Lady Knight had never been so anxious in her entire life.
She had faced down trolls, bandits, manticores and many other fearsome foes in battle. She had stepped into the halls of many respected noble houses and the holiest sanctuaries of the gods. She had been trapped in the darkest of dungeons, surrounded by danger and terror at every angle. Lady Knight, a Silver Ranked Adventurer who had earned her rank after many Adventurers, had faced down a great many things. Yet none of those trials intimidated her more than what faced her now.
"Young knightess, step fourth and present yourself for your judgement."
Fighting down her nervousness, Lady Knight stepped forward until she was in the center of the training ground in the courtyard of the guild hall. Her nerves were further agitated by the knowledge that the eyes of the Guild staff members and every present Adventurer, including those of her own party, were watching her from the side lines. Everyone she knew at the guild, including Heavy Swordsman, was watching her at this very moment.
Standing before her were two Paladins from the Water Town. Two of the wisest, bravest and most fair of all Champions of the Supreme God. Hammer Paladin, a tall muscular man with a most magnificent moustache wielding a hammer of incredible size, and Lance Paladin, an athletic blonde woman carrying both a lance and a heavy shield, regarded Lady Knight with calculating eyes.
Lady Knight had spent all day being tested by these two Paladins in both mind and body to see if she was worthy of being ordained as a Paladin of the Supreme God. Tests of her swordsmanship and skill at Adventuring were interspaced with assessments of her character, virtue and will. Since the crack dawn, Lady Knight had been tested under the light of the holy sun as she had never been before.
Now, these tests had concluded, and Lady Knight would now know if she had been found worthy.
If she had, then respect, power and prestige would follow. The miracles of the Supreme God would enable her to achieve more than her swordsmanship would allow during her quests. Everyone in the guild would know the Gods themselves watched over her. And Heavy Swordsman would… would…
…
But if she was found wanting? Lady Knight's eyes flicked over to where the small crowd was watching her from nearby, and knew if she failed than humiliation and teasing would follow. Granted those that felt pity for her would buy her free drinks out of sympathy, something she would milk for all it was worth, but Lady Knight knew the rabble would never let her live this down.
"Young knightess," Hammer Paladin began once Lady Knight had knelt before them, as was expected of her, "We thank you for your patience. We have conducted a rigorous assessment of your suitability to be a admitted to the Brotherhood of Paladins of the Supreme God."
"Though many trials, we have assessed your skill and your character," Lance Paladin continued, her face so stern it seemed like it was carved out of stone, "For a Paladin must not only be capable of defending the weak, but also must present themselves with good character at all times."
The two continued to drone on for a fair bit more. From where she knelt with her head bowed two the two Paladins, Lady Knight had to fight down the urge to leap up and tell them to get to the point. She couldn't of course, for patience and respect were two of the Supreme God's most valued virtues, but at the rate these two were going the anticipation was going to be the death of her!
Thankfully, they didn't drone on for too long, and soon they had gotten to the part Lady Knight had been waiting the whole day for: their assessment to see if she was worthy.
"As far as tests of the body go, I can confirm that you are more than capable," Hammer Paladin stated favorably, "Your swordsmanship is impeccable. In all honesty, I have never met a candidate that could wield both sword and great shield with as much finesse and grace as you have. In both your ability to destroying evil and protecting the innocent, there is no doubt."
"Thank you, Sir!" Lady Knight said, hope welling in her heart.
"However, we have found that there are many issues in terms of your character after having seen you go through the tests of virtue." Lance Paladin accessed harshly.
"That is unfortunate to hear, Ma'am." Lady Knight said, feeling that hope shriveling up in her heart.
"Indeed. Our interviews with your colleagues in the Adventurers Guild have indicated several character traits that would make you unsuitable for our blessed Order," Lance Paladin continued mercilessly, "You have been known to drink to excess after every Adventure, crave worldly belongings like gold and treasure, and lust after the object of your affections in private without seizing your courage to let the truth be known."
Lady Knight was so mortified by what Lace Paladin had just said, in front of the entire Guild no less, she couldn't even muster the strength to make a rebuttal.
Instead her mind was quickly going through the list of possible culprits from the Guild who could have been the one to besmirch her good name and, worse, blurt out her crush on Heavy Swordsman to the assessors. Whether she made the cut or not, Lady Knight resolved that she was going to find them and… well, if she became a Paladin, she would give them a 'very stern talking to', as a Champion of the Supreme God had standards to adhere to.
If she didn't, though, all bets were off.
"Gluttony, Greed and Lust. While your courage, compassion and willingness to protect and serve are commendable, these aspects of your personality are hinderances to the work of a Paladin," Lance Knight firmly assessed the Knightess before her, "While there is no doubt in our minds you are a force of great good, a Paladin of the Supreme God must be more. Must be greater."
"We cannot deny your worth as a warrior, and your deeds are many and true," Hammer Paladin said "However, your Character has both flaws and virtues, and this complicates matters greatly. Of the standard of character expected of a Paladin, we are sad to say you do not meet it."
Oh, by the Supreme God. Lady Knight knew was going to fail. She was going to fail and everyone in the guild was going to see her humiliation. Witch and Spearman were going to tease her forever, the Trainee Team were going to lose all respect for her, the Guild was going to strip her of her rank and boot her back down to Porcelain for not being a trustworthy adventurer, and Heavy Swordsman would never partner with her again! Her life was ruined!
"However, as you know, there have been revelations in the Churches of Order as of late," Hammer Paladin informed the kneeling Knight, "That we have been told many have been too stringent in our adherence to dogma instead of the spirit of the teachings. The Earth Mother's church, for example, has discovered a Chosen Champion of their Goddess is in fact a Zombie."
Did… did Zombie Priestess just somehow manage to give Lady Knight a saving throw by just existing? If this managed to save Lady Knight's career, Lady Knight was going to track down Zombie Priestess and… and… well, not Smite Undead using her new Paladin powers, because that would be very bad, but bake a really, really nice cake for her or something.
Or maybe a new set of armor, like one of those skimpy things sold in the Guild Blacksmith. Lady Knight had heard those armors were good for female Adventurers trying to catch the eye of a man, and there was a rumor going around that Zombie Priestess was sweet on the man who had brought her back to life. Granted Zombie Priestess' body wouldn't be able to pull off the look very well, but it was the thought that counted right?
Wait, the Paladins were still talking. Focus, Focus, Focus!
"As such, considering our assessment of you was only a borderline fail, we have decided to leave it up to the judgement of the Supreme God himself to judge whether you are worthy." Hammer Knight declared while Lance Knight raised her lance skyward beside him.
"Oh, Supreme God! God of all that is Good and Just in the land!" Lance Knight bellowed as holy light began to emit from her lance, illuminating the grounds, "Send us a sign of your judgement as to whether this Knightess is worthy of becoming one of your Champions on this Earthly Realm!"
Lady Knight, still kneeling, could not help raise her head to watch in awe as the holy light filled the courtyard. Would the Supreme God really answer this call? If so, that meant the Supreme God himself had personally assessed Lady Knight, as opposed to mere representatives. Lady Knight was now more nervous than ever, unable to calm herself.
What would his assessment of her be now, having deemed her as unworthy for so many years? Would the Guild allow her to continue if a God himself dismissed her? What would the sign be?
All these questions raced through Lady Knight's mind as she waited for some heavenly sign…
-SPLAT!-
…which came in the form of the mangled body of a Goblin falling from the heavens and crashing right in between the space between two Paladins and the Knightess they were assessing. Incidentally, the mangled corpse landed with such force it exploded with a ripe tomato, sending its blood flying and splattering Lady Knight in a nice hue of red Goblin guts.
There was a long moment of silence as everyone processed this turn of events. Then…
"Well, I can't think of a clearer message from the Supreme God," Lance Paladin shrugged, "You fail."
Lady Knight fell to her knees, in unable to believe that the Supreme God was so disgusted with her he deemed it right to splatter her with Goblin guts. It was one thing for him to reject her, but for him to rub salt in the wound like this was too much for the Knightess to bear.
"Wait, my sister in battle. I think there is more the Supreme God wants to convey," Hammer Knight suddenly said as he caned his head skyward, his face turning pale as he noticed something in the night sky. A lot of somethings in the night sky, that also happened to be falling very fast, "I… I think we should get indoors. Like now."
"What do you mean by that, bro-"
-SPLAT-
A second falling Goblin slammed into the side of the Guild hall, splattering itself all over the side of the pristine paintwork. What remained of the Goblin then slid down the wall, leaving a trail of red on the side that was could have passed for art.
-SPLAT-
A third Goblin's trajectory carried it right into one of the windows of the Guild itself, breaking through the window and then crashing into the tables and chairs inside the main mess hall, and making a right mess while it was at it.
-SPLAT-
A fourth Goblin smacked into a hastily thrown up shield by Witch who where it had almost slammed into the crowd of onlookers. The dead corpse collapsed into a head before their feet where every one of them could get a really good look at it.
-SPLAT-
-SPLAT-
-SPLAT-
"Wow, that's a lot of dead Goblins." Someone said.
"It's raining Goblins!" One of the rookies yelled out in alarm, "Everyone run for your lives!"
And with that, the courtyard of the Guild hall, and the entire Frontier Town for that matter once news of the Goblin Rain had spread, descended into anarchy.
"The Supreme God answered with a RAIN of Goblins? You are SO not worthy!" Lance Paladin hissed as she, Hammer Paladin and Lady Knight ran for cover, the latter streaming tears down her face the entire time.
"Um, are you sure it is okay to let Undead Ogre smack all those Goblins into the distance?" Cow Girl said from the safety of the Barn as she watched the Undead General send Goblin after Goblin flying into the distance with his club like he was a golfer on a driving range, "I mean, I think he's sending the Goblin in the direction of the town. What if the Goblins land there and start a panic?"
"I would not worry too much." Undead Master replied with a shrug. "The town is far enough away that the Goblins will land long before they reach there. He is strong, but not that strong."
"If you're sure, I guess it is okay," Cow Girl accepted her childhood friend's explanation and turned back to watch the battle unfolding before her, "Wow, that's a lot of Dead Goblins, isn't it?"
"Yes, there are," Undead Master agreed with pure satisfaction in his voice, "Yes, there are."
And all was right in the world… well, almost.
"Ah, that one went straight up." Cow Girl observed.
"Not completely straight," Undead Master noted, "There's a slight angle to it, so it isn't going to come down directly where it was launched."
"I see. Well, it's starting to fall towards… oh, dear." With a crash, the Goblin Champion smashed through the skylight of the wing of the mansion containing the pool. "That's bad, isn't it?"
"Don't worry, my teammates will handle it."
A/N – FYI, I had planned this to be the opening paragraph of an entirely new chapter, but after some thought I decided to let it stand on its' own as it is because the POV is based off a character we won't be returning to for a while. Hope everyone enjoyed this little side jaunt!