Wylume stood in the open ahead of the two, looking from side to side. “I have learned quite a bit already,” Wylume said, confirming Guy’s suspicions. “You Paladins are the opposite of us.”
Wylume’s tone had changed. Gone was the pleasant man, and in his place was . . . something that made Guy’s heartbeat increase and bang against his ribcage. “What?”
“Tell me, star-man, how did you become a Paladin?” Wylume stepped closer to Guy. “Who gave you that sword?”
Guy and Rachael exchanged worrying glances. They fucked up. This is why you need to suspect motherfuckers wearing black cloaks—
“Was it a man named Matthew Sutherland?” Wylume asserted. “Did he give you that blade?”
An eerie wind gust passed through, scattering the tropical tree leaves, Wylume’s cloak, Guy’s trench coat, and Rachael’s braided cherry hair. Wylume’s lips curled into a smile, darkened by his cloak’s hood.
Guy broke the silence. “How’d you know my uncle’s name?!”
“Explain to me why he is still alive,” Wylume said. “And I may consider telling you . . .”
“Okay, buddy, you did a complete three-sixty—”
“A one-eighty,” Rachael cut in.
Guy raised an eyebrow. “Eh?”
“If it were a three-sixty, he’d be right where he started, Guy. It’s a one-eighty.”
“Whatever!”
Wylume laughed at the two. He laughed for a long time. Guy had a feeling they wasted a lot of time and that he wouldn’t get the trade deal.
“Okay, fuck this shit.” Guy turned to leave, waving for Rachael to follow. “Rachael, let’s get back to the ship.”
She nodded in agreement. “Yeah, he’s starting to creep me out.”
They walked a meter away while Wylume remained standing and laughing. “Do not bother,” Wylume called out to them.
The two twisted back to him, then eyed armored fae lurking away from the trees they had hidden behind. Guy counted six men wearing steel cuirass with holes cut into the armor, allowing their wings to sprout. Behind, another six armored fae emerged, clenching swords or axes. One fae was a woman wielding a bow without an arrow or a quiver on her back. Looking at her midriff and arms, Guy recognized the shimmer of sigils on her skin.
Land-fae (Ranger) | LVL: 14 | Rank: C | HP: 100%
He’d check the other armored fae too, but felt it was pointless. Fae with classes and levels surrounded Guy and Rachael, and most were a few levels higher than them. Wylume turned around, yanked his cloak off, and tossed it into the air, unveiling a bald human man, equipped with a sword that looked like Guy’s, only glowing with dark purple light. Wylume wore sleeveless armor covered in black spikes, allowing the glowing sigils on his left and right arms and hands to shimmer with astral energy.
“The sentinels want to have a word with you two,” Wylume said.
Guy grimaced at Wylume while drawing Asteria’s Sword from his back. “Who the hell are you?!”
Wylume snorted. “Show some respect, star-dweller. Now, you two, come with me at once, and explain to the sentinels how star-dwellers like you became afflicted by the corruption, and how you acquired Asteria’s Sword and became a Paladin.”
“Not with that attitude, pal,” Rachael said as she reached for her Oak Staff and stood ready. “You didn’t even say please!”
“So you want to be taken by force then,” Wylume chuckled. “Very well! Curtakis!”
A fae with a long dagger in each hand drew near, his long hair blowing in the winds, his muscular bare chest, arms, and hands covered in sigils. “Yes, master?”
The fae named Curtakis referred to Wylume, a human, as his master.
“It is time we got you that level,” Wylume said, then gestured to Guy and Rachael. “Kill them.”
“As you wish.”
Guy glanced at Curtakis’s info, which appeared over his head.
Curtakis (Assassin) | LVL: 7 | Rank: D | HP: 100%
Chapter Fifteen
Curtakis, the fae Assassin, grabbed his daggers and dashed for Rachael and Guy. And with a flick of his wrist, Curtakis vanished. He turned invisible.
Guy groaned. “Ah, fuck.”
Guy and Rachael stood back to back, looking for a target who didn’t want to be seen—
Slash.
He felt a dagger cut into his arm.
The Assassin reappeared with a flurry of dagger strikes so fast that when Guy raised Asteria’s Sword to parry, Curtakis vanished again. The Assassin hit him ten times during the attack, got AP, and used his stealth.
Rachael yelped.
She took a devastating blow from behind, forcing Curtakis to reappear. A stream of red poured down her back. There was a lot of blood. Rachael reacted by turning with the Oak Staff out, clocking Curtakis in the head, then spun to evade the Assassin and lunged for his stomach. Guy closed the distance, lifting Asteria’s Sword for an upward cleaving strike.
Bam.
He got Curtakis good, forcing the Assassin to focus on him. Curtakis retorted, slicing Guy twice. Remember, man, he has to build AP like you. Don’t feed it to him!
Guy watched Curtakis’s daggers instead and lifted his sword to parry.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Guy deflected the dagger strikes.
Behind, Rachael swung her staff like a baseball bat, cracking the back of Curtakis’s head. Rage burned in the Assassin’s eyes, and he turned to deal with Rachael. She wasn’t as good at parrying as Guy was. Curtakis carved his daggers into her flesh with rapid haste, leaving red lines on her body. Rachael rolled aside to safety, but got up fast. Curtakis chased after her, putting his back to Guy. So Guy attacked like crazy, cutting swaths of red marks across the Assassin’s back.
AP: 100/100
Guy readied Storm Slash. This should knock him away from Rachael.
He used Storm Slash as Curtakis vanished. Guy spun around with his blade out, hitting the air.
AP: 0/100
Fuck! I wasted all my fucking AP!
All Guy and Rachael could do now was swing, hoping to hit Curtakis. They swatted the open air instead—
Three rapid strikes pierced Guy’s chest.
The speed and force from the blows hurled him back. Guy held his wounds and brought his hand to his face; his hands were now wet with red.
Guy | HP: 72/316
His HP was getting low.
At least he got Curtakis’s attention again. Guy raised his sword, not to fight, but to parry the twin stabbing daggers that looked like a blur of metal. Rachael got to Guy’s side, shut her eyes, and idled as her body glowed with a blue and green light. The healing aura of Medica forced the blood-gushing wounds on their bodies to fade, taking the pain with them.
Guy | HP: 114/316
Guy grinned and maintained his parrying stance, eyeing Curtakis’s daggers and swift-moving arms. Rachael’s got to finish this asshole! If I fight, he’ll build AP off me and enter stealth!
Instead, Rachael cast Medica again, fully restoring her HP and bringing Guy’s to 156. Curtakis jumped away from Guy, spun, and aimed his daggers for Rachael. She pissed him off.
“Rachael! Run!”
She stood her ground and steadied the battlestaff with both hands. Curtakis stabbed and sliced. Rachael sidestepped and bashed his head as Guy jumped and came down hard with his blade. Curtakis rolled away and moved behind Rachael with a devastating Backstab.
Rachael | HP: 120/158 | MP: 66/116 | AP: 100/100
Her HP had gone down. He followed up with another flurry of dagger strikes.
She wasn’t fast enough to deflect them, and Guy wasn’t fast enough to get into melee range. By the time he did, Curtakis had smiled, then vanished. Guy returned the smile. He was still holding Asteria’s Sword high to strike.
Curtakis should be in front of me. Even if he ran now, the tip of my sword should hit him. Guy cleaved to the right, roaring loudly. A wave of blood sprayed from the neck of an invisible target, forcing it to appear. So, if an A
ssassin takes damage or does damage while in stealth, they reappear. Good to know.
Behind, Rachael cast Medica again, healing herself. Guy was out of range. Though she needed the HP more than him, there was too much blood covering her outfit. She finished topping her HP up, making the red gashes go away, the same with her MP. Rachael had 18 MP left. Medica required 25.
How the fuck do you recover MP in the middle of a fight? Yeah, she’ll regenerate some of it passively, but how long does that take? It was a question he couldn’t answer. With Rachael’s MP low, the next attacks Curtakis unleashed may be the last. Unless. Guy glanced at Curtakis’s HP bar.
Curtakis | HP: 42%
All right, motherfucker, let’s have a race. Whoever loses HP first loses!
Guy took a deep breath and angled Asteria’s Sword for Curtakis’s chest and head. The two men entered a bladed dance-off, slashing and stabbing, spinning then aiming to lunge. Curtakis backflipped over one of Guy’s attacks. Guy turned to meet him as he landed, slicing a gash across his chest. Blood sprayed on the grass.
Behind, Rachael showed hesitation, likely because she knew she was low on MP and knew she lacked offensive AP skills. At least Guy kept Curtakis’s attention now, and the more HP Curtakis lost, the more Curtakis winced in agony, as torn flesh leaked red. Guy felt the same.
Guy | HP: 72/316
Guy’s HP was low again.
Right, you die when you hit zero HP. The higher your HP, the less discomfort you feel. We’re both below 25%, so that’s when the bleeding and pain kicks in.
Curtakis backed away, breathing deeply, his eyes shocked.
Guy waved Asteria’s Sword. “Give it up, pal!”
Curtakis sneered. “This power!” He spat out blood. “What are you?”
And they were at it again. Guy fought as if he were an expert swordsman, then parried to block a dagger’s edge. He couldn’t explain where the knowledge to fight came from. He never held a sword in his life, yet he magically knew how to use it. And Rachael? She never handled a battlestaff, but when she returned to the fight, she had launched some spinning twirls through the air to strike Curtakis. It looked like she had been practicing for years.
Despite Guy’s parrying, Curtakis got AP and spent it on stealth again. But that was okay, because . . .
AP: 100/100
Guy had been holding his AP for this moment. Run all you want!
Guy unleashed Storm Slash and twirled around with the blade out, hitting the invisible Assassin and dealing so much damage that he saw his HP bar drop substantially. Storm Slash also knocked Curtakis ten meters away, and he landed and rolled on the grass. Rachael ran to Guy.
“Is there any way you can recover MP?” he asked her.
She panicked, shaking her head. “I don’t know.”
Curtakis was getting up.
“If I have more HP,” Guy said, “I can go all out and finish this!”
She opened her inventory and scrolled through its list, stopping and narrowing her eyes at one item. Reaching into the Inventory screen, Rachael pulled out a hypospray and pressed it against her shoulder, releasing the chemicals into her.
Her MP rose to 47 as the device evaporated in her hands. “There we go!” Rachael said, then focused and pulsed with Medica’s healing light.
She restored 42 HP and Guy’s bloody wounds sealed up. His HP was at 114/316 now, above 25%.
Guy grunted and rushed Curtakis. The Assassin recovered from the knockdown and looked up only to see the trench-coat-wearing star-dweller jump into the air and come down with a skull-splitting slash.
Crash.
Guy’s sword brought Curtakis to his knees. The tree trunk behind dripped gore from the Assassin. A second slice across Curtakis’s head cut a hole so deep you could see the inside of his brain. Needless to say, it also finished the job.
Curtakis collapsed with his HP bar reading zero and rewarded the duo with 300 experience points and transferred denars into their inventory—1000 denars each.
Rachael has attained level 5!
Hmm, wonder why he gave so many experience points. Was it because it was a challenging fight?
Guy and Rachael stood over Curtakis’s blood-gushing body, wincing.
“Oh boy . . .” Guy groaned.
Rachael snorted. “Did we just kill a man?”
“We’re so fired.”
“It was in self-defense.”
“So fired—”
“That cannot be!”
That was Wylume raging from behind. The duo turned around, noting that Wylume and the other armored fae had backed off with angry eyes watching them. Guy and Rachael stood back to back, ready for another fight—one they’d probably lose.
“Deal with them later,” Wylume said to the fae and faced the path they had traveled on. “The city of Muruai is our main priority!”
The wings of the fae buzzed and they took to the skies, flying away from sight like enormous dragonflies, likely to Muruai. Wylume had run off, disappearing into the thick jungle trees. Guy ran after him, then stopped as a blackened mist encircled him. The mist smelled of burning wood and other stuff he didn’t want to know. It was smoke. Rachael stood with Guy, taking in the smoke’s scent, her face turning toward the direction of Muruai. The smoke was coming from the city. After racing back down the path, the two stopped and gasped at flames and their red-orange glow enveloping the town.
“Fuck,” Guy spat. “My ship!” He faced Rachael. “Hey, can you fly over and see what—”
“I’m not leaving you, Guy!”
“I’ll be fine.”
“No.” She stood ahead of him, arms crossed and wings sagging. “We move together.”
And they did, creeping through the jungles, heading toward a city being razed to the ground by fae led by a human—one who used a sword like Guy’s.
Chapter Sixteen
Muruai was on fire.
The smell of the once calm city blew in the tropical winds, scattering smoke and the cries of its inhabitants. Most of the cries came to a sudden end at the stroke or thrust of a sword. Bodies hit the ground, and fae holding various swords, axes, lances, and maces swooped down like eagles to pick off fleeing prey. Some of the townspeople tried to fly to safety, only for a storm of arrows to penetrate their chests and faces, red tips poking through the opposite side—thud, thud, thud. The flying townspeople crashed and died.
The level 14 Ranger remained in the smoke-filled skies, her wings buzzing and arms energized as she aimed her bow at someone else brave enough to fly for safety. Guy pointed the Ranger out to Rachael. His racing heart wouldn’t be able to take it if he saw Rachael get shot down. Deeper in, the two observed the chaos besieging the city. An armored fae swung his axe, splitting the head of a man open, covering the brick wall of his house with gore. When the man was down, the fae lifted his axe and brought its blade to the man’s back.
Whack.
The dead fae’s body evaporated and changed into a large crystal. The axe-wielding fae tossed the crystal into his inventory. A similar display happened to the left when a fae grabbed a woman and slit her throat. A fountain of red colored her dress as he shoved her limp body down. Two stabs to her chest and waist, and the woman transformed into a crystal. Ahead, six armored faes gathered crystals, likely appearing after the people they murdered had turned into them.
Rage burned in Guy’s eyes. The boy Aouvnir and his parents . . . did they suffer the same fate? Was our quest to rescue him for nothing? The armored fae and their master Wylume—all those motherfuckers had to fucking go! Guy pulled Asteria’s Sword from his back and stood to fight his way to the Blue Star—
Rachael grabbed his arm, holding him back. “Guy, no!”
“They’re getting way too close to my ship! If we lose it, we’ll be stuck on this planet!”
“What about that Ranger?”
She was right. The level 14 Ranger was in the skies like a flying bow sniper. Running to the Blue Star would draw too much attention. Guy and Rachael
had to meander toward it slowly, using the flames, crumbling buildings, and smoke as cover. The two moved out, stopping when they heard swords swinging, wincing when those blades silenced fae pleading for mercy.
They stopped and watched an armored fae collect a crystal from a body that evaporated, leaving behind the other loot. The armored fae’s wings sprouted and extended, then they flew off. He didn’t see Guy and Rachael as they ran to check the loot they left behind.
Obtained: Lesser HP Potion
“Useable by land-dwellers,” Guy said, after reading detailed information about the bottle of red liquid.
Rachael grabbed a bottle similar in shape to the one Guy collected, its liquid contents blue. She held it, wincing. “MP potion,” she said and tried to pull the wooden quark out. It wouldn’t budge. “And I can’t use it, land-dweller only.”
“Must be the magic changing the planet,” Guy said.
“Right, forcing game rules onto everything, items included.”
They found another stash of items left behind from a corpse that turned to vapor. “Got MP hyposprays here,” she said. “Now that I can use.”
They were taking the long way to the city square now, maneuvering past burning houses, trying their best not to let the voices calling out for help distract them, voices that came to a blood-gargling end. A left turn around a house and a quick leap down a three-step staircase brought them to the Blue Star. Someone had blasted open the Blue Star’s main entrance and set fire to the ship. Guy dropped his sword and held his head, eyes wide in shock.
“My ride!” The Blue Star burned from the inside out, and he had no idea why. Its fire suppression systems should have kicked in. “You motherfuckers lit up my ride!” Something hit the ship’s entrance with enough force to blast it apart. There’s no way the fae had that kind of power, regardless of the capabilities their classes gave them. Someone with star-dweller technology had to have done it—
Star Paladin: A LitRPG Space Fantasy (Sword of Asteria Book 1) Page 12