The Quest (Dark Paladin Book #2) LitRPG Series

by Vasily Mahanenko

  Case initiated: Insulting a Player (Slots available for: 8 more cases)

  Description: You consider that Viceroy’s servants, namely , insulted you.

  You wish to defend your honor and dignity.

  Task: Investigate this case and deliver a verdict.

  Case investigation: Not applicable; the case was initiated by the Judge himself

  Period of limitation of action: None

  “For demonstrating disrespect and insulting a player I sentence the Viceroy’s servants listed in the case ‘Insulting a Player’ to pay a fine to the Game in the amount of ten granises. This sentence is final and not subject to appeal!”

  Following Redel’s advice, I stated the sentence silently to myself. The Game recorded the verdict and I calmly awaited its confirmation by the Emperor. I sincerely believed that my decision was just, and so decided to hit them at what they valued most: granises and Grandeur. A few moments seemed to drag forever, but finally the message I needed appeared, and I exhaled with relief. It was not the way of the Game to allow insults to go unpunished:

  Verdict is confirmed

  Verdict is deemed harsh

  Case “Insulting a Player” is closed. Sentence has been executed by the Game

  Award for correct verdict: basic Energy level increased by 100

  Immediately in the top of my field of vision a scale with an arrow appeared, like what I had already seen in the Academy. Now it indicated that I was 10 percent closer to the next level from the initial one. I studied this phenomenon in dead silence. The Viceroy’s servants did not say a word as they let the events sink in. Of course; just now I had dropped their “Grandeur” level by ten points at once.

  “Shall we attempt a dialogue, or shall I continue?” I asked the druid in a deliberately nonchalant way.

  “We didn’t…,” the druid lost all his arrogance like a tree loses its leaves in the fall; his inability to speak coherently only underscored that. I was kind enough to help:

  “You are trying to apologize?” The elf hesitated, but then nodded. “And are inviting me to follow you to the Viceroy?” The elf nodded again.

  I looked at Helen, thinking what to do about her. She was still clinging to me, frightened.

  “I need to run off again.” She was so defenseless and attractive that I could not resist and stroked the girl’s head. Helen’s cheeks turned pink, and in response to my simple caress she clung to me tighter, but this time not in fear. The Doll felt that the danger had passed, and that it could now perform its intended function. Which was bringing me pleasure.

  “You can take her along. There is a place in the garden where players may leave their things for safekeeping.” The druid’s voice changed again. No, there was no respect in it; neither was there fear. I could not identify the change, so decided to be extra cautious:

  “Fine; you will bring the Game to witness that the portal leads to the Viceroy and not to any other place. You will also confirm that no issues will arise if I arrive at the court with my Doll. Once we receive the confirmation we can go.”

  “I agree.” The druid regained his composure, and white light washed all over him as soon as he uttered the oath. “Please follow me‒ the ceremony is about to start.”

  Helen did not ask anything; she just followed me unquestioningly, even though she halted at the portal. I wanted to cheer her up and reassure her that there was nothing to fear, but from her admiring look I realized that I had been wrong. She smiled as a child as she looked at her hand in the bright glow coming from the portal. Then she shut her eyes tightly and stepped into the unknown first, pulling me after herself. A moment later we arrived at our destination. I suppose at that moment I did not look any better than my Doll. We were both like children in a magic dreamland. Huge green trees, elaborate plant sculptures and immaculate lawns were next to urbanistic structures of silver metal and glass. A shimmering waterfall rushed down from the top of the nearest building and created a rainbow amazing in shape and richness of color. Funny animals dashed everywhere, chasing each other playfully through teleports; giant flower beds were covered in fantastic blooms. My elation gradually diminished and then I was able to calmly observe the ideal state of my surroundings. Helen kept twirling around, periodically exclaiming to show her excitement and admiration; she was squeezing my hand harder and harder. Even though it was amazing – how could such a small hand be so strong?

  “Welcome to the residence of the Viceroy of Biological Life-Forms Sector,” a semi-transparent hologram of the local master of ceremonies, similar to a ball lightning, appeared in front of me. He was obviously not a biological life-form. “I will accompany you there. We must hurry‒ the award ceremony is about to start any minute now. Please leave your property here. Don’t worry; it will be taken care of.”

  I’ll be back soon,” I promised Helen, and after several jumps through portals I found myself in front of a crystal gazebo in a green garden. Another miracle of the local landscape.

  “Paladin Yaropolk!” the master of ceremonies announced, and the eyes of those present converged on me. There were ten beings: two elves, an orc, a catorian, a smallish black dragon who immediately fully captured my attention; I was unable to determine the race of another three right away‒ they were covered by water domes. The last one was human. Even though I had not noticed too many human features in Dolgunata during our acquaintance. Finished with looking at the rest of the guests I looked at the dragon again.

  “You did complete the Dungeon, after all,” Dolgunata smiled, handing to me a glass of clear liquid and finally distracting me from the dragon. The latter, apparently, could not care less about the attention: all the while that I was staring at him he did not even bother to open his eyes. I sipped from the glass and was barely able to restrain myself from gulping the whole thing down at once. I had never tried such delicious wine – and it was not just the matter of its taste – even though the taste was impeccable as well. My body filled with strength, my mind cleared and my ability to perceive the world around me improved by an order of magnitude. Green glows appeared here and there, and disappeared at once. My video recorder was working non-stop. “Congratulations! I did not expect such prowess of you.”

  “You, though, have way too much,” I smiled broadly in response; now I began to figure out what was going on. The ceremony was for players who had been deemed worthy of the enhanced set. Since the druid was here that meant she had also received +2 enhancement for her armor. That could mean only one thing: 10-fold Dungeon enhancement and greatly elevated Luck. I could not call her a successful explorer, so…: “Did Archibald present you with the attribute stones?”

  “You are far too smart for a player who did not know a week ago that the Game even existed.” Dolgunata was being her nasty self. “Did you get a brain as loot?”

  “His Highness the Viceroy of Biological Life-Forms Sector!” The master of ceremonies’ booming voice resounded in the gazebo interrupting our word parrying with the druid. We were told to stand in a semi-circle, and one of the four Masters of the Game strolled in leisurely. The other players kneeled, and so did I.

  “Greetings, brothers and sisters!” The Viceroy spread his arms in a welcoming gesture, and a light breeze wafted through the gazebo. “Those who have gathered here today are the select few who have proven by their play that they are worthy of receiving a reward from our hands. Daro sets and even an Imperial one will from now on speak to your enemies of your strength and of our magnanimity! Our congratulations to you! Now receive our reward! Xenobiologist Xarkan!”

  One of the water beings floated over to the Viceroy; solemn music filled the gazebo.

  “Five hundred and twenty three years in the Game; level two hundred and seventy; seventy two years as the Head of Class for xenobiologists of the game world Artey.” The Viceroy listed the water guy’s regalia. “We consider that there is no being in the Game more worthy to receive an Imperial set! Wear it honorably!”

  The armor glar
ed bright gold in the Viceroy’s hands and disappeared into the dome of water concealing the strange being. He bubbled something from the water to express his gratitude, and hastily returned to his place. The blue-skinned ruler continued with the ceremony.

  “Shaman Mahan!” Wow! It turned out that the Shaman was the dragon; he smoothly moved towards the Viceroy. His name definitely sounded familiar to me! The thoughts twirled in my head, I could not catch it… for a while I lost awareness of my surroundings. Was that not the Mahan about whom I had read a whole saga? I was sure it had been about him. There was something there about dragons, shamanism and beautiful women who could be good as well as evil. But those were just books… Or not? Hm. Could it be that not all sci-fi was just a figment of the imagination of writers, graphomaniacs, and‒let’s be frank‒ schizophrenics? Or maybe there is no fiction at all, and what there is represents documentary descriptions of some game worlds? The universe is infinite, so it could have truly odd things in it!

  Thinking about the degree of realism of the worlds depicted in the sci-fi I had read in my previous life, and the probability that I would run into my favorite characters within the Game, I missed the award proceedings for practically all the players. I was only yanked back by the sound of my own name:

  “Paladin Yaropolk!”

  I came towards the Viceroy like the players before me.

  “Has been in the Game but for a short time‒ level thirty five; yet you have enough arrogance for about a dozen of those servants of ours that cannot serve us any more because of your doings.” The Viceroy looked me up and down and extracted a silver set of armor out of his virtual reality. “We doubt that your young age and your character deserve such a high reward. However, the rules are the same for everybody. Time will tell if we were right. Try to be worthy, and wear the Daro set with honor!”

  Achievement attained: “Daro Set: “Grandeur increased by 5 units

  Pleased that Viceroy was not going to punish me for curtailing his servants, I enjoyed my fresh achievement. It was nice to know that they existed in the Game. Even though I did think it was strange that it was not granted for completing a 10-fold Dungeon, yet receiving a set of armor from the hands of a Viceroy improved “Grandeur” quite a bit.. I would have to look into this matter in detail.

  Dolgunata was the last to receive her highly pleasurable set of armor; after that the Viceroy quickly concluded the ceremony and strolled regally out of the gazebo. Seeing that other players were stripping naked quite unabashed and putting on the new sets just presented to them, I turned towards to Dolgunata, who hesitated, and took my old armor off with a smile. I did not feel shy: one would have to be bonkers not to use this safe location to change one’s armor. Dolgunata snorted demonstratively, and a moment later was regaling us all with a set of lace underwear one would not call modest under any circumstances. Unfortunately, there was not much time to enjoy the view: she dressed much faster than I did.

  Sighing with frustration, I put on the last element of the armor. As soon as it clicked in place a whole sheet of system messages appeared before me. At least I had had no time to make the helmet transparent, and those around me did not see my mouth open wide as I was reading the properties of my new outfit. I swallowed with joy. It was completely incredible to receive, after barely a week of playing, 30% percent of blocking of impacts at any level and a permanent energy shield that blocked hits at 100 times the basic Energy. Who said the Game had no tanks? Yeah, right! From now on I was a tank! Besides everything else, the set enabled me to dive to 3000 meters without having to bother about the pressure; it could offset an ambient temperature of 1200 degrees – I could easily sit on top of a lava lake without spending any Energy; it had a built-in generator of water, amino acids and oxygen, so I did not have to bother with such trifles as food and drink. The Daro set was truly a one-player Game fortress.

  We decided not to overstay our welcome at the Viceroy’s place; everyone left the gazebo using the same stationary teleports, accompanied by ball lightning beings. I came back to the beautiful garden where my Doll was waiting.

  “Yaropolk!” Helen rushed towards me without concealing her joy. “Look, just take a look at this little creature!” A strange furry animal appeared in the girl’s hands. It was slowly chewing on a purple berry which had smudged Helen’s face, “It’s like a fairy tale here! Everything is so wonderful and magical!”

  I approached Helen with a smile and cleaned her cheek with my finger. I had already forgotten ever seeing anything so full of sincere joy.

  “I once had a sweet little doll, dears.” Dolgunata’s voice sounded behind my back, slowly reciting a nursery rhyme. I was so bloody tired of her. I turned around slowly to see that Dolgunata was staring steadily at Helen, screwing up one eye. “But I lost my poor little doll, dears, as I played on the heath one day.”

  “What are you doing? I asked, frowning.

  “Studying your Doll,” Dolgunata responded contemptuously. “Or did the brain you receive go completely to your other head that you cannot see obvious things?”

  “Have you looked enough? Your portal is waiting,” I nodded in the direction of the glimmering spot behind the girl’s back. “If you are so interested in dolls, find yourself one in the Sanctuary and stare at it till your eyes leak out.”

  “Yari, are you really an idiot, or are you just pretending? Have you seen men and women in the streets strolling alongside sex toys?! Do you not understand that people hide their Dolls in the same way they hide the fact that they visit brothels?”

  “She is not a toy to hide her so!”

  “Oh really?! But she has no choice! She is like a prostitute that has already received her payment; so she cannot do anything else other than strike a proper pose and tell you how handsome and smart you are because she has to work for her money! This sweet little doll has no choice!”

  “Yaropolk, is everything all right?” The Doll asked with concern; she did not understand the point of my argument with Dolgunata. The Game protected the Doll’s mind most thoroughly.

  “Don’t you worry, sweetie!” Dolgunata answered for me. “Everything is just fine!”

  “Why don’t you go visit your own 'toy' – maybe that will mellow you,” I growled. “It’s good for a woman’s health.”

  “I don’t need surrogates,” the druid snorted. Now it was my turn to laugh out loud:

  “Judging by your character, the Game didn’t have the wherewithal to satisfy your requirements. What, did your doll come out defective?”

  Dolgunata fell silent for a few moments, and I decided I would not hear a response from her.

  “Those who have the real ideal thing don’t need artificial substitutes,” the girl finally said without a trace of irony as she kept staring at Helen. Then she shifted her gaze at me, grinned and continued: “Fine; I am not going to distract you. Don’t forget to dress your property up, and make sure you start with the underwear. I can recommend ‘Victoria’s miracle’. I noticed your appreciation.”

  The druid batted her eyelashes theatrically and disappeared into the portal.

  “Who was this?” Helen’s voice was trembling. She did not enjoy the scene, but she worried about me first of all. “Are you sure you won’t get in trouble?”

  “I am sure. Forget about it; none of this matters.” I sighed and grabbed the girl into a hug. Was she a thing? Probably. But she was my thing, and I was not going to allow her to be harassed. “Here! We cannot take local animals with us, but instead I have this little wonder. Now he’s yours. You’ll take care of him and boast his achievements to me. All clear?”

  “Rrgra?” My pet tumbled out from his virtual shelter and sat on the ground. The half-meter tall furry wonder scratched behind its ear in a funny manner; this delighted Helen to no end. She wriggled out of my arms immediately and settled next to the pet.

  “Rgra, rgra,” I answered, just in case, and nodded at the motionless Doll. From now on you will obey her. Her orders are my orders. Get that?” />
  The young Neanderthal scratched his butt as if indicating what he thought of my orders.

  “You don’t need to order him,” Helen’s voice softened – mothers talk to their children that way. “You need to ask him: right, little one? Come, I’ll rock you in my arms.”

  “Gra! Gra!” the furry beast murmured, and quickly climbed into Helen’s arms. He shuffled his bum, settling more comfortably, and embraced her neck with his long arms. After that, looking into her eyes the creature said affectionately, to the extent his throat allowed: “Mm-ma-ma-a-a!”

  I watched this cute bonding scene in amazement, realizing that I would have totally failed to find a way to establish contact with the pet. There was no question about that!

  “Yaropolk, what’s his name?”

  “Rragr; he is a delvian. He was given to me as a present, but I was never told what to do with him. I think you’ll find a way. He definitely likes you better than he does me.”

  “Thank you, Yaropolk!” Helen exclaimed happily, and in a fit of gratitude reached to kiss me.

  “Paladin Yaropolk,” a ball lightning interrupted us, and the kiss had to be postponed. “This type of physical contact with Dolls is supposed to be private. His Highness will be insulted by such behavior in his castle, particularly given the recent incident.”

  “You mean the punishment?” I guessed.

  “Yes. Two of the players you punished lost the ability to serve His Highness. Their level makes it impossible to be on this planet without escort. Please leave the Viceroy’s residence.”

  Granting that the Viceroy had reasons to be displeased, I decided to continue the evening over the promised cup of coffee. I grabbed Helen by the hand and jumped into the portal; however, my hopes were to be dashed again. As soon as we ordered some coffee, Gromana plopped down at our table without too much ceremony.

  “Showed up, didn’t you?!” The witch asked from the start, took Helen’s coffee away and downed it in one gulp. I raised an eyebrow, puzzled.