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As I was thinking, another message popped up.

Congratulations! You've received Achievement: Slow on the Draw!

You've made Top 100 of the players who haven't chosen Specialization by level 30.

Reward: +1500 to Fame

Very nice. Slow on the draw! Talking about lame fame. The fact that we were at least a hundred had to be good news, I suppose. A hundred slowmoes, so to say.

Finally I'd freed all the surviving Elves and got to the end of the line, approaching the Dark
 
Princess. Her face was as passionless as ever. I showed her the key and nodded at the massive lock. The Princess lowered her eyelids slightly. You were welcome to understand it whichever way. I shrugged and turned the key in the rusty lock, then forced the screeching door open.

Quest completion alert: Free the Drow Princess I. Quest completed!

Reward: access to unique quest Free the Drow Princess II.

The Elven Princess stepped out gracefully. She pressed one hand to her heart and lowered her head in gratitude.

"I thank you, my High brother. My warriors are now free; the shame of captivity won't befall the House of Night. I didn't ask you to help me, but you freed me nevertheless. So please accept the Drow Princess' gratitude."

Looking me in the eye, the Princess lay her hands on my shoulders and, rising on tiptoes, gave me an indifferent kiss. Her lips were warm, soft and supple. She had a heady smell of wild strawberries.

Buff alert! You've received a lifetime buff: the Mark of the House of Night.

Effect: Drow's Friend. Your relationship with Dark Elves has improved to amicable.

For a brief moment, I lost myself in her black eyes. Then I pulled myself together and bowed low. "I appreciate the honor, Madam."

A sniff came from behind my back. I turned around. Taali was trying to look the other way but her nostrils flared. Binary codes no more, heh?

The
 
Princess pressed my hand with her slim fingers, reminding me of her presence. "I will need your help, friend. Are you prepared?"

"Always prepared," I muttered, pulling my hand free. All women were the same. You offered them a hand and they took an arm. That's the power of love for you.

The
 
Princess pointed at the carved collar still hugging her neck. "No idea how these hyenas managed to lay their hands on a rare artifact like this. There're not many Magic Negators of this level around, and we do know where most of them are. I have a funny feeling the Gnoll King was only instrumental in a bigger game by the Houses of Fire and the Moon. But it's of no consequence to you. Just help me remove it. Get the crystal key from the King."

New unique quest available! Free the Drow Princess II.

The
 
Princess' powerful abilities are neutralized by the Magic Negator. Go down the sinister Gnoll Dungeon, reach the palace and find the key!

Reward: Unknown

Oh well. Who was I to say no to unique quests?

"I will help you, Princess. But can you give me a clue what it looks like? The King and I, we're bosom buddies. Seen him five times or so today. I'm sure he won't say no," I attempted a Clint Eastwood grin.

Her eyes smiled. "It's a red crystal with the same carving as the collar."

The Princess leaned closer, showing it to me. She smelled so good that my head went round. She pushed a lock of hair to the other shoulder and bent her head, exposing a chiseled neck burdened by the unwanted accessory. My heart missed a couple beats. I shook my head to concentrate on the business at hand and forced my eyes away from her velvet skin, her tantalizing cleavage and a pulse beating over her collarbone.

I peered at the pattern snaking along the collar. I could have sworn I'd seen it somewhere before. I frowned, trying to remember. My loot. I'd been in a hurry to go and help Taali so I'd stuffed the last batch into my bag without having a good look. I vaguely remembered seeing something similar in there.

I dropped the bag on the ground and dug into it. There. Could it be the crystal? By then, ordinary keys had stopped dropping and I'd already collected a full set. Then after a chain of nearly-empty respawns, the King had dropped that squiggly thing. Apparently, that didn't happen every day.

I picked up the crystal and handed it to the
 
Princess. "Is that it?"

For a moment, she lost her natural cool. She grabbed the key and touched the Negator with it. The collar clicked and opened.

She beamed. A smooth gesture, a few singsong words—and her clothes fluttered, the fabric regaining its pristine whiteness and order. After that, she broke into a dozen hasty spells casting group buffs, healing the wounded and sending astral messengers. Her appearance had changed—now she looked like the Royal she was.

Finally, the
 
Princess turned to me. "I do appreciate what you have done for me and my warriors. You can count on our gratitude when you too need help. Please accept this artifact as a reward for your courage and chivalry. I ask you but one thing: do not ever leave it in greedy hands. This collar can bring about a lot of misery with an ill will and a bit of imagination."

Quest completion alert: Free the Drow Princess II. Quest completed!

Reward I: The one-time right to summon the warriors of the House of Night. To receive help, ask any Drow to put you in contact with a House representative.

Reward II: Magic Negator and Crystal Key.

The Princess nodded me goodbye and activated the portal. One by one, her men entered the radiant archway. She left last, leaving me with a heady forest scent and a strange yearning.

"Impressive," Taali remarked. Was she jealous or something?

"Yeah," I mumbled and packed the new gizmo with the rest of them. About time I started thinking of raising my Strength parameter. I could also use a new bag for two or three hundred slots. "Come on, then. Look up. I have a funny feeling the Pratz cavalry will be here any minute. And I owe them for six graves. My Inbox is chock full of their filth.

"So is mine," the girl nodded. "Judging by how fast they come, the little
 
jerks sit it out somewhere waiting for help to arrive."

"That's possible. Come on, Hummungus. Left-right, left-right!"

We walked out of the gnoll dungeon and headed toward the city. The gnoll workers that had only yesterday seemed so tough and dangerous kept lunging at us from everywhere, only to face Teddy the Bodyguard. The enormous level gap didn't leave the suckers half a chance. Groups of low-level players watched us walk past, although admittedly Hummungus was the center of their attention. I didn't mind. On the contrary, I made sure to showcase him at his best, making him bellow and lunge as I played with "Attack!" and "Off!" We even did our good deed for the day by tearing apart an impressive train that some over-eager ranger had dragged to his group. Taali gave everyone a quick heal, handed out some buffs and off we went.

As we walked, she demanded to know every detail of the Drow quest. She'd probably decided to do it herself. She looked really funny when she asked, stern-eyed, if a Drow leader absolutely had to be a woman or whether a male prince or knight could also be accepted? I had to put on a serious face and tell her that indeed a knight was okay, why not. On a white charger, yeah right. She was still a child. Shame I couldn't give her the keys which turned out to be non-transferrable.

When we were a few hundred feet away from the city, I slowed down. The forest ended there. "That's it, Taali. I'm afraid I can't go any further. The guards will start aggroing Teddy. I'm too close already. I've seen a couple of patrols here before."

"Never mind. Thanks for your help. For everything..." she paused.

"Stop it, will ya? You think I'd leave a girl in trouble? I'd kick any amount of ass for a friend."

She raised her head and looked me in the eye. "A friend?"

I took her slim hands in mine. "Whassup? Sure we're friends. Why would you doubt that? Is it because of that Drow chick?"

"It's the way you looked at her."

"Oh. How can I explain," I hesitated. "Body chemistry, you know? Game designer magic plus pheromones in combination with abstinence, a new fitter me and tons of naked bods walking around."

I didn't think she understood all of it but her face lit up. Much better. I hated to see her sad as a panda without bamboo. "Could I ask a favor of you? I'm like a walking Fort Knox at the moment, lugging around over a hundred gold. You think you could pop it into the bank for me? I can't go to town myself, you see."

Taali gave me a serious look as if searching for an answer to some unasked question. Then she nodded. "Thanks."

"What for?"

"For trusting me. Come on, where's your money? I really need some cash to get that Versace robe."

She could still joke, which was a good sign. At least I hoped she joked. I handed her the money and nodded at the looming tower tops. "Off you go, then."

She wasn't in a hurry to leave, though. Devils danced in her eyes. "Did you say abstinence?"

She stepped toward me and gave me a firm kiss—artless but passionate and uncompromising as youth itself. Then she swung round, her mane of hair lashing the air, and strode toward the city.

I shook my head, flabbergasted. What kind of day was this? The amount of adventures, conflicts, emotions and beautiful women had exceeded the yearly real-world quota. I liked it.

Finally I pulled myself together and took the familiar trail back into the woods toward Grym's cave. I had barely fifty paces left to cover when I heard Hummungus' fierce roar behind my back, followed by a scream.

"Die, you spawn of the Dark!"

I turned around just in time to see my pet being attacked by two of the city guards. A bit further, a mage was whispering something into a radiant crystal. A patrol. Talking of the devil.

Probably, the best thing would be to smoke the pet myself and make an inconspicuous exit. But either my affection for Teddy or the mob-respawning, bear-bellowing instinct that I'd acquired in the last twenty-four hours got the better of me. Both, most likely. The guards weren't much to write home about, both level twenty-five. The mage was level thirty. The further away from the city one went, the weaker patrols became: not so much combat force as a rapid report system. But I had a bad feeling about the mage, apparently on a hotline to somewhere.

You've received experience!

Warning! You've killed a guard of the City of Light! The Sun King doesn't approve of those who kill his subjects!

Your relationship with the Dark Alliance has improved!

Your relationship with the Alliance of Light has deteriorated!

Bad, too bad. I remembered reading that it was never a good idea to attack allied NPCs. Reputation could plummet and it could take you a lot of time and drudgery to restore it. Actually, I could understand the Admins. I'd had some experience with certain servers where the players butchered quest characters and bankers, even slaughtering entire trading towns. I'd once watched the server's top clan raze a biggish city. This, of course, tended to ruin the gaming experience and could potentially alienate the average player. This I knew but I couldn't do much about it now. The second guard died, too. The remaining mage wisely chose an escape route. He cast a slowing spell over my pet and, while Teddy tried to kick away some roots entangling his legs, he popped a portal open and disappeared in a blue haze.

Not good. You didn't have to be a mind reader to know that the place would soon be crawling with guards.

I frisked the corpses. Nothing special, just some silver and a few gamers' badges. Now I had to get to the cave double quick. The passage was too narrow for Teddy: he was bound to get stuck halfway through, but as long as no one could see him from the outside, it had to do. A couple steps down was good enough.

This time the cave was brightly lit, just for a change. A dozen makeshift candles oozed wax. Grym the Hermit in rolled-up sleeves was busy pounding some pungent ingredient in a mortar. When I
 
stumbled down the steps into the cave, he glanced over at me but continued with his work. Then his eyebrows rose. He set aside his bowl filled with some shimmering powder and walked over to me.

"You're surely full of surprises, young warlock. You've gained strength fast. Probably a bit too fast. In the Dark Lands you'd still be a green newb, but here, right under the High Ones' nose..." Grym shook his head in disbelief.

I had too little time for subtleties so I grabbed the bull by the horns. "Thank you, Sir Hermit. Would you be willing to teach me something new?"

Grym nodded and made a magician-like gesture. "Absolutely. You're long overdue your reward."

Congratulations! You've received 3 Talent points!

You have 23 Talent points available!

Excellent. We'd sorted out all the old odds and sods. Time to look forward to new heights.

Grym put an end to my reverie. "Have you managed to demonstrate your loyalty to the Fallen One?"

Jeez, what did he want from me? It's not as if he'd given me any tips, was it? What was I supposed to do, spit on the altar in an Elven temple? Maybe hand out some anti-Elf leaflets printed by the Darks' underground? Or even fly the Fallen One's colors in the dark of the night from the watchtower's spire? Having said that...

I started rummaging through my bag, found what I was looking for and brought a jingling bundle of the players' badges to Grym's eyes. "Will these do?"

The old goblin studied the offering. Then he grinned and nodded. "Excellent. You'll get a gold piece for each High scumbag you've offed. I'd rather you brought me their ears but the badges will do nicely. If ever you come across more of such loot, remember old Grym."