Chapter 1:Trip to Payon
In
The bustling streets of Prontera, always filled with vendors and
buyers, a person stood in the middle of the crowd-a priest and the
best priest Midgard had ever seen nonetheless. His Blonde hair
lightly fell over his auburn eyes and his swordmace hung dangling
from his waist as he childishly swung from side to side out of sheer
boredom.
"Father Ranulf we are ready to leave." politely
said a young light brown-haired acolyte.
"Thank you
Sigmund." answered the Priest.
The priest followed the
acolyte towards the south gates of Prontera where a group of priests
and the Archbishop were outside of Pecopeco drawn carriages.
"Late
again ey Ranulf." Said the Archbishop in a joking manner. Ranulf
always had great respect for the Archbishop. He listened to the
Archbishop's teachings so passionately then making conclusions that
surpassed even the years of the elder priests
"I humbly beg
of your forgiveness Archbishop Monomer. I didn't realize the time,"
answered Ranulf.
"Apology accepted" said Monomer briskly.
"As long as we didn't get postponed for to long. Come on now the
Chief-of-Payon's daughter is getting married ,and I am celebrating
it." said the Archbishop as he urged everybody to heighten their
pace.
Ranulf stepped inside one of the carriages and picked a
comfortable seating place since it was two days ride to Payon.
The
king's carriage left first. Followed by the Archbishop's, then
the others.
Ranulf looked away from the window then to the
people with him on the carriage. Beside him sat Sigmund his
apprentice who was skimming through the pages of his bible, He so
longed to be a priest and it wouldn't be long enough until he did
with all the work he was putting into it. In front of him sat his
long time friend and colleague Anna. How the sun highlighted her
honey blonde-hair, which she wore in a free ponytail that a stellar
hairpin held intact. Beside her sat Augustus the Pronteran Army's
General his dark brown hair hidden beneath his helm while his bushy
beard covered his manly, square chin .His build was muscular that
expected of Vit knights his fire lance firmly gripped with his right
hand more than ready to be lodged into anything that seemed a threat
to the king.
"Does anybody know who the Chief-of-Payon's
daughter is marrying?" asked Ranulf eager to begin a
conversation.
"Some Noble Man from Izlude I hear," said
Sigmund shutting his bible.
"She's marrying Cornelius
Vanderbilt's Son Claudius," said Anna "I heard around two
thousand guests have been invited" she added.
"Goodness me"
reacted Augustus joining the conversation.
"Even the elders from
Geffen are coming," continued Anna.
"Finally! Getting some
time away from their books Ey," joked Augustus making everybody
laugh.
"Just don't mention that in front of them wizards Lord
Augustus you know how proud those Geffenese are" warned Sigmund.
"Not to mention powerful" Ranulf added.
"Yes...yes...Of
course," answered Augustus.
They all continued with their
conversations until night came and made them sleepy. All of them
slept except Augustus who stood watch over the king's
carriage.
"Ranulf was awoken by the sudden halt of the
carriage's movement.
"We're here at last," said Anna.
The
coachman opened the door. One by one they went down Ranulf at the
back. As he stepped unto the lane where the carriage stopped he
surveyed the eastern inspired architecture of Payon. He couldn't
help but take pleasure in the peaceful and solute environment that
was very different from Prontera's hot, noisy and crowded one.
The
chief of Payon stood by the lane where they were unloaded waiting to
welcome the King and Archbishop.
"Hullo Tristiam, Monomer"
said the chief of Payon.
"Nice to see you again Nagai,
Congratulations on your daughter's marriage" said the
King.
"Thank you Tristiam. Come on in, we don't need to
converse here outside Cornelius and Regina Vanderbilt already arrived
an hour ago there is just enough time for a little chat."
Nagai
and King Tristiam walked up the gigantic stairs towards Payon castle
accompanied by Augustus and the Royal guard while Monomer stayed
behind for a while to give his instructions.
"We arrived
five hours earlier than intended." said the Archbishop "You can
do whatever you want just don't wander away to far.
Understand?"
The three nodded their heads.
Monomer
understood what this meant so he followed Nagai and the King up the
colossal steps.
"Well...I'll go look at the sites Payon
has to offer," said Anna, then she sped off towards the direction
of the Payonese fortuneteller eager to reprimand her of idolatry.
"I
shall view the accommodations to our quarters Father Ranulf" said
Sigmund before he left as well.
Ranulf being the kind of
person who puts leveling up at the top of the list decided to go to
Payon cave and train.
He went up to Archer village towards the
entrance of the cave. At the foot of the entrance he whispered a
spell "Increase Agi" his body lessened in weight gradually until
it seemed that he was lighter than air .He bolted through levels one,
two and three not being detected by the aggressive monsters. He did
this not of the fact that he wanted to run away from the monsters but
the monsters at level one to three of Payon cave were an insult to
his power. Finally, he used his foot as a brake and skidded a few
centimeters from the ground because of the force of his sudden halt.
He readied his swordmace and muttered a few more buffing spells
"Blessing" Cherubims circled above his head he felt a sudden
boost up in his strength, intelligence and dexterity. "Angelus"
the sound of bells could be heard in the air as his defense improved
to a great extent. "Ipositio Manus" his spell amplified the
damage of his weapon. For his last spell he muttered "Aspersio"
he blessed his swordmace of the holy property giving it a higher
damage against undead monsters, which were very abundant in level
four. With both himself and his weapon buffed he stepped into level
four.
About twenty munaks jumped out immediately. Ranulf
wasn't scared he wasn't called the best priest Midgard ever seen
for nothing. He had once faced an army of undead in glast hiem all by
himself. A smirk appeared on his face as he tightened his grip on his
swordmace He jumped towards the Munaks and started beating every
single one of them
The munaks poised for attack palms open,
lifeless eyes that seemed staring into your soul. A munak quickly
jumped in front of Ranulf performing a roundhouse kick. Ranulf
quickly shifted his weight to his side and flung his foot up the
munaks gut. The munak fell on the floor only to be followed by a
swordmace to the face. The other munaks wailed at the sight of their
battered comrade they immediately ran at high velocity like
ninjas.
Arms, palms, fists, and feet were being flung at
Ranulf .He easily evaded these by slanting to the sides out of the
way of the kicks and punches. Ranulf slashed his swordmace sending
three munaks clutching their stomachs. He balanced on one foot and
bent over backwards hitting the munak behind him with his swordmace
and hitting the one in front with his foot. Two munaks ran on both
directions one skidded on the floor, foot aimed for Ranulf's shins
while the other one jumped into the air, foot aimed for his head. He
somersaulted up in the air dodging the attack causing the two munaks
to hit each other instead.
His munak killing spree was
interrupted by a cry of help from a woman
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP"
shouted an archer girl who was running from a gigantic mob of
bonguns. She bumped into Ranulf and fell on her but.
"Please
help me Mr. Priest," she begged.
Ranulf looked at the archer
girl and was immediately captivated with her beauty. Wavy brown hair
gently resting on her shoulders, deep green eyes for the moment
filled with tears, And light pink lips upon her fair skin. Ranulf
couldn't help but save her. He got a blue gem from his pocket then
shouted "Magnus Exorcismus" a blinding flash of lilac light
flashed on the area where they were standing and all the munaks and
bonguns fell on the ground in one perfectly unrehearsed thud.
The
archer girl had closed her eyes as she thought that she would be
killed by the bonguns but when she opened them and saw all the
bonguns and munaks were laying face down on the floor she realized
what happened.
"Thank you Thank you thank you!" squealed
the archer girl as threw herself to hug the priest and gave him
kisses
"Your we...welcome" stuttered Ranulf who began to
blush
"I am at your debt" said the archer girl as she
bowed before the priest
Ranulf bended his knees to level the
archer girl's bow then touched her face "Might I know the pretty
lady's name?" he asked
The archer girl surprised to hear
this looked up at the priest with an awestruck look on her
face
"Might I ask for your name?" repeated Ranulf
"Oh
m...me m...my n...n...name um....Its Atie NO! I mean Katie" mumbled
the archer girl
"What a beautiful name for such a beautiful
girl" said Ranulf as he kissed her hand
"Thank you
um..."
"Ranulf...Ranulf Filial"
"Katie ...Katie
Houlton"
The two shook their hands as a sign of
acquaintance
"You're here for the wedding aren't you?"
asked Katie
"Yes I am. How'd you know?"
"Well
we don't get many priests here and the only celebration that's
occurring is the wedding"
"How delightfully clever" said
Ranulf
Ranulf pulled out a pocket watch and was struck with
horror when he saw what time it was
"I'm sorry to leave so
soon but I'm afraid I'm already late" he said
"Yeah
okay I understand" answered Katie
"Well I hope to see you
again but if I don't have a nice life" said Ranulf as he walked
towards the exit
"Same to you!" shouted back Katie as she
watched Ranulf disappear into the portal
Chapter2: A step closer
Ranulf
ran out of the cave as fast as he could reaching the Archer
village
which was deserted most probably because the wedding had
already
started.
Ranulf ran towards Payon center. He used his foot as
a break once
again but this time around he wasn't as graceful as
before his foot
hit a rock and the force made him fall face first
on the ground. He
quickly got up hoping nobody noticed.
After
plucking out the twigs in his hair. He found Anna and Sigmund
and
sat beside them.
"Your late." said Anna through the side
of her mouth
"I'm sorry I went somewhere," said
Ranulf
"You have to admit father Ranulf being the best
priest Midgard has
ever seen doesn't excuse your habitual
tardiness," said Sigmund
"Yeah, I understand"
After
Monomer said "You may now kiss the bride" and everybody
clapped
the reception started
The Comodian dancers were performing up
on stage while the Bards
sang of Payonese myths and legends.
Tables of food and drink were set
up all over the place. Payon's
famed hospitality was more than proved
during this
reception.
Ranulf was sitting in his table drinking his wine
when a familiar
face caught his eye. Katie was standing there near
the entrance out of
her customary archers uniform. She was wearing
a snow white,
traditional Kimono. Her hair was tied up into a bun
keeping it out of
her face. Ranulf quickly finished his drink then
walked up to her.
"When I said hoped to see you again soon,
I expected more of a
month or two" said Ranulf flashing his most
debonair smile
"Perhaps the stars have destined us for each
other" said Katie
"Perhaps" answered Ranulf
"Would
you like to dance?" asked Katie as she started to blush
"Milady
I thought you'd never ask" said Ranulf extending out
his
arm
"Ooooh aren't we fiesty tonight" said Katie
accepting the hand
Ranulf and Katie walked up to the dance
floor and started dancing
The Bard switched from his
Honky-tonk tune and started to play a
slow song so Katie moved her
hand to Ranulf's shoulders
"I'm very happy that I met
you," she whispered in his ear
"So am I" answered
Ranulf
The two danced all night
When morning came
Ranulf woke up the smile on his face last night
still wasn't
wiped off
"What are you so happy about?" asked Anna as she
watched Ranulf
skipping down the steps with disgust
"O
nothing it's just a beautiful morning. Don't you agree?"
"Right"
said Anna in a sarcastic manner
Ranulf looked at Anna, his
smile finally gone. "Why do you have to
be so negative Anna?"
snapped Ranulf
"What are you talking about?" she
answered
"Oh come on, I come down here having such a
wonderful morning then
right away you go "What are you so happy
about" mocked Ranulf "Why do
you have to be such a B....
Witch"
"I beg your pardon!" shouted Anna getting up from
her chair
"Beg all you want your not getting my pardon until
you take your
mace out off your ass cause it seems that it's
very tightly shoved up
there, isn't it?"
The two
priests glared at each other with the outmost loathing.
Ranulf
took his eyes away from Anna and headed towards the door while
Anna
shot piercing looks at him while he went out
Sigmund had just
gone in the door when he bumped into with the
enraged priest
"G.... Good morning f...father Ranulf," said Sigmund
not
relatively sure if his choice of greeting was best
"Nothing
is Good with that accursed woman around!" howled Ranulf,
which
on the brighter side gave Sigmund the answer he was looking for.
It
was the wrong choice of greeting.
Ranulf was storming out of
the inn when a familiar voice drowned
his anger.
"Hey what're
you so angry about?" asked Katie now back to her
archer
uniform
"Oh nothing much. It's just that the fiery demon
of all things
evil and vile existing in the world has just wrecked
my perfect
morning causing me to miss breakfast because of a not
needed argument"
"Okay, Ill just pretend that I understood
that," said Katie
"Yeah I think it's better if you
pretend."
"So where you going this morning?" asked
Ranulf hoping to change
the conversation
"I have to go to
Alberta and exchange this bag of sweet potatoes
for some red
potions," said Katie pointing
"Do you need any help?"
"I
wouldn't want to waste your time"
"Nonsense. I have
nothing better to do today anyway, well at least
not anymore"
The
two exited the south gate of Payon Katie walking beside Ranulf
who
had the sack of sweet potatoes slung over his shoulder
Katie
was whistling a song while they were traveling
"What're
you whistling there?" asked Ranulf
"It's a Payonese song
my mother used to sing it to me before....
well before she
died"
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked," said
Ranulf feeling very
ashamed of himself
"No it's fine
really you didn't know. How bout you where're
you
parents?"
"Well.... believe it or not they died as
well"
"Oh my gosh I didn't mean to." Said Katie
clasping her mouth with
both her hands
"Hey now we're
even. But actually some would say it was for the
best since I only
became a priest so I could help people, so I could
prevent my love
ones from dying. And now I'm on the verge of becoming
the best
priest Midgard has ever seen.
"Whoa sounds like your life's
pretty much planned already. Not
like me though my life's a
wreck"
"Why'd you say that? I mean your beautiful,
smart, funny, not to
mention kind"
"No you're just
saying that. Stop teasing me"
"Honestly I had such a
terrible morning today but I forgot all
about it when I heard your
voice"
"That's very sweet of you," said Katie her face
turning pink
"Nothing is sweeter than you Katie," said
Ranulf flashing one of
his debonair smiles once again.
Katie
kissed Ranulf on the cheek then whispered a thank you in his
ear.
Ranulf stopped in his tracks a speechless; mouth agape look of
shock
was what you'd read from his face. Katie gave a flirty smile
then
sped of up the path. "You can't catch me Ranulf," she mocked.
"Oh
yeah you'll be sorry if I do" said Ranulf running up the
path after
her.
They chased each other finally reaching a
meadow. "I always knew
Priests weren't built for chased!"
shouted Katie fifteen meters ahead
of Ranulf "You better eat
those words!" shouted back Ranulf. He
dropped the sack of
potatoes and dashed towards Katie. "Still can't
catch me!"
shouted Katie "Increase Agility!" shouted Ranulf the
same
sensation of his body lessening in weight flowed through him.
"Hey
that's cheating!" shouted Katie but it was to late
Ranulf had whisked
pass and caught her. The two fell on the floor
from the force and
started to laugh.
"That was fun!"
exclaimed Katie finally catching her breath
Ranulf shifted his
position to an Indian sit
"What's a matter?" asked
Katie
"Oh nothing. It's just because at first I didn't
want to go to
Payon but now I cant imagine not meeting you
"Then
don't imagine it." Said Katie rapping her arms around
Ranulf
"Just cherish what we have and it will suffice"
Ranulf
put his hand on Katie's and whispered thank you in her ear
as
well.
