Star Paladin: A LitRPG Space Fantasy (Sword of Asteria Book 1) Read online

  She leaned against the wall; cut-off jean shorts and a white tank top was her attire of choice. Dianna wasn’t wearing a bra either, allowing her nipples to bleed through the top’s thin material, its left strap falling off her shoulder. Staring at her tits was worth getting shot over if Laurence found out.

  When Guy looked up from her chest, he glimpsed her half-smile, aimed right at him. He smiled back, glanced to the side, and couldn’t see Laurence or his son, Dave. Everyone was busy finalizing the trade—everyone except Guy and Dianna. He approached, acting as if he were inspecting the buggy full of the fresh farmed goods.

  “Hey,” Guy said after looking away from the buggy. “That ribbon looks nice.”

  Dianna motioned joyfully at him. “Thanks.”

  Guy touched the red ribbon adorning her blonde hair and gave it a quick stroke. “Scarlet silk,” he said. “From Vermilion VI, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “Some star-dwellers sold it to us a month ago,” Dianna said.

  “Ah, yes, those weird travelers and their starships,” Guy said. “That’s where we got his haul. Found it up north for cheap, figured you folks would be interested in it.”

  She giggled. “Liar.”

  And he just blew his chance.

  Guy stepped back. “What makes you say that?”

  Dianna smiled. “You’re a star-dweller too, aren’t you?”

  “What? Me? No!”

  “I think you are.”

  “Why?”

  She pointed at his belt. “You have a laser pistol holstered there, sir. No star-dweller would let us have their weapons, no matter what we offer them.”

  Guy looked at his belt and at his MK III G48 Laser pistol. He should have hidden it better. “Okay, you got me,” he said while throwing his hands up in defeat. “Name’s Guy Sutherland. And yes, I’m from the stars.”

  Another giggle. “Dianna. Nice to meet you, star-man.” She put her hands behind her back and swayed left to right slightly. “So, what’s it like?”

  “Up in the stars?”

  “Yeah,” she said and looked at the clear blue sky. “Tell me about it. Most of your kind comes to our world for trade, then leaves. You are the first who wanted to talk to me. And I have so many questions.”

  “It’s a secret, you know?”

  “Oh, c’mon. I’ll tell you a bit about me.”

  She was quick to open up too. Guy wondered if she’d be quick to open her legs for him when the time came. He kept smiling, hoping she’d maintain the one she was giving him. “Such as?”

  “Well, let’s see, hmm.” Dianna shut her eyes to think, touching her lower lip with her left index finger. She opened them. “Last week I had my eighteenth birthday.”

  And she was legal age—assuming legal age was even a thing on a planet like this.

  “Might take a while to exchange stories,” Guy said.

  “I got all day.” She sat on the grass below, patting an open space beside her. “Come sit with me.”

  He’d relax with her too if the buggy hadn’t started moving with the horse ahead of it, dragging it away. Dianna’s brother, Dave, was delivering the goods to Guy’s ship. He had less time on the planet than he thought.

  “Yeah, but I gotta make sure this haul gets aboard my starship,” Guy said. “Tell you what, if I’m ever in the sector again, I’ll see about visiting. It’s hard to manage a farm where I come from, you know? So, runs like this help keep us star folks fed.”

  “I’d like that.”

  He left her to sit alone. He didn’t want to, but soon his uncle would start yelling for Guy to get ready for takeoff, and he hadn’t even seen her yet. There was another woman Guy had to speak with. Guy traveled across the city, trying his best to blend in with the population despite having a laser blaster at his side. Thankfully, nobody caught wind of it. As far as the townspeople were concerned, Guy was a land-dweller like them and not a star-dweller from space.

  Guy arrived at the town’s library, his appearance hooking the attention of its lone librarian, Henrietta. She brushed aside a lock of her dark hair from her glasses. Henrietta smiled at Guy, her lips painted a deep red from lipstick likely delivered to the city from another space trader like him. Even the white top, black skirt, and pantyhose around her seductive legs didn’t originate from this planet, nor did the square-shaped glasses.

  “Hey, Henrietta.”

  Henrietta shut the book she was browsing as he approached. She clasped her hands together in excitement. “Oh, hello, Guy! You came back to our world! Say, did you?”

  “Bring it?”

  Guy reached into his coat’s hidden inside pocket and pulled out a PDA. He offered it to her and the sight of it forced her eyes to open wide. “This . . . is . . .” She took the device, pausing to recall how to work star-dweller technology.

  “You remember how to use PDAs, right?”

  “I think so.”

  It took her a minute to remember that she had to push the “on” button to bring power to the device. She fingered the PDA’s touch screen and scrolled through its contents.

  “That device has thirty books in it,” Guy said. “Thirty books that fit in your hand.”

  “The machina of the star people never fails to amuse me!” Henrietta said, her eyes staring in awe at the digital books on the PDA. “Wow! Wow! Wow!”

  She leaped up and down, her breasts shaking with each leap, her mouth almost salivating at the books.

  “So, did you?”

  Henrietta gasped, stopped jumping, and twirled on her heel to face Guy. “Oh, yes, yes! I have it!” Laying the PDA on her desk, she ran into the library. Guy followed behind while listening to the clicks of her heels. She came to a stop at a bookshelf, adjusted her glasses, then reached for the one book her eyes locked onto; she then pulled it out and handed it to Guy.

  “This is it,” Henrietta said, as Guy held the novel. “A story written by someone who knew the knowledge of ancient human entertainment called RPGs.”

  Guy glanced at its time-worn blurb, but could not read it owing to the years the book had been around. He opened it and flipped through the pages, happy to see that they were at least readable. It filled his mind with nostalgic thoughts, reminding him of the days when he was a kid. His mother had read him novels she had been interested in; most of them were about some Paladin on an epic quest. Like the book his mother had read him, the one he held was old, falling apart because of its age, written from the era when humanity had a homeworld. Wherever that was.

  “Thanks,” Guy said. “I’ll return it when I revisit this town.”

  “Take your time,” Henrietta said as she strolled back to her desk, her eyes locked on the PDA’s glowing touch screen. “What you gave me is worth the wait. Oh, are you leaving already?”

  “Yeah,” Guy answered, stopping ahead of the library’s exit. “I should check up on my uncle.”

  “Oh . . .” She looked down, her glasses almost slipping down her face. She pushed them back up with a single index finger. “Okay . . . then.”

  Guy’s ship, the Blue Star, was parked in a valley outside the city so that the land-dwellers couldn’t see it land or take off. The fewer land-dwellers who knew of the arrival of star-dwellers, the better. Land-dwellers wanted technology, medicine, and tools people like Guy had to trade, not realizing he had a limited supply of tech to exchange. Sometimes land-dwellers got rowdy if they couldn’t get the tech they required. Sometimes they did stupid shit to other land-dwellers if they learned one group got new toys and the other didn’t.

  He felt at home when he stepped aboard the Blue Star and sighed in relief. Gone was the sight of the low-tech settlement, replaced by the hums of Guy’s navigation computers, his laptop in his quarters, cabin lights on the ceiling, automatic sliding doors, and a cargo hold full of goods. They were ready for takeoff. So why the hell didn’t his uncle Matthew yell at Guy for being slow?

  On the bridge, Guy found his uncle pacing back and forth, mumbling to himself. The two made ey
e contact.

  “Uh,” Guy stroked the back of his head. “Sorry I’m late, Matthew.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, because you have everything stocked up and—”

  Matthew pulled out a sword he had strapped on his back. He didn’t have it when they were in town, making Guy wonder where Matthew got it. Matthew gave the sword’s blue glistening blade a long look, wincing at its exquisite design. “Very well, then.”

  “Uncle?”

  Holding the sword steady, Matthew approached Guy. “I don’t doubt you. It’s just . . .” Matthew looked at Guy, up and down. “I don’t think he’s ready.”

  “Who are you talking to?”

  Matthew handed Guy the sword. “I hope you know how to use it, Guy.”

  “Why do I need a fucking sword?”

  “Just take it.”

  He took it.

  As he held the blade’s hilt, he felt a surge of energy burn his hands. Guy’s world erupted in pain, causing him to drop to his knees then fall forward and face plant on the deck before blacking out.

  Astral circuit wiring commencing . . .

  What the fuck?

  You have selected the Paladin class. Please standby until astral circuit wiring completes.

  Chapter Two

  Xanthe Eisheth hated the winter. The noise snow made when your boots walked across it annoyed her. The cold air was worse and it trembled the raven wings on her exposed back—that was the other reason she loathed the cold. Xanthe’s attire could not cover her up completely. Impossible with feathered wings on your back. She imagined the fae folk were in the same position. Their clothing tops often lacked a back part, allowing their wings space to breathe, and if need be, allowing them space to fly. At least fae got to wear pants, or with fae women, long dresses. Xanthe was a dancer, and displaying as much skin as possible paid the rent.

  That was due to end soon. Well, the cold that was. Xanthe traveled through Ziron, a port city on the west coast of Garvina, the second largest continent on Sayaron. At least, she thought Sayaron was the name of the planet. She could not remember. By age ten, slavers had forcibly taken Xanthe to dozens of worlds, some inhabited by humans, others by the elves, a few others by the fae. This planet was different, though. Humans, elves, and fae roamed the streets, bartered with merchants in the markets, or sought passage at the docks, overlooking the enormous ocean beyond.

  She spotted a few fauns with their arms and legs bound in chains as their masters prodded them with magical shock sticks. Fauns free of chains were a rare sight, just like shadow angels, and like herself too. Fauns and shadow angels were typically on display and auctioned off to the rich for labor. The slavers stripped the fauns naked for inspection. She saw at least three faun penises sway about as slavers brought them on stage for the next round of auctions. Humans and fae raced to outbid one another, yelling how much they were willing to pay as the auctioneer spoke at speeds so ridiculously fast that Xanthe did not understand what the fuck he was saying.

  It was a miracle star-dwellers visited the planet at all. Xanthe had to hurry to the docks before the star-dwellers left, having realized what kind of world this was. Xanthe ignored the various stares passing humans and fae shot her when they saw her black wings—and when they saw that a shadow angel like her was not chained up or getting face fucked for coin.

  A disturbed human woman turned aside from Xanthe. The woman grabbed her children’s arms, a boy and girl, and walked away from Xanthe like she was a monster. The woman’s daughter pointed at Xanthe. “Mommy, look! A shadow angel!”

  “Do not look at her,” the boy said to his sister. “I heard women turn into whores if they do—”

  Slap.

  The mother snarled at her boy. “What did I tell you about using language like that?!”

  “Mother,” said the girl. “Is that true?”

  The woman groaned and sauntered away, clenching her children’s arms tight. “Asteria will forgive you, dear. Just like how she forgave the crusaders for not exterminating the shadow angels when they had the chance.”

  Xanthe sighed, releasing white mist from her lips. She would be off this planet soon, just a few more steps to the docks. The closer Xanthe got to it, the more her radiant smile intensified. Same with the city folk who saw her walk to it. They knew she was leaving and were glad for it. Maybe not the men from the tavern she had entertained by twirling her hips on stage as her exotic outfit and jewelry jingled, making their emotionless faces wet with lust sweat.

  She was walking across the port’s wood docks now, moving past the troves of travelers and merchants with baggage in hand. Vendors shouted their deals, seeking coin from hungry travelers. Ship captains yelled how much space their boats had and the cost of passage. She walked past the boats. Xanthe had not come here to seek a ride across the great ocean or seek passage on the airships where the wealthy had departed or boarded from. Not that they would let a shadow angel aboard, regardless of how many coins she offered.

  At the far end of the docks idled the ship she had come seeking. It was a starship, using the water to float as if it were a boat as its crew loaded and offloaded cargo. At its opened and lowered ramp stood two star-dwellers, a star-elf and star-druid. They were the star-men her informant told her about, the only travelers on the planet who had the means to leave it.

  Xanthe stood before the two men who held their machina papers that glowed with light whenever they touched them. PDAs they had called them? She could not remember.

  The star-elf and druid looked away from their PDAs and faced her.

  The star-elf spoke first. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Her revealing outfit was not swaying him to her side, and he stared at her chest long enough to know that a simple pull on a string would cause her top to come off and make her breasts bounce free.

  “I am a paying passenger,” Xanthe said, offering the star-elf a bag of coins.

  The elf just stood there and held his PDA. “Get lost, shadow angel. We’re full.”

  “No, we’re not,” said the star-druid.

  The star-elf looked down at his partner, a short druid, much shorter than Xanthe. He almost looked like a land-druid with the fox headdress he had on, but the assault rifle slung over his shoulder said it all. The druid was a star-dweller.

  “Arn . . .” growled the star-elf.

  Arn, the star-druid, took the sack Xanthe had offered. His small hands opened it and counted the coins inside. “Ulysses, these are fae denars,” Arn said to the star-elf. Facing up at Xanthe, he asked, “Where are you going, shadow angel?”

  “To the fae homeworld,” she replied.

  The star-elf, Ulysses, snorted. “And what makes you think we can do that?”

  She snorted back. “Because I know how your kind operates. I know that your boat is actually a starship, and I know what truly lies behind the skies. I may be a land-dweller, but star-dwellers like you have been moving me from planet to planet since my youth. Star-dweller lies do not deceive me.”

  “Denars are the currency of land-dwellers,” Ulysses said. “They’re useless to us star-dwellers. That’s why we trade goods rather than money—”

  “Except in rare cases,” Arn cut in. “We can use something like fae denars to buy said goods for cheap.”

  Ulysses crossed his arms and scowled down at Arn. “I’m sorry, I thought I was the captain of this ship?”

  “You are,” Arn said to him. “But as your first officer, it’s my job to offer you alternative solutions.”

  “Arn, when the fuck did you become the first officer?”

  “Right now, since I’m offering you an alternative solution, Ulysses. We’re going to the fae homeworld—you know it, I know it, and evidently, so does the shadow angel.”

  “I have a name,” Xanthe said drily.

  Arn counted the denars again and smiled up at her. “And I’m sure it’s a lovely one.”

  She rolled her eyes and looked away. “Oh god . . .”

 
“I know a fae, who knows a fae, who knows a fae who can get us some cheap goods to bring back to the fleet,” Arn said. “Trust me, Captain, she’s overpaying for the trip.”

  “Fine,” Ulysses said, uncrossing his arms. “Welcome aboard the Seraphim. I’m Captain Ulysses Archambeau.”

  Arn nodded and extended his hand upward for a shake. “And I’m First Officer Arn Edison.”

  “You’re not the first officer,” Ulysses spat.

  “Then who is?” Arn asked. He got no reply. “Ha! That’s what I thought!”

  Ulysses spun and entered the ship. “Follow me.”

  Xanthe boarded the star-dwellers’ ship and stared up at the strangely shaped objects on the ceiling that emitted bright white light. She wondered what sort of star-dweller machina powered them and what the rest of the ship looked like. Arn and Ulysses had escorted her into its cargo storage area.

  “I take it this isn’t your first time on a starship?” Arn asked her.

  She eyed the contents of the ship’s cargo crates. “First time I have willingly boarded a starship.”

  “Ah,” Arn said. “And the other times?”

  “And the other times, I was a slave girl and rounded up like livestock to be delivered to other planets.”

  “Oh,” Ulysses said. “Well, for the record, Arn and I don’t participate in the slave industry.”

  “So you say,” Xanthe said. “Any idea when the slave trade will be illegal among your people?”

  “It is illegal, but like all laws, people break them from time to time,” Ulysses said. “And I know this planet is a hotspot for intergalactic slavers, which is why Arn and I were uncomfortable coming here to start with. We don’t need our people suspecting we came here to do that shit.”

  Xanthe smirked. “And now you have a shadow angel who looks like a slave girl in your cargo hold.”

  The two star-men gave her an uneasy glare then left, vanishing behind the magical machina sliding doors that star-dweller ships had. An hour had passed before she felt the rumble of the Seraphim’s deck. The ship was in motion, likely sailing across the ocean as if it were a boat. The ship’s machina raged next, blasting the star-dweller ship into the heavens. A sudden jolt trembled the halls, the activation of the magical device that provided artificial gravity. At least, that is what she heard the star-dwellers call it.