"What a lifesaver!" Nash smiled in delight. This single ring could save his life! Mages had many lifesaving spells, while Swordsmen didn't nearly as many lifesaving Skills. Nash could now use a Mage's most basic, and most used, spell, Teleport. He could use the spell twice, since he was basically a Swordsman. He didn't want to risk not being able to fight just because he used Teleport twice and got a horrible headache. Nash rolled in his bed. He decided to still stay at the Adventurer's Association Inn, due to its safety.
"Goodnight, Nashie." Nash heard the whisper once more.
"..." Nash felt a wave of sadness overwhelm his joy of obtaining the Mana storage ring. "Goodnight, my love."
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Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Sir! We have been instructed to wake you up at 6 am!" a housemaid knocked on Nash's door.
"Yeah...thanks, I'm up." Nash said as he stretched after a yawn. "Well, I still have some time before meeting up with the Dark Human. I guess I'll just have to train for a bit."
Nash got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. He retrieved one of his longswords as he put the Mana storage ring on the Novice-rank Mana gathering array. He started to practice his forms as he waited for the Mana storage ring to charge up its Mana.
'What if I enhance my body with Mana?' Nash thought to himself. Mages often enhanced their senses with Mana to increase their Casting accuracy. Maybe he can increase his physical strength using Mana. 'I've got time to kill. I guess I'll try.'
Nash's muscles bulged as his Mana rushed through his body. "My strength doubled with so little Mana?!"
Nash had barely used 1% of his Mana. What he did not know was that physical Classes would never be able to contend with magical Classes if they didn't have this ability of increasing physical strength with so little Mana.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Nash was astonished by his speed. "I can use one longsword in each hand if I can keep this up indefinitely!"
It was a little unfortunate that Nash was excited by being able to achieve the bare minimum of his Class. While a lot of Swordsmen did not use dual longswords, it was merely preference. It was not due to inability.
Nash's 1% kept his body in this condition for 1 minute. "So, I can stay in this form for 100 minutes, or 1 hour and 40 minutes...10 times that amount if I use the Mana storage ring. So, a maximum of a little over 18 hours. Though that time could be reduced to 10 hours if I use Teleport. I'll definitely need to use at least one Teleport if I fight a Boss. Not to mention, there are more monsters in a dungeon other than the Boss. 10 hours to raid a dungeon? That's just unrealistic."
Nash sighed as he continued his training. Although he could use two swords currently, it was unwise to train up something he couldn't use indefinitely while his basics were unstable. He continued his training with one longsword gripped with two hands.
'It should be around 8:30 right now. I'll head down and get something to eat while I wait for that guy.' Nash thought as he took a bunch of deep breaths. He quickly showered, changed his clothes, then headed down to leave and find a close tavern nearby.
In the reception, he saw the Dark World party. They were currently appealing their ban. While they were not allowed into the Quest room or the lobby, they were allowed to enter the reception. In the reception, they could appeal for the Association to remove their ban for a certain amount of money.
"Hey, it's that dick!" a Dark Human member of the party turned to Nash as he walked past them. "Where the hell do you think you're going?! Tell him to remove our ban or give us the money to remove it!!"
"Do you wish for your ban to become permanent?" Feyrith, the young Elf middleman, said as he was walking past the counter.
"Enough. Lift their ban." Nash said as he sighed. He only did so because his inner conscious would not forgive him if the poor Demon in the party died because of him.
Demons were the most pitied race in all the Verse. The poor creatures could only survive off Mana. While Elves could technically survive off only Mana, Demons would die if they didn't consume Mana cores. Demons were the most prominent race in the Adventurer's Association, mostly due to how much safer it was to do business with them. The Association gave them information about certain monsters that were commissioned to be taken care of, and the Demons took care of the monster at any cost. Their lives were constantly on the line. Unless someone was rich and had a spatial ring to store thousands of Mana cores. No Demon could live for more than a month without fighting for their lives. Contrary to popular belief, Demons were the farthest creatures from the Dark. They were the only race that could not convert to the Dark. Even Angels could turn into Fallen Angels, yet Demons would only be Demons, no matter what. That was due to their natural body composition. Unlike Elves who turned Mana into a physical form, or Humans who stored their Mana in their Cores, or Beasts who stored the Mana in their bodies, Demons would constantly use up Mana to stay alive. When the Dark Mana entered their bodies, they would just use it up immediately, not giving it a chance to overtake their bodies.
Nash walked to the nervous Demon, it was obvious that this poor Demon was running on his body's own Mana. Nash put his hand on the Demon's shoulder and used the Mana storage ring to give him 50% of the stored Mana. Nash sighed, "That should last you for a day."
"You shouldn't associate with people like them, no matter how desperate you are." Nash glanced at the other members of the Dark World party.
The Demon looked at Nash, "W-Why would you help me? Weren't we enemies?"
"Who said anything about enemies? You were just annoying me, so I had you moved out of my face. To be perfectly honest, I have nothing against most of you." Nash said as he glared at the two Dark Humans. "You can't help your birth. Just don't do anything stupid and be careful of what you say. If a God-rank discovered your party's name, they'd probably wipe you all out."
"..." the party went silent. The Dark Elven leader suddenly burst out laughing.
"Natalie?" the other, male, Dark Elf turned to the party leader named Natalie.
"S-Sorry." Natalie apologized as she looked at Nash. "Kid, you sound like my grandpa! I like you! What's your name?"
Nash rolled his eyes as he sighed. "My name is Nash."
"I'm Natalie, a Mid-Tier Intermediate-rank Swordsman Class." Natalie smiled as her long light blue hair covered her long Elven ears. Her shining black armor complimented her silver rapier.
"...I-I'm Naetir, a Peak-Tier Beginner-rank Mage Class." one of the Dark Beasts stepped forward, it was a female cat-woman who wore some mage robes that covered most of her pitch black fur and held a dark red magic staff that Nash identified as a Tier-2 staff.
The other male fox-man Dark Beast was wearing heavy blue armor and a large shield on his back, a small hammer hung from his side. The man sighed and stepped forward. "My name is Leon. I am a High-Tier Beginner-rank Shieldmaster Class."
"I'm Shinrith! A High-Tier Intermediate-rank Mage Class!" the male Dark Elf stepped forward with pride, causing his blue ponytail to shake. Tier was nothing to be taken lightly. While a Low-Tier and a Peak-Tier were both technically at the same level of power, the difference was very wide. A Peak-Tier Swordsman could destroy a party of Low-Tiers in a matter of seconds! Tier was the level of skill a certain person could exhibit.
None of the Dark Humans said a thing. The Demon, on the other hand, walked forward, a smile barely visible on his face that was covered by a mask. His pearly white teeth contrasted his dark grey skin tone. He could be easily mistaken for a Dark Human if not for the giant scaled black wings on his back. "My name is K, a Peak-Tier Novice-rank Healer, and Mid-Tier Beginner-rank Assassin. Pleasure to meet you."
"A Demon Healer?" Nash was slightly surprised. Demons usually never awakened as magical Classes. They would usually awaken as two physical Classes. Mana was always fair and impartial. While Demons were tortured their entire lives, they had an ability that caused many to envy, even God-ranks!
The Multi Class ability!
Nash could already be considered a godly talent merely for being able to use spells as a Swordsman, even with the disadvantage of the headache. Due to this innate ability, Demons were hunted to the ends of the Verse for research. Only a small portion remained. The reason that K was standing in front of him with no fear was because of Mira, Nash's beloved late wife. When she saw how scared a Demon can look when faced with the other races, she demanded the entire Earth Alliance to mobilize and provide shelter for Demons! Threatening to spilt apart the Alliance if the council refused! Even after all her efforts, the Demons were still cautious. They wore masks that covered everything form their noses and up and only used initials as names.
"I know." K chuckled. "I almost cried from the irony."
"Life is inherently unfair." Nash sighed. Since Demons constantly absorbed Mana, using Mana to heal would be the equivalent of giving his life to another person.
"What's your Class, Nash?" Natalie asked as Feyrith finalized their unban appeal, only leaving the payment for Nash.
"I'm...a Low-Tier Novice-rank Swordsman Class." Nash said as he looked to the side.
All the Dark World members felt their jaws drop. He was barely stronger than someone without a Class!!! They thought he would be a Peak-Tier bigshot talent, but no! He was the weakest of weaklings!!
"...Excuse me, I have something to do." Nash left after an awkward silence.
The two Dark Humans burst into laughter.
"Be careful not to trip over your sword, Nash!" one of the Dark Humans mocked as he noticed Nash's longswords on his waist. "Longswords are long, they can hit your feet."
"Don't mock him, Rob! The poor boy is just uneducated. Give him some time and he'll be able to beat all of us!" the female Dark Human, Rebecca, said in a sarcastic tone.
"Whatever, man." Nash whispered underneath his breath as he left to get something to eat.
"That was a great laugh." Robert, the Swordsman Dark Human, had one hell of a laugh.
"..." the entire party looked at the two Dark Humans.
"What?" Rebecca, the Beginner-rank Summoner, looked to the party.
"He was rich, we could've gotten something out of him!!" Natalie looked to the two. "You idiots! Who's going to pay for our unban appeal now?!"
"Um..." Rob couldn't think of what to say.
"Well, pay up, dumbasses!!" Natalie told the two to pay out the 10 Silver Coins out of their own pockets. They couldn't say much as they bit their lips and paid up. Although they each paid 5 Silver Coins, a week's worth of work, the laugh was still worth it. They hadn't laughed like that since they converted to the Dark.
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"So damn humiliating..." Nash sighed as he walked the street.
The streets were mostly filled with adventurers. Frozen Cavern Town was a dungeon-infested Town. Although it was hell for ordinary citizens, it was heaven for adventurers! They could practice all they wanted here. Plus, many of the things they needed were available here. Nash came across a small tavern named "Final Sip".
"Hello!" Nash called out as he entered.
One of the busy waiters smiled to Nash apologetically. "I'm sorry, Sir. Please find an empty table, we'll come take your order soon."
'Well, it's not my first time in this kind of place.' Nash thought as he found himself a seat at the bar.
"You drink, kid?" the bartender, an old Beast man, asked with a smile.
"I'm a light drinker." Nash explained. "But I'd rather get some good food in me first, what do you have?"
"We got all kinds of food. We have chefs from one of every major race in Ashitoria." the Beast said proudly. "Even if it's not on the menu, we'll whip up something for you!"
"..." Nash went quiet as a bittersweet smile appeared on his face. His mother always used to say that. She would always whip something up for him. No matter how crazy or stupid a recipe sounded, she'd make it for him. "Give me a regular old Mac and Cheese."
"One Mac and Cheese coming right up!" the Beast turned and stuck his head through the open window showcasing the kitchen behind. He relayed the order before turning to take some other customers' orders at the bar.
Nash sat peacefully as he waited for his food. This moment of serenity caused him to finally take everything in. Mira was dead. Mark had betrayed them. He'd probably never see Kane ever again. He had died and revived in an unexpected body. He had to relive his life once more.
Thud!
"Here you go, kid!" the Beast put down a plate of Mac and Cheese, Human-style.
"Thank you." Nash thanked as he picked up his spoon.
"I honestly prefer the Elven-style myself." the old Beast smiled as he cleaned a glass. He had time to chat since he already finished taking orders. Everyone who could fit in the tavern was already seated and waiting for their food.
"What can I say? Nothing tastes quite like home." Nash said as he started eating.
"Home?" the Beast laughed. "What do you know about Humans' home? You young Humans never got the chance to see Earth in its prime. I visited it when Humans were just moving to Ashitoria, and let me tell you, it was glorious! I visited a city called Dubai, that place was gorgeous!"
Nash merely chuckled. No one in Ashitoria remembered Earth more than his first Earth Party. When they came back to Earth to bring Humans to Ashitoria, they were already Master-ranks. Their memories and attention could not be matched by other Humans at the time. "Too bad Earth was destroyed in the battle with the Dark World party."
"Truly a shame..." the Beast sighed. "So, what's a kid like you doing here? This isn't exactly the best place for a boy to come solo."
"I can take care of myself." Nash smiled.
The old Beast merely smiled. "Name's Merin. What's yours?"
"Nash." Nash said as he finished his plate. He put his plate forward. "One more please."
"Aren't you a fast eater!" Merin laughed as he took the plate to the back.
"My mother always did say that." Nash laughed with him.
"You interest me, Nash." Merin looked at Nash with a raised eyebrow.
"How so?" Nash questioned as he leaned back in his chair.
"You have this weird feeling about you, I can't place my finger on it." Merin mused.
"Maybe I'm one of those eccentric God-ranks that disguise themselves as weaklings." Nash looked the Beast seriously.
"..."
"..."
"BAHAHAHAH!!"
The two burst out laughing. The probability of something like that was less than 1 in a trillion!
"You really are an interesting one, Nash!" Merin said as he calmed down for his laughter. "If you're ever around, make sure you come in for a little chat!"
"I definitely will!" Nash said with a smile.
"Here's your second plate, on the house!" Merin said as he put the plate before Nash.
"You the owner?" Nash asked in surprise. Owners almost never worked in their own establishments.
"Yeah...I inherited this thing from my father." Merin looked to the tavern. "It was a wreck when I got it, but...it was my father's lifework. I renovated the place and got it up and running. I fell in love with this work after I had to work here at the beginning because of you Humans introducing 'minimum wage'...dicks."
"Sorry we won't let you take advantage of the young and needy." Nash said as he ate a spoonful.
"You and I both know that's bullshit!" Merin said passionately. "You didn't understand the value of the Copper Coin and insisted on a 5 Silver Coins minimum wage!! We only make around 4 Silver Coins a day!!!"
"I...yeah...sorry about that." Nash looked to the side in embarrassment. It was actually Mira who insisted on the minimum wage being 5 Silvers. They didn't really use their money for employment, since they were adventurers. She compared washing some dishes to raiding dungeons. When she realized how many businesses started going bankrupt, she quickly lowered the minimum wage to 10 Copper Coins and reimbursed all the businesses registered under Human territory. The reimbursement almost crippled her personal account since she paid out of pocket. Nash missed out on an auction for a Grandmaster-rank spell because of the money he used to help Mira. The minimum wage stabilized at 35 Copper Coins a day over the years.
"Well...I'd love to continue this conversation, but I've got something to do." Nash said as he cleaned out his plate. "How much do I owe you?"
"Keep the money, kid. I haven't had a good laugh like that in a while!" Merin chuckled lightly. "Just promise to come back again."
"Very well then." Nash smiled. He hadn't laughed like that since his marriage anniversary 8 months ago.