by Scar, Rick
Features: Can’t be stolen, lost, or sold.
“That’s a great item indeed. Thank you so much. I hope your exile does not last. Please accept my gift of gratitude for what you have given me.” Bending down to the prince, Will whispered one phrase into his ear.
Arrey’s eyes widened. Swallowing, he said softly: “You will have my eternal gratitude for doing this. Although I admit my part of guilt, I still… If you succeed, could you please find me and tell me all about it?”
“I will, Prince. See you. I hope you’ll live to hear my story.”
***
Level Up
Leaving the Dark Chasm, Will got a system message that the dungeon ceased to exist and that he had achieved the next level: 66th, to be precise.
He had seven skill points available. For a moment, he considered using at least some of these for his character development, but then remembered his end goal. He hoped the skills and titles he already had would help him reach the shadow adepts.
Using the skill points, he could level his skills up only to the rank of Master. To get them any further, he needed books, unique items, or a new character level.
The demon was nowhere to be seen. Raven decided to use this moment to unite the crystal. In eager anticipation, he tossed the crystal and the shard as high in the air as he could.
The transformation started instantly. The air warmed up, and a mental magic wave came, so strong it would have killed the rogue if not for his tremendous resistance to this particular type of damage. Even with this resistance, he got 568 health points knocked off.
The stones started to melt, sending the waves cutting everything like a giant meatgrinder—like they did in past times. The integer crystal hung 150 feet above the ground and, moving as slowly and smoothly as if it were weightless, it descended into the rogue’s hands.
Identification.
Emperor’s Obedience Crystal
Rank: Epic
This crystal was crafted from compressed mental energy by the bellicose race of Dolwes who could bend every living thing to their will. It was the cause of disastrous events in the past. Those who’d been subdued by the power of this crystal praised the heavens that it had vanished in the depths of the ocean and the time.
Unfortunately, the crystal is less powerful now than it used to be. Its power of subjugation has been reduced.
Load: 0/700
Note: Now you can use mental magic to charge the crystal. It will absorb any cursed energy, transforming it into mental.
Requirements: None
Characteristics: Allows you to control up to 30 creatures, making them obey all your commands against their will. If you discover the device used for amplifying the crystal’s power, the number of targets will increase and energy spending will decline.
Energy required: 150 influence points and 100 mental energy points per 1 creature
Duration: Until the target dies, or until you set it free
Restrictions:
1) You spend 5 influence points and 5 mental energy points per second when subduing another player;
2) You can’t subdue powerful ancient creatures;
3) You can’t subdue those with 100% mental magic resistance;
4) You can’t subdue those 20+ levels higher than yourself;
5) If it becomes known the crystal has been restored, you’ll be wanted across your whole floor. Some will seek to take the crystal from you, while others will want to destroy it.
Features: Automatically attached to its owner.
Do you want to attach the crystal to yourself?
“Sure. Damn! Sure I do. At last! Ahahaha.”
The beast grinning inside his mind with squinting red eyes was now poking its nose outside, smelling the forthcoming events.
Chapter 96. Ahennia’s Mirror of Lies
A day before Will united the crystal
D elia, a female thief of the Soul Crushers clan, would usually play solo, only joining the rest when her skills were needed by the group. She loved playing her part: picking the locks, moving by stealth, and cleaning the targets out. Sometimes she had to kill too, but she took little joy in that. The tasks for her class were well-paid in XP. By applying a reasonable amount of effort, you could level up quite quickly.
Her current task was to get the scroll with the order to be enforced in two days in the Khar-Sa’Kala Empire in the east. She’d received this quest from a famous merchant in the city close to the capital. This law-to-be was a great interference with his business interests. Not yet ready to deal with its consequences, he would rather delay its enactment for a while. The loss of the original document was the best possible way of achieving that result.
So, now, the girl was lying in wait by the road that headed into the capital city. According to the information provided by the merchant, the messenger was to come along this road. Selecting a spot by a small grove, Delia patiently waited for her target.
She’d been waiting for three hours, when, at last, she heard the clatter of hooves and a horse’s rasping breath. With her heart pounding, she prepared, concealing herself completely. She had several options. The first was killing the target—yet that was more appropriate for a rogue. She’d rather steal the law scroll without even being detected. The adrenaline boost she got through this process was literally forcing her into crazily perilous ops. Each of those was taking her skills closer to perfection.
In this game, like in any old screen-based one, you could not get far by applying your skills blindly. You needed above-average timing to know the perfect moment for using each skill. You had to keep in mind the exact cooldown time for each of you and your enemy’s skills, responding to any unexpected turn instantly. That was a TOP’s level, actually—but those ordinary players who sought more than mere enjoyment and relaxation were striving to learn this art too. When in dungeons, even a single skill used inappropriately could result in the whole party’s failure.
Delia was no TOP, but she was one of those players who knew their character really well. She could not memorize much info about other classes (although she tried her best in that too), but she knew everything about thieves.
She mentally repeated the whole sequence of steps again, checking the cooldown times. Then she checked her gear and prepared for the mission.
When she saw who was coming up, riding right through the trees, her heart missed a beat, and her brain started to work overtime. She knew she could by no means let the Floor Guard go. That meant a different way of completing the mission, not the one she wanted. This messenger had to die.
Leaping out of the shadows, the girl screamed: “Urik Fanrel! I’m sent by Kalimiya!” She waved her hands without realizing why. He could not see her moves anyway, being headless.
Hearing her words, the Dullakhan stopped abruptly as though he performed an emergency stop: his horse just froze, despite galloping a moment before.
The girl waited for him to turn around. Instead, a different sort of thing happened: the horse’s rump was instantly transformed into the head while its head took the shape of the rump.
In a moment, the rider who’d just been sixty feet away stood by her side. “Ah!” the thief screamed with surprise, barely avoiding a fall to the ground.
“Who…are…you?” The guard’s voice was coming out of thin air. It was impossible to even tell its direction. The voice was hollow and sounded like a howling wind—soft but powerful.
“I’m Delia…um…sir?” Unsure about the proper way of addressing this NPC, the girl preferred to be polite. She was the first one ever to meet this rider! That made her really happy. Once she’d realized who was galloping toward her position, her lips had mouthed the word record. Her clan leader would appreciate that. They’d be able to open the gate first, rising high among other clans.
“I…hear…you…” His voice sighed with the wind. The thief felt as though she was being addressed by several people at once; his voice was coming from all around, like a strange kind of echo.
“Sir. Kalimiya said the mention of her name would make you explain what you’re looking for so we, the Messengers of Gods, can help you, sir!” She uttered the last word in such a voice it was as though she were reporting to a military colonel.
“Kalimiya…If…she…says…then…listen…”
The story of this former knight, a headless rider now, despaired her. What he asked to find and do next was simply…simply impossible.
The Dullakhan explained that the opening of the portal, bringing either gods or demons into this world, was enabled through ten items of tremendous power:
Sak’Harel’s Cup of Mind
Tohsilia’s Bracelet of Fury
Baral’Dag’s Spear of Revenge
Ahennia’s Mirror of Lies
Czars’s Cane of Pain
Pandora’s Box
Wagraf’s Light-Piercing Sword
Ariadne’s Thread
The Scythe of Darrau the Messenger
The Dagger of Demonic Lord Zal’Sscar
Right now, he was looking for Ahennia’s Mirror of Lies, which had the power of space transformation. Getting the mirror, one had to bring it to the spatial breakpoint on this floor to be charged. Only after that could you use it to save all those souls—and the knight’s own.
When asked about the mirror’s looks, the guard shoved his hand inside his horse to retrieve an old scroll bearing the image of…a small pocket mirror!
I’d better kill this monster and the headless one riding it, the thief thought, and she sighed, realizing the clan would never do that.
Getting an epic quest reward was like putting your hand in a bag with unique skills and legendary gear. Whatever you retrieved by groping had the power of making you a foot taller than any other player.
Congrats! The second part of the “Eternity in the Hell” quest is completed.
Reward:
+ 15,000XP;
+10% to Chance that the knight will help you in a fight if he is around;
+5 to Intelligence.
The third part of the epic quest chain “Eternity in the Hell” is received.
Description: Find the traces of Ahennia’s Mirror of Lies.
Reward:
+50,000XP to each player in the group receiving the quest;
+10 Strength to each player in the group receiving the quest;
+15 Endurance to each player in the group receiving the quest;
+5 Luck to the player finding the mirror;
+1 class-appropriate unique skill to the player finding the mirror.
Each group member will be able to summon a Dullakhan once a month, by 15 minutes.
“Please tell me, sir,” the girl called to the knight when he was about to leave. “How can we find you when we have the mirror?”
“Wind…tells…me.” His figure started to disappear to re-emerge instantly sixty feet away.
***
All group members received the same system message Delia did. Although yet unaware who exactly had found the guard, they rejoiced at the deadlock being broken much faster than they had expected.
A little later, a link to the video of the thief’s conversation with the knight appeared in the clan’s general chat. Night called her in instantly. With renewed vigor, the clan started on the next part of the epic quest.
Chapter 97. The Legendary Hero’s Item
I n his hands, Will had a thing of such power it made him tremble in anticipation of using it. If he also found the amplifying device, then hold on tight, everyone!
What he now had was totally worth all this running about and all the suffering he’d endured. The price was really, really high, but it bought him a really handy thing: powerful monsters attacking anyone at his command.
Getting two such assistants (he wasn’t going to use any more at that point) was totally worth spending several hundred influence points to recruit them. Again, he saw what a valuable currency influence points were in this world. Now he needed to find the monsters worthy of this investment and also find out if they could be leveled up. Thinking about that, he couldn’t help but snigger.
***
Ten minutes later, an annoyed-looking Farris finally showed up. Seeing the smiling rogue, he stuck his claw forcefully into his hip, then picked the wound to make it larger.
- 347!
“You, bastard piece of meat! Stop smiling! Do you think it’s funny I found fucking no one?! Do you? Hey!” He picked the wound open, holding Will by the neck, but he stopped again when the rogue’s skill restored his health to 20%. “You have this shit you wanted. Now show me the dog!”
“You fucking monster,” Raven hissed, spitting. “Do you really have to do this shit to me? To find the dog, I need that false box you stole from him, you idiot.” Will was not going to start on his plan until he got his hands on the box.
“Hey! Why do you need it now? Ahahaha. I haven’t yet made sure you really can find that mangy dog styling itself as the Demon World Guard.”
“You can kill me anytime if I’m telling you lies. Can’t you?”
“Ahahaha. You’re damn right. If you try to fool me with deception, I’ll rip your head off and make it into a potty for my future kids!”
“As I’ve told you already, the dog will sense this crystal once we restore it. Then he can come at any moment. What would you have me distract him with? I’m too weak to engage him in combat. You know that. One serious blow, and I’m out. If I die that fast, you won’t be able to attack him.”
“ARRRGH.” The demon gnashed his teeth in rage. “You think I forgot that in my insanity? Hey! I remember all!” His fist hit struck straight through Raven’s chest, coming out of his back. “You’re not the one to teach me, you dirty pig!” the boy spat furiously, ripping the rogue’s body to pieces.
You died…
Will was already behind his back, badly itching to finish this scum off. Since they were close to the spot he’d saved before entering the cave, he would have to take just a couple of steps to reach the demon.
Why the fuck did he kill me? What the shit going on in his crazy brain? Does he even have a brain in his damned head at all?
“Have your fun. I’ll be back soon. And remember: without me, you will never kill Cerberus.”
Exit.
With his abilities limited, Will could not fulfill his plan, so he’d rather use the rest of that day as an unplanned vacation.
His sister was at home, busy with homework. Without distracting her, Will started to make dinner. Again and again, he imagined killing that vile monster disguised as a boy, in a variety of ways. That gradually helped him calm down after having to leave the game because of the demon.
***
The next day, he came back to the same spot by the Dark Chasm entrance to see a monster’s body that hadn’t been there before and a boy sleeping inside it. Raven’s heart stopped at seeing that thing again. Swallowing, he called to Farris. “Get up, demon. Time to kill Cerberus.”
These words came to Farris like a bucket of cold water, waking him instantly. Flashing his eyes open, he stared at the calm rogue standing by his side.
“So here you are. I thought you got a grudge against me for making that vent-hole in your body, sending you to respawn. Ahahaha. Hey! So here we go to kill the dog! Kill the dog! Kill the dog!” The boy shouted these words like his battle cry, marching around his blooded sleeping bag.
“Here we are.” Will grinned, retrieving a small figure by stealth.
Item: Forerunner
Rank: Unique
When activated, the item emits a howl that will locate Radermin on the map.
“Well. Give me that shit.” Will stretched his hand without even looking at the demon, lest his excited face or flashing eyes betray him. Instead, he pretended to be scrutinizing the crystal, trying to figure out how to use it.
The demon kept marching and yelling his battle cry for a while. Without stopping, he tossed Pandora’s Box to the rogue. The demon’s face shouted his desire to rip Cerbe
rus to pieces: saliva dripping from his mouth, his glassy eyes focused on this single idea.
Inspect.
Pandora’s Box
Rank: Heroic Item
Usage requirements: 1,500,000 influence points
Description: This box once belonged to the hero named Pandora, one of the ten legendary heroes who were born in this world and, on becoming a legend, suddenly disappeared. All that remains of her are mentions of her name on stone tablets; this box that used to seal the Demon World; and her servant who used to guard the imprisoned demons while she was hunting more of them to put inside this box. This was her lifelong feat that rescued the worlds and raised her to the amongst the Greats.
Characteristics:
+1,000 to all stats;
+2,500 Physical resistance;
+2,500 Magic resistance;
+5,700—8,300 Magic damage;
Skill: Imprisonment
The box owner can use it to imprison any creature for any range of time. Box capacity: unlimited.
Energy required: 0
Cooldown: 9 months
Skill: Disaster
Plunging an area within a 3-mile radius into primal chaos. Every single creature in the affected area is attacked by multiple curses and spells of plague, sickness, pain, physical and mental suffering. Any resistance to these effects possessed by the creatures is nullified; the impact is delivered in full.
Energy required: 0
Cooldown: 12 months
Skill: Pandora’s Will
You can become the embodiment of Pandora’s spirit for 10 minutes.
Energy required: 0
Cooldown: 16 months
Features: Can’t be stolen, lost, or sold.
Oh. My. God. The wave of emotion raised by these messages was extremely difficult to contain, even for Will who’d been through a variety of perilous situations where any wrong move could cost the hostages’ lives. Every word in the descriptions he read was dumbfounding. He was terrified by the cooldown times (Months! Fucking months and years!) and stunned by the seven-digit amount of influence points required to use this box—not to mention the insane additions to stats, attack, and defense.