NOVEL WEB Chapter 2: Asher Ashbourne
Wu~~
'It's so cold!'
Instantly, the sound of the gunshot that took his life flashed in his head, causing him to sit up. Sweat beads could be found on his smooth, pale forehead. Asher first thought he was in the hospital, but as he looked at the fur-made quilt, his eyes dilated.
"What happened to my arms?" He muttered, looking at his thin, pale white arms. He could easily see the bluish-green veins beneath his skin. Looking around, he realized his clothing was similar to the ancient western-styled dressing that was dominant in Boundless!
He slid out of bed and felt something caressing his shoulders. Clearly, this body wasn't his. His hair was so long that it reached his shoulder blades, and it was gray!
This body, although sickly, was much stronger than his previous body.
He glanced at the ancient bed and the thick fur quilt. Despite all the protection, he still felt cold, and the source was the open window. Asher looked at the mural of a gray-haired man sitting on a stone-made throne while a mighty white-furred creature lay beside him.
The visual impact of the size of the creature, which was almost as tall as a building even as it lay down, made Asher stagger backward.
Suddenly, his head throbbed, sending a painful reaction throughout his body.
"Ah!"
Asher screamed and fell on his knees. Memories of the owner of this body gushed into his brain. It came along with emotions, making him feel both pain, anger, regret, and finally helplessness.
After what seemed like hours, Asher lay on the cold floor, breathing heavily. The owner of this body was Asher Ashbourne, the bastard child of Baron James Ashbourne, the famous baron who died in a brothel on top of a woman.
As if that wasn't enough, his first son, Fredrick, didn't rule for over a year before he was poisoned to death by Baron James second son, Thomas. Thomas also didn't last more than a month before he was killed by a beast during a hunt. However, before then, he made sure Asher was slowly poisoned, and eventually, Asher died two months after Thomas death, allowing the soul of Asher from earth to possess his body.
Asher felt all Asher Ashbourne felt. Being locked inside this room and only allowed to eat vegetable soup with black bread was Asher Ashbourne's life.
He was even too weak to leave his bed and eventually passed away.
Knowing all these, Asher's eyes trembled. This was the backstory of the most pitiful lord character in Boundless!
This character was created by another programmer, and the intention was to fill up the holes in the virtual world to make it more realistic. To put it simply, he became a character worse than an extra!
Never did Asher think he would transmigrate into his game. He wanted to convince himself that he might be in some kind of nightmare, but the emotions he felt from Asher Ashbourne's memories were stuck to his brain.
Asher had to accept reality. He had reincarnated into the real-life world of Boundless and was a pitiful lord who could be killed by his surbordinates!
Even worse, Asbourne's fief was located in the wastelands, a desolate land that was always ravaged by monstrous creatures every winter, and if he guessed right, then in mere months it would be winter!
Asher's face grew paler.
"I'm doomed. Of all the characters in Boundless, I had to transmigrate into the body of a pathetic noble!"
While Asher ruffled his hair, the wooden door creaked as it was swung open and a tall, lean man walked in. His leather boots almost reached his knees.
The moment Asher looked at the man's face, he recognized him instantly. This white-haired man who also had well-trimmed beards, was the head butler, Kelvin. A 60-year-old man and also a bronze-ranked swordsman.
Having a bronze-ranked butler wasn't abnormal for a barony, but after Asher's father, who was a silver ranked swordsman, there was no other silver-ranked swordsman, and the title of a baron was at risk of being taken away.
It was better when Asher's brothers were ruling, as they were both bronze-ranked swordsmen and had chances of becoming silver-ranked swordsmen, but Asher wasn't even an iron-ranked swordsman!
He was an ordinary man! A sickly one at that!
Upon seeing Asher on the ground, Kelvin exclaimed. "Lord Asher!" Despite being ignored by everyone, including the servants, Asher still had one person that took care of him, and it was Kelvin.
If there were stats, his loyalty stat was maxed out.
In Boundless, everyone must awaken a talent before they will be able to train, moving from ordinary to iron-rank, bronze-rank, silver-rank, gold-rank, and so on. Melee-type combatants trained the Battle Force, while range-type combatants like mages trained the Magi Force.
Kelvin awakened a D-grade talent, so his peak was the gold rank, which was the rank of knights, but Kelvin was already 60, and he was still stuck in the bronze rank! This was due to the impoverished barony.
"I'm alright." Asher said to Kelvin, but he still found himself on the bed. While covering him with quilts, Kelvin admonished him.
"Lord Asher, I know you're worried about the state of the barony, but you must first take care of yourself."
All of a sudden, his breath hitched as he recalled where he found Asher.
It had been twelve years since Asher moved his limbs, and he was now twenty-two!
"You moved!"
He gasped.
Gu gu!
Asher's stomach rumbled before he could come up with a response.
...
Asher sat on his bed, looking at the black bread and steaming hot vegetable soup. Kelvin brought it for him after his stomach's announcement.
He couldn't bring himself to eat it. It was almost to the extent that he almost threw up, and this was just at the sight of it.
"Kelvin. I'm not eating this anymore. I crave for meat." As one of the spearheaders of creating Boundless, Asher was proficient in speaking like a medieval man, and he also knew all the native languages, especially Elvin.
"Milord. I've kept this from you for a long time, but you've been restricted to only staying in this room and eating this specific meal."
Asher's eyebrows raised.
"I'm the last remaining son of my father and direct heir to this fief, so who could give such orders?"