And so begins my journey, proper! There is a road not so far away, but I instead choose to follow the scent trail directly. It isn't very strong, and I fear that if I wander too far from it, that I might lose it forever. Plus, I know that roads lead to towns which lead to quests. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I can't let myself get sidetracked too much. I'll help those in need who I happen to stumble upon, of course, but see no need to pile on extra work, especially knowing that my master must be out there somewhere, waiting.
I imagine that the roads would be a lot safer as well, and have far fewer monsters, but that isn't a significant issue either. I do find myself attacked with surprising frequency, but not against anything even remotely powerful. If it weren't for my new 'lay on paws' power, it still might have been a problem, however. Each one wasn't a threat, but they could still inflict damage at a rate far greater than I could naturally heal from it. I could easily envision even the strongest of warriors slowly succumbing to the tiny yet cumulative wounds inflicted as a result of the relentless attacks.
With the paladin ability, it wasn't an issue. Whether in the middle of battle, or once a fight was completed, I could undo any damage inflicted upon me instantly and effortlessly.
Speaking of paladin powers, I also took this walking time to experiment with them a little bit. I don't understand the exact mechanics, but there seems to be some sort of resource pool which I draw from, which restores at a pretty generous rate. Unlike my hit points, there is no bar over my head showing when it's nearing empty (which is super helpful! Much easier than having to figure out the numbers!), this is a little less intuitive. With some practice, I do get a vague, instinctive sense of how much I have, but nothing very precise.
So far as I can tell, Divine Strike requires more than half of my resource pool (I'll call it 'Spirit' for now), so if it's full and I use it once, I can't use it again right away. It doesn't take very long before I can once more, as it seems that it's only a little more than half, but there is still a bit of a delay, enough which could pose a serious problem in a difficult battle, especially if I try to use it and it fails.
As for Lay on Paws? That is, surprisingly, a lot cheaper. I can use it three times in a row with a full Spirit pool, or one Divine Strike and one Lay on Paws. Of course if completely depleted, it will take about a full minute to fully restore.
Still, the system is surprisingly generous, considering how powerful both of the techniques are. Lay on Paws isn't the most useful in mid combat, as I need to stop moving, give up an attack and usually take one in return to use it, which greatly cuts into the recovery I receive. It still works well against less hard hitting opponents, and is excellent for recovering after a fight.
As for Divine Strike? Well, it's downright scary powerful, not just in damage but in range. It bathes my body and sword in golden light, although the light extends well beyond the metal blade. As a result, a single horizontal sweep can cover a remarkably large area, usually enough to encompass as many opponents as happen to be attacking at once.
A single combat round might only last a matter of seconds, meaning continuous use within a single fight can be a problem, but the recovery is quick enough to virtually guarantee that I can be both fully healed and fully stocked with 'Spirit' at the beginning of a battle. In the case of stronger foes, I might need to more carefully ration the resource as a result, but when attacked by weaker creatures, it can usually ensure an easy first round kill.
Speaking of getting attacked, the battles are fairly short but they never seem to stop. Certain creatures just ignored my presence, but those proved to be anomalies. Most would rush in to strike at the first hint of my presence, regardless of how clearly outclassed they were. I didn't initiate any of these conflicts myself, and any opponents who choose to retreat were allowed to do so, but this proved rare as well. More often than not, no matter how small, weak or lacking in numbers the creatures were (I don't think I encountered anything since I left the village that was even half my size), they would fight to the bitter end, showing no signs of fear, no matter how badly wounded they were. Not exactly the wisest approach, but I do have to respect their spirit.
The experience gains aren't bad, either. Nothing gives anywhere close to the rewards of the trinity serpent, but the smaller amounts steadily add up. Luckily my experience progress also happens to be in the form of a visible bar, rather than just confusing numbers. Still, I find myself spending significantly more time both fighting and digging graves than I do walking.
Now that I'm complaining. I'm getting more practice swinging my sword around, I'm gradually getting stronger, and I'm consistently well fed. Okay, maybe I am complaining a little bit. As nice as it is to be moving towards my goal, this is a lot less spiritually rewarding than questing. It's only been two days since I got my last head-pat, but it feels like an eternity! Finding places to sleep where I won't constantly be harrassed by forest critters has also proven to be a significant challenge, but I occasionally stumble upon small nooks and spots under logs and tree trunks which are uninhabited and keep me more-or-less out of sight.
Sadly, no matter how far I walk, the scent of my master never seems to grow closer. Maybe the scent is fading with time, a scary prospect, or maybe he's traveling away from me, at a similar rate that I've been moving. More likely, though? He's just really, really far away, and as much as I've walked, I've still only covered a tiny fraction of the distance between us.
This isn't so unexpected, however. I know that the world is a pretty huge place, and that my master has ventures across a sizable portion of it. I'll get there. In the meantime, I could really go for a little more excitement, though.
---- Warning! Significant threat detected! ----
Okay, there's no denying that I deserved that.