Blake's eyes open not to the ceiling of his room but to a white void, his body weightless in the space, he could feel his body move and his head shift. “Hello?” He called out watching the void closely.
Then a man that Blake could only describe as a train conductor from the wild west appeared. “Ho, there you are. Sorry about that Mr. Winters.” The man said from under his mustache, His voice carried reassurance and warmth. “I am called the Conductor and I was the one that had sent you to Idralmain.” The man smiled as he shifted to a cross-legged sit.
“So, can you tell me why I am classless?” Blake said after a few seconds.
The man shifted a bit uncomfortable, “Yes, about that, you were meant to meet the gods however they had overlooked your soul because of the age you held at death.” his hands came close together and started to fidget. “I did manage to allow for you to be reborn at your prime rather than your age on earth, however, that was the extent of my power before you materialize there. But good news, the gods are willing to meet with you and have agreed to hear you out in regard to your class.” the conductor said with a soft and apologetic smile. “Before we go do you have questions?”
“Yeah, I can’t remember how I died, is there a reason for that?” Blake asked after a second of thought. “I remember starting my shift, but it all cuts out after I reached my first pick-up point.”
“Yes, I can restore that memory and tell you what happened after, but I can’t change your fate so do not ask me to.” The conductor said.
Blake raised his hand “Don’t, just tell me, I am afraid that carrying that trauma may be destabilizing on me in this world.” Blake said knowing the dangers of painful memories.
The Conductor watched Blake for a second, “You had reached your second to last stop on your bus route and had most of your charges aboard, they were telling you that they were excited for the summer, and they would miss you. But then a man ran on with a gun in hand, and you tried to solve the issue by talking to him, telling him to leave, when he aimed at one of the children you tackled him and fought with all you might. You saved your children at the cost of your life, and your parting words to them were ‘I am sorry kids, just remember that evil and good exist in everyone, it is our understanding that makes people act on one or the other, but you just have to smile and fight to do the right thing even when it is hard.” the conductor said then looked up to Blake. “Those children had taken your message and ran with it, and all of them will change your world for the better. You have lived a grand and valorous life, Mr. Winters.”
Blake smiled wide as a few tears came out, he died protecting the children and saving them, and that felt better in his heart. “Thank you, Conductor. I have no more questions, let's go see the gods.” Blake said after wiping away some tears.
The conductor shifted again to stand next to him the waved his hand as the void shifted suddenly to a grand council chamber, and a sizable pantheon came into view as close to a hundred gods came into sight, some share clear racial lines while some other ware little more than formless masses of energy. The conductor cleared his throat, “Goddess and Gods of Idralmain, I present Blake Winters, summon hero by the lands of Mairca,” about every god but twelve vanished as the conductor spoke “he is currently classless and as such cannot truly fight or aid the heroine you had chosen.”
Blake felt a few of the powerful beings shift their focus on him as the overwhelming pressure of their sight dawned on him.
He then heard a soft and soothing voice call out “So, Blake, what class do you think would be best for the heroine to have in her party?”
[wait what, do I get to pick?] he thought.
“Yes, we hope to hear your opinion as you have already seen our world.” The voice answered his thoughts.
Blake looked over the room and smiled "I wish to become a new thing for your world, a class whose purpose is to protect people, not just from The Dark Lord but from injustice. A class who can fight on the frontline but can also heal and buff allies, a champion of justice, hope, and honor. If you would allow me, I wish to be a paladin." Blake said slowly and with a controlled tone. "A paladin is a holy warrior that fights his enemies with blessings and weapons. Their powers are gifted by you as long as they follow an oaths they give to you. That is the class I wish for.”
A few more gods vanish until there are just three, one looked like a divine and beautiful goddess with ever-shifting hair of countless colors that match her eyes, her smile soft and gentle that comforted Blake’s heart. The second was a formless mass of shifting and angulating energy, its seat looked like that of a judge, and seem to be losing the luster that it once held. The last god was a muscular and strong goddess whose beauty is held by her divine origins. her form showed signs from endless battles, but all were superficial.
The god that had no shape glided forward, “I am the god of justice, I was birthed at the same time as all the gods but I have been losing my power, the humans of the world we govern are forgetting what we taught them, I will lend you my power as long as you fight with justice in your heart.” it said as a part of his energy breaks off and shifted pass Blake’s skin and into him. “I am Jaud, lord of Justice, gift you the blessing of the indomitable, for as long as you fight with your conviction to your justice, then you can’t be slain easily. I also bestow on you my judge’s eye, you can see through lies and illusions and see any magics that would deny someone their freedoms.”
The muscular goddess stepped forward, and gave a wide smile, “I am Jal, goddess of battle and mistress of honorable combat,” she reached her hand forward and an orb of power floated into him, “ I gift you mastery over all the weapons you knew on your Earth, I also bless you with the blessing of the peerless, as long as you fight with honor none will catch you off guard.” she said with a thumb up and a grin.
Finally, the last goddess lifted up and flew over, cupping Blake’s face, and smiling “I am Geie, the goddess of life and mother of all who walk on Idralmain,” she said before kissing his forehead and pulling away. “I hereby gift you with two blessings, the first is the blessing of life tongue, all creatures that have a language can be understood by you and you will understand them. The second is the blessing of the long breath, you will live as long as you wish and age slowly until your works are done,” she said her voice that of the one who had asked him what he wanted to be. “I will tell my followers to aid you even if they do not understand. Seek out my shrine when you wake.”
“Seek mine as well, I shall do the same.” said Jal with a smile.
“I will too, but my followers are few.” Said Jaud a second after.
Then the three stood, and floated before him, their forms massive compared to him. And they spoke in unison. “We hereby make you the first paladin of the world of Idralmain, now go, your first task is to undo the corruption in the lands of Marica.”
Blake’s eyes snapped open again this time landing on the ceiling of his room and the cold night, his window open and an impaled Jasmine halfway into the room. Her eyes showed panic at the halberd that was embedded in her abdomen. Blake stood up and looked at her for a few seconds. Then lifted his left hand and spoke “Open rank.” opening the window so he could see if it was a dream or not.
Name: Blake Winters. Class: Paladin. Race: human. Current power rank: 32
Health points: 100, Spell Points: 75/75, Spell Power: 26. Energy points: 100/100
Strength: 35, Dexterity: 19, Constitution: 23,
Intelligence: 25, Wisdom: 25, Charisma: 29,
Trust: 3, Faith: 2, Honor: 6.
Skills: Halberd proficiency(trained), longsword proficiency(trained), bow proficiency(trained), heavy armor proficiency(trained), shield combat proficiency(trained), basic light magic, Basic 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).
Blessings: Language comprehension (10 hours), Blessing of the Long Breath, Blessing of Life tongue, Blessing of the Peerless, Blessing of the Indomitable (2%), Divine Emissary (Justice, Honor, Life)
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Blake smiled and flipped the palm up and looked, as Jasmine read his rank before she let out a weak “how?”
“Because I am not a piece of shit like your royal family, now do you want to die here or do you want to live, remember that I can see through lies with the judge’s eye ability,” Blake said slowly as he lowered his hand making the window disappear.
Jasmine's eyes linger on him for a second, “I would like to live but if I fail to kill you then I am as good as dead anyway.” she said before coughing a bit of blood out and onto the head of his weapon.
Blake saw she spoke honestly with the ability of his eye, but then noticed the glow of a slave mark on her thigh under her clothes. He raised his right hand at her. “Dispel magic, dispel curses,” he said and saw the mark vanish off her body then walked over and removed the piked point of the halberd, pulling her away from the window and into the room. “Heal.” closing the gut wound and allowing her to her feet.
Jasmine took a deep breath as she forces herself away from him. Then noted that her hesitation at attacking him wasn’t causing discomfort or pain, she stopped and looked at her hands still grasping a dagger tightly in her left. “What, why is there no pain?”
“I removed your mark, you are free to seek out your own life, I suggest you take the girls and go.” Blake said as he opened the door for her to leave.
Jasmine looked at him for a few seconds before nodding and rushing out of the room.
[So she wasn’t bad just forced to do evil, if I cross her path and she is still doing something like this then I’ll have to take action. For now, let's get out of here.]
As Blake walked over to his still hanging halberd, he started untying it as the sounds of running footsteps started to come up the stairs, making Blake speed up to be ready for an attack but was surprised to see Jasmine dragging Kiania and a small girl with her.
“Please free them, I don’t want to be their master.” she half yelled.
Blake looked at her for a second then let out a sigh, and raised his hand to the two girls, “Dispel magic, dispel curses” he said and saw through his eye that the marks vanished off their bodies. “Done, now go.”
Kiania looked at him for a second then at her sister that was hiding behind the hem of her dress then at Jasmine, confusion at the turning events clear on her face.
Jasmine smiled and pulled the two into a hug, “I am sorry but I am going to take you two to your home village now.” she said with the affection and compassion of a surrogate mother would for an adopted child.
The two girls' eyes widen at the words, thoughts of their homes and parents rushing over them, and tears in their eyes as the force slavery they had endured was over and freedom theirs again.
Blake didn’t say anything as he collected the last of his things and headed out the door. Turning northward to his newly chosen destination and an inn where he may be able to rest. His walk through the street was steady so as to not draw too much attention to himself, his half drank bottle from earlier in one hand taking the occasional drink from it. He asked a few guards for directions with a faked slurring of words, and a carefully made act of drunkenness, and found his way to the Inn of Clarice’s cousin, walking into the wild wanderer, Blake was happy to see Clarice and sitting at the bar talking with a young-looking innkeeper, the two looked over to him.
His renewed will to fight for the world allowed him to actually take in information, he was amazed at the beauty that Clarice possessed, her hair was a fine and fair blonde of bold color that stopped just at her chin line framing her face and making her rich hazel eyes more noticeable, her clothes were the ones she wore earlier, a knee length skirt that was made for movement, and her blouse was made to hug her midsection but served to accentuate her breasts. Her overall frame showed her time at work and chores clearly as she had little in the way of unneeded fat.
“Hello Clarice, nice to see you again.” Blake said sheepishly.
Clarice looked over and smiled at him, “See, I told you I met an adventurer.” She said as she pointed at Blake while grabbing the young innkeeper’s shirt, “Told you, now I owe nothing for tonight, ha” She sounded resolute about her victory at whatever bet they had made.
The Innkeeper was a tall person, dressed in a shirt and open vest, their hair was a fading red a blonde that was currently tied back into a short ponytail, their hazel eyes showed some signs of a trained warrior, and their features were androgynous leaving Blake’s mind to wonder to see if he was told their name or sex, but he dismissed it as he approached.
The young innkeeper smiled at her. “Yeah, I guess you do,” they pulled a bit away and looked over to Blake then glanced up to his halberd. “If you have caused trouble then you are better off jumping off the walls, but if the blood is justified then I will allow you to stay the night.”
Blake looked up then back down to the innkeeper and smiled a bit. “Yeah, self-defense, I was on my way here when someone tried attacking me for my money, had to stab them in the leg to get to a guard, the thief is in custody, I have been told it's his second offense so he will be on the market tomorrow morning.” Blake lied with a smile hoping that the innkeeper will believe him.
The young innkeeper watched him for a few more seconds then sighed, “It is dangerous to walk around at this time of the night, but Clarice did say you seemed strong when you paid for a whole night of drinks for her guests, so you are clearly skilled. so, you need a room?”
“Yeah, just for the night, also provisions for a trip to Wynberg, if you got any?” Blake said back with a smile as he walked closer resting the halberd down next to him.
“A room for the night is 5 coppers, meals paid separately, as for provisions I would need to know how much you have so I can give you the right amount.” The innkeeper said calmly, as Blake sat down on one of the stools.
“I have enough for three days, but I don’t know how far I need to go from the capitol.”
The young innkeeper thought it over and glanced at Blake for a second then smiles. “Well if you are going to Wynberg then you will need about two more if you follow the main road, but if you go through Yari’s yard you can make do with what you have.”
“Yari’s yard?” Blake asked as he reached for his map and opened it trying to find it.
The young innkeeper leaned over and looked at the map then turned it around and pointed to a point in a forested area. “There it is, logging village, with lots of hunters and trappers, a great place to go if you want to get away, no inn but they will put you up for the night if you pay for it or help with chores.” they said with a smile.
“Is the forest dangerous?” Blake asked and looked up, his eyes lingering on the innkeeper's chest for a second, his earlier uncertainty cleared, as he noticed the well-trained muscles and the fact, they had bound their breast tight didn’t help his earlier confusion, but now marked them as a woman.
“Well if you stick to the road, you should be fine, I think there are some goblins that stay over here around about.” She said as she points to some hilled forest area a bit deeper and away from the road.
Blake thought over the information and guessed that timber was an important resource so the village will be decently protected at least, but he needed safety over easy, “ok, I think I'll take the extra two days just in case, if anything did happen to the village I wouldn’t starve before I get to Wynberg. Sorry, but I don’t have smaller coinage anymore” Blake said as he placed a gold coin down for her.
She checks the coin over a few times, and smiled affectionately at him, “You know I am looking for a strong man to help me, why not stay here with me.” she said as he shifted the open collar of the shirt to give him more to see but was knocked out of her advance as a mug hit the side of her head.
“No, he is mine, Juillet.” Clarice said as she grabbed Blake’s right arm. “Besides you have Cole, and I saw this one first.” inadvertently pressing his upper arm between her breasts.
Juillet snapped up again, “Screw Cole, he can’t start a fire without burning my inn down,” she said before hopping up and sitting on the counter pulling Blake’s head to her chest. “Besides, you have the figure men want more, you can get a different guy easily.”
To a lesser man, this would be extremely arousing but Blake’s old soul did feel something more akin to flattery, so he gently push Juillet away before getting Clarice to release him. “I do appreciate the offers and I am flattered you both find me attractive, but I am not looking for a partner right now. I just need a room and a good night’s rest.” He said calmly and carefully while glancing back and forth between the two.
The two looked at each other, and slowly come together out of earshot and had a quick whisper conversation, looking at him every few seconds, leaving Blake to wonder what they were up to, as he still hadn’t got a room or key, or change. Hoping that whatever they were discussing wasn’t something crazy like the mangas he read in his mid-twenties.
Finally, they both walked back over and looked at him, eyes studying his face for a few seconds, with Juillet taking the lead, “We understand that you aren’t looking to settle so we have made a joint decision, you will not need to pay for your stay or provisions as long as you accept our terms”
Blake cocked his brow and got a feeling that this was what he thought this will be. However, his eye told him she was not lying.
Clarice looked up and smiled warmly, “We want you to agree to the rite of farewells tonight with both of us, as it is in the words of the goddess of lovers, Geie.” she said stepping a bit closer with Juillet to him.
[Goddess of Lovers…]
Blake looked away from the two women staring at him, it wasn’t that he didn’t think they weren’t attractive, it was more about the fact he had no clue what they are talking about. “I am sorry, I have never heard of this rite, can you explain it a bit?” He asked sheepishly, his free hand rubbing the back of his head.
The two exchanged a quick glance, and Juillet spoke up, “The rite can be performed when a woman and a man can’t settle and start a family, be it because of a war, or work or he or she is an adventurer. They sleep together on the night of one of their departures, if a child is conceived then it means the goddess did want them to have a family and will protect the mother and child, but if they didn’t then the father is fated to return soon and they can try again.” she said and pressed up beside him, her hand resting on his chest and the other slipping under his cloak and caressing his back.
Clarice grabbed his hand and pulled him in, “This way we all get what we want, you get a place to stay and food for your trip and we get a chance to have a strong son or daughter” she said as she pressed his hand against her breast.
Blake pulled away and stepped back for a second, “Wait wait, first off, I don’t even know how old you both are, moreover, I am not just some adventurer, and having a child with me is both dangerous and irresponsible, lastly, why would you even care that much about being with me.”
The two looked at him confused, clearly their customs different from his, evident by the fact they are fine with slavery.
Blake thought it over and raised his left hand “Open rank” he said before letting them see his stats hoping that they would break off the idea and let him sleep in peace, the two seemed to read carefully then stopped for a second, and he thought they got it, as they pulled a bit back and started to whisper again.
But the two instead tackled him, a glint of a more primal hunger in their eyes. “You’re a summoned hero, so that means you are definitely going to be strong, and your child just as powerful.” Juillet said as she shift atop him, mounting him, pinning his arms down. “Just so you know we have no idea what a paladin is but I am a warrior of power rank twenty, so our child will definitely be strong.”
Clarice stood over him as she aimed her right hand at him. “And I am an exorcist, power rank nineteen, please don’t resist. Hallowed binding.” she said as magic chains tied Blake down to the floor.
“Wait, just tell me how old you are?” He said in a raised volume.
The two looked at each other and then back to him.
“I am twenty-two.” said Clarice, her hands stopping their current task of undressing her.
“Twenty, why does it matter?” Juillet said, a second after.
[thank you, Geie]
Blake sucked in a deep breath, then slowly released it, focusing on the mental locks he kept on certain feelings to open, “Because in my world it is against the law to sleep with anyone under the age of eighteen, or against their will, now, Dispel magic” he said slowly as the binding broke and he quickly lifted Juillet over his shoulder and grab Clarice doing the same, before heading to the stairs. “Which way to your room Juillet?”