A Slave in the Locked Lands

by Arthur Stone

  “Sleep!” cried the girl.

  The effect took, and Tang stepped back, favoring one leg, cautious not to bring the mob out of its incapacitated state. He paid no attention to the bites of the three remaining underlings.

  Ros hurried to finish off two, then cast Sleep on the leader just as it unfroze, and killed the last of the underlings with the tank’s help.

  “Shield!” Danger Babe yelled.

  Tangh used one of his abilities to hit at the boss, who retaliated. The entire hall vibrated, with pieces of stalactites falling from the ceiling.

  “Negative effect received: you are losing mana rapidly.”

  “Dispel yourself first, Danger Babe!” Ros shouted upon noticing she’d suffered a similar debuff in the party menu.

  “I can’t!”

  “Try again! Here’s a shield!”

  Ros’ shield only lasted two attacks.

  “I’ll cast Sleep again, and then I’m out of mana!” shouted Danger Babe, on the verge of tears.

  “Don’t attack!” Ros added, hastily pulling a soul crystal out of his bag.

  There was no more point in hiding. Once the mob removed all the buffs, the Veil of Mystery effect had disappeared as well. Both Tangh and Danger Babe had received bonuses to stats and everything else, and had been instantly notified of it. It was only the dire nature of their situation that had prevented them from reacting.

  There would be time for questions later.

  “Undead Moss Shadowcrawler. Creature summoned from the realm of darkness. Level: 170. Abilities: Ambush, Bloodletting, and Shadowrunner.”

  “Don’t touch it! The thing is my pet!”

  “I’m empty, anyway. I couldn’t touch it I wanted to! And the debuff isn’t working!”

  The mob woke up and attacked Tangh. But then the shadowcrawler jumped onto the mob’s back, and started tearing at it with its fangs and talons. Ros cast Heal on the norder regularly, but the tank’s HP bar kept on shrinking. The rrokh’s ability was too weak, and the staff wasn’t good enough for proper spellcasting, either.

  There was something else—the debuff that had cost Danger Babe all her mana was also affecting Ros. And it kept draining his mana. Only his high Intellect prevented a complete loss—he had substantial reserves and speedy regeneration. Even so, his mana pool kept on shrinking, and Ros would soon be squeezed dry.

  They would lose the battle without mana without question. Tang wouldn’t last half a minute without heals, no matter how weak. Ros didn’t bother trying to dispel himself. It wouldn’t work against this debuff—even Danger Babe with her high Dispel had failed miserably.

  The mob had about a minute’s worth of HP left when Ros ran out of mana.

  “I’m empty! Tangh, try to kite the mob—let the pet finish it off!”

  The advice was silly—the norder was as good a runner as a tortoise. Yet, he took a few steps back and used some shielding effect on himself that didn’t absorb damage, but reduced it, and not by much—the tank kept losing HP rapidly. Ros approached the mob from behind and smashed his pickage at its knee with all his might. Then again. And again.

  It worked! A critical hit! The leg broke!

  Tangh was finally able to get out of the beast’s attack range. But the mob had apparently lost interest in him, and was turning around. Ros squinted, bracing himself to do some tanking—he should be able to take a hit or two, and the pet might manage to finish things off in the meantime.

  But he didn’t have to—the mob fell on its wounded leg, then collapsed onto its side.

  “You kill the Scrum Lord. XP received: 14,627. Points left until the next level: 189,233. Attention! You have found a creature that has not yet been added to the world bestiary! You receive a reward: +1 to Luck. You can receive the reward for discovering a new creature at the Academy of Magic. Your Mental Power grows by 1. Your Strength grows by 1. Your Attack grows by 1. Your Resilience grows by 1. Congratulations! Your party has destroyed a monster 80 levels above the party’s strongest player! Achievement earned: Brave Companions, Part Three. Achievement bonus: +1 to Intellect. Bonus effect: permanent. Achievement unlocked: Brave Companions, Part Four. Kill 50 monsters whose level exceeds that of the party’s strongest player by 80 or more using your party’s resources to complete the achievement. Achievement bonus: random. Condition: the party cannot contain more than six players. The party’s median level should be at least twice less than that of the monsters.”

  Tangh, whose HP bar was somewhere between two and three percent, stepped back, leaned his back against the wall, and said in a voice as weary as the ages:

  “I could certainly do with some rest now.”

  “You’re like… the Terminator!” said a tired but satisfied Danger Babe. “Look at all the stuff we got! So cool!”

  “And it wasn’t just for the mob,” said Tangh just as wearily, pointing at Ros.

  Danger Babe and the norder glanced at each other slyly, and the girl said, looking pleased with herself:

  “What did I tell you?”

  “Exactly the thing I told you.”

  “You’re talking about me now, I gather,” said Ros.

  “We sure are,” replied the girl. “I knew right away who you were.”

  “It wasn’t like that,” the norder objected. “She couldn’t know for sure who you were, but she had her suspicions that you might have a few tricks up your sleeve.”

  “Oh yeah? I had everyone all over Rallia asking me about him some three hundred and fifty times! And some of them mentioned that the player called himself Ros.”

  “No, it was I who had told you about the matching names of the mysterious hero and our party leader.”

  “Not true! I knew about the name already! And I told you right away there was something weird about him. He’s a noob, yet was killing tough mobs far surpassing his level, and completely unarmed, at that. A tank and a DPS in one—and without any equipment. And his mana pool is unbelievable. Heck, everything about him is unbelievable!”

  Ross decided to butt in.

  “If you absolutely need to argue, please keep it down. We won’t be able to handle another pack like that. I’ve still got that debuff on me. Danger Babe, too. No mana, either.”

  “Sure, we’ll keep it down. But you’re wrong there, Tangh. I did know the name. I just wasn’t entirely sure.”

  “All right, all right. Sorry to have brought it up. I should know better at my advanced age than to argue with a woman.”

  “That’s because this woman is absolutely right.”

  “My dear, I have already acknowledged that you’re as right as anyone could ever be. Let’s stop arguing pointlessly now, shall we? Instead, we should praise heavens for this doubtlessly incredible victory. A ragtag party of three barely equipped players has just managed to vanquish a pack of beasts, one of which would have been an unpleasant surprise even for a decked-out top player. We did it, my friends. It is a privilege to have met you. I don’t know your real-life names or identities. No one even knows anything about Ros, despite all the hype around him. But remember this moment and this feeling well. Think back to it when the hour seems particularly dark. I’m just glad. Really glad.”

  Tangh slipped down with his back against the wall, hugged his knees, and said, with the same thousand-yard stare on his face:

  “My name is Joseph Kennedy. I used to be an engineer and have developed a few things you don’t want to know about. I have three children, six grandchildren, and a great-grandson. A few of them even have some affection for me. They will doubtless make good use of all my estate, real and otherwise. I’m eighty-nine, with plenty of age-related conditions, and an untreatable case of sarcoma. They froze my body this morning. Cryostatic coma—the state-of-the-art tactic of waiting for new treatment methods. It is considered a lot more effective than plain old cryofreezing—they haven’t even learned to revive those yet. My brain isn’t functioning, but, as you can see, I can still cogitate. I was terrified that once my mental functions shut down, I
would cease to exist here, but I’m still around, and I’m with you. And I’m overjoyed. Happy beyond belief. Happy about everything. Happy to be around friends, and happy about our victory, too. I haven’t felt this way for many, many years. The good Lord be praised, this is as near complete bliss as I could hope for. Thank you for being there, and thank you for being with me.”

  Danger Babe drew a sigh and muttered dejectedly.

  “Anya Soboleva, seventeen. Unemployed and not in school at the present. My parents are dead and I live with my stepmother, who’s a religious freak. She would also very much like to sell my apartment and give the money to her cult. Sometimes it’s real hell at home, so don’t get mad if I log off without warning. Thanks, Joseph. You’re the best tank ever. As for you, Ros, I just don’t know what to say.”

  “Well, you know everything about me already,” Ros chuckled mirthlessly.

  “We do,” Tangh nodded. “It was rather funny. A level 45 noob with half a ton of ore of different sorts in his bag, as well as a bunch of other stuff, and a girl on his shoulders to boot, who can nonetheless move around without any penalties, judging by the party menu. If I hadn’t guessed your identity earlier, the very sight would make my eyes pop. Actually, that was the thing about you that had struck me as the strangest. Is there any limit? How much can you carry, exactly? Full capacity? Sorry about being inquisitive, and you are under no obligation to answer.”

  “I carried nearly two tons once, but there were some penalties.”

  “Why am I not surprised?”

  “I had an intimation that you may suspect me.”

  “It would be hard not to. You could have revealed yourself earlier—that stat bonus of yours would have been really useful.”

  “It’s a habit of mine to hide. I’m a fugitive wherever I go—sorry about that.”

  “How did you change your name and your appearance?” Danger Babe asked.

  “There are ways.”

  “What ways?”

  “Only a few heroes can use them.”

  “I’ve never heard of such heroes,” Tangh shook his head.

  “He’s no ordinary hero. He’s a legend. With lots of titles. He even became the greatest hero of all once, which is unprecedented. And he’s attracted the interest of the gods. Haven’t you read about it?”

  “Sure, I remember…”

  “I’ve let my guard down around you guys. And it’s impossible to fully hide from party members. You’re bound to reveal yourself in one way or another.”

  “I started to suspect something from the very start. You just had too much confidence. And you never seem to be low on mana. You use magic to fight mobs, yet your MP bar remains the same. That’s impossible even if your level is 200. And you deal too much damage for a 46. In the very beginning, you went about it unarmed, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. You have lots of abilities, too. See for yourself—you’re the only person who has actually managed to do something in this mine. Me and Tangh would have been dying of hunger by now, like the rest of them. That much was enough to suspect something weird. But why are you hiding?”

  “Didn’t you tell me yourself that they were looking for me in Rallia and asking questions? How would you like to be captured by those guys?”

  “Screw them. They’re stupid assholes, the lot of them. All the top clans are the same. They think the flag icon next to their names makes them godlike, but they still can’t put two and two together. Like a grand collection of all the village idiots they could recruit. I thought you had a higher level, Ros, and that you kept it concealed just like everything else.”

  “I am indeed a lowly 46.”

  “So, did you reveal your identity to save us?”

  “I haven’t even thought about it—there wasn’t much time for proper thinking,” Ros twisted the truth a little. “And I more or less revealed myself by accident.”

  “The debuff has worn off, and your mana is regenerating again,” said Tangh. “So, shall we keep chatting or…”

  “Let us replenish our mana a bit—we hardly have any,” Danger Babe replied.

  “Ros, you’re the leader, and it isn’t my place to give you instructions, but why don’t you search the mobs for loot? I’m really curious what the leader of the pack has got for us.”

  The Scrum Lord had dented armor boots for a level 92. They were enhanced, but unremarkable in terms of stats. The helmet was a better find—good-quality, with bonuses to Stamina and Physical Defense. Just the right thing for a tank.

  The norder received the boots, too—they only required a bit of repairs, and Ros had a few steel bars in his bag, which, combined with his level nine Metallurgy, allowed him to work with iron without damaging the ore.

  Tangh put on his new equipment and sighed.

  “I really wish I had a shield. I’d be able to handle a lot more with a shield. The cuirass leaves a lot to be desired, too—it just got dented again. Bronze isn’t what you need for a serious skirmish. Will you repair it?”

  “Of course.”

  Danger Babe kept wandering around the hall, studying the walls attentively.

  “Hey! Ros! I’ve found some iron!”

  “Don’t yell like that.”

  “Sorry. But it’s the first time I found it on my own, without your help.”

  “Your Perception is up to three. Also, everyone who’s in the same party as me receives four points to every secondary stat. That makes seven, and iron requires nine. Not that easy to spot, but not that hard, either, if you’re being careful. And, with luck, you can find everything, including diamonds—or that sapphire you spotted earlier.”

  Tangh pointed toward the passage whence the mobs came.

  “A pack of those beasts wouldn’t appear just like that. Their lair must be somewhere that way. I can’t say I’m certain, but we should certainly check.”

  “Sure. After all, no one’s ever come across their kind before,” Danger Babe nodded as she kept gazing at walls. “Nobody knows anything about their habits.”

  “There are quite a few gold veins in these walls,” said Ros. “I can see six, and I might notice a few more. Let me get the ore, and then we’ll check out their lair, if they have one.”

  * * *

  The scrum lair looked rather sordid. It was a hall with a low ceiling. A few nondescript stalactites with broken-off tips could be seen here and there. There were patches of mildew on the wall, and the floor was covered with lush black moss that bounced like rubber and didn’t show any footprints. A pile of assorted bones and split skulls was visible in one of the far corners, some of which belonged to creatures they could not identify.

  “Yew! It sure stinks here!” Danger Babe winced.

  Ros confidently approached one of the walls, removed a layer of moss, and produced a small and flat silver case. Then he smiled.

  “There are three health potions here, Tangh. Take them. You’ll need them.”

  “I haven’t got a belt for vials.”

  “Carry them in your bag.”

  “You’ll get decapitated three times before you take a potion out of your bag in battle.”

  “How did you find them, Ros?” the girl inquired.

  “I have advanced abilities for finding caches and lots of other stuff.”

  “Of course. Why did I even ask? You seem to have every stat up the wazoo.”

  “Not every stat. Far from it.”

  “Oh, please.”

  “There’s something underneath the bones, too.”

  “A secret cache?” asked the norder.

  “That seems to be very likely. That’s what my intuition tells me, and I trust it.”

  “We’ll have to dig for it.”

  “I’m not touching any of this yucky stuff!” Danger Babe shouted, outraged.

  “No one’s asking you to,” replied Ros.

  The pile of bones revealed a shield plated with some silvery metal. Once Tangh studied their find, he smiled like a toddler who, against all odds, managed to receive candy f
rom a particularly mean and unpleasant uncle.

  “Good quality, and the stats are great. Although Intellect is something I could do without. It’s not like I ever use it.”

  “Well, you’re a real tank now. Fully equipped,” said Ros.

  “The equipment could be better. But if I had all this at the beginning, tanking those scrums would not have been a problem.”

  “I’ll try to do something about the accessories during the night. I might forge something better.”

  “Would you be able to enchant the shield? And the rest of it?”