A massive supply ship named Bulkier docked on the coast of Cape of Good Faith. The desert town has seen better days as its clay houses lay quietly, accumulating dust and dirt while its habitants of mixed Humans and Elves only look silently at the transport trucks passing by the middle of their town.
At the Port, the Supply Ship’s cranes started loading in the Artifacts and Ancient Items the expeditionary team had found. One of the Port Masters was looking through his clipboard, checking the items being delivered when a tall box with a note plastered “DO NOT OPEN!” was unloaded from a Russian Ural 4320. Looking at the papers, it has no such things listed in the manifest.
“Hey! Ruskie! What the Hell is that?”
“Don’t know. The Twenty Six that bought it said that it was in the Barracks for the more Exotic artifacts.”
“Fuck. Do these idiots know how many ships I have to manage?! It’s so hot already. Alright, hold it here and put it ”
A woman who resembles Elizabeth approached him. He jumps, not noticing her presence at all.
“What the fuck!” Though he takes a good look at her beautiful and curvy figure, tightly packed in a secretarial suit, he gathers himself. Realizing she had a Pass for Top Level Guild Officials.
“That box right there. I want you to label it as Classified and to be transported on the train headed to the Space Guild.”
“What? But you’ll have to take it over to the Captain of the ship and the Loading Master.”
“I already did. I just need you to make sure if anyone asks about that box. It’s top secret.”
“Of course. What? Are you gonna send whatever is in there to space?”
“No. But it’s none of your business now isn’t it Mister Sawyer.”
“Y-yes ma’am.”
The Harbour Master then goes on his way. Signalling for the ship to continue loading it in. While the strange woman disappears and exits out the Port walls. Using Transmutate, she changes her hair color back to blonde, and teleports her Saintly armor back on. Inside one of the alleyways, a Dwarf whose height reached her hips with an Elven man and stranger all in cloak followed as she headed down to the basement of one of the clay buildings.
The bearded Dwarf was curious about the entire thing and is visibly trying to find the right moment to speak up.
“What is it Desson?”
“Ma’am, what’re you truly planning? That’s the Ancient Vampire Queen inside that box!”
“I’m planning on preventing our enemies from attaining Global Positioning and Communications.”
“And even then, will we be enough to stop her?”
“We will. Remember, Vampires are the opposite of the Divine. That Ancient Queen is also defeated and in need of blood. I highly doubt she’ll be able to make a stand against me. One who has the Hero Trait.”
“True, but King Augustus? What do you think?”
The tall stranger puts down the hood of his cloak as the group goes into a secret door which leads to the sewers. Not like the olden and rough looking Dwarf, he on the other hand is a blonde middle aged man with an extremely handsome face, the outlier was his golden eyes with lizard pupils. With his height, he even towers over the Sword Saint.
“I’ve already fought her before. She’s indeed powerful, but no match against a Dragon God and a Hero. Maybe, if she has back up, but King Charles wasn’t really in the best of health when their Castle in Ville De La Nuit, Capital of the Kingdom of Rose got besieged by almost all of the races.”
“Then, we shall take this risk.”
“But Saint, I do want you to know that our enemy is no normal enemy. They’re very powerful, even having the Alliance of one or two Dragon Gods. The one I fought, Bahamut, was her name, could very well level the playing field.”
“She wouldn’t. We’ll open the Sarcophagus when the train is moving. She’d think twice about doing anything as her precious Master, the Knight General Paul is on it.”
“Then, what shall we be doing?”
“You’ll be our back up. I’ll be employing our Vampiric friend in awakening her, she has knowledge of this and their group has been wishing for the reawakening of the first and most powerful Vampire to ever exist.”
Approaching the exit of the sewer, the Saint is met with a Knight and a Vampire. The young red haired Knight bows in respect.
“Marquess Samantha.”
The silver haired Vampire bows, waiting for the Saint’s command.
“Who was the Vampire the Knight General had with him?”
“Alana le Minuit of Manor Chaîne de Montagnes, located in the Blood Region of the Kingdom of Rose. She’s a Diplomat and Regional Mayor of two Regions.”
“And in terms of power?”
“She’s dubbed as the miracle child. Having been born with a hundred percent in Purity. I’m only half.”
“Can you stall her?”
“For a certain time, yes.”
“Good. We must give time for the Queen to rise and wreak havoc on that train and the launch site.”
“Of course.”
Desson on the other hand is still curious as to why she’d rather use the Ancient Queen of the Vampires than just do it herself.
“Desson, I’m doing this as part of the contract I made with Samantha. Her Cult has always wanted to awaken the Ancient Queen and suck her blood to gain Vampiric powers beyond their dreams. I can assure you, I’ll be here to watch over them.”
“Is this truly worth it? For the sake of the information they can give?”
“In war, information is the key to everything. It's thanks to them we even knew of this operation and many other things the United Nations has been trying to pull.”
“Just make sure to tell the bloodsucker here that their plan might not even work in the first place. Reading books about the cunning and scheming woman Queen Elizabeth was. I have my reservations about her just giving up and letting her blood be sucked by her kind.”
Samantha who felt the threat goes to the Dwarf, her dress towering over the small bearded man.
“Let me remind you, our current King was one of those who sucked her blood and gained authority over all of us together with the Council of Blood. Those twelve now control the entire Kingdom, having such immensely pure blood in their veins.”
“By the Gods, I’ve heard stories of you Vampires being crazy, but I never knew it was an understatement.”
Paul was quietly sleeping on the Wagon as a bump suddenly woke him up. He woke up and could see it was a cold picturesque afternoon. With the Sun high up and the Trees slowly moving as the gust of wind takes the leaves with it.
“Alana, calm down with the speed ZzzzZZzz…”
“I think you should wake up.”
He then hears the rattling of metal.
“GET OFF THE WAGON! GIVE US YOUR GOODS AND WE’LL LEAVE YOU ALONE!”
The tall bulky man had a crass and angry voice, threatening them to give their possessions to the group. Paul on the other hand was having a good sleep which got disturbed.
“Give me the pretty Elf lady and we’ll let you off free! Ahahahaha!” One of the bandits joked but the tired General wanted to continue his Afternoon nap. Quickly opening the tailgate with his feet. He was wearing the Villager clothes making him look like some well off Peasant while his scabbard and pommel shine in luxury, making the bandits inside the bushes stare at it with greedy eyes. He goes to the front of the wagon, looking all tired and haggard.
“Just fuck off, we don’t want to hurt you.” Paul’s voice was as tired as it gets which made the large bandit man in front of them laugh and followed his goons who were laughing inside the forest. Being an Eldritch Knight, he quickly knows where they were, and they were everywhere. On top of the Trees and around the trees of the wagon. He looks back at the Vampire which gives a nod.
“Final warning.”
“Like we will! Good looking Outworlders like you will sell great at the Slave Market! A lot of Nobles recently started buying Elven maids too!”
“Also, before I start. She’s not an Elf.”
Alana lets go of the reins, standing up. She then materializes her new Crimson Red Gothic Dress and smiles revealing her fangs at the would-be roadside bandits.
“By the Holy See…”
“By the Gods! RUN!”
Her immense presence alone was enough to make them all run for the forest, losing all their confidence.
“Well… that was fast.” Paul commented.
“Ehhhh… I wanted to try out my new outfit.”
“Are you sure? It’s literally always touching the ground.”
“What? I can just use magic to keep it clean.”
“Nuh huh lady, you’ll be helping me clean our clothes by a river or lake and remember, do not overuse your Vampire powers. We don’t want attention, so scale your power down.”
“But-”
“No buts. Now, I’ll go back to my nap.”
He goes back inside the Wagon, laying down on a Bedroll. The Countess on the other hand goes back to her Villager outfit and continues their journey. After an hour of traveling, they come across a walled town. The guards were lenient enough to let them in without papers to show and they head off to the Adventurers Building which also served as a special Tavern for weary people.
“Hello! Welcome to the Town of Trei and its Adventurers Guild! How may I help you?”
A pretty lady with glasses in Guild Staff uniform greets him with a welcoming aura.
“Well hello ma’am, I’d like to sign up as an Adventurer with my friend here.”
“Alrighty! Applications are on the Desk to your right!”
“Thank you ma’am.”
After taking two application papers, they go to the main lobby where Adventurers from all around the land are talking and mingling with one another. Using the Pen, he looks down, ready to write when he realizes his translation skill doesn’t translate the letters of the land. He slowly turns his head at Alana who was already filling up the paper. She looks at Paul and is shocked that he is staring at her.
“Y-yes?”
“Can you write for me?”
“You’ve gotta be joking…”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
As she sighs, she reluctantly does the paper on his behalf and at the same time, she uses this to know more about him.
“Name?”
“Paul A. Jackson.”
“Age?”
“Thirty Two.”
“Occupation?”
“CEO.”
“CEO?”
“It's a corporate position, just write Merchant.”
“Notable Skills?”
“Mechanics and Economics but I guess also Knightly things?”
“Uh huh, and height?”
“Supposed to be Five Eight, but I think this is a Six.”
“Weight?”
“What unit?”
“Pund.”
“Pound?”
“Pund.”
“Okay, what’s your Pund?”
“One hundred Nineteen.”
“What the hell? How fit are you?”
“Vampire blood keeps your body in optimal condition.”
“Okay, well I guess I’m at a hundred fifty or thirty.”
“Height?”
“One Hundred Eighty Six Centimeters.”
“Centimeters?”
After some few minutes of back and forth between the two due to the language barrier and the Translation Skill being inadequate, they finally found themselves in the last questions.
“Well, the rest are just questions. I’ll read them out to you and I’ll try my best to write down what you have in mind.”
“I like how we have the same height. Supermodel Alana! Ahahahaha!”
“Supermodel?”
“Yea, it's what we call women who have great looks.”
Feeding her ego. She twirls around and seductively leans into him.
“I do like a Master that knows what’s beautiful. Fufufufu!”
Paul smiles, seeing her happy and content with her life.
“I won’t deny, you're a looker. Wouldn’t mind marrying a girl like you if I ever find one. Though I doubt a human girl could look as good as you.”
It took the two a good hour to finish and wrap everything up. After that, they are led to the second floor of the building where a Crystal Orb will determine their starting level.
“What a process, feels like nothing different from my world.”
“You humans always loved making things more complicated.”
“From how you describe the Vampire Nobility, I’m pretty sure yours is more.”
“Yea right.”
In the room, Paul was the first to go. He was instructed to remove anything that might interfere with the process, prompting him to remove his sword and order Bahamut to stay in a chair. After so, the Receptionist tells him to touch the Crystal Ball.
He touches the Orb, and it does nothing.
“Uhhh… Did I break it?”
“Weird… that has only happened once, and I had to call in a Priest from the Holy See.”
“Oh. Well, just write down Level One. How about that?”
“I apologize, but the manual instructs me to send you to a local Priest or Monk to be examined.”
“How about this, just make things easy for all of us and make me Level One. This is gonna waste so much of our time if not.”
Alana then gets into the conversation. Looming over the innocent woman.
“I suggest you do what he says, I wouldn’t want to scratch such a cute petite body.” She leans in close on the Receptionist; her tall towering stature overshadows the teenager's height, with her intimidatingly beautiful presence, the woman crumbles.
“A-alright. I apologize for consuming your time.”
Like a switch just flipping inside the Countess, she returns to her usual self.
“Now, my turn.”
Paul then sits down, thinking to himself “Women are truly scary beasts.”
Hers also came out without anything, which prompts the lady to put in Level One. They wrapped things up and the Receptionist tells them that first timers get a free drink in the Main Lobby. They just have to present their ID. The Vampire was already roaring to taste the drink of the land, going to the Main Lobby herself. Paul on the other hand takes his time and asks more questions about Adventuring and the system they put in place.
“So how accurate is this I guess… our power level?”
“Oh, the Holy See decrees that it should be at least Eighty Five Percent.”
“Uh huh, so is this like… a combined effort from the Kingdoms and the Religion?”
“Yes, as things were getting chaotic between the masses, the people needed to know who was powerful so that they may send those who qualify to go to fight or defend.”
“Ah I see. So this leveling system was basically made to help the masses and prevent unneeded deaths.”
“Exactly, so I hope you’d be able to help the towns and the people.”
“Of course, thank you again ma’am.”
Finishing his conversation, he goes to the Main Lobby where a lot of men were trying to sweet talk the Vampire into joining their Clan. Paul approaches them, puts his hand on one of the men closest to her and smiles.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if me and my friend here were to eat peacefully.” The atmosphere around the smiling man was threatening, as if some could feel his Eldritch powers rising from the ground. They slowly disperse, saying their goodbyes to her while he in return sits down.
“Bahamut, behave on the counter.” He sets down the tiny dragon, it then goes around sniffing the Vampires drink.
“What’s next then?”
“Check the Quest board. I wanna see what we can do.”
“Okay, let me finish this drink first.”
Waiting, he tries to overhear the conversations happening on the tables behind him:
“You know, I’ve heard that the Guilds with modern tech have been moving hundreds of tanks and APCs recently.”
“Man, I wanna go to their city even though I heard it's full.”
“Have you heard, they formed the freaking UN. Those nerds really want war.”
“I mean, it's bound to happen with the Demon Lord's army. I guess they wanna get in first.”
“Guys, should we even stay here? What if they spark a World War?”
“If anything, it's the people on the Demon Continent that’ll start that. I get the feeling they love to use espionage.”
“You know, there’s been alotta those skeleton soldiers with combat equipment. A lot more than usual patrolling the shores.”
“Dude, some folks from the Agrarian Seafood Guild said their boats encountered massive submarines and some even said Battleships are crossing the ocean.”
“Battleships?! They weren't any back in the Dark World, only tanks and fighter jets right?”
“No, I’ve heard these Modern Guilds have been planning something big for a while now. They're just revealing what they’ve been hiding.”
“Pretty smart though, to use the most basic unit you can summon with low level Necromancy. They don’t need to eat, sleep or have fatigue. With Kevlar on, those skeletons are unkillable.”
“Not only that, I’m sure their massive ships need little food if the crew are all mindless boneheads.”
Another group of adventurers enter the building, sitting down on the Bar. One of which was a handsome young teenager with black hair and good build. He sits down next to Paul, eyeing his sword which the Knight feels and in return, grips the Pommel.
“Oh sir, I mean no harm.”
“Yea right, ogle at someone else’s sword kid. You won’t be able to handle this one.”
“It's very interesting though. May I ask how you obtained it?” The young man leaned in closer till he could make the ornate decoration of the Longsword’s scabbard.
“Uhh.. I uhh, stayed and grinded in the Underworld. It's part of the natural progression of Dark Knights. After achieving the Legendary status, you should have access to the hardest part of the game. Ahahaha, thinking about it now, I’d stay there for days whenever I’m not at work.”
“It's also my first time seeing a Scabbard made out of Dark Steel. Such intricate work has been put into it too.”
“That’s the beauty of machines. No Enchanted Medieval crap could do fine work like that, I had to go to the Guilds with modern equipment and have it custom built there for a few thousand Gold coins.”
“Interesting… May I ask then are you currently in any groups?”
“Yes. A big one.”
“Then what’re you doing here?”
“Just adventuring.”
“I see. Well, I’m sorry for asking again but do you have any news about Breznick?”
“Uhhh… what about them?”
“There’s been rumors that they’ve been siding with the Demon Continent as the Kingdoms of Dragovh won’t see them as a Nation.”
“Huh, well. I gotta ask now, have you seen the Sword Saint?”
“You mean the Streamer?”
“Yea, her.”
“No. But rumor has it that she and many other Heroes have brought an unprecedented peace to the world. Preventing disasters and wars from happening.”
“.... That smart son of a- I mean very interesting. Since you’ve been a good champ. Let me give you some information. This so-called unprecedented peace is short lived. You might not see it, but as long as no blood is spilled, that just means the war machine is somewhere out there, planning something big.”
“So… the peace right now is because the war machine is just building things up?”
“Yep, so enjoy it while you can. I’m sure you’ve heard that the Modern Guilds have been up and arms in expanding their military might.”
“Yea… knowing how dangerous our weapons are, to bring them here… just imagine if they have Doomsday weapons.”
“Errrr… just look on the brightside. I’m sure the Demon Continent’s army won’t stand a chance against tanks and helicopters right?”
As the two talked, the Elven girl that came with the young lad brings out a small brown kitten. The cute little thing was set down in the Counter and its meow quickly caught the attention of him and the Vampire. Both in unison “Awwwww…” at the friendly feline.
The little kitty didn’t bother them but instead went after the tiny Bahamut that was enjoying a nap next to Alana’s cold alcohol. Sensing a creature getting close, the Dragon awakens. Shocked by the fluffy ball of cuteness approaching her.
“Ahahahah, it likes you.” Paul jokingly commented.
“M-M’Lord, pick it up!” Bahamut was confused on how to handle the kitty that was approaching her. When it came close, it started rubbing its fluffy cheeks on the Dragon’s armored face. Absolutely defeated, the Dragon God let’s it do its job. Cuddling and rough housing with her.
“Also, may I ask why there're so many adventurers here? I can see Knights, Archerers, Scouts and even Necromancers and Wizards.”
“Oh, the town laid a warning that a Goblin and Orc attack may occur. Everyone’s just waiting really.”
“That explains the jumpy guards on the front gate.”
“Are you guys gonna stay or go? You seem to be very reliable.”
“Depends. For now, I wanna eat some lunch.”
Quietly eating their lunch, a town Church bell rang thrice. Oblivious to what it means, Paul was shocked as the entire Lobby mobilized to the walls.
“Wha-wait! Lemme finish this Steak!” He starts eating faster, gobbling down anything that can fit his mouth while the Countess is already waiting for him at the main door. After finishing his food, he goes to the main gate where there’s already a large commotion as players with normal Adventures fight the combined enemy attack.
Running to the front lines, Alana catches a Fire Arrow with her hand and sends it back out, while Paul grips his scabbard and uses his thumb to push the sword out, an arrow with a poison tip flying straight at him when he uses his sword to slice it. As they get closer, a massive roar is heard as Trees far away are visibly torn down and the ground rumbling.
Without a second thought, the Eldritch Knight merely smiles and climbs to the wall, pushing his way through the Defenders and jumping straight into the forest, some of the Wizards and Witches helping out the Archerers are shocked by the man in villager outfit suicidally jumping into the forest.
Midway through his jup, a giant Orc pushes two trees out of his way, his height was the same as the Town wall, shocking players and natives alike. Paul on the other hand was smiling furiously; he knows his sword will reach the giant's head.
“I CALL UPON DEATH ON THEE, FEEL THE FURY OF THE DAMNED!”
His chanting casts his Dark Sword to let off an Evil miasma, using all of us strength, he buries the Longsword straight into its head.
“THOU HATH SEEN DEATH, NOW FEEL DEATH!”
Embedded in the giant’s skull, the sword then explodes with dark energy, rotting the beast from within, its orifices sneezing out the excessive power. The giant slowly gets on its knees, stopping the battle as the enemies’ trump card has been defeated. Paul on the other hand doesn’t slow down, after pulling out his weapon. He goes straight to the lines of Goblins.
“Don’t play without me now Master!”
“M’Lord!”
Bahamut joins in, her size was that of a small sedan, latching into the wall and burning the horde of Orcs with Goblins trying to climb the Eastern side. Alana on the other hand joins Paul, the two working like two well oiled machines, timing their attacks precisely and dodging each other's weapons.
Seeing the trio, the rest of the Adventurers follow through, charging straight ahead into the line of creatures without a care of their own personal safety. As the Eldritch Knight swings his Longsword, the Countess covers his back, slicing up any attacks that try to get his back. In return, when the Vampire goes on a massacre, teleporting and using her immense speed to stem the tide of Orcs and Goblins, he’d immediately use short teleportation and cover her as she tries to get her bearings for a second.
After a gruesome hour of fighting, the Siege of the town has died down with almost a thousand enemy dead. Unluckily, some Natives have lost their life while the players just respawned on the town Church. Paul was sitting down on a curb inside the town, panting and visibly tired. Alana on the other hand doesn’t even show a shred of sweat or tire. Standing and guarding the tired man.
“Fuck I’m tired.”
“You really need to work on your Swordsmanship.”
“Well, how about you train me then? Seeing how you also have a sword.”
“Heh, I’ll take you up on that. But be prepared, I’m no easy Instructor.”
“Doesn’t matter, I need it if I want to survive. Jesus these Goblins were relentless.”
Outside the Walls, the fresh corpses were being fed to the Dragon God. Adventurers and Town Guards were piling them and letting Bahamut eat them up. One of which was so curious that he started conversing with the Beast.
“Are you sure about this ma’am?”
“Yes, human. Now pile them up more.”
“What’re you anyways? How come you can grow in size?”
“I’m a Dragon, nothing particularly about that.”
“Strange. Dragons I know that can shapeshift were the higher level ones, some even capable of turning into humans.”
“That is true, many of my kindlings are capable of such things. But I prefer to stay in this form.”
As she continues eating and talking to the Adventurer curious about him, she notices a lone figure of a tall, well built adventurer standing out in the open. The Dragon lifts its head and squints its eyes. The middle aged man removes his helmet, he was normal. Nothing is off about him till lightning strikes and he turns into a medium size Red Dragon.
Paul and Alana see the Dragons wings towering over the walls. In return, Bahamut simply shifts herself to become larger. Intimidating the now smaller Red Dragon. As things slowly return to normal, The Vampire grabs the tired General by the hands and leads him to the town market. The stalls were about to close, but using her Vampiric beauty, she managed to haggle the stall owner for ingredients and vegetables.
After finishing their shopping, the two head outside to see that Bahamut was sleeping.
“Well someone had a nice dinner.”
“Should I get the Wagon?”
“I’ll do it.”
Delivering the Wagon to the outside walls, they then proceeded to set up a campfire while in the background, a Nun of the Holy See uses her magic to clean the surroundings of blood from Human and Beast alike. Collecting them and dropping them into large buckets which are then carried by the Guards to a furnace. The smell of war was still apparent but it was viable, Paul wanted to help Alana but she insisted on cooking everything with her own hand. Bored, he checks around the field for anything he could collect.
“Let’s see… ohhh… this is a pretty good shortsword.”
His thought was cut as the large Dragon snores loudly. He looks back and smiles at the visibly content Bahamut. Going back to looting and collecting, most of the weapons left behind were damaged or unable to be used while the good ones were taken away by the Adventurers.
Back beside the Wagon. After washing her hands, the Countess was fixated with her cooking with an American-European Cookbook on her right hand while her left hand sliced Onions. She turned her head to the right after feeling a strange stare, but the view was blocked by the sleeping Dragon. The beautiful woman goes around the large snoring head of Bahamut and using her Vampiric Eyes, she tries to find any signs of trouble but is unable to.
The two peacefully ate Dinner, Paul commented that her skills had greatly improved. The French Onion Soup was superb and even saved some for tomorrow. The trio by the next few days adventured. Tackling Goblin caves, finding Ancient Ruins of their own and even some Dungeon Crawling. It was after almost a week and a half of nonstop adventuring did they have to call it and return to City 01. The Freight Run of the Rocket Booster was nearing and as they needed the supervision of General Paul, he had no choice but to cut off the fun and return to duty.
They astoundingly went almost a thousand kilometers, leveling their Adventure Tags to Twelve and Paul gained a lot of knowledge of the culture and traditions of the Kingdoms in Dragovh. He ended up with the conclusion that they’re here as not only is it close but sometimes even the same as his own normal human history but with the addition of real magic.