Star Paladin: A LitRPG Space Fantasy (Sword of Asteria Book 1)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  The Cleric dropped to his death as Xanthe flew to meet the new Mage. She had an important question to ask him. “Who the fuck are you?”

  “The name’s Zuran, the Mage who has come to help you,” he said. “Guy sent me.”

  “Guy? He’s alive?” That was Rachael shouting to them, having overheard.

  “Yeah, on the star-dweller ship below!”

  Xanthe and Zuran looked at the island. The Seraphim landed at the beach. She would imagine Rachael would have looked too if she were not flying circles around imperial soldiers. “We have to get aboard.”

  Zuran pointed. “The imperial forces will not make that easy! We need to fuck them up first, so invite me to your group, will ya?”

  She gave him the party invitation.

  Xanthe | HP: 212/504 | MP: 0/0 | AP: 30/100

  Rachael | HP: 241/313 | MP: 102/226 | AP: 100/100

  Zuran | HP: 338/338 | MP: 511/844 | AP: 0/100

  Leafblade and his goons arrived. Xanthe raised her Steel Edge and Heavy Kilij to deflect his attacks, and Zuran flew up and away, putting a lot of distance between them as he consulted his glowing, page-flipping tome. Zuran made fire rain down, burning the imperials and lowering their HP. Leafblade flew and rolled about to escape the Fireball directed at him. Rising swiftly, Xanthe introduced the edges of her weapons to the burning imperials.

  Her AP rose, but she did not use it. She was going to need to save AP for Leafblade. The burning imperial stopped flailing, and she kicked off their body and allowed the momentum from the push to send her surging through the air to the next imperial. Both blades impaled them. She withdrew the red-dripping scimitars as a dead body sank. She was hovering above another fae soldier, drifted behind, chopped off his fucking wings, pushed off the body as it tumbled, and—

  Leafblade cut into her back.

  He was trying to damage her wings. She spun about and used Brisk Strike. It gave Leafblade a shock, and she sliced off 21 percent of his HP. Xanthe kicked off him and flew away. If Leafblade got AP, then it would be over as Rachael was out of range. Xanthe had to change that and soared to her aid. Zuran cast Fireball back to back, leaving behind lines of black smoke in the sky. The glowing orbs of flames drifted for Leafblade, but his quick flying skill pulled off dives and rolls to escape, forcing Zuran to use his targeted Fire spell. It inflicted less damage and had a shorter range. Zuran had to buzz his wings to keep pace.

  Xanthe had flown toward Rachael, making the star-fae grin as she swung her Oak Staff at the imperials. With Zuran trailing behind, he chain-cast Fireball, forcing Leafblade to pull away from the fire orbs and slowing him down. Leafblade was busy and it granted Xanthe enough time to swing her twin scimitars across a soldier’s chest; she killed him, got AP, and used Lightning Dash. It boosted her flight and attack speed, and with that, she soared for another soldier’s neck, slashing it so fast that she forced blood to squirt out, granting her another 100 AP. When Xanthe finished, she kicked off the dying body, soared to the next, immediately hit him with Brisk Strike, and cut his head off.

  Xanthe | HP: 290/504

  [Regeneration]

  Rachael was healing her again too—

  A gust of wind knocked them away.

  A sentinel ship with closed weapon cannons descended to the island, to the beach where the Seraphim crash-landed.

  “Why is the Seraphim idling down there?” Rachael asked.

  “That is the imperial execution grounds,” Xanthe said, and looked at Leafblade. He was coming about and ready to fight. “My guess is the sentinels will not risk accidentally destroying it as long as the Seraphim remains close to it.”

  “Execution grounds . . .” Rachael said. “Ah, right, you said something about the empire planning to execute Averyl.”

  “Execute their own princess?” Zuran shouted, having overheard.

  Xanthe flipped about to meet Leafblade. She and Rachael were ahead of Leafblade, and Zuran was flying up to Leafblade’s rear. They had his arse.

  “More like scare her into agreeing to a marriage she does not wish to have.” Xanthe grimaced and took another peek at the island below. “Guy and the others could get her out . . . If only they knew!”

  And swooping down to tell them was not an option.

  What to do? If only he had a quest. Xanthe briefly flashed back to the day she met Leafblade in Holt’s tavern. He had shared a quest with her. If he could do it, then I could too . . . but how?

  Xanthe had to focus, and she had seconds to do it. Leafblade’s weapon would be on her soon. She brought up her Quest menu, located the one in question, then sensed the astral circuits within Guy. An option on the screen appeared—

  Leafblade made his attack.

  Xanthe dove and escaped the sword’s edge. Rachael flew to the side, spun, and prepared to cast a healing spell. Zuran stopped to cast, then canceled it. He saw Leafblade snort at him, then sliced upward.

  Xanthe would help, but the quest window demanded her attention.

  Save the Princess

  Objective: Free Averyl Autumnfall from the Jenkovi executioner.

  Issued by: White Dragon

  Reward: 2500 Experience Points

  Share this quest? Yes/No

  Flight Time Remaining: 6 Minutes 53 Seconds

  Guy had to act fast.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  “The fuck?”

  Guy received an unexpected quest from Xanthe. He stopped to view the screen blocking his view of the beach.

  Save the Princess

  Objective: Free Averyl Autumnfall from the Jenkovi executioner.

  Issued by: White Dragon, shared by Xanthe Eisheth

  Reward: 2500 Experience Points

  Accept quest? Yes/No

  He tapped Yes and turned to his party amidst the violent clash. “Princess Autumnfall is here and is about to be executed.”

  Kam speared an imperial, then kicked away the body. “How do you know?”

  “Xanthe just shared her quest with me.” Guy pointed at the fortress ahead with the tip of Asteria’s Sword. “She’s in there somewhere!”

  Henrietta’s gaze followed his pointing sword. She grimaced. “So are the imperials.”

  A second soldier came for Kam. The faun Spell Lancer gave the soldier a lunge, made an acrobatic flip behind, thrust him three times more, then finished them with Astral Swipe by making a wide slice through the air and releasing a wave of boiling water upon what stood ahead.

  Kam faced the fort. “I shall get a lay of the land.”

  He ran off to leave the beach and fought his way past alerted imperial soldiers. Once clear, Kam used Become One with the Elements, turned into a water spirit, then became a puddle on the ground and flowed away.

  That left Guy and Henrietta standing back to back to defend the Seraphim, and she was still under-leveled. Good thing I got this HP build.

  Guy had HP hyposprays, and Henrietta, being a land-dweller, couldn’t use them. They needed to find HP potions and fast. He looked for a potential source of potions, like the two soldiers Kam had killed. The dead still had LP. Guy undertook a no-fear stance and ran to the bodies. About a dozen imperials changed direction and chased him. He arrived at the first body, got a good grip on Asteria’s Sword, stabbed and mutilated the corpse until it evaporated, and then repeated for the second.

  When the mist cleared, Guy plucked the loot at his feet.

  Obtained: Sigil: Wide

  Obtained: Autumnfall Cuirass

  A smile spread on his face as he examined it closer.

  Autumnfall Cuirass [Cuirass]

  Rank: C

  Defense: 12

  Strength +1 Vitality +1

  Sigil Space: 5

  Requires: 49 Strength

  Rank C armor, and it’d be excellent for Henrietta since she doesn’t have any. He whistled to her. “Hey, what’s your strength at?!”

  “Umm.” She checked her screen. “49!”

  “Perfect—”

  “Watch out!”

/>   “For what?”

  After placing the items into his Inventory screen, Guy stood and saw what.

  A soldier neared with their weapon pointed for Guy’s heart. He forgot about the cluster that turned to chase him.

  Guy dove and rolled across the sand, parried the next strike, jumped back to his feet, dashed behind the soldier, then stabbed and kicked them to the beach. Guy put multiple holes into their chest, killed them, and then kept on stabbing until they changed into a soul crystal and loot.

  Obtained: Lesser HP Potion x4

  Precisely what he was looking for. By the time he stored the potions into his inventory, imperials had surrounded Guy. He had to fight his way back to Henrietta. It didn’t take long to get AP though. One large swing hit seven clustered soldiers, and the second gave Guy full AP.

  Stand Your Ground kept his feet on the ground, and none of the soldiers knocked him back with swings. He was at full AP again and used Fortification, reducing incoming damage by 20%. Three sweeping slashes later and he had 100 AP. Time for Storm Slash.

  Twelve bodies went up and crashed to the beach, one after another. Guy just stood there, breathing hard with Asteria’s Sword in his grip. Henrietta dashed into the fray and dropped the Autumnfall Cutter's blade into the heads of the downed imperials. The barbarian librarian was enjoying her role too much. Guy laughed as he joined Henrietta in the slaughter, slashing open the heads or throats of as many imperial soldiers as possible before they got up. Four had survived, then that turned to two when Henrietta used Thundering Blow, instantly decapitating two soldiers with one fell stroke. Halved torsos bloodied the sand. Guy followed up with a second Storm Slash and sent the last soldiers into the ocean. They didn’t move after the splashdown.

  Henrietta smiled at him and brushed back a lock of her black hair that had fallen in front of her glasses.

  Guy brought up his Inventory screen, then pulled out and offered the loot he found. “Here, take this!”

  She received the loot and giggled when she held the Autumnfall Cuirass in her hand. They had another minute before the next wave showed up, so Henrietta stripped down to her lace bra. Her breasts bounced up and down three times during the change into her armor. Guy knew this because he counted. His face had turned red too.

  The rest of the Autumnfall Cuirass features materialized onto her body. It was just a short breastplate, giving a window to her midriff and thigh-high greaves on her legs, with a short blue cape dangling from her skirt.

  “A little revealing,” she said while examining it. “But better than nothing.”

  Guy pointed at the skin she exposed. “And sigil slots.”

  She looked at that. “Oh, I see!” Henrietta pulled out the Wide sigil he gave her and placed it on her midriff. The new symbol on her belly glowed. “I have a new skill!”

  Guy turned to the incoming imperials. She joined him, keeping the axe’s haft steady in her hands. “Let’s see what you got!”

  Kam was in his water spirit form now, having used Become One with the Elements. None of the imperials saw Kam drain into the fortress sewage area or saw him enter the darkened prison. He looked like a rain puddle moving in reverse from the drain on the floor. Instead of water dripping down, it was water dripping up. After lurking around and looking like a sentient water puddle, Kam arrived in the execution square. It was an open courtyard within the center of the fortress. A dozen guillotines lined the walls, many of them stained red from years of beheadings. There was only one guillotine in use today, and its victim was none other than a woman fitting the description of princess Averyl Autumnfall.

  He still could not understand how the emperor would be happy with the death of his daughter. There had to be more going on, so before Kam played his role as a hero and rescued Averyl, he watched everything unfold. The imperial soldiers paid no mind to Kam. To them, he was just a puddle of water on the floor. A black hooded man grabbed Averyl and shoved her head down, locking her in place for the execution. She cursed and tried to break free, and when that did not work, she dropped some big curse words that no noblewoman fae should know.

  Averyl seems rather un-ladylike today. Showing off her actual personality now that she is seconds away from death?

  An imperial officer had entered and winced at the sight. He put his hands on his hips. “What is going on?!” the officer shouted. “Why has she not been dealt with?”

  A second officer approached and stood ahead of the executioner. “Someone is attacking,” he said. “We were unsure if we should assist or not.”

  “Your orders are to proceed as planned!”

  “But sir, none of us are afflicted. We do not have special abilities.”

  The first officer grimaced. “Where did all our afflicted men go?”

  “To the battle on the beach, hence the delay. This was not supposed to happen.”

  “Treason is punishable by death, no matter who you are! Put Averyl Autumnfall to death. Those are the emperor’s orders.”

  “Please . . .” Averyl mumbled, her body squirming to break free. “I’m not—”

  “Shut up!” said the imperial officer, his finger pointed at her. “All you needed to do was spread your legs for Wylume and become his wife. Easy! You brought this on yourself for working with the resistance!”

  “Ugh,” she groaned. “Listen to me! You’re making a mistake! I’m—”

  “Raise the blade!”

  The executioner followed his orders. He pulled on the rope and raised the guillotine blade up. The officer grabbed and yanked on Averyl’s hair, pulling her face up to his. “Last chance,” he said. “Admit that you were wrong and accept Wylume as your future husband. If you do that, we will let you go free. You have my word—”

  Averyl spat in his face.

  Very un-ladylike for an imperial princess. Kam would think about it later. He was alone, and there were guards around. But if what the officer said were true, the affliction had not changed them. That would give Kam the advantage, though he would not be invincible. As Ulysses had shown, the unafflicted could still harm afflicted, just slowly.

  Saving Averyl might get him killed and her recaptured, if reinforcement showed up. Guy, Henrietta, and Ulysses needed to be there. Kam’s water form flowed aside. He had to find an advantage, something that would delay the beheading. The officer held his hand out to the executioner: stop. The executioner complied as the officer pulled the second officer to the side.

  The two whispered and Kam listened.

  “Why is she not accepting our terms?”

  “How should I know?”

  “Now what? We were not to actually kill her, right?”

  “No, this was a show to scare her into marrying Wylume.”

  “Ugh, and whose idea was that? The emperor’s or Wylume’s?”

  “Nowadays, I have no idea who our true leader is . . .”

  That was all Kam needed to know. They were not going to kill Averyl, and if that were the case, they should not mind Kam releasing her. His puddle form flowed toward the guillotine. Once in place, Kam retook his natural form before his draining MP ran dry.

  There was a loud gasp of shock when a faun appeared.

  Kam swung his lance and impaled the executioner. His dead hands let go of the rope, and the blade fell. Moving quickly, Kam grabbed and pulled Averyl free, yanking her thin neck away from the blade that fell. He heard five swords come out from their scabbards, and the owners of those weapons ran toward him.

  Kam angled his lance down, using its sharp end to cut Averyl free. He would do the same for her bound wings if they had time.

  She grinned up at him. “Thank you!”

  “Oh, do not thank me yet,” Kam said, as he tightened his hold on the lance and moved to intercept the imperials. The guards surrounded them. “Thank me if we get out of this alive.”

  Another ten to thirteen imperials drew their swords and charged the two. Kam charged them right back, unleashed the swiftness his agility gave him, and skewered the first impe
rials that approached. Three came to the left, and he spun to pierce their hearts, one after another. Twirling on his pole, Kam dropkicked another, pulled the lance from the ground, and stabbed their right eyeball with it, penetrating the brain and hitting the back of their skull. Fighting unafflicted was easy. Protecting Averyl, who was just like them, would be hard.

  Speaking of which . . . where is she?

  Kam turned for her.

  Averyl had plucked a sword from the dead, held it like she had been in her fair share of scraps, then cut a man’s neck in half. Red juices dripped off her cheeks and nose. She wiped the blood away with the back of her wrist and swung for the next. Averyl was quite the swordswoman—not the princess he had heard about.

  Coming to the island might have been a mistake . . . perhaps a trap. Worry about it later, lad. You need to escape with your head attached.

  Kam and Averyl fought back to back, removing limbs and heads and darkening their attire with imperial blood. When the last guard fell to his feet, Kam turned and aimed his weapon at the person holding a sword behind him, Averyl. He did not trust her.

  “Who are you?—”

  Averyl’s lips formed an arrogant smirk, then she pushed him aside while lunging horizontally.

  Slash.

  The head of an imperial fell over backward and remained attached to the neck by a thin piece of flesh and muscle. Jets of blood squirted left and right. Had the cut been deeper, the head would have rolled off the dead body—a body Kam had not noticed creep up.

  Averyl held the smirk. “You’re welcome. Now I assume you traveled here on a ship, yes? If you value your life, you’ll get me aboard it now.”

  Definitely not the princess.

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Ulysses has attained level 2!

  “What the fuck?”

  Guy and Henrietta turned away from an imperial with three arrows stuck in their dead face. Ulysses stood on top of the Seraphim. He woke and held Emeraldal’s Bow in his hands, aiming it at the hordes of soldiers approaching their position. Guy stared at him.