by Scar, Rick
Health: 34 700
“Hum, stop inspecting me. Hum! Stop!”
“So here is my wrath. Here, here, kitty, kitty…” Will tried to lure the small flying imp as if it were a cat.
“I’ll rip your arms, hum!”
“Why the hell call me ‘hum’? Come here, you little beast!”
Using Double Jump, Will tried to snatch the imp, but it dodged deftly and threw a handful of snow at the rogue’s face, temporarily blinding him. Wiping his face quickly, Raven saw sharp icy spikes appear where he was about to land, and he immediately activated Leap, catching up with his flying enemy. Grabbing its tiny head, the rogue pressed the imp down, hissing: “Damn flying monkey.”
Raven’s dagger was about to pierce the imp’s tiny skull through when its whole body crumbled to snow. It was a fake!
A giggling voice came from another pile of snow. “You hum! All hums are idiots. You can’t get me. Like hell you can. I’m…” Tarimaskar coughed as Will’s hand clenched its throat, the rogue’s furrowed brow speaking death. “Hum! Hum! Let me go, hum!”
“Who the fuck are you, joker?” Will growled with barely contained fury.
“Let me go, hum!” the imp squealed without answering the question. The rogue’s fingers clenched around its throat. The imp’s small feet kicked the man’s arm, begging him to stop, but he just watched the clown’s life go away with his golden eyes.
“Still want to joke?” Raven hissed, releasing his grip slightly.
“Sure I do! I’m a fucking imp, hum! Do you know who imps are, hum?!” the small monster screamed. “Tricks and jokes are our purpose. Often they get lethal, but that doesn’t matter. We take so much joy in playing tricks we just can’t stop. No, hum! Sto…”
Will’s fingers clenched around its throat again. “What. Is. Hum?”
“Sho… rt… for… hu… man,” Tarimaskar rasped, barely able to breathe.
“Ah. I see. So annoying.”
Realizing the imp was just a mob and he had almost killed it, Raven got a brief pang of reproach, but he forgot that immediately at seeing a two-foot stone slab. Previously buried beneath the snow hill destroyed by the imp darting out, it now stood bare before Will.
“What the…” He remembered Radermin’s words about the lake being covered with ice, and the riddle one had to solve to reach the tablet. Could this snowy field be the surface of that frozen lake?
Will started towards the stone slab when the imp’s shriek stopped him. “Hum! NO! Hum! It’s been entrusted to me by Ahennia the Great!”
Crack! A block of ice hit the rogue’s back, doing minor damage.
Crack! Crack!
“Stop, you little bastard! Do you know what this is?” Will showed his player ring to the flying imp.
“Hum? You messenger? Oh. At last. Another came! Thank hell. Soon all of it will be over. Go then. Go, hum!” The imp soared over Will’s head, following him to the slab.
“Another?” Will snatched the flying creature by the tail and asked, squinting: “When the other ones came? How many days ago? And how many of them?”
“Hum! Stop! Three. Three days. Let me go!”
“How many messengers?”
“Three! AAAAH! Hum!”
“Not one? Damn. Damn!”
Taking a deep breath, Will calmed himself down a bit. There were things beyond his control.
He should have come sooner.
Chapter 138. Ten Dusted Names
“S o what are you doing here, imp?”
“Guarding this piece of stone as Ahennia the Great told me to.”
“Who is Ahennia?”
“Hum doesn’t know hero names? The others didn’t know too. How dumb you all…”
Bang!
“Ouch,” the imp moaned, scratching its head, but then continued as if nothing had happened: “Ahennia. Tohsilia. Baral’Dag. Czars. Pandora. Ariadne. Sak’Harel. Wagraf. Darrau the Messenger. Demonic Lord Zal’Sscar. Ten legendary heroes.”
“You know them all,” Will said.
“I’ve been summoned by Ahennia. Travelling by her side, I’ve seen and heard many things,” Tarimaskar answered, flying in circles around him.
“Why are you alive?”
“I’m a creature from a different plane of existence. Unaffected by your local time. That’s good and bad at the same time. I can’t die, but I can’t develop either. I’m still exactly the same as when she has summoned me.”
So that’s why he’s such a low-level. Much lower than Cerberus.
“Come, hum! Remove my burden so I can go back to my world. Once you open the way to the tablet, I’ll no longer have to be here, guarding this rock from eaters of magic-permeated stones.”
Will did not need this advice to stare at the slab. But he could see no writing on it. “It’s empty.”
“Empty? Can’t you see the words?” Tarimaskar was astonished. Approaching Raven’s face, he snatched him by the chin with two fingers, then he grabbed at his hair and pulled it suddenly.
“N-n-now, hum! I h-h-help you… s-s-see! C-c-come on!” The imp puffed and panted, applying the whole of itself to flying as high as possible, pulling Raven’s eyes open wider—but his face suddenly was snatched by the rogue’s hand.
“If you do that again,” Will growled, “I’ll enslave you, and you will never come home.”
“Y-y-you can’t-t-t,” the imp commented without much confidence in his voice, still trying to release Will’s grip.
“Oh, I can. Trust me. Now tell me: why can’t I see the words written on this stone?”
“Dunno, hum,” the imp breathed. “Maybe you’re too weak?”
“Weaker than you, huh? You can see them, while I can’t.”
“Don’t compare yourself to me. I’m no hum. I’m a sly and cunning illusion. I’m elus…”
Bang!
“Stop beating me!”
Revelation Sphere.
His skill crashed against the stone slab like a wave, revealing the words apparently carved by a hero, glowing with all colors of rainbow like those on the demonic lord’s tablet:
Ten dusted names from depths of time.
One name was blessed.
Another cursed.
One lightning-burned.
One rose from dead.
And yet another crowds led.
One lost a battle.
One buried in the tomb of ice.
Another walked with blinded eyes.
The one but last had soul wretched.
The last avenged and was avenged.
The light of tablets shining bright,
The hero bodies out of time.
To be endowed with hero’s might,
Say all the names and get them right.
Cerberus has probably failed to see these lines. Or he read them, but could not take the quest.
“What must I do now?”
“You are the successor, hum! You find the answer.” The imp circled around Raven, twitching his sharp tail impatiently.
“Oh yeah.” Will realized he needed to touch this small stone to activate the quest. After reading the verse that sounded so much like an epitaph, he noticed how closely this stone resembled that of a grave.
Attention! You’re offered a unique quest: Storyline.
Description: ***, a legendary hero, was renowned as a sorceress. Her magic power could only be compared to that of dragons. Lady of Magic, Masterly Magess, Beast of Lies—these are the names given to her by different races. She inspired genuine awe and admiration.
Discover the true meaning of the verse.
Rewards:
+150 000 XP;
Access to the tablet;
??
Note: This quest is available until the riddle is solved; Hidden conditions.
Accept: Yes/No?
Yes.
Accepting the quest, Raven snatched up the imp again. “Hey, flying trickster. Do you know what item each hero possessed?”
“Hum! Stop grabbing me! Sure I do, b
ut I’ll not tell you.” The imp giggled. “Only the worthiest will pass this challenge,” Tarimaskar added solemnly and sat down on the stone slab.
“I can kill you.”
“And I can revive at once,” the imp replied, sniggering, then he rasped in a sepulchral voice: “I’m a creature of a different plane…”
“What if I make you a slave?”
“You… you can’t, hum! That c-c-can’t… c-c-can’t be t-t-true.” The imp’s stammering voice and forced smile made it clear he’d already had enough of feeling helpless and would rather die than become a slave again.
Raven actually couldn’t have been able to subdue the imp if he hadn’t visited a wizard who’d charged his crystal to 100 points. However, he was not going to waste influence points on such a feeble, useless creature. He had a different solution on his mind.
Khalapheer. Although unavailable, it still could be taken out of the crystal.
The imp swallowed at seeing the other demon prostrated in front of him, motionless and enveloped in blue energy.
“Well. Now I believe you can do it. But why do you need this information?” Tarimaskar flew off the slab to stay clear of the Khalapheer sprawled at the rogue’s feet.
“If this information is so useless, just tell me it. Don’t make me use force.”
“I’m not saying it’s useless. I’m saying you can’t use it.”
“Out with it! Now! And speak slower.” Raven would rather not waste any more time. He could not be sure that those who’d visited this place before wouldn’t come back with more players to put them as guards around this stone.
“Baral’Dag’s Spear of Revenge, Tohsilia’s Bracelet of Fury, Ariadne’s Thread, Ahennia’s Mirror of Lies, Czars’s Cane of Pain, the Scythe of Darrau the Messenger, Sak’Harel’s Cup of Mind, Pandora’s Box, Wagraf’s Light-Piercing Sword, the Dagger of Demonic Lord Zal’Sscar. And? What use of it for…?”
“Shut up.”
Writing down the items and names, Will compared them to the verse on the stone. He still wondered how he was to complete this task. “Er… hmmm… Ten dusted names from depths of time. One name was blessed. Sak’Harel.”
The stone flashed a shaft of red magic light that almost killed Raven.
-1450!
“ARGH!” Deciding to pick the names by guesswork, Will did not expect such a deadly catch.
“Oh! Hum! You must be a masochist! Didn’t I tell you that wouldn’t work?” The imp sniggered.
“It wouldn’t.” Will couldn’t care less about the creature’s comments. Lying on the ground, ten feet away from the gravestone, he coughed up blood. The big hole in his belly looked and felt disgusting, but that was not his greatest concern. He pondered over his next steps.
He knew only one answer for sure, and another stood a 98% chance of being correct. The rest remained a mystery. And he had no time to look them up in the libraries or elsewhere. Other players were here three days ago. Only the system knows where they are now.
Will went over the names and items, again and again, trying to identify any patterns. The appropriate lines for Pandora and Baral’Dag were pretty on-the-nose. Connecting to the web, he did a quick search on Ariadne and matched her with the very first line.
Five heroes remained whose items provided no obvious hints at their fate. And so he had to guess their lines.
“Ten dusted names from depths of time. One name was blessed. Ariadne.”
The slab glowed with soft green light, showing the answer was correct.
“Another cursed. Pandora.”
The soft yellow shine informed his next choice was correct as well.
“One lightning-burned. Zal’Sscar.”
Faint violet glow.
The rest of the way was across a minefield. Raven praised the system god for his restored health.
“One rose from dead. Czars.”
A red flash sent Will flying aside with a bloody hole in his chest. Coughing and cursing as he turned to his back, Will barely could breathe; his lung had been pierced through.
Another name off the list.
The slab repeated its past colors all over: green, yellow, violet.
“One rose from dead. Darrau.” Will couldn’t help closing his eyes in expectation of another blow, but it would not come. Opening his eyes, he saw a gray aura around the stone.
“And yet another crowds led. Wagraf.”
A red flash, but not the damage-inflicting one; a softer light standing for a correct response.
“One lost a battle. Sak’Harel.”
A blow stronger than any one before swept Will off his feet, leaving another gaping hole in his body.
- 3400
…and activating his Leased Life skill. Now the rogue had to wait for it to recharge.
The imp laughed out loud at the sight of his misfortune. “Do it, hum! You can! You can! Or… you can’t!”
“One lost a battle. Czars… Damn you, little scum! I’ll fucking kill you!” Will was splattered with blood all over, his body almost halved. He had no one else to vent his anger upon but this goggling, mocking imp.
“Huuum?!” Tarimaskar squeaked, sensing the rogue’s anger, and flew away just in case.
“One lost a battle. Tohsilia.”
The slab was enveloped in white glow. Raven continued: “One buried in the tomb of ice. Ahennia.”
Pink shine.
The next line promised more pain. Just as he’d done before, Will started with the name that had not fit elsewhere. “Another walked with blinded eyes. Sak’Harel.”
Orange glow. A great relief.
“The one but last had soul wretched. Czars.”
Black light.
“The last avenged and was avenged. Baral’Dag.”
A blue flash.
Then all the colors mixed, swirling around Raven, before soaring to dash to the center of the frozen lake. The blizzard stopped, and the rainbow ball hit the ice; in a few moments, the rays forming it flashed up, creating a fantastic light show. The empty space was all filled with lights that resembled the Aurora Borealis, but they were much brighter.
It took Raven a minute to realize it was not for the sake of beauty. The colored rays melted the ice, revealing a lake, pure and transparent as a teardrop, about sixty feet deep.
Congratulations! The unique quest: Storyline is completed.
You meet all the conditions to receive the bonus reward:
1) The quest has been completed in less than 3 hours;
2) The quest has been completed at 100% sensitivity level.
Rewards:
+150 000 XP;
Access to the tablet.
Bonus Reward:
A tomb map.
Description: This map shows the way to…
Skimming the message, Will heard a voice that could not belong to the imp. “Hey! Is that… Raven?!”
Wheeling around, Will saw a group of five players coming toward him.
Chapter 139. A Living Nightmare
I nspecting them, Raven realized he probably had no reasons to worry. The five belonged to the Rollin’ Dice clan. “Yes, that’s me. No need to scream that loud. What are you doing here?
“Who are you to ask such questions? Do you think everyone should bow to you just because you know Kingmaker?”
“What are you saying, Gordon?” One of the players gaped at his comrade.
“Are you an idiot? Can’t you see he’s completed the quest we’ve come for?” The monk-class player glared at Will, making no attempts to hide his anger.
“Ah. That’s what you’ve called us here for. Then it is a problem.” The bespectacled wizard with a short staff topped with a small book looked around pensively.
“Which of you has taken this quest?”
“Fuck off!” Judging by the monk’s fury, it was probably him.
“Sure, I’m a stranger, but aren’t you asking for a dagger in your throat, talking like that to a player who can kill you quickly?” Raven hissed.
Players like this monk were easily annoyed by any mention of in-game death, up to the point of insulting anyone who looked at them the wrong way, even those much higher in levels. But this player exceeded Will’s expectations, responding in an even more aggressive and mindless way.
“We’re not that scum you killed fucking long ago. We’re a TOP clan. Praise your luck if you overcome even three of us, not to mention all five.” Gordon snorted with contempt, either provoking Raven or completely losing his reason to anger. He apparently overestimated the strength of his team where everyone was Level 45 to 47.
Or maybe it’s me underestimating them? Will thought. He’d never fought a PvP against strong opponents before.
“Listen to me, TOP clan. If you tell me to fuck off again, I will send you to respawning right away. And I will keep doing it every time I meet you.”
These guys did not have any hostages, after all, and they posed no real threat, so Raven was not going to put up with their disrespectful behavior.
“Calm down, Gordon.” The bespectacled youngster stopped the monk before he could add anything, then he turned to the rogue. “It’s all right, Raven. We did not know we’d meet you here. We found this place three days ago, and then we left to collect more info. We didn’t think anyone would be able to discover it so quickly and”—he looked at the lake—“complete the quest. Honestly, we haven’t been able to solve the whole of this riddle.”
“Shit happens. Bye. I have things to do.”
“Wait. We’re the first ones to find this location. If you took the first part reward, it would be fair of you to let us reach the tablet first.”
“Um. You’re absolutely… absolutely wrong, but I have no time to explain you why. If you try to stop me, I will kill you.”
Waving a hand and activating Leap, Will teleported to the lake with his back first, then he wheeled around in a flash, applying Double Jump, and plunged in. It took him four seconds to put about sixty feet between him and the other players.
“He’s swimming to the tablet! We must outstrip him!”
“We can’t. He’s too far ahead.”