by Sergei Katz
“There isn’t enough time left to do them all...” — I thought to myself, but suddenly, with all of my being I realized that I should activate the spell right at this moment. After collecting all the mana that I had, I put it into the spell.
The branches of the tree sprouting from the trunk lengthened and jerked towards the Shadow. One of them trapped its legs, and the other tied its hands, rendering it immobile. The Shadow started howling in desperation. It was a scream of vile anger and horror. Like a fish caught in a net, the Shadow was trembling, trying to tear the bonds that bound it. The knife fell from its hand and was now lying at its feet.
You have created...
I waved the message away: “I’ll read it later.” — At this moment only one thing was important. I ran at my enemy as fast as possible before it had a chance to escape. It would be another 20 seconds before Alex would get released from the spell. I reached the Shadow and started a fight. It happened just at the moment when it picked up the knife from the ground. We began to exchange blows, and the Shadow was moving with incredible speed.
Your ability...
“Not now!” — I noticed from the corner of my eye that there was a lot of text, but this wasn’t the right time to stop and read it.
— Don’t get in my way! — The Shadow hissed, then a huge green ball appeared in its hand.
Reflexively, I jerked to the side, trying to escape from the trajectory of the spell, but didn’t have enough time to. For a second I saw the ball approaching, and then there was nothing but darkness.
I woke up on the ground. At first, I thought that the maddening scream that shook my whole body was a lingering effect of the Shadow’s spell, but having quickly looked through the logs, I realized that the spell had simply put me to sleep for two minutes.
Rising to my feet, I looked around. My Copper Wing, who was barely alive, flung himself into the skies, as if to protect himself from the scream. The sound was horrific, as if someone was being skinned alive. I looked around. In the middle of the ravine, about fifteen yards from edge, a red-haired boy with a twisted face was lying on the ground. His whole body was covered with a strange luminous blue pattern. Judging by his height and physique, he was the Shadow that I had fought with. So, where was Alex?!
The impenetrable sphere of nothingness became more transparent, and in its center, I saw a huge stone, dotted with incomprehensible patterns, glowing bright green. Alex was hovering over it with his arms outstretched, and he was the one that was screaming. One by one, the patterns were crawling onto his battered body, and every time it happened, the screams became even more appalling. At the same time, it looked as if some frightful artist was painting a picture more clearly. The patterns were moving faster and faster, and Alex’s scream became an endless cacophony. As soon as a pattern fell on the boy's skin, its color changed to blue.
Not comprehending what I was doing, I ran towards the stone. I wanted to smash this block of rock at any cost, but my body seemed to be bogged down. After running into the area where the action was taking place, I hit a barrier and I could no longer move. I couldn’t even blink. The only thing my body could do was breathe. As if wishing to finish the process as quickly as possible, the patterns started moving with incredible speed.
Suddenly, everything changed. There were no patterns left on the stone, and from the corner of my eye I could see the red-haired boy’s body start to twitch. As had previously happened with the stone, the patterns began to fly off his body, turning green, and then flowed onto Alex's body and turned blue. The last pattern finally took its place, and the screams stopped. Alex's body started twirling around, creating a tornado funnel right where the stone was. The material that made up the stone evaporated and was absorbed by Alex’s body, as if through the pipe. The stone disappeared and took Alex's body with it — all that was left was a ghost, hanging in the middle of the hollow. It resembled the body of a robot enveloped in a huge number of microcircuits. Here and there, the blue patterns lit up and then faded, as if giving way to others so that they too could light up. I kept watching this nightmare, fascinated and bewildered at the same time, but I was still unable to do anything.
The light show was over, and at this point Alex's spirit resembled what a ghost would look like if you bought one in a shop online. The name above the spirit was “Alex - The Wandering Spirit”: meanwhile Alex was almost invisible, as if hidden from everyone else but me.
Your “Intuition” ability has increased: +1% (95%).
At this moment, I started screaming: — Have you all totally lost your bloody minds?!! What pervert could come up something like this?! What bloody type of intuition is this?!! BLEEP, BLEEP!!! — I was ready to kill all the developers of the Game. Of course, I understood that Alex was only a binary code made up of zeros and ones, but people could get attached even to plush toys, and he had been a real boy with whom I had fought side by side for almost a month and a half, if not more.
— Forgive me.
I didn’t even realize who was talking to me at first, and started looking around in search of the speaker, then my gaze rested on the Spirit.
— Forgive me, Alder, — the Spirit repeated himself, making sure I heard him.
The Spirit waved his hand, and the barrier that had been holding me back before just disappeared. I looked again at what was left of the boy.
— Forgive you for what? — I couldn’t understand what was going on, because it was my fault that he had died. I had brought him here, but had been powerless to protect him!
— It is I that must ask you for forgiveness for this! — I shouted to the Spirit. — The fault is mine! — But, glancing right where Alex's eyes were supposed to be, I understood. There was an emptiness in my soul. — You knew? — I asked the question, already knowing the answer.
— Yes, — the Spirit confessed.
— Then what was the point of all of this? — I was terribly exhausted both mentally and physically, so I just sat down where I stood.
The wandering Spirit flew closer to me, and looked into my eyes caringly.
— It was the only way, — he sighed.
I was waiting in silence for him to continue.
Realizing that I wouldn’t ask further questions, the Spirit sighed again.
— A few years ago, I came to the wrong place and at the wrong time. It was all my fault because I wouldn’t listen to the village elders ... — The Spirit fell silent for a moment, as if re-experiencing an unpleasant episode from his past. — To cut the story short, I fell under the strongest of curses. This curse was intended to kill me, but something went wrong, and it only destroyed a tiny part of my soul.
The Spirit fell silent, as if it had said enough for me to understand everything.
— So, what’s going on then? I still don’t understand, and do not forget, I'm just a Newcomer.
The Spirit nodded.
— I remember. In our world, if the soul is not entirely reincarnated, then it will simply disappear, and become a part of the magical energy of the world. I would have died forever. The whole town went to the Fortune Teller and persuaded her to find out how to save me. It was a painful experience, but now I will live forever.
I looked wearily at the Spirit, and after everything, next to his name stood his newfound status:
“Immortal”
— Now I understand, — I was so exhausted that I was only able to process the information logically and unemotionally. So, you didn’t tell me the full story because you thought that if I knew, then I wouldn’t help you?
The Spirit nodded silently.
— Okay, as I understand, it was the only way. — I said.
He nodded again. I looked at the counter of the energy of my name ticking in the upper right hand corner. I had a little more than three days left.
— Alder! — The Spirit grabbed my attention with his cry. — You were really able to help me! You saved my soul!
As soon as Alex's spirit said this, messages poured out:
Thanks to you, there was a small change in the world: the first immortal character appeared - the Wandering Spirit. You need to achieve another 43 small changes until the achievement.
Relations to the character called “The Wandering Spirit” are one of respect (maximum level).
You have completed the quest of “The Wandering Stone”.
— This is for you.
Something small and brilliant separated from the Spirit and flew into my chest.
You have received a simple rune word from a rune known as “Hag”.
— This is exactly the reward I demanded from the trader: it gave me the ability to learn that special arrow shot that saved us when we freed Terin. Please do not blame yourself. I chose this path myself, and only thanks to you I will now be immortal. My most cherished dreams will come true: I will be able to travel the world. I will visit the most sacred places and learn a lot more. Now I must leave this place. It is unfortunate, but over time the magic of wanderers begins to destroy everything around them, that’s why my predecessor moved constantly, and now I have to live this way. Alder, the Fortune Teller said that you must find me before some final battle. Yaga insisted that this is very important ... — Saying this, Alex melted away into the ether.
CHAPTER 26:
TIME TO MAKE DECISIONS
I felt lousy. Logically, it was clear from the beginning, that if Alex had told me why he was looking for this jumping rock, then most likely I would have told the boy to get lost or try to find another way. In the end, it could have ended badly for Alex – he could have been completely erased from this world. For me, however, it could have meant my total immersion in this world. Nonetheless, I still couldn’t get rid of the unpleasant feeling that I had been used like a fool!
A series of messages appeared to pull me from my state of detachment:
The quest “Meeting Friends” is now yours: when the final battle time comes, do what the Fortune Teller Yaga decreed you to do, and find your wandering friend. The reward is unknown.
You have already accomplished the “Search For Who You Truly Are” quest. The reward is a constant increase in abilities by 5.7%. The bonus acts on all abilities, regardless of when they are acquired.
Then right before my eyes, the High Fairy Tsi was standing before me, who told me without hesitation:
— To my surprise, you actually managed to find a rune word. Personally, I don’t even know whether to rejoice or to prepare mentally for the destruction of the world. Because of you and your patron, the whole world is out of control, but we are obliged to keep our promises.
You have received a rare basic Vorto from four different runes: “Ev”; “Kano”; “Az” and “Pert”.
— I was extremely unwilling to give you these rune words; I was hoping to give you only one rare rune word. However, you saved someone’s soul, and if I give you less, the world won’t understand this, or maybe even want to make up for the shortage, so I think it’s best to do this myself.
You are the first to receive more than three rune words from the main Vorto. You have obtained the achievement of “Rune Master”. You will be able to take one ability of the 1st level absolutely free of charge, ignoring all the conventions and limitations (this can only be done with rune words classed as “rare” and below). This achievement can be improved upon.
You are the first to receive more than three rune words from the main Vorto. You have obtained the achievement of “Favorite of the Runes”. Once you find the right combination, you can unlock the full potential of the runes.
An increase of +10% to the chance of finding an understanding of how runes work in combination.
— Now you have two Vortos. The basic Vorto will always be with you, and it can’t be taken away from you. You can change the other one. The book will explain to you what you need to do. Hold on a moment...
A small, completely transparent crystal floated through the air.
— Since you're not in our forest, you'll need this. There is no longer any danger of you leaving this world, although the absence of a class is bad. So, when you are in trouble, just crush the crystal in your hand.
Before I had time to utter a word, the High Fairy disappeared as suddenly as she had materialized, with a heavy sigh.
I turned the crystal over in my hands, and read the inscription: “One-time teleportation crystal”. The destination was a point on the territory of the Fairies. I bestirred myself: “That’s enough moping about, because now I have nothing to fear, so I can play this game for fun ...” — My thoughts returned to the crystal. — “Hmm, I’ve done a good job so far. I can visit Trickster again, then I can find more interesting things and opportunities, given how advanced my attentiveness is now.”
The first thing I did was to call over my Phasm. After giving Little Morph a portion of treats and patting him on the head, I went to provide first aid to the battered Totem.
— How are you feeling? — I asked him.
I had no experience in treating birds’ wounds, but I did have some chewing gum fruits. As I expected, my Copper Wing couldn’t believe his luck. The bird swallowed five berries, then gratefully grasped my jacket with his beak and continued to help himself get better.
I muttered to myself:
— Excellent, while my pets are engaged in restoring their life points, and gorging on food, I have time to see what I was able to achieve during the battle. First question was: what had I conjured up?
“Shackling Embraces”: the cost is 60 manna. Pins down the target’s arms and legs, denying it the ability to move and cast spells for 15 seconds (+1.9 per intellect), 10% to the chance that the spell lasts 5 seconds or more. A prerequisite is the presence of a number of branches, lianas or other plants with long limbs.
— Not bad, considering that I worked this all out during the fight. It's a pity, of course, that there was no poisonous or cursing effect. I scooped up the energy for it from the branches. Now I had a full-fledged control spell, just as I wanted. So, what else was there? — I carried on talking to myself, as I dug into the logs.
Your “Dexterity” ability has increased: +1 (25). “Dexterity” has moved to a new level (the next level is 40 points away), plus a bonus for every 1 point of ability:
1.75% to evasion from conventional attacks: 43.75%;
0.75% to avoidance from critical attacks: 18.75%;
+3% increase in speed: 75%;
0.5% to the opportunity to achieve the best result in crafting: 12.5%.
— That's what I thought! — I exclaimed. — The higher the ability gets, the better the bonus, but the more difficult it is to develop it. So, what do we have next?
Your “Stamina” ability has increased: +1 (23).
Your “Reflexes” ability has increased: +1 (25).
1.75% to evasion from critical attacks: now at 43.75%.
1.2% to evasion from conventional attacks: 30%;
0.75% increase in the chance to automatically do what is needed during a battle: 18.75%.
0.1% added to the chance to accelerate the execution of a blow: 2.5%.
— Wow! — I whistled, impressed with the results. — With all these skills, pretty soon I will become invincible. Thanks to my “Sliding Movements” ability, my reflexes are improving, and my fighting style is developing in leaps and bounds. I’m not happy with the way the game gives out rewards though. I think that it has been poorly thought out. Okay, as long as it’s there I’ll take advantage of it, but there’s nobody to complain to anyway. If anything happens to me in terms of health, the game will report to the game controllers and I will be pulled out of the game, and the remaining bugs will be fixed before the second batch of testers arrive.
Little Morph finished his berries and started looking around.
— Are you looking for Alex? — I asked the Phasm.
Morph nodded.
— I'm sorry, but he's left us.
My confused pet was joined by the Copper Wing and he tried to explain something to him in his bird's tongue. I don’t know how the bird was able to convey to my Phasm what had happened here, but I was sure that my pet understood everything. Having made one more mental note about my communication with my pets, I decided to defuse the situation.
— Well, let's go and choose a class for me.
My Phasm’s eyes showed interest, but then again, he was always ready for a new challenge.
— Although I'm really not quite sure what to bring along with me ... but you, Little Morph are definitely coming along. Copper Wing, wait for us here, okay? — I asked my Totem.
He hesitated a little, and it was evident that he did not want to part company with us, but then, after a moment's thought, he nodded.
After making sure that everyone understood everything, I crushed the crystal.
There was a flash of light - and the three of us appeared ... in the cave! The teleporting crystal had scattered like dust in my hand. Looking at the iridescent light in front, I immediately realized where we were: it was the cave in which I began my journey in this world.
— It's good to see you again, — said the Voice of the Cave in the Mountain. — I see that you have made some new friends too... — His voice was curious. — What a motley crew that is ...
I could physically sense that the Voice of the Cave was probing Morph and my Copper Wing.
— You constantly amaze me! I really hoped that the world would become more interesting with your arrival, because when nothing changes, life becomes boring. I see that you have not yet found a way to receive my gift? It's a pity of course. Although, not much time has passed ... — The Voice became thoughtful.
My Phasm made himself at home in the cave. He looked everywhere and sniffed everything, but my Copper Wing was uneasy, and he shrank into one of the corners.
— Hold on, — I took out a few fruits and laid them in front of the uncomfortable bird. — Just put up with it. I'll try to get this over with as quickly as possible.