Trial By Combat

Not wanting to be in the crosshair of another grieving town person, Lensak and I redoubled our efforts to finish cleaning the other cages. Thankfully, the other clerics assigned to the task appeared to be eager to finish this assignment as well. After we finished scrubbing our share of the cages, the two of us took turns drawing water from the fountain in the center of the Public Square and rinsed the cages with water until they were clean. When that task was finally accomplished, the other Brothers joined forces with the two of us to move the cages back to the warehouse—manually.

"Heave!" the leader grunted as half of us, including me, pushed the cage from behind.

"Ho!" the other group shouted in unison as they pulled the cage forward.

Our teamwork was decent as members of both groups were in sync and contributed to the best of their physical abilities. Unfortunately, there were a dozen cages and it took the better part of an hour to move them all back into the cavernous warehouse on the west side of the Public Square.

When the last cage was finally placed in storage, I got another pop-up. By then, I was almost out of stamina and therefore, I needed to rest. I walked over to the water fountain, sat down, and leaned my back against the base of the fountain. As I took a well-deserved rest from the manual labor, I finally took the time to go through my stockpile of notifications. As expected, most of the messages indicated either I suffered a small amount of damage (1-3 Health reduction), or my magic detection was successful and I received a combined total of 450XP from them.

The very last pop-up, though, was a surprise: "Minor faction quest COMPLETED. +250 Reputation, +500 XP, +1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +100 XP." Frankly, I didn't expect to get any experience out of my church assignment, and certainly not attribute points either. Furthermore, I was surprised to see that the game had considered the Church to be a "faction." However, it made sense on a certain level because my current profession was a swordsman and therefore, assignments from the dojo's masters would be considered part of the main quest. If I were to change my profession from swordsman to cleric, however, then my tasks performed for the church would be considered part of the main quest line while the tasks performed for the dojo would be considered faction quests instead.

Although I never received the instruction manual for this game, it was heartening for me to know that I could still figure out the rules of the game sooner or later. And I've figured out some of the rules already. For example, every point I received in Reputation would be accompanied by two points in experience. Furthermore, every gain in an attribute was coupled with fifty points of experience. Suddenly, I noticed a large shadow looming over me. When I looked up, I saw it was Sister Maisen!

She dipped her head into the water and then pulled her head out. She shook her head like a dog and the water splashed all over me. Maisen opened her eyes and grinned broadly. "Sorry, Brother, I didn't notice you were next to me."

I wiped the water from my face and slowly got back to my feet. Suddenly, the church bell tolled twelve times. It was noon already!

"You ready for lunch? My treat," she proposed with a smile.

"Yeah, right," I smirked. "I'll be eating at The Noble Lady and my lunch is already included in my lodging."

"You could break your routine and eat at another tavern," Maisen pointed out.

I shook my head to reject the suggestion. I tried to imagine my girlfriend's reaction if I went elsewhere for lunch. Yeah, she wouldn't take it well, would she?

The armored warrior wiped off the droplets of water nestling on her thick brows. She grinned as if she had read my mind. "I suppose Amelica would consider that to be infidelity, eh?" she nudged me in the ribs with her armored elbow. "Okay, let's go grab lunch from your lady first. Afterward, I assume you're going down to the dojo?" When Maisen saw my nod she said, "I need to head down there too." She turned away from the water fountain, eastbound, and started to drag my arm along.

I roughly pulled my arm back. "I know how to get there," I grumbled.

"I thought you like being dragged around by women?" she teased.

"You're not Amelica," I retorted.

Maisen chuckled. "That's true. She's an attractive woman. On the other hand, I have the sex appeal of an ox," she noted honestly.

"You don't have to put it that way," I replied.

Suddenly, the woman bearing a strong resemblance to the late-Chyna wrapped her arm around my neck and put me in a headlock. "You could disagree with me, you know," she blew into my ear and then started tightening her hold.

I started seeing stars as my air supply was choked off. "Mercy! Mercy!" I gasped while flailing my arms around helplessly.

Maisen finally released my throat and I coughed uncontrollably. I felt a gentle pat on my back.

"I'm sorry, Lawrence. I went a little overboard with my roughhousing," my tormentor apologized.

"Just 'a little'?" I gasped while staring up at her eyes.

The large woman shrugged sheepishly and looked away. Suddenly, she grabbed my hand and started pulling me along more gently.

"Um . . . I think people will have the wrong idea," I said quietly.

"Oh, fine!" Maisen rolled her eyes and released my hand. "We wouldn't want beautiful Amelica to choke you in a fit of jealous rage," she smirked and then stuck out her tongue.

My companion continued walking along the street but I couldn't continue. Why? Because Maisen had provoked a vision of Amelica's hands wrapped tightly around my throat; her face was contorted in a fit of rage. I shuddered at the thought of Amelica becoming jealous; it was something I must avoid at all costs for as long as I remained in Tregome. While this frontier town had its own quaint charm, I knew that my pursuit of kingship would eventually lead me east, toward the center of the kingdom.

By now, Maisen had noticed that I was standing still with a frightened look on my face. Her head swiveled to examine my surroundings in a futile attempt to discover the source of my fear. She quickly backtracked and stood in front of me. She waved a gauntleted hand over my face. "Yoohoo! Are you okay?" she asked.

Her voice broke me out of my reverie. "I-I'm fine," I stammered. "Let's go," I said roughly and brushed past her. I wasn't going to discuss my future plans with Maisen since she had apparently joined the Watch and her duties required her to remain in Tregome.

The large companion smoothed her face to a neutral expression but her eyes betrayed her concerns for me. Nonetheless, she allowed me to take the lead back to The Noble Lady.

When we entered the common room, we noticed that my usual table in the back was already occupied. We started searching the large room for seats when suddenly, Amelica appeared from the kitchen.

Her face beamed with delight when she noticed that I had returned for lunch. Immediately realizing our predicament, Amelica quickly scanned the room and saw space available at the table closest to the bar section. She pointed at the table and I quickly nodded.

As I walked past the patrons sitting at the bar table, someone stuck out a foot and I tripped! I stumbled and found myself falling. I heard the rattling of dice in the back of my skull for a moment and then they ceased.

*BAM*

Somehow, I managed to throw out my hands during my involuntary descent and landed on my knees and palms rather than my face. Still, I felt pain shooting up my knees and arms, and I ignored the pop-up message. I immediately returned to my feet and turned toward the source of the errant foot.

The culprit was a man dressed in the armor of a Watchman. He was short and fat, with an unsightly, large flap of flesh hanging under his chin; his physical appearance resembled a toad. His head was bald and his brows were a thick, dark-brown bush. The man looked down at his foot and scowled at me.

"You need to watch your step, sir," another patron said.

I turned my head left and saw another Watchman. This one was tall and thin; his neck was unnaturally long and he reminded me of a giraffe. His tiny blue eyes were accompanied by pale skin and almost white hair.

"Where's your apology?" the toad demanded.

"You stuck your foot out on purpose," I replied angrily. "You should be apologizing to me." These two men looked and sounded familiar. Suddenly, I remembered where and when I had encountered these two stooges—when I awoke on the street on my first day inside this gaming world. They had threatened to toss me into jail for the crime of sleeping on the street.

I heard loud stomps behind me.

The two Watchmen looked up at the face peering over my shoulder and their faces turned ashen in recognition. They immediately hopped off their bar stools and snapped crisp salutes to the newcomer. "Captain!" they shouted in unison.

I turned my head and saw Maisen offering the two men a death stare.

"Sankryn and Giudot," Maisen acknowledged the two by name. "A real man accepts responsibility for his wrongdoing," she admonished the two troublemakers.

"But sir! We did nothing wrong!" Giudot replied. "This man tripped over my foot," the toad explained.

"He purposely stuck his foot out to trip me," I accused him.

"I see, I see," the captain nodded. "Let's have a trial by combat to determine who is at fault," she proposed nonchalantly.

The two Watchmen looked at each other and then at me; they laughed.

Maisen's right brow rose. "What's your answer?" she asked.

"I accept," Giudot said.

"I accept," I replied immediately when Maisen looked at me.

"Let's go outside," she said and waited for me to move.

I turned around and walked back out.

Maisen followed, standing between myself and the two Watchmen in case they tried something before I left the tavern. With Peng's soul sending his memories of the duo directly into her mind, the Captain was keenly aware of their less-than-honorable characters.

When the four of us were in front of the tavern, Maisen spoke. "This is a friendly duel. Your sword will remain sheathed. The first duelist to score three hits will be the winner. I will be the judge. When I see a hit, I will call it. Do either of you have any objections or questions?"

"What do I get when I win?" the toad asked.

"The nobleman will apologize to you. He will also be part of your patrol today and placed under your command," Maisen offered.

Giudot nodded his acceptance of the terms of the duel as he eyed me with malice; the man imagined the pile of dirty work I will be doing for the rest of today while on patrol, such as picking up horse manure from the street or dragging some malodorous drunk to the town jail.

"And what do I get if I win?" I asked. I took note of the glint in my opponent's eye and realized that he still saw me as the newbie from before. After my ordeal in the wererats' lair yesterday, I was confident that I will emerge victorious from the duel. I cracked my knuckles in anticipation of the toad's public humiliation.

"The same," Maisen replied. When she saw the look of confusion on my face, she continued, "I was going to ask the Grandmaster for permission to borrow you for today. I need you to use your spirit sense during your patrol throughout Tregome."

I quickly understood the reason for her request. "You want to check for any remaining wererats lurking in town," I said quietly.

Maisen nodded solemnly. "It doesn't hurt to check," she replied.

"I accept your terms," I nodded back.

Maisen looked around and saw that the patrons of the tavern had all decided to come out to watch the trial by combat. "Please make space for the duelists. And I should remind you not to interfere in the duel," she said.

The crowd of onlookers quickly backed away, enlarging the circle of space around me and my opponent.

I saw Amelica's face in the crowd. I saw her hold out her hand and balled it into a fist. She gave me a fierce look and I smiled back reassuringly. I turned to face my opponent. I unbuckled my butterfly-adorned scabbard and held it before me.

When Giudot saw my scabbard, he was shocked. His eyes widened in surprise and then they turned fearful.

"Don't worry about the scabbard, Giu! He probably bought it off another student. You can beat that drunk!" Sankryn yelled out some encouraging words.

"Who said I'm worried?" the toad yelled back as he drew his plain, black scabbard and held it in a mirror pose to mine.

Maisen approached the two of us and drew her sword. I was awed by the incredibly powerful aura emanating from the golden blade. The sword was raised high in the air. Abruptly, it dropped and cut through space in front of us. "Begin!"

Giudot noticed my distraction and immediately lunged at me with his scabbard leading the way.

I noticed his movement from the peripheral of my vision and reflexively blocked with my scabbard. *Whack* When I realized that my opponent had overextended his arms, I immediately took advantage of his mistake. I stepped right into his personal space, threw my shoulder into his chest and simultaneously thrust my scabbard into his gut, denting his armor. *Bang*

"Ugh," Giudot's cheeks blew out like a puffer fish as he reeled in pain from the blow.

"Hit!" Maisen yelled out to gasps from the audience.

The attack and counterattack occurred in the opening seconds of the duel, and the onlookers could barely follow the action!

Seeing that my opponent was momentarily stunned, I aimed the point of my scabbard at his left lung and knocked him back. *Pong* The chest plate mail received another dent from my hard blow.

"Hit!" Maisen yelled again while standing still like a statue with her arms folded across her chest. The duel was unraveling just about the way she had envisioned.

Giudot gritted his teeth and tried to raise his scabbard to mount a defense. Down 0-2, he was losing badly and the Watchman was determined to score at least one point off me.

But I had other ideas. *Crack* I slammed my scabbard against his skull before the defender could react; my opponent dropped to the ground, unconscious. I kept my eyes on the fallen man as I took a deep breath. I ignored the pop-ups and waited for the judge's confirmation of my victory.

"Hit!" Maisen yelled a final time, piercing the silence. She walked over to me and raised my sword hand. "The winner of this duel is Lawrence Eugene Mulligan!" she announced to the wild cheers and applause from the crowd.

Amelica knocked the bystanders aside and threw her arms around me. She kissed my left cheek. "That was incredible!" My girlfriend beamed in delight at my surprisingly easy victory. The rude Watchman was clearly outclassed.

Maisen released my arm and said, "Of course! He learned from the best school of swordsmanship in all of Merlin." While her voice was calm and steady, her eyes betrayed her true emotions as they glowed with pride at my victory.

Taking Amelica's hug as a signal, the common folk started approaching me; they patted my back and shook my hands in congratulations.

"Are you entering the tournament?" a man suddenly asked while shaking my hand.

I looked at him and saw a man in refined-looking chain mail armor; he carried a scabbard at his belt and a long bow at his back. Strong auras emanated from the armor and his weapons. I also noted that the blond haired man had pointy ears; he was an elf! I ignored the pop-ups.

Before I could ask what he meant, Maisen interrupted me. "The dojo is still deciding."

The elf wanted to ask another question but a stern look from the captain forced his lips sealed. He nodded politely and started walking away.

"Let's go back inside. We need to grab a quick lunch and then hurry to the dojo." Maisen pulled on my arm toward the front door of the tavern.

As I turned back, I glimpsed my fallen opponent still on the ground.

Sankryn was slowly pouring a light healing potion into Giudot's mouth. The giraffe suddenly looked up at me; his eyes were full of anger and fear.