A Second Chance

by Vasily Mahanenko

  Reference information

  Training speed and Boosting Gems

  Training speed — The parameter determining how quickly a player gains Experience. A coefficient increasing Experience. Default setting 0%. Increases due to obtainment of a special Boosting Gem. A player may have only one Gem at any one time.

  Boosting Gem — An object increasing the speed of training. Can be obtained only from the game administration. May not be resold to another player. Types of Gem and prices:

  Gem +10%, minimum +1 experience. Price: 1,050 gold

  Gem +20%, minimum +2 experience. Price: 2,100 gold

  Gem +30%, minimum +4 experience. Price: 3,150 gold

  Gem +40%, minimum +6 experience. Price: 4,200 gold

  Gem +50%, minimum +8 experience. Price: 5,250 gold

  “If you train hard and always use your abilities, you’ll grow into a worthy demon hunter.” Gurt officially signed off on my task, and returned to the other recruits. The orc’s words struck me as strange, and I opened my character window. Indeed, five Demon Strikes had increased my Intellect by five points, one for each strike. 995 more strikes and I would increase my Intellect by one point. How freaking simple! I had to hammer away at a dummy for half a year in order to bump up a characteristic to a more or less respectable value.

  I dismissed Aniram, but the countdown to the next diversion didn’t stop. More bad news. I couldn’t do anything to my pet, I couldn’t freeze the timer, and I couldn’t use my abilities without a demon. Too many “I couldn’ts”. Deciding to see what this would lead to, I went over to the simulators to polish up my moves. I got so caught up in the feeling of control over my own body that I lost track of time. I hated running, jumping, and squatting in reality — my unwieldy body and shortness of breath constantly resisted my desire to exercise. There was nothing like that here. I literally flew through the simulators, and the logic of it all became clear — a demon hunter had to be quick and agile in order to escape danger. We weren’t supposed to get mixed up in open conflict with enemies. Our core rotation was: leap away from opponent, keep opponent at a distance, constantly batter opponent with Demon Strikes. No Leeroy Jenkins here!

  The next two hours I spent working hard on completing obstacles. Fortunately for me, Marcon the Spoiled didn’t content himself with seven out of ten, and stayed on to practice the last three. I shadowed him on the simulators, trying to remember each movement, but then he suddenly disappeared to reality. His character faded away right in the middle of an obstacle, as a result of which I and the rest of the brethren following him all fell to the ground. Some sooner, some later, but everyone collapsed. I was the first. My Agility scale rose to 748, and I at last felt depleted. No physical fatigue, only mental. At the end of the day, repeating the same thing over and over is hard work. I needed to switch off, so I decided to take a stroll around the training camp, but as soon as I exited the assault course, my body was seized by that familiar chill.

  “You again! Smell the light!” Braksed was once again ensconced in his battle station next to our course. I ignored his cloying odium, far more concerned as I was with the state of Eredani, who was lying on the ground, hunched over in a most unnatural position, wheezing, and tearing at his chest with his fingers. Braksed laughed, pleased with the result, and that was the last straw. I was no great philanthropist, but I couldn’t stand open travesties of justice. I couldn’t damage the player directly, but Braksed himself had given me a fantastic idea. Aniram, my dear, enter!

  “What the hell?!” The elf stood transfixed. The archdemoness’s spectacular entrance did not go unnoticed. Her wings spread wide, Aniram hovered above me, intent on flattening me like a bug as soon as the light of Eluna touched her. It still hadn’t occurred to the aggressor to switch off the Drop of Light.

  “I will drink your soul! I will make you pray for death!” Her target had suddenly changed. I wasn’t going anywhere, so her priority was now to rid herself of the light she so hated. A deafening crack, an earthquaking tremble, and all around was rent with the wild shrieks of a pack of lower demons. Aniram had called up six canine beasts, and pointing her wings at Braksed she roared, “Kill!”

  The dogs rushed to obey the order, and the noise from the camp was joined by two abominable sounds: the wail of the security system, and the cries of Braksed being torn apart. A player’s pet, just like a player himself, could do nothing to an opponent, but this restriction did not extend to invoked animals. A shadow flickered and the pack was dust. Drill sergeant Tarlin was the first to reach ground zero, but it was too late — Braksed lay prostrate, one HP to his name, emitting toe-curling screams. The lowlifes had had a splendid romp, and Braksed now understood the need to visit a sales office to decrease his pain threshold. He’d been so panicked he hadn’t even thought of exiting virtuality to escape the demons’ jaws.

  The satisfied Aniram folded her wings, devoured me with a bloodthirsty look and, spraying everything around with her hatred, spat, “You’re next, traitor!”

  Tarlin frowned, and I hurried to get the archdemoness out of harm’s way. If he killed her, I would have to dive into the Abyss again, something I wasn’t burning with desire to do. “Pick up Eredani and follow me,” he ordered. “You attacked a Free citizen. Punishment awaits you!”

  Upgrades gained

  Experience: +6, until next level: 988

  Reputation with Light of Barliona faction: increased by 3

  Yeah right! What were the bonuses for?!

  Chapter 3

  CAMP COMMANDER Uldaron listened to Tarlin stony-faced. According to the instructor it just so happened that, out of the blue and in broad daylight, a tiefling had decided to seize power in the camp, by invoking an archdemon outside the training area. Brave Tarlin had nipped the half-demon’s insidious plan in the bud, and now wanted a reward for his saintly trouble. I was about to call the sergeant a mercenary scuzzball, when Uldaron set everything straight by explaining the reward Tarlin was speaking of:

  “Absolutely no frontline! I need you here,” the commander cut in. “If you want a reward, open your purse and I’ll fill it with cash.”

  Tarlin screwed up the features of his already grisly mug. He was most dissatisfied with that particular choice of reward.

  “So what actually happened?” Uldaron was playing the intelligent commander, wanting to clarify the situation and allowing his underling to have his say.

  “The youngsters swiped the Drop of Light from the assault course and started training with it in an undesignated area,” said Tarlin. “I didn’t intervene. Thought I’d punish them afterwards. Then Kvalen showed up, invoked the demon, and ruined the training session.”

  “Training session?!” I strongly resented this interpretation of events. Had I not been an indirect participant, I might even have believed Tarlin, if it wasn’t for Eredani’s resuscitated, though still limp, body testifying otherwise. I brought up the text of the user agreement, found the relevant paragraph, and said, “That wasn’t a training session, it was a violation of the user agreement. You allowed a player to be tortured and dealt a level of pain incommensurate with common sense. Section five, clause forty-two, sub-clause three.”

  There was a pause in the conversation. Eredani wanted to say something, but only had enough strength to squeeze out a brief mew. Uldaron and Tarlin froze, their eyes filled with the snow-white of the loading indicator, and unexpectedly for me, the surrounding space spoke:

  “Dear player! Your appeal to the dispute settlement service has been accepted and considered, and a decision has been taken. Please be informed that according to section one, point thirteen of the user agreement, no infringement of the playing process has been recorded in regard to player Eredani. Thank you for your appeal to the dispute settlement service. We wish you a pleasant game!”

  The text of the user agreement scrolled down and stopped on the following point:

  The standard user agreement does not extend to players convicted by a court decision of crimes specified
by criminal legislation. For this category of player there exists a separate user agreement approved and confirmed by the Penal and Penitentiary Commission.

  I saw Eredani in a new light: he wasn’t a vagrant, he was a jailbird with one-hundred-percent sensory settings; a player who was allowed to kill, rob, and persecute with impunity anywhere in Barliona; a criminal who had been able to flee a coalmine or an ore mine or a logging camp by paying to have his red armband removed. That’s why he couldn’t bag a demon — nobody could withstand the hundred-percent pain of the Abyss if they were conscious. The system ensured I had fully grasped the true nature of my new acquaintance, before unblocking the NPCs, who continued to act out their algorithms as if nothing had happened. NPCs turned a deaf ear to anything which concerned the real world.

  “Yes, training session!” The drill sergeant’s voice was metallic. “Braksed acted just as any demon hunter should. He tried to banish a demon.”

  “Tieflings are not demons.” Uldaron came to our defense, although he was ultimately only on the side of truth. “Kvalen and Eredani are Free citizens, helping us rid Barliona of the beasts of the Abyss.”

  “This is no place for them. They can’t control their own demons.” Tarlin refused to budge. “I don’t want to come running every thirty minutes to wipe everyone’s backsides.”

  “Agreed, something must be done with the demon. So you teach the tieflings what to do.”

  “Me? No, chief, you’re not going to offload this pair on me. I’ll quit, hide, desert, but I’m not having anything to do with tieflings. I have a short way with demons — a knife to the throat and back into the Abyss.”

  “That’s unnecessary, Tarlin. An instructor is obliged to fulfil his duties.”

  “An instructor is obliged to teach combat with demons,” retorted Tarlin. “External, not internal. If you want to instruct them, send them to Hermit. If anyone can explain to them how to deal with their essence, it’s him. Outcasts should work with outcasts. End of.” He looked defiantly at Uldaron.

  The boss sighed dolefully and shook his head. “If you think I’m going to fire you for your insolence, you’ve got another think coming. Who’s going to teach the recruits? Shut up and get to work, or I’ll pack you off to the priestesses to embroider some lace. But you’re right about Hermit, he can help the tieflings. I’ll send them to see him just as soon as they’ve completed the course.”

  “These losers? The whole course?” snorted Tarlin. “Fat chance. The most they’re capable of is seven out of ten. Maximum.”

  “Done!” Uldaron slapped his palm on the table. “Kvalen and Eredani complete the newbies’ course and go to see Hermit. They finish training when they get back. We’ll see what the outcast can do with them.”

  Task received: collaborative tuition

  Description: A class-specific rare task. Make your way to Hermit and study with him.

  Reward:

  Experience: +5

  Reputation with Light of Barliona faction: +1

  You will learn to negotiate with a subjugated demon.

  Restrictions: You must complete this task together with player Eredani.

  Penalty for failure/refusal to complete task: expulsion from training camp.

  And there you have it — the particularities of the upgraded Barliona: the generation of tasks during the process of player development. The Imitators responsible for our location had tweaked the basic conditions, adding points unacceptable to me, which I declared immediately:

  “Why do I have to complete the task with him?” I nodded in Eredani’s direction. “I don’t want to burden myself.”

  “Because you’re in the same boat now,” said the boss.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

  “It’s all very simple.” Uldaron’s eyes once more filled with the white haze, as control of the NPC was taken over by a more advanced Imitator. “The Barliona Corporation has received from your employer a request for cooperation. The terms have been accepted, and the criteria imported into the game. You can read about them in a special section. We are trying to socialize marginal players, which is why we’ve introduced a counterclaim. Confirmation has been received from your employer concerning the acceptability of the changes.”

  What? Why didn’t I know about this? Oh shit, I set the higher level not for retards! Who was a retard now? I rummaged around in the menu and opened the table of socialization criteria. There was just one point of difference from the document I’d signed: Help players complete tasks a total of twenty times; one of these players must be marginal. The “One of these…” was the very same “counterclaim,” which I hadn’t signed in the real world.

  “You could give us a map.” Eredani rose to his feet and approached the camp commandant. “Where do we find Hermit?”

  “Fair enough.” Uldaron produced two pieces of paper from a drawer and laid them on the table. “We can’t be dispatching you into the unknown.”

  Eredani took his copy of the map and nodded toward mine. “Take it. Let’s go to the barrack and discuss tactics. We’re going to be working together for some time.”

  I approached the table and took the map. I didn’t know what I’d got so excited about. What difference did it make if Eredani was a criminal or not? We would complete the task, and he could go to hell. I would have words with my employers on the Monday. It was bad practice to alter signed documents unilaterally. That would need the kibosh putting on it.

  Map upgraded

  Description of changes: You have received a fragment of a map of the demon-hunter training camp and adjacent territory.

  Familiarization percentage of current location: 10%.

  “We’ll be passing through the lands of N’Got.” Eredani had studied the map in a matter of moments. “Who’s that?”

  “An archdemon,” explained Uldaron. “The training camp is situated on one of the islands of Stivala. Five archdemons have based their prides there. N’Got is the weakest of them. Part of your training will involve driving beasties out of his lands.”

  “You mentioned five but only named one. Where are the others?” Eredani continued to hustle the NPCs, but they’d already told us more than they wanted to. Tarlin, who hadn’t yet contributed to the conversation, said irately:

  “Right now you should be thinking about how to complete the course and get to Hermit, not where to find all the archdemons. You have twenty-four hours to complete the task and set out on your search.”

  Task update: Step 1. Start of training

  Description of update: A simple task. Complete the newbies’ assault course together with player Eredani. Minimum completion score: 7 out of 10. Maximum completion time: 24 hours from time of task update (23 hours 59 minutes remaining).

  Reward:

  Experience: +5

  Reputation with Light of Barliona faction: +1

  Access to next training step

  Bonus for course completion with full marks: +1 to all main characteristics

  Bonus for course completion in group: +1 to all main characteristics

  We made it to the barrack without any problems — no “Smell the lights” or “Give me my money backs.” Aniram’s performance and, most importantly, Braksed’s resultant wails had poured cold water on all potential hot heads. Everyone avoided us, unsure what to expect or how to defend themselves. Which suited me just fine.

  “You can’t enter the barrack without permission,” said Eredani, settling down onto his bed. “Nobody will disturb us here.” Not a muscle twitched on my face. He hadn’t given me permission to enter the barrack, so were I not already registered there, I would surely have smacked my nose on an invisible partition. The tiefling knew a second occupant had appeared, and this was his way of checking whether it was me. No questions or superfluous words, just a timely unexecuted action. I didn’t know whether to be happy about it or not. I liked Eredani’s methods, but I didn’t like him applying them to me.

  “Let’s start with the essentials.
My name is Victor,” said Eredani, but immediately he did so, his face was obscured by a thick white fog. A second later it dissipated, leaving a testy scowl. He was disgruntled with something.