As Blake came over a hill he spotted a cart with a driver making its way down the road, beside him were two extra riders that looked well-equipped but rough, however, the thing that made that sight noticeable for him was the cage on the back, with what looked like a few people inside.
He had walked for the better part of half a day, and it seemed that the capital hadn't sent forces after him, he didn't think it would matter so he walked a bit down the hill and took off his pack, easier to fight without it, and took a stance of his old instructor from boot. Raising his left hand out in front while he planted his halberd’s pommel in the ground by his right foot.
"Halt!" He roared, making the cart and riders slow to a stop as their conversation was disturbed. "The ones in the back of your cart, are they slaves?" Blake asked aloud.
The cart driver picked up a bow and stood, "not yet now move aside" he yelled back.
"Then release them now or forfeit your lives." Blake called back. His stance shifted to a readied one for fighting men on horseback.
The three laughed, and then the driver looked back over to Blake, "That is funny lad, now move aside before we knock you out and add you to our import." But Blake didn't move.
"Holy shield, Holy blessing, Holy ward." Blake said under his breath, as the driver took a shot, the arrow deflecting off the air two feet in front of Blake, one of the riders shifted his horse into a gallop and he readied his sword, while the second rider broke off to the left of Blake taking to the plane and pulled out his ax.
Blake kept his stance good and waited for the rider to be just near on top of him before thrusting the point of his halberd up and under the rider's lowest rib, taking the rider off his mount as the horse kept running.
The second rider roared as he came in a well-timed attack, but his ax bounced a foot away from Blake's head while a second arrow did the same near Blake's left shoulder, but Blake's current eyes were on the man he was bringing down to the ground, "power strike." Blake roared as he slammed the man down.
The sudden burst of power crushed everything the man had in a foot-sized area around the halberd’s head. Blake raised his halberd up and around his head as he turned right to face his second rider.
"Bastard!" The rider roared as he came in again, but just as he reached the edge of Blake’s extended reach, Blake swung a well-made slash at the rider's head, the bladed edge finding its mark. Slicing the man's face in half, the horse ran a bit more.
Blake stood back up and turned to the cart, its driver shooting a third arrow now at Blake, a panicked face as his guards had died so easily, he shot again but his attacks bounced harmlessly off the air around Blake with dim flashes of magic. Before reaching for a sword and shield and jumping off rushing Blake in a blinding panic.
Blake looked unfazed and he raised his halberd spinning it in his hand so that the spiked hook was ready then chose to ready the flat of the weapon instead.
The man rushed in but found a sudden heavy weight slam into his shield and forced him into the air, before landing about five feet from Blake, who turned and walked over, raising the weapon over his head.
"Do you own a slave?" Blake asked, his hands ready to bring the weapon down.
"No, no, I can't afford one. Please don't kill me, I am just trying to feed my family." The man stammered in fear and shock, but he spoke the truth.
Blake lowered his weapon, "Free them and find a different job, if i see you traffic people again, i will kill you, this is your only chance. " he said in a cold tone, the man scrambling to open the cage as Blake followed him.
The people inside were short stocky people about four feet at the tallest, they were about six, two with big bushy beards likely men and the other two had breasts and one was actively feeding a newborn, while the other held a child.
[Fucking dwarfs, sweet.]
"Hello, you are free to go back to the Dwarven kingdom" Blake said to them as they climbed out of the cart slowly.
"They can't speak our language yet so they will not respond …" the man started but was surprised as one of the males reached out a hand.
"Grak gall mord molvain, kirass Jwak vol Mair, hyan howll kianf Dain vol Dwal. Huaned quall zoorn" (well done in the battle hero, I am Jawk my wife Mair, this is my seventh Cousin Dain his wife Dwal, thank you for the rescue) the dwarf said as Blake shook his hand.
"You are welcome master Jawk, I am Blake Winters, paladin of the gods Jal, Geie, and Jaud." Blake said back with a smile then turned to the slaver making the man fall backward, "Now you can get back on your cart and run along home, and remember I spared you because you do not have a slave, so don't get one."
The man climbed back into the cart in a hurry and drove off, making the Dwarfs laugh before Jawk looked at Blake, "hian holl vrak quass kall?"(you spare him because he didn't own slaves) he said after a deep rumbling laugh. "Qualcomm yair joitan" (you are strange, human)
"I take that as a compliment, but all jokes aside help me get those horses and gear off the dead and we can see you on your way home." Blake said with a wide smile. "I also need you to remember that if you know where a dwarf is enslaved, I can be asked to rescue them too."
The four exchanged a glance then Jawk looked at him and smiled "hanwq honn joitan, xallem zoorn yab yorndan, dall mais winters"(we will help, human, but a rescue of our kinsmen is impossible, but I will remember Winters.) Jawk said as he pointed to one horse, and he took off after the other.
Blake got back to his pack and put it back on before wiping the blood off his weapon with the edge of his traveling cloak.
It took them about an hour to get everything ready, as each horse managed to support both couples. The Dwarfs then raced northward while Blake followed a bit slower as he started walking again.
As he walked Blake wondered how he was doing and opened his stats to see if anything changed.
Name: Blake Winters. Class: Paladin. Race: human. Current power rank: 40.
Health points: 120, Spell Points: 60/85, Spell Power: 30, Energy points: 95/100
Strength: 36, Dexterity: 22, Constitution: 25,
Intelligence: 25, Wisdom: 25, Charisma: 29,
Trust: 18, Faith: 6, Honor: 5.
Skills: Halberd proficiency(skilled), longsword proficiency(trained), bow proficiency(trained), heavy armor proficiency(trained), shield combat proficiency(trained), basic light magic, Basic holy magic, intermediate holy magic, magic proficiency(trained).
Abilities: Power strike, smite, rend, shield slam, heavy guard, heal, cure conditions, dispel curses, dispel magic, quick recovery, holy blessing, holy ward, holy shield, judge’s eye (passive), Hallowed binding, death respite.
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Blessings: Blessing of the Long Breath, Blessing of Life tongue, Blessing of the Peerless, Blessing of the Indomitable (6%), Divine Emissary (Justice, Honor, Life), Blessing of farewells x 2.
Blake looked over it [looks like if you do or finish at a task you gain levels, not bad I wonder if you just did train though if you would gain levels, i should check that when i get to Wynberg] He thought before waving his hand away, and looking forward as he kept tracking down his path.
Walking a bit off the path as the day rolled to an end, finding a lone tree a good bit away from the road, he decided that this was as good a place as any to rest for the night and sat down to eat, he watched the road, and saw a troop of people walking to the city, coming to a stop and then breaking apart with two going off to the opposite side of the road and two more moving Blake’s way, while three more wait by the road along with a cluster of six others who seemed to stay still even after one of the three armed men smacked them.
[So, what are the chances that those are six slavers and six slaves…] Blake thought as he saw the three men on the road start saying something and the six figures kneeled down. [Yeah, too high for this nonsense.] Blake thought as he ate the last bits of food and stood up. Setting his bag down against the tree he pulled up his hood and started for one of the two that were closer to him "Holy shield, holy blessing, holy ward." He said to himself and felt the three spells come into effect.
The man Blake was rushing to turned to see a halberd blade a second before it cut clean through the man's throat, when with a swift turn Blake ran at the second man on this side of the road, the touches the group used by the slaves making them blind to their friend's current perilous situation.
The second slaver did turn around just in time to see Blake dashing towards him, raising his shield to block any attack. But Blake was no fool and spun the halberd in hand, so the hooked point was the cutting edge and swung it to catch the man's shield forcing an opening for a hard thrust to the man's heart, "power strike" Blake said as the point found his breastplate.
Blake watched the light fade from the man's eyes then looked back to the group by the road and gritted his teeth as one slaver pulled one of the slaves away by their hair, from the group, and made himself Blake’s first target.
As Blake closed the distance, he could hear the slaver order the slave to beg more it will help him get ready, snapping Blake away from the careful approach he had taken until now, jumping in with a swing at the man's abdomen with the blade of the halberd, Blake roared "Smite!" Making the blade slip right through the slaver's body before the slaver vanished as the power of the magic disintegrated the man.
The two that were still watching the rest of the slaves turned in shock at the sudden burst of light and their eyes fell on Blake.
"Where the fuck did you come from?" One of them said as he pulled out two axes.
"Fuck that, what did you do to Grayson?" Said the other one as he raised a wand in one hand.
Blake tilted his head sideways at them, his eyes showing only malice for them as he raised his weapon again and got ready to kill them. "Didn’t you know, slavery is against the goddess’s will, I am freeing them and punishing you for your sin"
The axeman let out a sigh and rushed forward, "I don't know what you are talking about." He roared before yelling to activate his skill "Twin slash" as he swung his axes in on two sides.
Blake didn’t bother blocking the attack as the two axes bounced harmlessly back, leaving the man open for a fast overhead swing down on the man, “power strike” Blake said as the blade was about to land.
but the target of Blake’s attack suddenly snapped out of Blake's weapon's path as the axeman said "Quickstep" sending him sliding backward beside his friend.
"Fireball" roared the caster as Blake’s eyes saw the small ball of flames rushing into his face, but Blake didn't do anything, the caster's magic too weak to slip past Blake’s barrier. The caster got agitated as he saw Blake was unscathed, "fine then eat this you fool, Flame Wave" he said as waves of flames crashed onto Blake.
The caster laughed as he saw Blake didn't react, "fucking moron, that's intermediate magic for you, even my instructors were impres…" The caster stopped as he saw Blake walk out unharmed.
Blake raised his hand to the two of them. "Hallowed Binding" making the two slavers laugh for a second before the chains warped around them and pulled the two slavers down to the ground, then as the caster looked around as saw his slave, Blake looked at the slaves, all women in different states of malnutrition, “Dispel curse, dispel magic.” just before the caster got to speak.
“Kill him now!” the caster roared, but the woman he was watching just stared at her hands and started crying along with the rest of the slaves. The caster looked back at Blake who had walked over to the axman, raised his halberd high, and decapitated the man. “What did you do to them?”
Blake looked over his shoulder at the caster and walked over. “I freed them before you could give the order, they have their own will now, and I doubt they would attack me.” Blake said as he raised the halberd again over his head to chop the caster’s head off. “Any last words, slaver scum?”
The caster looked up, his eyes showing a recognition of what was coming, “Spare me, I am a son of a noble and I can pay you a lot, I’ll even free all my slaves at home, just don’t kill me.” He pleaded, but he was lying, he wouldn’t free anyone, and would never pay for Blake's mercy.
“You lied.” Blake said as he brought the weapon down, then looked to the only slave not free. “Dispel curse, dispel magic. Join your friends and stay together.” Blake said as he willed the Holy Shield to protect the newly freed slaves. Then walked over to the torches and snuffed them out with his boot.
It took his eyes a second to adjust to the lack of hard light just in time to see an arrow bounce a foot from his face. And saw the two last slavers still out in the planes, one a bit forward than the other, the forward man holding a heavy-looking axe in hand and waiting for Blake, while the other was shooting arrow after arrow, most got blocked by Blake with the flat of his weapon.
“Do you know what their classes are?” Blake said as he looked over his shoulder at the six women.
They looked at him and exchanged a look before one spoke, “The big one is Tomman, he is a berserker, the man with the bow is named Raven, he is a hunter like Jarrick” she said and pointed at the decapitated axeman.
Blake nodded and gave them a reassuring smile. “Thank you, I'll be right back, need to finish them off then we can hide by my tree and rest until dawn,” he said before hefting his halberd onto his shoulder and walking to the two men, all the while being shot by arrow after arrow.
As he got about ten feet from them Blake lowered his halberd and took and strong stance. “I’ll ask one question, do either of you own any slaves?” Blake asked calmly, watching the men.
Tomman snorted, “Yeah she is right over there, and I am going to have some fun after you are dead.”
“Yeah, she is my first one too, so I am hoping that you really did kill our teammate because we can sell the rest now at the capital.” Said Raven as he put the bow away and drew a short sword.
Blake sighed, as they were both telling truths, in some sense, and it gave Blake all the reason he needed. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to fight one on one?” Blake asked halfheartedly as he readied to fight the two, he wasn’t sure how long he had for his spells, but it would be best not to drag this out.
“Nope!” Roared Tomman as he rushed forward heavy axe coming at Blake’s neck “Savage Blow” He yelled, and the speed of the axe increased, but still bounced off the magic barrier, this time about six inches off Blake’s skin.
Blake didn’t wait and swung his hooked point down on the large man’s shoulder, “Rend” Blake roared as the weapon found a purchase. The hook slid all the way in and then was forcefully shot out as the man was made into a bloody fountain.
Raven rushed in, swordsmanship is good but not fast enough to get past the barrier, just two attacks short, Raven was running through his abilities list in an effort to overwhelm Blake, then he quickstepped back as Blake shifted his hold to ready an attack of his own.
“Oh, you kept some energy to quickstep away, very good, if you weren’t slaver filthy, I would be proud of you on behalf of the gods.” Blake said, then smiled. “Hallow Binding.” He said as the chains shot up and force the man to his knees, while Blake walked into range for his halberd, “Any last words?”
Raven’s eyes looked around quickly looking for an answer, but then lock on Blake, “Who are you, why go so far for some slave whores, I don’t understand” the man asked.
“Because the gods asked me to end the slave trade in this nation to help it relearn its lost values. That is all the reason I need, but more for my personally, I am a summoned hero, and I find this nation revolting for the most part.” Blake said before cleaving the man in two. He wiped away the blood on his cloak and sucked his teeth at the possible need for a rag to do that before he starts looking like a serial killer.
He walked back over to the six women and looked at them for a second noticing that each had a bag on their backs, and signs of abuse on their exposed skin, Blake took a deep breath to calm down. Then looked back to the women. “Let's go rest by the tree over there, looks like these bastards had you carry most of their provisions, you can eat and tell me what happen while I heal your wounds,” Blake said with a warm and gentle smile making the six study him for a second.
Finally, one asked a critical question, “Why did you free us, the gods don’t have anything against slavery?” said one with jet black hair and green eyes.
“No, most of the gods don’t care to correct you, but the three I am a paladin for do, and they have sent me to do so,” Blake said as he stood and offered a hand. “My role on this plane is to see their will done for my own sake, and I plan to. So, will you trust a stranger that gave you freedom for a night or will you not?”
The six looked at each other before the one that spoke looked up at him and nodded.
That night Blake used up all his spell points for the first time but didn’t feel too many side effects. He did learn that the women are from Yari’s yard, apparently, it was attacked by the goblins a few days ago, and the six dead men showed up saying that they killed all the goblins, but the village didn’t have the amount they wanted to the claim the six of them as compensation. However, they had faked it, killing just enough in the surrounding woods to fill a medium bag. The women found out about it a day after they left.
“So, we really don’t know what to do now Mister Winters, we can’t get home on our own, the goblins could attack us on the road, and we can’t go to the city as we will be attested as runaway slaves.” said the one that had the best mental strength after their ordeal, she was named Jackie.
“Oh, that's easy, I was planning on passing through your village on my way Wynberg.” Blake said as he watches the over the now sleeping women around campfire, each wrapped up tight in a blanket. “I would be happy to escort you to your village and even take care of the goblin problem for provisions and stay.”
Jackie’s eyes widened at his revelation that he would help her people, and he would do so for basically free. “Thank you.” she said before she leaned on him and rested her head on his shoulder, falling asleep quickly.
Blake waited a bit until he was sure that they were all asleep and opened his status window.
Name: Blake Winters. Class: Paladin. Race: human. Current power rank: 45.
Health points: 75/120, Spell Points: 0/90, Spell Power: 40, Energy points: 80/100
Strength: 38, Dexterity: 22, Constitution: 25,
Intelligence: 25, Wisdom: 28, Charisma: 32,
Trust: 25, Faith: 6, Honor: 5.
Skills: Halberd proficiency(skilled), longsword proficiency(trained), bow proficiency(trained), heavy armor proficiency(trained), shield combat proficiency(trained), basic light magic intermediate light magic, Basic holy magic, intermediate holy magic, advance holy magic, magic proficiency(skilled).
Abilities: Power strike, smite, rend, shield slam, heavy guard, heal, cure conditions, dispel curses, dispel magic, quick recovery, holy blessing, holy ward, holy shield, judge’s eye (passive), Hallowed binding, death respite, sun flare, burning smite, greater heal.
Blessings: Blessing of the Long Breath, Blessing of Life tongue, Blessing of the Peerless, Blessing of the Indomitable (7%), Divine Emissary (Justice, Honor, Life), Blessing of farewells x 2.
[well, I am getting stronger, I guess combat is combat, even against humans, and looks like i can sacrifice health for spell points.] He thought before dismissing the window.