Nash laid in his bed silently. '60 Copper Coins for a single night at the Association's inn is daylight robbery, though I should not complain with this level of security.'
Nash had spent his entire afternoon testing out his Class. He sighed as he summarized, 'I see. It appears that there's only a few difference between the Swordsman and Mage Classes. The Swordsman Class can barely even preform a High-Tier Novice-rank spell before a giant headache attacks his mind. Also, the Swordsman Class doesn't even have a tenth of the Mage Class's Mana capacity. Not to mention that a Mage's Mana capacity increases explosively with rank. If I had to estimate, I'd say that a Master-rank Swordsman doesn't even have 0.1% of a Master-rank Mage's capacity.'
He sighed once more. He had sighed more in this day alone more than he had in the entire previous year. He covered himself in his blanket and yawned. "It's been a while since I felt this tired. I have to find a way to switch Classes, or maybe increase my capacity. If it comes down to it, I'm even willing to restart again and get another body if I find one."
"Goodnight, my love." Nash paused slightly as he realized that no one would reply. A single tear fell down his face as he closed his eyes to sleep.
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Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Sir! We were instructed to wake you up at 5 am!" a housemaid woke Nash up.
"Thank you, I'm up." Nash said weakly as he stared at the ceiling in a daze. His lip quivered and eyes watered. 'It wasn't a dream...she really died.'
The sadness in his eyes was quickly replaced by a cold rage.
'Mark...Mark...Mark...Mark...MARK...MARK...MARK...MARK...MAAARK!!' the poor man repeated that name in his thoughts madly. Nash used what little Mana was inside his body to activate the Soul Marker that linked his soul to Mark's. '82,126,324 km. N23°W48°. If only I had my Grandmaster-rank scroll...I could've hired a Master-rank to activate it at that bastard.'
Nash had explored a lot of Ashitoria in his 30 years in this world. He was especially fond of this world's history. He frequently gathered his Anti-Dark legion to explore ancient ruins. The greatest treasure he had discovered was an giant ancient tablet that contained a Swordsman technique of unidentifiable rank. Other than that he had found a God-ranked Mage technique called 'Heart Casting'. He had also found plenty of magic scrolls with most being Master-rank. One could only imagine the number of Master-ranked Mages in the old days of Ashitoria. They might've been as common as today's Intermediate-ranks.
Nash reminisced in his bed about the good old days where they were a simple amateur party that was slowly gaining fame throughout Ashitoria. All the great ruins they explored...they had even pissed off a Grandmaster-rank Swordsman and almost wiped. Nash chuckled lightly, "I can't believe we wasted a Master-rank invincibility magic scroll for that stupid cape."
Nash sighed again. Then his eyes suddenly widened. 'Why do I remember it was a cape? We sold it right after. I switched Classes! A Swordsman Class shouldn't have this good of a memory!!'
Nash jumped off his bed with a panic. He quickly bit his finger, causing it to bleed. He had used the blood to draw a simple array on the floor.
Mana slowly started to gather on the array. A smile plastered Nash's face. 'I can use magic...I can use magic!! I am practically a Mage Class!! The only thing I need to fix is the Mana capacity!'
"Wait..." Nash immediately sat on the Tier-0 Mana gathering array he had set up and started absorbing the Mana. Sadly, he could only recover to his maximum. Nash started writing on the air, though nothing happened.
"DEAR GOD!!! The Mana veins are out of order!! It's a fixable body!! I hit the jackpot!!! Wait...no...are there two sets of Mana veins?!! It's a Multi Class body!! I bet that bastard Hoarder didn't know about this when he tried to scam me, he'd cry tears of blood if he found out!" Nash smiled madly. A Multi Class body was a treasure worth more than the mere Grandmaster-rank robe he traded for it. It was once said that multiple God-ranked Mages had almost gone mad after discovering that a Master-ranked Swordsman found one in an ancient ruin. They had declared war on anyone who tried to fight for it in the auction. The Master-ranked Swordsman made a fortune as none of the God-ranks backed down, resulting in a massacre that happened after the auction. "With this, I can probably make it back...but the Mana capacity is still a major issue. There would be no point if I knock out from Mana exhaustion after one spell."
"This problem is not a simple one...I need to find out my talent in Swordsmanship. If I have a decent talent in Swordsmanship, I should have no problem reaching Grandmaster-rank Swordsman...even God-rank isn't that out of reach with a body like this." Nash thought in pure happiness, yet he quickly calmed himself. "But if I don't have any talent, I'd have no choice but to switch to another body. Thanks to the second set of Mana veins I can switch bodies again...I have an out!"
Nash changed his clothes and walked downstairs into the Association's lobby. Feyrith rushed as soon as he saw him. "Sir! The Advanced-rank Swordsman Alex has been waiting for you for a few hours!"
"He's probably waited for months to covert to the Dark, he can wait a few hours." Nash scoffed.
A man with short white hair and piercing crimson eyes smiled at Nash while he sat on the lobby's couch and stood up. "A smartass, I see. I am going to enjoy breaking you down."
"You must be Alex." Nash smiled. "It's my displeasure to work with you."
"I respect you for sticking to your beliefs even in the face of power." Alex, the Dark Human, stood and released his Aura. "But that cute facade will crumble before long."
Nash's body involuntarily shook from the difference of power, but his smirk didn't leave his face. Nash had faced many scarier opponents. He had even witnessed one of Igris's Zenith-ranked spells, it was one of the many perks of being a member of the first group of Humans to pioneer the way into Ashitoria. Igris had even left the Earth Alliance with a God-ranked self-destruct spell. The scary part about that spell was that even a Novice-rank can use it, regardless of Class. That was the main reason why Mark hadn't shown up to kill Nash, he was working hard to cut the connection between their souls. Unlike when he had ambushed Nash before, Nash would have his Casting arm intact, giving him even 1 second to Cast would be disastrous.
"Enough with the showing off, I get it." Nash said as his body shook in fear. While Nash did not fear Alex, his body's survival instincts said otherwise. 'I need to retrain this damn body.'
Alex retrieved his Aura and smirked, "I expect the teaching upfront."
"Don't test me, asshole." Nash said coldly.
"Fine, what do you want to do?" Alex laughed. 'This brat is amusing...it appears he won't break easily. I shouldn't push him too much. If he's the son of some bastard from the Earth Alliance, I might lose my life.'
"First, you will accompany me to find a suitable weapon." Nash demanded. "I have a profi-"
"Hold on a second!" Alex interrupted. "I agreed to be your coach, not your babysitter."
"To teach me how to be a Swordsman, you need me to have good weapons, no?" Nash asked. His tone then turned sarcastic. "Oh, I get it! You want to get me the weapon yourself! How kind! Just what you'd expect from a Dark Human!"
'This brat is good.' Alex smiled. "You know what? You are right, we should go check out some weapons for you."
"Good." Nash said as his smile disappeared. 'That solves the problem of security, I guess.'
"What are you good at?" Alex asked as they left the Adventurer's Association building. "If you've trained in any melee weapons, which one's the best for you?"
"A staff." Nash replied. Though he did not like to rely on a Dark Human, he had no real choice.
"What are you, a damn Mage?" Alex laughed. He then started to give it some thought, he was here to do his job after all. "I guess we'll rule off a spear since you'd just treat it as a staff and not use it properly. It's better to train you in a new weapon completely, rather than try to rectify your old staff habits. You good with greatswords?"
"I'm alright, I prefer something light though. Maybe daggers?" Nash threw out the idea.
"Nah, any skilled Swordsman or Assassin would hand you your own ass on a silver platter, if you tried to use daggers without the skillset of an Assassin. You can try shortswords and longswords. If neither is your style, then we can move on to axes or something." Alex said. "So what's your deal, kid? No way a kid like you has any magical knowledge. Who's son are you?"
"If you're trying to dig for info, you'll get it after today's session." Nash said straightforwardly. "If you're not satisfied with your deal, you have the guarantee to take. Who knows, if you train me well, we could probably cut the Association out of the picture."
"I guess we'll see!" Alex laughed. If he could cut the Association out of the picture, he could save up so much money. He was spending around 1 Gold Coin a month for the Association to recommend him for quests. No one would hire him if the Association didn't give their word.
The two walked in silence until they reached a certain shop with a sign that had "Earth Alliance Trading Firm" plastered in pure gold.
Ding.
The bell hung on the door rang as the two entered. An employee immediately stopped cleaning and glared at Alex. "He's not welcome here."
"Get me your manager, boy." Nash said to the 20-year-old man in front of him.
The young man glared at the two and went to get his manager. When the manager came, he looked furious. "Who are you two? What do you want?"
"Y-Your boy is in the house..." Nash said embarrassedly. 'Goddamn it, Kane! Why'd you choose such a stupid password? You were 41 at the time!'
The manager was stunned as he escorted Nash to a room while the employee kept his eye on Alex. The manager looked at Nash and gave him a piece of paper and a Mana pen. "Your badge."
Nash smiled as he drew a small magic array on the paper. It suddenly glowed as the manager fell into complete silence. He had expected someone to have stolen a member's badge to get a Dark Human into the Trading Firm. Yet...yet...this was insane! A VVIP was in the room with him!!
'If only I had chosen to join Kane when he made this Trading Firm, I would've had an owner badge. It would've made all of this very simple.' Nash sighed. 'Well, I had the Anti-Dark legion to help rank up.'
"Excuse me, Sir!" the manager bowed. "My name is Owen. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask me!"
"Very good, Owen." Nash nodded. "I am in quite the predicament. I wish to let that Dark Human enter."
"But...we have a direct order, Sir!" Owen said nervously.
"I understand, Owen." Nash smiled. "If anything happens, say it was the responsibility of a man nicknamed 'Cash Money'. Considering that it's a matter that involves a VVIP badge, it should reach the person who would understand."
'That idiot would probably think that I sent someone to get me something.' Nash understood Kane more than he understood himself. Kane was a simple, yet honest, man. He didn't even hate Dark Humans. There were three factions in the matter of Dark Humans. The Anti-Dark legion led by Nash, the Pro-Dark group led by a man by the name of Link Riser, and lastly, the Neutral group led by Kane. The rule that banned Dark Humans from the Trading Firm was proposed by Nash, he had even paid an enormous sum to enforce that rule.
"Of course, Sir." Owen left the room and raised four fingers to the employee.
The employee's eyes widened in fear as he looked at Nash. "I apologize for my behavior with you and your companion, Sir!"
"No worries, son. You were just doing your job." Nash smiled at the young man who was physically older than him. "He is a filthy Dark Human, after all."
He looked with confusion as the two continued into the store. 'Son? Boy? Who is that guy?'
The two tested a few weapons, yet none felt quite right to Nash. He was, after all, a Mage. Weapons SHOULDN'T feel right in his hands. Nash noticed it and said, "I guess I'll get two longswords. They're light enough and can help me keep one for defending and parrying and another for attacking."
"Great! Let's do that!" Alex was very frustrated with Nash. The boy had barely any knowledge or skill in weapons! How the hell did he awaken as a Swordsman?!
"I'll take those two, please." Nash instructed the employee as he picked out two Tier-1 longswords. There was no real difference between Tier-0 and Tier-1 weapons. The only noticeable difference was that the durability of the prior would diminish faster, causing for more repair fees.
"That will be 2 Silver Coins, Sir." the woman at the counter said lazily. It was obvious she was fighting a yawn.
"Thanks." Nash said as he equipped his weapons and paid. He quickly left with Alex, although this time, he was the one following. Alex was taking him to a training area!