183 Paladin's Smite
Jack helped Lydia till they reached the counter. "How has it been?" He looked at Arad.
"I'm the one who should be asking." Arad looked at Lydia. "How are you doing?"
She sat on the desk and smiled, "I'm fine. But sore. I snapped a few muscles and cracked some bones, but that should heal soon."
"The muscles on her arms and legs have suffered severe damage. The bones seems cracked as well so the healer couldn't believe she still stood." Jack looked at her.
"Does it always happen when you fight?" Arad asked.
"I abused my smite. It's the same with hitting anything, the recoil always hurts." She looked at William with a smile, "Give me something warm. A lot of meat will help."
"Comming right away."
"You couldn't use healing potions?"
Bam! Cain put his beer bottle on the desk. "There is a limit kid. Abusing potions and healing magic could weaken you, or even age you."
"He's right." Lydia sighed.
"Healing in general needs nutrition to close wounds. When your stores run out. The magic starts breaking down muscles to heal your wounds, and you grow weaker. If the injury was too big, the healing could exhaust all your cells, damaging them. Which will appear as aging." Cain downed another bottle. "Unless you have a lot of fat. But most adventurers are lean and muscular."
Jack snatched Cain's bottle. "Going on long trips, relying on preserved food. Fighting monsters and healing every so often. There is no way we can put on fat."
"Give me that back!" Cain snatched his bottle and stood. "That's why, don't abuse healing magic." He stumbled out of the tavern with his maid's help.
Jack scratched his head, "What a strange old man, why drink in the morning at his age? And he has such a beautiful maid following him."
"Old people who live alone usually hire a maid or buy a slave to take care of them. He must have hired her for that." William brought Lydia's steaming hot meat.
"Most of the time they will write their belonging to who took care of them as they don't have anyone else." Jack scratched his head.
Lydia started eating. "Ouch! Hot!"
Jack started cutting the meat into small pieces and helping Lydia eat. "So, I doubt you came here without an actual problem." He then shifted his eyes at Arad.
"A vampire seems to be targeting Lyla and Mira. Abel says someone is trying to set his stepmom. But since he isn't that good at gathering information, it's quite hard to track who."
"You want me to gather information?"
"No, you're taking care of Lydia. I came to warn as it seems related to the elder wood quest."
"They might target us?"
Arad nodded. "Be careful, or move to my house. It's safer there."
"I could still fight," Lydia started at Arad. "If I saw any vampire, I would smite him to hell."
"Vampires are weak to holy magic. Or should I say paladin smite is designed to damage them." Jack scratched his head. "But you will harm yourself more."
"I will be fine." Lydia smiled. "Remember divine cleaver? The one I used to hit the elder tree?"
"Yeah? Why?" Jack looked at her.
"Vampires are weak to holy magic, receiving about half more damage. A paladin's holy smite is designed to leverage that weakness for more damage and deal double. Divine Smite improves on that with another half damage. And then the cleaver gives another double damage." A grin crossed Lydia's face.
"Let's take ten damage and count it."
Since a vampire is weak to holy magic he takes 15 points of damage.
It will double since it comes from a holy smite so he takes 30 points.
With a divine smite, that added half damage so he takes 45 points.
And if it was a divine cleaver. That doubled again to a whole 90 points. And that's only from a ten-damage hit.
Arad scratched his head, "So it will hurt, a lot, like hell."
[She might one-shot you with a solid hit. But you aren't weak to holy magic.]
William stared at them. "I heard of a party that faced an elder lich. That monster was too strong it could level a city with his undead army. But then their paladin walked in and smote into smithereens." He smiled. "I guess gods won't take it easy on evil."
"But in exchange, good humanoids are resistant to holy magic. And those who worship the same god are immune." Lydia looked at William.
"That only means you can drop the fattest smite in a battle without worrying about anyone else." William stared at her. "Paladins are unfair. Everyone would be becoming one if it didn't have all the responsibilities. And the devotion."
"Come on. Wizards are more dangerous. I heard one of the countries to the west has an archmage who could drop meteors from the sky." Lydia sighed. "Fighters taking on a whole army solo. Rogues forcing a country to its knees with a clever heist. Each class has its strength and weakness."
"Lydia is right. Remember Nina? Barbarians are scarier to face than five paladins." Jack giggled.
Arad took a deep breath. Lydia might kill him with one hit if she knew he was a vampire and a wyrmwolf. "So, how about moving to my house for a while? Until she heals up."
Jack looked at Lydia, "The fresh air of the forest will help. I also could move more and gather information."
Lydia sighed. "Fine, but make sure to call me if you wanted to fight a vampire."
They stood and took Lydia to Arad's house and then headed to the guild. It was only Jack and Arad.
"Nina, did Abel tell you?" Arad walked toward the desk. She nodded with a stern face. "First a cubus and now vampires. Things are getting hectic." She looked at Arad. "I know you're strong, but you need people to help now."
Arad nodded, "Yeah, I want Jack to gather information. So I will go solo from now on."
Thud! Nina put a piece of paper on the table. Arad looked down, "A quest?"
"A quest from the guild. Find the vampire and exterminate him. You will get paid based on its power. And you will get promoted to A-rank." Nina smiled. "It will look bad for the higher-ups if someone brawled with werewolves. Is a dragon slayer, a vampire slayer, and is stuck at B-rank."
Arad smiled, "So, what's the catch?"
Nina smiled, "Jack will gather information, so you will be working alongside them. The best we currently have." She pointed back.
"Yo! Did you miss me?" Abel smiled, lifting his hand.
"Sorry for troubling you again." Merida stood beside him. "But the guild wants us to work together."
"Don't you have someone else?" Arad glared at Nina.
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