Legend of the Founding Paladin

It didn’t take long for us to get past the guard station and inside of the walls, but Napoleon’s begging rubbed me the wrong way. I yanked Napoleon into one of the restaurants lining the inside of the walled city, some local delicacy kind of place that used meats from an animal not unlike a goat. The reason that I know this is really quite simple you see…

“Oooooh, I love this place! They make some great vem sandwiches.” Napoleon almost shouted gleefully as I dragged him in by the collar of his shirt.

Vem, apparently, being the name of the animal with its picture all over the walls. The best way to describe it would be a short-legged goat, which can apparently float on its own wind magic. Napoleon nodded at the waitress even as I lift him off the ground by his shirt, to her credit, without missing a beat she offered us both menus with a big smile like nothing out of the norm was going on. She seated us in the back, apparently at Napoleon’s old spot.

“Okay Napoleon, if you’re from my world, I have some questions for you. Considering the display you just made outside it seems like you want to be on my good side, I need some things cleared up right now and I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” I laid it out straight to him; I wasn’t going to let him alone until I got the honest truth. Nothing adds up in this world and It’s starting to feel like no one will just freakin' explain anything!

We ordered some food and sent the waitress on her way as Napoleon sits across from me, twirling a three-pronged fork in his fingers with the dexterity of a circus performer.

“Well, there are things that are not my place to say, but sure, I was already planning on answering all your questions, and really, I couldn’t have asked for a better place! I was really feeling down doing all that and this’ll cheer me a right back up.” He said with a big toothy smile, this balding old Paladin, what exactly is his game? Still, at least with him, I have something in common.

Four hours later…

I swear I have tried every kind of Vem you can even conceive of! Vem tasted, depending on how you cooked it and for how long, anything between beef, pork, or goat. Candied Vem-chunks and dried fruits in sort of a meaty trailmix was served in a bowl on every table. Something that would almost be a Vem Burger was also served with a sort of cheese and leafy vegetable. It was pretty juicy and cooked medium well, just the way I liked it, so I had to admit this is probably one of my favorite places too now.

“So yeah, that’s the story of the Demon Emperor and the fall of the Sixth Race.” Old-Man Napoleon was picking his teeth with a wooden toothpick; we’d both just feasted as he pretty much told me anything I asked. I let out a satisfied, burp, holding my gut, I swear I must’ve eaten ten pounds of food, but I didn’t feel more full than say an over-large dinner.

Extra Skill Acquired: Mother Bird.

Effect: Large quantities of nutrient energy may be stored inside your body, storing all excess in a pocket dimension. Such Nutrients may then be recalled to support those malnourished by opening the dimension and siphoning off nutrients into a host body, or the Caster may use it to nourish their own form in case of emergency.

“Wait, what was that manual, can you explain more clearly?” I ask, waiting for a reply as I hear...

“Huh? What’re you talking about?” jumped in Napoleon, his mouth partially wrapped around a flatbread stuffed with spiced vem, something I was now quite fond of due to this old coot.

Converting… Converting… Converting… Success.

Explanation of ability: The power to store excess stamina and then infuse it to others or oneself.

What did it mean, converting? Converting to what? Anyway, back to Napoleon. “I guess Manual just told me I got a new skill, storing energy and giving it to others or using it, it gave it a weird name though.”

“What was it? There’s a lot in a name, especially when given by the manual, that thing’s in your head. From everything I’ve been told they’re what you if you had a full understanding of the ability, would name it!” He said, crossing his arms, clearly proud of himself as I pondered what he meant. The name I would name it if I truly understood it?

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The Legend of the Dread Emperor.

As told by: Paladin Napoleon.

The Dread Emperor, King of the Sixth Race, ruler of land stretching ocean to ocean. This was the villain of the last Holy Paladin, four hundred and twenty-seven years ago, the Dread Emperor held dominion over all six of the races, Human, Beastman, Kobold, Centaur, Slime, and Demon.

'Demon' is not a legend to the people of this land; by all accounts, they were as demented as the tales of demons from our own plane. They ruled the five lower races, subjugating them all. Beastmen had their limbs permanently clamped in irons to slow their reflexes. Kobold's claws and horns were filled down, their wings clipped. Centaurs were hobbled or forced to wear painful shoes that made them bleed if they galloped. Slimes were kept in the garbage and the sewers, never let out so they may multiply in the sunlight. However, Humans, they were different.

The humans were not humbled as the other races were; for the demons did not fear them, for why fear a race inferior to you in every way? Magic, durability, the power of flight, the demons far outclassed the humans of this world in every way, and that was their downfall. From stories long lost to them, the human’s souls remembered an ancient prayer calling to them in their hour of need. It is said that the humans prayed without food or water for five days, even in the more skeptical accounts. Just when the chain started to break, and they fell over on each other in exhaustion and hunger, the Holy Paladin appeared.

Clad in an armor of white, with a trim of gold, the Paladin slew the oppressors one by one of the other four subjugated races. He cut the Prime Shackle, the magical item keeping the irons on the peoples. He destroyed the file factories and warehouses. He shattered the ancient barrier crystal thus freeing the slimes kept under the streets. And then he went after the hobblers, the demons themselves, breaking the torturous boots off of the centaurs as he went, the Paladin assembled the Army of the Five People.

Upon the release of the leader of the centaur people, Mountain-Crasher Erinth, who later becomes his best friend, he was dubbed by the Deity, and himself Holy Paladin Cedric. It was then that the other artifacts came to him, the silver sword, the Paladin’s Ledger, which he would later upgrade further into the History of the Holy Paladins, the relic I gave you. There are said to be many other items, including a helmet, lost to history with the power to make one live for far longer than they naturally would.

Soon the Paladin would fight with the Dread Emperor; the later getting upset at his subjects all being set free. He had created a weapon that would wipe out all other five races, a magical beam of such power that upon hit with a target it would code the basics of those species building blocks and then seek out other similar victims.

Unfortunately, the Paladin’s gift from the Deity was that of ‘Self Reflection’ a skill that magnified malignant forces in others and showed them back to the person. I say, unfortunately, because he himself did as well, you can read it in the ledger I gave you… But I’ll save you some heartbreak in the details. For when the Dread Emperor fired this weapon at the Paladin, seeking destruction, the Paladin countered the only way he knew how.

The ability of the paladin was originally only illusory in nature, but many battles had made it grow stronger. He had began to plan around it, using his power as an ace in the hole to bring down especially tough opponents… He brought them down all right. The entirety of the demon race, collaborators, torturers, wet-nurses, all of them had been afflicted by something worse than death. Every one of them had a vacant look in their eyes, they were alive, if you could call it that, every demon was stuck, transfixed at something invisible in front of them.

Their faces transfixed in horror as the hero of the world had reflected a doomsday weapon back at them. After that, the other races took to mercy killing the demons. They couldn’t move, and the atrocities committed upon them were too great for the Paladin to raise much of a word. Truth-be-told he couldn’t, he stays, transfixed at the Dread Emperor, removing his helmet and then hiding the living body. It was punishment for having unleashed the weapon in the first place, that the Dread Emperor, from a race who could already live five hundred years, to outlive the rise and fall of generations, with his face forever transfixed in horror.

As for the Holy Paladin Cedric? He refused any appointing in the new government, and without his vigilant watch, humans were put in a place of supremacy. It was not just the demons that had underestimated them. The name Demon Lord is used as an insult, referencing the old days, claiming that this upstart would be as bad as the Dread Emperor.

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Napoleon had been summoned right when the Demon Lord was at the steps of the Lord-Governor of the time, his subordinate had taken the speaker to perform the summoning. The passed Governor had been opposed to it, so it was done in secret with the man’s life as the bait.

As he put it, “You can safely say that I stopped this country from falling, for when within ten minutes of myself being here, I had the Demon Lord’s head in a sack.”

According to Napoleon, he has had the shortest and most disappointing story of all the Paladins in the Ledger. While I’m not too sure of that. Considering his current age and how many more stories he must have. But also, I mean really, if this ledger was a relic for somebody 400 years ago, then there has to be some unlucky person who’s more anti-climactic.

Napoleon and I left the restaurant after giving the waitress a sizeable tip for not throwing us out. As we walked up the river lined cobble street path toward the Lord-Governor's mansion, my mind wandered toward the dream I had this morning.

Napoleon’s explanation for it had been some sort of protection for my mind when Grimalkin used the runestone on me. He was untrained and little was known about my ability. I don't know if they’re memories or what, but they feel real, whats more I feel I will understand more about my ability after they run their course. An awkward hunger not my own fills my belly as shame starts to bubble inside of me… I had just eaten way more than my fill, the gluttony feels obvious and yet I am unsure of what to do about the situation just yet.

On the way there I notice more rivers all lining the streets all leading up to a central fountain. While we were outside the walled city even near the weaponsmiths, there were no rivers, why even have them if they don't drain out? The fountain was a gaudy affair, some general on horseback or least it would be a horse if it didn't have a trunk and tusks. His saber aloft and the trunk held high. It was almost comical how water shot out of not only them but the tusks as well in an alternating crisscross pattern.

A blue banner and signpost hang in front of every merchant shop around the fountain. I was starting to notice the color coordination this world seems to be employing. Green seemed to be the color of the church, blue was obviously the color of the merchants. While red, the military, I hadn't seen much red, only on the outside of the barracks I’ve stayed in and a couple of guard posts here and there but that was it.

We come upon the Lord Governor’s mansion, a large, three-story building that is far longer than it was wide. Some sort of blue stone had been carved into massive columns on the right and left of the main door. The gold plating was over anything even vaguely metallic and it could be seen chipping in the more used places.

Truthfully the walk to the Lord-Governor’s palace was quite enjoyable except for the nagging thought in the back of my mind that was somehow giving me a pang of guilt in my stomach. We walked into the grand dining room again with his throne placed awkwardly at the end between the jade golems.

“Greetings great hero,” The Lord-Governor greeting me with his biggest, most punchable smile he could. “My assistants have told me that you have a request of me, how may I be of service?” His eyes gleamed like a falcon hunting prey.

“Why yes Lord-Governor Leere, yes, I come with quite the hefty request.” I pause for dramatic effect, ever the theater dweeb. “I, the current Legendary Paladin I require a piece of the Dread Emperor’s armor.” That wiped the smile off his face; he looked down at his hands and began mumbling. Counting as he did with a dejected look in his eyes, just as he did; I felt hope sink in me for the piece needed for my new weapon.

The look in the Lord-Governor’s face became even more dire, clearly conflicted. That was until a vassal came up to him, after pulling him to the side for a few minutes and chirping words too fast for even me to hear, the two came back, all smiles. “Honorable Sir Paladin I think we can come to an arrangement. My vassal, the humble son of a priestess, the very priestess who’s in charge of records at the grand church, has informed me the church’s view is the Dread Emperor’s armor is inconsequential.”

“Merely keeping it out of the hands of the rabble is the best I could ask for; I will give you the Dread Emperor’s own Helm should you complete this task for me.” If possible I would say his smile is trying to wrap around his head as if he was the one getting a gift.

I didn’t expect him to have anything to offer for me to do until the next Demon Lord sighting. Still, “What would you have me do in return?”

The Lord-Governor continues, “The Mountain-Crasher, Darrell and his band of mercenaries took over a jade mining town close to us a week ago. As you can guess with the Demon Lord around I can’t afford to spread my army so thin and requesting help from the Red City costs money. If you do not know, Mountain-Crasher is not a title here it is the name of a species of a larger centaur.”

“This one snuck under our noses, by the time he drew others to his side he was the size of our largest of our eight story towers. Wielding a spear tipped with the shell of an ancient crustacean he has taken the seat of Thebes. I implore you, Paladin, fulfill the contracts of old.” While begging with his voice his mouth was watering like Napoleon over a plate of stuffed vem.

This is too easy, way too easy. He was freaking out a second ago, but now he’s all smiles. Plus I don’t like the way he’s placing this all on the leader, even if he’s giant when there’s an entire band of bandits occupying the town… And what about evacuating the civilians? His priorities seem out of order for any sane leader. But then again, sane leaders are pretty uncommon even in my own world.

Thinking quickly I blurted out, “I wish for three plates of his armor as a down payment, after all. I need to be armed if I’m fighting a giant show pony.” Truthfully I hadn’t thought it all the way through. But my response resulted in applause throughout the room. Even the Lord-Governor had wiped the self-satisfying grin from his face, smiling at me earnestly now.

“Well said, Sir Paladin! Very well said! I will give you the three plates and enough silvers to build a party like in the scripture!” Okay, now this man was fanboying over me, of course, this turned into a full-fledged quest, now I have to find a party? I mean, I have Grimalkin, but who else?

The Lord-Governor continued, “I will gladly give you that old relic as payment when you return, and I will further reimburse you if you will tell your tale in front of us all to be recorded in the scripture!”

Oh, so that’s his game, without a Demon Lord, he wants to use the new toy he just got? Why not play along for now, it sounds like this Mountain-Crasher is serious business, people may need help. “How could I say no to that offer, I will choose who journeys with me, Lord-Governor it seems you know the most about the situation, and the particular quirks of Paladins, might I ask your thoughts?”

The bait is cast, aaaaaaaaand… “Why gladly, Sir Paladin!”

Hook, line, and sinker. It seems I found this old man’s weakness, like all rich fogies he loves to be entertained. And what could be more entertaining than a hero of legend recounting his most recent victory? This old man was sending me to my first stepping stone. As a sense of tension filled the air, for the first time since I met the Lord-Governor, I could feel like I knew what was going on in his head.

“Alright, I will need to know based on the enemies’ strength, how many people should I bring, what kind of foes will I be facing?” I said, and the talks went on as the sky grew from mid-afternoon orange to the dark blue of the night sky. small stars twinkling in the distance, whenever the conversation got too dry I would start coming up with my own constellations for this world.

“Thebes is a simple mining town, with some rural development. They’re a simple folk, many retire from the army and go there. It was founded by a former general, and the towns’ policy of ‘equality’ has made it a den for the less… desirable sorts. Their open-door policy is about to get them all slaughtered you see.” Leer stated.

“We must save them all, after all, you are the Paladin, the reason the Deity chose you is your selflessness…” the self-important ruler said with a large grin on his face. The news, while a bit dark, seemed to be just the sort of set up he was going for. At least now he seemed like he had a conscious in there somewhere.

The vassals informed me of the godkin, all 5 current races had larger versions of them. Respectively we had Giants for humans, Cubes for slimes, Direthropes for beastmen, Dragons for kobolds, and lastly, the Mountain-Crasher, an eight-story tall centaur. Apparently, unlike several of the other godkin, Mountain-Crashers gained no extra magical energy from their godkin status, instead, they were gifted with mountain-leveling power, hence the name Mountain-Crasher. Darrel, however, was just the leader, he had two generals.

Devsiani, a kobold specializing in long-range nature magic, vines, trees, flowers and such. And Mishka, a human man specializing in close range heavy damage magical hammers. They had some mixed-species rabble in their basic forces but those were the three we needed to be worried about.

After the consultation of his advisors and the priests, I was informed that a four-person party would be optimal. I had objections, sighting the eight-story centaur, but apparently Paladins have always worked best in groups of between three and seven, and that four would be the best bet for going in undetected.

“Sir Paladin, we have taken the liberty of retrieving Charlemagne. Our studies have shown that Paladins grow attached to the first people they connect to within this world. Considering Charlemagne's own skill, I find it to be reasonable to send him with you as your primary healer.” One of the vassals, the one who had spoken up to Leere was telling me as he walked me to a room with what appeared to be a printing press.

In parts of it, magic was used instead of levers, a purple aura coming from the screw-like device in the middle of the press. Steam billowed out of pipes that were attached to henges and the aura around the screw-press in the middle looked like a candle-flame laughing, it was truly something to behold.

“This is commonly known as the pamphlet room, you can tell our assistant what you want, words or pictures even, and we will distribute them inside and out of the wall.” That surprised me a little.

“Why the difference? As in, why also add outside the wall?” I add, slightly confused.

“Oh, we make it a national policy not to rely on the soulless lower classes, however many Paladins prefer to use them for some reason,” he said in an off-handed, dismissive manner like I had just pulled what I thought was a perfectly useable knife out of a trash bin.

“Well, let’s get to work, even with the people I can think of off the top of my head for this, counting Charlemagne, we’re still short one person.”

And so, we worked into the night, creating a flier you could understand literate or not. Since the common people weren’t allowed inside of the jade walls, we decided to have the casting be held at the barracks where Napoleon and I were staying. While he turned down the position of fighting due to his age, he would be invaluable in picking the last member of our group.