"To think the great Master Mage Nash would be on his knees crying!!" a figure cloaked in black laughed aloud. He then faked a gasp as he said sarcastically, "Oh, right! A Peak-Tier Master Mage such as yourself must have a backup body! Shame that you'll have to restart from the Novice-rank, truly what a shame..."
"I'll kill you!!" Nash said through tears. His right arm, which was his main casting arm, was obliterated. He barely had the strength to keep up his Healing Magic. Blood spilled from the large hole in his stomach. His tears were not because of a mere restart, a man of his stature would never cry from such a thing. His tears were for the love of his life...his Mira was dead behind the figure. Nash grit his teeth so hard they started to bleed. "Just you wait, you damn bastard!! It won't take me long to get back to Master!! When I do, I'll show you hell!!!!"
"You starting to bore me, Nash." the figure said with a harsh tone. "You can die now."
Nash smirked as he thought. 'Heart Casting was worth spending two decades learning.'
Suddenly, a magical array appeared above the both of them.
Soul Marker!
"Damn you, Nash!!!" the figure cursed in fury. He was not scared of Nash because he knew that it would take him a long time to reach the Master-rank after he revives, and it would take even longer to find him after he revives.
"Now, I'll be able to find you as long as I can make it back to Advanced-rank." Nash smiled sinisterly as blood gushed from his wounds. "Just wait for me, asshole. I'll make sure you live your life in constant fear."
"Not if I annihilate your soul first!!" the figure raged. His heart ached as he pulled out a tattered piece of paper. He was saving this Soul Eraser magic scroll to defeat Nash's partner, the co-founder of the Earth Alliance, the Peak-Tier Master Assassin nicknamed the "Silent Death", Kane Ramio. Unlike Nash, Kane had no obvious weak points to exploit. Barely any friends, no family and no known lovers.
The figure started to read the incantations on the paper as a small magic array appeared over Nash's forehead. Nash smiled as his left hand rushed to write runes on the air, causing a large gust of air to push his body away from the figure. The magic array over Nash's forehead cracked and shattered. "I gave you that magic scroll, Mark. I know that you need me to not move for it to activate. I'll be back for your head, don't die to anyone before then."
Thud!
Nash's body fell to the ground, lifeless.
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Drip. Drip. Drip.
Water droplets fell on the ground as ice melted off Nash's new body as his soul descended into it.
His pale skin indicated his weakness. His short blonde hair covered a little of his eyes as he leaned on the wall to walk.
'Damn it. The trip back to my Mana Space damaged my soul.' Nash thought as he took a few deep breaths. 'I guess it's alright. I'll just go to a starter town and re-obtain a class. This body has a high mana density, it must have a magical class, who knows? Maybe it's even a hidden Class.'
Nash walked to a room in his Mana Space. It was a simple room. One bed, a closet, a bedside table, a mirror on the wall and a rug on the floor. Nash walked to the closet and retrieved a backpack from within. He also dried himself off with a towel before clothing himself with a black shirt and a gray sweatpants. He had a bunch of clothes in his bag as well as a little bit of money to restart his journey. He looked at himself in the mirror.
"I didn't realize that this body was so young." Nash said aloud as he examined his new body. His short blonde hair contrasted his bright blue eyes nicely. His face looked young. It looked to be about 16-years-old, a contrast to his old 52-year-old body. "All the better, it means I have more time to strengthen myself before I go kill that traitorous bastard."
Nash pulled the rug off the floor and revealed a magic array beneath it. He reached into his bag to check for a blue crystal. "Using Mana Crystals on a mere teleportation array, what a goddamn waste."
He couldn't use mana as his current body had no Class. He had to go to an Adventurer's Association in a town to obtain a new class, hopefully a magic-related Class. All the better if it was a Magician, as he was most familiar with this Class.
"Let's see here." Nash put his bag on the bed as he began to check his items. It would be a nightmare if he forgot something important after he teleported. After all, he needed an insane amount of mana to enter his Mana Space. The small amount of Mana Crystals he had on him were nowhere near enough to teleport him back, most of his wealth was on his old body. "Alright, I got 5 Mana Crystals, 100 Gold Coins, a full set of Mage equipment all the way from Novice-rank to Master-rank, and lastly, a blood-bound spatial ring with 10 drops of Mana Essence in it."
Nash had planned out his path to reaching Master-rank ahead of time. He even hesitated on using the Mana Essence drops in hope of one day restarting and boosting his foundations, giving him a little confidence in entering the Grandmaster-rank.
He took a deep breath then walked onto the teleportation array, taking out a Mana Crystal in his hand.
'I will avenge you, Mira. That is my Oath to you, my love.'
Suddenly a golden magic array appeared over Nash's heart. It was an Oath array. More commonly known as Forbidden Magic. This type of Sealing Magic was banned as it violated a person's right as a living being. All Humanoid kingdoms ban this practice, unless it was used on a Grandmaster-rank criminal.
"With this, I'll never be able to go back on my word." Nash was relaxed as the array set itself into his heart. This way, even if he lost his feelings towards his late wife, he could never go back on his Oath of vengeance. He sighed, then crushed the Mana Crystal in his hand.
Shatter!
Whoosh!!
A blue light enveloped his body as he vanished from his Mana Space.
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"Recruiting Human Healers! Beginner-rank or above only!"
"We need a Knight over here! Anyone is fine!"
"Party of five! Waiting for an Intermediate-rank Summoner! Whoever joins gets first pick on the boss!"
"Looking for three Elven Assassins! Intermediate-rank and below, get lost!"
"Looking for a party to help me increase my Tier! I'm paying in Silver Coins!"
'It feels a little nostalgic hearing unfilled parties recruiting in front of the teleportation hall.' Nash thought as he heard a bunch of people call out.
He smiled as his memories started to rush back to him. He was merely messing around with his best friend, Kane. They were racing while they were on a trip to a forest. The young 20-year-olds didn't think that they would find a gate leading to another world when they fell into a valley. They entered the world and started working their way up in the world. After becoming known experts throughout the world, they went back into the gate they came from. They were akin to untouchable gods back on Earth. They took charge of humanity as they started moving in more humans into the world of Ashitoria, training them slowly. Their forces went from a small party to a large attack force and then into a large First-Class organization, the Earth Alliance. Naturally, not all Humans wanted to join their organization, so the Earth Alliance was more of a large gathering of Humans. The Earth Alliance's true strength was barely on par with a Second-Class organization. The Earth Alliance only moved it's powerhouses when a threat to all Humans appears. Although the Earth Alliance only had the strength of a Second-Class organization, if it's powerhouses made a move, not even Top organizations could stop them.
'Those were the good times.' Nash smiled weakly. His happiness was cut short as someone cut off his path to the teleportation hall's entrance.
"Are you new here, kid?" a large and muscular man blocked Nash's path. "There's a rule in Frozen Cavern Town, buddy. Newcomers have to pay 10 Copper Coins when they arrive, and 1 Silver Coin when they leave."
'What a pain in the ass.' Nash sighed helplessly. He currently had no Class, he had no hope against this man. Nash then turned to the crowd and loudly declared, "Whoever kills this man will receive a Gold Coin, curtsey of the Earth Alliance."
"The Earth Alliance?!"
"What's a bigshot like him doing here?"
"He has no Class! Is he the son of some Earth Alliance powerhouse?!"
"No way he's related to the Earth Alliance! They nurture their members beforehand!"
"He can't be lying since he mentioned the Earth Alliance. If he doesn't pay up, the Earth Alliance will hunt him down and punish him. This might be a chance to get a month's worth of pay in less than two minutes."
The crowd discussed the bounty that's been placed. A Gold Coin was no small amount. With a single Gold Coin, someone could afford all their Basic-Class promotion tests all the way to Intermediate-rank.
A group of heavily equipped people walked to Nash. "Excuse me. It appears our idiotic friend here was giving you a hard time. Please accept this gift as an apology and cancel the bounty."
Currently Nash had 99 Gold Coins on his body. He lost one when he declared the bounty. Every High-Tier Town and above had a manager array installed. The array would keep track of the Town and everything within it. As soon as he issued the bounty, the array took a single Gold Coin from him and put up the name of the man on the bounty list. Even if Nash died here, the bounty would still be up.
"Teach him some manners when you have the time." Nash scolded as he grabbed the box from a Demi Human Archer. Over the 20 years that Humans were introduced to the world of Ashitoria, many had engaged with the various races. Humans were mostly fond of Elves and Demi Beasts. As such, many Demi Humans were born into this world.
"The hell is this?" Nash questioned as he looked the small box. It contained a purple ring inside.
"W-Well, it's a ring that dropped from a Tier 2 Special Boss." the leader of the group, an Elf Swordsman stuttered slightly. Even if he called the large man an 'idiotic friend', he was still the little brother of their late founder. He could not simply let his idol's family get hunted down by every party in the Town.
"Whatever, I have things to do." Nash scoffed as he cancelled his bounty, 90 Silver Coins appearing in his hand. 'I forgot it takes 10% if I cancel. Whatever, I can earn more than twice that amount in a day with my knowledge in Magical Classes.'
Nash left the teleportation hall under everyone's gaze. He heard all of them as they all ordered subordinates to follow after him. As soon as he was out of Town, they were probably going to kill him and rob his body. 'Good luck with that. If I sell the Mana Crystals on me, I would have enough to reach Advanced-rank. Once I become an Advanced-rank Mage, I can contact Kane to come pick me up.'
He immediately rushed to the Adventurer's Association nearby.
As soon as he entered, he heard a pleasant voice as a beautiful black-haired woman worked one of the counters. "Hello, Sir. How may I help you?"
"I'm here to get my Class. Hurry up a little, I'm in a rush." Nash said straightforwardly. He had no need to butter up the workers here, he was no longer a weakling that depended on his relationships to get stronger. Going back to his Master-rank was only a matter of time.
'A peasant, huh?' the female worker's smile never left her face as she thought. 'I guess, he's fed up with everyone...but even then, why would he be so rude? I'm just doing my job...'
"Your Class will be determined by a series of tests we will give you." the worker explained. "We will test everything from your physical potential to your knowledge. If you want the advanced test, we will also test your Mana Core potential, though it will cost a little bit extra."
"How much is the advanced test?" Nash asked. He had a great amount of money, but the tests would only get more expensive. If the advanced test was too expensive, he'd just forget about it.
"The normal test costs 2 Silver Coins, while the advanced test costs 5 Silver Coins." the woman explained happily. If she convinced this customer to take the advanced test, she would get 60 Copper Coins from the 5 Silver Coins paid.
"I didn't know that the Adventurer's Association was running a damn arcade, you think I'm here to throw money away?!" Nash yelled. This tactic always used to work back in the day to get himself a few extra quests from the Adventurer's Association.
Everyone looked at Nash as he glared at the woman behind the counter, who merely chuckled nervously.
Nash chuckled lightly as he thought, 'Looks like the Adventurer's Association isn't like in the past, seems their prices are fixed nowadays.'
Nash took out 6 Silver Coins and handed it to her. "I'm sorry for scaring you, young lady. Take this Silver Coin as an apology. I'm going to take the advanced test."
'Young lady?' the 25-year-old worker looked at the young Nash with confusion, but she accepted the payment nonetheless. "Just stand on this teleportation array, we'll move you to your Class assessment."
Nash moved to the array and waited as the worker started writing some runes on the air as well as chanting some incantations. Nash immediately found out her level from her performance. 'Intermediate-rank Mage? Why would someone of her skill level work as a receptionist in a small Adventurer's Association branch like this one?'
"I wish you luck, Sir." the woman said between breaths as activating the array had taken a bit of effort.
'Why is she tired after such a small use of mana?' Nash smelled something fishy, yet he had no time to investigate as a blue light engulfed him, sending him to his testing area.
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"Welcome." a robotic voice said to Nash. "I am the Artificial Intelligence know as B.O.B."
'Barely Operational Biodroid? Really? Who still uses these anymore?!' Nash thought in a little bit of disgust, these things were considered obsolete back when he first came to Ashitoria, let alone now.
"Let us begin the test."
The test consisted of many portions, including: physical fitness, magical knowledge, monster knowledge, herb knowledge, material knowledge, weapon proficiency and most importantly, personality test.
"Here are your results." a screen appeared before Nash.
Physical test: B-rank.
Magical knowledge: S-rank.
Monster knowledge: A-rank.
Herb knowledge: C-rank.
Material knowledge: D-rank.
Weapon proficiency: D-rank. (Favored Weapon: Staff. Unfavored Weapon: Spear)
Personality test: DPS.
"Nice." Nash was relieved to see his results. He was a Damage-dealer Mage before, so a DPS Class practically guaranteed Mage. "Seeing such a high physical prowess, the mana in this body must be insane!"
"Time to test your Mana Core."
"Let's do this." Nash put his hand on the large crystal in front of him.
An F-rank appeared above the crystal. Nash smiled as he started to fantasize. "I wonder what the potential is. I'm not asking for much, just an SS-rank would be alright."
Nash had paid an enormous sum for this body. He had bought it from a well-known treasure collector nicknamed "Hoarder", who was a Low-Tier Master Swordsman. Hoarder always liked to trade treasures for treasures. Nash had traded an SS-rank Mage robe that even Grandmasters wished for in order to get his hands on this body.
Nash raised an eyebrow. "Hm? It's not rising. I think your measurement crystal is broken."
The robotic voice announced. "There is nothing wrong. The crystal is not broken. Your Mana Core potential is F-rank."
A cold chill went down Nash's spine. The AI continued, "Your assigned Class is Swordsman. Welcome to the Adventurer's Association."
A grey badge appeared in front of Nash. The measurement crystal used was just as good as his own, an A-rank crystal. There was only one other explanation for this. "HOARDER, YOU MOTHERFUCKEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!!"