The Secret of the Dark Forest ( (The Way of the Shaman: Book #3) (37 page)

"Ants! Take me to the Astral Plane, quick!" I barked at the girl, "We'll have time to be sorry for this later!"

"No-one lets the boss drop below 95% Hit Points!" I heard Anastaria's orders. "Healers recharge their Mana, as soon as the boss reaches 95. We want to get him up to 100!"

"Close your eyes," Antsinthepantsa sat me on the ground next to her. "What are we going to do there?"

"You'll see in a minute." I had time to wink at the girl, though I realized she was unlikely to see it at this point. After closing her eyes, Antsinthepantsa started to sway from side to side, as if entering a trance. Is this how she always enters the Astral Plane? Cool. ...

"You can open them now, we're here. Whoa, that's nuts!" exhaled the girl.

I opened my eyes and saw pretty much what I expected: there was a cluster of white light, in places wreathed in red, gray and even green tones, and surrounded by the same phantoms who were making life difficult for the Elementals.

"Draco, can you come?"

"Ten minutes, no more."

"That would be enough."

"Them again?" exclaimed my Totem after he saw the Astral image of the Lieutenant.

"Mahan, they can't be changed," whispered Antsinthepantsa, "I tried, but nothing happ–"

"We don't need to change anything, Natalie." I smiled once again. "What I'm most curious about is why this boss was made impossible to complete without Shamans. You know, I think I finally understand what continent-wide scenario Elenium got from the High Priestess."

"You know, you're really beginning to lose me." The girl looked at me, perplexed, "What are you on about?"

"Doesn't matter now. It's just we're on the verge of a very big update in Barliona and a big part of it is a new dark power: the Lord of Shadow, Geranika."

"I know this. How can it help us now?"

"Tell me, what will happen if I start a Duel with my Totem here?"

"I have no idea, but the Supreme Spirits aren't going to like it – they'll probably expel you. And me too."

"How will this expulsion take place?"

"How on earth should I know?! What are you thinking?"

"Natalie, think. This is very important!"

"They'll turn you into a shining or completely dark sphere, depending on which of the Spirits will be doing it, impose a penalty and kick you out of the Astral Plane."

"Is there a way to make sure that it's the Light Supreme one that does it?"

"There isn't. It's a fifty-fifty chance."

"All right, thanks, and, if I turn into the Dark one, I’ll repeat my actions, all right?"

"What's on your mind?"

"Later, no time now!
Stacey, get the boss up to 100% and keep him there for about half a minute."

"Roger that!"

"Draco, let's train for a bit. Attack me!"

"HOW DARE YOU DEFILE OUR WORLD?" Just seconds later the terrifying voice of a Supreme Spirit sounded. "YOU WILL BE PUNISHED! A MONTH WITHOUT ACCESS TO THE ASTRAL PLANE! TWO WEEKS WITHOUT SPIRITS! A WEEK WITHOUT YOUR TOTEM! NOW BEGONE!"

I got lucky ... it was the Supreme Spirit of the Higher World, the one that formed a shining sphere. ...

"FREEDOM!" came the voice of the Lieutenant, as soon as I was thrown out of the Astral Plane. Although ... the Lieutenant was no more. We were facing a sentient that was maimed in some incomprehensible fashion. "THANK YOU HEROES FOR GIVING ME A CHANCE TO LEAVE THIS WORLD ALIVE. THANK YOU! RHEA, I’M COMING!" With these words the boss hit the ground and broke into all his constituent parts, which were almost immediately absorbed into the ground. All that was left for us was a small pile of loot – that for which we’d come here in the first place.

Level gained! (8 times)

Loot allocation has been completed (list), please confirm.

After looking through the fifteen level-260 items left after the disappearance of the Lieutenant and finding nothing useful either for myself or for any of my clan members, including the high-level players, I decided not to use my right of veto on the loot and agreed with the allocation proposed by the Imitator. It did know best, after all, who should be getting what. For example, Antsinthepantsa, who had gained three levels in one go, got two items, which left her overjoyed. You don't need all that much to make some people happy, it seems.

"That's it, enough fighting for today." I don't know about the rest of them, but I had lost any desire to go on with our journey right this minute. "Those who want to can get back to reality; we'll continue tomorrow. We still have the General and Midial himself ahead of us. So we’ll have our work cut out for us." I pulled out the tent, so that others had a chance to set it up, lay down in the mist and immediately dropped into sleep.

Now I finally knew the nature of the phantoms commanded by Geranika.

H
eroes of Malabar!

The Empire is facing a calamity: Geranika's Cursed Dagger has been plunged deep into the heart of the Throne. If it is not destroyed within four months, the Emperor will perish. The Dagger can be destroyed with the help of a holy item that was lost in the Free Lands near Rastrum. The group (not larger than 20 people) that brings the required object is guaranteed to receive an exceptional reward and the personal regard of the Emperor. Be vigilant: starting from today the holy item may be stolen, there is a 100% probability that it will drop from the inventory during respawn while the 'Saviors of the Throne' symbol will appear above the group (safe zones will no longer function for players with such a symbol).

Reward: Exalted Reputation with the Emperor, +15 Levels, +50000 Gold coins, a Scaling item from the Emperor's stores.

Penalty for failing the quest: None.

Quest type: Scenario.

Level restrictions: None.

Time limit for completing the quest: 120 days from the moment of this announcement.

How time flies. It seemed like we were killing the Lieutenant just a couple of hours ago, although in fact so much time had already gone by. ... The General stubbornly refused to appear and there was still plenty of ground to cover before we would reach the designated spot.

I waved away the message that the Emperor's quest had been renewed and continued to focus on ring crafting: time was running out and my Jewelcraft had barely passed level 82. Thankfully I had stocked up on the materials I needed beforehand; the Copper Ore that had come in the mail came in really handy. And it was just as well it arrived before we destroyed the Lieutenant. After his death, our raid was subjected to such severe restrictions that even Anastaria was scratching her head in confusion and periodically hopping out to reality to check things with the Corporation. Nothing like this had ever happened in all her gaming experience: the Dark Forest was blocked. ...

"Stacey, I have a question," I started pestering the girl as soon as I awoke the morning after the battle with the Lieutenant, "What logic did you follow when gathering the raid?"

"You spotted the mistake too, eh? Yes, I have to admit that we were altogether too hasty when deciding who should be gaining extra levels. Phoenix's two main Priests – a husband and wife – are on holiday now, so thinking that a location aimed at level 100 players wouldn't contain anything too important, we decided that one priest would be enough. It's the same story with the tanks ... we also decided not to include the spoilt brats."

"Who?"

"Spoilt brats. Players who had reached level 280+, but behave like little children. Phoenix tries not to accept such players, but sometimes it needs to. Like Rick, for instance. It's no secret that with the launch of Barliona very many 16-year-old misfits, rejected by society, headed for the Game to fill their gray world with new colors. They kept leveling up without stepping out of the Game for months at a time until, at last, they became 'Great'. They never really grew out of being teenagers or out of their insatiable desire to be total pwners. Damn, I hate that word."

"Why?"

"There is a certain 'pretty boy' with a similar name. Anyway, these 300-something-levelers tend to be a pretty unpleasant bunch. So between ourselves that's what we call them: 'spoilt brats'. By the way, have you ever wondered why in a game that has existed for over 15 years so few players are above level 300? And why that is only the case on our continent? There are over 10 times more high-level players in Astrum than in Malabar, while the Celestial Empire should soon welcome the first 400-level player. But not in Malabar. Here people are prepared to sacrifice their Reputation, money, anything, just to prevent someone else from gaining levels. If you're drowning, you have to pull the next guy in with you ... . There are several clans even set up especially for hunting down level 300s and sending them for respawn. They do it simply because they can."

"Hold on, isn't the Celestial Empire part of Malabar?"

"Why would it be? The division amongst the continents in Barliona differs from the real world. The number may be the same, but in Barliona Malabar is Europe and the Celestial Empire is the whole of Asia. Astrum is North America, Rathrand includes South America and Australia, and everything else is part of Caltuah."

"Strange, I never really thought about it ... but let's get back to the raid. So it looks like the Beatwick experience wasn't enough for the clan leaders. Have they developed a taste for repeated respawn or something? There we had a mere level-20 location, but half of the high-level players who answered the Emperor's call ended up taking a dirt nap without even having the chance to do anything. Why on earth did they decide that it would be any different here?"

"Because it was announced from the start there that was a continent-wide scenario, but this time it was a normal quest and a normal location. Nothing global was supposed to go down here. ..."

"I agree," Donotpunnik came up to us, "We fumbled when we put the group together. If Plinto is right about his level, there's little point in going after the General with a raid like this."

"Our best chance would be to get our Raiders and Fighters here," proposed Anastaria, "They don't even have to do the quest or be included in the group. Six thousand level-200s can be here in as little as two days' time ..."

"Stacey, did you forget that you were kicked out of Phoenix?" smiled Donotpunnik, "And by the way, while no-one can hear us, I can tell you I didn't buy your and Ehkiller's performance for a second. You've decided to put Rick and Hellfire back in their place, haven't you? And you can stop trying to drill a hole in me with those eyes! I haven't said anything about this even inside my clan; you're bound to have a number of Phoenix moles in there. Don't worry, you secret's safe with me. The Dragons can also bring seven or eight thousand level-200s. We would be able to mow down the General and Midial by force of numbers: our raid wouldn't even have to lift a finger – the Fighters will handle it all themselves."

"It's decided then," I agreed after a brief discussion where it was explained to me what a huge crowd like this would be doing around one lone boss, when no more than 15 players are able to stand right next to him, and even then they'd be getting in each other's way. "Let's get six thousand players from each clan, including the Heirs of the Titans – we should get Etamzilat in on it too. I'm just not that eager to go for respawn. Will a day be enough to gather everyone? In that case we can have a breather until then. I'll go make the announcement ..."

At first glance the idea seemed excellent, but its implementation ... not a single extra player was able to enter the Dark Forest and, on top of that, the quest description now sported an additional point saying that after the Lieutenant the conditions forbade adding anyone else to the group. I also felt rather uneasy about the absence of any new letters: the old ones didn't go anywhere, but new ones had stopped arriving. There was the possibility that Anastaria's admirers had finally come to their senses, but I had limited faith in people suddenly seeing reason. Things like that were just too rare. When I shared my suspicions with Anastaria, she checked something, cursed and logged out of the Game to get to the bottom of what was happening in the Dark Forest. ...

That's how we eventually reached the announcement of the Emperor's quest. Moreover, this was the updated, not the original version of it. As I tried to focus on another ring, my thoughts constantly returned to the update. If the object required for completing a quest always drops from your inventory on death, Anhurs will turn into one big bloodbath. Why trudge all the way to Rastrum, when you can just sit it out in the Capital, wait for a small group with a symbol above their heads to turn up and simply take all that you needed off them? As for getting Exalted straight away ... isn't that a bit much? According to Anastaria, Exalted Reputation with the Emperor automatically gives a player Exalted status with all other Malabar factions. This happens irrespective of what Reputation he had with them to begin with. For example, this would've allowed me to sort out my relations with Serrest and pay Prontho, the mine governor, a visit. I still had to get to the bottom of what happened between him and Shiam. But then ... why did the developers even make this change, I wonder? This was nothing less than open encouragement of PVP ... after all, the 5000 gold fine for killing a player within the city wasn't much of a deterrent. They even shut down the safe zones, so that the quest would have to be handed in by an enormous group, which would thereby protect a small group with those symbols above their heads. Although ... even if such a group tried to make its way there, you could just throw an Armageddon spell and – Boom! The leading clans have enough resources for a spell like that.

"Stacey," I finally tore myself away from ring-making and addressed the girl who was sitting lost in thought nearby, "listen, even if, purely hypothetically, our clan manages to get the necessary quest item, how would we ever get it to the Emperor?

"Do
you
have any ideas?" Anastaria immediately snapped out of her thoughts.

"Of course. According to the conditions of the High Priestess's quest, we must recover the Stone of Light. We could try to see if that might do it."

"It won't work. I already thought about that. You yourself said that there is a pile of these Stones around the Throne right now and they are only blocking the effect of the Dagger. No, something else is needed here. And as for handing it in, we'll come to some arrangement with 'Killer – they can hand it in while leaving us in their group. Twenty people, there's two of us ..."

"Six. I'm not ditching the guys."

"So, whom did you decide to leave out? Plinto or Barsina?"

"The Druid. She's only with us temporarily, so there is little sense in giving her anything. Plinto is definitely with me for at least a year and then we'll see. Perhaps after that he'll stick around for longer. Essentially, if I get the Stone, Seathistles will only get five places ... the rest would will be taken by Phoenix."

"Mahan, I get that you're not exactly an average guy, but don't you think this is a bit much? I'm not into selling the skin before killing the bear – especially when the aforementioned bear is definitely out of your league. I'm sorry, but this just isn't your level. If you manage to get your hands on the holy object that would put the sign above you, I don't know ... you get one wish from me. Any wish. Up to and including my agreeing to spend a year in the Seathistles clan."

"I'll hold you to that. By the way, you also promised to tell me what the deal was with the Dwarf riddle."

"They used the Vigenère cipher with 'Master' as the code word. This produces the line 'threeandfiveandtwoandninewithoutforty', without spaces. This expression is too ambiguous, so there has to be several other clues."

"Yeah, there are a couple more lines."

"Seems child's play now," smiled Anastaria after receiving the remaining formulas. "Although ... if you hadn't come across it before, you might have had trouble solving it. How many answer attempts do the Dwarves have? Three? You can try two yourself and if neither works, don't waste the third one – I'll help you with the answer. Damn! No, leave me two attempts, because there are two possible solutions here, either one could work, so it's best to play it safe."

"Couldn't you just tell me?" I asked, taken aback.

"I think not.” The girl shook her head, "Figure this one out for yourself, but only input the answer when you're completely sure it's right. What do you intend to do next?"

"To travel to the spot marked on the map. Looks like we'll have to fight the remaining bosses ourselves. I don't see any other way ... "

"There's rather a lot of them there”, said Donotpunnik when we finished watching the results of Plinto's reconnaissance. “The base of the Fallen was exactly where the High Priestess had marked on the map. It looked somewhat like a wooden castle, surrounded by a stockade, a few watchtowers (although personally I didn't get why you needed them in a forest), manned with guards, small huts, randomly strewn through the grounds, and two enormous houses, probably the abodes of the General and Midial. ... All in all a fairly standard model of a Kartoss wooden castle. But why the Kartoss look when the Priest had come from Malabar remained unclear. Around a hundred level 250+ Fallen Vampires, twenty or so enslaved level-300 Elementals and an undetermined number of level 350+ mages – who periodically came out of the huts – was a disheartening sight, but there was an interesting detail: there was no mist inside the stockade, so from Plinto's video you could clearly see two glades in the very middle of the settlement. One was completely black and the other one green and covered in flowers. A small object glinted in each of the glades: it couldn't be seen very clearly, but most probably these were the Stone of Light and the Tear of Eluna respectively. The goal of our raid ..."

"I have a proposal," the Azure Dragons’ deputy said straight away, "Why don't we send Plinto inside, he'll grab the Tear of Eluna and then all of us will make tracks for the Guardian's glade? I reckon we can make it back there in a day. Our task is not to kill everything that moves here, but simply retrieve the Tear. By the way, is the second Stone related to your quest?"

"It's a good idea, definitely worth thinking about. But we shouldn't all crowd in, it's enough to ...”