Novice Reincarnator

“...I didn’t change at all.”

My reflection in the bathroom mirror had big breasts on a short and petite body. The ice blue tattoo on my lower stomach marked me as a demon. I spoke the magic words while praying for a miracle.

“Detailed Status.”

Name: Ash

Gender: Female

Race: Hornless Demon

Class: Novice

Level: 1/10

Personal Skills (1/3): [Weak Bladder]

Racial Skills: [Contract I]

Class Skills: [Novice]

Despair clouded my heart. Not only did I not change, but I somehow kept that horrible skill, [Weak Bladder]. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. I dismissed my status and trotted back to my bed. I hugged Lime to my chest.

“I changed, didn’t I?”

Compared to when I first woke up in the Upper Realm, my situation had improved by leaps and bounds. I was no longer shut in my room. I became a full fledged explorer and even hit my max level in under a week.

“Is my status trying to say my changes were only on the surface level?”

On the other hand, my main troubles remained the same. I was still running away from my best friend and I continued to have nightmares every night. Even if I was now getting outside, I didn’t open up to anyone at all.

Entering dungeons and raising my level was just another excuse to avoid confronting the reality I so bitterly wished to avoid. I couldn’t truly begin to change until I faced my fears. I needed to confront the monster that haunted my dreams.

[Weak Bladder], the proof of my defeat, would remain etched into my very soul until I overcame my trauma. Just the thought of standing in front of a Crystalline Colossus once more was enough to make me tremble in terror.

“Impossible. I can’t win.”

The max level a Novice could reach was 10. The recommended level to tackle a Crystalline Colossus was with a well balanced party of level 35 explorers. Only Rare level talents and above could reach level 35.

Level 35 was one of the basic requirements to join one of the many esteemed Knight Orders scattered throughout the world.

It was easy to forget when Epic talents could reach level 80 and Legendary talents could reach 100, but a level 35 Rare talent was considered to be a fairly strong man in the world. I was laughably weak in comparison.

I wanted to change, but even more than that, I didn’t want to die. Facing a Crystalline Colossus as a level 10 Novice would be just that. Death.

I couldn’t even increase my level cap by ascending. As soon as I ascended once, I would be stuck with my current appearance for the rest of my life. That would defeat the entire point of trying to kill a Crystalline Colossus.

Everything was okay. The fact that my appearance had not changed and that my [Weak Bladder] skill had carried over to this reincarnation was all my own supposition. Perhaps if I hit my max level once more and reincarnated, I would finally be able to return to being a man again.

“I don’t need to defeat a Crystalline Colossus. Yes, I just need to reincarnate again.”

I pushed down my doubts and focused on my next goal. Two days. That was all it would take for me to hit max level. I wasn’t confident enough to tackle Goblin Nest at level 1 or else it would be easy to do it in a single day.

I waited until 2am before I headed over to the Slime Corridor dungeon. The cat Beastman shot me an exasperated look while he recorded my entry into the dungeon. Like always, I had my breasts tightly bound to the point where I appeared nearly flat chested. In doing so, I had reacquired the [Breast Binding] skill, bringing me down to only 1 open skill slot.

I already missed the strength and energy I had when I was at max level. Now that my level had dropped again, I wouldn’t be able to wield anything heavier than a dagger. I took my plans to tackle the Goblin Nest into consideration and borrowed a set of throwing knives from the administration building.

I had desperately wanted a ranged attack to whittle down my foes before they reached me. Additionally, killing enemies from a distance would allow me to remain clean of goblin blood. I went straight to the third floor and began practicing jumping slimes with throwing knives.

White: Good evening.

“Evening, White. Or would it be morning at this hour?”

Like usual, White wasn’t one to talk much. I had gotten used to my viewer’s presence at this point to where it felt natural to have White around. I didn’t understand the appeal in watching a Novice flail around in the weakest dungeons.

At first, it took several throwing knives to take down a slime. I gradually leveled up as I practiced and after my third level up, something clicked in my head. Every knife I threw accurately hit a slime’s core, killing it in a single blow. It didn’t matter if they were jumping or if they were rolling, they all met the same end.

A strange intuition filled my body on how to hold a knife and throw it to accurately hit my target. It was like I had practiced using throwing knives for years. In fact, I was now much better at handling throwing knives than I was at using daggers.

I checked my status and sure enough, I had gained a [Throwing Knife I] skill.

Unlike before I gained the skill, I could now hit the core of a jumping slime with a single throwing knife nearly every time. An explorer’s skills played a huge role in their combat strength. This was another factor where the talent disparity came into play. If I was an Uncommon talent, I would have 5 personal skill slots and if I was a Rare talent, I would have 7.

With enough time and effort, a Common talent could reach the same level of technique that I possessed with the [Throwing Knife] skill, but time was the one thing I didn’t have. Unlike the natives of the Upper Realm, I hadn’t spent my childhood training to be an explorer. As far as time and effort went, I was a decade behind my peers.

The [Throwing Knife] skill was a game changer. Every battle ended as soon as it started. I spent a lot more time searching for a new enemy than actually fighting. Despite the low amount of experience slimes provided, I had no issues getting to level 6 in a few hours of dungeon diving.

I went to sleep just as the rest of the world started to wake up, eager to spin the wheel of reincarnation the next day.