The Trials of a Modern Paladin 2

by Kevin Culp

  Sleep brought me to dreams, and they hadn't been pleasant ones lately. Ever since I found out my friends were here, presumably as their characters, I had nightmares about them being stuck in awful situations. A mischievous little goblin with a gold grin tied over a fire surrounded by ogres, or a pretty young girl with a fox tail and ears being chased into a cave, were common occurrences in my dreams. What I really had been wondering about was Dan. He was the GM of our game and didn't have a character, but theoretically, he was also here. A GM is effectively the god of a game, but surely I would know if there was a god named Dan in this world with Archaeus' knowledge religion. I was my overpowered level 20 paladin, so if the same had happened for John, Kara, and Caleb, they should all be fine as they would also be quite overpowered.

  Like normal, the nightmares came and went, and I woke up again in this fantasy world. I moved to pull Christina close to me but found myself alone in bed. This had become normal for the past few weeks. I woke up early, but Christina would get up, go assess the situation in town, get updates from the builders, and almost always still be back and cooking me breakfast by the time I was finishing my morning spell preparation which was basically prayers.

  I pulled myself out of bed and went to splash some water on my face. When I got back to the room, I clothed myself in some simple breeches and a tunic then knelt down by the bed to pray. My notepad flashed in front of me, pulled from the reaches of my vision when I focused on it like normal. It was blinking like there was something I was missing, so I started to turn the pages. Christina's character sheet had popped up in my notepad when I accepted her as my primary companion from a leadership talent I had taken, and it was now glowing with an alert.

  It read, “Christina has attained the required experience to advance to level 1. Would you like to choose Christina's advancement path or allow Christina to choose?”

  It had two options that I had to think about, and I already assumed I could select which one I wanted by focusing on it. This was interesting, but also a tough decision. In the game, I would definitely prefer to build my own cohort and choose how they advance, but this wasn't exactly a game. Choosing Christina's path for her wouldn't be right, would it? Even if this world was real, I can't guarantee I can stay here forever whether or not I want to so wouldn't it be better to let her pick her own path. In the end, I knew it was the right thing to do and focused on allowing Christina to choose her own path.

  The sheet began to glow for a moment, and when it came back into focus, some changes had been made. Instead of being level 0, she was now a level 1 Blade Dancer, a class I had never heard of before. Her attributes and hit points didn't change at all, but that didn't surprise me. Attributes rarely came from a class and hit points going from level 0 to level 1 was just going from a racial-based hit dice to a class-based hit dice. Her dodge save went up and what shocked me the most was how much her armor rating went up. Technically, it was still lower than it had been yesterday in the cave by a slight amount, but she had been wearing my breastplate in the cave and right now my breastplate was sitting just inside the door to our house.

  I started to look over her character sheet to see what had caused the change because it was only indicated as a miscellaneous modifier on her armor rating. Eventually, I came to a new ability called Dancer's Grace. Its effect was that she could add her charisma modifier to her armor class while not encumbered by inventory and while not wearing any armor. It was definitely a useful skill, and I knew there were other classes that had similar benefits. The more I thought about it calling Christina a blade dancer fit. She was so graceful and agile on the battlefield even before this level up that it surprised me she was a level 0.

  Looking over her character sheet, there were a few other things that I noted had changed. Her attack bonus and damage had gone up which seemed to be a mixture of class-related and the fact that she got the talent finesse training which I was already familiar with. It let you use your finesse attribute instead of strength when using a weapon with one hand that was appropriately sized, though there were penalties for larger weapons like a long sword which is why I gave her a short sword, to begin with. She also had some skill training in stealth, dancing, and acrobatics now. I started to wonder if the others had leveled up. Theoretically, Phillip, Vincent, and Kayden had all received the same amount of experience as Christina so shouldn't they have leveled up. I definitely wanted to get them together for training again soon, and we still need to investigate the rest of that cave, so I'm sure I'll get to find out soon enough if they had changes anywhere near as drastic as Christina.

  I pulled myself away from Christina's character sheet and went back to my own. Lately, the only thing I had really been preparing was healing and attribute restoring spells. I didn't necessarily expect an attack but knew I needed all the healing magic possible if one came. It was tempting to have a temple built in Freid and see if I could attract some clerics, so I'm not the only healer here, but that wasn't a high priority.

  I finished preparing my spells and could smell breakfast cooking. It had only felt like I'd spent about ten minutes looking over Christina's character sheet and preparing spells, but I knew it had been at least an hour for my prayers because that's how it always went. I walked up behind Christina, put my arms around her waist, and kissed her cheek.

  She blushed. “Good morning, Archaeus.” She turned her head to give me a kiss then went back to cooking.

  I went over to the table, sat down, and opened the newspaper. It was the same one that we had found a few months ago, but I couldn't help reading through it occasionally. Nothing new had shown up since, and I really couldn't help but wonder how this got here. It being here implied there was still some kind of connection between these two worlds or at least there was at that time. If there was though, wouldn't more things or people have gotten through?

  Christina sat food in front of me, “Why does that scroll interest you so much Archaeus?”

  She asked me this question a lot, and I always gave her a similar response. “Do you remember when I first got here and said I felt confused as if someone had messed with my mind?”

  “Yes,” she replied.

  “This scroll has something to do with that. I know it does but for some reason, I can't actually explain to people how the two things are related.”

  She looked concerned as she always did. The first few times we had this conversation, I told her all about how this paper was from the world I was actually from, and William Shawcro was the real me, but in my notepad, it always crossed all that out and gave the explanation that I had just given Christina. It was strange that Archaeus knew this had something to do with his confusion, but the fact that it let him say that implied it was true. What I hated the most about it, was that it made me feel like I was lying to Christina, and I wanted an honest relationship with her. I always questioned whether she would feel as though I had lied to her if she knew the truth. At the end of the day, all I could hope is that one day I could tell her the truth, and she would understand.

  When we finished our breakfast Christina looked at me, “I'm going to help at the tavern this morning, and I promised Joseph's mom that I would have lunch with her.”

  It had become a normal thing for Christina to have lunch with Joseph's mom, but it was still strange to me. Her name was Mary, and she had been childhood friends with Christina's father. At one point, Joseph and Christina had been betrothed, though it was called off when Christina's mom had gone missing. Ever since Joseph had died during the orc attack, Christina seemed to have some guilt centered around his family and bent over backwards to help them and make them feel comfortable.

  After she stood up and took my plate, I followed her to the wash bin we did our dishes in. I put my arm around her and kissed her cheek. “You know that what happened to Joseph wasn't your fault. If it was anyone's fault it was mine.”

  She shook her head. “It wasn't anyone's fault, Archaeus. Well, at least not anyone here’s fault. It was the orcs
that did this, but I still care about Joseph's family, and I'm certain my papa would like to know I was looking after them.”

  “Okay, well I will send a message to the prince and spend the morning with the builders. They told me they would need my help for certain today. I'll have lunch at the tavern and meet you there after okay?”

  She nodded and went to leave.

  After she had left, I went to the room and grabbed my bag. I sat down at the table and pulled out my Letter of Sending and a pen. The item was straightforward. I could write a letter, and if the person I addressed it to was within range of the spell, it would immediately appear in their hands the next time they were available to receive it. They could then reply, and if they didn't, it would come back to me within three days. I had been pretty consistently communicating with the prince with it mostly to see if he had heard any news that would lead me to my friends. When I described them all to him, he was most surprised that I could call a goblin a friend. I guess this world didn't have many friendly goblins. I had also been communicating with the capitals jeweler trying to find another diamond for resurrection components but to no avail.

  Today's message didn't correspond to either of these things, but it was addressed to Prince Leovald. I sent him a message about the cave we had investigated and explained that we weren't able to find an end to it and how densely populated the ratkin were in it. Of course, I also detailed the troll that was attempting to enter the cave as we were leaving, though we couldn't be certain unfortunately if it had been a coincidence. Ratkin were commonly known to work for more powerful races, but trolls were often so lacking in intelligence, that they rarely used weaker races for anything other than food.

  I finished writing and sent the letter. Leovald was a busy man, he was a prince, so it wasn't that uncommon for it to take most of the day to get a response. I needed to find something more to do in town. People often praised me for how smooth the town’s reconstruction and expansion were going, but I had little to do with it. Most of it was because of the support from the crown and Christina. I was more or less a glorified workhorse. I often spent the first part of my day with the builders, where they would have me do all the work that required heavy lifting that was available. My strength score was pretty off the charts, so I couldn't blame them for having me use it, and I wanted to help. They had told me that today they would need my help more than ever, though I didn't even bother to ask why.

  I brought my bag with me and had my sword at my side when I stepped outside. Zeus greeted me and let out a low growl then rubbed his enormous head against me. Zeus was basically an enormous white dire wolf that served as my intelligent mount and companion. He was amazingly strong and fast. It was easy to depend on him in any situation. I reached up to pat him on the side, and he licked my face and wagged his tail. It was obvious that he was disappointed we didn't spend more time together, and I definitely wished we could. Even so, his daily work was very important, as he patrolled the surrounding woods to alert us of danger. Every morning he would be at my house when he knew I would leave to greet me. We spent a short amount of time together, and I scratched his chest while he rubbed his head on me, but he was intelligent and knew his work was important too. Eventually, he ran off to the woods.

  When I arrived at the location on the outskirts of town that had just been deforested, I was immediately aware of why the builders needed me and confused. There were tons of carts loaded with enormous stone blocks. My immediate thought was that there must be some dwarves moving here to settle. I knew it was supposed to be a home here, and who other than a dwarf would insist that a farmhouse in a field be built of stone. What really surprised me was that, when I got closer, I could see that the couple standing with the builders seemed to be elves. It didn't take a knowledge skill to know that elves were forest folk and typically despised stone environments. Surely, they must be passing through and aren't the ones having this home built, I thought to myself.

  When I got close enough, Tyler, the lead builder, started to wave me over. “Archaeus, you're right on time.”

  “Allow me to introduce you to.... um, ya, can you repeat your names again,” he said looking at them slightly embarrassed.

  The male elf nodded. “Certainly. My name is Lianamyr, and this is my partner Sairana.”

  The female elf did a short bow.

  They looked similar to the few elves I saw in the capital though maybe a little more, I guess you would say wild. By human standards, they were both short. He was probably about 5’4,” and she couldn't have been more than 5'0”. His hair was black, and hers was red but they both had startling green eyes. They had exceptionally slender builds. Even though the male looked like he had some muscle to him, he still couldn't have weighed over a hundred pounds. They had long pointed ears and somewhat angular features. In spite of how foreign they looked, they were very beautiful. I could understand why some lore called them the fair folk. Their clothing was the epitome of simple with long thin robes of natural colors, and he had a longbow on his back.

  “It's very nice to meet you. My name is Archaeus.” I said, and I extended a hand to the male elf.

  He shook my hand, and while I feel a little guilty for it, I couldn't help but think of how feminine it was. His hand was soft and smooth and his grip wasn't all that strong. I then shook the female elf’s, and it wasn't much different.

  “Tales of your strength have already spread far, Archaeus,” Lianamyr said. “That's actually why we have chosen here to settle.”

  “Oh,” I raised an eyebrow questioningly. I guess it made sense for people to settle here for protection, but it was strange to hear, and I felt like he had something else in mind when he said it.

  Sairana nodded and sighed heavily. “We have traveled from our home far to the west, and everywhere we attempt to settle people become... unnerved by our daughter and seem to shun her out of fear. I do not want to turn her into a recluse and settle somewhere away from civilization, but we had hoped that if there was somewhere people had an extra reason to feel safe, such as around yourself, that they would not fear her as much.”

  “Can I ask why people are so afraid of her?”

  This time it was Sairana who spoke up, and her voice sounded like music. “I think it's best you see for yourself. Korana, would you come out and meet this gentleman?”

  I looked towards the last cart in the caravan where Lianamyr had turned his attention to as his wife spoke. It was a cloth-covered wagon with a rounded top that looked like it came straight out of the old west. When the occupant of the wagon stepped down and rounded the corner, however, I was shocked by what I saw.

  Chapter 2

  While I'm sure Christina would slap me for even thinking it, the girl was beautiful, though that was far from what drew my attention. She was short, probably only 4'10,” and definitely had that stereotypical skinny elf build, though she did have a decent figure. Her long straight hair was a light blue with streaks of silver and she wore a roman style white dress with a chord around the waist and an open back. I assumed this had nothing to do with being a fashion statement but more to accommodate the huge bat-like wings emerging from her back. The bones and cartilage running through the wings were a light blue and the membrane between them was a silver color. Each wing had a long claw-like hook on top.

  I couldn't help but gawk at the wings for a moment, but it would be hard to call them her most surprising feature. She had normal pointed elf-like ears, but they were attached to a thin fin-like structure that fanned down the sides of her face. Her right eye was pretty normal and brilliant green in color, but the left had a cat-like slit for a pupil and was a stormy gray. Fanning from the outer edge of her left eye and randomly splattered over her body were small patches of blue or silver scales. She had on gloves, but I could tell her fingers were probably slightly longer than they should be and likely ended in claws. The last thing I noticed was a thick silvery reptilian tail that was hanging behind her and was being dragged across the ground.
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  I tried to approach her extending a hand as if nothing was out of the ordinary, “My name is Archaeus. It's very nice to meet you, Korana.”

  She looked down and put one arm across her chest to grab the other. “You don't have to pretend. I know I'm a monster.”

  Her voice took me off guard, or should I say pulled me in. It was enticing and melodic, though I could also tell that she was probably young through it. It would be difficult for me to tell her age. Elves here seemed to be pretty similar to my game, so they reached adulthood around 100 years old, but I doubted this girl was just an elf. Either way, I'd place her right around adulthood, so that may be about right.

  I was surprised. “Are you kidding me? You aren't a monster. You are beautiful, and I'm jealous of those wings. I have to cast a spell to get wings and last time I fell about a hundred feet when the duration ended on me.”

  She giggled a little at that. “Are you really not scared just looking at me?”

  I tried to display confusion, as I really didn't want her to be uncomfortable around me, “Why would I be scared? Have you done something dangerous I don't know of?”

  “Most people are scared just from seeing me,” she said.

  That was sad but unfortunately, not surprising. People, in general, fear those that are too different, and I'm sure that her looks aren't the end of what she is capable of. Unfortunately, Archaeus had no knowledge training, so while William could probably know what she was, I didn't have a clue. I'm certain it would be inappropriate for me to just ask too.

  “Well, that's their loss. You seem like a sweet girl to me.” I really didn't know what to say next, so I turned back to the girl’s parents. “I need to help Tyler move these stones into place before lunch, but I would love it if you three would join me at the tavern for lunch, and I'm certain my girlfriend would love to meet the new residents.”