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

by Eddie R. Hicks

  Ulysses grunted. “Fuck you, Sutherland.”

  He returned to his burger, taking a massive bite that forced tasty juices down to Guy’s plate. “I thought you’d like it,” Guy responded with a full mouth.

  Ulysses grimaced, facing the ranking list closer, yanking on his long, blond, star-elf hair in frustration. “How in the hell did you beat my score, mon ami?”

  “My uncle Matthew and I scored a big deal with the farmers on Mennaze,” Guy said. “Brought in food, seeds, and livestock to keep us fed for three months.”

  Ulysses never looked away from the ranking screen. “Son of a . . .”

  “Keep in mind, Captain,” Arn said to Ulysses, “we haven’t completed our trade run to Faeheim yet.”

  The star-elf laughed at Guy. “We’re going to take first place and push your ass down—”

  “What?” Rachael cut in. “Faeheim? As in the fae homeworld?”

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Ulysses said while nodding to her. “Got a land-shadow angel who wants to go there.”

  Guy took another bite, and this time waited to finish chewing before he said, “You mean a slave?”

  “She’s not a slave,” Ulysses said.

  Bullshit, Guy thought. Shadow angels and fauns are usually sold as slaves to other planets. “How do you know, Ulysses?”

  “Because she came to us without a master.”

  “Admittedly, however,” Arn said, “we didn’t run a background check.”

  Rachael was lost in thought during the chat and broke her silence to say, “That fae in the hospital . . .”

  All eyes were on Rachael now. What she said had nothing to do with their conversation. “Mmm?” Guy grunted.

  “Remember the fae patient I showed you, Guy? She’s a land-fae and a long way from Faeheim.”

  “You got a land-fae as a patient?” Ulysses asked her.

  “Yeah.”

  “How’d they make it to the fleet?”

  “Someone found them adrift and in a stasis field,” Rachael answered. “It’s a shame she hasn’t recovered, or I would have asked you guys to take her home.”

  As soon as Rachael said that, a new screen appeared in front of Guy. He spun away from the group and pretended to be looking out the window.

  Investigate the Land-Fae

  Objective: Travel to the fae homeworld and search for clues for Rachael’s mysterious land-dweller fae in the hospital.

  Issued by: White Dragon

  Reward: 3000 Experience Points

  Accept quest? Yes/No

  “Guy . . . ?”

  Did they see it? Panicking, Guy accepted the quest, forcing the screen to fade. Slowly, he spun to the trio sitting with him at the table and eyeing him strangely.

  “Yo?” was all Guy had to say.

  “You got some hologram projector?” Ulysses asked him.

  “No!”

  “I was totally asking him that too,” Rachael said.

  Guy let out a fake laugh while rubbing the back of his head, playing it cool like nothing happened. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Arn leaned closer, narrowing his eyes. “He does.”

  Guy shrugged him off. “Whatever, man.”

  Arn kept his narrowed eyes at him. “He’s hiding something.”

  “Definitely,” Ulysses said. “But what . . .”

  Rachael frowned, scrutinizing Guy. Arn and Ulysses did the same from the left and right, minus the frown though.

  They weren’t buying his lie. Guy had to sell them a new one. “Yeah . . .” he drawled. “I am hiding something.”

  “Aha!” Ulysses blurted, aiming his index finger at Guy’s face. “The truth!”

  “I’m, uh, going to Faeheim too . . .” Guy said. “Uh, yeah, that’s it!”

  Ulysses grimaced. “You? For what?”

  Arn chimed in. “I bet it’s to make a harem—”

  “What?!” Rachael yelled loud enough to make everyone in the food court look at the four of them.

  Guy held his hands out, shaking his head. “No, it’s not a harem!”

  “Then what’s your mission?” Arn asked him.

  “Uh.”

  Guy couldn’t risk revealing the truth, that a screen had appeared and asked him to accept a quest issued by something called a White Dragon. They’d think he was nuts. Hell, he was starting to think he was nuts. And if Rachael knew that, then she’d order him back to the hospital.

  Then my rank will drop, and Ulysses will take first place. Fuck that noise! “It’s, uh, a secret,” Guy said, breaking his silence. “But, Ulysses, if you think you’ll pass me in rank, think again, pal! You’re going to forever be second place. Fuck, you should just rename the Seraphim that: Second Place.”

  “He’s totally building a harem.” Arn crossed his arms and sat back.

  Ulysses did the same, nodding with his eyes shut. “Yep.”

  Rachael scowled at Guy so hard he saw her shiny white fae teeth. “Guy!”

  “I’m not building a fae harem!”

  “You said that the last time you went to a fae inhabited planet,” Arn snorted.

  “Torphin III, right?” Ulysses asked.

  Arn nodded. “Guy tried to build a harem of sylph fae—”

  Rachael smashed her left fist on the table, making the plates clack. She was fucking pissed. “Guy! There’s a special place in hell for men who build harems!”

  “I’m all business these days!” he said to her.

  Now she was jamming her index finger to his face. “Well, I’m coming with you then!”

  Guy let out a loud sigh. “Rachael, do you need to?”

  “It’s the law, Guy,” Arn interjected. “I got first-aid training, so Ulysses and I are good.”

  “That’s right,” Rachael said, her voice level returning to normal. Though the damage was done—the four had an audience watching. Everyone in the food court knew of Guy’s failed attempt at building a harem on the planet Torphin III. “All ships must have at least one person who has first-aid training, something you and your uncle don’t have.”

  Yeah, that’s true. But it’s not like anyone checks to make sure, just like how nobody checks to see if all the asshole ship captains are smuggling contraband or taking part in the slave trade.

  Everyone had returned to their meals, now getting cold—except for Rachael’s, which was cold to start with. Guy didn’t hate her for the outburst. In fact, he appreciated it. It showed she cared for him, so much so that she volunteered to be the required first-aid-trained person to accompany Guy on his next trade run. Either that or she just wanted a free trip to Faeheim to learn how a land-fae made it to the fleet without a ship.

  Or she just needed to ensure he didn’t make a fucking fae harem.

  Let’s be honest, if I knew how to pull that off, I’d have gotten laid by now.

  Uncle Matthew wasn’t home and wasn’t responding to Guy’s communication hails all day. Guy returned to his ship, the Blue Star, assuming Matthew had remained on board—or so Guy hoped, as Matthew was the one who gave him that sword. Guy was confident that the sword was the reason something wired his body with the astral circuits, giving him the power to view those screens and receive quests from the White Dragon.

  And the White Dragon really wanted him to go to the fae homeworld, Faeheim.

  The Blue Star idled within the city-ship’s hanger bay, among various vessels used by traders and smugglers like him. Ulysses’s ship, the Seraphim, dwarfed the Blue Star in size. You could fit three Blue Stars inside it, and that would give Ulysses the advantage to beat Guy’s rank. Ulysses and Arn could haul way more cargo than Guy could.

  On the bridge, Guy grimaced. His uncle wasn’t there to provide an explanation. However, the sword Guy had touched was still on the floor right where he had passed out after holding it.

  Guy kneeled to grab the sword. It weighed practically nothing. Either that or Guy had magically gotten physically stronger. It seemed as if Guy could swing the blade about al
l day and not get tired. It almost felt like he’d been an expert at swordplay for years. Funny, since this was officially the second time in his life Guy held a sword—

  Obtained: Asteria’s Sword

  Those damn notification screens again. Guy saw an option floating ahead of him to view the stats of the sword.

  Asteria’s Sword [Short sword]

  Rank: D

  Attack: 1

  Asteriarite Slot: [EMPTY]

  Requires: 30 Vitality

  He had a feeling it’d be dangerous to go alone without the sword. Just by thinking about it, a strap materialized to his back, allowing Guy to sheath it behind him. Strange.

  At the forward flight controls, Guy found the book Henrietta had lent him. Picking it up reminded him of the first quest he received: Read the book. So he did.

  Well, more like Guy scanned and skimmed through the book’s contents. He still had a spaceflight to prepare for. The book’s title was Sword of Asteria, based on an RPG commonly played on the human homeworld. It told the story of a noble Paladin, a knight of light, tasked with the job of defending civilization from his dark counterpart, a Dark Knight. The story brought back memories of Guy’s mother, reading him stories written on humanity's birthplace.

  He could almost hear his mother’s voice.

  “Take the sword! Stand your ground! Strike down evil and take away their means to bring harm. Let them know who’s there to deliver justice. And make sure they never hurt the innocent again.”

  Damn it, Mom . . . why’d you have to leave me like Dad did?—

  Uncovering Your Destiny - Quest Complete

  Obtained: 100 Experience Points

  Guy received the experience points, whatever those were, then glanced at the new screen that appeared—a new quest.

  Tutorial I

  Objective: Learn the basics with this easy-to-follow tutorial.

  Issued by: White Dragon

  Reward: 100 Experience Points

  Accept quest? Yes/No

  Guy selected Yes.

  And things got really weird after that.

  Chapter Five

  Xanthe’s eyes had adjusted to the brighter than usual sunlight. She had arrived on Faeheim and left the star-dweller spaceship Seraphim that sailed into the harbor of the fae-built city. She looked at her shadow darkening the stone path she walked on. Xanthe had two shadows, and trees in the distance had twin shadows too, as with the houses and meandering fae. There were two suns in the skies. Faeheim was in a binary star system, as the star-dwellers would say.

  Everything on Faeheim has double shadows. Good to know.

  Behind, Ulysses and Arn bickered about where to shop and spend their denar. They said that they had to be quick about it before some star-man named Guy arrived on the planet. It sounded like Guy and Ulysses were in some competition. Good luck with that, she thought, as she strode through the bustling marketplace, the voices of shopping fae and merchants creating a soothing ambiance in the air. There were many crops and wares on sale that star-dwellers lacked in their space fleet cities.

  The fae buzzed above and soared toward a cluster of houses built in trees. Their wings moved so fast you could not tell they had four of them on their backs. Xanthe wondered if there were laws that forbid shadow angels to use their wings for flight. Such laws existed on other planets that smugglers and slavers had forced her on. Not that it mattered. Flying for long periods was tiring, and by looking at the flushed faces of fae who came in for a landing, you could tell it was a chore for them. Flying was akin to running for an extended period.

  Xanthe approached the city limits, giving a subtle nod to a fae standing watch, clenching a long pike in his firm hand as his cuirass reflected the twin sunlight.

  “Leaving the city?” the fae guard said to her.

  “I have business to attend to,” Xanthe said, keeping her eyes on the dirt path forward.

  “Many beasts are roaming and attacking lone travelers.”

  She stopped and raised an immaculately shaped eyebrow. “Beasts? Like wolves?”

  “Worse,” he said. “Something we never seen before. They started appearing when the affliction began.”

  Xanthe looked at the fae guard, concern growing within her. “What affliction?”

  “You have never heard of it, shadow angel?”

  She pointed to the harbor with the Seraphim floating on the water. “Star-men brought me to this world.”

  “If I were you, I would stay put,” the guard said. “Do not expect fae travelers to come to your aid if these beasts attack you. Or if the affliction strikes you . . . or both.”

  “You never answered my question, darling,” she reiterated.

  The guard scoffed. “Heed my warning, shadow angel. Hire a bodyguard or do not travel far.”

  A sigh escaped her lips as she departed the city. Xanthe would not get anything more from him. Perhaps if I were born a fae, I might. But not as a shadow angel. It would seem the fae of Faeheim view my kind as vile and sinful, too. No matter, I am not here to make new friends with the fae, just reunite with one of their kind.

  The journey beyond the city was without incident for the first hour. Xanthe glistened with sweat from the twin rays of light beating down upon her as she traveled through the plains. She was glad she wore her attire—midriff, arms, and legs exposed to unveil to the world her dancer’s body. She advanced into a small wooded area with purple and pink blub-like fruits hanging in the trees. The shade was a welcome feeling on her baking skin as she sat to get her bearings straight. The fae she came to visit was last seen in one of the larger cities in this region. She just was not sure which—

  Something growled at Xanthe as she relaxed in the woods.

  The strange beasts the guard spoke of. She stood and scanned her surroundings, her left hand reaching for a small concealed dagger at her side. The growls increased in intensity. Xanthe had trespassed in the beast’s territory—

  And they leaped from the bushes.

  The creature snarled its red-stained fangs, digging its claws in the dirt as three tendrils waved from its head. She was not sure what to make of it. It was not a wild animal native to this continent on Faeheim. She had studied that before traveling to this planet. As she recalled, the Autumnfall Empire had conquered this region years ago, removing all dangerous animals to allow safe passage for visiting merchants. What would cause this to show up suddenly?

  The beast growled like it wanted her to leave the woods. Xanthe stayed put. She had a job to complete and returned to the path, striding ahead—

  It jumped her.

  Her swift reflexes brought her hands to the hidden dagger, unsheathing it to angle the tip to the beast’s neck. She missed, hopped away, and tapped into her species’ long-forgotten hunting skills. Holding the dagger steady, Xanthe sized up the creature as it turned about, its mouth open to prepare for another bite. It leaped at her again and missed as Xanthe sidestepped to the left and saw the monster’s exposed backside. She dove forward, plunging the dagger into it.

  Nothing happened.

  Her weapon drew no blood and left no stab wound after she yanked it out. And the beast? It turned for her again, unfazed from her lunge. Before it could attack, she cut left to right across the creature’s eyes, expecting a massive splatter of blood to gush. No such thing appeared, just a small scratch.

  “Fuck . . .”

  Xanthe stood and ran. She knew an impossible fight when she saw one. Strange magic protected the beast, one she had never seen. This is why the guard warned you not to go alone . . .

  Multiple roars echoed in the woods. It alerted more beasts to her presence, which triggered aggressive behavior from them. They were chasing her now, forcing her raven wings to firm up in anticipation of flight. She looked up and winced. The treetops would prevent her from flying high and far, and with the energy she was spending from running, she would have very little left for a long flight. Xanthe opted to stay on the ground—

  Two men emerged from
the shadows of the trees, short swords in hand.

  Another pair dashed behind her. They were bandits, land-human bandits.

  Xanthe stopped, grabbed her dagger and aimed it at them, then lowered it. She was not their target. The beasts were. The human men turned their weapons to the beasts, slicing swaths across their tough skin. One creature fell into a bloody mess on the ground, then a second, and a third. The humans were killing them with their short swords. She looked at her dagger, still clean despite stabbing the wretched thing.

  What made these humans different? And what allowed the human to remain standing when the last beast leaped and mauled his face?

  She watched as the man shrugged off the attack. His face was devoid of bite marks from the beast’s razor-sharp teeth. The man took his weapon and rushed the creature while making a two-folded strike, spraying blood across the trees, killing it instantly.

  Seconds after the beast fell, its body evaporated like a puddle of water on a hot summer day. In fact, as Xanthe looked at the aftermath of the battle, none of the beasts’ bodies remained. They all evaporated, leaving behind random items. One beast’s body had turned into a tiny glowing crystal, another a glass bottle full of a red liquid. One human picked up the bottle, smiling as he brought it to his face.

  “Nice, an HP potion.”

  A rough voice called to her. “And a shadow angel.”

  She spun to that voice. “That is me.” The man pointed a sword at her neck. Fuck, maybe they were here for me . . . Xanthe returned the gesture, pointing her dagger at his neck.

  “We just saved your life, shadow angel,” he said. “And you are outnumbered. Be a little attentive to that, will ya, lass?—”

  One bandit grabbed her from behind. The strength in his skinny arms impressed her as he yanked the dagger from her grip.

  “Hey, Dolnir,” the bandit said to the lead bandit. “Can we? You know?—”

  Dolnir held his hand to the bandit. “Hold on.” A strange and large page appeared ahead of Dolnir, floating in the air. He touched it while reading the words on it, tapped it once more, and made it vanish. “Nice, quest complete.”