《The Magic 8 Ball》 Chapter 1: Enter the protagonist "Jensen, pick up the slack." "Jensen, unclog the printer." "Mr. Jensen, please report to the CEO''s office." Why was his life so fraught with worry? Carl Jensen had never really done anything that made it seem as though he deserved what he went though every day. He was always the go-to guy for everything, from a cup of coffee to being a goddamn valet. The constant barrage of noise trained his ears to filter out all but the most important parts, which was a handy skill indeed. Without it, he was sure he would have gone insane years ago. As it was, though, he required a couple cans of beer to wind down after work, or he wouldn''t be able to sleep. In the rare cases that he didn''t have beer to drink, he stayed up watching anime, letting the colorful lights lull his mind to sleep. He never really paid attention to the plot- most anime were generic money-grabs designed to appeal to pedophiles- but he had built up a small collection of favorites, mainly consisting of more serious anime like Ghost in the Shell, Serial Experiments Lain and Ergo Proxy. Watching anime did no favors for his reputation, of course. But he no longer cared; his wife had divorced him years prior, taking their baby daughter with her. After that, he had simply let himself go, sinking into worldly comforts to drown his sorrows. In appearance, he wasn''t too out of place. 173cm tall, with a slight beer belly, and a face lined with far too many wrinkles for a 36-year-old like Carl. A dirty mop of reddish brown hair sat on his head, a freak of nature that completely disregarded the fact that he most likely had no ancestors with red hair. He had no mustache, as he kept the area under his nose immaculately clear, but he sported a slight beard, that was not quite long enough to count as one yet thick enough to be more than just stubble. His blue eyes had a defeated, jaded look to them, and there were dark bags under his eyes, a testament to his stress. He walked into an alley, and opened the vinyl bag containing the six-pack of beer he had just bought. He didn''t read the brand name- he never did. Beer was beer, an alcoholic respite from reality. He popped a can open, and took a long drink from it, reveling in the coolness of the liquid rushing down his throat. Drinking in an alley like this was dangerous, he knew, but he had needed the beer so badly he had been willing to overlook some risks. He took another swig, put his head against the brick wall and closed his eyes. He imagined a world without companies, or CEOs, or annoying landlords. If only he possessed the power to mold the world to his desires, like a child playing with clay. And then, something brushed against the toe of his left sneaker. He looked down, expecting to see a small rodent of some kind, and instead saw a black orb. It was a magic 8 ball, the kind one normally saw sold in souvenir stores and held no value whatsoever. Carl laughed at the coincidence, and picked up the cheap plastic toy. He stared at it for a moment, then rattled it, listening to the fluids slosh around inside it. He put the tiny screen to his eye to read what it said. He was very, very surprised. Since when did magic 8 balls dispense such precise advice? He wondered, but had no time to expand on that thought before consciousness faded away.
He was being squeezed. It was tight enough to hurt, but he couldn''t locate the source of the grip he felt. It was truly an odd sensation- the tight grip on his body rippled, loosening and tightening at periodic intervals. And then, suddenly, he was blinded by light. His eyes hurt, so he closed them again, unwilling to move. Then he felt a knife on a part of him in front of his abdomen, and he panicked, thinking that someone was going to chop off his penis. He screamed with all his might, but his attempts at calling for help were somehow drowned out by the crying of a baby. He stopped screaming, and so did the baby. It was all rather odd. How did the baby know exactly when he would stop screaming? And then he was lifted by giant hands, firm yet gentle, and was pressed against a mound of flesh, with a hard protrusion at the end, poking at the corner of his mouth. Annoyed, he bit at it, and was surprised when a fluid gushed out of it, filling his mouth with a strangely nostalgic taste. He could hear voices, but he couldn''t understand them, so he let the gentle rocking motions of whoever was holding him continue. Soon, he began to feel drowsy, and fell into a deep sleep.
He had been reborn, he was sure of it. At first he had been very confused- and understandably so, for the transition from an adult man''s brain to that of a baby was undoubtedly rather uncomfortable, and the size difference made thinking harder. But he still managed to figure out a couple of things during his time as a baby: 1. He was not on Earth. The telltale signs were all there, but the most serious one he had found was magic. Carl had almost jumped out of his skin when he had fallen down and scraped his knees while trying to walk, and his new mother had come to him and simply healed him, glowing hands included. 2. He wasn''t a guy anymore. Whoever had forced him to be reborn was probably having a good laugh at his- her- expense, because Carl had been born into the body of a girl. This caused more complications than you might imagine, because her new body''s personality was threatening to take over his. She- named Athelin by her parents- found herself often thinking in a stereotypically girly way, even if he tried his best to keep his brain the way it was. 3. This definitely was not a hallucination. The sensations she felt were far too real for that, and no hallucination lasted this long. One explanation was that his alcoholism had landed him in a coma, but again, it was far too real to be just imagination. She had spent most of her first year as Athelin trying to figure out where she was, why she was there and how she could get back, with varying degrees of success. The first and third questions were utterly unanswerable, and the only conclusion she reached about the second was that the strange 8 ball was involved in this somehow. The language her parents spoke was like nothing she had ever heard on Earth, with far too many vowels and consonants. Unfortunately, she would have to learn the language from scratch. Athelin supposed it was a good thing she was born as a baby, for being a middle-aged man who didn''t know the language of wherever he was would be incredibly embarrassing. The spoken language had grammar close enough to English that she didn''t have too much trouble stringing words together- that is, the few words she knew so far- but the written language was a problem. It was an intricate blend of Egyptian hieroglyphics and Chinese characters, and while sentences had a pleasing aesthetic quality to them, actually understanding what they said was a completely different matter. Still, with the aid of picture books, she managed to make a fair bit of progress. Her new family seemed to be completely average financially. There were no visible signs of poverty, and they were never lacking for food. Athelin''s family consisted of her parents and an older brother who had left 5 years ago, and they were all ordinary humans. This might not seem like a big deal, but from Athelin''s experience watching anime, a different world, especially one with magic, would undoubtedly have more than one main humanoid race. One of the things that had shocked her about this world was the lack of technological advancements. The presence of magic might have made quick leaps and bounds in progress unnecessary, but that was no reason to completely ignore innovation. By technological standards, she estimated that this world was around the Middle Ages of Earth. She had yet to confirm whether the societal structure was similar, as she had not been allowed to leave the house. Since the first time she said a word, she had carefully devised a plan to hide her rapid learning pace. She didn''t want a repeat of the experience- she had almost suffocated in her mother''s voluminous chest while she praised Athelin. It was certainly enough to induce a trauma based around large mammaries.
Athelin looked up from the patch of herbs she had been carefully weeding. Her mother was the resident healer, which meant that she occasionally made strange-smelling potions from the herbs she grew in the garden behind the house. Her father wasn''t home- most likely participating in a patrol around the village, which was known as Vold. He was a town guardsman, and thus was not home very often, but when he was around he was an excellent father. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.At 4 years old, it was obvious Athelin took after her mother in terms of looks, with sharp green eyes and black hair. Her nose she considered rather too long for her own taste, but nobody else seemed to mind. As soon as she had become reasonably fluent in the language of this kingdom, Denthian- which was apparently shared by all human kingdoms- she had inquired the villagers about what the kingdom was like. She had learned that it was a stereotypical fantasy country, run by corrupt nobles and held up by the downtrodden masses. The royalty themselves were of no importance, as they were assassinated and replaced at the drop of a hat. The only reason the people of Vold village cared at all was because they needed to know the right names to curse whenever the tax collectors rode by, accompanied by a small group of knights to stop the villagers from attacking them. Athelin had also tried to get her mother to teach her how to use magic, but she herself had insufficient knowledge to do much other than give simple pointers that turned out to be of no use at all. Then she turned to her father for lessons in swordsmanship, but was turned down due to her age and small stature. This frustrated her to no end, and so she was forced to read through her mother''s thick tomes on the usage of herbs to pass the time. On her third birthday, the magic 8 ball had reappeared. She had avoided shaking it, afraid that something truly horrifying would happen this time. She had also concealed it from her parents, scared that it would be confiscated. After all, it was the only thing from Earth she had, although she wasn''t very sure if it had really been manufactured there, considering the fact that it seemingly had magical powers. Unfortunately for her, she had failed at making friends with the little boys and girls around her age. Being a mature adult stuck in a child''s body, it was hard for her to get along with the other children, and vice versa. She stayed away from the other children, and the other children stayed away from her, which she was perfectly fine with, even if it did worry her parents.
A 7-year-old Athelin lay on the ground, exhausted after a short lesson from her father. After she underwent a growth spurt when she was 6 years old, she had finally been given her father''s approval to start training. She was no master duelist yet, but considering the fact that she had never even touched a sword in the 43 years of her- and his- life, she was pretty satisfied with her progress. Why was she doing this? She didn''t have a definite reason. Was it just because swinging a sword is cool? No, that wasn''t it. Was it because she wanted to become an adventurer and help fight the droves of monsters that inhabited this world? That wasn''t it, either. She would like to live a comfortable, if rather boring life in one place, without having to move around too much. Then why was she so insistent about learning the way of the sword? Well, whatever the reason, there was no denying that it would be a useful skill to have in the future. Speaking of skills, Athelin had been disappointed that she didn''t get a game-like status screen. It would have made it incredibly easy to track her own progress if there were numerical indicators. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath, inhaling the fresh, pollution-free air. After a few moments, she stood up and headed back into the house.
It had been a day like any other. She had been sorting piles of herbs in the kitchen- getting them mixed up could be disastrous, causing side effects from mild itching to bloody diarrhea- when her father had burst into the house numerous cuts littering his body, a bloody sword in his hands. "Run, Athelin! The Bandit King is here!" The Bandit King was not a true king. However, he did lead multiple small armies of bandits, so nobody dared refute his self-assumed moniker. He was infamous for pillaging any town he came across in his wanderings, and Vold was clearly no exception. "But what about Ma?" Her mother had gone to the market to sell some of her herbs and potions. The market was right in front of the town walls, which would mean- Her face paled as her father''s mouth tightened into a thin-lipped grimace. She resisted the urge to break down and cry, and rushed into her room to find the 8 ball. She had put the black orb under one of the loose floorboards, and she regretted doing so, knowing that every second she spent trying to lift the boards could cost her life. Closely shadowed by her father, she ran, away from the village, towards the forest. It was a good thing her home had been located at the edge of Vold, meaning she would have a shorter distance to run. On the way, she saw familiar faces on the ground, impaled with arrows. There was Darren, the good-natured blacksmith, Helen, the proprietor of The Laughing Pig, the only inn in Vold, Sammy, a fruit vendor who always had an apple for her. She averted her eyes and focused on the ground as she ran. Soon, she was halfway to the forest. She could make it. She and her father would escape to some other village and start a new life there. And then her father let out an agonized cry as an arrow suddenly sprouted from his back. He stumbled, then fell, three more impaling his torso. Tears streaming from her eyes, Athelin ran, even as an arrow tore through her left arm. And then an arrow lodged in her right thigh and she went down as well, dropping the 8 ball in the process. Even so, she frantically tried to crawl away from the jeering laughs of the bandits, but failed. As darkness enveloped her vision, she weakly reached out for the 8 ball, and shook it.
The two bandits surrounded the fallen girl and dismounted from their horses. One of them spoke. "You reckon she''ll fetch a good price?" The other spat a gob of spittle on the ground. "Mebbe. Lots of demand for little girls these days." The first one suddenly grinned. "D''you think the boss will mind if we try her out a little?" "Don''t feel like it. Too much blood." "Aw, don''t be such a pussy. The first time''s always a little bloody, what difference does a little more blood make? Besides, if she bleeds out nobody will know anyway." "If you say so." As the two men hurriedly loosened their belts, a cold, furious voice came from behind them. "What the fuck do you think you''re doing?" The speaker was what looked to be an old man dressed in rags with numerous scars on his face and grey hair. However, those weren''t his most striking features. On top of his head were two long, triangular vulpine ears, and behind him were an array of nine grey tails, identical in color to his hair. This fox-man had just been about to bite into a plump roast pheasant when someone had violated the ''never-disturb-a-beastman-while-he-eats'' law and pulled him here, where two men, quite obviously bandits, were frozen in the act of attempting to rape an injured little girl. If that wasn''t enough, they were all humans, which meant he had been transported over an incredibly long distance, as he had made sure he wasn''t anywhere near human kingdoms. One of the bandits stammered while stumbling backwards, then tripped on his own trousers and fell. The other charged him with a yell, loose belt still hanging from his waist. The fox-man didn''t even react to the charging man until he was within striking distance, at which point the bandit suddenly found himself unarmed. The fox-man, now with an appropriated dagger, stabbed the bandit through the heart, and then in a couple of other places for good measure. After he fell to the ground, lifeblood forming a puddle under him, the fox-man web over to the other bandit and killed him as well. That way none would know of his involvement- it would be passed off as the two bandits simply killing each other. He had even refrained from using magic, as that might give his pursuers a lead on his location. He turned to leave, when he realize he forgot about one loose end. The girl would bleed out on her own if left alone, and he wouldn''t- couldn''t- interfere, even if it left a bad taste in his mouth. He looked at the girl, feeling slightly apologetic, when he saw the black orb in her hands. All thoughts of leaving her behind gone, he approached her body and examined the strange artifact. It was made of a material he had never seen before, and when he tried to take it from the girl''s hands he found to his surprise that he couldn''t. Rather, the orb was actively rejecting him. The fox-man sighed. He would have to take her with him after all. He picked the girl up, slung her over his shoulder, not caring about the blood making its way to his rags, and walked away. Chapter 2: Generic training montage, exhibit A The girl woke to the sound of a fire. When she opened her eyes, she saw a small log fire lighting up an otherwise dim cave. She suddenly remembered her injuries and probed her arm with her fingers, and was astonished to find no signs of damage at all. "Ah, so you''re finally awake." She whirled around to see an old, grizzled-looking man sitting on a rock, gazing at her inquisitively. "Where am I?" "Ah, an interesting question. Not ''who are you'', but ''where am I''. For your information, we''re in one of the many caves that litter this mountain range. Don''t know what it''s called." Athelin tried to recall if there were any mountains near Vold, and remembered the Sharptooth mountains. A long mountain range extending from one side of the kingdom to the other, it was named Sharptooth because of it being comprised mainly of sharp-looking, triangular mountains rather than ones topped with gently sloping bulges. "Oh. I think that''s the Sharptooth mountains." "That''s good to know. Now, tell me, girl, do you remember what happened before you fell unconscious?" It was as though a dam broke inside her tear ducts, letting raging streams of salty liquid make their way down her face. "Ma... And Pa... Died..." The fox-man had the decency to wait for her sobs to subside before impatiently asking her another question. "Yes, but more specifically, what happened just before you passed out?" The magic 8 ball! She pursed her lips together and shook her head, not willing to reveal its existence to the stranger. "Don''t worry, I already know about it. Besides, it''s in your hands right now." "Huh?" Astonished, Athelin looked down at her hands, and sure enough, she was holding the little plastic globe between both hands. "I tried taking it off you to see what it was, but it was like it didn''t want to let me take it. So tell me, girl, what is that artifact?" The fox-man''s face was uncomfortably close now, every scar on his face thrown into harsh relief by the light of the fire. She shrank back, not knowing what to do. Should she tell this man about how she had been reincarnated? Would he believe her even if she did? In the end, fear of the man won out over fear of disbelief, and she told him what had happened, starting from the moment the ball had rolled against her previous self''s foot. The man stayed silent throughout the whole retelling, as though silently contemplating what she told him. After she was finished, she looked at him warily. "Do you believe me?" The man chuckled. "I probably wouldn''t, if I was younger. As it is, though, I''ve seen enough hero summonings to know being transferred here from another world isn''t impossible, and the fact that I couldn''t take that orb off your hands indicates that it has some sort of strong power, perhaps enough to be a divine artifact." "Hero summoning? A divine artifact?" "Oh, so you are unaware of the humans'' efforts to bring people of other worlds here to fight for them?" "What?" "Around a thousand years ago, a powerful mage developed a ritual involving a ton of bloody sacrifices that would summon a being from another world. The summoned being was human, and he managed to destroy an entire army on his own before being stabbed in the back. Wasn''t pretty. Ever since then, humans have been performing the ritual every time they get into a spat with someone, although the heroes summoned these days are rather underwhelming." "You speak as though you saw he first summoned human yourself." "I did. I believe he called himself Jack the Ripper. Back then I was a mere soldier in the service of Kay''leth, a country of beastmen. We were the country the humans went to war with, and we barely made it out alive." "How- you''re saying that you''re over a thousand years old! No, disregard that for now, you said that was a thousand years ago? In my world, Jack the Ripper first appeared less than 150 years ago!" "It''s not that incredible. Elves live until they run out of mana to sustain their bodies, and that can take a couple hundred years. And maybe time runs differently here than on your world." "Still, a thousand years is a lot." "I suppose it is. Though I wouldn''t mind not having lived this long." "Why not?" "When you get to my age, you''ll have seen everything there is to see, from the founding of a great empire to its bloody downfall. It gets tiring after a while." "Sounds like a curse." "Because that''s what it is. I''m cursed to stay alive." "How''d that happen?" "Can''t tell you without killing you afterwards." "... You''re being serious, aren''t you." "Completely." "Well then, back to the topic at hand. What''s a divine artifact?" "An object with a portion of a deity''s power in it." "So gods are real in the world, huh? I suppose I should have expected that, since this world is one where magic exists, after all." "Yes. I suspect your- what did you call it?- Magic 8 ball is a divine artifact. The fact that it managed to pull you from another world without the aid of a ritual is incredible in itself, but the fact that it managed to grab me impresses me more." "Why''s that?" "Being over a thousand years old, I''ve outlived some gods, and that means I''m almost as powerful as one. I put protection around myself so that I can''t be teleported away at the whim of a meddling god, which means that this artifact must be from one of the first- and most powerful- gods." "Huh, it''s that powerful?" "It seems so. You''ll need to be careful." "Why? It''s not like anyone can steal it from me, right?" "No, but we don''t know if your death will allow someone else to take it. I don''t think you''d like to test that out." Athelin shivered unconsciously, leaning away from the fox-man. "Don''t worry. I have no intention of killing you to take that artifact of yours away from you." "Huh?" "I don''t want more power. I already have enough that I get bored too easily. Besides, owning that artifact would mean being connected to a god, and I don''t want that." "Oh. Well, that''s good. The not killing me part, I mean, not the you getting bored part." "Thanks to you, I''m not too bored right now. You''re the most interesting thing to come by in a while." "Um, thanks, I guess." "So!" The fox-man clapped his hands loudly, causing her to jump. "What are you going to do now?" "What do you mean?" "You were reborn in another world, and your parents just died. What are you going to do?" "... Get revenge for their deaths, I suppose." "I suppose that''s a start. And how are you going to do that?" "Cut the head off the snake." "Exactly! Killing the Bandit King would be revenge, but what then?" "..." "You haven''t thought about it? Well, let me give you some advice. Revenge is nice, but don''t let it be the only thing you do. For you short-lived humans, life is far too precious of a resource to waste. Do you understand me?" "... Yes." "Good! Now, I need to tell you something." He grinned. It was not a very nice grin. It was an intimidating grin, full of sharp, pointed teeth. "I''m going to punish you." "What? Why?" "When your little ball there teleported me to you, I was in the middle of enjoying a meal." A palpable aura of bloodlust seemed to radiate from the fox-man. "And I never let people disturb me when I''m eating." "W-what are you going to do to me?" "Train you." "Huh?" Athelin blinked in surprise. That didn''t sound so bad. "Yes, I''m going to train you. It would be a pity if such an interesting thing like you died so early, no?" "I thought you said you were going to punish me...?" "Oh, I will, I will. Did you know that when I train people, most of them end up begging for me to kill them?" An almost feral glint had made its way to the beastman''s eyes, and Athelin gulped in fear. - "Again!" "I- I can''t!" A jolt of lightning went through Athelin''s body, causing her to scream through gritted teeth as her muscles locked up. "Yes you can, and you will!" The fox-man was watching her from nearby, a finger stretched out towards her, ready to blast her with more lightning if he had to. It was the third month of training that Athelin had been subjected to, and she hated it already. It had started with the fox-man literally kicking her out of the cave and telling her to fend for herself. After a month of that, he had used some sort of illusion magic to create sparring partners for her to practice against, correcting her posture whenever she made a mistake. She remembered how she had asked the beastman for his name, and he had replied with a knowing smile. ''I''ll tell you my real name if you can finish my training without giving up. For now, call me Ash.''The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ''Like the tree?'' ''No, like fire.'' She had paid for the lapse in concentration with a painful slice to the stomach- goddamn that fox for allowing her to feel pain from the illusion- but she felt that it was well worth it. The sparring had continued since then, with no signs of stopping. Athelin hadn''t laid down, she''d collapsed from sheer exhaustion. And then she''d been zapped. Exactly how Ash expected her to be able to just stand up and continue fighting was unknown to her, but it irritated her to no end. And then another bolt coursed through her, and she blacked out. - "Again!" "Aaaaaargh-" At this point it would be easier to list which parts of Athelin weren''t injured than to list those which were. Her entire body looked as though she had been flayed with a whip, and it certainly looked painful, even if it was just an illusion. The illusory swordfighter didn''t wait for her to get up, slicing at her neck with its sword. Athelin barely blocked it in time, redirecting its force into the ground next to her. The resulting impact knocked the sword out of her hands, so she simply used her fists. An uppercut sent the illusion reeling back, and it was quickly followed by several punches to the gut and the face, finished off with a perfectly executed over-the-shoulder throw that cracked the illusion''s spine, if it even had one, being a featureless, roughly humanoid being seemingly made of darkness. Breathing heavily, it took Athelin a few moments to realize that Ash was clapping. "Splendid performance! That''s the first time you actually managed to beat it, right? Clever move, using hand-to-hand fighting like that. Did you actually know that I only gave the illusion enough knowledge to counter other swordsmen, or was that just a stroke of luck?" With a snap of his fingers, Athelin''s wounds disappeared, and she collapsed backwards, panting in exhaustion. "Who said you could rest? You''re going to fight the illusion again, and you''re not going to stop until you manage to beat it with a sword this time." Athelin''s face contorted with rage, and a single expletive managed to find its way out of her mouth. "FUCK!!!!!!!!!!" She received fifty zaps for that. - The sound of metal hitting metal rang out through the forest- or they would have, if they didn''t originate from an illusory space specifically designed to train Athelin. She was much more proficient after four months of getting beaten up repeatedly, but she still couldn''t beat the illusion. She suspected Ash slightly upped the difficulty whenever she improved, which worried her, as that clearly indicated that he was waiting for her skill to reach a certain level. Getting to that level could take even more months, or even years. If she had to endure this for years, she would punch Ash in the face the number of years she missed, regardless of the consequences. - How long had it been? Oh, yes, it had been one year and three months. She was now able to hold her own against the illusion, which was most certainly faster and stronger than when she first started. Whenever Ash bothered to watch her train, he had an appreciative gleam in his eyes. She was getting better, and incredibly quickly- Ash believed that it would take a normal child at least two decades to reach her level unaided, not to mention the fact that in this space her strength was suppressed by at least 60%. Of course, he had no intention of ever telling her that. No need to inflate her head too much. Athelin dodged to the side, avoiding a vertical slash from the illusion, and cut off its arm, although it was immediately regrown. She used the split second of reprieve she had been granted to stab her sword at the illusion''s heart, but the illusion was willing to sacrifice its other arm to use as a shield, and the arm slowed her sword enough that it failed to pierce the illusion''s tough exterior. Athelin saw the sword in the illusion''s right hand angled towards her, clearly aiming for a stab, and so she jumped- not away from the illusion, but towards it. As the illusion recoiled, she dropped into a roll and sped through its legs, spread wide in a swordsman''s stance. Her small size was an advantage, and it was one she had no qualms about using every chance she got. She got up, preparing to slash at the illusion''s undefended back, only to realize that it had already turned around to face her, its sword swinging downwards too quickly for her to follow. It cut through her sword arm, sending it flying, and she almost blacked out from the pain, but managed to hold on. This was bad. Ash wouldn''t stop the illusion until she was in danger of death, and now she was weapon less and missing an arm. And then she had an insane idea. The best kind of idea. She had no idea if she could pull it off, but she had to try. She ran at the illusion, dodging its swipes, and when she got close enough she aimed her arm at its face. The blood gushing from the stump splattered its face, and to her relief the illusion reacted the way a human would if their eyes were covered in blood, even though it didn''t have any eyes. She used the distraction to grab her sword, then put the arm on it, like a shish kebab. The illusion had already finished wiping its face at that point, and Athelin knew this was her only chance. With a flick of her wrist, she sent her arm flying at the incoming illusion, and smacked it in its face. It did not falter, however. Even with the blood from the severed arm (now lying on the ground behind the illusion) obscuring part of its vision, it was sure it could take her down. And that is when she struck. Without any regard for personal safety, she dove at the illusion, slashing at its legs even as her left leg was severed by its wild swing. The illusion fell backwards, both of its legs gone, and using the sword as a cane, Athelin hopped up to the flailing illusion''s face and stabbed it. She then blacked out from blood loss. - She woke to see a decidedly unwelcome face mere inches from her own. "Oh, so you''re a pedophile. Good to know." She croaked, and Ash grinned. "Congratulations. You set the record on how fast that phase of the training has been passed. The previous record was 2 years, 1 month, by the way." "That''s nice." "Also, your birthday came and went, so I made you a little cake while you were still out. Unfortunately, I accidentally ate it all. Oops." Athelin was no longer fazed by Ash''s attempts to irritate her, thanks to the constant barrage of insults she had to endure. "How long was I out?" "About two months, which makes this the 517th day of your training. Congratulations." "Fuck off, you foxy bastard." His grin grew even wider. "Did I tell you what''s up next? It''s torture resistance." - "Mmmmmmmmmphmmmm!" "Sorry, can''t hear you over the sound of the water! Try again later!" The two were at an illusory waterfall. Ash was sitting next to it, cross-legged, as though meditating, while Athelin... Was tied up underneath the waterfall. As waterboarding was an incredibly popular torture method, Ash had deemed that she would have to learn the pain of being subjected to it. Ash had made it so it was impossible for Athelin to die or black out, which meant she drowned continuously, her lungs filled to the brim with water. It had been around three months since she was put in the waterfall, which meant that she would be freed in 3... 2... 1... Athelin burst out of the water, coughing up the water in her lungs. When she was done, she glared at Ash with bloodshot eyes. "I''m going to fucking throttle you someday." "Someday, little girl, someday." There were still three torture methods left. - Next came lightning. Athelin had thought the bolts used during her swordsmanship training were bad, but these were much worse. These felt like her entire body was being reduced to chunks of burnt, bloody meat- which would happen if not for the fact that this was all an illusion. That did not make the pain fake, unfortunately. Third came fire. Here Ash was more imaginative, and instead of simply putting her in a fire he subjected her to actual torture methods. He put burning spikes of wood between her fingernails and the skin beneath, he put her feet in a tub of oil and set it on fire, and he kept her mouth open with forceps while he fed her live coals. He felt no particular joy from doing this- rather, he felt pity, as all of these were things he had gone through himself at least once in his prodigiously long life- but it was necessary. Last came poisons. This was done outside the illusion, as her real body needed to build up tolerance to various different substances, from sleeping drugs to snake venom. Ash was constantly by her side, making sure that she didn''t die through occasional healing spells. And so another year passed, entirely devoted to pain. - Athelin couldn''t tell if she had gone insane at some point. Probably. The amount of torture she endured would have killed anyone in a different circumstance, so it was natural her psyche would have been changed somewhat. At least there were no tiny voices constantly whispering in her head. That was a definite plus in her book. Ash, the smug bastard, had shown concern for once when she''d woken up from the last poison-induced lack of consciousness. It had been two years and five months since she first started training, and she was 11 years old. Ash owed her two punches to the face and a slap. The next part of the training would be history and languages, according to Ash. This did not make her happy at all, for history was bound to be boring. At least languages would give her something to think about. - "And so Beckett of Hamlin led his army against the Tasla of Yarmunjab, but was killed by a tiny scorpion native to the Yarmunjab deserts. This led to anarchy in the kingdom of Hamlin, and it was quickly annexed by Yarmunjab. This marked the end of the Second Era. Any questions?" "..." "Hey, are you sleeping? This won''t do!" "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH-" "Now, where was I...?" - "Repeat after me. Granza tolbik sopri das (What time is it)." "Granza tolbik- uh, sorpi? Das?" "..." "AAAAAAARRRRRRGHHH-" - Ash was a cruel teacher, but there was no doubting the fact that he was an effective one. Within half a year, he had drilled most of this world''s- Eleth- history into her brain, along with every language in common usage. This had also almost increased his debt to three punches to the face. She couldn''t wait for the day that she would be able to take revenge on that fucker. - The last parts of the training were related to magic. Magic in this world worked just like magic in every fantasy world. All magic was made up of mana, and there are certain elements, which are just focal points to allow handling mana to be easier. Although, according to Ash, most mages in this world were unaware of that fact, and treated the elements as the only absolute way to use magic. The first year of magic training was spent entirely on learning how to sense and control pure mana. Athelin had difficulty sensing mana even in large quantities, so Ash decided to play a prank on her. He undid the limiters he put on his own mana for a split second, which was enough to make Athelin pass out from sensory overload. It also caused some unintended consequences, but that wasn''t relevant to Ash and Athelin. After that, sensing mana became a piece of cake for Athelin, although after seeing Ash''s own mana she was disappointed at how little mana there was in nature. Controlling mana was a little different. Usually, mages used chants and incantations as way to focus their wills on the result they desired, but Ash said it wouldn''t be necessary. Becoming dependent on chants was a big problem if your opponent had the ability to stop you from talking. Instead, Athelin learned to bend mana to her thoughts through sheer force of will. The next four years were spent on the five cardinal elements: fire, water, earth, electricity and air. Learning the intricacies of each element delighted her in itself, but the incredibly creative ways Ash had come up with to use them were the icing on the cake. Through fire and water, he made a defensive barrier of steam; with earth and electricity, he made a sort of electrified metal armor, his skin protected by a thin layer of dirt; air and earth combined allowed him to create golems, huge constructs of rock that were like robots, their limbs held together by air pressure. While her lack of experience made Athelin''s versions of the techniques rather underwhelming, she managed to learn them all, and could soon replicate them to a lesser degree. She wasn''t particularly concerned about their differences in power- after all, how could a 17-year-old girl be as strong as a thousand-year-old man? - And soon, her training came to an end. She had changed a great deal, both physically and mentally. Physically she had grown into a gorgeous young woman, though still rather lacking in the chest department. Mentally she was like an iron fortress- she could no longer be traumatized, for she had already experienced every trauma there was. There was no ceremony or anything at the end. Just Ash, Athelin, and a cake in the cave where she had told him about herself. "I can''t believe you''ve made it this far, little girl." "I can''t believe you stuck around to harass me for so long, old man." The two regarded each other for a minute. Then the solemn atmosphere was shattered by Ash propelling the cake into Athelin''s face, and she stood there, stunned, as Ash laughed at the sight of her stupefied, cake-covered face. Then a murderous grin came over her face, and she advanced on Ash, who was too busy laughing to notice. The first punch blew him backwards into the cave wall, leaving a deep impression. The second punch knocked him into the ground. The third propelled him upwards, and he hit the ceiling. The fourth, fifth and sixth were executed midair and launched him out of the cave. The seventh, eight and ninth were used to pummel him into the soft dirt to immobilize him. Athelin drew back her fist for one last punch. The cheeky bastard pretended to be hurt when both of them knew she couldn''t even scratch him. And then she heard a scream from afar, quickly growing louder. "uuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUNCLE!" Something slammed into her, knocking her aside, and Athelin rolled to her feet to glare at the new arrival. A red-headed girl, seemingly around the same age as Athelin, stood in front of Ash, trying to pull him out of the ground. The girl was human-looking, but had large, red wings on her back, and a long, lizard-like tail emerging from beneath her shirt. "Oi, Ash, is she a lizard-man or something?" At that, the girl''s face flushed red, and she actually growled in anger. She was about to launch herself at Athelin when suddenly Ash''s voice, magnified hundredfold, boomed out. "STAND DOWN." "But uncle, she called me a lizard!" "I SAID STAND DOWN." "Ugh, fine." "That''s better." Ash casually rose to a standing position, the dirt falling off him as though it was being repelled, which it probably was. "Er, Ash, explain to me why your niece wanted to find you so badly." "Well..." Ash fidgeted in place, but Athelin''s glare didn''t waver. "I might be the king of a kingdom, and I might have run away to enjoy myself?" "So typical Ash behavior? By the way, what''s your real name, anyway?" Here the lizard girl cut in. "How dare you speak to his majesty like that, as though you are worthy of-" "Oh, she''s worthy, don''t worry." Said Ash dismissively, causing the lizard girl''s eyes to grow wide in astonishment. "So, introductions, introductions. I''m Ashmere Cadwyn, king of Tel''nath, the beastman kingdom, and that nuisance over there is Celine Cadwyn, my niece. And no, we''re not related by blood. I don''t think there are any other individuals on Eleth that have lived for as long as I have." "I see, I see. What is the nuisance, anyway?" "Her? A dragon-man, apparently. Doesn''t make sense considering her parents are cat and wolf, but I suppose freak accidents happen once in a while." Throughout this little chat, Celine had been getting increasingly teary-eyed from the way they were ignoring her. "What are your plans for now, Ash?" "Hmm, I dunno. I suppose I could go back to the kingdom with my niece, but I really don''t like being a king. Honestly, I''d have pushed the position onto her father if he didn''t keep refusing me. I''d be worried about his intelligence if he actually accepted, though. What about you?" "I''m going to head to the capital of- what''s this country called again? Oh, right, Eastmoor. Boring name. Anyway, apparently I have a brother, so I''d like to meet up with him before launching an attack on the Bandit King." "Don''t you think you''re strong enough to take him down on your own?" "Possibly, but I''d rather not risk it." "Well, good luck. And before you leave, how about you try shaking that little ball one more time?" Athelin had honestly forgotten about the magic 8 ball that had landed her in this world. "Sure, why not." She shook it, and put it to her eyes. "What does it say?" "What is this, a fortune cookie? It says " "I don''t have a good feeling about that message." "Neither do I. Look, the wind''s picking up. Do you think the ball''s message meant this?" "Probably. It said scattered, so we''ll all land in different places, presumably." "Will the annoying girl be okay?" "Huh, you actually care? Yes, she will. Her strength is on par with yours." "Good." And then the power of the wind suddenly increased, and Athelin was blown away.