Reborn: Knight's Code (2 page)

7-2

The next , Ash woke to find the landscape covered in a thin white powder. It had snowed all night long and still continued to do so now. The snow was still only lightly covering the ground so it didn’t impede them much as they made their way through the densely packed forest. In most places the snow hadn’t even reached the forest floor yet.

Even though the ground was mostly clear of snow, it was wet and his worn boots didn’t keep the cold or water away well and soon his pants legs were soaked and ran down to his cold feet. Den, noticing Ash constantly shaking his feet, handed him two pair of thick padded socks. “Here, layering them helps keep out the cold.” Den also handed Ash two thin leather strips and leather cords. “Lash these to the tops of your boots to keep out the water. It’s not perfect, but it is better than getting boot rot.”

After putting on the new socks and wrapping the tops of his boots in waterproof leather they continued on their slow march through the dense woodland.

As they made their way through the woods, Marilyn would report back to Den every so often, but so far they had encountered no signs of movement within the deep underbrush. Ash paid close attention to the knight’s movements as they marched. It didn’t take Ash long to notice that the knights walked differently in the woods then they did when they were out in the open. Their footsteps were softer and made very little noise even though the ground was covered in branches and fallen leaves. Ash tried to mimic the way they walked and after more than an hour he had got the basic movement down, but he was still making far more noise than the trained soldiers. It was simple in theory, one just had to walk toe to heel, but it was much harder to put into practice since it was contrary to how humans normally walked.

A few hours after midday, Marilyn brought news that Maria had found signs of the bandits so they were brought to a halt. Ash thought there was enough time for an assault, but Den wanted to wait until morning so that Maria could watch the camp and they could formulate a plan that would result in the best chances for them to all live through the battle.

While Maria scouted, the rest made camp under a group of large trees that was surrounded by a tight pacing of smaller trees. Though the wind had gotten colder as they grew closer to the bandits, there was no fire. The only good thing was that the trees blocked most of the cool wind from reaching them.

Since there was a chance of the noise carrying too far, there was no sparing or much talking for that matter. Instead, the knights simply sat around in silence. Some of them sharpened their swords and checked their equipment while others just stared into the sky listlessly.

Ash could feel the palpable tension that hung in the air. They all knew that a fight was coming and none of them knew if they would survive it. Zelan had often said that no matter how strong you were when fighting, all it took was one mistake to end your life. Even if you had a million HP, all it took was a good sword to reach your heart to cause a fatal strike and that was the end for you. The world might have game like qualities, but in the end it was still the real world and that meant that in situations like this, death was looming around the corner and hidden in every shadow. Zelan had told Ash the same thing over and over but it was situations like this that really drove the point home.

That night as Ash lay down to sleep, the nervous energy in the air sent shivers down his spine and dark images to his mind, making him feel uneasy. After more than an hour laying down, Ash still hadn’t fallen asleep and instead got up from his mat on the ground. There were already two guards set to watch, so Ash took a place near the edge of the camp and stared into the empty darkness.

The group had retired early the night before and even after everyone had gotten five hours of rest, darkness till hugged the land tightly. They were less than an hour away from the bandit’s camp but marching silently through the deep underbrush without making a sound was hard and the tension in the air seemed to drain Ash with every step.

It wasn’t hard to find the camp, as it was located in a small clearing that could easily accommodate a large number of tents. Ash and the others spread out along the south side of the clearing, each one about fifty yards from the other.

The camp was mostly silent, Marilyn and Maria silently took out the four roving guards that moved through the forest looking for threats. Just as the sky began to lighten, the attack commenced according to the plan Den had come up with hours before.

There were around twenty tents and from the scout reports, nearly fifty thieves with at least one mage. The tents were arranged without rhyme or reason, but three of the tents were noticeably larger than the others. The larger tents were the first priority so the group broke off into pairs of two, each of them trying to silently move through the gathered tents to reach their target. Ash was paired with Den, though it was more so that Den could make sure that nothing happened to the young lord.

Ash found it a little annoying to be treated with kid gloves, but a part of him understood the reason behind it. Den and Ash moved toward the second largest tent where they believed the mage and his subordinates to live. There were a few guards who walked around the camp, but most of them only sit in front of the fire not paying much attention to what was going on around them.

Upon reaching the tenth Ash used a small dagger to cut the tent open so that he and Den could slip inside.

The inside of the tent looked far different than what Ash had envisioned. In his mind he had thought it would be layered with furs and pillows like he had often seen in movies about desert princes. Instead the only furs seemed to be in the small sleeping area, though there was a fairly large size stack of loot in one of the corners of the tent. Though it was nothing compared to what Ash had imagined it would be.

They found the mage sleeping on a thin pile of fur and blankets with a few colorful pillows but he was not alone. Next to the old mage was a young lady in her mid-twenties. Ash was shocked when he saw Den raise his sword, not over the mage but over the young woman as he signaled Ash to kill the mage. Ash was happy that he would get to kill the mage since he noticed a small reapers blade hovering over his head, but seeing Den calmly preparing to kill the young lady sent a pang of guilt running through his heart.

In the small space of time that Ash hesitated, Den’s sword had already plunged into the woman’s breast killing her instantly. Though the kill was mostly silent, the man’s eyes shot open. As the man opened his eyes, Ash quickly drove his sword down into the man, but not before he let out a loud piercing scream.

Pulling his sword free, Ash looked over to see Den looking at him with a reproaching look. Before either could say anything, someone outside the tent called out. From the noise that suddenly erupted it seemed that it wasn’t just their group that had encountered problems. As the mage died a faint white smoke arose from his body and flowed into Ash’s chest.

“Tring.”

[You have killed a level 21 person marked for death by the goddess and have absorbed a portion of the marked soul. Because your level was more than five levels lower you have received 12% of the marked person experience amounting to 472,731 experience.]

“Tring.”

[You have gained a level.]

“Tring.”

[You have gained a level.]

“Tring.”

[You have gained a level.]

“Tring.”

[You have gained a level.]

“Tring.”

[You have killed a person marked for death by the goddess and have been awarded the abilities Mana Manipulation, and Fire Affinity.]

Thanks to everything going on, Ash didn’t have time to look at his new abilities or levels. Though he couldn’t look at them, he was happy for such a jump in his levels. 

Ash and Den both moved to the tent exit. As Den lifted up the tent flap, Ash took a quick look outside to see a number of bandits running around headed in the direction of one of the larger tents. The camp seemed to be in a state of chaos so the two stayed hidden and waited to see what was happening. They remained hidden until they heard a shrill voice call out and recognized it as Maria’s voice. Ash and Den both let out a heavy sigh then charged out from the tent.

As soon as Ash exited the tent, he came face to face with one of the bandits. The man was surprised upon seeing Ash and before he had a chance to react, Ash’s sword already cut through his chest, sending a spray of blood that temporally blinded Ash. As soon as the man fell, another yelled out and soon a number of bandits started to surround Ash and Den.

Thanks to his hellish training, without thinking, Ash’s sword started to dance as he moved through the men killing one after another. Most of the men were normal bandits, but a few of them had small scythes floating above their heads. Ash took effort to kill those that were marked, but Den moved through just as quickly, killing two of his targets but Ash was still able to get one of the three. As soon as the marked bandit died, Ash once again heard as the tring popped through his mind.

“Tring.”

[You have killed a level 19 person marked for death by the goddess and have absorbed a portion of the marked soul. Because your level was one level lower you have received 5% of the marked person experience amounting to 38,264 experience.]

“Tring.”

[You have killed a person marked for death by the goddess and have been awarded the ability Hide.]

Ash ignored the small windows that popped up in his mind and continued to fight. Within moments, Ash was so covered in blood that he could feel his tunic sticking to his body.

Before he had a moment to think, four more bandits appeared running around the corner. Without thinking, Ash put all of his strength into his left leg as he kicked forward and flashed past them to get him face to face with the man at the rear of the group who was marked. Ash’s sword darted forward, but though the other man was slightly startled, he was able to get his dagger up to block Ash’s strike.

Before he had a chance to attack again, one of the men Ash had rushed past took a swing at his exposed back but Ash’s luck shield flared, blocking the strike. Knowing that with two at his back, he had little chance to making it through the fight without receiving damage, Ash darted to the side just in time to see Den strike one of the bandits down. Now that it was one on one, Ash turned his attention back to the marked man and resumed his attack.

The marked thief was slightly larger and older than the others. His movements were also more refined than the others and after the man had blocked three of his attacks Ash knew that he was far from the others who he had easily cut through. Having not used it for a while, Ash used analyze on the bandit. When his screen was completely blacked out, he knew that the man in front of him was at least five levels higher then him though he figured that it was mostly likely far more since his speed was almost equal to his own.

The man gave a sneer then Ash noticed something flash above his head, but it happened so fast that he didn’t get a chance to see what skill was being activated. Ash didn’t have to wait long to see as the man in front of him blurred for a moment then seemingly disappeared and reappeared next to Ash. Ash had no time to defend and his shield didn’t activate as the man’s dagger aimed for Ash’s neck. Though he didn’t have time to block, Ash was able to move his body just enough to keep from receiving a fatal blow though his HP was still taken down by 10%. Seeing that he couldn’t win without using his own skills Ash invoked Gambler’s Gambit.

“Tring.”

[You have used Gambler’s Gambit and all stats are raised by 2.]

“A 2,” Ash was completely astounded, but then again no matter how high his luck was, sometimes it still had to fall short. Though he wanted to curse, Ash didn’t have time to think too deeply about it as the bandit was already moving to strike again. Without thinking, Ash used his Shadow Whip which struck out and slammed into the thief sending him crashing to the ground. Before the man could get back up, Ash jumped on his burying his sword into the back of the man’s skull.

“Tring.”

[You have killed a level 48 person marked for death by the goddess and have absorbed a portion of the marked soul. Because your level was more than five level lowers you have received 20% of the marked person experience amounting to 73,726,003 experience.]

Suddenly Ash’s heard the “Tring,” sound a number of times followed by the notification he had raised a level. It happened so fast that Ash was amazed. He knew that the higher level one got the higher the experience needed to reach the next level, but he didn’t think it would get that high. Not caring about his surroundings, Ash quickly called his status and found that he had already jumped up to level 35. In the space of less than an hour he had jumped twenty-one levels.

He knew that his absorption ability was a cheat. He had been told that a number of times by more than one person. That aside, if his absorption ability was a cheat then the goddess’s blessings was even more of a cheat. Seeing the huge change, Ash resounded himself to go back to the temple and talk to the priest again. Before he could give it much more thought another “Tring,” resounded in his mind.

[You have killed a person marked for death by the goddess and have been awarded the abilities Boost and Blood Drain.]

Ash had to force himself to forget about the levels and abilities he had gained and focus on the other bandits as more and more were appearing. Once again he heard one of the girls yell and he and Den started to fight toward the sound of battle that was no longer very far away.