The Trials of a Modern Paladin 1

by Kevin Culp

  The day went by pretty quickly. Christina and I were still just enjoying the city. It seemed to have a lot of new things to offer no matter how many times we went out, and we tried to visit pretty much every nonresidential district. I was surprised to see too how few guards were around, but it didn't seem like there was much crime or fear of it here in the city. The following day I went back to the magic shop I had left the rod with.

  When Christina and I walked through the door, the old man approached us immediately. “Hello again, I am so glad that you came back. I have spoken with several colleagues both in the merchant's guild and in the magic crafting community, and we have appraised the item. Now understand that typically, I would offer you about half the value of a magic item since I have to make a profit, but given the circumstances, we have agreed to make a better offer. We probably will not be able to sell the item for a long time given its value, but that just gives us more time to research it.”

  I cut in, “Okay, so how about we start by telling me what the item was appraised to be worth.”

  “After a lot of consideration, the value of the item was appraised to be around fifty thousand gold. We are already prepared to make an offer of thirty-five thousand gold.”

  Christina's jaw dropped, and honestly, I was confused myself. A merchant was talking the price of an item he was buying up. Even if it was for research purposes that seems a little absurd.

  I asked him, “Don't get me wrong, I feel that is a generous offer for you to make as a merchant, and it fits my expectations of what the item would be worth. However, why are you starting your offer at seventy percent of the item's value? That's a little surprising for a merchant to do.”

  He responded, “After you visited my shop, and I went to speak with others they asked me who had brought the item in, and I described you. We all came to the consensus that you must be this powerful noble Sir Velnir that the king is trying to get in his good graces. As such, we all agreed it would be best to give you a generous offer that was still profitable to us. Also, if we sell the item at any point in the future fifteen thousand gold for one transaction is still one hell of a profit.”

  Even my high sense motive told me he was being honest. “Well then, I am appreciative of your generous offer and will accept. With that in mind, can you tell me what jeweler in town would be willing to sell me the most valuable diamonds?”

  “Oh, a marriage proposal, huh? Well, you want to go to 'The Stars Align' for that. Best jeweler in town.”

  Christina blushed seriously, and I really hope she didn't get her hopes up at that.

  “Umm... sorry no that isn't why I was asking. I have an ability that I can use that expends an extremely valuable diamond as a requirement. No jewelry required. Just an exceptionally high-quality diamond.”

  “Ah, I see. I've heard you were also a powerful caster. I think you will still want the same jeweler. If he doesn't have what you are looking for, he can point you in that direction.”

  “Thank you then. I suppose we will head that way.”

  It took a while to count out all the coins, but he paid me in three thousand and five hundred platinum which I had to put in the main pouch of my bag. I really may end up needing a bag of holding instead. We then proceeded to go to the jeweler that the wizard had given us directions to.

  I spoke with the jeweler who was an older gnome that was just as eccentric as Gadrick. Unfortunately, upon telling him I needed a diamond worth six thousand gold he told me that he had never even seen one worth that. I really hated not having the components for even one use of restore life. He said that he would do everything he could to find what I was looking for and that it would probably take a while, but he should be able to make it happen. Basically, the reason he hadn't ever seen a diamond like that, according to him, was that there was no demand for it, which was understandable. I don't think even rich people often have diamonds worth half a million dollars, but maybe I'm wrong.

  When we left the store, Christina spoke, “That diamond you used to bring back Rin. Was it really worth six thousand gold?”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “And now someone just bought some random expendable item from you for thirty-five thousand gold. Apparently, you are walking around in multiple pieces of equipment that are almost that valuable. On top of that, your power isn't even natural. Your money and power have nothing to do with how I feel about you Archaeus, and I hope you know that, but how does something like wandering into a tiny town like ours lost and confused, happen to someone with your power and resources?”

  Christina deserved the truth, and I started to say it, but instead of overwriting my speech, I just fumbled over some words before I saw my notepad blinking. I pulled it up and began to read.

  It said, “You are Archaeus Alexander Velnir the Paladin. You cannot speak of a life that did not exist to him.”

  The note seemed strange to me. Every time before that I had tried to speak a way that Archaeus wouldn't, it just changed what I had said and then told me why, but this was different. It was like instead of just changing what I was saying, it's like it was speaking to me. It was right of course. Archaeus existed to me, but I never existed to Archaeus, so how could he even try to speak of something like that.

  I had decided already to treat this like the real world for now, so I guess I just had to continue to be Archaeus to the best of my ability. That made me think though. Did I love Christina or does Archaeus love her? Archaeus hadn't stopped me, and I definitely felt like I really loved her, so maybe the answer was both, or maybe the answer was that I just needed to truly accept for good that I am Archaeus and forget my previous life. Either way, I had to respond to Christina as Archaeus for now.

  “I'm really not certain Christina. For the last few years, I have been adventuring with a group of individuals all of which could rival me in power. Now, I don't know where any of them are or how I got to Freid. What I do know, is that I am very happy that it all happened, and I got to meet you.”

  “Archaeus can you tell me about your life before you ended up in the woods? I want to know about your companions and adventures.”

  Once we got back to the castle, I spent the rest of the evening regaling her with tales of Archaeus' adventures. To me, it was all just a tabletop game, but I guess to Archaeus it was life. I told her about Kreego, Kraxis, and Lyra, as well as, all the places we had been, though she recognized none of the names. I told her about the times we had stopped orc raids, fought hydras and dragons, and even the time we got stuck in the abyss and overthrew a demon lord. What kind of surprised me the most is that she believed it all, but I guess she had seen Archaeus' power.

  Finally, we went to sleep, and now all I could wonder was even if I had the chance to go back to my normal life if I would want to. I was actually even excited about this challenge in the coliseum and wondering what kind of challenge I would be facing. The event was tomorrow afternoon, and I was already prepared.

  Most of the morning went by pretty uneventfully. They brought breakfast to our room, and we were told we could still just have fun and do some more sightseeing until noon. We went out and visited a few of the shops we had walked past the day before that looked interesting while we were on our way to the jeweler. Noon came, and we got back to the castle where we had lunch, and Prince Leovald was there to explain the rules of the coliseum.

  The prince began speaking while we ate. “Normally, the coliseum doesn't have many straight forward rules, especially when dealing with battles with monsters. Fighters go in and hopefully leave with their lives in events like this. That being said, we are trying to take a few things into account for this event. The goal is to display your personal power as you did in Freid, and while I know you took them off while there, it has become public knowledge that you wear incredibly powerful magical equipment.”

  “Is there something wrong with that?” I asked.

  “Normally, I would say no, but nobles will contest that your strength comes from magical equipmen
t if you wear such things. I know that was your reason for taking off those items in Freid so that you did everything with your own power. We aren't asking you to go in unarmed, but we are asking that you take substitute mundane equipment.”

  “That sounds fair enough to me. Will it at least be of masterwork quality?”

  “Yes, it will be excellent quality equipment just not magical.”

  “Is there any rule against me summoning something should I decide to?”

  “If it is something within your own power that shouldn't be a problem, but I would personally ask you to not. I want there to be no one who has any doubts about your power.”

  “Fine, I probably wouldn't have, anyway. Just get me a breastplate and a long sword, and that is all I need. What am I fighting?”

  “I'm not at liberty to tell you that. I will see to it that you get the equipment you have asked for. Are you certain there isn't anything else you need? A shield or spear perhaps?”

  “Nope, that will be all.”

  He nodded. “I will get right on it. I wish you the best of luck Archaeus, though I doubt you need it.”

  After lunch, we were brought to the coliseum by a carriage and led into a side tunnel that went down to the area for the fighters. Prince Leovald and several other knights were already there, as well as some random gladiator looking men. He handed me the breastplate and the long sword I had requested. They looked to be of exceptional quality, but surprisingly, the practice sword made by Diodarma had looked better.

  “I will see you after the fight Archaeus. Your fight should begin in about an hour after these preliminary fights. Miss Christina, would you like to come with me?” The prince said.

  Christina looked to the prince and then looked to me. “Archaeus, please be safe. I trust you know that you can handle yourself through anything, but it would break me if something happened to you.”

  I pulled her close and kissed her, “I promise if a fight in the coliseum was all it took to get rid of me, I would have been dead years ago. Cheer for me okay.”

  She nodded and left with the prince.

  The other fighters looked at me, most of them with angry faces. None of them tried to talk to me. I saw them called out into the tunnel to the coliseum one and two at a time by an older-looking man that also really just looked like a gladiator. Some of them were carried back in dire shape. I thought I should probably help them, but I also knew that it would probably get a negative response from the organization as a whole and hurt their honor if I did.

  Eventually, the old gladiator called my name. I walked down the tunnel. It was long and straight made of solid stone. I could see the arena before me, and it looked just like what you see in those Roman gladiator style movies. I got to the gates, and they opened.

  Chapter 15

  I walked into the arena, and there was a roar of applause. The entire place was completely packed. It really was like a Roman Coliseum. The floor was more kind of a mix of dirt and sand, and there were stone walls thirty feet high surrounding the actual stage. Thirty feet seemed excessive, but I guess if beasts were fought here who knew how high they could jump. I walked to the center.

  Someone started to speak in a booming voice that I felt had to be enhanced by magic, “Ladies and Gentleman, I hope you all enjoyed the fights up to now but prepare yourselves for the main event. It brings me great pleasure to present to you Sir Archaeus… Alexander… Velnir! A man unheard of that many would already call a legend. Surely many of you have heard of his might already besting one of the greatest knights in the kingdom with a flick of his sword and raising the dead by his own hand. In today’s event, we will put his power to the test. In a struggle for life and death with a beast that took an army to take down. One that slayed hundreds before its rampage could be stopped. THE ONE KNOWN AS THE KING OF LIONS!”

  The crowd now got even more frantic than it had been before erupting into shouts and even more applause. A huge gate opened from a side entrance on the arena. I heard a roar. Suddenly, it felt as if the ground was shaking as I stared down the tunnel.

  The first thing I saw was a giant pair of catlike yellow eyes that were probably fifteen feet off the ground. Slowly emerging from the tunnel was the form of a great golden beast with an enormous mane and teeth bared that were the size of my forearm. It was definitely a lion; I guess I could recognize this without nature knowledge the same way I could a dwarf or a gnome without local knowledge. I also still had a little knowledge about templates, but this was bigger than even a dire lion should be. I could definitely understand how it took an army to subdue.

  The beast raised its head and roared in a way that seemed as though it was actually seeking acknowledgment of its might from the crowd. They cheered even more. It then crouched down and stared in my direction. It charged.

  It was certainly a sight that I never thought I would see. A lion that was bigger than an Asian Elephant by probably a good amount bearing down on me. I would think it would be terrifying, but I didn’t feel afraid presumably due to Archaeus’ immunity to fear.

  When it reached me, it immediately went to bite down on me, but I sidestepped the attack. An enormous paw then swung at me from the side, and I wasn’t able to avoid it. It hit with a crushing force. I would have expected it to use its claws, but it didn’t. It still hurt and the damage it did to my breastplate made it harder to move. The second paw went to stomp down at me, and I stepped back and thrust my sword into the lion’s leg, and it roared in pain. As I pulled my sword out of the lion’s leg, I was splattered with fresh gore. This thing was tough, but I should be able to kill it without too much trouble.

  I back stepped and parried going on the defensive against the lion, but it advanced on me aggressively. Its wound had drenched its paw in blood and seemed to give it a slight limp on that foot. He slashed at me with his claws and ripped through my armor and tore the skin beneath. I was bleeding, and the pain pierced my thoughts. This was by far the worst wound I had sustained since being here, but I guess because of Archaeus, I was able to fight through the pain.

  I gripped my sword in two hands and thought of readying an action. I wasn’t sure how called shots worked in this world, but I was going to make one. The lion lunged down at me with his powerful jaws. I stepped forward this time and ducked the blow. I put all my focus into using mighty blow and stabbed the sword upward with all my might.

  The lion tried to roar, but all that came was the sound of gurgling blood. I had stabbed him straight through the throat pushing the blade all the way up to the hilt into his neck. Letting the blade go, I stepped out from under the beast. He collapsed, and the crowd fell silent.

  I had never heard such silence from such a huge crowd of people. They were literally speechless not even a murmur. The only thing I could hear was the lion’s ragged breathing. He wasn’t dead, but he was definitely bleeding out. It had been a vicious, unruly beast, but I hadn’t really tried to reason with it. Archaeus had an impressive animal handling, so I had to wonder if this creature could be reasoned with like an animal.

  I walked over and pulled the sword out of its neck. Blood began to pour from the wound which I quickly put my hand over and focused my energy into. There was a glow coming from my hand and spreading into the lion’s body. An enormous eye snapped open, and a snarl loosed from his lips. I focused on using animal handling.

  “Easy boy. It’s okay, you aren’t in any danger anymore. I’m sorry for what I did to you.” I said.

  He looked at me with fear in his eye, which was kind of surprising coming from a creature this size.

  I rubbed his neck where the sword wound had been and whispered more to the lion. He closed his eye and let out a deep breath. The crowd remained silent, and I sat there petting the lion’s throat. Eventually, he started to purr. It was an enormous rumbling sound that vibrated the ground beneath my feet. This really was a magnificent creature, and I was starting to question if it was somewhat intelligent. I mean sure Archaeus had a great animal handling, but
I would think the only way it would suddenly turn this submissive to me, was if it recognized I was more powerful than it.

  Suddenly, the announcer’s voice boomed. “Ladies and gentlemen, there you have it! The man who single-handedly bested the King of Lions in a single strike, brought him back from the dead, and made him submit to his will! Our victor of the arena Sir Velnir!”

  The silence broke into cheers and applause. The lion hadn’t been dead. I felt like people should have been able to see it breathing even from the stands just due to its massive size, but people will believe what they want to believe. I stopped petting the Lion and began walking towards the tunnel I had come in through. The lion got up and started following me.

  I stopped walking when I realized it was following me, and when I turned around, it leaned toward me. I braced myself. Suddenly, my entire body was covered in slobber as it raked its enormous tongue across me from my feet to my head. It got done on its belly and pressed its nose toward me. I reached out and scratched the side of its face.

  The announcer said again, “Um Archaeus, you may have to finish the beast off or at least knock it out again if we are going to get it out of the arena.”

  The crowd laughed.

  The Lion Snarled.

  I looked the lion in the eye. “It’s alright, boy. I’ll do what I can to get you out of here I promise okay.”

  The lion looked me in the eye, and I felt I saw understanding.

  I walked towards the exit that the lion had come in from, and he followed me. We went through the stone hall until we came to a room with an enormous cage that had been pressed against the tunnel into the Arena. I’m guessing they just pressed it up against it somehow and then used magic to open the door. I led him inside the cage and then closed it, which was much easier than I expected it to be.

  A man came into view on the opposite side of the cage. He wore thick robes, had long brown hair. He looked to be in his mid to late thirties.