"Damn it!"
The mage slammed his hand onto the table and swept away all of the books and stacks of paper.
"All of my ideas have been useless so far!"
The mage was in a furious rage. He had decided to see how the new system would work out but it was causing him nothing but frustration.
The warrior walked into the mage's study and looked at the mess.
"So you've been having a hard time as well."
"Of course. What are we suppose to do if we aren't allowed to act freely anymore?"
The two men both were troubled by the latest change in the policies.
"At this rate we're going to run out of resources!"
The mage complained with a mild sense of urgency.
"What have the others been doing?"
The mage asked the warrior questioningly.
"Well, let's go find out. Maybe their answers will help us come up with one of our own."
The mage decided that his idea was better than sitting around. He grabbed his cloak and staff and went outside with the warrior.
---------------------------------------
Sun kept walking from city gates until he was back at the church. After passing through a few corridors, he knocked onto the door of the head priest and let himself in.
"Calvin! I wanted to talk to you about something. Have y-"
Before he could finish his words, Calvin stopped him and started talking himself.
"It can wait. I received an order at the meeting that I went to. We have been summoned by the High Priest for an urgent mission. We need to leave immediately since we have to get there within three months."
Calvin had been on a trip to the local church meeting that took place every few months. At this gathering they would talk about subjects of interest for the church.
This particular meeting had more urgent matters involved. The High Priest had called all the nearby churchs to mobilize their forces in Somuren Liberty City and leave only the bare minimum to upkeep the churches.
All of the church was already well underway with travel preparations. A total of 100 paladins from the church and five priests were being dispatched from this church.
"Now that you have been briefed on the mission, what is it you were saying?"
" Have you found anything that is related to the Twelve Holy Knights or the Kingdom of the Forgotten Sound yet?"
Calvin took his time to think. Sun had asked him about these things before and he had looked into the matter. He took out a small sheet of paper with ancient text on it.
"Does this look familiar?"
"That is!"
Sun could not hold his surprise.
"That's right. You had this same symbol on you when we first met."
When Sun had come to the Continent of Versailles, his entire body which had been covered in burns and cuts had healed. His clothing, however, was still damaged from the wounds he had suffered before coming here. So when he encountered the Church of Freya for the first time, he had still been wearing the clothing of the Sun Knight, with the symbol of the Church of the God of Light embroidered onto the shoulder.
Sun immediately grabbed the piece of paper to get a better look at it.
“Where did you get this and what does it say?”
This as good a clue as any to getting back to his world.
“Calm down. It’s not anything definite. Yet.”
“What do you mean?”
Sun asked Calvin inquisitively, confused at his choice of words.
“I found this piece of paper in the archives of the church. The thing is that it’s a single piece of a much larger book.”
“So where’s the rest of the book?”
The fact that there was possibly more information was going to be essential to finding out a way back.
“The thing is that we don’t have the book in this church. Or any of the other churches in fact. The whereabouts of the rest of the book are unknown.”
“Damn it.”
Sun cursed this course of events that further delayed his return. Then he remembered.
“The text! What do the words on this piece of paper say?”
“That is also another problem that we have.”
“What do you mean?”
Ancient languages were commonplace since they were relics of a past civilization. There exists many different ancient languages and there was usually a dictionary that was used for decoding the ancient text.
“We don’t have anyone available at this moment to decode the text.”
“I see. Wait you said ‘at this moment’?”
“That’s right. There is no one ‘here’ in this town that can translate this text.”
Sun could understand what Calvin was implying.
“So you mean that there are ‘others’ elsewhere that can read this?”
“That is correct.”
“Where?”
The fact that the scholars and mages in this town did not have the means to translate the text meant that it was a fairly ancient and difficult text. That meant that there were few people in the world who could perform this task.
“This is another reason why you need to come with me. The closest person that can translate this text is the High Priest in Somuren Liberty City. With his vast pool of knowledge he can translate this text and could possibly have other clues to your problem.”
In other words, he needed to go to Someren Liberty City either way. It was two birds with one stone. He needed to get this ancient text translated and they required his assistance at the church.
“I understand now. So how are we going to go to Somuren?”
The continent was a vast place. Sun did not have access to many maps so he could only use his map memorization ability on the maps that he had available. So he only knew the surrounding areas of Rosenheim. Kingdoms were very particular about maps regarding their landscapes since it could reveal tactical areas for invasion and defense in war.
“We are going to transverse through the Bar Khu Mountain Range.”
According to his topography, the Bar Khu Mountains was in the Southern part of the Kingdom of Rosenheim. Beyond that was the United Kingdoms of Briton, a kingdom that was seperated from the Kingdom of Rosenheim by this mountain range.
However, according to his knowledge of distances, it should not take three months to travel through the mountain range.
“Why are we using this particular route if we have three month’s time?”
“The thing is, we need to show up as quickly as possible. Three months time is meant for the churches that are farther away from us.”
The summons was made to various churches in the area and not only to the Citadel of Serabourg. As soon as each village’s forces arrive, they are processed and assigned to their task.
“I see. So the sooner the better.”
Travel preparations have been prepared and now they could set out at any time.
“Before we leave, is there anything you need to do?”
Calvin asked Sun since it was important to take care of any personal business before leaving. The time that they were going to be gone was going to be significant.
Sun thought back at his friends. With a smile on his face, he simply nodded and said.
“No, I’ve taken care of everything I have to do here.”
With those words, the deployment went underway. They would travel south through a number of villages and resupply along the way. That way they would not need to carry too many supplies at once.
Along the way, woodland creatures would attack the group. With their large numbers of 100 paladins and five priests, they could sweep up the small rabble of enemies. A more convenient use of these animals was for food. This way they did not have to waste their own resources and simply eat the animals that sought to attack them.
Though the monsters were not very high level, at only level 120 at best, they were still relatively good experience since Sun could increase his holy skills rather than his level. Even though the paladins were relatively high level, they did not see combat often so they had this chance to exercise their limbs a little.
Sun was able to increase his cooking skill by another level thanks to the materials gathered from the animals and spices provided by the church to cook for everyone. After three days of traveling, they stopped off at a nearby town. They were making considerable progress since the paladins were suited to traveling and there were wagons for supplies and carrying the priests.
“We have to restock supplies for now. Other than the few that I have order to gather supplies, the rest of you are to be on rest. We are to meet up here in 3 hours time.”
Calvin briefly told the paladins his plan before walking off to a nearby general store. Sun, with nothing better to do, decided to go into the store as well.
“Sun, is there something that you need to buy?”
Calvin asked while pointing at several items that he needed from the store clerk.
“Maybe. I’ll have a look around for now.”
There were a number of various different goods on the wall. It wasn’t much compared to Recette’s general store in the citadel, which sold all manners of items, including the strange and obscure types, but it had a decent selection of goods.
‘Wait, now that I think about it, where on earth did she get all those weird items of hers?’
Some things that she sold were understandable but she had all manner of strange items in her shop.
There were the basic items that one may see such as hats, charms, necklaces, rings, capes, shoes, scarves, books and medicine. However there were also weapons, armor, arm guards, shields, helmets, food, treasures, a deck of cards, monster parts, and there was even this strange cylindrical piece of metal that fired a beam once accidentally.
“Sun.”
‘There was something off with that list of items as they got further along the line. I mean what kind of general store sells armor and weapons? Isn’t that sort of thing restricted to weapon and armor shops? Where does a little girl like here even get her hands on items like those?’
“Sun are you listening?”
“Oh yea, right. What were you saying?”
Sun snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Calvin.
“Are you going to buy anything?”
“Yea....let me see.”
Sun took a look over the items again. He picked out a few items and made his purchase.
There was one thing that caught his eye though. He picked it up and then looked at it for a bit. It was a relatively small square with a flame etched into it. It didn’t look like it was made of wood but out of some strange material that was foreign to him. He didn’t know why it had garnered his attention but it did.
“What is this and how much is it?”
“Eh, I don’t know what that is. You know what, since you bought so much from me, you can have that on the house.”
The storekeeper answered since he didn’t know what the purpose of that item was.
“Oh really? Thanks.”
Sun pocketed the item and went outside.
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“Sun, want to see something amazing?”
“Sure?”
Sun was confused since amazing was quite a strange way to put something. Nonetheless if Calvin wanted him to see something then there was probably some point to it.
Leading the way, Calvin took Sun into the crowded square. In the square there were a number of merchants doing business and several adventurers looking for parties.
“Take a look at that would you?”
Calvin instructed Sun to look in the direction near the fountain.
“That is...”
Sun was at a loss for words. Never before had he seen something like this before. It was exquisite to say the least.
-For seeing the Statue of the Goddess Freya, health and mana recovery has increased by 15% for 24 hours.
“The statue of the goddess Freya?”
Sun could not believe his eyes. He had seen many representations of the goddess Freya but nothing that was like this.
He, himself, was considered very beautiful. In fact, there was many people he knew that were handsome to the point that one would want to beat on sight so that there would be one less rival in the world. There was even that Awaitsun fellow that he wanted to hack to death himself for being too handsome.
However it was not the sheer beauty of the statue that drew him towards it but the feeling that it gave off. It was sweet and benevolent. However, Sun could feel that there was sorrow within that smile. Unlike his own fake smile that he used to give, this one felt more befitting of a Sun Knight.
“I would like to meet the person that made this one day.”
Sun felt a little better now that he had looked at the sculpture. After they had finished restocking they made their way out of Baran Village and towards the Bar Khu Mountains.
In a few days, they entered the mountain range. Following the path of the mountain, they gradually worked their way through the mountains. Occasionally monsters would attack their group, intent on defending their territory but it was no use. The superior strength of the Paladins and Priest of Freya moved on unscathed, with each battle making them stronger than before.
The average level of the Paladins of Freya were around level 220. The scary thing about NPCs were not their levels or numbers, but their high skill levels. Unlike users that sought to find shortcuts, the NPCs would work their way up honestly.
There were all sorts of monsters that were attacking. Werewolves, Trolls, Ogres, large Bears, Lycans, there were even some Orcs and some other monsters mixed in there. Sun was getting pretty decent experience from the monsters and leveled up a few times.
“Let’s stop off here for now.”
In the middle of the mountain range was a small village. To live in such a dangerous place the village had a large number of hunters in it. Of course there were other townspeople, but for the most part the hunters were responsible for the town’s safety.
Taking their time to restock, they were warmly welcomed by the village. Since they had killed quite a large number of monsters along the way they had improved the village’s security by quite a bit. Also with the monsters thinned out, they could gather and hunt with more ease.
“You are members of the Church of Freya right?”
A few hunters asked them as they made their way around the village. From the looks of it, they were the head hunters of the village and the de facto leaders.
“That is correct.”
Calvin, as the church’s representative, confirmed their remarks.
“I have a problem that has surmised recently and would like to ask for your assistance. Do you have the time to listen?”
Calvin took it into consideration and said.
“I will listen to you problem. My decision will come after I have assessed your situation. In any other time I would not hesitate to help but we are short on time.”
The leader of the hunters understood that the Paladins were busy since they would not leave the city otherwise. Still he was glad that they had been willing to hear them out.
“Recently there have been an increase in monster activity south of this area. Their numbers are too large for us to handle. However, there is something strange going on.”
“What do you mean by something strange?”
Calvin asked since it sounded like a rather serious situation.
“The monsters that we are talking about are the Thunder Lizards. These Thunder Lizards are usually docile and move alone. However, they have been known to move in larger groups when their territory is in danger of another predator. However, other monsters usually leave them alone.”
“So you’re saying that something new moved in?”
Sun surmised the situation from the bits of information he had.
“That is what we believe to be the case. There have been a number of large explosions recently and we’ve began to grow worried.”
The hunter expressed their helplessness with the situation.
“Calvin what do you think?”
Sun asked Calvin since it was his decision.
“It does sound rather strange for there to be something like this in the Bar Khu Mountains.”
“So what do you say?”
Calvin took his time with his thoughts.
“We shall spend some time investigating. We will try to resolve the situation but we will have to leave if we are running out of time.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Calvin, Sun, and the Paladins set out to the location of the disturbance. It was in the same direction as their destination so it was worth checking out. After a few days traveling, they managed to reach the area in question.
Then a wild Thunder Lizard appeared!
“That must be one of those Thunder Lizards.”
Sun looked over the lizard quickly. It was a rather large lizard at a height of 3 feet and a length of 5 feet. Little sparks of electricity would static off of it every now and then, giving testament to its electrical potency if it were to actually charge a spell.
The Thunder Lizard then gave a powerful roar and then fell over and died.
“That was a little anti-climatic.”
Sun complained a little. However, on close observation of the Thunder Lizard, it was actually covered in cuts and wounds from what looked like a serious battle.
“What could have done this?”
Calvin had also took it upon himself to take a look.
“From the looks of it, it must be some sort of humanoid to have made these sharp cutting marks.”
A paladin mused in looking at the corpse.
“So we must be close to the location. With these sort of grievous wounds it could not have gotten far from where it had been injured.”
Sun and the rest of the paladins ventured further into the direction that the Thunder Lizard had emerged, following the blood trail that had been left behind for them.
“What on earth is this?”
Lightning kept striking from the sky as the Thunder Lizards mounted their offensive against the enemy.
“Undead!”
The enemy in question was the undead. Brandishing their rusty swords the undead fought to defeat the Thunder Lizards while guarding a cave.
“Defeat the enemy!”
Calvin gave his orders. With the Thunder Lizards heavily injured they were no real threat. They focused on getting rid of the undead. Since they were paladins and priests that were specialized in the holy arts, they could dispatch the undead with ease.
“What on earth is in this cave?”
Sun had seen the undead defending this cave so fervently. To have undead following such a command meant that there was a necromancer or an undead capable of raising undead.
They made their way into the cave to find out the truth. The Thunder Lizards that were heavily injured were satisfied with the defeat of the undead and retreated to treat their wounds.
“Damn it. What happened to the undead?”
An outraged voice yelled out. A group of robed figures were in the end of the cave.
“Can we teleport out of here?”
“We can but it would take too long for all of us.”
The robed figures were contemplating their fate.
“There’s no way that those stupid lizards could have beaten us so there is someone or something else here.”
“That’s right. The undead would simply keep rising unless...”
The necromancers knew full well what this meant. The defeat of the undead meant the presence of holy magic. Not just any holy magic but a large enough amount to defeat the undead in a short period of time. They did not have any chance.
“If we all focus our mana we can at least let the leader escape.”
“Don’t be foolish! Then what of the rest of you?”
The head necromancer yelled at his subordinates.
“We will buy time for your escape.”
“I’m not going to leave you behind!”
“There is no other choice. It is up to you to carry out the rest of the mission. If we all perish here then all of our work thus far would be for nothing.”
Chanting their magic, the necromancers teleported their leader away against his will. Soon the paladins and priest entered the clearing.
“So it is as we feared. The despicable dogs of the church.”
“What are you necromancers doing in this mountain?”
Sun asked the necromancers clearly. Whenever necromancers began to move, there was never anything going good on. Whether it be in this world or his own.
“We have no reason to answer to you scum!”
The necromancers began to gather their magic for a spell.
“Let the dark rule over the living and-”
The paladins were faster. A small group of the strongest paladins rushed forwards and stabbed their swords through the necromancers.
“Guah!”
With the sudden onslaught, the necromancers were killed almost instantaneously. However one managed to yell before he died.
“Our God will return!”
Then the necromancers all died out. Unknown to the rest of them, the leader of these necromancers had been teleported away.
“Search the area for any clues as to their activities here.”
Calvin gave an order. Necromancers were originally scholars so they usually documented their work. After a little poking around Sun managed to find something.
“This is...”
It was a large thick book filled with ancient text. After flipping through a few pages he saw a few familiar symbols.
“Calvin, I think this book is related to the piece of paper from earlier. Why would the necromancers have this?”
“I think that is a question that can be answered once we show this to the High Priest.”
Calvin and the rest of the Paladins searched the area but there was nothing else. After searching the cave, they continued on their journey to the city of Somuren. They soon reached their target location. Since the start of the dispatch, two months had passed since they left the citadel.
It had also been over a year and a half since Sun had appeared on the Continent of Versailles.