Reborn: Demon Core by D.W. Jackson Page B

outnumbered
men here. Ash had never considered himself handsome, but for some
reason the women around him didn’t seem to mind. In fact they
easily became attached to him. No matter how he looked at it, he
couldn’t make sense of it.
    When Ash made his way to the dining room, he
found everyone sitting waiting on him. Lillanis gave him a warm
smile but other than that, it felt the same as any other morning
yet still something inside him felt different. As soon as he took
his seat, everyone began to fill their plates and eat. Before Ash
was halfway done with his food, he felt something crawling up his
leg and looked down to find the young Milly climbing up in his lap
with a smile. Once she was seated, Milly looked up at him and
opened her mouth wide. Laughing, Ash fed her a small amount of ham
and was charmed as her small mouth chewed the food with a contented
look on her face.
    “Master,” Milly said in a soft chime like
voice as she hugged Ash around the waist.
    It was the first time had really heard Milly
say something clearly to him. Looking down, Ash couldn’t help but
smile as he softly patted Milly’s head.
    After his meal was finished, Gilda took Milly
from his lap. When she was lifted up Milly tried to hold on, but
her small hands quickly lost out. Ash saw Milly’s slightly puffed
out cheeks as she was carried away by Gilda. Ash hadn’t given the
small panther child much, but something about a small child being a
slave still bothered him.
    Though Ash was still bothered by his thoughts
about Milly, there were plenty of other things that he had to do.
Pushing his worries aside for later, Ash headed out with the others
to the labyrinth.
    As they walked through the streets, Lillanis
stuck closely to Ash’s right side while Shina took his left. Only
the day before, Ash would feel awkward about this situation but now
it didn’t seem to bother him as much. Even when Shina pulled his
arm in tight to her chest it Ash didn’t resist like he normally
would. Ash himself didn’t notice this slight change in his behavior
but Shina did.
    Sensing the slight change in behavior, Shina
pushed her luck and rested her head on Ash’s shoulder as they
walked but still he didn’t protest. When Shina lightly nibbled on
Ash’s earlobe he looked at her with a slightly annoyed look, but
didn’t rebuke her like he normally would. Pulling back, Shina gave
a light sigh and looked slightly disappointed but it didn’t last
long before a wicked smile spread across her face.
    As soon as the five entered the labyrinth,
they headed through the door to fight the boss. As the darkness
cleared, Ash and the others found themselves facing what looked to
be a large tree. Ash had read the plaque before and knew that the
monster was called “old growth,” but it didn’t appear as he had
envisioned it.
    Before anyone could make a move, the tree
shook and a puff of green mist filled the air. Ash and the others
covered their mouths, but nothing happened until the ground below
them began to shake as the green cloud began to disappear. Suddenly
dozens and dozens of green creatures burst from the ground.
    The monsters looked much like the ones
outside, but instead of cloning their appearance, they took the
appearance of the monsters the group had fought on previous floors.
Ash spotted everything from the slimes on the first floor to the
ice sprites on the nineteenth floor among the large number of
assembled enemies.
    Since there was a large number of enemies,
the group changed tactics. Unlike before where they were forced to
fight in a wide open area this time it was still in a large room,
but they were surrounded by walls. Lillanis took up a position in
the corner while Shina and Jacob stood in front of her. Ash and
Halon stood at the top of the small diamond, distracting anything
that came near the four. While the other four distracted the
monsters, Ash who had the highest stats moved among them, killing
them at will.
    Ash darted among the