Reborn: Demon Core (3 page)

The cost for the fort and castle would cost
over one hundred thousand platinum coins and thanks to magic could
be finished within seven years. The walls and temporary barracks
could be finished within six months.

Emelia read over the papers as her face was
pinched in concentration. “I think it could work but there is one
problem…Someone will have to take on this project. None of the
nobles I can trust have the time to do it and the ones who do I
can’t trust.”

“I could do it,” Ash suggested.

“It could work, but how would the King take
it,” Emelia said with a slightly worried voice. “You aren’t a
noble, but you could do it under my authority. The problem is
getting the funds for the construction. We are one of the more
prosperous lands within the kingdom, but even the king has trouble
paying for a new fort to be built and manned.”

“The initial cost will be staggering but
unlike the other forts, once it is finished it can make money with
the knights constantly fighting in the labyrinth. You said so
yourself, that the labyrinth is better than a gold mine since it is
constantly filled with magical power.”

“That is true. Some people say that demons
live at the bottom of a labyrinth, but since no one has ever made
it to the bottom in the past thousand years that is just a rumor.
Older books said they were created when fragments of the five evil
gods fell to earth. It has never seemed to run out of power in
fact, if left alone, the monsters in the labyrinth have been known
to escape and wreak havoc. That is the reason cities are built
around them in the first place. My family’s main task is to keep
the labyrinth in check.”

“Then even if you built a fort, the King
couldn’t complain since it is part of your duty,” Ash
suggested.

“Ok look, if you think it will help, look
through the budget and find out how much we can really use to fund
the fort. If you need more, you will have to wait until next tax
season to get it or find it yourself. Even if I do love you, I
can’t let you spend the entire duchy’s funds.”

As soon as she said the words, the air filled
with silence again. “I care about you as well,” Ash said
fidgeting.

Emelia looked at him while frowning then a
small smile spread across her face. “I’ll take it,” she said before
jumping on him and pushing him down on the couch while kissing
him.

The next morning Ash went through the budget
again, but no matter how he looked at it the most he could come up
with was three thousand platinum coins and even that was pushing it
a little. In the end he had decided that to be safe, he would only
take twenty-five hundred to start with. After showing what he came
up with, Emelia wrote him a write of charge so that he could draw
on the duchy’s funds from the royal bank. At the same time, she
wrote out an order for all knights to gather in Tellian.

Now that Ash had a starting point for his
work he headed back home. Shortly after he entered, he was greeted
by Zelan and three other men who were unfamiliar to him. “Ash,
perfect timing. I would like you to meet the people from the Seven
Swords Guild that have been sent for the duel. The young man is Gai
and the person who you will be fighting. The older young man is
Rein, and the beautiful woman is Yu.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ash said slightly
bowing.

“Enough Zelan, we need to hurry and get this
over with,” the woman said tapping her foot. “I would like to get
back to the guild hall before they start slaughtering each
other.”

“Fine let’s get started,” Zelan said slightly
annoyed at the woman’s attitude.

Ash and the young man who was a few years
older than him moved about a fifty yards apart while Zelan handed
them both wooden swords. “The rules are simple. You fight until one
person can no longer fight or one of you concede the fight. Also,
no intentional killing, that always puts a damper on things.”

As Zelan walked off the field, he passed by
Ash and bent down close to his ear. “Don’t take it easy. Finish it
quickly.”

When the woman signaled for the fight to
start, Ash kicked off the ground and flashed in front of the other
man, striking for his midsection. Though he had moved like a flash,
the other man had been trained since birth and moved to intercept
his attack, but no matter how skilled he was, his speed could not
match and he took the blow full force and was thrown to the ground.
Doubled over on the ground, the man emptied the contents of his
stomach while Ash casually walked over and placed the blade of the
wooden sword to his neck. “I Win.”

“What is this?” The woman bellowed storming
up to Zelan. “Your letter said that he was clearly only level ten.
At most, if he fought every day nonstop, he could at most be level
fifteen now. Yet he is clearly at least level forty. You shame
yourself and the guild,” Yu said angrily.

“If you wish to bring him to the guild to
check his level you can, but he is only level fourteen. It is not
his fault that your student is only at this level,” Zelan said
shrugging his shoulders.

“What is that…Then let me test him myself,”
Yu said as she pulled the wooden sword from her student’s hand.

“That will be up to Ash. My request was for
him to fight someone within his own level. Just as the request made
of me was to teach someone and have them fight against someone of
their own level,” Zelan said as if he were bored.

“What about it young man?” Yu asked, eyeing
him with anger flaring in her eyes. “Care to try your luck with
me?”

“I don’t mind an honest competition, but only
if the previous rules are still in place. I don’t want you to come
at me with my life on the line over a simple duel with no befit for
me,” Ash said calmly.

“I have no interest in killing you boy,” She
said, taking off her mantle and placing it on the ground. “I just
want to see what kind of pupil Zelan has raised.”

Since Yu was fighting him, Zelan took the
place of the adjudicator and signaled the start of the match.
Unlike before, this time Ash didn’t rush forward. Though he could
not see any of her stats using analyze, Ash could feel power close
to that of Zelan coming from her. “If you won’t attack, then I will
boy,” She said before calmly approaching him.

Yu started with a series of simple attacks
that Ash was easily able to block. Her speed was good, but not
nearly as quick as Ash, nor as refined as Zelan’s. Once she saw
that Ash had no trouble blocking her attacks, Yu started to attack
more randomly then Ash saw a flash above her head. “First sword,”
but Ash had no clue what the skill was so he had no way to prepare
for it so instead he jumped back.

Just as he retreated, Yu’s sword flashed blue
and surged forward at an amazing speed. Thankfully Ash had moved
back just in time and the sword stopped inches from his chest. Ash
had wanted to get the hang of her movements first, but it was clear
that if he didn’t counterattack she wasn’t going to give him time
to learn how she fought.

Ash thought about using gambler’s gambit but
decided to wait. If he used it now and if he needed it later, it
would be too late. First Ash invoked Stick Thread and a stream of
fine thread shot from his palm. Yu reacted quickly, but thanks to
their close distance she could only sidestep a portion of the
thread while trying to block the rest with her sword. The thread
wasn’t that strong and while it clung to Yu’s sword, she quickly
removed it. By that time Ash had already started to circle around
to her back.

As Yu turned to face Ash, he invoked Cone of
Frost but this time Yu was expecting something and easily dodged
the attack. Even though his attack failed, Ash didn’t let up and
quickly followed up with Poison Vine Whip. Once again Yu dodged the
attack cutting the vine off at its base.

Her eyes narrowing, Yu jumped at Ash as her
blade turned red. Ash quickly invoked Shock Armor and brought his
sword up to parry the incoming blow, but instead of one strike
there were four and Ash was only able to block two of the strikes.
One of the other attacks was blocked by his luck shield, but the
last connected knocking the air out of his chest but at the same
time his Shock Armor took effect and the woman was temporally
stunned.

Knowing the shock would only last a few
seconds, Ash invoked Pounce and jumped forward, hitting her hard in
the chest and sending her flying back more than twenty feet. As she
landed, Ash readied himself for her next attack but his sword had
broken at the hilt. When Yu didn’t move from where she landed Ash
began to worry.

“Ash wins,” Zelan said before running up to
where the woman still lay on the ground.

Seeing Zelan’s worried look, Ash quickly
joined him. Yu was laying on the ground with her eyes rolled up
showing the whites of her eyes. Zelan removed her chest plate that
now had a large dent in its center. Under the chest plate her chest
was wrapped in a thin cloth but it did little to hide her large
chest but it did clearly show the large purple bruise that had
started to appear.

Zelan bent his head down and placed his ear
against Yu’s chest. After a few moments he raised his head and
breathed a sigh of relief. “She is still alive,” Zelan said
standing back to his feet.

A few moments later Yu eyes fluttered open.
“Aurgggg,” Yu gasped in pain as she sat up. Then noticing that her
chest plate had been removed, she quickly covered her chest with
her arms and with a fierce glare looked at Zelan who was resting
against the side of the manor. “Why did you take off my chest
plate?” Yu asked angrily.

Zelan tossed the dented chest plate to Yu who
grunted in pain as she grabbed it out of the air. “Would be pretty
hard for you to breath with that on don’t you think?”

Looking at the dent in her armor Yu turned to
look at Ash who was sitting not far away talking with Shina who was
currently holding Milly who happily smiled up at Ash while playing
with the broken wooden sword. “You still insist that he is only
level fourteen?” She said, turning back to Zelan.

“He is,” Zelan said, tossing her Ash’s
adventurer’s card. “Look for yourself.”

“How can he be so strong and only be level
fourteen?” Yu asked, looking back to where Ash sat.

“That is his secret, but it had a bit to do
with his guild,” Zelan replied cryptically.

“A gambler,” Yu said looking back down at the
metal plate. “I heard that gamblers can get insanely strong, but
all the ones I have met have been mediocre at best.”

“Take it as you will, but even you have to
admit that I passed the test the elders set for me,” Zelan said
with a wry smile.

“I will report everything as it happened,
don’t worry,” Yu said with an unhappy expression on her face. “Now
if you will, I need to rest. You can have the rest of the day to
say goodbye to your student,” Yu said as one of her students helped
Yu to her feet.

“Are you sure you don’t want to take a rest
in my room?” Zelan asked with a cheesy smile.

“I think I would rather have my teeth pulled
by a goblin,” Yu said with disdain. “Tomorrow morning be at the
gate. Don’t make me wait.”

“She is a feisty one,” Zelan said laughing.
“Well Ash, I would like to stay around for a long goodbye, but
honestly I am not much for the whole show. So as one last gift for
your master, think you could spare a few coins so I can enjoy my
last night in Tellian.”

Ash reached into his pocket and pulled a
platinum coin from his inventory. “Here,” Ash said tossing Zelan
the single coin.

“Good show,” Zelan said smiling. “Keep
yourself safe boy and don’t lose to that new wife of yours,” Zelan
said before picking up his travel pack that was already sat beside
him and walking out of the gate.

Watching Zelan leave, Ash felt slightly
lonely but he knew that it wouldn’t last forever. “Master, do you
want to get something to eat?” Shina asked as she came up beside
him with Milly riding on her shoulders.

“Yea, that sounds like a good idea,” Ash
replied smiling, knowing that Shina had only said that to distract
him from Zelan leaving.

As Ash ate, he asked for Gilda to head to the
Stonemason’s Guild and bring back someone who can work on the new
fort. He knew that he didn’t have enough to finish the project, but
he had land and enough to get a good start.

By the time Gilda returned, Ash was in the
meeting room working on a sketch of the new fort. It would have to
be large enough to hold at least two thousand people or more. It
would also need room for horses and training with multiple
vocations. After looking it over, it was more like a small compound
than just a fort. In the end, Ash had decided to have it cover
twenty acres just outside the west side of the city. Right now it
was forested land so it would need to be cleared, but unless he
wanted to take over farmland it was the only choice.

“Master, I have brought Sir Gillan of the
Stonemason’s Guild,” Gilda said lightly knocking on the door.

“Please send him in Gilda,” Ash said putting
the large paper aside.

“Sir, the lady said that you needed something
built,” the man said keeping his head bowed.

“Please relax,” Ash said with a welcoming
smile. “Have a seat so we can talk.”

“Thank you sir,” the man said as he took the
seat opposite Ash.

“This is what I am planning,” Ash said,
showing the man the drawing he had made.

“I see,” Gillan said scratching his beard.
“When the lady spoke originally, I thought the young master might
want a house of shop built but this is something else.”

“Can you do it?” Ash asked cutting straight
to the point.

“I can, but I have to ask do you want it done
to last or done cheaply?” Gillan replied.

“If possible I want the walls and fort to
withstand a concentrated attack.”