The lone knight staggered backwards, supporting himself on his halberd. Were it not for the position he was in, he would appear stoic and valiant, but facing down against the horde he was he looked more like a disheveled vagrant. He gasped as he recovered his breath, and stood proud once more as the numerous foes that swarmed around him once scattered into a new formation.

This man’s name was Simon Cathryll. He was clad in the elegant plate armor of a knight of high renown, silvery steel glimmering beneath golden gilding. The halberd he wielded was decorated in a similar fashion, its axe-head edge gilded with an elegant gold filigree. He was tall, and as muscular as one would expect of a proper knight, and his chiseled face bore many scars from previous battles. His long black hair hung raggedly down the sides of his face which showed signs of being recently shaved. His handsome brown eyes wavered with fatigue, and it seemed almost as if they were unfocused on the battle before him. This man was a human, through-and-through, and among the many species of Hoenheim a human was a rare company. Simon was heir to the royal Cathryll family, though he had departed from his noble heritage of his own volition to experience the world and become a better ruler.

Simon is a level 1 Battlemage. The Battlemage class allows Simon to infuse his weapon with martial magic, called maneuvers, in order to enhance his attacks. Simon currently has the Soldier of Fortune Talent, which allows him to always act first in battle. His stats are:

STR

20

DEX

11

VIT

14

INT

14

WIT

13

PER

10

CHA

14

LCK

4

Before Simon scurried a large number of Golins. A Golin is a small, scaly creature with a small stature that often torments settlements of civilization. Golins have horns, long ears, small noses, and thin wiry tails, and their builds are generally rather weak. They form small communities to compensate for their weakness, and form nests called Golin Hovels at the edge of civilization, where they scavenge and torment nearby settlements for resources.

The Golins that Simon now faced scurried about, armed in scraps of chain armor and with rusty weapons pillaged from the nearby town. That was, after all, why he was here- a request from the Official Adventuring Guild of Auhgrens to cull this Hovel and relieve the nearby city. They scuttled between the trees of the forest of he fought in, always darting in and out of his field of vision to prevent him from ever getting a good count of how many there were.

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One of the Golins leapt at him, and he swung his halberd around, cleaving the Golin in two at its waist. Seizing his momentum, he wheeled around and leveled his halberd at one of the Golins, which quickly turned and darted away, zigzagging as it went to dodge the incoming attack. Simon clenched his halberd, and infused it with a spell.

Simon casts Snake Hunter

A basic spell that enhances the speed of an attack by 300%, but has no effect on power. Additionally grants auto-aim, preventing attacks from missing.

With a spiral of blue light, Simon dashed forward and impaled the Golin upon his halberd. He spun around and flung it into the crowd, hoping to intimidate the Golins, but to no avail. They crowded around him, brandishing their weapons with maniacal laughter.

To Simon’s surprise, one of the Golins leapt onto his back, and bashed against his head with a sharp rock. He grabbed the Golin and threw it over his shoulder to the ground, and stomped on its head, killing it. Simon clutched the side of his head, which was now bleeding, as his ears rang in pain. He shook his head rapidly to clear his thoughts. He needed to end things, quickly. He clutched his halberd tightly, and raised to his left and behind his head.

Simon casts Wave Cutter

An advanced spell that suffuses the edge of a weapon with light, causing it to be fired alongside the attack. The wave of light mimics the motion of the swing, and its range depends on how the initial attack was made. The wave’s power is 500% of the attack’s base power.

A column of blue light enwreathed the halberd, and with a shout and a swing Simon slashed forward in a wide arc, spreading the light into a wide cutting edge. Tree and Golin alike fell in the arc’s wake, as leveling everything in a great cone.

As the forest grew silent, Simon collapsed to his knees, wheezing. That was the last advanced maneuver he could make today, and tapping into the last of his reserves had left him drained.

Simon stumbled to his feet, and made his way over to the hole in the ground that the Golins had made their home. With a touch of a heavy heart, he lit a bomb, and dropped it into the hole.

Simon returned to the guild hall of Auhgrens exhausted. He was not exhausted from his battle, which had taken place near three days prior by the time of his return, but rather by the tedious trip it had taken him to get back to the guild hall. He strode up to the counter, and spoke to the man who tended the bar.

“A room, a drink, and a report for today.”

“Report?” The arthropod man cocked his head while he fetched a key with one of his four arms and poured a drink with another two.

Simon withdrew the request from his pack and unfurled it. “One Golin Hovel, destroyed.” He then withdrew another item onto the counter: a pair of Golin ears, strung across a small thread. “The ears of a Golin Chieftain as proof.”

The man bent over and took a long look at the items. “Yep, looks good. Now get those off my counter.” He grabbed a wet rag and wiped up the counter once Simon put the ears back in his pack. “Who do I make the reward out to?”

“Simon Cathryll. Give it to me half in guild credit, and half in gold.”

“Right, that.” The barkeeper bent down to reach into the coffer behind the counter. “Wait a second- Cathryll?”

“That’s right. Don’t make a big scene about it-”

“What?” the barkeeper asked as he rose with a bag of coins, a tiny steel plate, and a small envelope.”

“The family?”

“What family? Naw, I’ve got a writ here for you.”

Simon paused. He wasn’t expecting anyone to write to him. “A writ? Of what kind?”

“The important kind.”

The barkeeper handed Simon the letter. It was elegant, its gilded edges betraying a great deal of class and wealth. The outside of the letter was addressed only to one Simon Cathryll, and it had no return address. Simon opened the letter, and as his eyes scanned across the page he could not stop himself from smiling.

“Big news?” the barkeeper asked curiously.

“More than big, and more than news,” Simon replied with a smile.