The Beginning (Dark Paladin Book #1) LitRPG Series

by Vasily Mahanenko

  “We shouldn’t come out to the clearing right away: the risk is too high,” the druid started explaining, completely unabashed, as if she had expected to be asked. “The optimal move would be to test ourselves on a small troop, when we would have an opportunity to retreat into the forest right away. One option would be to clear one of the passes.”

  “That’s what we’ll do! Yari, lead us to the right pass.” Imperceptibly to the rest, the femorc took the lead in our team. Of course: she is the daughter of a well-known Paladin! It’s not as though anyone protested; on the contrary, no one wanted to assume the responsibility, but the fact itself amused me: while the Paladins trundled from the respawn point to the teacher, no one had any doubts as to who was the leader. The one who saved all the rest was the leader. But as soon as you showed people a visible light at the end of the tunnel at once there would appear alphas, omegas and other letters of the Greek alphabet trying to bend everyone else to their bidding.

  I did not bother to fight for the leadership of the team: that wasn't what I needed. It would be impossible to turn me into a prince on a white horse leading his brave warriors forward onto enemy lines. I would prefer to live a quiet and orderly life somewhere in a house in the country, surrounded by beautiful women. Knowing that the mages stood between me and my ideal house from a dream, I decided to follow Logir and her orders until they contradicted my moral principles. Nodding in agreement, I led the team towards a passage away from the clearing. Tough luck for the three mages guarding it: they would be our guinea pigs.

  “Monster, you go first.” We stopped a couple of meters above the pass and Logir started to work out the tactics of the impending battle. “Let’s do it the way we did before, but instead of Nartalimа we’ll use the panther… You’re with us, right?” The femorc stopped briefly, as before this moment she had not given any thought to the reasons why on earth the druid should be helping us.

  “I am,” Nata grinned, for some reason looking at me. “What will Yari be doing?”

  “He doesn’t have any weapons, so nothing.”

  “So he won’t get experience points for killing then?”

  “Oh, that’s what you are talking about… No, let him stand to the side for now. He is an explorer, not a warrior. So let him explore whatever is around. No need for him to be underfoot down there. Let’s set out!”

  The Paladins started climbing down, but Dolgunata still looked at me, not taking any action. I had to nod to her indicating that I agreed with Logir’s decision. Without saying a word Nata followed the others. The hunt for the mages began.

  “Hey, what the hell?!” I heard a wild scream from below, followed by electricity cracking, several dull clunks and death rattles. I tried to see what was going on, but a jumble of boulders and beams obscured my view. Thus, all that was left for me was to fidget, waiting for the results of the first foray. There were no Paladins seen. The waiting was becoming unbearable and I started thinking about climbing down when Monstrichello’s booming roar came from the clearing:

  "All the way! Mages are bitches!"

  Having no idea whatsoever as to what was going on, I rushed along the guiding beams to the edge of the clearing to evaluate the situation and decide whether it was time to panic or everything was going according to plan. I was there at the finale: a group of twenty mages was raining fire and lightning on Monstrichello, who was moving towards them, completely ignoring the chaos wreaked all around him. The rest of the Paladins huddled together right at the entrance to the clearing, making no attempts to come closer to the battle. Monstrichello had come practically up to the mages when they suddenly started falling on the ground one after another, blinking and then disappearing as if they were being sent to respawn. I frowned, trying to understand what was going on; then a sudden insight made the whole puzzle fit together: each time one used an ability it ate up the Energy! Sharda had mentioned it before! The logic of the Paladins’ actions became clear at once: in the Academy the level of Energy governs respawning, Monstrichello is not affected by magic, and the mages had become used to being able to resolve everything with a single lightning bolt; so, it was necessary to deprive the mages of Energy. It wouldn’t matter how many mages come out against Monstrichello: one, two or a hundred! Having become used to the power of magic the players became weak. Good thinking for the Paladins… But they could have warned me: I was worried!

  “Regroup!” Logir commanded as soon as the last mage disappeared. Paladins led by the femorc stepped into the clearing, lined up behind Monstrichello in an attack formation and started moving towards the crowd of scared players who had moved to the edge of the clearing to stay out of the way.

  “Let us complete training with the teacher!” I heard the voice of one of the players. “Your battle with the mages doesn't have anything to do with us!”

  “Consider that it’s not your day!” Logir was adamant. “Onward!”

  Today was truly a day for unpleasant discoveries! The Paladins, without a declaration of war and without obvious reasons attacked the players, who only wanted one thing: to train with that damned teacher! Monstrichello’s shield, the Paladins’ weapons and Dolgunata’s claws dealt death right and left, sending players to respawn in droves. My jaw dropped: what were the Paladins doing?! Even the mages did not allow themselves such excesses! Panic broke out, the players were crushing each other trying to get away from the deadly and, apparently, crazy Paladins.

  “Everybody stop!” I screamed wildly, climbing down to the clearing along the boulders. It registered in my mind that I had let go of the guiding line and in ten seconds the guards would start hunting me, but in my soul I didn’t give a damn. The Paladins needed to be stopped! Crashing into the clearing as I lost my balance in the end, I jumped to my feet right away and screamed again: “Stop that!”

  “Yari?” The Paladins slowed down, obviously not expecting that I would appear.

  “What the hell are you doing?!” Without slowing down I ran at the team, still shouting. Perhaps it was a surge of intolerance of injustice that I received, together with my chosen specialty. It was silly, of course, but I couldn’t do anything to stop myself. I did not like what my partners were doing. I simply had to stop all of that. “Did you forget how the mages cornered you at the respawn point? Forgot that feeling when you can only wait for respawn? What makes you better than the mages now? These players are not at fault for wanting to live!”

  “Yari, calm down.” Logir tried to reason with me. “We don’t need additional problems…”

  “What problems?” That only aggravated me further. “What are you talking about? What can the players do to you, when they are scared to the point of fainting? Interfere with your training? But it only takes a moment!”

  “You get experience points for each killed player who is above level one.” Dolgunata came out from behind Monstrichello’s back. The pause enabled most of the players to get away from the clearing; some stayed at the pass waiting for the outcome of the situation. “Experience points mean levels. Levels mean replenished Energy and not going for respawn. Would you be willing to sacrifice yourself or us for the sake of some players you don’t even know?”

  “You have all gone raving mad!” I whispered in astonishment, realizing that the Paladins were killing other players on purpose.

  “We don’t have time nor desire to sort them,” Dolgunata cut me off. “It is not a threat to initiated level one players; as for non-initiated ones… This is the Academy, people die here sometimes. It’s time for you to get used to it.”

  “I’ll add you to the team,” Logir offered. “You’ll get experience points, together with all of us.”

  Request received for adding player to team

  “No!” I said icily, pressing the “Reject” button.” By killing players in the Academy you are not breaking any game laws or rules. But you are breaking another law, no less important: the law of humanity. Being a player does not mean you have to be a freak. There is no truth in what you are doin
g…”

  Do you wish to initiate a case “Improper Behavior of the Paladins”?

  “Yes!” Whatever that means! By killing other players, the Paladins are behaving in a manner unworthy of their class!

  “Ok: no is fine.” Logir shrugged her shoulders indifferently. “My task is to finish the Academy with as high a level as possible. You helped us believe in ourselves and showed us the right way to kill the mages. For that I thank you. But I will not let you stand in my way. If you are not with us, you are against us. Farewell, Yari! It’s a pity we couldn’t pass through it together.”

  Before I had a chance to do anything or object, Logir’s heavy hammer came down on my head; my consciousness shattered into a million tiny shards, and darkness came over me.

  Chapter Five. Studying

  “SO HOW LONG are you going to lounge here?” Dolgunata’s scornful voice trickled through the darkness, returning me to reality. Once I opened my eyes, I saw a fascinating view: against the background of the blue sky of the Academy was the tilted dark head of a blue-eyed panther with her tongue lolling out; her whole face showed so much sarcasm that I could not contain myself and grumbled:

  “Bugger off, you imp!”

  “What, is he, like, alive for real?” I heard Monstrichello asking from somewhere off to the side.

  “Of course he is alive, as if that could harm him.” The panther looked off to the right. “Sometimes it’s useful to wear a tin bucket on your head. Saves you from obsessed femorcs.”

  “He’s a dead man anyway! Even if it is not I, someone else will destroy him!” There was so much open hatred in Logir’s voice that I was cut to the quick. Ignoring the thunderous bells sounding in my head that started as soon as I tried to lift it, I sat up and glanced around from under my brows. We were in the same clearing with the teacher where the femorc had attacked me. Other than the familiar group of seven players and the teacher the clearing was empty: either the Paladins finished everyone off, or everyone had run away. For some reason I wanted to believe it was the second option. Monstrichello was standing a couple of steps away from me, holding Logir in his huge paws; the other Paladins were standing behind them with guilty looks, staring down. Only the panther was pleased: to the extent that she was just about jumping around impatiently. As soon as I frowned, wondering what was going on, since the panther’s actions were completely outside of the logic of the situation at hand, the messages that appeared in front of me made it clear:

  Case initiated: “Improper Behavior of the Paladins” (Slots available for: 9 more cases)

  Description: You consider that players Logir, Sartal, Monstrichello, Teart, Refor and Dirion behave in a manner unworthy of the name of Paladin by having initiated a genocide of players of other classes. In addition, with the connivance of the other team members, Logir attempted to send for respawn a comrade in arms.

  Task: Investigate this case and deliver a verdict

  Case investigation: Not applicable; the case was initiated by the Judge himself

  Period of limitation of action: None

  The panther was eager to receive her next granis.

  “Why?” I asked hoarsely, fighting the headache. The femorc’s hammer blow was really strong. Suppressing an impulse to sentence everyone and everything to life in some kind of forsaken prison with regular cruel respawns, I decided to figure out what was going on. I needed to understand why representatives of my class had turned out to be such villains. It would be useful for life after the Academy.

  “Go to hell! Logir practically spat out. “I am not going to explain myself to some scum! If you want to play judge, go right ahead!”

  My brows crawled up in bewilderment. Logir, who was an initiated trained Paladin, the daughter of a mentor, a creature that one could readily consider an experienced and reasonable player, was behaving like … I couldn’t even figure out what to call it … some totally messed up freak!

  “What happened here?” I asked Dolgunata, understanding that I wouldn’t be able to get any useful information from the femorc. There should be someone who retained at least some sanity.

  “Nothing much.” The druid became human, adjusted her hair and shrugged her shoulders. “The great commander showed his true self at the first available opportunity. You shouldn’t have sentenced Nartalim to death.”

  “I don’t get it …” I was confused.

  “Our red-skinned beauty had fallen head over heels for the long-eared one. From what I understood from the conversations, they were just starting to hit it off when you appeared and sentenced the elf to death.”

  “Shut up!” Logir tried to wriggle out of Monstrichello’s grip, but in vain: the thug was holding her tight.

  “Did it not seem strange to you that a headhunter refused a granis when a task appeared?” Nata continued, ignoring the femorc’s yells. “A sane, reasonable, logical hunter lost it when the object of her adoration was destroyed. That’s the reason for not wanting to add you to the team for receiving experience, that’s the cause of her anger and her urge to destroy the entire world, and the attempt to kill you as well. I figured out right away what her idea was, so I was able to push you away, and the hammer strike was just a glancing blow rather than a direct one. That’s why you just took a nap rather than going for respawn. Of course, the helmet helped to some extent, too. So, it’s a classic case when emotions overpower reason. You think she ever contemplated what she would do after the Academy with a past like that? Ha! There is a great justification for doing stuff like that: “Well, I am only a girl!” Since you are the Judge, go ahead and judge! That was an assassination attempt on you: things like that should not be left unpunished."

  “Why were you killing innocent players together with the Paladins?” Dolgunata’s speech unsettled me so much that I grabbed at every chance to postpone delivering the verdict.

  “Do I look like a philanthropist?” the druid snorted. “Logir ordered us to kill everyone, the Paladins followed, why should I drag behind? To lose experience? That’s a mug’s game! I repeat: judge!”

  “Don’t push me!” I snubbed the druid. “Until I understand Logir’s motives, there will not be any judging done. A wrong verdict would cost me too much.”

  “Is there something still unclear to you?” Dolgunata was surprised. “She wanted to kill you; I prevented her and saved your ass. The reason is simple: you sentenced the elf. What other motives do you need?”

  I ignored Nata’s statement and came up close to the femorc. My emotions screamed that Dolgunata was right, I should finish up with the current case and sentence Logir to death and all other Paladins to respawn, or at least fine them, but my logic resisted, calling on my reason and pointing out obvious contradictions. The main one was Logir’s last words before she attacked me: she wanted to send me to respawn not because I had destroyed the elf, but because I was an obstacle in her way to graduating from the Academy!

  That could not be right! Something here was not adding up. But what was it?

  I found the description of the events that had occurred in the Book of Knowledge on the page “Logir attacking Yaropolk in the Academy”. By the way, by now the Artifact had leveled up to 488 points, filling half of the status bar of its experience. If it continued at this rate, I would have a chance to develop a new attribute or enhance the “Context search” within literally a couple of hours. I had been receiving information as a constant flow; maybe it would be even better that I had not been going through proper training before coming to the Academy.

  “How soon are you going to be done?" Dolgunata asked again impatiently, distracting me from studying events. She was so impatient to get some granises! Trying to resist the provocation on the part of the druid, I decided to review the video of the attack. I did need to understand why Logir had gone mad!

  "…you get experience points for each killed player who is above level one…”

  The Game decided that I needed to see the events not from the moment when Logir attacked, but from Dolgun
ata’s speech as she was trying to explain the behavior of the Paladins. By the way, there was one more thing I found strange: I would never have thought that someone like Sartal would be so bloodthirsty. While the druid was explaining to me the reasons for genocide of the players, the reptilian and catorian together, bare-handed, were tearing into pieces some short hapless victim in a cloth outfit. Fiddling with the video settings and zooming closer to the Paladins made me frown: I had little understanding of the physiology of other races, but it was enough to understand that both the reptilian and the catorian were not themselves. They were mad. I refocused on Monstrichello’s face and my frown deepened: the bruiser’s eyes were glassed over. He was standing next to us, but didn’t see anything. I looked at the faces of all the team members and realized that only two retained an adequate perception of the world around them: the leprechaun and Dolgunata.

  This confused me further. Only two of the team members remained sane; the other five turned into monsters, extremely cruelly destroying innocent players. A sudden idea made me look through the Book of Knowledge, trying to find the video on the Paladins’ appearance in the teacher’s clearing. The video was taken from an inconvenient vantage point, as I had been trying to hold on to the guiding line, but what I saw was enough to determine that the leprechaun did not take part in the battle. Unwillingly, he dragged behind the Paladins, shaking his head sadly; the other members of the group were out of their minds. Dolgunata was really going at it. While the Paladins hung close to Monstrichello, the panther crashed into the thick of the players and dealt chaos, death, panic. Nata’s sharp claws cut the players down in droves, not leaving them a single chance to escape. At the same time the first video had shown that the druid was quite aware of what she was doing, unlike the others…