A/N: I'm currently confirmed for the two Brighton comic cons and one in Chichester, hope to see you there, I'll be selling Jinhai's Justice, a comic based off my first professionally published novel. (£5 a copy, no charge for signature, cos I'm not a dick.) If you can't come or are out the country, you can get a copy on amazon kindle and Barnes&Noble. It's £1-2 for the E-Book/kindle.
Mark's character stats(Start of Chapter 9) Some new stats have been added.
Character class: Wizard Knight / Pluto Knight X
Level: 10, 96xp until next level up.
HP: 523 / 523
MP: 630 / 630
Strength: 28 (40)
Speed: 20 (15)
Spirit: 35 (36)
Magic Defence/Defence: 20 (40)
Magic: 49
Magic Evasion/Evasion: 10 (30)
Weapon: Iron short sword
Headwear: Iron helm
Armour: Iron armour
Accessory: Mythril Gloves
Skills: Minus Strike
Abilities: Bright Eyes, Level Up, Man Eater, Bug Killer
Magic: Poison, Regen, Sleep, Panacea, Osmose, Protect, Cure
Trance: Balmung strike
Items: 1 phoenix down, Antidote, 13 Goblin Steak, Traveller's cloak, Isekai ring, silk shirt, lots of regular clothes.
Gil: 915
A nerfed Dingir in Final Fantasy 9, seriously?
CHAPTER NINE
Six months and only one level up!
Half a year passed sluggishly, the work was mind numbingly boring, if it wasn't for his circumstances, Mark wouldn't have bothered working. Sadly he needed the money and security it brought. He had gotten to the point he would win at win a third of his spars with the higher levelled Steiner, that was mostly due to his knowing far more fighting styles and it not being to the death. The Captain only smiled when he lost, and then worked him that much harder. The Princess continued to sneak about, and he continued to not interfere, the poor girl deserved a little freedom now and then, regardless to her position as royalty. He managed to give her a few more lessons on using a knife, and one on footwork, it was surprising how many knife fighters over focused on the weapon and forgot everything else, sure a blade was scary, but if the attacker only used that, then it was fairly easy to deal with.
One rather delightful perk was that he was building a rather good reputation among the women in the castle. Apparently Earth men were much more capable sexually than the dark age men of Alexandria. Porn and advanced anatomy knowledge was quite the boon. Or simply he had finally built up enough experience over the decades to get the job done right. With most people's experience being limited to marriage, he had a definite advantage. If not for that, the boredom and stress from being a knight would have driven him crazy, he was sure. After all, he was a writer and yet he was kept from his beloved profession in favour of something far more physically taxing. Books were worth their weight in gold here, the nobles and merchants read, so there wasn't the customer base in this country to be a writer, nor the support to have books copied, sold, etc... It was this lack that likely made plays so popular here from the royalty down to the commoners.
'Heh, commoners, like I'm not one myself.' Mark internally chuckled as he stood about two meters to the right of the Princess's right she was being measured for a new dress, apparently she was to go on a state visit with her mother next month and it was to be made in the local style. Given Alexandrian dresses, particularly the royal ones, were rather lovely, it seemed her majesty had an inferiority complex in regards to the technological and cultural superiority that was Lindblum, in many ways it was on par with a city in his original world, their airships were awesome, though they lacked electricity, their use of mist to power technology that was centuries ahead of the other nations was very impressive, though it was mostly limited to travel and weaponry. Still he loved the air ships, unlike the superior plane, there was a rather delightful and adventurous charm about these mist powered crafts. He looked forward to flying on Baku's...well before it crashed into evil forest anyway.
"Well, your highness," said the castle's head seamstress, several pins handing dangerously from her mouth, with no fear of the choking hazard, something that never failed to unsettle Mark, even in his own world, before making it as a writer, he had spent seven years selling overpriced suits and high end brands catering to big and tall men at a place in Brighton, he also shopped there. Still even then... pins in the mouth, gross.
"Yes?" Garnet replied.
"I've got all of your measurements, we'll let you know when it's ready," the Seamstress replied. Claudia, level 6, it read above her head, at least to Mark's eyes.
"Of course, thank you for your time," Garnet replied, stepping down from the stool. She went off to get back into her usual attire, while Mark patiently waited with Claudia.
"So you're the new knight I've been hearing about?" she asked as she put away her tapes, and finally spitting out the pins. Mark was glad for that, but he didn't like the look she was giving him.
"Yes, ma'am," Mark politely replied.
"I'll trust you keep your hands to yourself," she said. Mark gave her a puzzled look, so it wasn't the Goblin attack or the circumstances in which he joined the Knights of Pluto, but of his rather impressive run of sexual conquests. Though conquests implied he never got approached, which was far from the truth, especially lately. Some of the single knights of Pluto, had gotten quite jealous on the matter. One had painted his armour pink. Hours of scrubbing aside, it had actually been quite funny.
Claudia was a severe looking woman, a little older than what he usually went for, but not out of his strike range, but then he hadn't paid her much attention, so what was she talking about? "You're not really my type, so don't worry," he replied.
That served to irritate her more, but not for the reason he would have thought.
"I expect you to behave around the Princess, remember your -!" Mark had drawn his sword and had it inches from her throat, she froze, eyes wide. He instantly realised what she had meant, because he was something of a ladies' man in this world, that meant he was a danger to the Princess, but this world's age of consent aside, if they weren't legal by his country's standards, in his original world, then they could fuck off.
"Don't forget your place," Mark said with deceptive calm, while his grey eyes burning into her brown ones. "I am a knight, a protector, if you imply such a thing again, your head will leave your shoulders, do you understand?"
She nodded.
He sheathed his sword, a faintly steely his to accompany the action.
"She is a child in my eyes, Claudia, before being a princess, before being pretty, that is what is important, I am probably old enough to be her father, and it is my job to protect her, I will never do such a thing."
"I apologise, but we've had many problems with male soldiers in the past, it is one of the reasons that since the King's death, this kingdom's military has been almost exclusively female, save for Steiner and his unit as he is one of our most famous soldiers. But you are an outsider, and Treno is a city of crime and corruption, and that is your place of birth..."
"Someone put you up to this, didn't they?" Mark said in realisation, a little of his anger dwindling.
Her eyes widening slightly. So he was right. Beatrix maybe? Her little sister had been talking to him a lot as of late, that could be it, the General had knocked him out for saving the brat, she got too jealous and overprotective far too easily, or maybe someone just didn't trust a bodyguard of a young girl that slept with anything (legal) that was up for it. Probably that.
"Tch!"
Mark turned to the changing rooms at the other side of the room, their words had been little more than harsh whispers, hopefully she hadn't heard anything.
"Observe and test all you like, I'm just here to do my job," his hand absently brushed the hilt of his short sword. "But my earlier threat still holds." Mark then raised his voice, "Princess, are you ready?"
No answer.
Mark glanced to her, "check, please."
She passed, giving him a wide berth, she pulled back the dividing cloth a little, and then swore, she yanked it back to show me. The Princess was not there. She must have heard their argument, and used it as a chance to sneak away. For once Mark wasn't pleased about her sneaking off.
"Bugger!"
Garnet had spent a good hour or so swimming in the moat that divided the castle from the rest of the walled city before Steiner found her, with Mark hanging on the larger knight's back by the scruff of his shirt, like some human sized sack of pickles. After finally giving into Steiner's calls, she returned to land, shivering but exhilarated, her clothes stuck to her like a second skin, as she didn't like the idea of getting caught without. It was remarkable how much water her shoes could absorb, squelching all the way. Her happiness dimmed slightly when she saw the nasty bruise on Mark's cheek, and much of it was badly swollen, he had been hit because she had snuck off while he guarded her alone during her fitting. Usually she delighted in her small rebellions, for once she felt bad.
"He appears to be safe to continue as one of the main guards for the Princess, your Majesty," said Claudia as she knelt before the Queen. "Even when in her undergarments, he kept focused on myself, evaluating me as a possible threat, when I made a slight accusation he immediately grasped my full meaning and grew angry with me, but coolly dismissed my accusations and affirmed his loyalty to the crown. He also drew a sword on me, and in his gaze I saw that I had deeply offended him, enough that he considered killing me, I do not believe it was an act. We do not need to worry, despite the rumours of his being a ladies' man, he doesn't target women below a certain age, from the women we know have slept with him, this age is no younger than twenty, and most were closer to thirty."
"Good, most of the Pluto knights are incompetent, having another that is reliable is most helpful," replied Queen Brahne. "But when it comes to my beloved daughter..." she trailed off.
"Of course, your majesty," replied Claudia. "I understand, I have children myself, we do get a little over protective."
After the seamstress left, the Queen chuckled to herself. 'Beloved daughter? It isn't even mine.' Recalling when the child and dead mother had washed up on the shore. Her husband, always too kind for his own good had adopted her and hidden her true origins, annoyingly removing her summoner's horn. But it would not hinder her plans at all. When a virgin of the summoner tribe turned sixteen years, they awakened to their Eidolon, or Eidolons in Garnet's case, she had many of them slumbering within her, including the mightiest, Bahamut the dragon king.
For that reason the purity of her daughter was essential, at least until her mages Zorn and Thorn conducted the extraction ritual after the public birthday celebrations, at the stroke of midnight to make sure they didn't try to early, she would be drained, and her mind wiped of the experience, and she would never know the power she had held. Then she could be married off to some noble, perhaps even to Kuja, the Treno noble who had been helping her with new weapons, the artificial black mages.
Black mages were the deadliest type of magic user and thanks to Kuja's methods they could now be mass produced, no more would she need to risk her fellow women, and when these soldiers died, no one cried, no one cared, for they were little more than dolls powered by mist, the dregs of souls. These black mages would give her the edge against the other nations of the mist continent, and with the power to summon, Brahne could use fear to keep them beneath her heel, and one day even the landmasses beyond the mist, the ultimate empire. With that power, even the mighty Kuja could be easily handled, if he was foolish enough to challenge her down the line, she expected it in fact.
"Only eighteen months to go," the Queen mused. So much and so little time.
(The Queens Ann pub, the west lows)
Mark, not wearing his armour, though he kept a Goblin dagger strapped to his belt - just in case, and was currently in the midst of his twenty-third cup of mead, or grog, or whatever the cheap swill was, but at least the cups were huge, easily a pints worth by modern terms. The alcohol content was not especially high, but he had drunk continuously for the last few hours, and managed a pleasant level of drunkenness, not merriment as he was still in a terrible mood. It had been the Queen of all things that had prompted the seamstress, they wanted to test his body language to seeing the Princess partially undressed, and his reaction to being accused. It seemed that now he was trusted to do his job, and he appreciated that it was guarding a princess, but it really, really, really pissed him off. As a teen, he often got worried looks from women, just because they walked in the same direction, it annoyed him then and it annoyed him now. The lack of trust, the assumption that he was dangerous, well he was, but not the reason they thought, combat dangerous, not sexually, and until his twenties he had always been extremely shy when around women he fancied or just found extremely attractive. No danger there.
'No!' he thought shaking his mind from that line of thought, today's events had angered him greatly, and thinking about home made him sad. Mark downed the lot, and immediately ordered another. He went another hour before calling it quits, stumbling about on unsteady feet, he made his way back. He passed several building and took a right towards one of the smaller side entrances for servants, the soldiers would likely reject him at the main gates, the cold air would hopefully sober him enough. He paused to throw some of it up, and went on his way, and then - !
Suddenly he was struck heavily from behind and crumpled to the cobblestones, dazed he looked up to see several of the local pick pockets standing over him, one had been in the pub, so the Mark had been marked, he'd spent enough money that they assumed he was worth robbing. Then the adrenaline kicked in, and he booted one in the leg, something cracked, they screamed and dropped, he drew his goblin dagger and slashed them against the chest. Mark tried to get up, but he was hit in the head again and the dagger kicked from his grip, he tried to cast a healing spell, but they stomped that idea away.
And for the first time since he got here, he truly snapped and lost control of himself, he felt a surge of power as his fury leant him strength.
Trance activated!
His body glowed briefly, his hair lengthening, flowing like it was alive, they paused, startled. A mistake. Balmung came flooding from his body, three quick slashes and the mythic weapon from his Grey Faction books faded away and their bodies crumpled to the floor in a bloody heap. Dead.
Game Alert: 400 XP gained, level up to 11. 2441xp until next level up.
"Just like that..." Mark muttered in shock at the almost forgotten chime in his head as he levelled up. He cast Cure on himself and his injuries disappeared. He ran away and quickly made his way back to the castle, the fight and healing spell had burned away his buzz so he was let back in no problem, thankfully his shirt was black and in the dim light the blood stains were not noticeable.
It was hours later, as dawn approached, after washing himself and his bloody clothes, when it really occurred to him, when he had save the general's sister, he had gotten a lot of experience points, and earlier today, the same thing happened, he levelled up. Humans were no different from monsters, he could use both for level grinding.
'I can still do it,' he thought, make it to a high enough level to do something. It would require killing humans, but this wasn't his world, and if he kept an eye out for criminals when not on duty, he could save a lot of time, and make the world a better place. He had always thought his world's legal systems were too soft, in the world of magic and swords, he could play at judge, juror, and executioner. How was he supposed to save the world if he was low level? There were plenty of human enemies in this game, and the black mages were arguably human as well. What was the harm?
CHAPTER END
Next chapter: The back street killer
A/N: Hi guys, thanks for being patient, hope you enjoyed this new chapter. Story's finally ramping up to something darker, and of course the state visit, so cometh Cid!
BTW: I'm looking for some possible OC ideas, if you want to be in the story as a minor character, let me know, I will need a lot of OCs over the next 4 - 5 chapters. They'll need to be one of the following:
Female Alexandrian soldiers, any of the staff on the Red Rose, kitchen workers, engineers, (any gender) Cid's servants, knights, etc...
Name of Character:
Name of person who submitted idea:
Physical description of character:
Personality description of character:
Preferred job/role in story:
Mark's character stats(End of Chapter 9)
Character class: Wizard Knight / Pluto Knight X
Level: 11, 2441xp until next level up.
HP: 576 / 576
MP: 687 / 693
Strength: 28
Speed: 22
Spirit: 39
Magic Defence/Defence: 22
Magic: 53
Magic Evasion/Evasion: 11
Weapon:
Headwear:
Armour:
Accessory
Skills: Minus Strike
Abilities: Bright Eyes, Level Up, Man Eater, Bug Killer
Magic: Poison, Regen, Sleep, Panacea, Osmose, Protect, Cure
Trance: Balmung strike
Items: 1 phoenix down, Antidote, 13 Goblin Steak, Traveller's cloak, Isekai ring, silk shirt, lots of regular clothes.
Gil: 743