Chapter 9: Paladin Vs Duergar Warlord
When the first ray of sunlight fell on the mountain hollow, Anse felt something in his heart and abruptly sat up.
He hadn’t slept well. After completing attunement with the staff, he couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. Memories of his previous life and the daytime combat alternated surging in his mind, filling him with myriad thoughts.
Previously, he had been entangled in crises with no time to think too much. As soon as he stopped, random thoughts began to flood his mind. How could he adapt to something like transmigration all at once?
However, his previous life had been that of a dull and exhausting wage worker, while now he was a professional who wielded wondrous magic. Compared to that, this place was far more interesting.
“You’re awake.” Brat’s voice came from beside his ear.
Anse looked toward the sound and spotted his figure on a big tree not far away.
He was squatting on the tree trunk, hugging his sword and gazing into the distance. It looked like he had been there for a while.
“So early?”
“Enough for me. I have good sleep quality. Besides, if I’d stayed any later, I’d have been drained dry by mosquitoes.” Brat flipped off the tree trunk.
“Were there mosquitoes?” Anse asked doubtfully.
“You have dragon race bloodline. How could mosquitoes dare approach you?” Brat gave him a sidelong glance.
“I see.” Anse chuckled lightly. He hadn’t expected the dragon race bloodline to have this effect.
“We need to set off early. Dust Eagle Mountain isn’t big, but it’s not easy to traverse.” Brat took food from the bundle and shared it with Anse, then handed him the mostly deflated sack. “Put it in your backpack. In case we get separated, at least you won’t starve.”
He had long noticed that Anse had no wilderness survival experience and was a bit worried.
“What about you?” Anse didn’t take it.
“Please don’t question the survival abilities of a seasoned adventurer.” Brat emphasized deliberately.
“You keep it. I still have some in my backpack.” Anse shook his head slightly.
He lacked experience, but he wasn’t brainless. The good stuff was all in his personal backpack.
“Alright.” Brat glanced at his backpack and reminded him again. “When fleeing, food is more important than anything. Sometimes even dragon coins can’t buy bread.”
“Thanks for the reminder.” Anse nodded.
Dragon coins were common circulating gold coins in Faerun, exchangeable for 10 silver coins or 100 copper coins（ alloy coins）, and one copper coin could buy about a pound of wheat.
Breakfast was cold water bread, cheese, and turkey jerky strips. The two ate their fill—combat and fleeing required strength.
After eating, the sky was already bright. The two packed up and immediately descended the mountain, then continued east along the Chongsa River.
Dust Eagle Mountain was only two or three kilometers in diameter and several hundred meters high, with no fierce beasts. Many residents often passed through the mountain for convenience, so there were many small paths here.
The two proceeded cautiously, staying alert for half a day. They didn’t see any underground creatures, nor even a single human.
Only a few stinking corpses told them that this place was not safe.
It was now the Month of the Summer Tide, or July, with hot weather, so corpses would quickly start to stink.
“At least a day old, all done by humans.” Brat seemed unfazed.
Underground creatures weren’t familiar with the terrain and couldn’t find such a hidden spot so quickly.
Anse pursed his lips without speaking. After a day of adaptation, he could already observe these corpses without changing expression, but the fermented rotten stench was truly unbearable.
After more than half an hour, the terrain leveled out.
Crossing a bare hillside, their gaze suddenly opened up to a dense building cluster ahead, mostly low wooden houses, gray and dusty, chaotic, crowded, and lacking planning.
On the riverbank hundreds of meters away, a tall bridge spanned the Chongsa River, densely packed with buildings on top. It was called a bridge, but it was more like a commercial alleyway built on wyvern rock over the riverbed.
This was the famed Dragon Bridge, with the grand city tower in the center being the Flame Fist Fortress.
It was an important transportation hub. Across the bridge was Rivertown District, this side was Twin Song District, and north of Twin Song District was Sow’s Hoof District.
Anse had inherited the original owner’s memories and was very familiar with all this, so he wasn’t too surprised.
Taking advantage of the elevation, his gaze swept over Twin Song District one by one. He saw no traces of underground creatures, though there were no shortage of humans lingering here.
“Looks like underground creatures haven’t reached here yet.” Brat turned to Anse, his eyes carrying a hint of inquiry.
“Let’s go.” Anse didn’t hesitate and took the lead descending the mountain.
The two hurried northeast along the edge of Dust Eagle Mountain, neither entering the city district nor contacting people hiding in buildings.
Twin Song District and Sow’s Hoof District were connected by a narrow long road, flanked by low slopes.
Rounding the mountain foot, a clearly hardened road appeared ahead, winding to the left and then obscured by the hillside.
At the same time, a noisy sound rushed into Anse’s ears—whistling, screams, roars, weapon clashes…
“Something’s happened!” Brat halted, quietly drawing his longsword.
“It’s duergar.” Anse’s heart sank. He heard undercommon and goblin speech.
The two lightened their steps and approached quietly. The sounds grew louder, and as the road curved, a chaotic battlefield came into view.
Over a dozen humans were fighting more than thirty duergar slaves. The battle was fierce, with corpses and blood everywhere.
Anse narrowed his eyes. It was his first time seeing such a brutal fight; he felt a bit nervous and a bit excited.
“Duergar have actually reached here.” Brat’s expression was grave.
Anse also realized that Sow’s Hoof District was probably off-limits.
“The leaders are paladins of the God of Justice. Their… situation is bad.” Brat quickly surveyed the battlefield.
Anse looked closely and saw that the human side included not just humans but also halflings and dwarves, with mismatched clothing—likely a hastily assembled team.
At the front were two human paladins, holy light shining on their sword and shield, holding off several times their number and barely stabilizing the line.
The duergar side was mainly goblins, including tall bugbears and ogres, about ten orcs, with four or five duergar standing in the rear, not directly joining the fight.
“I know them—Land and Zahir from the Church of the Final Hope in Twin Song District.” Anse said in a low voice.
The original owner had grown up in the outer city and was very familiar with the Church of the Final Hope, often coming here to play as a child.
“Should we help?” Brat looked to Anse, waiting for his decision.
Rationally speaking, they should help. If the duergar won, they would occupy Dragon Bridge, and no one could pass.
But people valued their lives—who would risk themselves if they could flee?
“Don’t rush.” Anse focused, observing those few duergar.
【Duergar Warlord, dwarf, Challenge Rating 6】
【Ogre Officer, hobgoblin, Challenge Rating 3】
His eyelid twitched, and he felt the urge to retreat.
Level 5 was a watershed—for example, wizards could master third-ring fireball, with strength surging.
Professionals levels 5-10 were the backbone of major organizations. City guard commanders were generally around this strength, called elite professionals.
Challenge Rating differed from class level; a standard four-person adventure team was needed to defeat a monster of equal Challenge Rating.
Even a young black dragon’s Challenge Rating was only 7.
Anse steadied his mood and shifted his gaze back to the human side.
【Land, human, 6th level paladin（ Oath of Devotion）】
【Zahir, human, 5th level paladin（ Oath of Devotion）】
“This fight is winnable!” Anse pondered for seconds and decided to help.
Duergar had sun sensitivity, weaker in daylight. Most crucially, paladins wouldn’t abandon teammates—even in defeat, they would drag down the enemy main force.
Anse pulled Brat over and pointed out the stronger enemies one by one, signaling him to be extra careful.
“Let’s go.”
“Follow behind me.” Brat bared his teeth in a cold grin, gripped his sword with both hands, and charged first.
Setting:
1. Li and chi: Faerun’s li and chi are imperial units, 1 mile=1.6 kilometers, 1 foot=0.3 meters.
All feet in the text refer to imperial feet, but I’ll convert to meters in parentheses.
For readability, I’ll use kilometers where non-essential; if miles appear, I’ll convert them too—no need to worry.
2. For story continuity, combat records won’t appear frequently.
3. Paladin subclasses require different oaths.
Common subclasses are three:
Oath of Devotion: Keeps promises, aids the needy, leads by example—colloquially white knight.
Oath of Vengeance: Eliminates evil completely, confronts injustice, learns from mistakes—colloquially black knight.
Oath of the Ancients: Ignites hope, protects life, delights in others’ joy—colloquially green knight.
4. Local classification of professional strength:
Non-formal professionals: apprentices
Levels 1-4: formal professionals, beginner
Levels 5-10: elite professionals, intermediate
Levels 11-16: advanced professionals
Levels 17-20:（ mortal） peak professionals, heroic paragons, quasi-legendary
Level 21+: legendary
