Stay Out Of Trouble (Patreon)

The wonderfully skilled and large-assed warrior, Maxim B’Gaz, strongest and bravest Knight in the ‘Holy Order of Impractical Armor,’ was patient and understanding, but practical. While he knew his young apprentice was somewhat talented and had made great strides in his training recently, the little warrior had quite a ways to go. A mindless beast, perhaps a slime, he was equipped to face, but he was far from ready to face the types of opponents Maxim, himself combatted on a near weekly basis. Dark champions, evil overlords, and ancient dragons of the most fearsome variety. The little one could not be exposed to such danger. Maxim would make sure of this, which is why more often than not Sebastian, inexperienced trainee to the Holy Order, was left behind in an Inn.

“Stay out of trouble.” Were always the instructions he received from the large-rumped holy warrior. “I vow to return within 24 hours.”

And like that, Bastian was yet again left to twiddle his thumbs. At the very least, he could explore whatever town in which he resided. His meager training had prepared him enough to keep himself safe during such activities. What they didn’t prepare him for were the screams of help from a man running down the cobblestone path in the park.

“Please help! My family,” the man shouted in between heavy breaths. “Kidnapped!” He spotted  Bastian and almost immediately fell to his knees in front of the little warrior. “Please help me, brave warrior. I have heard of your exploits. You and the noble Sir Maxim. As if by magic a strange castle has appeared outside of the town. They’ve kidnapped so many, my family among them. You must help. I know you are most capable.”

“M-me?” Bastian stuttered. His mind raced, in an attempt to pinpoint the exact lie, neigh ‘embellishment,’ that had brought this man to such a conclusion. He did indeed have a bad habit of...exaggeration. But only so much, of course. Sure Maxim had landed the final blow on that dragon, but Bastian’s help was instrumental...for a second or so. He was a wonderful, but unintended distraction. Sure Maxim did MOST of the work against that group of bandits, but Bastian definitely helped. He couldn’t quite remember what he contributed, but he was there. That’s not quite how he told the story, of course.

Bastian shook himself from his stupor. “O-Of course I can help. I’m just, um...where are the city guard? Any help would be great, you know, to speed things up.“

“They ventured out hours ago, brave knight, but have yet to report back. The castle still stands. Please, you must do something!”

Admitting an ‘embellishment’ was more difficult than Bastian thought it would be. Maybe it was his need to save face that drove him forward. Perhaps the need to preserve his reputation, flimsy as it was. A small overestimation in the level of his ability could also be to blame. He wasn’t quite sure, himself. Whatever the case, he had little time to think about it as he stood outside the towering black gates of the newly-formed stone castle. He had even less time to think about it, as he was captured almost immediately by the pumpkin-headed guards. It seemed as if even the lord of the castle had heard of Bastian's very real exploits and wanted to see them first-hand.