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4.61% My 13th Reincarnation: The Gods Won't Let Me Die / Chapter 3: The Death Of Stencil Marakov

Chapter 3: The Death Of Stencil Marakov

The beast lurches towards me, its jagged teeth ready to tear my body to pieces. The stench of matted fur and fresh blood fills the air as it lets out another scream. There's a sudden flash of blue light. The monster is screaming again, but it's different this time.

Painful.

I try to focus my eyes on the sight in front of me.

On the ground in lies a large, bloody fang, freshly cut from the beasts jaw with a single, clean cut. I see the beast wince backwards in pain, its eyes locked on someone or something behind me. My body feels intact, but I can feel my mind slipping away.

I must have worn myself out by using that barrier spell. Another failure.

As my vision blurs, I get a glimpse of a figure approaching from my left. A blonde woman wearing gold-embossed armor and carrying a sword with a golden hilt. She raises the sword against the greater monster, and its blue glow seems to fill my entire vision.

Unfortunately, this is too much for my 14-year-old body, which finally gives in. I lose consciousness as the beasts screams fade into the distance.

---

I wake up lying in the grass. My eyes are closed, but I can tell that it's grass from the smell. Did I reincarnate again? No, I'm still Number 13. Stencil. I sit up slowly and look around me.

The greater monster is nowhere to be seen. The same goes for what was left of the mansion. And my parents. Instead, I seem to be in a small clearing in a forest. It's mid-day and there's a small pond of water glittering nearby. Sitting right beside it is a young woman.

Her blonde hair flows in the wind as she peers blankly back at me. She's still wearing the golden armor and, strapped to her hip, is the sword.

I spot my blood-stained clothes lying in the grass a bit away. I look down to see what I'm currently wearing. The clothes are clean, but not nearly as well-made as the ones the royal house provided. Did she undress and re-dress me while I was sleeping? Creepy. Who is this woman?

"Who are you?"

She beat me to it. That's what I was going to ask.

"Did you strip me while I was sleeping? Who are you?" I reply.

"My name is Elizabeth. I did no such thing."

"What is that supposed to mean? Are you suggesting that my clothes flew off while I was sleeping?"

She look at me, thinks for a moment, and says "Forest nymphs."

"Are you trying to be funny?"

"Yes."

Jesus Christ, why do I always get the weirdos?

Oh, I still remember my expletives. Good to know.

"What happened to the greater monster?"

"The what?"

"Are you trying to be funny again?"

"Yes."

Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

"The beast. What. Happened. To it?"

"It escaped after I cut off its fang."

Escaped? You mean it ran away? From her? A greater monster *ran away*?

"Are you still trying to be funny?"

"No. Look."

She makes a gesture towards her hip, pulling something out from behind her back. It's the bloody fang from the beast, mangled flesh still sticking to the end of it.

She's lying. She must be. I've fought more than 30 greater monsters, and I've never seen one run away. Though, maybe it's just because I never let them. This woman is undoubtedly strong, though. Her mana may not be as powerful as mine once was, but she is definitely a capable fighter.

"You never answered my question," she prods me.

"Hm?"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Ste-," I begin, but I cut myself off.

There may be an opportunity here. New clothes, a new name, and a world that believes that Stencil Marakov died with his parents in a horrific attack from a greater monster. This could work, but I'll have to be very careful. I'll decide on the details of my life later. For now...

"Sebastian. You can call me Sebastian."

I would have used Shawl, but it's too rare a name. A shame, but no matter. Sebastian will do.

"Nice to meet you, Sebastian."

"Likewise. You've saved my life."

I need more information on this woman. On the greater monster. On the magic system. On everything.

"Speaking of, why *did* you save my life?"

"... I don't know. You remind me of myself, somehow."

Elizabeth gazes blankly at me for a moment. Our expressionless faces seem almost to mirror one another. I suppose I can see what she means. However unalike we are, I, too, see something of myself in her.

No, not that; get your mind out of the gutter.

"If you'd like," she starts, "I can train you."

She beat me to it again. But why would she offer, just like that?

"Those two were your parents, right? I wish I could have helped them, too. If you have nowhere else to go, let me help you, instead."

There's a pang in my chest as she mentions my parents. Stencil's parents. The mangled corpses of the two people who made futile attempts to protect me. This young lady is certainly not delicate. If I had actually been 14 years old, I would most likely be having a mental breakdown by now.

I suppose this is the preferred outcome considering the circumstances, though. I need information and she is offering information. I think it's better to stay close to her, rather than run off and hope a better opportunity comes along. I should add a bit of flattery to make her like me more, while I'm at it.

"Yes. Please. Teach me how to be strong, like you."


Chapter 4: Strange Appearances

The more time I spend with Elizabeth, the more intrigued I am by her. She's an incredible warrior, and much stronger than I am at this moment, but it's like she's missing certain key pieces on how to act and interact. For instance, she seems to see no problem with being naked around those of the opposite gender. Primarily me. It could be because I look like a kid to her, but I doubt it.

It's almost like her mind is that of an innocent child, albeit a very powerful one. She can cook, but she always adds way too many spices, or way too few. And when she cuts vegetables, they're always completely uneven in size, like it's the first time she's doing it.

We've been travelling together for about 4 days now. Having finally left the confines of the forest, we head towards the nearby town of Elsvaert. As we cross over the top of a hill, Elizabeth pauses and speaks to me.

"Down there."

She points down into the grassy meadow in the valley beneath us. I sense it, too. Monsters. I count 4 from the mana, but they're not particularly strong. Elizabeth has been letting me kill weaker monsters as a part of my training.

"I can take them," I say.

She nods, her face blank as ever, and I proceed down the side of the hill. As I go, I pull out the small metal dagger that Elizabeth lent me. It's not infused with magic, which is unfortunate, but it has been serving me well. Closing in on the bottom of the hill, I get a visual on the monsters.

It seems I was partially right. There are 4, but one of them isn't a monster.

3 of the creatures appear to be goblins. They are everything that elves aren't. Stupid, ugly and gross in both looks and personality. The only similarity to elves is the pointy ears. They're wielding some rusty swords, which they've probably stolen from humans. I look to the other creature in the valley.

Well, "creature" may be a bit rude.

It's an elf. Hence the comparison.

It's a very handsome young-looking man with blonde hair and pointed ears, wearing a green cloak with leather armor underneath. If the elves here are anything like the ones like the emissaries I met as Number 2, this man is probably a few hundred years old. He seems to be holding his own against the 3 goblins. Not bad, considering all he has to fight with is a wooden pole.

He smacks one of the goblins on the head, causing it to jump backwards with a raspy groan of pain. Another one leaps for his lower leg.

Apparently forgetting the rusted sword in its hands, it bites down on his Achilles tendon. He gives a sharp yell of pain and tries to hit the goblin off his leg with the pole.

"Do you need help?" I ask plainly.

"Argh, what- who?"

He seems startled by my appearance. Or maybe it's just the goblin gnawing at his leg.

"Oh, yes! Please, kid, help me get these things off of me!"

Was the "kid" really necessary? Aren't you in pain?

Well, no matter.

The goblin he hit in the head spins around to face me. Using magic would still be a bad idea for me, but I have always been excellent with weapons. The gods must have decided that my muscle memory was important enough to keep it through all 1600 years of my life. Maybe that's how they pick who to reincarnate me as, since my proportions have remained mostly the same.

The goblin jumps directly at my face. They're even stupider than I remember. This one forgot about its sword, too. I duck slightly to the side and stab my dagger directly into its belly. The monster hits the ground with a lifeless thump. I take a swipe at the second goblin, still facing the elf, apparently oblivious to my presence.

Two down.

The last goblin is hanging on tight to the man's leg. He raises his staff and knocks the goblin directly in the head with surprising force. The goblin's skull makes a crunching noise as the creature falls off of the elf's leg.

It's an uncomfortable noise. For a moment, I'm back in front of the greater monster, crunching down on the barrier in front of me.

"Haaa"

The elf falls backwards to rest on the ground with a sigh. His leg is bleeding a bit, but goblin teeth can't go very deep. he should live.

"Thanks, kid. I owe you one."

You don't say.

I can feel Elizabeth's mana getting closer behind me.

"Why were you trying to fight 3 goblins with a stick?" she asks with a blank face. "Are you stupid?"

For some reason, I feel like chuckling, though I don't do it. I think I'm starting to warm up to this woman.

"Huh? N-no, of course not! I was just on my way to Elsvaert and I got ambushed out of nowhere. Seriously, not a single monster for the entire trek through the forest and then, suddenly, POOF! Goblins! I've never seen anything like it."

Poof? Hold on. A thought strikes me. An impossible thought, but then again...

"Are you saying that you *saw* the goblins spawn?" I ask.

"Exactly! One moment there were grass plains in all directions and the next there were goblins right in front of me."

That isn't possible. It's a well known fact that monsters never appear in the presence of intelligent living creatures. It's been that way for every reincarnation so far, and I even remember reading about it in a book back in the mansion. It shouldn't be possible. It shouldn't be. But there is something weird about this world. It's almost the same as the others, but different in all the wrong ways. Even the people living here seem aware of just how off it is.

I must've been silent for too long, because Elizabeth steps in to continue the conversation.

"It's only a few hours walk to Elsvaert. Do you want to come with us?"

"Oh, yes, please, I would really appreciate that. The Gods know what might happen if more of those monsters show up on my way there."

"My name is Elizabeth, and this is Sebastian."

"I am Vale Synistra."

"Nice to meet you, Vale."

"Nice to meet you," I say, following Elizabeth's lead.

"Ah, even nicer for me to meet you. You have truly saved my life."

Yeah.

There's a lot of life-saving going around right now.


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