He grimaced, having read that. Guy had just rolled down his sleeves, covering the symbol. Swapping across his screens, he found and selected the Techniques option from the main menu that listed the one and only skill he had.
Storm Slash
Spin and slash, knocking away opponents and damaging them in the process.
Potency: 30
Cost: 100 AP
You have now learned Storm Slash! However, you cannot use it, as your outfit is covering the sigil. Consider moving the sigil to another part of your body. Next up, equipment.
And that screen appeared.
Main: Asteria’s Sword
Secondary: None
Armor: Star-dweller trench coat
Accessory: None
Wings: None
This is your Equipment screen, listing your current equipment loadout. Here, you can change your equipment or slot in asteriarite crystals into your weapon or accessory, allowing you to further boost your power. Finally, we have the Currency menu. There are a variety of currencies used throughout the galaxy. You can store and track all acquired currencies here. No need to hold a wallet or coin sack! Just pull it from here, or have it automatically detected when you purchase items from certain vendors. That’s it for now!—
Thank fuck, I got shit to do!
New commands will unlock as you level.
Tutorial I - Quest Complete
Obtained: 100 Experience Points
The surrounding screens vanished, apart from the ones he opened, then by tapping the close button, he made those disappear, making the bridge of the Blue Star look somewhat familiar again—
And a new quest window popped up.
Okay, that’s getting annoying!
Recruit the Medic
Objective: Recruit a Medic by acquiring a battlestaff and giving it to them.
Issued by: White Dragon
Reward: 500 Experience Points
Accept quest? Yes/No
Umm, what?—
“Okay, Guy. I’m ready when you are.”
Guy hit accept, making the window vanish as sweat dampened his forehead. That was Rachael’s voice. Did she see the screens? He looked around the bridge, spotting none of the screens. He was safe and he spun to meet her smiling gaze as she entered the bridge, one medical bag slung over her right shoulder.
“Take a seat,” Guy offered while gesturing with his head to one of the chairs. “I’ll get clearance from command to depart.”
He walked to the helm while reaching for its controls. “What’s with the sword?”
He stopped an inch shy of the communication commands. Guy still had Asteria’s Sword strapped to his back, which he just put toward Rachael as he turned to the helm. He cringed, trying to come up with an excuse. “Uh, this is a fashion statement!”
It was the best he had.
“Fashion statement?” She crossed her arms, looking at him with a cocked eyebrow.
“You know, like, uh . . .” Guy said, turning around to face her, one hand rubbing the back of his head. “It’s a retro look, you know? Retro is in these days!” Oh, she’s not buying it, is she? The two took a seat in their chairs while Guy handled the controls and tapped the communication commands below him on the dashboard. “This is Blue Star, requesting departure clearance.”
A voice over the speakers replied, “Confirmed Blue Star, you are clear to leave through gate sixteen.”
“Copy that.”
The monitors informed him that all doors to the Blue Star had shut and locked to prepare for their flight. Guy took control of the ship, made it hover above the hanger’s surface, and piloted out and into the city-ship’s massive space dock, drifting past other vessels. He couldn’t see or scan the Seraphim. Ulysses and Arn must have left when Guy was fucking around with the tutorials. They were probably at Faeheim already.
Rachael left her chair to stand over Guy, leaning over his shoulder to peer out the windshield and the traffic of ships moving throughout the space dock. Her jaw dropped in awe as her eyes twinkled with amazement. “Wow.”
“Tell me about it,” Guy said, keeping his eyes forward as he piloted the ship. “It’s usually busier than this.”
“Busier?”
“During peak hours, there could be hundreds of ships departing or arriving,” he said. “Some are ferrying people to or from this station. Others are like us, off to trade with the land-dwellers.”
The Blue Star flew past a ship in the packed space dock as it approached Gate 16. The massive gate doors slid apart, unveiling the sight of stars dotting the black void beyond. The Blue Star left through the gate and out from the city-ship Eleanor, then drifted past two other city-ships before turning away from the cluster of battle, cargo, city-ships, and mining ships that made up the star-dweller fleet.
Rachael never sat down. She just stood there looking over Guy’s shoulder with a smile he hadn’t seen since they were children playing in the park after school.
“I’ve never looked at the fleet from this view,” Rachael said after a long dramatic pause. “Sorry.”
“Oh. That’s right, you rarely leave Eleanor.”
“And I never get a window seat on fleet transports.”
“Heh, so you’ve never seen this then, Rachael?”
“Seen what?”
Once clear of the fleet, Guy tapped his computer. A holographic map of the Asteria Galaxy flashed ahead of him, shining blue and green light upon their faces. He touched the lower left quadrant of the galaxy map, making it expand in size. Tapping it once more forced the hologram to change into a three-dimensional map of the Perses sector. Within that, he found and tapped a binary star system at the far edge of the sector, the Opmutia system.
Guy activated the ship’s hyperdrive.
“Don’t blink, Rachael!”
The hyperspace jump countdown began.
Three.
Two.
One.
Flash.
The Blue Star vanished from normal space, entering a hyperspace conduit, one that blanketed the fast-moving ship in a dazzling display of rainbow colors. He looked up at Rachael. She was in shock—mouth open, eyes wide, face brightened by the lights shining in through the windshield.
“And that’s the hyperspace jump,” Guy said to her. “In a few hours, we’ll be in the Opmutia system, the location of Faeheim.” He stood from his chair and walked to the bridge’s exit. Rachael idled like she was a statue. “Everything is pretty much automatic from here.”
“What happened to the stars?!”
“Eh, they’ll come back when we drop out of hyperspace.”
Rachael moaned, restoring movement to her body. “Oh, but they were so pretty!”
“You can see the stars anytime from home.”
“It was just . . . a different view.” She turned away from the windshield. “Same constellations every day.”
Astral circuit re-wiring completed. Would you like to familiarize yourself with your new UI?
What is a UI?
A soft hand shook Xanthe awake, making the strange vision vanish as she opened her sore eyes. The fae woman she had tossed into the river kneeled beside Xanthe, her body drenched, the shape of her nipples visible on her dress as droplets from her short red hair dripped across Xanthe’s face. How she got out from the river was a good question. The ropes that bound her wrists, legs, and wings were still on her.
“You are alive,” the fae woman said. “Praise be to Asteria!”
Xanthe groaned while sitting up. “Where did they go?”
“I did not see anyone when I got here,” the fae woman replied. “I only saw you laying down.”
“I blacked out . . .” Xanthe looked at the scimitar she touched “. . . after touching that.”
“Asteria has bestowed her mercy on you. You helped me, now Asteria has helped you.”
“. . . right . . .” Asteria cares not about fucking shadow angels, such as myself. If so, she would have saved us from the crusades.
&nbs
p; Xanthe made her way back to the carriage, hoping to salvage what had turned into a waste of time. Dolnir and his men might have been dead, but he revealed a critical detail that could be helpful.
Dolnir was a land-human who knew of the true nature of the star-dwellers. He and those bandits probably knew where I could find the man I am looking for. I just need to learn where the bandits came from and planned to go before their untimely demise. Now, if only the dead could talk, then my task would be a simple one!
She sighed and peered at the fae woman, inching her tied-up body to her. “So, girl, what is your name?” Xanthe asked her.
The fae woman stopped and gasped. “What?”
“I asked what your name is.”
“Averyl . . . but . . . wait . . . you do not recognize who I am?”
“Am I supposed to?”
Averyl looked at her tied wrists. “Well . . .”
“Look, I am new to this world. All I know is Dolnir had suggested I help him take you off the planet, in return for . . .” For him and his men to not fuck my eyeballs out, I suppose. Oh, and he wanted me to get Averyl to talk. Something about her not being truthful? Fuck, I cannot remember.
Shock stiffened Averyl’s face, turning it pale as she released alarm pheromones. There was something mysterious about Averyl.
“Dolnir’s men mentioned that the fae who attacked were imperials,” Xanthe said to Averyl.
“The Autumnfall Empire,” Averyl said. “The most powerful nation on Faeheim.”
“They wanted you alive, and them dead. Why?” Averyl gave no reply. “And why do you need to leave this planet?” Averyl looked away as the left edge of her soaking, shoulder-less dress slipped. “Averyl, answer me!” Nothing. “Okay, I shall get the answers out of you.” Answers that Dolnir wanted. Xanthe grabbed Averyl’s arm and yanked her into the carriage, then shoved her bound body to the floor once inside.
Xanthe stopped and gawked at her hands. She had become stronger after touching the sword. It was as if she gained a newfound level of strength.
Down on the carriage floor, Averyl spun and looked up at Xanthe. “Wait . . . please . . .”
Xanthe’s eyes met Averyl’s, hands on her hips. “Ready to talk now, darling?”
“Please, take me to the star-dwellers.”
“Why? What is in it for me?” Xanthe’s potential reward for helping vanished when Dolnir died. And what a death that was, bodies evaporating and turning into crystals.
Xanthe smiled at the tied fae woman at her feet. Averyl was worth something to someone, and if not, then the dress and jewelry she wore were. There was bound to be someone on Faeheim willing to give Xanthe what she wanted in exchange for Averyl or her necklace. Someone who would pay Xanthe with the location of the last man on her list of people to visit—
A magical page appeared in front of Xanthe the second that thought entered her mind, the same floating page the imperials and Dolnir’s men used—a floating screen offering a quest for Xanthe to undertake.
Journey to the East
Objective: Take Averyl to the City of Holt, located in the Eucanous Desert.
Issued by: White Dragon
Reward: 500 Experience Points
Accept quest? Yes/No
Xanthe grimaced at the quest screen. “What is this?”
A loud gasp. “You are just like Dolnir,” Averyl said. “You . . .”
Xanthe’s grimace shifted to Averyl. “I am what?”
“You have been corrupted by the affliction.”
Chapter Eight
The Seraphim entered sea mode and sailed across Faeheim’s oceans, spun, and parked itself into the dock of the city of South Town, a small port town on one of the northern hemisphere’s continents. The city Ulysses and Arn had initially docked at to release their shadow angel passenger had nothing of value for the two. Ulysses hoped a vibrant port city like South Town would be worth it. Otherwise, they’d have to explore Faeheim in search of another town. They’d lose the head start they had against Guy and the Blue Star if it came to that.
Gulls overhead chirped at the ship-from-space-turned-boat as Ulysses and Arn walked off the Seraphim’s deployed entry ramp and stepped foot on the wooden docks. Arn kept the fox headdress on, giving the impression that he was a visiting druid from a faraway land. Ulysses kept his coat on with a bandana around his pointed ears. Elves weren’t common on Faeheim, especially ones born and raised in outer space.
At the other end of the docks lay the tall stone buildings the two had glimpsed on their entry from space. Scores of fae walked on the city’s stone streets or buzzed their wings to fly into the building’s upper open spaces.
“Okay, let’s be quick,” Ulysses said to Arn as they strolled across the docks. “Guy will be here soon, and we got a head start.”
“So do they.”
Ulysses grimaced. “Who?”
Arn pointed ahead. He spotted a second ship at the docks, one made of titanium alloy, reflecting the twin shine above. It was a ship that could handle space travel, though the three land-fae boarding its open entrance probably didn’t know that.
There was another star-dweller ship docked at the city. “Fuck.”
“They were here before us,” Arn said.
“I didn’t see them.”
“I did.”
Ulysses looked down at his short traveling partner. “And you didn’t tell me?”
Arn shrugged and kept walking. “You never asked.”
“Some first officer you are!”
“Oh, so you’ve come to accept it, huh?”
The duo walked to the second starship at the dock. The captain and crew gave smiling nods to the land-fae, boarding it with their belongings in hand-woven sacks slung over their shoulders.
Ulysses made eye contact with that ship’s captain. “Patrick O’Connor, is that you?”
O’Connor lowered his PDA, grinning at him. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Ulysses Archambeau of the Seraphim. What brings the second-best smuggler in the fleet here?”
Ulysses frowned. “Grr . . .”
“He hates that title,” Arn said.
“We’re sixth place, so . . .” O’Connor said. “If you don’t want to be second place, we’ll be glad to take it off your hands.”
“You can have it, as long as I take first from Guy,” Ulysses said. “Hopefully this run will do that.” He glanced at the land-fae boarding the ship—Gabriel, he recalled the name was. “Transporting land-dwellers?”
O’Connor nodded at his incoming passengers. “These faes know what exists outside Faeheim and want to visit the other planets with their kind on them.”
“That’s a lot of faes who know . . .”
“Yeah, we might have told a few people the truth.”
“You’re breaking a lot of rules by doing that . . .”
“Smuggling fae off-world is good business, Archambeau,” O’Connor said. “And the fleet won’t be this close to the sector in a few weeks. Whatever happens, we’ll be too far from it to care.”
“Smuggling fae, huh,” Arn said, glancing at the fae boarding the Gabriel.
“So, O’Connor, are you the one who shipped that mysterious fae girl off this planet?” Ulysses snickered.
O’Connor grimaced. “What?”
“The land-fae lying in the hospital back at the fleet,” Ulysses said and pointed his right index finger at him. “Mon ami, that was you, wasn’t it?”
O’Connor turned to address his crew lounging around at the docks. “Okay, let’s hurry up here!”
He never returned to Ulysses and Arn. This fucker knows something . . . “What’s wrong, mon ami? No answer?”
“He’s totally hiding something,” Arn snorted.
O’Connor walked away without saying a thing. Enraged at that, Ulysses followed, reaching out to grab and yank the star-human back to him. “Hey!—”
O’Connor shoved him off. “I’m busy right now!”
“Did you fucking space her?”
; “Don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“That land-dweller fae who Racheal Leighton was treating.”
“Fuck off, Ulysses,” O’Connor groaned. “Like I said, I’m busy. And you might want to get busy too, or Guy will keep his first place.”
Ulysses grunted. O’Connor’s right. We’re wasting time here . . . He and Arn turned to leave the docks and walked past the shrinking line of land-fae waiting to pay the passage fee to travel to another planet. And they weren’t supposed to know what planets were. One fae had caught Ulysses’s attention. The fae was playing with something that looked like a floating screen, a hologram perhaps? Ulysses couldn’t make it out because when he paused to take a better look, the fae waved his hand, making the display fade.
“What the . . .” Ulysses stopped walking.
Arn stared up at his captain. “What’s up?”
Ulysses watched the fae in question as they stood in line. He shook his head and continued to the city. “Hmm, never mind.” Must be stress . . . I’m seeing things. Floating holographic display screens from land-dwellers? Impossible.
Hyperspace travel had always sent a calming feeling through Guy. Just a lone ship zipping across an ominous cluster of light and radiation under the protection of advanced deflector shields. Whatever bad things were going on in the galaxy, they couldn’t touch Guy or the Blue Star until they exited. Not even communications functioned correctly, so if you had bad news, it had to wait.
Usually, during hyperspace, Guy would retreat to his quarters to relax, entertain himself with videos on his laptop, maybe masturbate or read a book, then remember the stories his mother told him. Today was different. Rachael was his traveling companion and the mandatory first-aid-trained member. He gave her a brief tour of the ship that lasted two minutes. It wasn’t a large ship. Good thing size wasn’t everything.
The corridors were silent other than the engines humming and the air recyclers blowing. To the sides were circular portholes, giving Rachael pause when she saw the zooming light of hyperspace through them. She trotted to the portholes to peer through them, placing her hands upon their transparent material as they reflected her smile.
Star Paladin: A LitRPG Space Fantasy (Sword of Asteria Book 1) Page 6