“The defenses are down and I can see into the basement now, and there are no arcane fluctuations,” Jewel said, staring down through the floor.

  Not waiting for an invitation, Zap jumped down through the basement hatch and landed in a small stone room.

  “Forge! You okay?” he yelled as he rushed into the hallway.

  “In here,” came Forge’s voice.

  Zap made his way past the broken altar and looked into a small cell.

  The girl was alive and hugging the paladin tightly, tears in her eyes.

  She noticed him and quickly brushed her sleeve over her face, then pulled away from the hug.

  Sniffling once, she got herself under control, then fixed Zap with an icy stare.

  “You’re big,” she stated matter-of-factly.

  Turning his attention to the paladin, Zap began to speak, then stopped himself.

  He had been useless, and only the paladin’s timely assistance had saved the day.

  “I’m sorry. This is my fault. I had my people keep an eye on her, but…”

  Forge turned to him, his mirrored mask reflecting back his true face, and Zap looked at himself.

  He didn’t remember the last time he’d seen his actual face.

  Turning away from the paladin, he looked up at the ceiling.

  “There are clerics upstairs if she needs any healing.”

  “Thank you, Zap,” Forge said.

  Zap turned back to the paladin and snarled.

  “For what? I screwed up! This should have never happened!”

  “You’re right that it should never have happened, but you didn’t screw up. Tell me, did you do what I said and stay far enough away to give her space?”

  “Yeah. But I should have…”

  “And when she got taken, did you rush into action to save her?”

  Zap nodded his head.

  “Then you did everything right. You’re a hero. Just like I knew you were.”

  Zap looked down at his feet. His anger had left him, and he felt so very tired without it to keep him going.

  He looked at the paladin and saw his true face again.

  “Thanks, Forge.”

  Forge stood and reached up to pat him on the shoulder.

  “All we can do is our best.”

  Forge turned back to Angela and held out his hand.

  She took it, and the pair walked out of the cell and down the hallway.

  Zap stood in the cell for a moment, pondering his choices, then grinned.

  The power of a shrine might have stopped him from rescuing the girl, but nothing in the world would stop him from taking his anger out on a certain titled noble.

  It was well past time for a change.

  Decision made, he reached up and touched the crystal that hung around his neck, and his illusionary self disappeared.

  Summoning his gauntlets to his hands, he balled up a fist and felt his mana gate connect to the enchanted armor.

  It was time to show the kingdom that there were monsters about.

  ***

  The ride back to the Guild was quiet.

  Forge sat next to Angela, who stared out the window as they crossed the city.

  Across from them, Sapphire Phoenix had her head down as she wrote in a small notebook.

  Hugging a lacquered wooden box to her chest, Angela turned to him.

  “I’m ready to join the Guild training thing, if you’ll let me.”

  Forge smiled down at the girl and nodded.

  “Of course. It was an open invitation, and we already set the gold aside.”

  He then leaned in and whispered to her.

  “We had to, or else Cinder would have eaten it.”

  Angela grinned at the comment, then gave the elf across from them a suspicious look.

  “Does she know about…you know who?”

  “She has a name,” Sapphire said, not looking up from her work.

  “Oh…I didn’t know you had a name. Let me guess. Is it Princess Blueberry? Is that why you dress in all blue?” Angela said, glaring at the elf.

  Forge covered his face to hide his smile, and Sapphire looked up at the pair of them.

  “Well, you seem fine now. Silly me for thinking you might be upset and want some quiet time.”

  Angela was about to retort, but Forge’s hard voice stopped her.

  “Of course she’s upset. But she’s not about to put her feelings on display for you.”

  Angela nodded, then whispered to Forge.

  “Who is she, anyway?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “That’s Sapphire Phoenix. She’s a person in charge at the Guild, and also the one that retrieved me and brought me to you,” Forge said quietly.

  “Oh. Then I guess I should probably be a little nicer.”

  “Probably wouldn’t hurt,” Forge replied.

  Angela nodded and looked over at the busy elf.

  “Thank you for saving me, Sapphire Phoenix.”

  Sapphire closed her notebook and smiled at the girl.

  “I only had a minor part to play in your rescue. But you’re welcome.”

  Angela grinned widely.

  “Oh. Well, nevermind then.”

  Her smiling face turned to the window and resumed looking outside, and Sapphire glared daggers at Forge, who had his head down in his hands to conceal his laughter.

  “You’d better be praying, paladin,” Sapphire said.

  Not trusting himself to speak, Forge kept his head down but gave her a thumbs up.

  Sapphire sighed crossly, but after a moment, grinned at Forge.

  “I think she’ll probably do well in the Guild. She definitely has the right attitude.”

  Forge leaned back and smiled warmly at the elf.

  “I think so too. Also, it shouldn’t be too long before she gains access to the System.”

  Sapphire nodded in thought.

  “Any thoughts on what class you might take?”

  Angela nodded seriously.

  “Sneaky archer wizard, definitely!”

  Sapphire raised an eyebrow.

  “Well, if you’re fortunate enough to be offered the Path of Magic, we can definitely help you with that.”

  She nodded.

  “What do these classes teach, anyway?”

  Sapphire’s posture straightened as she went into lecture mode.

  “We’ll train your body and mind, so that when you reach System age, as many skill options as possible are available to you. We even have classes on magical theory. That may help in you receiving the Path of Magic.”

  Angela blinked in surprise and paid closer attention to the elf.

  “So, taking the classes will help me get a magic class?”

  “It’s not definite, but our testing shows that those with a higher-level understanding of magic often receive the Path.”

  Sapphire held a hand up and lightning danced across her fingertips.

  “As someone who went through the program myself, as well as being the current head of magical research, I think we can set up a curriculum that works for you.”

  She opened her notebook and looked expectantly at the small girl.

  “Do you prefer bows or crossbows for your ranged attacks?”

  Forge sat back and listened to the adventurer go over some options for the girl, as Angela excitedly responded.

  Now that he had a moment to himself, he opened his System screen and went through his logs, but only two stood out.

  System Message: You’ve Destroyed A Shrine of Mot!! 2 System Points Awarded!

  System Message: Your Divine Class, Paladin of Honos Has Reached Tier 2!

  May Honor Guide You And Justice Follow!

  Mot. That wasn’t a god he’d heard of, but the altar’s sigil had definitely reminded him of the black blade that had killed Polto.

  Bringing out his own notebook, he made a note to take the dagger to the temple and see if they knew anything about it. Hopefully, they could destroy the cursed thing.

  Storing his notebook, he checked his gains for reaching the second Tier as a Paladin of Honos.

  Paladin of Honos Tier 2

  Passive Ability: Divine Strength 2

  Spell: Lay on Hands 2

  Spell: Refresh

  Focusing on his Divine Strength ability, he saw it had doubled, and now added two to his Strength and Willpower stat.

  That brought his Strength up to Tier Three, so roughly four times what he had naturally.

  Even better, his Willpower Stat was now at Tier Four, which would increase the number of spells he could cast in a short time.

  Last, he checked his available System points, and with four points available, he could take on a new skill or increase his Dungeon Looting Skill to Tier Two.

  He’d check with the team first, but either increasing his looting ability or waiting and increasing a spell tier were probably his best options.

  Angela and Sapphire continued to talk, and he stared out the window.

  The life of an adventurer was never dull.

  ***

  “I need to increase my Dungeoneering skill?” Forge asked.

  Falcon grimaced.

  “All of us do. To be allowed in a Tier Two dungeon, we need someone with their Dungeoneering skill at Tier Two, and the rest of the team needs to be within one tier.”

  Forge leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

  “They didn’t mention this in the Dungeoneering class.”

  “Apparently, that’s by design,” Falcon said as she reviewed a Rank Two Monster Manual.

  She flipped through a few pages, then closed the book with a snap.

  “The class we took was specifically for Tier One dungeons, and reading between the lines, it appears the Dungeoneering skill does more than just allow us to loot monsters.”

  Forge nodded, then checked his class skills and ran over the specializations.

  “I specialized in Looting, but the other specializations are Survival and Lore.”

  Lioness broke in.

  “What’s that mean for us?”

  “It means grinding Tier One Dungeons until we meet the requirements,” Falcon said.

  Lioness slumped down heavily in her chair.

  “We only receive one dungeon run every three months from the Guild. Can we get access to another one before that?”

  Falcon chuckled.

  “Of course. We just have to pay for the opportunity.”

  “So, to summarize: we’re waiting to hear from the Sturtevant about the job. We need the job to get money to pay for dungeon runs. Whether or not we get the job, we need to come up with a place to live. And finally, we all need to use our next few points to increase our Dungeoneering skill. Does that about cover it?” Lioness said.

  Falcon glanced at Forge, and he nodded to her.

  “That’s about right,” Falcon said.

  “Good. I’m glad we got that sorted. Now, can you tell us what happened?” Lioness said, as she glared at Forge.

  He scowled at the impatient cleric.

  “I told you; we should wait and discuss it tonight when Gideon is back from whatever he’s up to.”

  “Well, he needs to hurry,” Lioness said.

  “Patience is not one of my virtues.”

  ***

  Gideon sampled a delicate crab puff and scanned the rest of the people eating.

  Seated at the long dining table, some of the most important people in the kingdom sat and chatted amongst themselves.

  He’d mingled a bit, but he really had nothing in common with the movers and shakers of kingdom politics anymore.

  Silently thanking the etiquette skill that allowed him to conceal his overall distaste for the nobility, he took a sip of his wine.

  A minor noble caught his eye and held her drink up to him in a toast.

  Giving the woman his most winning smile, Gideon raised his glass, hoping she wouldn’t notice the much lighter color of wine he was drinking.

  Not being a fool, he had brought his own, of course.

  He checked his System clock and saw it was almost time and turned his focus to the door near the head of the table, where an ornate chair sat empty.

  A crashing sound came from the opposite direction, and he jumped to his feet, hand on his sword.

  He heard shouting coming from the front of the house and moved to investigate, but a guard stepped forward and stopped him.

  “Please remain seated, sir. We will take care of this. Enjoy the food and drink, please.”

  Gideon eyed the guard, whose hand not only rested on his sword, but seemed ready to draw at a moment’s notice.

  Deciding to lean into his royal upbringing, he sneered.

  “Are you threatening me?! Do you have any idea who I am?” he shouted.

  The guard’s eyes went wide for a moment, then a cruel smile spread across his face.

  Gideon saw the reflection of the blade as the guard began pulling it from the sheath, and he drew his own, sweeping it across in a draw-cut that cut into the man’s hip, just under his armor.

  He stepped back into the Plow Guard position, his sword at the ready.

  The table was behind him, and he needed to move to a more defensible position.

  Leaping up and backwards, he landed on the table, his sword pointed at the guard, who now clutched at his injured hip.

  The guard grit his teeth and drew his sword, immediately falling into the Near Ward position, with his sword pointing behind him, ready to swing with his full power.

  Gideon grinned.

  “Amateur. I have the high ground.”

  His heavy longsword swung down at the guard, whose own blade moved to meet his.

  Gravity and strength were on Gideon’s side as his blade knocked the guard’s arming sword away and sliced into his neck.

  Looking down briefly at his rather precarious footing, he turned and jumped from the table towards one of the large pillars that ran in rows down the enormous dining hall.

  He held his blade across his body and scanned the room, but didn’t see any other guards.

  However, something else drew his attention.

  The once lively table was now dead quiet.

  Noble heads lay face down on their appetizers, and Gideon’s eyes went wide.

  A thunderous crash came from the large doorway, and he turned just in time to see the door launched from its frame to land many yards away.

  He turned his sword point towards the door, then stopped, confused by what he was seeing.

  “Zap?” he asked.

  The troll, foregoing his usual illusion, stepped completely into the room.

  Red lines in his armor glowed, and his hands seemed to radiate with energy.

  The troll’s eyes landed on him, and he stomped his way over.

  Realizing he still had his sword in his hand, Gideon quickly sheathed it.

  “What’s going on…” he began, his words cut off as a spell struck him.

  It bypassed his armor completely and seemed to strike him at the core of his being.

  Unable to put up any resistance, darkness overtook him.