Chapter 4:

V1 | Chapter Three - Mysterious Assailant

Re:Wraith


You know when I was a boy living in Tokyo I always thought if I ever died and was reincarnated I always thought I would come back as a hero, a protector of justice, a guardian of the people.

But no I just had to come back as a wraith that is trapped in some sort of underground labyrinth.

Where the only thing keeping me going is counting the number of steps I've seen, and right now I'm on bloody two thousand three hundred and sixty-five! To be honest, I've lost count I'm just guessing at this rate!

[It is quite entertaining watching a human slowly derail into insanity.]

Haha, oh really you know maybe if you actually helped and stop talking crap to me I might still have my sanity left at this point, but hey I guess having a sadist muttering in my damn head isn't too bad after all.

Weirdly enough Asa didn't respond with some quirky response or insult instead she didn't say anything just sitting there in silence no doubt.

Since devouring the soul of the same creature ever since a process of rinse and repeat cycle that had started to grind my gears since as well. I would devour the soul of it and return to going up this accursed stairs like always. My sanity at this point was most likely hanging on a very fine thread this point as I mentioned before.

As time went on every step that I floated over just looked the same, every monster's soul I devoured felt like the last.

I was reaching a point that I truly started to feel like I would be repeated this over and over until I die of natural causes or just allow myself to kick the bucket. When I felt that all was lost was when I looked above me I could see a faint light shining partially out into the chasm itself.

Obviously feeling hopeful I picked up the pace wanting to see if I found a way out of this godforsaken place.

With each step I floated over the light grew brighter whereas my hopeful thinking also followed in those steps. It wasn't long before I could clearly see that light, in fact, it very much seemed like I reached the top of this chasm as I could see the faint light reflecting off the jagged sharp rocky ceiling.

I continued floating towards that light imagining the scenery of lush green fields filled with wildflowers, and a gorgeous harem of girls waiting for me of course! Thinking about it more I realized that I couldn't even properly see in the first place, oh well, it's not like vision is the only way to have a good time if you know what I mean.

Going through the entryway I felt a change in pressure. On the other side, my sonar-like vision pinged around outlining my surroundings and to my dismay, I wasn't outside, in fact, it seemed like I was very much still in this stupid ass labyrinth!

Are you kidding me!

What I have done to deserve this!

[Would you like me to list all of your previous life offences that would deem you a...scumbag person.]

I'd rather die than hear you belittle me any further.

[That is unfortunate, it would have been quite enjoyable to shatter your ego then watch you squirm for forgiveness.]

In my old life, this girl or artificial intelligence to be precise would have given my magic wand a hard-on that would refuse to go down. But Asa feels like she well and truly gets off on this, and it doesn't seem like she's putting it on for show. Which to be honest was a little creepy and a slight turn-off.

[Congratulations, you have reached Floor Two of the Dregarde Labyrinth]

Hang on a second, you're telling me it took over two thousand steps just to reach the next floor!

[That does seem to be the case.]

You must have known about this for like...ages!

[Yes, is there a problem with that?]

Know what, why did I expect anything different from you.

[Perfect you learning like the pup you're supposed to be.]

That last comment hit a nerve with me, but instead of reacting, I decided to ignore it. This whole time I hadn't even realized that my sonar vision had pinged something, in the distance, what made it worst is whatever it was heading towards me.

Asa, have any idea what this thing is?

[I suggest running, or in your case floating.]

That's it!

Suddenly in the pitch-blackness before me, I could see two large orbs of light that closely resembled a pair of eyes. Even though I didn't have a physical form for some reason I could feel a weird sensation going through my new body, and I came to the conclusion that fear must have been building up inside of me without realizing it.

All I could tell from my vision was that whatever this thing was, it was bigger than me, had an elongated body and seemed to be able to move its body in abnormal ways.

Piecing that information together I could only come to the conclusion that it had to be some sort of snake. However, considering the fact that this world was not my own I couldn't rely solely on what I knew when living back on Earth. I had to consider the possibility that anything that seemed remotely familiar to me may have unforeseen abilities or traits.

Before I knew it a heavy mass came speeding towards me luckily I was able to dodge it following by the sound of a loud crack and the crumbling of rock next to me.

This damn thing is trying to kill me! Well, I-I get why, but come on seriously!

[You should start making your escape.]

That's easier said than done!

Suddenly the sound of loud rumbling could be heard around me. Even though I couldn't see it I knew perfectly well what that sound was, after all, living in Japan you grow accustomed to the sound of earthquakes or falling rocks. It was most likely caused by whatever that creature did to the rock wall that surrounded us.

I looked up and I could sense large objects falling down from above me which I figured had to be rock fragments.

You got to be kidding me, was the thought that ran through my head. I did the only thing that I could think of and that was to try to find something or somewhere to protect myself from this rockfall. However, I couldn't sense anything around that even closely resembled what I was looking for. Coming to that realization I thought this was going to be the end of me so you can't blame me for residing to my fate.

I'm not joking when I thought that I honestly thought I was going to die by being crushed to death. So when I realized that the chunks of rock were going through my body I was surprised. However, it just hit me then that I was a spirit so it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that physical objects would just go through my body.

This also gave me a chance to test some things out in the aftermath of the rockfall relating to my spiritual form. My body was only able to phase through rock for roughly four seconds after that I would feel the strain on my body I didn't want to test it any longer mostly because I didn't want to risk causing myself any more problems than I have to.

Looking around me using my sonar vision I could tell that either the monster had been crushed under his own attack or it was blocked off from me. Either way, I didn't want to stay around to find out.

I had a pretty good idea that whatever that thing was wouldn't of put itself in danger just to get rid of me. Staying wary of my surroundings I slowly floated through the area mostly keeping to open areas and only passing through solid material if I had to.

Well, got to say I pretty damn lucky.

[I was already aware that the rockfall wouldn't have killed you.]

Then why did you tell me to make a run for it?

[Physical attacks do not affect you in your current form, however, magical properties and skill-based attacks do. The latter was used against you. To be honest, if I hadn't said anything you may very well be dead right now.]

I hated to admit it, but she did save my life which I am grateful for.

Thank you...I guess.

[Would you mind repeating what you just said?]

Uhm...I said I could have figured it out myself!

[I am pretty sure that I heard you say 'thank you'.]

N-No I didn't!

[It is perfectly fine, after all, I am technically the only woman in existence to acknowledge you as a person.]

I don't know why I even bothered in the first place.

My sonar vision suddenly started to outline a large opening up ahead with no other options present for me I decided to take my chances, at the end of the day I couldn't continue blindly floating around in this maze of rocks that crashed down from above. Especially if I wanted to get as far away from that creature as I possibly could.

As I exited from the wake of destruction that was behind me my sonar vision seemed to indicate that I made it to another corridor. Waiting for a few seconds I watched as a few pings go off from my sonar vision outlining the corridor ahead of me showing from what seemed to be a single pathway.

With nothing coming up on my sonar vision ahead of me, and the potential of whatever that attacked me from before could lurking somewhere behind I thought it was best to carry on and just hope that I don't run into anything else along the way especially a stronger adversary.

Casually floating down the corridor my sonar vision pinging my surroundings continuously outlining some of the rather intricate masonry work within the rocky walls that it was sort of a surprise for me to think that such skill was found in a place like this.

Obviously, I couldn't clearly make out the fine details, but from what my pings outlined I could see that there was some skill used in making this particular area.

Got any idea who made this place Asa?

[It is hard to say as there are many legends and myths within these lands, but given the time period I can safely say that this area at least was constructed roughly six hundred years ago.]

Damn, I guess there really is a lot of history to this place if this area dates back to then. I figured because of the role-playing system that I have at my disposal that this world was haphazardly put together like any other virtual world just to create an immersive experience.

Then again, how can I be sure whether this is the real deal or just being rigged up to some virtual reality machine?

Asking Asa was out of the question, she would most likely sideline the question in her usual way or just retort with some sort of belittling comment either about me or humans in general.

At the moment, I don't have time to dwell on such things my first priority is to get stronger so I don't end up as some midnight snack for a monster.

My sonar vision started to detect something ahead of me from what I could tell it was neither the creature that attacked me just moments ago or the monsters that I had been devouring souls before reaching this floor.

Speaking of devouring souls I realized that devouring the soul of the same monster had diminishing returns on experience gained. At the time, I came to the conclusion that in order to get huge spikes of experience on my soul level I had to find new monsters. This was something that I would have to ask Asa, but I decided to leave it be for the time being.

Could this be my opportunity to gain a huge amount of experience though?

[From my observation this new species of monster that you have encountered is adequate for using the skill, Soul Devourer.]

Well, that's good to know.

I guess it's time for ninja me to take the helm.

Okay okay, I get it that's sad but being the otaku that I am obviously I'm going to make the most out of this life that has been given to me.

Admittedly I may have taken my chuunibyou side a little too far as I ducked and swerved my way around what little cover surrounded me.
Once I had reached my target I let my 'automatic settings' kick in as I floated ever closer to my target. After a few moments, I felt the weird sensation that I had started to grow accustomed to going through my body as the Soul Devourer skill did its job.

I don't care what anyone says, I feel like I'm sitting at a gas station waiting to fill up my car with fuel.

To be honest, I was expecting more after being reincarnated especially in terms of skills at my disposal. Heck, if I was warned about how boring all of this would have been I most certainly have happy enough taking the knee and making my merry way on towards the afterlife.

Suddenly a pop-up window appeared in my vision.

[Congratulations.]

[Soul Level: 2, achieved]

Species: Wraith

Level/Soul Level: 1(+2)

HP: 47(+10)

MP: 25(+6)

SP: 23(+6)

[You have now acquired the following skills...]

[Soul Perception]

[Soul Foresight]

Seriously?

You got to be kidding me.

[These are very useful skills.]

Oh don't me wrong I know that but...

What the hell am I going to do with these in an actual fight!

Sure those two skills are handy to have, but at this early stage in the game, I was expecting something more aggressive this early on something to make the whole job of fighting monsters a helluva lot easier. Then again, you could argue the fact that I just had my hopes up too much.

There was one thing that I noticed though it didn't require any skill points to obtain these two skills what's up with that?

[That is because Species-Type skill trees do not require skill points to obtain skill nodes, however, Class-Type skill trees do.]

So in other words, you're saying that I can gain whatever skills I want involving my species skill tree, but if I wanted to say get a martial art's skill from the Warrior Class I have to spend a skill point?

[Precisely.]

That's...definitely unique never experienced a system like that before whenever I played any role-playing games.

Without warning, I had an alert pop-up in my vision apparently my Soul Perception skill had detected more movement up ahead, I figured that my 'automatic settings' also applied to my new skills for the time being. I had to admit just having this skill looked like it would be handy, after all, but I still had to rely on my sonar vision to figuratively see where I was going still.

Considering I only had one option, to go forward. I metaphorically took a deep breath continuing down the corridor wondering what I would encounter.

Usually, I wouldn't walk down or in this case, float down a corridor without any idea of what I would encounter. Hell, I wouldn't even consider doing this in the first place, but with my options limited as they are, I really didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

Behind me was nothing but a cave-in with the slight chance that I might encounter whatever tried to put me six foot under, and ahead of me was the potential of a way out with the added bonus of an unknown creature between me and that hope. As I said my options were quite limited.

I would use my sonar vision to ping the location of the said creature and from the looks of it didn't seem to be moving too much. In fact, it seemed to traverse a particular zone back and forth as if aimlessly wandering around in circles.

I was still a dozen or so metres away so I decided that now would be the best time to clarify some things with Asa while I still can.

So Asa I have a question.

[Do I have a choice to ignore you?]

If I had teeth I would be gritting them right about now.

How about not being a smart-ass and just help answer my question.

There was a pause for a brief moment until Asa replied.

[Very well.]

Okay, I'm not entirely certain on this thought of mine, but I reckoned you'd be able to answer it.

This process of devouring souls can I devour the same monster and still get the maximum experience from it or do I have to find new monsters to increase this...Soul Level of mine?

[When you devour the soul of a new life form that you have encountered you will obtain the maximum experience you can get from the said creature. However, devouring the soul of the same creature will in turn give diminishing effects of experience gained.]

Hearing that most certainly confirmed my suspicions that I had earlier. And it explained a lot as to why even after devouring the souls of those monsters I first encountered I didn't level up again soon afterwards.

This essentially meant that I couldn't just sit back safe and sound gaining experience from weak monsters all day every day, I actually had to go out there into this unknown world put myself at risk to find new monsters in order to maximise my experience gain for my Soul Level.

As I moved closer my sonar vision informed me that the creature was still in the same location. Just around the bend of this corridor in front of me was this unknown monster I slowly peeked my head around the corner.

To be honest, I don't really know why considering I had no vision in the first place to even see the damn thing. I guess it was just a natural reaction from when I was once a human.

Seeing that I couldn't talk probably meant that I was unable to chant magic like you would the role-playing games if said magic is like anything in those games that I played I was going to have a hard time ahead of me. I figured that now was probably a good time to learn, the last thing I wanted was to be halfway through a fight later on in my journey only to then realize that I had no idea how to use magic that I had at my disposal.

I racked my brain for any possible ideas.

But before I tried out any of these I wanted to make sure that the creature wasn't coming my way or worse figured out I was just around the corner from it. Again I used my sonar vision, and like before the thing just moved around back and forth in a specific area.

Is it...is it an idiot...the creature I mean?

[If we're comparing the creature to you, I would personally say that you are by far...a bigger idiot than this monster.]

Why do I ask expecting anything different from you?!

[As I said, you are an idiot. You should know by now that I like teasing you.]

And yet I continue to fall for that false illusion of mine that you might an alright girl.

Well, I guess I have nothing to worry about then at least for the time being.

I focused my vision upon the diamond symbol in the bottom left of my vision which opened up the interface that I had seen multiple times prior to this. I continued to focus my vision using that concentration to access the user interface until I made my way through the menus to the magic tab.

My first idea was to simply focus my vision upon a said magic spell to see if anything happened, and alas nothing happened.

Moving on to my second idea, I decided to mentally speak the words in simple terms as I have been within Asa for these last few hours.

Sooouuulll Foooresight...

Again nothing happened.

BAM!

WAJAM!

OOGLEE BOOGLE!

ABRACADABRA!

WOOSH!

Okay, I'll admit it at this point, I was grasping at straws, but who would blame me I'm trying to figure out how the hell to use my magic with no success. So of course, I would resort to spouting nonsense just to see if something happened.

[I think I can safely confirm that my first initial view of you being an idiot is...correct.]

You got any ideas then?! Because you're the smart-ass around here, after all, who just happens to be the most useless assistant in the world!

[I do have an idea as a matter of fact.]

O-Okay, let's hear it. Not going to lie her confidence almost made me mentally question whether I heard her correctly.

[You should try to visualize the magical power that runs through your body. Without a conscious understanding of one's magical and mana energies you will not be able to cast magic.]

And how does this help me to cast magic exactly?

[Essentially all living things in this world are in some way restricted to one's magical and mana energies, the only way to unlock said things is to tap into your subconscious to get a grasp of what you can do.]

It makes a little more sense I guess, but why do I have MP points if I can't cast magic?

[That is because MP points measure the amount of magic you can use until it starts to become a strain on your psyche.]

I figured as much, but I honestly thought I wouldn't have to go through all this just to simply cast magic. I guess you're not useless after all.

[Now in payment of my help, I shall require you to give your unwavering loyalty to me...]

Screw you.

[...I shall not forget this.]

I pushed aside her lame threat to focus on my current predicament. As Asa said I used my mind to focus to tap deep into my subconscious. At first, nothing happened but I decided to give it a go for a bit longer as it was the lead I had going for me. I had to admit though it honestly felt like I wasn't getting anywhere with this.

I was about to give up when suddenly it felt like my body suddenly dropped into a sea of pitch-black. The sensation of drowning started to overcome me, and as expected I panicked thinking that damn Asa was trying to kill me.

I swam back up when I broke through this black sea to put it lightly above me I could see the endless patterns and intricately woven ley lines of lights interconnected to one another. I couple of them was in different colours which didn't make any sense to me, however, all of these ley lines seemed to be wrapped in some sort of restrictive material as if preventing access to them.

Suddenly that once mysterious black liquid vanished leaving a solid black floor beneath me. Before I could take in what happened a large pop-up window appeared before me.

[Congratulations...]

[Level One access has been granted...]

[You are now free to conjure higher level magic...]

Above that a mysterious material started to unravel from a cluster of ley lines and in their wake, they left dark-bluish ley lines almost reminding me of the typical colour aesthetic of wraiths from my old world in video games. Which for some reason felt calming to me that there was something in this world that felt familiar to me regardless of how small it was.

Once again I am thrust towards somewhere this time upwards and in a split second, before I knew it, I was back to where I was in this current reality of mine within this wraith body.

W-What the hell just happened?

[I see that you were successful in unlocking your Level One access.]

Yeah, I guess you're right in so many words.

I had to gather my thoughts for a moment, considering the rollercoaster ride I just went through right now. If I was human I would have probably vomited by now. As I metaphorically took a breather for a few seconds, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

Wait a minute, if magic requires me to unlock access to ut how have I been using that Soul Devourer skill?

[Soul Devourer, is not classed as a magic spell instead it is a Species Trait. The skill so to speak is essential for wraiths as it's their only way of sustaining themselves.]

Now I understand, it's similar to a passive but in this case, it's exclusive to only wraiths and it's an active skill. Well anyway, I can't dwell on that for now I have bigger fish to fry.

I was excited to put my newfound skills to the test when I realized just how lame they truly were.

Wait, I forgot I have useless skills for the most part. Damn, this going to be a pain.

Regardless, I had no other choice. To be honest, I could just simply slip past this creature and forget about the hassle of trying to devour its soul. But, on the other hand, who knew when I would next encounter I different creature, and for all, I knew they could be much stronger than this one before me. So I had to take my chances and hope for the best.

There's no turning back now, it's all or nothing, well if I fail I'll only die a second time so it's not too bad I guess haha...

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