A Second Chance

by Vasily Mahanenko

  “I’m going to do justice on you!” the demon yelled and abruptly grew to one and a half times its size. It cast a green glow, its eyes streamed fire, and its appearance became downright abominable. It was Kurtune’s turn to run, which meant he would also get Target Selection. The boss was next to him in a flash, teleport-like, and swung with his sword. The attack was so blistering the player had no chance. He was struck right in the chest and launched in the direction of the stalagmites, smashing them all to smithereens. He didn’t quite make it to the edge of the platform, although his HP was down to a hundred units. The boss shook himself down and, turning its attentions back to Braksed, made him run around the platform some more.

  “Not now, we need him alive.” To be on the safe side, Eredani warned me against doing anything rash like liquidating Kurtune. He lay not far from us, and one strike would have been sufficient to give Braksed some privacy. Eventually Kurtune came round, revitalized his Health, and rushed to assist his partner.

  “Are we just going to sit here twiddling our thumbs?” I asked. Kurtune was sent flying another five times, doing significant damage to the stony forest, but the brothers still managed to reduce the boss to nearly forty percent. The waiting game was beginning to bore me. The youngsters tried and fought hard, but the boss, who was rated at four players, wasn’t going to give up that easily. Despite the fact that its HP was dropping, it was doing so slowly and unsurely, like a girl on a first date.

  “Patience, my friend, is the cornerstone of any success. When the time comes, we… Shit!” Eredani shrieked wildly and sprang away from me. The third phase of the battle had come into effect.

  The boss had stopped chasing the players. Standing in the centre of the platform, it raised its paws to the ceiling, muttered something, stamped its foot, then lowered its paws sharply. The sword rent the air with a whistle, and we all felt the force. Next to each player G’Rot created a small copy of its own weapon, which rotated maniacally in the manner of a circular saw, grimly chopping down our HP. Stone chips from the shattered stalagmites enhanced inflicted damage in the form of shrapnel. Even a leap to the side did not guarantee safety, for following the target was a fiery shrapnel vortex. The ability lasted for a mere ten seconds, but it was enough to halve what was left of the protrusions. The boss immediately ran to catch Braksed and douse him in acid. The demon never forgot his duties for as much as a second.

  “It’s time!” Eredani commanded, summoning his fish. The Vartalinskys gave us a nasty look, but didn’t refuse our help. It was all quite lively: Eredani worked not only for the two of us, but also for the Vartalinskys. Despite the brothers’ good kit, damage to a higher-level player was considerably greater. And that would be his undoing.

  However hard I tried, I could not attract the demon’s attention. Without demon abilities I was a hopeless fighter. Unleashing yet another death dance, G’Rot caught sight of Eredani fleeing the swords and was beside him in a twinkling. Retreat saved him from acid spit, but he had nothing to counter Target Selection. The stunning strike of the sword threw him to the side, but there were no stalagmites left there, and he flew toward the edge of the platform.

  He didn’t panic. A wicked strike returned him to the demon, although it brought no dividends to speak of. Another swing of the sword, and the abilityless tiefling flew into the air. There was no point pretending — the end of the beginning would be acid and all that went with it. A tornado of thoughts instantaneously formed itself into what seemed to me one logical and sound idea. I took a run-up and thrust the glaive into the edge of the platform. Physics did not fail me — the weapon entered the rock and stuck fast. In truth, I did not actually see this, for I immediately took a mighty leap after Eredani and managed to catch hold of him by a horn. My tail, wound around the glaive, threatened to snap, but I did not let go of my partner. He ceased twitching, and the only evidence of sentience was his wide open eyes and irregular breathing.

  “Let me go, and finish off the boss!” came an unexpected order.

  “I can’t. I don’t have any abilities!” The glaive was tilting treacherously, and my tail slipped to the end of the shaft, where I hung on for grim death.

  “They’re not going to hide. Whatever you do. That’s First Kill.” Eredani squirmed, trying to free himself. He even used his hands.

  “Stop it!” I shouted. “What freaking first kill? Get back up here!”

  “Kvalen!” He lowered his voice threateningly, as if he wasn’t hanging over a lake of acid. “Killing the boss is the most important thing! It’s a game! I’ll lose consciousness from the pain in five seconds. Put your brain in gear!”

  Danger!

  “Twenty seconds! You idiot, you’re going to screw everything up!” Eredani completely flew off the handle. “Kill the boss! Do it!”

  I was hanging on by the skin of my teeth. My tail was seconds from slipping off, and Eredani was struggling berserkly, wanting to fall, but I wasn’t having it. My entire being insisted that ultimately I was surrounded by a game, and the feelings of any human in it were worth more than a tick in a box in a data table. My partner did not understand that. We were too different.

  “It’s stupid, Kvalen. It worked out too stupid,” sighed the tiefling as he stopped trying to break loose. We had both seen the Vartalinskys catastrophically not manage to destroy the boss in the time allotted.

  “Do you trust me?” I asked him.

  “No!” he snapped.

  “Excellent. Drink some elixir!”

  I blissfully relaxed my overworked tail, and we dropped into the acid. An explosion. My back burned seriously. Rubble rained down. Something crashed somewhere, but it didn’t concern me overly, because I had other plans. Hitching Eredani to me, I activated Retreat literally a few meters above the acid, by drinking the elixir. Diabettis had taught me, and the ability did not let us down — we were flung back, almost out to the very edge of the boss’s platform. Emphasis on the “almost”. We didn’t even make it as far as the protruding glaive.

  At the apex of our flight’s parabola, before we began to fall, I flipped over and turned Eredani so his back was toward pit of hell. “Retreat!” I yelled. “Activate it! Drink!”

  How pleasant it was to play with someone who could stifle his emotions. No matter what Eredani had said to me before, no matter how he’d begged me to ditch him, no matter how he suffered from the fire scorching his back, nothing could affect his ability to react to the situation. The next ability threw us another ten meters, and we were almost on the ceiling. Luckily, the fire had already moved on from there.

  The boss had survived. Staggering and leaning on its sword, it was holding up a pile of rocks that had fallen from the ceiling. Remarkable. We flew down. A fall from ten meters would guarantee us the unforgettable experience of our first rebirth, were it not for one “but”: I still had a wicked strike. My heart was in my mouth when I activated it, and the abrupt change of direction opened a fair array of debuffs and caused a nagging pain in my groin. Nonetheless, the main deed was done: we were next to the boss.

  “Die already!” I growled, and dug my horns right into its face. I had neither the energy nor the ability to do anything else. An elementary physical attack would inflict minimal damage, pointless in normal confrontations, but it was big enough for G’Rot. Stones crashed to the floor, entombing the vanquished boss.

  Achievements received

  Better than us only…

  1 rank: You have destroyed your first Barliona boss. Your ability to find a way out of difficult situations is impressive. Damage to all bosses is increased by 1%. To gain the next rank you must destroy 5 bosses (progress: 1 out of 5)

  First kill of the archdemon G’Rot of the Path to Enlightenment dungeon

  Reward for achievement: During embodiment, probability of receiving improved-quality objects is increased by 10%.

  Information for player: In five months you will be teleported to the Emperor’s reception of the joint forces of the continent of Stivala. You can
take with you two escorts, and you must give them an invitation within five months. Tickets are available at any branch of the Bank of Barliona.

  The number 1 appeared alongside Eredani’s name, inside a gold star. My partner restored his HP and looked about. The Vartalinskys were nowhere. Surviving in the center of Armageddon was unrealistic.

  “Minus fifty percent from fire damage…” said my partner thoughtfully, turning me to face him. The debuffs had turned my body into a feeble-minded doll, so for a whole minute Eredani could do whatever he liked. For example, ask: “Do you understand the risk you took? Do you understand you nearly blew everything? Why did you jump?”

  “Because I decide what I do and when. I felt sorry for you.” The words didn’t come out easily. I was having to fight myself, but my actions required explanation. Eredani made a face, wanting to say something, but he waved a hand and turned away.

  New characteristic available: Empathy

  Description: You are a sensitive person. Your ability to sense the pain of others and show them support is impressive. Every characteristics point increases your original Agreeability to NPCs from 0.1% right up to 50%.

  The window popping up was such a shock I burst out laughing. “And you said empathy would be difficult for me to open.” I explained my reaction, and Eredani shook his head incredulously.

  We sat a while longer, looking at the archdemon’s rocky burial mound, but in order to receive the loot due, we had to clear away the rubble.

  “I remember!” exclaimed a happy voice. We’d completely forgotten about the third member of our expedition. The dwarf was jumping nimbly among the stones, trying to get to the burning throne. In there, among the rocks and firebrands, an object shone. The dwarf got to it, snatched it up, and held it in the air with two hands. “I have remembered my name! I am master Bartulun, apprentice of master Borh Goldenhand! And this is my work! I remember! Ha-ha-ha!”

  A shield twinkled in the dwarf’s hands. Time had not been lenient to it: whatever it was created from many centuries ago, now it was just stone. Of the onetime great shield remained only the name: “Shield of Tamerlane; used only by paladins.” Seated next to me, Eredani swore.

  “Kvalen, we have problems. Tamerlane the Great is a mentor of the Luciferous, the founder of the paladin class, and nobody in all of Barliona knows where his tomb is. And that’s a fact. It’s a rotten business.”

  “Or a new scene has just started,” I said.

  Eventually the debuffs fell away, allowing me to move normally around the platform. First off, I went over to dig up G’Rot. I needed just a small patch of skin in order to take the loot. I had to use the pickaxe and absolutely decimate the rocks, but it was worth it. Just as from a raiding boss, three epic blanks fell out of the archdemon: two rings and a pair of gauntlets. After muttering that he had more than enough rings anyway and the gauntlets would suit him just fine, Eredani withdrew to allow me to receive all the objects. Before carrying out the embodiment, I went to retrieve the glaive, but either the fire had destroyed it, or the explosion had sent it into the acid. I was weaponless.

  The blanks were made of a beginner material, so I wasn’t expecting anything unique. Even the extra twenty percent to improvement did not help create anything better than epic.

  Two identical rings, reducing damage sustained by five percent and increasing fire resistance. Instead of +5 to intellect, this time I got +5 to agility, which significantly decreased the rings’ value to me. It was the same story with the gauntlets: the bonuses were the same, except there was more magic protection. Thirty, as opposed to the rings’ ten.

  “So all that fuss was about that number?” I pointed at the star by my name.

  “That star turns us specifically into wealthy people,” Eredani explained. “At the beginner levels our bonus is useless. Garbage no matter what. But starting from three hundred you can’t imagine what objects there are. Having an extra ten percent probability of turning an epic into a legendary… The clans will do anything to get hold of us. They’ll put us on a salary, and not let us out of the castles so the competition won’t happen across us.

  “Do I detect a note of enthusiasm in your voice?”

  “Why would there be? We are now a priority target for any clan. They’re going to be looking for us. No way are we going to find the island. Tamerlane… Where are we going to look for him?”

  The dwarf said it could make it to the camp by itself, so we decided not to worry about it. Finding a suitable niche, Eredani and I used a tried and tested means of return — by getting stuck.

  At the temple we were expected. Tarlin stood a couple of meters away, arms folded across his chest. Without a word he walked toward the camp. Clearly we were meant to follow him. When we approached, a gong sounded, and an announcement echoed around the camp.

  General muster! Two minutes to general muster! Everybody stop training and go to the square!

  The light column designating our place was in among the graduates. There were now substantially more demon hunters. Approximately a hundred newbies, twice as many training at various levels, and only five graduates. Standing alongside us were Diabettis and his gang.

  “Brothers! Today we present the world with five demon hunters!” Uldaron began his speech triumphantly. “Just the five, but these heroes deserve the highest praise. They were able to take back Dorel’s Frontier, albeit for a short time. This gives us the chance to hope that their followers will be able to repeat the deed. The frontier will be ours! But that is not all. Two of these heroes were able to find the fifth archdemon on our island and…”

  And what? remained a mystery. For at that very moment right in the centre of the square opened a portal, and out of it, sprawling on the ground, tumbled Aniram. Beaten up, wings covered in scorched featherless patches, one horn broken, eyes swollen and bruised, the demoness was a picture of colour.

  “Master! I beseech you, take me back!” she implored, and made a dash for me, but it was not to be, because another demon followed her out of the portal and trod on her tail.

  Notification for player

  You have the opportunity to get Aniram back in return for the Cursed Glaive of Seth that you found. The rank of your fosterling will not be lowered; the amount of strength necessary for discarding shackles will be reset to zero. Decide wisely.

  “Uldaron, what a delightful surprise!” said Mother sweetly. The higher demoness Ireness was honoring the demon-hunter training camp with her presence, not remotely concerned for her fate. Here, away from key developments, nobody stood a chance against her. A fact which was confirmed by what happened next.

  “There is no place for you here, beast!” Tarlin reacted first, but was cast aside by a nonchalant flick of the demoness’s wrist. I was far less concerned with the appearance of Ireness — Barliona was full of surprises — than the presence of the Discard Shackles ability, about which there had been no information. Aniram would need shaking down to get it out of her.

  “I don’t remember inviting you to my island!” the voice of Argalot resounded. Hermit had returned to the camp to defend his territory.

  “I didn’t come here to fight, Traitor.” Ireness was geniality itself. “I care not for your petty intrigues. I came for my new bondmaid. This numbskull found a vanquished higher somewhere, got high on a surplus of energy, and decided to dethrone me. The stupidest suicide I’ve ever heard of. She deserves a separate punishment.”

  “Master!” Tears ran down Aniram’s face. “I implore you! Take me back!”

  “No, sweetie pie,” laughed Ireness sanguinously. “Nobody’s going to take you back. You’re going to experience the full beauty of my vengeance at first hand!” Ireness almost shouted these last words, and the surrounding space darkened. The demoness’s fury could blot out the sun.

  “Master!” Aniram’s voice had weakened, but she fought on. “I can be of use. I know where a paladin is buried.” With that, her strength failed her, and she became a spineless doll. The battle with the hig
her was lost.

  “Don’t stress it, Traitor, I’m leaving.” Ireness hauled the body of the archdemoness onto her shoulder and turned toward the portal. “Teach them well. I shall enjoy turning all demon hunters into my children. Farewell!”

  “Stop, mother!” I shouted. “Our deal!”

  “Deal?” she said and turned back. “What are you talking about, misguided child? Do you want to return to me?”

  “I want to take my slave from you,” I said, pointing at Aniram. “She belongs to me.”

  “Is that so?” Ireness raised her eyebrows ostentatiously. “You allowed her to get drunk on borrowed energy, and she terminated the contract. That alone warrants disembodiment.”

  “I can offer you something in return. Something that will make you stronger.”

  “You?” she laughed. “What can you do, pipsqueak? You live only because I am interested to see when you will turn tail on this world and return to the demons. You cannot fight your nature for ever. He couldn’t,” she said, pointing at Eredani.