77 Chapter Seventy-Seven – Heart of a Paladin (1/2)

The trail was not hard to follow, given how the Warped hardly cared for the environment, and were prone to lashing out randomly at things around them, as if leaving a scar on the pristine forest affirmed their existence in the face of their slavery to their dark gods.

The way was also dotted with the occasional carcasses of Warp Wolves, which were set alight in passing and most of the scavengers seemed to be reluctant to get involved with. The Rangers might have warned the forest, Briggs mused to himself.

”How does she run so fast?” Estemar called out from behind him, where Briggs' Vajra could slipstream for him. He had to wear his helm to breathe easily in the face of the air flowing past.

”Remember your movement rate?” Briggs said over his shoulder.

”30!” the young paladin replied quickly.

”Hers is about 55, I reckon, and then she knows the Waveskating Steps, which is the Ocean Dragon Lightfoot style. Being a Ten means three advances in it, each increasing your speed by a third of your base. So, twice the speed.”

”110?” the boy protested at the number.

”Yep. For comparison, a really fast racing horse is about 90.”

”Mithar!” He didn't try to hide his amazement. ”Can, can I learn to run that fast?”

”Well, not in armor. Potentially, sure. But it's a waste of time for you.”

”Waste? Why?” Briggs could tell the lad was dreaming of zipping around at the incredible speeds Sama was moving at.

”Oh, because you're Powered. You can learn to FLY faster than this,” Briggs informed him blandly.

The young man fell silent, as his eyes grew a little wider, the cracks in his own view of his limitations starting to open.

”While we're on that subject… it's not going to happen if you continue advancing as a knight,” Briggs said loftily.

Estemar blinked, dreams of flight crashing down onto the back of a charger. ”What? Why?”

”Because then it'll be your mount doing the flying most of the time, instead of you. And yes, there is a difference. It can fly really fast, but you, you'll just learn to fly… slowly.” Briggs made a gesture. ”You'll be dependent on your mount. It's an aspect of training as a cavalier. Without the mount, you lose a lot. Gain a lot at the low levels, but at the higher… eh!”

Estemar thought that over. ”You… want me to abandon my training as a knight?” He asked, his tone deepening.

”Yes. It's not appropriate for a Paladin, and your Paladin oaths supersede all others.”

Estemar's mouth opened and closed, blinking. While that was true about the Oaths, ”Inappropriate?!” he had to ask.

”Mithar is not a cavalier. He is a horseman, but he is renowned as a swordsman, and the lance is a secondary weapon. Mithar fights Sword and Board by preference, although he uses other weapons as appropriate.

”You want to follow in Mithar's footsteps, you have the choice of following his heart, in Thunder, or Mitharn Style, a master of Sword and Board. Being a cavalier is following the path of Valus… you pursue glory, you charge to battle, and you challenge the biggest foe mindlessly. The General of the Heavenly Host does not fight that way, the Champion does.”

Estemar blinked again on hearing this. It was all orthodox, but a very, very strange way of looking at it.

”Or, to put it another way, how many Paladins in that Order you belonged to?”

Estemar found himself licking his lips. ”I… there are a couple of others…” he managed to say.

”And I daresay they aren't in leadership positions, because they aren't Champions.” Estemar found himself nodding.

”But I cannot foreswear my oaths to the Order,” he began, and Briggs waved him to silence.

”I'm not asking you to betray the Order or anything,” he snapped, miffed at being misunderstood. ”I'm asking you to change the way you train, to a road appropriate for the skills and mindset of a Paladin of Mithar, and not train like you're going to be a Champion of Valus.”

Estemar flushed. ”What then, are you recommending?”

”You're still a Three, you still have time to change your Primary Class,” Briggs said in his voice, so deep for his age. ”There are four primary combat roads. The first is the Melee Fighter, which is what I and Sama follow. There is the Cavalier, which you are being trained as. There is the Berserker, which is how savages prefer to train. And there is the Dragon Warrior, who wields profound arts and chi powers, the favored path of the Powered melee combatant.

”I recommend you follow the Melee Path, which is Mastery of Sword and Board, or the Dragon Warrior path, which is Mastery of Thunder.”

Estemar closed his eyes in thought, opened them. ”I know very little about the path of a Dragon Warrior. I have heard about martial artists wielding great powers, but they are not common hereabouts.”

”Mmmm. Well, Valus and Mithar both share mastery of the Thunder Dragon, the Heaven Challenging style. It focuses on bringing out the righteous power of the soul, combining the powers of man, world, and heaven to strike out at those that would defile Creation. It is robust, active, physical, and can only be used by those whose heart beats true.” Briggs smacked his chest. ”I know some of the lesser skills of Thunder, the true basics. The greater powers of Chi-usage are naturally denied me as a Source.”

Estemar had been agog when he heard Briggs talk about Sources, Nulls, and Voids earlier, having never heard such things before in his life. He was torn between pity that they could never feel the bond with the Divine that he could… and a weird feeling of appreciation that the gods could not hear or bother them, which they took as quite the benefit. The fact that they had a true choice on who to serve, knew it, and knew that they would never get a direct reward for making that choice was a stirring idea, he had to admit.