The Beginning (Dark Paladin Book #1) LitRPG Series

by Vasily Mahanenko

  “You are early.” Sharda grumbled, looking at our group sullenly. Classroom forty five turned out to be just a normal gym; around the perimeter there were racks with weapons, armor and unknown gadgets. Sharda himself, still wearing the same shining armor, stood in the middle of the gym holding a small hammer and breathing heavily. Apparently we had interrupted a training session. My eyes unwittingly widened in surprise: the gnome was holding Mjollnir the way they drew it at Marvel. The legendary hammer of Thor.

  “Stay, guys, there is nothing else I could do with you now,” the gnome waved acceptance at us as we tried to leave the gym. Miraculously, the hammer vanished from Sharda’s hands as if it had never been there. Magic? I didn’t think so. Most likely the hammer was replaced among his personal inventory. I ought to remember this for the future.

  “Lesson number seven,” the gnome continued busily, — “every player needs to have his own main artifact. A weapon, armor, a spinner, it does not matter. The important part is: one player — one artifact. Throughout your game, regardless of how it plays out, you will develop and upgrade your item improving its properties every time. If you want your weapon to curse with every blow – no problem. Add the “Drunken Master’s Blow” and level it up to level 4. There’s no limit on the number of properties for an artifact; however, the more properties you add the lower are the chances you’d get a really great item in the end. Because you have to work on each property in order for it to work well. Any questions?”

  “Where can one learn about the properties?” I asked after a short pause. For some reason other Paladins were just listening to Sharda silently, not making any attempts to figure things out in detail. As for me, it was enough to have to choose race and class without sufficient information. Regardless of my attitude to Archibald, I had to admit his words had been true. I should have agreed to become a vampire. Then I would have had a one hundred percent guarantee that I would get out of that strange Academy.

  “The choice of artifact is complicated… What?” — as I was asking my question Sharda kept talking about the artifacts, but now stopped, looking at me angrily. The air around the gnome swirled lightly; Sharda himself started darkening and increasing in size like a balloon someone was blowing up. The gnome’s changes and a heavy sigh from Dietrich conveyed the main idea to me — I should not have interrupted Sharda.

  “Where can one learn about the properties of an artifact?” I repeated. It was too late to retreat, so at least it was worth working on the topic in detail before facing the likely punishment. “Since they are so important for a player, it should be an informed choice... the Temple of Knowledge, with all my respect to the name, provides so little information that after you read it the only question remains: ‘What just happened?’ with all of that: “The information you need is in this scroll. Study it.” I imitated the old guy from the Temple of Knowledge.

  “Have you already been there?” The gnome instantly “deflated”, looking at me with interest from the bottom up. “What was your question?”

  “Comparative characteristics of humans and vampires.” Concealing the truth would be silly.

  “Oh, that’s interesting,” the gnome drawled contemplatively, then looked at the elf. “Brother Nartalim, explain the gist of lesson number two to brother Yari.”

  “Why me?” The offspring of high society immediately rebelled. That was funny. I had always considered the guilded youth to belong to another civilization. Not just sons and daughters of rich parents. But visitors from another world. The majority of them couldn’t care less about others’ problems; for them the value of people was determined strictly by availability of money or connections. Having fun and partying even during the lean years, traveling in expensive cars and ignoring the laws, throwing money around and demanding that they be treated as royalty — everything pointed to the elite members being from another planet. The truth revealed now was much simpler — they were partying elves. The system never showed to common NPCs, such as Fagov, the old guy and I, the racial differences of the guilded youth. Why traumatize their minds yet again?

  “Because I said so,” an evil smile blossomed on Sharda’s face. “Any questions?”

  “In order to receive an answer to your question, an inquiry to the Temple of Knowledge must be phrased to be as clear and certain as possible. It’s preferable to word it in such a way that it could be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’,” the elf surrendered. Apparently, the words “Any questions?” from the gnome served as a trigger, after which democracy ended and was replaced by a brutal dictatorial regime.

  “When a player enters the Temple of Knowledge,” Nartalim continued, “a record with a counter appears for him. The counter increments with each visit to the Temple. Those players who have visited the Temple fewer than 100 times will receive the answer in the form of a paragraph or two with the maximum number of words not to exceed …,” the elf slowed down, trying to recall a specific number, and then Sharda came to his aid:

  “Up to two hundred words. Given that you were interested in comparative attributes of two races the answer that was given to you would have to be as general as possible. Seems as though you received an answer, but in fact those tend to generate even more questions. As for the properties of artifacts, you can learn about those either in the Temple of Knowledge or in the Library of the Citadel, which houses all the knowledge accumulated by the Paladins of Earth. The Temple of Knowledge does not always open to seekers. Did I answer your question?” Sharda looked at me so eloquently that all I could do was nod in agreement.

  “Excellent. Let’s get back to the lesson at hand. As I mentioned, choosing an artifact is a complex process. You have to look within yourselves and understand what would suit you best. Who are you? Fighters? Creators? Healers? Craftsmen? The item should be chosen wisely depending on the direction you have selected for development. History knows lots of examples of stupid choices. For example, there was once a hunter Hermes. Whatever moved him to choose an artifact in the form of sandals and suit them for flight – nobody knows. No damage, no healing power, no concealment. Nothing at all except for speed and ability to fly. Until Hermes moved on to another world he worked for his more experienced colleagues as an unskilled worker, a gopher of sorts. He specialized in delivering wine and women.”

  “The messenger of the gods,” I whispered in amazement. The world turned on its head yet again. The Greek gods and heroes were mere players! Hermes, Heracles, Zeus‒ all these creatures really did exist and at some point walked this location, until they were upgraded! Now I know that the Earth is not really a very popular place for power leveling. Following that logic, everything that I knew about mythology and religion was true! Dragons, mages, monsters, boogiemen under the bed! All that exists or existed in reality!

  “There are certain constraints imposed on the choice of artifact,” Sharda continued.”It’s only possible to select an object that is associated with your class. You cannot get magical mirrors, staffs nor other knick-knacks of cheap market tricksters. These trinkets are not even here,” Sharda waved his hands around the class. “In this room we have everything Paladins are allowed to use as artifacts. Here we have just the blanks that will become artifacts after the trip to the Academy. Look, explore, feel, choose. Normally we allow the newbies half an hour but you arrived early so you have a full hour. Any questions?”

  “What questions?” Monstrichello boomed and unceremoniously started for the racks with weapons and armor. “It’s all clear! I’m a tank! “I need a shield! Dietrich is a healer. He needs…”

  “Brother Dietrich will make his own choice,” Sharda said quietly but it made Fagov fall silent. I just wonder, what did the gnome do during those three days of training that even Monstrichello treats him with respect?

  “Brother Monstrichello is right,” Dietrich said in a grating voice. “At my age it’s too late to swing a sword about. I’ll become a healer to the extent that’s possible in our class at all. Maybe it will work out. I think I’
ll take this banner.”

  “A sword!” Nartalim stated with determination as he pulled out of the stand a thin curved blade that looked like a saber. “I will name it ‘Heart of Thunder’!” With its aid I will crush myriads of enemies, reach level 100 and set off for Zalta!”

  “That’s a worthy goal,” the gnome nodded in approval. “Yaropolk, Sartal?”

  “I chose my object a long time ago,” the reptilian rumbled, then came up to the rack with armor and pulled out a steel breastplate. “S-s-steel armor is important for a Paladin. Unless-s-s he has-s-s it he is-s-s weak and helpless-s-s. Es-s-s-pecially agains-s-s-t the mages-s-s.

  “The shield is the best armor for a Paladin!” Fagov immediately started defending his artifact as a child protecting his toy.

  “Everyone has his own defenses, brother Monstrichello,” the gnome reassured the thug. “Some like a shield, and some a breastplate. You need to treat the choice of your brother in arms with respect. Yari, do you need more time?”

  “What is the point of the game?” I responded with a question. I did choose my class based on emotions without realizing what threats that would entail. I did not know the advantages and disadvantages of Paladins; their features, special attributes, ways for upgrading were all hidden from me. As a former semi-professional player I was quite frightened by that. With this approach to choice of character there would be only one word to describe a player: lamer! I do not want to be called that.

  “The ceremony will be held in one hour,” Sharda ignored my question and the hammer appeared in his hand again. “If by that point you fail to select an artifact, you will die. This time for good. It is prohibited to use help from your brothers in arms to make the choice. Only the player shall bear the responsibility for his choice.”

  “Why should we bother with him?” Nartalim dropped a phrase, staring at complex passes the gnome started to make with his hammer. Sharda continued his interrupted training session that looked more like a dance; the presence of young recruits did not bother him in the least. “Everyone knows he will not make it back from the Academy. We are just wasting time now."

  I made a gesture to indicate to the elf where he could go with his suggestions and looked around. Once again I was thrown into a situation of compete uncertainty. The players who had already made their choice must be already familiar with the specifics of the class. Just the statement Dietrich made: “to the extent that’s possible in our class at all” indicates that he had some minimal knowledge about Paladins. Which could not be said about me.

  What should I choose?

  In general future artifacts were divided into several categories: weapons, armor, clothes made of cloth, incomprehensible devices – probably accessories‒ banners and books.

  I rejected the banners right away. Logic and observing other players making their choices told me that the main task of the banners would be to improve battle morale and other attributes of the players. Perhaps even heal them. Even though the banners looked rather attractive, I did not want to be a buffer.

  I lingered at the shelves with armor looking at breastplates, hammers, gauntlets and other shining silvery metal parts. Polished to mirror shine, the armor seemed to call to choose one of them, but I kept going. Strictly speaking one needs artifact armor only in one case: if the player is likely to sustain damage either fighting other players or battling NPCs. I would try to avoid the former; for the latter ordinary armor should suffice.

  Weapons… I spent more time there looking at different swords, morning stars, hammers and even clubs. I was always drawn to cold steel; a few times I even attended historical medieval reconstructionists’ gatherings, watching people with several left hands trying to hit each other with a chunk of metal. With a heavy sigh I stepped away from the racks: one needs to know how to use the sharp and pointy objects and that requires practice. However, unless I find something better I will come back here. Weapons are a universal choice, Nartalim is right about that.

  As for the clothes made of cloth at first I was not inspired. Shirts, cloaks, pants, hoods… of course, a player needs all of those, but making a personal artifact from something made of cloth… I was about to go to the next set of shelves when an ironic thought wandered into my head — to take a cloak and upgrade it to invisibility. I would be able to come upon enemies unnoticed and then… The skin on my back crawled as I was hit with another revelation: invisibility cloaks were real! Some player chose that seemingly useless cloth item, upgraded it to invisibility and made history! Practically every ethnicity has legends about invisibility cloaks and clever men who were able to gain some bonuses using them.

  Only now did it dawn on me that with the right upgrades any object would be useful, depending on the player’s chosen role. All that was left for me to do was to decide whom I wanted to be in that game? A tank? To run ahead with my shield proudly raised and crash into enemy lines? If someone were to suggest that to me during the first minutes of the game I would have agreed without a second thought. In all the games that I had happened to play I had been exactly that – a tank. But now I could tell for certain: never again! Sustaining damage, suffering pain clenching my teeth and hoping for healers’ skill —Monstrichello can have it. Natural immunity to magic and an artifact shield will make him a good tank. What was left was a healer or a fighter. I needed to make a choice.

  Actually, that was an interesting question: why was I thinking using standard concepts? Tank, healer, fighter… Role constraints in computer games were introduced only for one reason: to simplify writing of the code. Why should I treat as dogma a solution by some ancient developer? Players don’t even have properties, so the difference between a tank, a healer and, for example, a dancer would be purely due to the skills of the player and his clothes, but not due to virtual strength, agility and intellect.

  The decision on who I wanted to be in the game appeared immediately once I stopped following the standard model. My mind had been trying to work it out for some time, and now it presented a solution. Given that I had ended up in a world that had dragons, vampires, princesses and other bogeys, I would like to study it in every detail. Explore everything that could be explored. Study it and start trading in knowledge. Because it was clear already now: the most important thing in this game was not strength but information.

  “I need information on an object from this hall that would be optimal as an artifact for the explorer of the world!” I stated to the air a question as specific as possible. Remembering in time Sharda’s words that not everyone is allowed in the Temple of Knowledge, I added: “the player who initiated me did not tell me anything about the game!”

  “Was that allowed?” Nartalim drawled in surprise; then a message appeared in front of me:

  Request is granted. Access to Temple of Knowledge is provided.

  For the duration of study of information time for player Yari is suspended.

  The hall with the racks full of future artifacts was replaced by the already familiar white room. The gray-haired man greeted me and pointed at the coffee table. I opened the character properties and grinned — a new parameter did in fact appear: number of visits to the Temple of Knowledge, which currently equaled two. Where there are two, there is a hundred. I opened the scroll and started reading the text:

  Explorer of the game — a development direction for a player who chose the path of knowledge, discovering new lands (cartography), new monsters (monstrology), elixirs and potions (alchemy) and other areas of research . The most optimal artifact for world explorers from the hall of blanks of the Citadel of Paladins of Earth is the Book of Knowledge (accessory). Location of the Book of Knowledge in the hall of blanks of the Citadel of Paladins of Earth is shown in the figure

.

  Advantages of the Book of Knowledge as an artifact: accelerated replenishment of Energy; adaptive intellect of the Book enables it to read information from any source and systematically arrange it in accordance with the specified criteria. The Book of Knowledge can be
upgraded to automate any areas of research . Drawbacks of the Book of Knowledge as an artifact: no player attack or defense properties.

  “You received the necessary information,” the old man reminded me of his presence as soon as I finished reading the scroll. “You need to select your artifact and complete study in the Academy. Remember: the doors of the Temple of Knowledge are always open for seekers.”

  “It didn’t work? Loser!” Nartalim laughed as soon as I returned to the gym. For the players my disappearance and return went unnoticed. That gave me an interesting thought: the Temple of Knowledge could be used not only as a place where one receives information. I must think of a question that the system will consider compliant with the requirements and grant me a visit to the Temple, plucking me out of the world around me. For example, when I need to think about something thoroughly. That would be useful for the future.

  The scroll with information stayed at the Temple, so I approached the rack with accessories guided by memory. I was not going to react to the elf’s words. I would need to find out whether conflicts between players of the same class are allowed. Not now, but in a couple of years I will remind Nartalim of the way we first met.

  Item is received: Book of Knowledge. Item type: personal artifact. To initiate the artifact visiting the Academy is required.

  The Book of Knowledge turned out to be a thick А4 tome bound in smooth black leather. Despite its impressive size it weighed practically nothing. Rough yellow pages were empty, there was only an inscription on the flyleaf: “Book of Knowledge of