The Beginning (Dark Paladin Book #1) LitRPG Series

by Vasily Mahanenko

  “Zangar, a necromancer. Here because of a dorn. But was too late. Someone else came first. Sense the right of first claim."

  The necromancer spoke in short phrases, pausing between his sentences. It gave me the feeling that the dog-headed player only had enough ram memory for 3-4 words, after which he hit stack overflow and froze up. Zangar was calm, as if he didn’t need to worry about his safety. The conclusion was obvious: the player was sure of his strength. Either he was actually strong, or he had some additional information not accessible to common players. There was no other explanation that I could see.

  “Yaropolk, Paladin,” I introduced myself in turn, thought and realized that in fact I had nothing to lose, so I asked point blank: :What’s a dorn?”

  “…”

  “I was led here by the arrows on the beams, which you called the Way. I have no clue what a dorn is, the right of first claim or what all that was needed for. I wasn’t looking for anything specific purposefully, just exploring the Academy. I plan to become an explorer, so any information is valuable.”

  Truth is a mighty weapon. Had I tried to wriggle and spin tales that I already knew everything but wanted to check my information just in case, Zangar might have kept silent. But having heard my frank admission, the dog-headed one folded his ears in a funny way and stared at me for some time trying to figure out if I was lying or not. Then he said:

  “Dorn’s a hidden teacher. Mechanism. Teaches all abilities. Even closed because of level. Right of first claim – prerogative of finder. Possible to blow up mechanism. Earn experience. Receive artifact enhancer. Someone better than me. He made it first.”

  “What’s an artifact enhancer? I’ve never heard of this thing either. What does it do, increase the level of the artifact?”

  “Three levels plus,” confirmed Zangar. "The one who finds a dorn becomes strong. Like a monster in the Academy. Unstoppable.”

  A guess flashed through my head as to who could’ve used the “right of first claim”. Who could attain an inexplicable number of levels even having died several times? It was amazing we were even able to kill her! Perhaps, Nata hadn’t expected a double blow with weapons. But that wasn’t the most interesting part. I was puzzled by something else: did that mean that I was purposely misled from the true way and not allowed to find the dorn?

  “Did you come here using the arrows?” I verified with Zangar just in case, received a positive answer, inhaled a chestful of air and shouted with all my might: addressing the air, not worried that a strange player was standing next to me:

  “Chancellor! I need explanations! You favored other players!”

  “So what?” a thunderous voice replied, as it seemed, coming from every stone. “It’s my Academy, and I’ll do whatever I want!”

  “This is wrong!” I wouldn’t give up. “You are caring about other players, considering the mages’ actions wrongful, but you act worse than them!”

  “Then convict me, Dark one!” There was so much open malice in that voice that I shuddered. Apparently, the Chancellor really disliked everyone who differed from Light ones. “Show your Judge’s skills and deliver a verdict that I was wrong!”

  “There’ll be a time when I’ll do just that,” I growled in response. The Game did not open a case, so apparently the Chancellor’s actions fully fit within the established law and order. Moreover, my internal sense of injustice didn’t raise its head either, refusing to initiate anything. My subconscious was in agreement: that one hidden teacher had now been replaced by another.

  “If that’s all, I am waiting for you and your silent companion in my tower!” The Chancellor ordered. “I’ll have to decide what to do with you!”

  “What does the necromancer have to do with it? We aren’t even on the same team!” I was taken aback. “He was just sitting here …”

  “That’s your problem, Dark one! Since you considered him worthy of hearing our dialogue, now you are responsible for him!” the Chancellor cut me off, then continued in a completely different tone, changing from irate to interested and addressing Zangar: “Besides, I’d like to know why Levard’s minion turned out to be a non-initiated player. How long have you studied, Light one?”

  “A lot,” Zangar responded mysteriously, retaining his calm. The necromancer was Light? That was something new… “Levard gave me a task. What waits beyond the wasteland. Clarified requirements. Gave me choice. I decided to take risk.”

  “Funny. For a cynocephalian you talk too much."

  “Many years a guest. Elves. Gandrуs. Sires. Learned language. Became a player‒ the skill was retained.”

  “Come to me with this careless recruit and you will receive what you are seeking!” the Chancellor stated pompously and the sounds of the surrounding world returned. As it turned out, while the Chancellor spoke even the wind and remote cries had died down.

  Quest received: “Visit” Reach the Chancellor of the Academy as part of the group; minimum group membership: necromancer cynocephalian Zangar and Paladin human Yaropolk. Coordinates of the Chancellor’s Tower are marked on your map

  “There are no quests in Academy!” Zangar stated , after staring into the air in front of him for a few moments. “That’s what my teacher said.”

  “So, he was wrong. Gimme the group invite, Light one. Now this is truly weird. A Light necromancer.”

  “Is your world unique?” Zangar was surprised. “Necromancers always Light. Our force is the dead.”

  “Why not emotions?”

  “Dead have no emotions.”

  “But those around do. When around the dead. Especially when close to them. Crap!” I even started cursing as I realized that I was talking like the necromancer. Apparently it’s true that "one fool makes many".

  “Extra weakness. If no one around? World is Light? To die? It’s easier for Light ones.”

  “Possibly. What do you have to say about the quest? Shall we form a group?”

  “I wait for Way seeker!” The necromancer said mysteriously. “Came here by arrows. Can’t see Way. If you see – let’s go. I need to get to Chancellor.”

  “What for?” I couldn’t refrain from the question. “If we’re to continue together I’ll need information on to expect in the wastelands and beyond.”

  “That’s not equal exchange,” Zangar objected stubbornly.”From me – information. From you – nothing. Unequal. I’ll join group. That I need. Ready to sign agreement. We need good group. But information is personal. What do you offer in exchange?”

  “Have you visited hidden teachers?" I needed additional knowledge as badly as air, and it was necessary to make sure that my imposed partner visits the teachers. That would increase our overall chance of survival.

  “Their coordinates keep changing…” said Zangar. “Teacher didn’t name them… You know where teachers are?”

  “That’s right,” I beamed a smile at him. “You share information about the Academy, I take you to the hidden teachers. You’ll become the keymaster.”

  “Having one key makes no sense. There are always two passages. We can enter but can never leave.”

  “I’ll give you two keys.” The necromancer had some kind of additional knowledge about the keys, so it was a matter of honor to get him to talk. “But I need full information on what you know about the Academy. Only then will we be able to finish our quest.”

  “Question. Do you see the Way? Not just the arrows, but the Way itself? That is important for me to make decision.”

  “Yes,” I confirmed. "I was subjected to full stun prior to the Academy, so the Game highlights the safe way through the forest in green for me.

  “What does stun to do with that?” The necromancer was surprised. “It’s not related. The Way not accessible to all. So I look for explorer.”

  “Stop!” I guessed. “Only explorers or searchers can see the path? Then you are in luck: an explorer of the world is standing before you. I can see the Way.”

  “Then we can agree. We need agreement. That
we’re partners.”

  “I have an idea,” a guess flashed through my head and I decided to implement it immediately. I filled my lungs with air and shouted, addressing the Game as I had addressed the Chancellor earlier: “Game! We need to enter into a standard agreement between myself and Zangar on partnership and exchanging information! We shall not attack each other, shall support and help each other in every way until we leave the Academy, since it’s so important for the Chancellor that we visit him. I will take Zangar to the hidden teachers; in exchange he’ll tell me, in as much detail as possible, the information he has about the Academy. If he forgets something it shall be not counted as breach of agreement provided that the forgettance is inadvertent.”

  “I will tell if possible,” Zangar added. “Some topics forbidden. Not everything I can tell.”

  Request is accepted, the agreement is prepared

  A huge sheet of text appeared in front of me; in quite simple layman’s terms it listed all the main points of our agreement. As for the last clause, I included it so as not to make myself judge Zangar later, should he suddenly remember something extra.

  “Non-initiated players have advantage,” Zangar started telling me as soon as the text of the agreement received both our signatures, turned green and then disappeared. Now we were full-fledged partners. Even a special icon appeared in my panel. I’ll need to enter into an agreement like that with Teart as well; a notebook is no place for storing agreements. “Chancellor gifts them.”

  As it turned out, some advanced minions enter the Academy without initiation on purpose, so as to receive an opportunity to meet the Chancellor. He would meet only with non-initiated ones, rewarding them with gifts for their determination, faith in themselves and taking a conscious risk. Zangar’s teacher received as a gift a soul catcher that was able to capture the souls of players and NPCs up to level 200. In addition, the catcher was an energy source in itself, which made Levard one of the strongest players in his world. If Zangar were to have a similar gadget, even with a lower capture capacity, he’d become a very well respected necromancer. The Chancellor strictly prohibited Levard from telling anyone the principle behind receiving the bonus; however, the clever teacher was able to find a loophole and, using the dead, made the information available to his student without breaking the prohibition.

  Cynocephalian Zangar, who turned out to be a level 5 player, just hmmed, seeing my 9th. I decided against upsetting my new partner by telling him that once I was at level 10. What if he developed depression; particularly since Zangar had thought for a while before sharing information on the chosen path of development, specialty and artifact. Since we were partners we both needed to understand what we were capable of. The necromancer had decided to become an Exorcist: a player who travels between the worlds and destroys the dead that have become undead. Wild vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts, other undead – the scope of work for a potential Exorcist covered a lot and they were paid quite well, which was also important. As a profession that would be the best match with his path of development: the Game had suggested “Draftsman”. A special feature of necromancers’ work was that they needed to draw icons quickly, surely and with certainty; thus, the choice was obvious. Zangar had selected his artifact in the same way I had, using the Temple of Knowledge. Showing me his pike, the necromancer called it Necrospike almost with love, to the extent that he had emotions. It was a stabbing weapon and a necromancy enhancer, all in one. As an attack capability, necromancers received a curse, “Touch of Death”; to activate it they had to draw an activation icon in the air. For quite a while Zangar refused to try the curse on me; however, I was able to convince him that it was necessary to try both his blow strength and my defense, because all sorts of adversaries could be awaiting us.

  The necromancer sighed, quickly waved his pike a few times… the air between us darkened, densed, turned into a skull of fog and crashed into my defense. A second went by, and another, and a third…

  “Stop now!” I shouted at the cynocephalian, replenishing my Energy with an elixir. The protection was cracking up, eating up the Energy at an express rate. Necromancers were dependent on the drafting, that’s where their weakness lay. However, as soon as they cast a curse, they could just maintain it! Zangar pointed his pike at me that was emitting the fog and now observed, with as much interest as I had, the results of his attack. Normally, it took less energy to continue using an ability than to activate it, so Zangar was a formidable opponent for any player, even one with defense capacities.

  “You have elixirs,” the cynocephalian noted, stopping his attack. “You didn’t say. Is that partner-like? It has to do with Academy.”

  “I didn’t tell you much yet about myself and my place in the Academy,” I shot back. “You know that the Paladins have been chosen as a sacrifice, right?”

  Now I knew what the selection of a sacrifice class was. Just before the recruits were sent to the Academy, the Viceroy cast lots to select a class. Killing its members would bring triple experience points for other recruits. That class was assigned to be a sacrifice class. As a bonus, practically all members of the sacrifice class were sent to one sector. Myself and my former team had been unlucky in that: we were thrown to a place where Paladins were rare as hen’s teeth.

  Zangar nodded in affirmation, which made it easier for me to tell about the mages, the players they hired, the elixirs, my agreement with Dangard on doing the Labyrinth and lots of other things. I had to warn my partner regarding my enemies, as well as telling him about my capabilities: I didn’t leave out Dolgunata either, and told him my ideas as to who could’ve found the dorn. Before encountering me the druid had purposefully been running around the forest for some reason; it was quite possible that she had run into the clearance and destroyed the mechanism.

  After we were done exchanging information I took Zangarа to the hidden teachers. After refusing the training both times the necromancer received two massive brass keys that looked like they came from some treasure story. One key opened the entrance, the other – the exit. Thus, Dolgunata’s certainty that she’d be able to go through half of the tests in the Labyrinth was premature. With two keys it was possible to pass one test, not more. My partner turned out to be a silent sort, so through most of the way we kept silent without bothering each other with questions. Even though I was sorely tempted to ask him about necromancers, as the class in itself was very intriguing and mysterious to me. Given that Zangar was a minion, his desire to become a necromancer was a conscious one, and I really wanted to understand the reason for his actions. Fiddling with dead bodies and zombies is not for everyone.

  “The Labyrinth,” cynocephalian said as soon as we stepped out of the forest. The change in our surroundings was drastic. I even had to squint at the bright sun that joyfully illuminated the 50-meter border between the sections of the Academy. A wide abyss, the bottom of which was obscured by roiling fog, separated the reinforced concrete jungle and a huge wall about 20 meters high. Across this abyss a road led to the Labyrinth, paved with stones and rimmed with high curbs to protect careless players from falling. The wall sported a wooden double door; right at that moment a group of players was passing through them. As soon as the last group participant disappeared into the depths of the Labyrinth, the doors shut with a resounding clang, as if informing the Labyrinth dwellers that new victims had arrived.

  “That’s not where we need to go,” Zangar said as soon as I stepped onto the bridge. "We need to skip first test. It screens out majority.”

  “But you said that nobody knows what the tests are. That they change constantly.”

  “Tests change. Essence the same. First one hardest. Need to go around. Lead: the Way is here. There is passage there! One hundred meters.”

  The necromancer pointed away from the Labyrinth, to the border between the forest and the abyss.

  “From our side?” I was surprised, yet found the guiding beam and went deeper into the forest. Sometimes it’s so nice to have information! Th
e forest was so close to the drop-off, that we had to go in deeper, it would’ve been impossible to pass along the edge. The Book of Knowledge gave us a boon: it marked on the map the approximate final point of our journey; after reaching it we ended up in a relatively clear area, which was an opening criss-crossed with guiding beams. Their presence enabled us to come up to the very edge of the abyss without worrying about the guards.

  “Now what?” I was tired of looking at the practically vertical wall, so I shifted my gaze to Zangar. “There’s no more road.”

  “Trust me, Paladin. I am partner. Not enemy. Give me your hand.”

  Silently, I extended my hand to the necromancer, while trying to convince myself in my mind that the Game wouldn’t allow the necromancer to breach the agreement and push me down. Besides, it would make no sense for him to do so.

  “Most important – don’t be afraid. Just trust,” the cynocephalian repeated like a mantra, grabbed my hand for a more comfortable grip and pushed me beyond the edge of the abyss. My feed stopped sensing support, and my chest contracted. I wasn’t afraid of respawn, I was just really scared of heights. The one thing that was positive in all that? Apparently, cynocephalians are very strong creatures capable of holding up a person wearing steel armor with one hand.

  “At count of three.” My partner started rocking me, preparing to throw me over the ledge. “One, Two…”

  “Mo-o-otherfu…..!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs when Zangar released me into free flight. That was something I definitely didn’t expect! All my short life started flashing before my eyes. Just as I got to elementary school, I plopped on a hard surface, shaking all the images out of my head. Opening my eyes I had shut in fear, I shut them right back: I was sitting on nothing but air!