My eyes slowly adjusted to the flickering light of the blue screens that appeared before me. What in god's name? Trying to look over the campfire for further inspection, I realized this screen wasn't going away. It followed my head, obscured the entirety of my vision, and was a solid color. Most of these windows, even the ones of "Inner Status Inspection" were slightly transparent. With no other option but to click one of these, I gave in and inspected them carefully.

Hopeless Fool: You can never die by normal means, only through Lost Hope, but, you feel 10 times the normal amount of pain compared to before. Depending on the situation, even the strongest willed people will lose Hope under extreme pain.

Protective Fool: You lose all feelings of pain, but Hope can only reach 20% max at any time. This does affect you mentally, Paladin.

Simple Fool: You choose no passive, not willing to commit to either drastic choice.

"Well fuck me" I blurted out. Almost forgeting I could speak as I got lost in the blue screen.

Really thinking it over, reading every line of text multiple times, I was at a loss. The idea of never feeling pain again felt good to me personally, I've experienced enough of that already, but at the same time.. I don't want pretty much chronic depression either! I'm already pretty depressed, and feel I would lose hope far too fast.

The sound of never dying was pretty good too, sadly, It still means death. There's no way I could maintain Hope, I fucking struggle as it. The flashes of my first time that was brutally taken from me entered my mind. Sitting there, trying to imagine those thing times 10, I nearly puked.

Well I guess the choice is clear then, a bit boring, but hey, I'd rather live an okay life, than one that's out to get me, one that haunts me to make me lose hope in the world. With no other choice, and the buzz of the bright blue screen bothering me, I answered in my head. "Simple Fool"

This fool isn't as simple as you might think. The other two options would have lead to your untimely death shortly down the road. You passed the test young paladin, very few Crimson Paladin successors before you have, they also met the same fate I just described. Most strive for the power overs others in battle, the edge to kill, the difference between stats, is the abilities you have and how you use them. Yet you choose to gain nothing. I applaud you. Not many could openly admit to calling themselves a fool. The fool that admits his downfalls though, is the fool that lives another day.

Simple Fool Acquired

Simple Fool has changed into Wise Being

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Wise Being: You have passed a test strictly for Crimson Paladins. +1 Wisdom(A stat that isn't as useless as you may think despite your lack of manapool). A wise being knows what they can or can't do. A wise being makes the choice that seems wrong at first, but with the foresight of being the right choice. Time slows to a halt whenever your next choice could lead to death, the result of death must be within 2 days, otherwise it won't trigger.  I won't tell you what action causes death, but with the time to think now, I hope you can see it.

Fuck me I’m a guinea pig aren’t I? Thinking it over this could be a mental trap too, if time stops then i’m more likely to make a choice I wouldn’t have before.. Though that also means it could save me. For fucks sake. I started scratching into my hair, and only realizing I was spreading blood deeper into my lovely golden hair.

The blue screen slowly faded away from my eyes as I finally picked my passive. Behind the fading screen was a girl covered in blood, roughly to be about 12 years old maybe? Crying and holding a teddy bear tightly.

“Tha..tha.. Thank you, Angel.. ” thank me? For what? It slowly dawned on me as I looked around the camp I found myself woken up at. The goblins captured her, and I stopped it. The devil’s in my dreams, were the goblins that now lay dead on the ground. I remember saving a girl too, but I didn’t think all that was sleep walking/dreaming! What the fuck man.

“I’m no aNgel. I don’t eVeN REemember!..WHAT happened.” My voice was fluctuating between a scream and speaking, I could see slight terror in her eyes as I spoke. Thinking It was the blood that was causing it, I used Noble Upkeep for the first time.

I could feel the cells in my body being cleaned way, I could feel my hair automatically straighten and unclump from all the blood, I could see the pale shiny skin of my arms as the blood seemed to have seeped directly into my skin, I felt a healthy glow about me.

The girl stood in front of me, amidst the blood soaked battlefield, her eyes wide. Her terror replaced with admiration, she hopped into my arms.

“You are an angel! I just saw yellow lights around you! Thank you thank you..”

her little eyes wept down her cute chubby cheeks as she spoke.

“The. the goblins.. Took my dad a few days ago, I just.. I wanted to save him.. I wanted..”

She was stuttering as sobs of pure sorrow were wept from the tiny girls mouth. She was pointing at a half stripped man, lying amidst the chaos. Clearing seeing signs of struggle with cuts and bruises all over him.

Goblins aren’t the smartest, why would they have taken him? Looking over the scene carefully the answerer slowly popped in my head. Loot, clothes, fabric, and..  For some of these goblins. It looked like a meal, as chunks of this young girl's dad were missing.

This world truly had no limits to its horror, did it? I don’t remember quest’s like this, no quests had cannibalism, no quests or storylines had rape in them, nothing of the sort.. It was always a simple question, go collect 10 bear asses or some shit. There were some good story quests with every few expansions, but never anything so brutal.

I need to accept the fact this is no game anymore. I decided to try to brush the girl’s hair with my hand, seeing if I could use Noble Upkeep on her somehow. To my surprise, it worked flawlessly, the color slowly returning to her face, her clothes slowly becoming straightened and the blood simply vanishing.

For using Noble Upkeep for such a noble purpose, pun intended. You have unlocked Noble Keeper you can ease some minor mental fatigue from another person, remove external blood, and straighten all their clothes. Your Noble Upkeep also gains the advantage of straightening your clothes now as well, and you've also gained Yellow Mix, a mix of red and yellow can be intertwined when blood gets on you while this is active. The default clean state of this benefit looks similar to when your Red Aura is active in full throttle, the exception being no bubbling of the aura, and your hair hangs loose. This aura gives no benefits, except for admiration and awe from those around you. The path you are taking is good, young paladin, you are on your way to making your initial goals become true, you shall be a righteous protector in due time.