The Trials of a Modern Paladin 2

by Kevin Culp

  Chapter 6

  The rest of the morning and afternoon went by pretty uneventfully after that. I mostly just walked around town, I guess you would say I was on patrol. As useless as I felt, the nod of affirmation that most of the locals gave me when they saw me told me it made them feel safe that I was there, and at the end of the day, I guess that was something.

  I did a run for Nicholas to get some produce from the farm and bring it to the Tavern just after lunch. Vincent was there working on the farm as well as his two younger brothers. A lot of people had pitched in to help families who lost people after the orc attack, and since Nicholas was running the tavern, he didn't spend too much time on the farm. At what I guessed would be around 4 PM, I returned to Gregory's house and knocked on the door.

  The old man called from inside, “Come in, Archaeus.”

  I'm not sure if he realized it was me due to the fact that I was the only one who knew where his new home was or some other reason, but I opened the door and stepped inside. “I am about to go get Korana and gather my students for their daily drills if you would like to join us, Gregory.”

  “Of course, of course, I am excited to meet this new protege just lead the way.” He picked up his staff and put on a big pointed hat that was such a stereotypical wizard-like hat that I had to struggle to not laugh.

  We left the house and headed out to get Korana. I felt a little bad making such an old man do all this walking, but he seemed to be fine with it. I felt like Gregory had to be at least seventy years old or more given all he had told me which was old in my world and even older in a fantasy setting like this where from what I could gather people celebrated reaching fifty years old in about the same fashion as I would have regarded eighty years old.

  When we got to the build site, the home was starting to come together. Maybe it was coming along so quickly because of my help, or maybe it was just because most of the home was simply stacking massive blocks, but I imagined the home would be done in no time at this pace. I'm sure all the intricacies of the roof and floors would be the part that would take the longest.

  I didn't see Lianamyr or Sairana anywhere, but Korana was standing in the field probably fifty feet or so away from the house putting in work with what looked to be a mattock. She was wearing a brown shirt that tied up around the back of her neck and left her back open for her wings with some normal breeches. The top of her pants were designed to accommodate her thick tail that stuck out from the bottom of her shirt. She had on thick gloves, but I knew they were more for hiding her clawed hands than protecting them from the wear of the work. Her fin-like ears flicked slightly as we approached her from behind, and she turned to face us.

  Gregory’s eyes lit up, and he walked towards her eagerly with an extended arm. “Wow, Archaeus told me so much about you but not of how beautiful you are, Korana. My name is Gregory.”

  Korana eyed him cautiously, and I had my first thought of hopefully this guy isn’t an old perv, but he hadn’t struck me as such yet. She slowly extended her hand to him to shake, which he took eagerly.

  “It is a great great honor young lady. I’ve met several dragons over the years but never one that aspired to live in civilized society and would converse with us meager mortals.”

  I could still see the wariness in Korana's eyes. She was used to everyone being afraid of her. She might be relieved by someone who barely acknowledges her, but it would come as a surprise to get the exact opposite of her normal response from a person I’d imagine.

  She spoke cautiously. “Um, I'm not really a dragon, you know. I'm only half. Who is this man, Archaeus?”

  “He's the man who was sent to me to help you learn to harness your sorcery. I must admit that I know little about him myself, but a man I have a great deal of trust in sent him here, and he definitely has a background that probably makes him one of the greatest minds in the kingdom when it comes to magic.”

  Gregory took on a modest expression. “Come now, Archaeus, you flatter me, but yes, I was hoping to have the honor of helping you develop your magical abilities.”

  She looked at her gloved hands and the enormous home of stone that was being built. It appeared as though she took on a saddened expression perhaps longing for the day she didn't have to worry about causing accidental disasters to a point where her own parents had to have a home like this built to ensure it would be safe and livable.

  “Can you really help me control this power?” The question came out as a plea.

  Gregory recognized this as well and took on a tone that seemed almost fatherly. “I assure you, my dear, all magic can be devastating, but any person with clear goals and a strong will can control their power with the correct discipline and guidance.”

  Korana almost seemed like tears wanted to break through, but she held them back. It showed that she had hope of a normal life. Normal was something she had never known, though to be honest, I couldn't help but hope she wouldn't settle for normal. She was already extraordinary and might be a great ally in the future. I had seen some of her strength already, but I knew she had a lot more potential. I tried to not base too much here off the game, but half-dragons had a level adjustment of +4 meaning a level 1 half-dragon should be about equivalent to a level 5 character putting her well ahead of my other proteges right from the start.

  I looked at them both. “Well, it's time for me to get back to the house to help all the others go through their daily drills. How about we hold off on the magic instruction for today and both of you come with me? You can discuss afterward how you would like to begin your magic lessons going forward.”

  Gregory nodded in agreement. “Of course, I may not look like much these days, but I have always believed that those who train their bodies are typically better at training their minds. Also, unlike wizardry, sorcery can require both the body and the mind to realize its full potential.”

  Korana nodded, walked back over to the house, and set the mattock up against it. We then walked towards my home together. Gregory seemed to be in a happy mood but was actually being pretty reserved. I expected him to barrage Korana with questions during the whole trip to my house, but we all just walked in silence.

  By the time we got back to my house, Christina, Phillip, Vincent, Kayden, and even Rin were all outside. Rin actually seemed to be, I guess you would say, instructing Kayden on some grappling moves or at least I hoped it was. They didn't seem to notice our approach, and I could hear Phillip and Vincent laughing.

  Rin spoke in a calm voice that definitely sounded like she was trying to teach, but I could hear a bit of annoyance as well. “This is how you do an arm bar. Enough pressure and you can easily break or dislocate the arm. Obviously, I'm not normally a grappler, but sometimes fighting without weapons becomes necessary.”

  Kayden was slapping the ground with his free arm clearly having given up on breaking Rin's grip. He shouted in pain. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I surrender. Please just let me go!”

  Rin spoke calmly but with even more edge in her voice. “And what is it exactly that you are apologizing for.”

  “I'm sorry for saying that stuff to Vincent!”

  “What was it you said to Vincent?” Rin asked.

  “I said whoever designed your armor did us all a favor that I greatly appreciate!”

  I suddenly understood what was going on and really couldn't help but to chuckle a bit. Christina heard me and looked in our direction. I half expected her to berate me for laughing about this, but she just flashed me an amused smile.

  Rin was still speaking. “Do you still appreciate the design of my armor?”

  “No, not at all!”

  “So, you are saying that my armor is hideous, or you don't appreciate how I look in it?” At this point, she was just toying with him, but it seemed to be in good spirits.

  “Um, yes, you look good, and I like the armor, but I don't know! Wait, no! What do you want me to say!”

  Rin was about to speak, but I cut her off. “That's enough, Rin. Let the po
or boy up.”

  Rin actually flashed me a smile which was kind of surprising then released Kayden and stood. Kayden stayed on the ground holding his arm in shock but glad to be free of Rin's grip. Then, she noticed Gregory and gave him a particularly nasty look before turning around and picking up a quarterstaff that had been on the ground. I'm guessing they hadn't had a good relationship in the past, but he just smiled back at her. Christina approached us.

  Gregory faced her and broke out into a friendly smile. It sounded as though he was trying to use a friendly voice as well, but the sound of someone with a seemingly crushed windpipe was rarely friendly. “Ah, if it isn't the lovely, Christina. I had hoped to meet you formally, the woman who has so inspired a man like Archaeus. My name is, Gregory.”

  I was kind of surprised he knew her right off the bat, but I guess he knew she would be here and had probably been present at the ball in the palace even though I didn't remember meeting him.

  Christina blushed a little but extended her hand. “It is very nice to meet you, Sir Gregory.”

  He took her hand gently and kissed it then turned to the others. “Well now, who are these young men? Your students I presume, Archaeus?”

  After that, Phillip, Vincent, and Kayden introduced themselves in turn and then paired off to spar. Like usual, Phillip and Christina were sparing as were Vincent and Kayden. Once again, Rin paired off with Korana which made me a little nervous, but if I was correct about Korana’s inherent levels, then I really couldn’t expect her to spar with the others either.

  It seemed I had nothing to worry about. Rin actually seemed to be instructing Korana in proper form, which was probably better than hearing it from me. I had to let my mind go on autopilot so that Archaeus would explain things instead of me, and truthfully, the fighter class, which I assumed Rin was, knew more about overall combat than a Paladin, especially where different fighting styles were concerned. It felt strange that I didn’t really do anything these days when I was supposed to be instructing them on combat. I really just sat back and watched them spar.

  Gregory, on the other hand, decided to make use of the time. He had summoned a table along with paper, a vial of ink, and 2 quills. The quills were going to town on their own as Gregory watched the two girls spar. I would have to say that an old man watching two attractive young women sparring seemed creepy, and the fact that the two quills were constantly sketching them as he watched probably made it worse. That being said, when I looked at the drawings they were mostly just outlines of their bodies, though I was shocked by how detailed they were, and how much information was on them.

  There were extra lines running throughout Korana’s body with small arrows and occasionally little notes off to the side that seemed to have some significance such as ka, ko, phi, sai, and chi. I recognized the words chi and sai though I assumed that sai didn’t represent the weapon here. I glanced at Gregory and noticed his eyes were glowing. If I had to guess, he was tracking the mana flow through her body as she sparred and there must be significant indicators or different types of mana that these letters represented. The glee on his face at watching this made it obvious that he either didn’t realize how it would appear to others that he was staring at two young girls or didn’t care.

  Looking more closely at the papers, I noticed there was occasionally a line or two on Rin’s body as well. Typically, this was denoted by sai. If he was tracking everything in both of them, then the difference in mana between Rin and Korana was phenomenal. I asked him about it.

  “Gregory, can you tell me a little about all this information?”

  His eyes never left the two women, and the quills kept moving. “Certainly, my boy. What questions did you have?”

  “I’m guessing it’s safe to assume this is a flow of mana through their bodies, but I’m not sure what the letters represent.”

  “You’re partially right about it being the flow of mana. It is really the flow of energy as a whole. It is commonly accepted that there are five different types of energy. These are ka, ko, phi, sai, and chi. Ka is what people would commonly view as a sorcerer’s mana as it is the inner flow of magical energy in the body. A wizard’s mana would be a combination of ko and phi. Ko is a flow outside the body of magical energy in the world and how it gathers around the body. Phi, on the other hand, isn’t magical energy per se but how well a person’s inner energy is responding to the flow of ko around them. Sai is literally physical energy. That is to say what we use to move our bodies and get along in our daily lives. Chi is a little more complicated, and I’m going to admit it is not something I am as familiar with. It is a life force that can be converted into energy, often in ways to achieve feats akin to magic without actually being magical. A dragon’s elemental breath weapon would be an example of this and probably why her chi is so active.”

  I looked again at the images. Another was being produced every fifteen seconds or so. “I see here that Rin has no flow of energy period except for sai. Is that relatively normal?”

  He chuckled a bit. “No, it’s actually not. She probably wouldn’t want me to tell you this, but Rin came to me a few years ago and said she wanted to learn magic. She actually said she wanted the ability to slay dragons, and that she felt that magic was the best way. After observing her as I am now, I told her she didn’t have the ability to learn magic in her current state as she had shut herself off from it.”

  “How does someone shut themselves off from the ability to use magic?”

  “It varies from person to person. Everyone has a little magic and should at least have access to ko and phi. Even if ko doesn’t naturally respond to them, they should be able to learn how to manipulate it. While she eventually turned to want to use magic to fight magical creatures, for a long time Rin resented magic, and I believe the body responded by shutting off her access to it. That treatment of her body, likely also killed the flow of chi.”

  It surprised me to find out that Gregory even knew of Rin’s past, though I didn’t know to what extent. I thought about what he was saying about magic though and had a thought. “Can you get me just a few of those images of my other students?”

  Gregory nodded and proceeded to observe the others for a short while.

  Once he had done four images of each of the other pairs, I picked up and looked over them. Kayden had pretty weak flows of ko, phi, and chi with no ka, but his sai seemed to be decent. No surprise, he definitely had a lot of energy. Vincent seemed to have a relative balance of all types of energy like Korana, though nowhere near as much. Phillip was also pretty balanced on energy. While he had no ka, the others were all slightly higher than Vincent.

  Christina’s surprised me the most. She also had no ka, and while her ko, phi, and sai were all about on par with Vincent, her chi was through the roof. It really made me question her class again. She was a Blade Dancer. Her bonuses had seemed to be similar to a monk in that she had a bonus to her armor rating when not wearing armor and gained abilities that used finesse. Monk’s definitely seemed to be the most likely class to use chi, so maybe part of why she went into Blade Dancer was due to how high her chi was and the similarities. If that was the case, I wondered what kind of abilities she would gain as she leveled.

  The training for the day ended. I checked Christina’s experience, and it still hadn’t changed. I didn’t really expect it to. She had argued with me for quite a while to let her, Phillip, Vincent, and Kayden go to that cave with me and fight. I didn’t like the idea of letting her put herself in danger, but honestly, I knew I didn’t need to be overprotective, and Archaeus would like her trying to better herself. I would need to find a task that they could help me with again if she was to advance further.

  Everyone bid farewell and left for the evening. Gregory walked with Korana and seemed to be praising her for the amount of energy in her body. Honestly, it should be a relief that he wasn’t just an old pervert, but this was almost creepier.

  Once everyone left, Christina came to me, gave me a hug and kiss, t
hen buried her face in my chest and as I held her slowly let me support more and more of her weight until I was practically supporting her entirely. I could feel how exhausted she was. She had been doing most of the work running the town. I couldn’t help but question how she had any sai left, but that may not represent exactly what I thought it did.

  “I miss my papa, Archaeus,” Christina whispered.

  I held her tighter and kissed the top of her head. I had never lost a family member. Not that I was particularly close to any of them. Even so, losing someone so close to you had to be hard, perhaps even more so after what had happened to her mom. Most of the time, she put on a brave face these days, but occasionally, she still had a small breakdown about losing her father. It was to be expected given the gruesome manner in which he had passed, and it had only been a few months.

  “It’s starting to get cold, Archaeus. Let’s go inside.” She said.

  She was right. I wouldn’t call it that cold, as it was still probably in the 50s, and I would think that would be expected given the time of year. The seasons still seemed to follow the patterns of time I had been in in my world, so it should be November.

  I squeezed her tight and looked at her. “How about you take a bath, and I’ll cook dinner tonight?”

  “I’m not that sad.” She chided.

  I smiled back at her. I had only tried cooking one time since I had been here. It was a simple steak dinner. In my world, I wasn’t a bad cook, though not an exceptional one. Either way, there shouldn’t have been a reason I couldn’t cook a steak. Archaeus’ wisdom should have been high enough to make a cooking check with no training, but I guess it wasn’t that easy. He had probably never cooked before a day in his life. He always had rations during the lower levels and about a year ago he had acquired a Ring of Nourishment that made it so that he no longer had the need to eat.