New face

[ding ding]

Aron had just taken a few steps when a book appeared in front of him. Mission page informed him on completing the task and awarding the prize. A new section - subjects - appeared in the table of contents, however, he did not check the new options. In front of him appeared a black portal from which the character emerged.

The frightened horses reared up and snatched the reins from the hands of Aron who turned pale with fear and drew his sword.

As soon as he saw the young knight, the man fell to his knees. The portal he came out from vanished, as if it had never been there.

"Who are you? How did you get here? What's this magic?"

Surprised by the whole situation, Aron held a sword in his hand and looked at the newcomer.

The man was older and shorter than Aron. With dark short hair and plain face, he wouldn't stand out from the crowd. Dressed in a simple linen tunic and rag shoes, he looked poor but neat.

"My lord, call me Bron. I come here to do my duty and serve you!"

[Ding]

[Bron is your first subject, treat him with dignity, and he will repay you with faithful service.]

The sound and information that appeared after it in the grimoire calmed Aron a little.

"Master, if we stay here any longer, we will not find horses in this dark forest."

Bron caught the attention of the young knight who only now realized that two of the three horses had dispersed. Only the horse previously belonging to the magister remained with him. So without wasting time on unnecessary questions, he jumped on him and called Bron.

"I don't understand all of this, but you are right. Go after that on the left and I'll catch the one running along the cliff! "

The two men ran in opposite directions. Aron on the horse's back sped towards the pack horse. The cliff under which the chase took place was almost two hundred meters high. The wall looked as if some giant thousands of years ago separated the earth in a straight line. From Aron's position it was hard to tell how far the cliff stretched.

The space directly in front of the cliff was rocky, and to the south of it, several meters away, there was a forest. Aron, maneuvering between the rocks, quickly caught up with the packhorse.

[ding]

When the young knight had already stopped. He saw that grimoire opened on a page with mission.

[New mission!]

[...arrived. Ha ha ha you've already managed to lose your first subject. I can't believe what a loser you are. Bron is such a good boy, he always listened to his parents and wanted to fulfill the will of the grimoire. That he also had to meet you ...]

[Reward: Bron's loyalty to you will increase]

[Consequences of failure: You will lose one subject]

After reading the contents of the new mission, Aron thought that Bron is no longer alive. However, the reward and failure made him realize what the content of the mission really should be.

He must save Bron, and quickly. The mission time was less than fifteen minutes.

Wasting no time, the young knight was a moment later at the stone door where the two men separated. Bron ran after Aron's old gelding towards the forest, so now the young man directed his horses there.

The forest closer to the cliff was sparse, the trees growing far apart. However, the night and low branches made the young knight get off his horse.

After a moment of tearing through the forest, Aron heard his old horse neighing.

In front of him there was a small clearing with a horse and a man standing next to a large stone, and three smaller figures surrounding them.

Aron hooked the pack horse's reins to the nearest branch so that he would not run away again and jumped on the other horse. The distance was not great, but the advantage of the horse's height in the fight against the more numerous opponent may be of key importance.

The young knight charged towards what he believed was the bandits who had surrounded Bron. As soon as he got closer, the three made a strange noise almost at the same time.

"Gdjal?!?"

The entire attackers turned towards the charging knight. They were armed with fairly primitive stone weapons, except one armed with a bronze ax.

However, it wasn't the strangest thing, the figures were almost naked, clothed in scraps of skin and tied leaves, and their skin was green.

Using the creatures' distractions, Bron attacked the closest one with the shield. At the same time, Aron struck forcefully into the surprised two. One flew away a few meters away and the other was completely trampled by a horse that crushed the skull of the unlucky creature with a crack of the bones with his hoof.

The young knight himself was surprised by the strength and determination of the steed. The horse stopped practically in the place after taking off the unfortunate creatures. During this time, Bron finished last of the remaining opponents, strongly hitting its head. Which after a while lay under his feet.

"Are you hurt somewhere? What are these creatures? "

Aron asked the panting Beon at the same time directing his eyes towards the goblin escaping in panic. The face of the lying monster was concave, and the end of the shield was dripping with the creature's blood.

"Lord, thank you for coming to help me, I could not do it alone."

He paused to take a deep breath.

"These creatures are goblins, one of the weakest monsters that existed around my village. On their own they do not pose a threat and are quite skittish. But in the group they can fight many"

Bron looked at the shields he held in his hands. Then with a twist in his eyes he began to wipe her with his own sleeve.

"What are you doing? It's just an old shield? "

Aron asked surprised by the whole situation.

"Excuse me sir, I used your shield without permission. Plus, it is now covered in the blood of these nasty creatures. "

Aron, stunned, did not know what to say. His surprise was interrupted by the familiar sound and information that he had received the reward, which was quite subjective at least in Aron's mind.

By this time, Bron was already attracting the reluctant gelding.

"Let's get out of here before he brings his friends."

Said the young knight, and turned to where he had left his pack horse.

"The master must be very rich to despise goblin crystals"

Bron said admiringly. Aron stood still and looked at his new subject.

"Wait, did you say crystals?"

"Well, each goblin has a little magic crystal next to his heart."

Bron nodded.

"There's a knife in the bag, take it, show me the crystals, I'll go get the other horse."

When Aron returned with an extra horse, Bron was already ripping open the second creature's chest. After a while he had a clear crystal in his hand that looked like the one in Aron's bag.

"You are great Bron, pack your bags and get that gelding. Follow me!"

After a while, the two left the clearing and walked slowly through the dark forest. After about 15 minutes of the journey, they reached another small clearing with a few single trees perched by a stream.

"Okay, this will be a good place to camp."

They both got their horses and loosened harnesses. After a few minutes, the horses were grazing, tied to a nearby tree. Aron pulled a pack of bread and two woolen blankets from his purse.

"Take this and eat. There is a long night ahead. Besides, I'm Aron. No master, I have been a poor knight for only two days. "

Bron was washing his tunic in the stream at the time. When he heard the voice of the young knight, he turned around.

"Thank you Mr. Arona, you didn't have to."

The Bron grinned from ear to ear. He hung the tunic on a nearby branch and then sat down on the bank of the brook covered in woolens

blanket and ate Hard bread.

"Ehhhh"

Aron sighed. He sat down and also began to eat.

"I put the crystals in the saddlebag. Oh, and I found a bronze ax on one of the goblins. These creatures very often use the tools they find. And this ax is definitely better than stone spears. "

Bron handed Aron the ax, which he, however, immediately gave him back.

"Save her for yourself. It will be useful to you until I find you something better. You can also use this shield. Now go to sleep, I'll be guarding first. "

Aron said, then unhooked the shields from the saddle and handed it to the man.

"But my lord ..."

"No but! Go to sleep now! "

Aron ordered. It's been a long day for him and he has too much on his mind to sleep now.