigger than a hand. Ash did as he was told and put his left hand on one of the plates while the sage placed his on the other. A small spark of blue light flashed in the air before the sound of grinding could be heard.

The large door started to swing forward to reveal a room three times the size of the bedroom above. As Ash entered the room, he looked around to see a pile of coins twice as tall as he was with the based as wide as he would be laying down. Reaching over, Ash picked up one of the coins and looked it over. It was clearly made from gold, but the coin was different from what he had seen before.

Other than a number of piles of coins, there was also numerous chests filled with everything imaginable. Since he worked for the duchess and he was her husband, Ash has some understanding to how much gold the duchy had saved over the years, but compared to what was before him now, it was like the difference between heaven and earth. Ash was sure that if Emelia had a quarter of what was within this one room, she could easily compete with any of the major kingdoms.

“The equipment is kept over here my lord,” the sage said, pulling Ash away from his thoughts.

Letting his eyes go to where the sage was indicating, Ash found a number of large stands against the east wall. Ash’s eyes widened as he noticed countless weapons and suits of armor, all presented as if they were showcased in front of a prominent store.

First Ash headed to where the weapons were located. There was almost enough to outfit a small army, let alone just himself and his current guards. Picking up the first one, Ash used his ability to analyze it.

[Devil’s Blade: sword made from a unique metal ore that was gained from killing a greater devil. Attack 32-36, durability 65/65. Strength + 5, agility +5, drain 10%.]

“What does the ability drain do?” Ash asked as he held the sword.

“It turns a certain portion of the damage done to an enemy to HP.”

Setting aside the first sword, Ash picked up the next one.

[Blade of the Serpent. Durability 70/70. Attack 33-37. Strength +4, agility +6, poison.]

Ash picked up sword after sword and found that each one of them were things that far exceeded what he was using now, but still they were below his expectations.

“Where you expecting something different?” the sage asked when he saw the pensive look on Ash’s face.

“I don’t know,” Ash said feeling slightly awkward. “I was thinking that I would find an overpowering weapon that was something that people would write songs about,” He said honestly.

The sage gave a short laugh and shook his head. “I guess that would be the dream of any warrior who came here looking for something, but the truth is that the best weapons of the kingdom are gathered here. This isn’t a story, but real life so how could there be something like that. Any of these weapons will serve you well, but there is nothing that will make you the equal to a god on its own. For that, you will have to train, gain strength, and have a great deal of luck.”

Ash nodded his head, feeling more than a little foolish as he continued to search through the weapons. After almost a quarter of an hour of searching, Ash found something that caught his eye.

[Fouremar. Durability 60/60 attack 35-40. Strength +10, agility +5, fire brand.]

It didn’t have the largest attack out of the swords he had seen. At most it was only slightly behind the others. What he really liked was the extra stats were slightly higher and the addition of fire brand. It was an ability that he had seen before. It meant that the blade would heat up as MP was poured into it, making it able to melt through most armor.

In the end, Ash decided on the sword. He wasn’t really sure why, but it seemed like the right choice and Ash had always liked to go with his gut when he was unsure.

Normally Ash would pass his armor and weapons down to someone else, but the sword he had been using had been given to him by Emelia and was a family heirloom, so he couldn’t do that. It just wouldn’t feel right and he was sure that Emelia might skin him alive if he let another woman use it. Putting his old sword away in his inventory, Ash strapped the new one onto his waist.

After finding the right weapon for himself, Ash looked through the others to search for something for his guards. For a brief moment he thought about looking for something that Emelia and Yuki could use, but decided against it. Right now there was still no knowing how they would react to the news that he had become the next Maoh. He loved Emelia, but he couldn’t turn his back on the demons. Until everything was settled, Ash thought it would be best to wait until after the war to make any real decisions since no one knew what the future might hold.

It didn’t take him long to find weapons for the guards since he knew their preference thanks to the long talks they had. There were a few he was unsure of, but he used his best judgment in those cases. Once the weapons were picked, Ash moved over to where the armor was placed. There were far less choices among the armor. It seemed like people preferred to give weapons as a gift compared to armor, even though right now armor was the main thing that Ash wished to upgrade.

Ash had given more thought to what kind of armor that he wanted over the past few nights. He had thought about taking full armor, but in the end he had to throw away that idea. The extra defense would be welcomed, but Ash’s fighting style relied heavily on his mobility and if he word heavy armor that would be decreased dramatically. In the end, Ash decided to keep the same kind of armor he had been wearing. He only hoped that he could find some better than what he was already wearing.

After looking around, Ash found three pieces of chest armor that could be used. All of them were better than what he was using, but he finally decided on one after giving it a lot of thought. It had slightly less defense than the other armors, but it had elemental properties that Ash felt offset the lower defense.

[Gold Dragon Light Armor. Durability 65/65 defense +35. Vitality + 15 elemental defense +15%.]

Next Ash looked at gauntlets and accessories, but none of them looked much better than what he was already using. From what Ash saw, they had various different abilities tied to them but none of them offered much in the way of defense so Ash deiced to keep what he already had.