Last time on the An Adventurer's Best Friend:
"After the mysterious disappearance of my master and awakening the powers of a Paladin within me, I set off on a journey to find him. Then I did some chores and fought a snake. That's about it. It was just the tutorial area, after all, and nothing too exciting ever happens in those."
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And so begins my journey, proper! There is a road not so far away, but I instead choose to follow the scent trail directly. It isn't very strong, and I fear that should I wander too far from it, that I might lose it forever. Plus, I know that roads lead to towns which lead to quests. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, quite the contrary, in fact, but I can't let myself get sidetracked too much. I'll aid those in need who I happen to stumble upon, of course, but I see no need to pile on extra work, especially knowing that my master must be out there somewhere, waiting. Admittedly, I do feel a small pang of guilt over the fact that I'm deliberately avoiding helping out people who are potentially in need, but I know that to be an irrational concern. Any path one takes results in countless that you do not, after all, and each one could have people upon it that need help. I'll just have to trust that if a person's need is too urgent that destiny will force our paths to intersect.
I imagine that the roads would be a lot safer as well, and have far fewer monsters, but that isn't a significant issue either. As I travel, I encounter many different forest critters, most of which are as adorable as they are bitey. I find myself attacked with surprising frequency, but not against anything even remotely powerful. Some creatures would completely ignore my presence, but they proved to be in the minority. Most, instead, would rush in to strike at the first hint of my presence, regardless of how obviously outclassed they were. I didn't initiate any of these conflicts myself, and any opponents who chose to retreat were allowed to do so, but this proved to be quite rare. More often than not, no matter how small, weak or lacking in numbers the creatures were (I don't think that I had encountered anything since leaving the village which was even half my size), they would fight to the bitter end, showing no signs of fear no matter how badly wounded they were. Not exactly the wisest approach, but I do have to respect their spirit.
Escaping these battles is rarely an option. They might be weak but they tend to be quite quick, with the lone exceptions being the slimes. These were just as aggressive as the local squirrels and rabbits, but one could simply walk past them at a brisk pace before they could even respond to your presence, and they had no hope of catching up to you once they did. Fortunately, the experience gains aren't bad. Nothing gives anywhere close to the rewards of the trinity serpent, but the smaller amounts steadily add up. Luckily my experience progress also happens to appear in the form of a visible bar, rather than just confusing numbers. Still, I find myself spending significantly more time both fighting and digging graves than I do walking.
For as weak as the opponents are, and as quickly as the battles end, If it weren't for my new 'lay on paws' power, they still might have been a problem, however. Each one isn't much of a threat, but they could still inflict damage at a rate far greater than I would naturally heal. I could easily envision even the strongest of warriors slowly succumbing to the tiny yet cumulative wounds inflicted as a result of the relentless attacks.
With the paladin ability it wasn't an issue. Whether in the middle of battle, or once a fight is completed, I can undo any damage inflicted upon me instantly and effortlessly.
Speaking of paladin powers, I also took this walking time to experiment with them a little bit. I don't understand the exact mechanics, but there seems to be some sort of resource pool which I draw from, which restores at a pretty generous rate. Unlike my hit points, which has a bar over my head showing when it's nearing empty (which is super helpful! Much easier than having to figure out the numbers!), this is a little less intuitive. With some practice, I do get a vague, instinctive sense of how much I have, but nothing very precise.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
So far as I can tell, Divine Strike requires more than half of my resource pool (I'll call it 'Spirit' for now), so if it's full and I use it once, I can't use it again right away. It doesn't take very long before I can once more, as it seems that it's only a little more than half, but there is still a bit of a delay, enough which could pose a serious problem in a difficult battle, especially if I were to try to use it and it failed.
As for Lay on Paws? That is, surprisingly, a lot cheaper. I can use it three times in a row with a full Spirit pool, or one Divine Strike and one Lay on Paws. Of course if completely depleted, it will take about a full minute to completely restore.
Despite that limitation, the system is surprisingly generous, considering how powerful both of the techniques are. Lay on Paws isn't the most useful in mid combat, as I need to stop moving, give up an attack and usually take one in return to use it, which greatly cuts into the recovery I receive. Still, it works well against less hard hitting opponents, and is excellent for recovering after a fight.
As for Divine Strike? Well, it's downright scary powerful, not just in damage but in range. It bathes my body and sword in golden light, although the light extends well beyond the metal blade. As a result, a single horizontal sweep can cover a remarkably large area, usually enough to encompass as many opponents as happen to be attacking at once.
A single combat round might only last a matter of seconds, meaning continuous use within a single fight can be a problem, but the recovery is quick enough to virtually guarantee that I can be both fully healed and fully stocked with 'Spirit' at the beginning of a battle. In the case of stronger foes, I might need to more carefully ration the resource as a result, but when attacked by weaker creatures, it can usually ensure an easy first round kill.
I don't have a whole lot to complain about. I'm getting more practice swinging my sword around, I'm gradually getting stronger, and I'm consistently well fed (that's one reason that I occasionally make a point to take on the slimes which were harmless even by the standards of this place). Okay, maybe I am complaining just a little bit. As nice as it is to be moving towards my goal, this is a lot less spiritually rewarding than questing. It's only been two days since I got my last head-pat, but it feels like an eternity! Finding places to sleep where I won't constantly be harassed by forest critters has also proven to be a significant challenge, but I occasionally stumble upon small nooks and spots under logs and tree trunks which are uninhabited and keep me more-or-less out of sight.
Sadly, no matter how far I walk, the scent of my master never seems to grow closer. Perhaps the scent is fading with time, a scary prospect, or maybe he's traveling away from me, at a similar rate that I've been moving. More likely, though? He's just really, really far away, and as much as I've walked, I've still only covered a tiny fraction of the distance between us.
This isn't so unexpected, however. I know that the world is a pretty huge place, and that my master has ventured across a sizable portion of it. If I keep walking, I'll reach him eventually. In the meantime, I could really go for a little more excitement, though.
Warning! Significant threat detected!
Okay, there's no denying that I deserved that.
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"These monsters might be weak, but they still give pretty decent experience points. Much more than I was earning through questing. Hmm, what does that really say about the world? That ultimately the path of violence is superior to the path of charity and good deeds? They are clearly called 'experience points' for a reason. Does that mean that, ultimately, the act of destruction is more of a valid and education experience than the act of creation? That, perhaps, morality as we know it is a lie and a betrayal of our true natures, and that the very universe itself would rather that we take lives rather than preserving them? When you really think about it, the philosophical implications are quite terrifying...
Yay! more yummy slimes up ahead!"