The Beginning (Dark Paladin Book #1) LitRPG Series

by Vasily Mahanenko

  “Master,” one of the workers rushed towards us, “it’s time to install the scrolls.”

  “Here,” I passed to him a huge pile of paper covered in writing, and the detonator. "Seven layers around the entire perimeter, as agreed.”

  “You chose to be a draftsman? From where did you get so much Energy to charge the scrolls?” Vikat frowned, but then his face brightened with understanding: “Right! You are a Dark one!”

  I did not clarify it for the elder, just smiled. The profession of “Draftsman” enabled me to put my abilities on paper and use them, significantly reducing the expenditure of Energy. It took just one Energy instead of the 15 needed for “Templar’s Blow". The scrolls had lots of limitations and requirements; thus, it was impossible to use the abilities of other classes; it was necessary to charge a scroll with the amount of Energy equal to default attribute activation; activation time was almost twice as long; one needed to use additional equipment in the form of a remote activation detonator, and a huge number of other unpleasantries that made using the scroll in ordinary battle very inconvenient. However, in my case it was an ideal way to revenge myself against the druid! A player who activated a scroll that was sitting on the ground did not inflict damage directly on another player. It was not his fault that some living creature happened to be in the impact zone. It just happened so. Uncle Shlomo and I had argued about it for a long time, and finally agreed that the Game would reduce him to dust if activation of the scrolls would send me for respawn. The gnome was so certain of being right that I had to agree.

  “We are done!” An hour and a half before Dolgunata was to appear a pleased worker reported to me on the completion of the construction work. Vikat and I evaluated the result and agreed that there could not be a better arrangement. If Dolgunata were able to get out of the trap prepared for her, nothing would save me. Even twelve hours of lead time.

  “By the way,” the elder remarked. “While you were busy another group showed up. The necromancer, druid and mage. Can they interfere with your plan?”

  “Only the druid,” I grimaced, displeased by understanding that the construction project had preoccupied me so much that I had completely forgotten about those three.

  “I can hold him for twelve hours and then send for respawn,” the elder grinned.” All I need is two Energy elixirs.”

  “Can you detain the players who completed the Academy?”

  “Who said that he completed his training? Dolgunata did, that’s true, and now she’s learning to use the Chancellor’s present. No one can prohibit her from doing it. As for Sakhray – he was a keymaster and is still listed as a recruit. If so, he is totally within my power now. If I decide that I want that.”

  “Two elixirs?” I asked suspiciously. What bothered me was the very low cost for open help to one of the parties.

  “I am curious as to whether your creation could withstand the push of two druids,” the elder explained, smiling. “It’s an interesting idea. I’ll release the workers. You don’t need them any more, right?”

  “Go ahead,” I agreed, and in the same moment a huge crowd of NPCs simply faded into the air. Together with the digging machines, axes and scaffolding. Everything that had had a grand code name: “The Big Dig of the Century: Revenge on Dolgunata” was now gone. “Where are the players who arrived?”

  “Resting at my house. Waiting till you become free.”

  “When can you kill the druid?” I gave the elixirs to Vikat.

  “Consider him gone. Technically it’s not difficult, it just takes time. I’ll block him for twelve hours, during which his Energy level will drop to zero. He’ll respawn.”

  “Excellent. I hope you made the group comfortable. Let them rest. Now, regarding Dolgunata: I need to withstand her mental attack. At least initially. How do I do that?”

  “As far as I understand, you don’t have an amulet.”

  I shook my head: he was right.

  “What did Gromana tell you?”

  “Just one thing – that I need to run away as far as I can. That I can’t win over Dolgunata.”

  “I see… Do you have any money left?”

  “A little,” I tensed.

  “Buy a chain and ask our blacksmith to chain you to that thing over there. Choose a length such that you can approach the trap, but not jump into it. All I can suggest is the following: you need to better understand yourself and how to withstand mental attacks. In effect they are just common psychological manipulation. It’s possible to learn to fight that. Dolgunata cannot continuously use the Chancellor’s gift in the Academy: as far as I recall, at some point the Game determines that the player has already learned to use the object he received and issues a warning. The chain will help you overcome the effects of the present, and your brain will help you understand yourself. Nothing else can help you. I cannot give you my amulet – I still have to go back after all that. I gather Gromana said the same thing, and the trader has nothing of the sort.”

  “Where’s the blacksmith located?” The elder’s advice seemed quite reasonable to me. “It’s time to prepare for the meeting.”

  I spent the time remaining till Dolgunata’s appearance to review the video of my flight to the chicks. I tried to pay attention to the most minute things, even to the eye color of the bird and the chicks (they were bright red). The Book of Knowledge dutifully digested information and three minutes before the H-hour when Dolgunata was going to appear the Game brought me the long-awaited message:

  Book of Knowledge has reached a new level. You need to increase the level of artifact properties: “Context search” (1), “Weapon”(1), “Protection» (2)” “Spiritual integrity”(1),

  “Neuronal Network,” I whispered and the reel listing available properties started moving, rolling to the right line. Several times the Game asked to confirm my choice, and as soon as I clicked on the last button, the world around me changed. Not much, just a little bit, but oh, it was so wonderful! One of the walls of a nearby house, a picket fence and a few more things that I would normally not have even noticed, were highlighted in green, as if someone had applied a filter to a graphics editor program. The picket fence was nearby, so I spent some time looking at it in detail, and saw that it was made out of some form of plastic imitating wood rather than classic wood studs. The green highlight disappeared, and the Book of Knowledge literally purred quietly, digesting a new portion of information. I swallowed – when I see Gromana, I should do something nice for her. Information on how explorers develop had turned out to be extremely useful.

  “Yari?!” I heard Dolgunata’s exclamation of surprise from the respawn point. “What the… Did you do that?!”

  I guess I was supposed to have answered something, but there was no time. The world around me exploded in a whirl of tiny flakes, leaving behind just one thing: the goddess. Dropping on my knees I crawled towards her, drooling as I crawled, and desiring just one thing: to touch my ideal as soon as possible …

  “BASTARD!!!” the druid’s wild scream glued reality together and returned me to adequate perception of my surroundings. “What did you do, you freak?!”

  The chain, stretched taut, limited my freedom of action, so I found myself just a couple of meters away from the huge pit. The plan prepared with Uncle Shlomo, adjusted using my understanding of the druid’s abilities and her strength, was extremely simple. We assumed as an axiom that Dolgunata was much stronger than me, so I could not win in an open battle. That Dolgunata’s level was at the maximum allowed within the Academy and – I was completely certain of that – had additional experience that she would receive once she were to respawn or return to the main world. That Dolgunata was an experienced head hunter, a player who specialized in killing other players, so ordinary and even sophisticated traps would be useless against her. In a battle of experience against desire to win, experience mostly wins.

  Mostly, but not always!

  We had known for certain that Gromana would send Dolgun
ata to respawn, and in some specific interval the druid would appear at the respawn point. If we knew the precise location of the girl’s arrival, and could guarantee that in case of any respawn she would emerge at this specific place, what would we need to do? Right! We needed to dig an enormous pit around the point of her emergence. A pit fifteen meters wide and seven meters deep, and then cover the bottom of that pit with sharp stakes. Even in the form of a panther Dolgunata would not be able to jump over that distance; the Book of Knowledge calculated to a meter the distance of the jump without running up. And there was no space around the respawn stone to take a running jump. Jumping down would be sheer suicide: the stakes were placed in such a way that even the diminutive druid would not be able to fit between them. From the standpoint of a creature that had just respawned, the situation was dire. The druid immediately took me under control, but there was no benefit for her in that: the chain did not allow me to either hand her anything to cover the gap, nor kill myself by jumping in. Dolgunata could do whatever she wanted with me, but only within the length of the chain.

  “I am glad to see you as well, gorgeous!” I grinned, rising to my feet. The influence of the object received from the Chancellor had now completely faded, and other abilities of the druid did not affect me. Regardless of what Gromana had said about “Spiritual integrity”, now this property really saved me. The detonator was controlled through a separate game interface, so I clicked on several virtual buttons and said testily: “Oops!”

  “What the hell – ‘Oops’?!” Dolgunata exclaimed angrily, and at that moment ten scrolls with the Templar’s blow activated directly under her. That would do for a start. Finally it became clear to me why the parameters of an ability included range: among other things this parameter specified the conditions for remote use. In order to inflict damage the scroll had to be within the distance specified in the description. In my case, fifteen meters; that was more than enough to hit the druid in any location on her small island.

  “Bastard!!! A-a-a-a!!!" Dolgunata screamed in horrific pain once her protection was devastated by a combined hit, and the girl’s legs turned into a bloody mess. The blow hit the lower part of her body as it was the closest to the plane where the scrolls were located. Legless, Dolgunata crashed to the ground, was unable to hold onto the respawn stone and dropped directly onto the stakes. Protection did not help her: falling from a height of seven meters turned the druid into a butterfly on a pin. Dolgunata’s body glimmered and disappeared – she was sent for respawn…

  An hour passed and my world exploded, leaving just the goddess. But almost immediately it came together again, allowing me to regain control over my body. I was able to see the fading silhouette of the druid in the middle of the pit. The option “take Yari under control and jump over the stakes” didn’t work.

  Another hour passed and the world shattered again, only to restore itself at once. And again, just the fading fog served as a reminder that a very self-confident girl had been standing next to the respawn stone just a moment ago. The Chancellor punished Dolgunata for excessive use of his present in the Academy.

  Another hour passed and… the world stayed intact. Disheveled and angry, Dolgunata was staring at me glumly, not making any more attempts to take me under control. I did not want to give her time to figure out a new plan to escape my trap, so, without further emotion, I activated another ten scrolls with the blow.

  “Yari, let’s negotiate! Nooooo…!!! The druid’s legs again turned into mincemeat and the force of gravity threw her onto the stakes.

  “Hold on! We need to talk! I am not … А-а-а!!!”

  “Yari, stop!!! Nooooo!!!”

  “You stupid freak! Once I get to you, you’ll spit bloooo … А-а-а!!!”

  I’d been killing Dolgunata for twelve hours straight. It seemed to me that even if the girl had received additional experience in the wastelands she should have only one or two levels remaining, tops. Another two hours and the Academy would forever forget the creature named Dolgunata. Either I would kill her for good, or she would return to the main world. There was no other option.

  “There is no need to kill her.” I heard Gromana’s voice after yet another scream from the druid died in the air. “You’ve punished her enough.”

  I looked back and saw the witch, with her arms folded on her chest, studying the pit I had dug.

  “That’s an interesting setup.”

  “I can’t let her stay alive,” I said abruptly. “You said yourself that she wouldn’t let me finish the Academy. That she is my enemy. Is it customary in the Game to spare your enemies?”

  “Even if you do kill her, you’ll acquire a more powerful enemy. Archibald will not forgive his student’s death.”

  “You suggest that I pardon her?” I smirked sarcastically. “Maybe I should also jump into the pit all on my own? Why should we make the poor girl do all the work? Chase me and all that…”

  “You are correct to consider her dangerous,” Gromana was not going to give up. “You are right in thinking that it’s easier to get rid of an enemy once rather than hide for the rest of your life. But you are forgetting one thing: we are in the Game. I don’t understand why you would rather kill the druid than make her your ally. You need to level up, and who can help you better than a 150 year old player?”

  “What are you suggesting?” Before telling the witch to go piss her pants I wanted to hear her proposition in full.

  “The girl has no chance for getting out of your trap and she has already understood that. You can kill her‒ I am not going to interfere, that’s between you two. But think – what are some other ways you could use this situation to your benefit? Until we meet in the Sanctuary, Paladin. I have nothing else to say to you.”

  Gromana turned back and stalked back to her den, leaving me with my own thoughts. I cursed: my initial plan to kill Dolgunata was crumbling fast! Despite my year of training, the witch was able to sow in my soul the seed of not even doubt, but of greed. Really, what would be the purpose of killing Dolgunata? To enjoy revenge? Ph! As a player who had completed her training the druid would be forced to leave the Academy; as soon as she entered the main Game I would have acquired a truly formidable enemy. But I could turn the situation to my advantage! If this were an ordinary world, I would not dare let the druid live, but this is the Game! Fulfillment of oaths here is not monitored just by Judges, but by the Emperor himself!

  Dolgunata appeared at the respawn point for the twelfth time and, what I liked most of all, kept silent. She did not try to threaten, ask or plead. Crouching, waiting for the next blow, the girl stared at me with hatred. Even across such a distance I felt uncomfortable. It felt like the druid was not human any more. She had turned into a monster. There still was time before Sakhray was to appear, so I decided to inform Dolgunata of my views.

  “Let’s talk?” I grinned, addressing the frowning monster. “Or should I continue?”

  “What do you want?” It seemed like an eternity before the druid literally spat these words out.

  “You wouldn’t believe it – I want to stay alive! I want security! I want not to start at every noise waiting for the evil Nata to come and drag me off into some dark closet! Have you heard about such a thing as Maslow’s pyramid of needs? You undermined its foundation, and now I need to build the whole thing anew. So, my golden, what we need is…

  “Don’t call me that!” Dolgunata flared up.

  “No problem, would you rather be a freak bitch?! You like that better? Believe me, my golden, being yellow and similar to rotten dog piss is better if it’s disguised. Let the others think you are valuable and important, but you and I will know what’s hiding behind that fancy name.”

  Dolgunata said nothing.

  “So, now. I am so sick of your control that I have no other choice than to enforce my own sentence personally, and receive the reward I will thus deserve for killing you. Choosing between two possibilities: to receive a granis or to leave you alone, I would choose the form
er. But there is such a thing as corruption in my world, and it keeps telling me that in principle I could turn a blind eye to your behavior if I were to receive appropriate compensation. I need information. I need a guarantee of security within the Academy and beyond it. I need granises. Generally, I need a lot of things, so I am waiting for your offer, my golden. And here’s what I have to help you think better."

  Three activated scrolls did not inflict any visible harm: her protection absorbed all the potential damage. But that’s not what they were for, anyway – only to demonstrate the seriousness of my intent and show that I had enough scrolls still.

  “I could leave the Academy at any moment.” Dolgunata kept spitting her words out through her clenched teeth. If the hatred shining in her eyes had material force, it could have easily incinerated a few celestial bodies, resolving the problem of meteors and rogue asteroids once and for all, taking a couple of small planets with them for good measure.

  “Without completing the quest Archibald gave you?” I was not trying to hide a mocking smirk. “Go right ahead‒ clear out!”

  “You know nothing!”

  “I don’t need to know any of it! Come to your senses, old girl! You were trained for a hundred and fifty years for some goal that you could not fully achieve, or else you would have cleared out of the Academy a long time ago. You were too stupid to complete the task, whatever that task was. I have had the pleasure to talking to the catorian in person – he doesn’t need losers. So, you have three choices: either you interest me to such an extent that I decide not to kill you, or return to the main world and explain to Archibald how come you weren’t able to complete the quest, or forget about self-preservation and let me finish you off. You are welcome to jump yourself, by the way. There are no other options for you. You don’t have anyone to force to get me here, and your own paws are too short for that. You have ten minutes to think; after which I will assume that you have chosen the last option. The timer has started.”