I have a gigantic headache, it was like that one time I got really drunk during a game of cards... I never should have agreed to that game. "Ugh, where am I?"

Stone Claw Mountain, well mountains. It's technically a mountain range that when seen from afar looks like a claw.

"Thanks Karen, how do you know that anyway?"

I had time to admire the view while you were being carried here, by the way you've been out for six days.

"Carried here? By who?" I lift my hand up to hold my pounding head, "Wha?" My right arm was chained to the ground beside the pile of furs that I was on. Looking over I found the same with my other three limbs, did I get captured while I was out? The last thing I remember was releasing the ridiculous amount of power. Lifting my head to take in the surroundings in I noticed that I was for one naked, two on top of a pile of furs and three in a cave lit by white glowing stones.

As I lay there wondering what I was going to do I heard footsteps approaching. Crap uh F.I.R.... Nothing happened? I was imagining the chains popping open but they were unaffected, shit the footsteps are getting closer. F.I.R. Ah this time it worked, I wiggled my limbs a bit as the stone floor the the chains were hammered into became soft.

Due to your actions you have gained a new skill:

Soften (Active): Using magic to soften an item or area, higher levels of the skill decreases mana costs, increases effectiveness and area able to be affected. Novice 1 - 10%, costs 5 mana to soften a 1 cm by 1 cm area by 10%.

Considering the fact that the rock became like soft cookie dough I assume it can stack, also because I lost quite a bit of mana. The footsteps meanwhile kept getting closer, should I use fire magic since it's my strongest element? But if they survived the mist they must be strong.

"Oh! You're awake, thank goodness. Vilana was going to go kidnap a healer if you didn't wake up soon... Well wake up as yourself anyways." A man in his early twenties with shoulder length blonde hair was holding a bowl of soup and fussing over me waking up. "Hey Vilana he's awake!"

"Umm... Who are you?" He took out a key and unlocked the chains binding my wrist, well guess that was pointless. Then after handing me the bowl and a spoon he introduced himself.

"Fafnoth, former Elven master blacksmith; although that was in another life. I'm very glad you're awake chosen one, otherwise the Reaper would kill all of us." The sound of something soft bumping into the walls echoed as a pair of footsteps and dragging could be heard. Around the corner came a short girl also in her early twenties rounded the corner, the messed up bleeding bundle of a man from the sounds of it hit the wall as she turned. Her hair was tied up in a bun and although she wore plain brown clothing her body was shapely beneath it all.

"Oh good, here eat this before you go mad." She tossed the man towards me and straight into the wall beside me, the sound of blood and a breaking bones echoed off the walls.

"Wha-what'd you do that for? And I don't eat people last time I checked," I flipped him onto his back as I check his pulse, he's still alive at least even if his face, and well... entire body is one big bloody mess.

"Huh? I even went and caught him for you and kept him fresh. And how should I know your eating habits, I just know you need to eat his soul." Why was she the one acting pissed?

"I'm not going to eat some random guys soul. His family is probably worrying about him right now."

"Well," Fafnoth interjected, "I highly doubt that, he was a part of a group of bandits that we captured on the way here so your conscience should be fine with it right?" Oh... that would be better but can I trust them?

"Ugh, If you're not doing it I will," Vilana grabbed the man and just snapped his neck like a twig effortlessly. I opened my mouth and closed it a couple times, I don't want to defend the assumed bandit who has probably done a lot of terrible things but that was just cruel. I sighed... there wasn't anything I can change at this point, and I probably did need a soul, Consume Soul. I felt the headache subside as his soul turned to energy and entered me.

"What was that about the chosen waking up?" A tall man with black hair slicked back walked in with two skeletons in tow. Those were definitely a lot higher level and quality than the ones I made before. Dressed in steel plate armor with an elegant design carrying a long sword and shield they looked like ones ready to fight compared to my half burnt piles of creaking bones. "Great, my name is Riaz and the faster we finish the faster we will be free." He signaled the skeletons, they walked towards me in unison and then picked me up by the arms. "We have much to do, you are to start with basic knowledge then we will go into the harder stuff later in the day."

"Wai-" I was interrupted by a fist the went right beside my face, it smashed the skeleton to my right to pieces metal included. The air from the passing of the fist caused several cuts to appear on my cheek.

"Hey, I get to train him first." Vilana growled while looking hostilely at Riaz who was doing the same, green power was being concentrated around Vilana's fists while dark purple energies were flowing around Riaz.

"You two need to stop fighting, it's not going to get us anywhere." Fafnoth turned to me, "Now I'm sure you've got a lot of questions and we can answer them while you eat.

"Tha-Thanks." I don't need to eat but I would have to be an idiot to say that in this situation.

Several things I've learned which are useful, at least the stuff I could hear Fafnoth explaining over Riaz and Vilana quarreling with each other. Firstly all three of them are reincarnated monsters, monsters in regards to their power. Riaz was an emperor of a great nation that fell when attacked from all sides including within. To combat it he traded his soul to the Reaper for power over the dead, saving his nation but ultimately leading to its ruin; he's also over a thousand years old.

Vilana was a human of sorts except their lifespan is about 200 years so double the humans I'm used to and she was an accomplished master martial artist. She exchanged her soul for an additional 200 years to create and master her own style.

Fafnoth was an elf who's lived for thousands of years, a master craftsman not just smith who could create up to mythical level items. When his world was in danger from one of the Reaper's chosen he sold his soul to make a divine weapon capable of defeating said chosen. Although he seemed to have lost much to the chosen he held no hostility towards me, this also made me question the Reaper's motives and how much he cared about his chosen.

The three of them were reincarnated to this world to await the Reaper's chosen as part of his orders and to teach him or her their skills until mastery was reached. As proof they each had a white skull that emitted power etched into their bodies, it couldn't be faked because the energy it gave off was the Reaper's. However in this world the markings were taken as ill omens and they were consequently thrown out of their homes, were picked up by the vampire hunters and joined them where they met each other. While they've been keeping an eye out for information about me it was complete coincidence they were there at Liliana's execution.

During the time I was unconscious after using the Reaper's power as my own I was carried here during which they were attacked by bandits where the recently deceased man was subdued. When I asked about the Reaper's power and the voice in my head I found out that it literally was the Reaper's power, I was channeling his 'mana' through my body. The Reaper's representative was chosen mostly on how much power they can use as normal people would just disappear if they were to touch it. Even for chosen with high resistance it's dangerous, the power influences them changing their personality and that I should avoid using it if possible. I'm beginning to wonder if it really was through my own skills that I beat DDO.

After I had finished swallowing the really terrible soup porridge thing, I was taken by Vilana to train in her style and to eventually master it, no was not an answer. When I asked about letting Mary and the others know Riaz said he would take care of it... I hope he doesn't create a huge commotion considering his only magic appears to be that of necromancy.

"First of all let's see how strong you are physically." Vilana brought me out of the cave and up to a plateau outside of the cave. "Lift up the biggest rock you can," looking around I could see rocks varying from that of a tennis ball to that of a truck, there was even one the size of a two story house.

I walked up to one about the size of a soccer ball and proceeded to attempt to lift it. Even if I was having trouble I could lift the rock, however it seems that it's not nearly enough because Vilana was grumbling to herself while having a dark look on her face. "I'm more a mage than a warrior."

She looked over, my instincts are screaming warnings and before I knew what was happening I was on the ground bleeding from a broken nose with Vilana standing over me, "Could your magic have saved you there?" She pulled me up like I weighed nothing,

"If I had preparatio-" Once again I found myself on the ground this time dead.

Vilana looked at my soul form, she could see me? "Preparation means nothing if you aren't anticipating it, and believe me you won't be able to anticipate everything... even if you could see the future."

She opened the lid of a wooden container that was hanging on her waist, reaching in she pulled out a small bug then crushed it with two fingers. "Come on, revive."

As I did so she looked at me seriously, "If you want to protect things, even if it's just yourself master everything you can... You are blessed by luck and can learn it all, make the best of it." Is she referring to the fact that she had to sell her soul to gain time?

Yeah... to protect the things I want I need to get stronger, "What do you want me to do?"

She gave off the first smile I've seen from her, even if I know she's over 400 years old right now she looks amazing, "Running and strength training, the entire day with no resting. Even if you die, you can just revive and keep going."

At first I though she was kidding, but after running for 3 hours straight with my legs falling off, depending on water magic to keep cool and hydrated I was immediately sent to do push ups. After about 30 push ups I started coughing blood from the continuous exertion, but she told me to keep going. I refused and was immediately killed. Reviving I continued doing push ups until I passed out, at which point she killed me and had me revive again. While it did refresh me every revive it's was ridiculously painful. In addition I was also lifting rocks for weight training, running with rocks in a pack and practicing some basic stances. The latter being the hardest because Vilana would throw punches my way kind of like a screen with a figure cut into it to ensure I had the stance perfectly, of course I died many times there.

At the end of the day however it felt somewhat rewarding, not least of all the fact that I can finally rest.

Skills gained:

Running (Passive): Increases your speed and reduces the stamina costs, higher levels of the skill further reduce costs and increases speed. Novice 7 - 39%, Increases running speed by 70% and reduces stamina costs by 35%.

Strong Back (Passive): Increases carry capacity strength, higher levels of the skill further increase your carry capacity and strength. Novice 5 - 77%, Increases carry capacity by 50% and strength by 5.

Stance Mastery (Passive): Increases the effectiveness of stances and reduce stamina costs, higher levels of the skill further increase your the effectiveness of stances and reduce stamina costs. Novice 3 - 15%, Increases effectiveness of stances by 30% and reduce stamina costs by 15%.

Turtle Stance (Active): Increases defense and reduces damage taken, higher levels of the skill further reduce stamina costs and increases defense. Novice 2 - 10%, Increases defense by 20%, reduces damage taken by 10% at the cost of 50 stamina per second.

Tiger Stance (Active): Increases attack speed and attack damage, higher levels of the skill further reduce stamina costs and increases attack speed. Novice 2 - 15%, Increases attack speed by 20% and attack damage by 10% at the cost of 50 stamina per second.

Bear Stance (Active): Increases impact force of attacks and movement speed, higher levels of the skill further reduce stamina costs and increases impact force. Novice 2 - 30%, increases impact force by 20% and movement speed by 10% at the cost of 50 stamina per second.

Phoenix Stance (Active): Imbues your strikes with fire , higher levels of the skill further reduce stamina costs, increase fire damage and the area of effect. Novice 3 - 2%, Imbues your strikes with 30 fire damage at the cost of 50 stamina per second.

Stats gained:

10 Strength

9 Endurance

3 Vitality

1 Agility

3 Dexterity

"Wake up, it's time for lessons." I was rudely awakened from my peaceful lovely rest by cold skeletal fingers. Rubbing sleep from my eyes I saw that I was no longer in the room with the pile of furs. The cave actually was just a part of a collection of open areas within the mountain that the three of them have made, the one I'm in now is filled with various scrolls, books and arcane objects. "Vilana told me you fancied yourself a mage, pretty shitty magic from what I saw. Child's play." Riaz threw several books at me, "Read them then do as they tell you, don't slack off my skeletons are watching." He then simply waltzed out leaving me with several dictionary sized books and a pair of menacing skeletons with drawn swords. I died twice before I made it past the first couple pages.

Concentrate the mana in my hand, then release it slowly in the shape of an orb. Control the movement of the orb while maintaining it's form, up, down, left, right. Make it grow, shrink, spin it in a circle, make it release heat, light, then let it fade slowly into the atmosphere. It took me five hours to finish the first assignment given to me, the skeletons were judges and would let me know with a prod if I did it wrong. No wonder it takes a long time for people to learn magic, even with system assist its hell.

"Can I take a little break?" The skeletons responded by poking me with the tips of their swords, guess that's a no; how long will I be doing this?

"Hey Shin! How are you doing?" Fafnoth walked in with a smile on his face, "It's time for you to train with m- what happened to you!?!!"

I believe my current appearance is that of a total wreck, as part of the magic exercise I had to cut something so I shaved and cut my hair, trimmed my nails; basic stuff. But I haven't bathed since I got here nor have I slept since I started the magic training, "I'm so glad this is finally over." I'm about to cry of relief, it's been a day since I started and I'm currently half way through the first book. Having wet myself many times because I wasn't allowed to go to the washroom probably didn't help, even though I did use water magic to try and keep myself clean.

"Riaz is so unreasonable, well let's get you working alright?" He handed me a herbal smelling green mixture in a cup, "This'll help you to revitalize, don't use it too much though it won't be good if you get addicted." Fafnoth lead me through various tunnels leading to a room with various alchemy equipment all over. "Since you're tired lets start with something that's not as physically taxing."

"You probably won't be able to distinguish between herbs right now but this one," he held up a green herb with some round leaves and a crisscross pattern on it, "Is a healing herb, while this one," he held up another green herb also with round leaves but this time with zigzag lines across the surface, "Is a poisonous one."

He handed me a pile of both while taking out a mortar and pestle set from one of the cupboards in the room, "Now here, you crush the herb completely." He demonstrated, putting in a bit of herb then crushing it into a paste, "Then add a little water, for higher levels of alchemy you would use other things but for now plain old water is fine." he stirred well with a metal stick combining the paste and water into a smooth green liquid. He took out a set of cylindrical glass containers and poured the mixture in. "And done, simple isn't it? It's not a very potent one but it works fine as a potion for small scrapes and bruises. You try now."

The first few attempts either failed because the herbs weren't crushed enough or I used the wrong one resulting in several poisonous mixtures. He made me keep all the mixtures in my inventory, saying I would probably find a use for them at some point and time, every failure is a useful experience. After about an hour I felt completely refreshed, almost as good as if I had a great nights sleep, I can see how someone would get addicted to this.

"Hey, uh Fafnoth how did the mixture you gave me earlier work? Consumables aren't supposed to affect me."

He gave a wide smile, "The mixture itself would not affect you, I added in some elven magic thinking that might work. From this we can tell that a normal potion wouldn't help you neither will a normal poison harm you but if they were magically enchanted they will." Was I... just used as a guinea pig? He handed me a purple potion, "Lethal poison, acts in seconds with just a small amount in your body, drink it up."

"E-excuse me?" That sounds incredibly suicidal to me.

"We just went through it didn't we? Normal poison doesn't affect you, we can build up your poison resistance in case you ever get attacked by a non-consumed poison." What he said makes sense, it's just that the crazy looking eyes staring at me is making me incredibly suspicious. I thought he was the nice sane one but he's just a mad scientist isn't he?

"A-alright already, just please stop staring at me like that," it's highly disturbing. Putting the bottle to my lips I drank the poison, it tasted incredibly bitter almost making me spew it back out.

*Ding

Due to your actions you have gained a new skill:

Poison Resistance(Passive): Increases your resistance to poison reducing its effectiveness with a chance to nullify the effects, higher levels of the skill further reduce the effectiveness of poison and allow the nullifying of higher level poisons. Novice 8 - 38%, Reduces the effect of poisons by 26.7% and nullifies poisons of rare level and below.

I don't feel anything bad but what kind of a poison did I drink for it to boost my skill level that high? Err... "Please stop staring at me like that." I wonder if this is how a lab rat feels...

Sorry about the absence, work has been busy. The problem with having two jobs in the same area is when it gets busy I run out of time to do anything (I do have the time after work but I feel like shit at that point). The chapter is a bit short I know and yes there will be time skips (yup skips). I have events planned out but not completely organized in an order yet, although I can say that the next chapter will be about other people and not Shin and that it'll be out sometime tomorrow and then another on Tuesday (Yay breaks).