Pascal tried to steady himself in his bumpy carriage ride. He had long stopped hoping that his father would call him back, all he could think of now was his dreadful future. He was once a prince of the Northern Region, of the Kingdom of Dragonstone, but when the king found out he was the result of an affair, he had been cast out.
He was going to be executed, but his mother begged the king not to take anger on some who didn't deserve it, after all he didn't choose to be born a bastard. With the queen's assistance he was demoted to a baron and was sent to rule over a fief in a corner near the Forsaken Lands.
Pascal squeezed his hands into fists, going to the Forsaken Land was basically a death sentence, he didn't even know how the king knew a town was there. To call it a town was even too high of an appraisal, it was probably just a glorified village.
The carriage shook a bit harder, and his head slammed on the side window. He hissed in pain but didn't complain. He was lucky he was even given a carriage and a personal knight on this doomed journey. The carriage jerked again, harder this time, making him fly out of his seat, then it abruptly stopped. Because of the rough handling Pascal couldn't stay still, so he popped his head put of a window.
"Cornelius, what is going on? Are you trying to kill me?" he asked. But Corneilus didn't answer, all he heard was the horse's neighs.
Oh, that is it! He wouldn't take such disrespect any longer. He dropped down from the carriage and walked up to Corneilus, ready to vent his anger, and saw him lying still, mouth agape, with an arrow protruding out of his left eye.
"Argh!" Pascal yelped and tripped on his feet. He was just going to his fief, why did his coachman end up dead? Were they bandits around? That thought gave him a chill, he rushed towards Cornelius and removed his sword from the scabbard on his hip. During the process he tried his best not to look at his face. Then he rushed to the side of the carriage and open a door to shield him from incoming arrows.
But no arrows came, instead he heard a slow clap, then someone dressed in black armor from head to toe walked out from behind a tree. He had a bow around his shoulders and carried some arrows on his back.
"And they said you were a coward." A deep voice came from within the black helmet, then the black knight unsheathed his sword and slowly walked towards Pascal. Pascal vaguely understood what was happening; someone wanted him dead, and his bet was on the king. With a deep sigh, he walked towards the black knight.
"Who sent you?" He asked.
"Why would I answer someone who is about to die?"
Pascal felt his anger flare when he heard those words, "It is still unknown, who it is that would die!" then he lunged.
He sent a strike, which the black knight blocked with one hand then used his other hand to give him a back handed slap. Pascal immediately tasted blood and his vision went white for a second. He gritted his teeth and tried to attack again but was kicked in the chest. He fell on his back and started coughing violently. He looked up and saw the knight about to cut his head, he moved backwards as quickly as he could but was still cut on the edge of his lips.
Pascal rolled backwards to put some distance between them, he couldn't see it but could tell that his entire mouth was a bloody mess. The black knight stalked towards him, by this time Pascal was already shivering in fear. 'I'm going to die!' The thought drilled itself into his brain.
His body moved before he could think and he grabbed a handful of sand and sprayed it towards the black knight, and when he instinctively covered his face, Pascal threw his sword at his knee. The black knight grunted as he dropped down on one knee, Pascal used that opportunity to run away.
'Oh gods, that was a stupid idea. I shouldn't have thrown my sword! I shouldn't have run…' Pascal thought as he tried to concentrate on running. Then he heard the clanking of metal, looked back and nearly tripped on his feet; the black knight was chasing him, and he was getting close!
Unknowingly, Pascal started to pray. He didn't pray to a specific god but to the heavens itself. He threw his faith out there, hoping one of the gods would take pity on him. Luckily for him though, there was a god who uses faith, and was kind of watching him all this while.
[Ding!]
[You have received the Overlord system!
The God of Origins has seen your plight, and he has blessed you with his power!]
[To activate the system, say the prayer; In the name of the Lord of Origins, I pray for new hope!]
Pascal felt hope fill him as he saw those words, although he didn't understand what was happening, he knew a god had seen his predicament and decided to help him. So, he said the prayer as requested. All of a sudden, new information appeared in his head, but before he could focus on them, he got a quest.
[Ding! New Quest Unlocked: Survive till you reach the village.
Quest Rewards: Armor of Faith, certain amount of exp]
This was a test. The God of Origins didn't help him immediately but sent him a quest to see if he was worthy. But that didn't deter him, instead he felt more excited. He had been looking at the map with the route of his fief since he left the castle, when they were at the Rocky Plains, even when they were on the boat, he had been studying it, so he knew that the place where Corneilus died was very close to his town, all they had to do was go in a straight line!
With that thought in mind, Pascal pumped his legs faster.
Soon, he saw a sign at a corner which said 'Cliff Town, up ahead'. Immediately he crossed the sign he got a notification, saying he had completed the quest, then he felt a warmth moving through his body. According to the information he got, this was a sign that he had leveled up. He stopped running and checked his status.
[Name: Pascal]
[Class: Overlord]
[Level: 1]
[Soul Equipment: Armor of Faith]
[HP: 25/25]
[MP: 15/15]
[PRF: 0/100]
[EXP: 0/100]
[STATS: Strength (1), Agility (2), Perception (1), Intelligence (2)]
[Skill Points: 1]
[Status Points: 2]
Immediately he got the [Armor of Faith] he was given information about it. The armor had something called a skill tree, and he could unlock the skills using skill points. He quickly unlocked the first skill and dumped his status points in strength. The he turned around and face the black knight that just arrived with a confident smile.
The black knight huffed as he came to a stop, "You run fast, coward. Why did you stop? Go on, keep running, let's see how long you'll last."
Pascal just stood calmly and stared at the black knight with his head raised high, "Do you know, that I actually learned a bit of swordsmanship?"
"What –? "
"Sure, I haven't reached your level, but I'm not bad."
"What nonsense are you saying?"
"I'm saying," Pascal squared his shoulders and stared straight at the helmet, where the eyes would be located, "I'm going to defeat you, right here, right now."
The black knight barked out a laugh and shook his head, "It seems that fear has made you delirious." Then he rushed towards Pascal.
But Pascal didn't cower or run, instead he said the incantation "[For the glory of the God of Origin, I summon the holy Armor]!" Then a flash of light appeared, dyeing everywhere a pale golden color. When the light disappeared, Pascal was wearing a golden armor. The armor was different than other armors he had seen knights wear, it wasn't over bulky, and it didn't have a helmet, but it fit him perfectly. He reached behind him and pulled out the sword hooked there, then dashed forward.
As he struck, the black knight tried to block his hit bit was blown backwards by the power packed in it. Pascal twirled the sword in his hands, he could feel that the armor heightened his overall speed, strength and defense. Even still, the black knight was leagues above him in sword fighting, he quickly righted himself and attacked, Pascal dashed forward to meet him. They exchanged blow after blow, but there still wasn't a definite winner; the armor made Pascal stronger and faster than before but there was still a huge gap in their swordsmanship.
The black knight kicked Pascal backwards, "What kind of sorcery is this?!" he huffed. Pascal could see his arms trembling; it definitely wasn't easy for him to block those hits.
"This is not sorcery!" Pascal proclaimed loudly, "I have been chosen by a god, and that is why you will die here!" He raised his sword and activated the first skill of the armor, "[Resplendent Light]!" And a bright, golden sword light shot out from his sword and consumed the black knight. When the sword light passed through and dissipated the black knight had vanished, not even his armor remained.
Pascal dropped to the ground, drained. That skill had taken all of his mp. He laid on his back and watched the armor fade away into golden dust, he used his fingers to play with the dust before they disappeared with a smile never leaving his face.
After a quick rest, he had enough energy to walk back to where his carriage was. Luckily, the horse didn't move from where he left it. He climbed up to the coach's seat and used his newfound strength to throw Cornelius off, then he rode all the way back to the village entrance. When he got there, he saw a few men gathering around the wreckage of his fight, when they saw him, they immediately went on alert. He jumped down from the coachman's seat, opened the carriage door and brought out an envelope with the kingdom's seal on top of it.
He then walked up to them and showed them the envelope, "I am Pascal Anderlude, former prince of the Dragonstone Kingdom. By the king's orders, I am now the ruler of this fief!"