Dungeons of the Crooked Mountains

by Alexey Osadchuk

  He said the last sentence very quietly, but I still heard it. And that made my heart beat all the harder.

  “Th-thanks,” I whispered back, hiccupping. But no answer followed. Clearly he thought our conversation was over and fell asleep.

  I spent a long time lying there and listening in the darkness. What if the stranger said something else useful all of a sudden? But he was unfortunately already asleep.

  Turning over a few times on the bag, smoothing out the especially poky pieces of hay, I finally was able to relax and fall into a restive sleep to the measured snoring of my comrades in misfortune. Unprompted, some events of two days earlier popped into my head...

  Two days prior. Several hours before the death of my parents.

  I love this day! Although, what am I talking about? Who doesn’t love their own birthday?! At the very least, I’ve never met someone so foolish.

  The excellent mood I woke up with wasn’t even spoiled by the rain, which had been pouring since yesterday evening. I was awoken by a muted jingling of dishes from the kitchen. I spent a few minutes lying there and grinning like an idiot. I love these sounds. They can only mean one thing. Mom is cooking something yummy.

  Following the sounds, a stupendous smell came into the room which made my stomach groan loudly.

  Oh, Great System! Mom is baking my favorite thing - sugar bread! For some, the dish may be too simple, but not for me. There’s nothing tastier than a slice of warm fresh-baked sugar bread with a thick layer of fresh fatty cheese on top and doused in amber honey. Every bite is an unforgettable explosion of sweet and sour delight followed by a big swallow of still-warm fresh milk.

  On that day, it was as if the housekeepers didn’t notice me. But it’s all a game! It’s always like that. First they put on serious faces as if it were a normal day but then they shower you with birthday wishes and gifts. How I love this day!

  A few days ago, mom said something she shouldn’t have. Father has a special gift prepared. Unlike anything I got before. Ever since, I’d been burning in impatience. And the closer I got to the long-awaited day, the more bothered I became.

  I washed up and brushed my teeth, then went down into the dining room. My parents were already sitting at the table and talking in a low voice.

  Trying to look manly, like a grown-up, I wished them good morning as I sat at the table. I might have gotten away with it, but my quivering arms betrayed my excitement.

  A few weeks earlier, father went to the market in the capital. He brought back many necessities. Flour, honey, fabric. A few pieces of jewelry for mother. But he also brought a little bundle which he hadn’t shown anyone. He placed it in a special hiding place where he kept all our savings and important papers. Even mom wasn’t allowed to touch it. Well, at the very least that was what she told me. To be honest, there was such a tricky smile on her face when she said it. Only the biggest sucker in the world would have really believed her.

  I asked mom about the bundle almost every day, but she remained firm. Just as expected, that bundle was now sitting on the opposite end of the table! And father and mother, pretending not to notice, just kept up their peaceful conversation. Huh, I’d lose my mind in no time at this rate...

  The morning meal finally came to an end. Even the tasty food couldn’t distract me from the mysterious object lying just an arm’s-length away.

  After thanking mom for the food, father finally looked at me. There was a happy and cunning smile dancing on his face.

  “Alright mother,” he chuckled. “Enough teasing our little silly goose.”

  Then to me:

  “Come over here.”

  And, with a stupid smile, I walk over to my parents on cottony legs. Father unfolds the bundle. A leather case. A simple bone handle. When I realized what I was seeing, I lost my breath! A knife! A weapon! Damage! If I could do damage, I could earn experience essences and tablets!

  “This is Dragonfly!” Smiling happily, father extended me the gift. “It’s yours!”

  “Happy birthday, son!” mom said, kissing me on the forehead.

  Absent-mindedly replying to their congratulations, I took the knife out of the case, my hands shivering.

  “Here is the switch,” father told me.

  I immediately pressed where he showed me. A narrow steel blade the length of my palm abruptly jumped out of the bone handle.

  “See,” father commented. “A bit curved. Like a dragonfly’s wing. It’s only sharp on one side. It looks like a simple field knife. But it has a very sharp tip, so it’s also good for stabbing.”

  I turned it over in my hands a few times, taking it in. This was the first tool I could use for work. Perhaps, depending on the situation, it was also my first weapon. Finally! It’s silly damage figures didn’t even bother me. I was elated!

  “Yes the damage is just two, but don’t you worry,” father justified. “That’s temporary. When your level starts going up, the damage will go up too and very quickly. It’s a scalable item and those are no laughing matter! Hehe! I spent fourteen years saving up for this thing! Without Dalia, I don’t know what we’d have done...”

  I stood up and gave father a very big hug. Then mom...

  “Thank you... I’m so grateful to have you...”

  Mom, smiling, kissed me another few times. After that, wiping a welled up tear with the edge of her apron, she hurried into the kitchen.

  “Well, well. You’ve really touched your mother,” father chuckled and immediately asked:

  “Will you wait for me? Wanna do an experiment together? As soon as I’m back from the mines, we’ll go into the woods and test out your new knife. What do you say?”

  “Of course, father! I’ll be waiting!”

  “Wonderful! Who knows, maybe you’ll hit level one by the time we get back? Huh?” Father was enthusiastic.

  I don’t know who was happier, him or me. I might have asked... But neither he nor mom ever came back...

  Present day.

  “Here, take this. Aunty Agatha put you together some travelling food.”

  Jay was standing next to the cart with a few other people headed to the Crooked Mountains. That was where Mr. Bardan’s old copper mine was located. I didn’t want to think bad thoughts, but seemingly that would be my final stop.

  “Th-thank you,” I said, hiccupping in anxiety and taking the small package.

  She’s so pretty she could even give Mia a run for her money. But their beauty is different. Mia’s beauty is cold like ice. Jay’s is like a flame. Her affinity for fire comes from long, thick, red curls. Yesterday, when we were in the cart, she removed her kerchief to fix her hair. It startled me. I lost my breath. What beauty! I could even smell her hair. It smelled of grass and spring.

  The gaze of her dark emerald eyes turned me inside out. What’s happening to me? That never happened before!

  “Take care of yourself out there, boy,” she said protectively and walked toward the barrack where the kitchen was.

  Boy? She saw me as nothing but a boy? My right arm squeezed the bundle tight. It was not anger. No. it was more like annoyance at myself for my helplessness and weakness.

  Suddenly I saw Valgard standing nearby. He was staring at Jay’s supple figure, his red-bearded face frozen in a lustful smile.

  Was it just me, or did she see him? And it didn’t embarrass or frighten her. I didn’t totally understand the game they were playing, but I quickly realized that Jay was much older than I first thought.

  “Hey, kiddo, climb up on the cart,” Burdoc commanded. “If we hurry, we might get there by evening.”

  Chapter 4

  “SO THEN, listen son,” the cart driver, a bear of a man named Kril said didactically to his seven-year-old boy. “Once upon a time, there were three brothers. A warrior, a hunter and a mage. And they embarked upon a journey to distant lands in search of wealth and glory...”

  The fire gave a measured flickering, driving back the darkness. Sparks, like newborn fireflies, flew up into the sk
y to quickly fade and fall back to earth as tiny little flecks of ash.

  In the end, we didn’t reach the mine by evening. One of our carts broke a wheel. We had to stop, fix the break and prepare the area for a night’s rest. None of us wanted to have a chance encounter out here at this time of night, so we thought it better to stay put.

  We had already all eaten, and those who hadn’t yet made it to sleep were sitting around a big fire. The conversations fell silent. Everyone was thinking about their tough fate and what awaited them at our destination. The only person in high enough spirits to speak was Kril. He had to bring his son, because the boy’s mother died prematurely. He was telling an old folk tale in a hushed tone — the adventures of the three brothers.

  My father used to tell me the same one. I didn’t know it then, but a trainer named Roglex later told us it was a way parents taught their children the basics of personal development.

  The Tales of the Three Brothers are about a warrior, a hunter and a mage who can only achieve their goal by working together. Alone they never get anywhere. Just like in the story Kril is telling now. First, the big strong warrior can’t handle a nasty monster without the agile hunter and book-smart mage.

  There Kril ends the story and shifts from fable to moral. I gave a furtive smile, wrapped myself tighter in a blanket thoughtfully shared by Burdoc and got ready to hear Kril’s lesson just as I’d done many years before from my father.

  “So then, son,” said the carriage driver, stroking his mop-headed boy’s hair. “The Great System gave us three branches of development - Strength, Agility and Mind. And it granted us silver tablets when we were born, each giving one point to any of these characteristics so we can choose our own path. Which of the brothers do you like the best?”

  “Warrior, of course!” Tim answered without thinking.

  That made me laugh again. It was the exact answer I’d given my own father. Based on the thoughtful smiles on the bearded faces of the men listening to our conversation, all of them must have seen themselves in him.

  “Hehe,” chuckled Kril and patted his mop-headed boy’s hair. “Strength is nice. But without Agility you can’t apply it properly. And of course without Mind, you will spend it twice as fast and never get what you’re after. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” the boy nodded seriously.

  “The three main branches are intertwined. If you only work on one of them, the other two will wither. What would have happened to Warrior without his brothers, if he fought the big monster all alone?”

  “He would have died,” Tim answered softly.

  “Exactly!” his father raised his pointer finger in the air instructively. “Never forget that.”

  In response, Tim nodded slowly, then after a bit of thought asked:

  “Hey dad, how do you grow the branches?”

  “Good question, son. The Great System gives us tablets for that. There are different kinds. Clay, stone, iron, bronze...”

  “And silver like I got?” the kid asked, smiling.

  “Exactly right. The same kind you got from the Great System on the day of your birth. They are very valuable.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they can give a whole point to any characteristic. That’s so your mom and I could choose which of your branches to invest in when you were born. All parents do it.”

  Listening to the placid conversation between father and son, I saw Burdoc making a sad, pensive face. The old man must have been overcome by memories...

  “What other kinds of tablets are there?” Tim continued his interrogation.

  “Gold, diamond and iridescent.”

  “Iridescent?” the scamp’s eyes lit up.

  “Yes,” Kril nodded. “But you know son, everyone’s heard of them, but no one has seen them. At the very least no one I know. Iridescent tablets are probably more of a legend.”

  “Woah! Legendary tablets!” Tim admired.

  “Exactly, son,” his father laughed. “Exactly right. Legendary.”

  The men all nodded happily.

  The look of admiration on Tim’s face was suddenly replaced with perplexity.

  “But father, where do tablets come from?”

  “Good question, son,” Kril praised. “You can earn tablets in war, on hunts, and by gathering resources or performing very difficult tasks. And when increasing your level with experience essences. Every time you level-up, the Great System gives you three silver tablets.”

  “Ess... Ess-eh-nces?” Tim asked, struggling with the word.

  “Correct,” his father answered. “They can be earned the same way as tablets. Every essence is one point of experience. Go look how many essences you need to get to level two.”

  Tim’s eyes froze for a moment. His lips moved as he tried to work something out.

  “It says zero then a slash, a two and three more zeroes,” Tim squeezed out.

  Hm, clearly Brother Mage was not favored in Kril’s family. They must have put just one or two tablets into Tim’s Mind.

  “That means,” Kril explained patiently. “You need to earn two thousand essences.”

  “Woah! Are you gonna help me?”

  “Of course I will, but you’re gonna have to do most of the work on your own. Such is the law of the Great System!”

  “And can I fight with a sword or a spear like Brother Warrior?!” Tim’s eyes glimmered in anticipation of future adventures.

  “You can,” Kril answered confidently and then slightly cooled his son’s jets:

  “But you’ll have to earn many tablets by using the corresponding skills. And you’ll have to increase your energy supply.”

  “And how do I do that?”

  “Get endurance tablets and practice. Plus carrying capacity. After all, like Brother Warrior, you will be wearing armor and carrying a weapon. Then increase damage. You’re at level one right now. That means your natural damage is just one. And don’t forget about health and agility, either. Remember? Without Brother Hunter, Brother Warrior never would have gotten anywhere.”

  Kril doesn’t often talk about Brother Mage. But that’s basically the same as everyone I know. The Mind branch is the least popular of the three. Although, according to my father’s tales, it is the most powerful. But alas, it’s also the hardest to use and thus improve.

  We only enter this world with two supplies — life and energy. Even someone as Bugged as me got those from the Great System. But the third supply, mana is something you have to earn.

  In order to unlock it, you need a tablet of Intellect. Even the most basic kind, clay, will do. But the catch is that the only way to earn one is by gathering a magical resource or killing a creature with magical abilities, which is even harder.

  And of course, all secondary characteristics that derive from the Mind branch are activated the same way as Intellect. Oh yeah, I totally forgot! There’s one other way of earning tablets of any kind or quality. They can be bought, as can experience essences. Honestly, I’m scared to even imagine how much a Mind-branch tablet must cost.

  I considered it and didn’t notice that Kril was no longer by the fire. He must have been putting his son to bed in the cart. I looked around wearily. By the looks of things the only ones not asleep were me and two sentries watching the fire. I lay down just a step from them. I close my eyes. Time for me to hit the hay, too. Then through my dream, I hear the squeaky voice of one of the sentries. I don’t know his name, but everyone calls him Flea.

  “You know what’s with old man Burdoc today?”

  “What do you mean?” a raspy voice answered his question with a question. That’s Hart. Despite his whole head of gray hair, he is not yet an old man. Level fifteen. Many scars on his hands, arms and face. His predatory gaze penetrates into the marrow. One of Skorx’s cutthroats. That’s what the others say behind his back.

  “Yeah, I saw his old face go blank while he was listening to Kril,” Flea explained.

  “Ah, there you go,” Hart answered understandingly.
“That old bump on a log must have remembered his childhood when he heard about the tablets.”

  “Can you tell me?” I could hear impatience and intrigue in Flea’s squeaky voice.