The Life

by Paul Kite

  Hello. You understand that payment will be made only upon completion of the task? The money will be transferred through an intermediary. I think you know who that is.

  As for the intermediary, it was to check whether her interlocutor knew his name or not.

  After Kiera received a positive reply, the amount would be transferred to Dlog, the website’s owner. He’d transfer the money to the person who would have completed Kiera's order in full. No one except t intermediary should known the nicknames of the Customer and the Contractor or Contractors, if several people responded to the request.

  Of course! This isn’t my first time doing this kind of work. Dlog never deceived me.

  The unknown character guessed what the girl wanted from him and wrote the required name without hesitation.

  Wonderful. I’d like to clarify a small condition that isn’t specified in the order. If you complete the task in three days or less, you’ll receive a 50% bonus. I will also transfer it to the Dlog’s account.

  Three days from now?

  No, counting from midnight when I close the order.

  Then I’ll try really hard to meet the deadline! :)

  “A Smiley?” Kiera peered at the colon and the bracket. “What for?”

  However, the girl didn’t bother much with this oddity of the interlocutor and typed another message.

  Don’t forget that you won’t be the only one trying to do this.

  The girl, of course, bluffed, since this man was the only one who replied in more than two hours. She really hoped that at least another couple of people would write to her within the remaining time.

  The money will be transferred only after I check the papers Dlog sends me.

  Of course, you’re entitled to that.

  So we’ve got a deal?

  Of course! I’ll immediately write Dlog that I accept your order.

  Goodbye.

  See you.

  * * *

  Henry closed the mail and leaned back in his chair. Despite the fact that he was only sixteen, the man was radically different from his peers. He had an inconspicuous appearance of an ordinary nerd, and was often teased in class. He was unique in that he was his family’s breadwinner for the last six months. Henry lived with his sick mother, whose health no longer allowed her to work or do household chores. The poor man coped with all the troubles. He even had to quit his studies because of this, which he didn’t regret a bit. It was a great success that he persuaded his mother to buy him a game capsule for the money she received from his father’s life insurance after he died. His mother had already suffered from bouts of incurable disease.

  Henry successfully cracked the capsule in two months. He did it himself, without any help, and got the opportunity to choose any character class that was prohibited for minors! Yes, he violated the law. How else could he make money in the game? Working as an artist? A sculptor? Or a crafter? Alas, most social classes didn’t suit him. Proper specialties demanded support from other players who avoided teenagers. Henry had no friends who could help him.

  That was how he became a thief. Due to the fact that he possessed some abilities unusual for his age, he was able to succeed in this craft. After all, a thief wasn’t only a deft and quick character who cleaned the pockets of players and NPCs quietly. He was also a man well versed in locks and opening them quickly, a man able to detect and neutralize traps and many other skills that were beyond the reach of ordinary classes.

  Henry didn’t disdain any work. After he developed his character to the necessary parameters in record time, he began to take individual orders mainly from the players through trusted people. He has broken off all contact with the guild and stopped perform its quests. It happened after his recent imprisonment, which almost put a stop on his rather successful career. First, the players, unlike the NPC, paid much more. Secondly, it wasn’t only game currency, but also real money.

  Everything depended on the success of the negotiations. He was grateful to Kraven and Dazrael, who helped him escape from prison. He didn’t have time to thank them for it, but he might have such an opportunity later. Henry couldn’t bear to be in someone’s debt! Especially to owe two people at once, a player and an NPC. It was totally unacceptable to him. There was also one strange thing: the guy couldn’t understand how Kraven and Dazrael came got so close to each other, because their usual presence in prison didn't seem to be a normal task. Despite of the fact that the thief never stuck his nose into other people's business, he couldn’t help but notice this peculiarity. He, unlike Kraven, understood NPCs the way they should be. They were non-game characters, avatars driven by artificial intelligence. These were essentially smart programs and he treated them accordingly.

  “Eh,” the guy sighed, “it’s time to go online.”

  Chapter 26

  Henry went to his mother’s room to check on her. She was all right, the medicine was taking effect and she was sleeping calmly with a slight smile on her pale face. Then he returned to his room and threw the lid off the cocoon. He lay down in the soft bed and launched the capsule. However, before that, he activated a third-party software. The program for monitoring his mother’s health should issue an urgent warning about a change in her condition. Besides, it could pull him out to the real world without extra hitches even faster than he could do it himself.

  Account Verification Successful

  User identification completed successfully

  Medical data check —Error (№21A34-31Z75 was sent to the administration of the game world)

  The second medical check was performed successfully

  The realm of Noria welcomes you, immortal!

  Not paying attention to the error, Henry, now a player called Vanrag, opened the map searching for the coordinates that the customer left in the message on the shadowy site.

  The point began to flash at the edge of the Free Lands in a dark area of the map that Vanrag didn’t have time to explore. It was bad and it meant that, first, he would have to move to the nearest city to the coordinates—Avsteneya. Then he was planning to proceed on foot from there.

  The phrase “All that is mine I carry with me” corresponded to his credo. Therefore, he spent little time collecting for the trip and after half an hour he stepped onto the portal platform of Avsteneya. The thief quickly agreed with the local owner horse trader. He just bought a horse that looked quite ordinary and familiar to people. Vanrag saddled his horse and set off.

  It took another two hours to get to the house of a certain wizard named Livion. The thief learned this information from the local NPC residents, having generously paid for their talkativeness with hard cash. He also found out that the owner wasn’t a hermit. According to local residents, Livion was often absent for long periods of time. He left his house the day before yesterday and went straight to the nearest town, that is, the same one in which the thief appeared.

  Deciding not to waste time, Vanrag set to work. The first thing he needed to find out was how much security there was in the house...

  It was odd; there were no guards at all! Before nightfall, he didn’t notice a single guard who was supposed to be in the house.

  What an interesting wizard, the thief thought. If there are no people, then perhaps animals or even ghouls serve as guards here?

  He decided to take a chance and got close to the high fence gate. It separated the estate from the rest of the world. Vanrag knocked loudly.

  Silence!

  Then Vanrag took out a rather expensive and rare scroll and activated it. He froze for a moment with his eyes closed. Nothing again! There was not a living creature on the estate or in the house. The thief took out another scroll and repeated the procedure. This time the scroll was a little different. Opening his eyes in ten seconds, he whistled respectfully.

  Wow, no security was needed with such a great protection system! The guy shook his head in surprise. This wasn’t a house, but a well-built fortress.

  Do the intruders visit him every day? Otherwise, wh
y does he need such a huge amount of spells? he thought.

  It was impossible to take a single step and not plunge into some serious trouble! Vanrag was particularly impressed with the fence. He was originally going to climb over it to get into the estate.

  The thief pulled the door handles. After making sure that there was no easy way to enter the yard, he activated the disguise skill. Alas, thieves were deprived of invisibility in principle. Only after that, he took out his favorite set of master keys and the artifact decoder for opening the magic component of the internal lock. Dealing with it was no easier than opening the mechanical part.

  Well, let’s start!

  He had time to think about the situation while his hands were carrying out a series of simple operations.

  Why does this strange customer need only documents? Why not artifacts, amulets, scrolls or treasures? They are more valuable anyway! Well, this is, of course, the customer's personal matter, but I’ll definitely find something interesting in there.

  The last spring clicked in the lock, and grinning happily, Vanrag put down his master keys and began to tweak the decoder. He had to concentrate because it was a difficult task. The artifact consumed mana like a voracious hamster. Moreover, the thief had to follow the lines carefully. These subtlest flagella were looking for tags and links that should respond to the key-amulet in the structure of the magic spell cast on the castle. Vanrag was supposed to jerk one or the other flagella in particular order, like strings on a guitar. If he ‘played’ wrong, then he’d have to start hacking the lock again at best. At worst, an alarm or security system would activate and spoil everything.

  Fortunately, the thief didn’t blunder and picked up the right ‘melody’ rather quickly. Something clicked in the gate and the right door leaf swung open smoothly. It seemed to invite Vanrag to come in. He didn’t wait, of course. Taking out the ‘Zargen’ amulet in the form of a small golden hexagonal tile, he whispered the activator word and threw it over the threshold. Vanrag put on round spectacles with special magical glasses, looked closely at the ground and took a cautious step forward. The lines of the magic net, highlighted by the spell cast on the glasses, formed an empty and safe cell. The thief stepped on that spot, about the size of an adult’s foot.

  He was walking carefully to the house as if through a minefield. He had to jump and balance on one leg like a heron. Suddenly, the magical network began to move, reacting to a small animal. It looked like a rabbit, and for some unknown reason appeared on the lawn in front of the house’s porch. The creature sensed something was wrong: it instinctively felt the danger and pressed its ears to the head.

  It was too late. A thin stone post sprang out of the ground right there, and then a pillar of fire destroyed the poor little creature in moments.

  “I didn’t order a barbeque,” Vanrag whispered stunned, observing the harnesses dissolving in the magical network and the solid post pulling slowly into the earth.

  “Heck!” he swore. “What awaits me in the house? ‘The Rampant Storm’? ‘The Mist of Death’?”

  The thief listed some of the most powerful spells in the realm of Noria. “Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to this quest…”

  The amount that the customer was willing to pay more than covered all imaginable and inconceivable expenses. Therefore, Vanrag didn’t worry about the restoration of his very rare scrolls and artifacts. He’d be able to get the things he needed easily, with enough money. There were several special markets in the Free Lands, so he wouldn’t have to go far or search hard to find necessary scrolls.

  He’d finally got to the door of the house. Surprisingly, it was without a lock and any protection at all. But inside...

  ‘The Ice Heart’ was set right at the door. This spell enveloped the unlucky person with a crust of ice, as transparent as glass and as hard as granite. The game exit was possible, of course, but it would have definitely caused the death of the character.

  The young thief was sweating from tension while deactivating the trap. Well, Livion spared no expense in protecting his house. However, he could create the traps himself. Although, if he did that alone...

  What is Livion’s level, then?! He couldn’t even imagine how strong and dangerous the owner of the house was! He might even be a level 250! Vanrag remembered that this level had access to “The Ice Heart”.

  There were no surprises on the first floor. However, he didn’t go up the stairs. The thief treasured his feet. It would be madness to try to deactivate all twenty traps linked together. That was the number of steps and each had its own spell. A single error could lead to the triggering of all other traps. However, the railings were virtually defenseless, and Vanrag took advantage of them.

  Finally, he reached the last obstacle on his way to the goal—the door to the office of the owner of this insane asylum.

  An hour! He was busy opening it for an hour! Pushing the door in, Vargan carefully looked around. The room seemed to be empty except, of course, the exact same network as the one in the yard. However, the cells were of normal size, albeit slightly smaller than those he saw in the yard. Planning his movements thoroughly, the thief took a step, then another and... the silver net entangled his legs silently. Some kind of suspicious dark dip began to flare up from above his head. An ice cold chill was coming from up there.

  Fuck! Vanrag swore silently. ‘The Abyss Breath’! Fucking necromancers! Damn you!

  He instantly realized what a monstrous spell was activated above his head. The thief began to search frantically for the ways to escape from under the executioner's ax, which was about to fall onto his neck. He had only thirty or forty seconds to solve the problem.

  Vanrag threw a flask of varum saliva under his feet. That beast lived in the area close to the Ilian ridge. It’s saliva was so poisonous and destructive that it was capable of corroding not only flesh, metal, and stone, but also any magical spells. Then Vanrag activated the scroll with ‘The Wind Breath’ to remove this filth, which had already made large holes in his shoes and pants. On the other hand, the varum saliva had instantly destroyed almost all the silver threads of the web. He didn’t feel much pain at all, that was incredibly pleasing. The thief freed his legs with a jerk from the remnants of the binding spell. He rolled over, straight to the wall on which a picture of a massive and bloody battle hung.

  “Oh!” Vanrag blinked lying on his back. “Well, here you are, my dear safe!”

  Jumping to his feet, the thief ripped the picture off the wall and threw it aside. He cautiously shrugged his shoulders when a smacking sound came from behind him. The arch of the dark The Abyss Breath’ gap was forming in the very place where he literally stood and then curled into a ball. He began to feel the oval-shaped safe metal door. It was completely covered in a suspiciously familiar runic font. He’d already seen it somewhere... Where?

  “Heck!” Vanrag clenched his fists in frustration.

  He remembered where he had seen such a rune inscription. It on the painting, which depicted the entrance to the royal treasury of the Havrtol Ruler. The safe was made by the NPCs of an ancient dwarven clan... or was it a guild? It didn’t matter now. The difficulty of opening the safe mattered in the current situation. Despite the fact that Vanrag was a true professional, he’d have to spend at least half a day to pick the mechanical lock. The dwarves did their best...

  Shaking his head sadly, Vanrag turned away. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hack it. Moreover, the owner of the house could return at any moment! It was unlikely that Livion would appear in an hour or two, he would probably return at night or in the morning. It was hard to predict.

  Looking furiously at the safe, like he was hoping to bore a hole through it, the thief suddenly stopped and squinted.

  “Really?” he muttered to himself thoughtfully.

  With one more amulet left, he began to move it around the oval door. This amulet was long and thin, like a magic wand.

  “Are you kidding?” the thief chuckled suspiciously.

  It was re
ally hard to believe.

  It was clear that any safe should have been immured in the wall. This completely standard and logical practice often took place in the real world, of course. In the virtual world, apart from this procedure, the safe should have been attached to the wall with magic spells. The solid fastening was created in this way.

  This most highly protected and reliable dwarven safe wasn’t attached to the wall! It stood in a neatly carved niche in the wall, so that even a hair couldn’t be slipped in.

  “Oh yeah! You, guys, are idiots!” Vanrag praised those who installed it.

  Without thinking twice, he took out a scroll of time acceleration, which was called ‘Dust’. The thief read the spell quickly and pointed at the wall. Anyway, nothing wrong would have happened to the safe. As for the wall... Livion’d build a new one. The metal safe was big and extremely heavy. However, thanks to the expensive teleportation scroll that Kraven gave him once, Vanrag could steal a couple of such safes without problems.

  The masonry wall couldn’t bear the weight of the heavy safe and turned into dust. The safe fell to the floor with a thud.

  Of course, the guarding network worked instantly, sending alarm messages to the necromancer.

  All sorts of magical harnesses, traps, and secrets were set in motion.

  The whole territory of the estate and the house itself became the center of a local conflict...

  However, that didn’t bother Vanrag at all. Hugging a hefty metal box, he activated the teleportation scroll. The thief visualized clearly his small house on the outskirts of the Nazhar kingdom.

  A bright flash illuminated the room. The lucky thief had disappeared without a trace, taking away the priceless safe.