by Andrew Novak
"In a temple on Copper Street."
"Wait there," Jack said quickly because time was short. "In five minutes, a Scand named Jack will meet you and you, Burt, will teleport him here. Bring Jack here and you can fall back to Copper Street.”
Attention!
User "Andrew Vigo", to confirm your identity, enter the six-digit code.
Time remaining: 5 minutes.
Jack frowned. There was no time!
"Actually, these are our lands – they belong to the guild. We're not allowed to bring strangers here," Burt informed him. "How did you wind up here? Did you walk here or something? You can see that we locked the local portal."
"So, you choose. Either Jack takes this beast down or your guild loses its hunting grounds."
"We'll send our mages. They'll deal with it."
Jack smiled with Andrew Vigo's face.
"If they manage to get back, then they'll kick the crap out of you for setting them up. You'll spend the rest of your life cleaning the guild stables, to be sure that you know what happens when you send the best mages to certain death. And then they’ll ask Jack to solve their problem anyway, but it'll cost the Gravediggers twice as much."
Burt sighed. He believed him and didn't. While he was thinking, the program delighted Jack with a new message:
Attention!
User "Andrew Vigo", to confirm your identity, enter the six-digit code.
Time remaining: 3 minutes.
"Well? Agreed?" Jack urged.
"Fine! Agreed! But if..."
Jack didn't bother listening. Time was running out. He crept back a little, hiding behind rocks. No need to draw the Shadow's attention to the hiding spot.
* * *
User "Andrew Vigo", to confirm your identity, enter the six-digit code.
Time remaining: 2 minutes.
Jack crept closer. The Shadow was making slow circles over the area where the skirmish with the Gravediggers had happened. It was strange that, even if you looked at it for a long time, no info-window popped up. It appeared for any character, whether it was a living player or an NPC. It wasn't clear what the developers had been trying to say by emphasizing the Demon Shadow of the King in this way... Jack waited until the Shadow was near the rock he was hiding behind and, when the unearthly wight floated by, he leaped out behind it.
There was another theory he wanted to test: what if the black dagger was deadly to the Shadow only after it had formed completely? Maybe it had still been too intangible to die from the blow in the palace dungeon?
Jack thrust out the hand holding the black blade, planting its tip into the Shadow's back. The dark figure flinched, but clearly was not going to die. Jack didn't bother waiting and tore off, away from the Gravediggers' hiding place and the portal. He looked around hastily – the Shadow was racing after him, picking up speed. It was unlikely that the dagger had done any appreciable damage.
User "Andrew Vigo", to confirm your identity, enter the six-digit code.
Time remaining: 1 minute.
Now that he couldn't see any other players, he had one last thing to do.
He turned, and again – Jack wasn't heading for any particular place. He was just looking for a little nook where he could leave the Tear and black dagger. It was a shame that Andrew had so little time, that he couldn't finish what he'd begun. For all that, he still wasn't going to make it!
This was a good place. It was the ruins of a small structure with a rounded dome. It looked like a chapel, like the ones scattered everywhere in Alterra, –, in the city of demons, the rear of the building was black in color and showed traces of destruction.
Jack ducked in. Without any artifice, he tucked his loot into a gap between the rocks and quickly sprinkled gravel over it. It was dark inside under the dome and, if you didn't know where to look, it was unlikely that you would notice the cache. Then he sat on the threshold and gazed at the ultramarine sky of Alterra. It was an unbelievably pure, saturated color. A color that couldn't be found in real life. In the Wasteland, the sky was gray, like dust. Over the slums that clung to the wall around New Atrium, it was more like a yellow color with a brownish tint. This was due to the fumes that rose over the shanty Clusters.
The Shadow silently rounded the corner. It slowed and drifted toward him slowly because Andrew Vigo had nowhere to run. And he didn't try. The timer was counting down the last seconds of the character's life and Jack looked at the incredibly blue sky.
"Well, goodbye, Andrew Vigo," he mumbled.
When the Shadow was a couple of feet away, the image in the headset began to dim, then blurred... An admin message swam before his eyes:
User "Andrew Vigo", your identity cannot be confirmed. Your account has been suspended by the administrators of Alterra. To unlock your account, please contact support services. Thank you for your participation in the game.
At least Shadow hadn't managed to kill him. Everything blurred and darkened. The text slightly flickered against the black background, and Jack sighed when he sensed that he had left Alterra.
That was it, then. He was in his own trailer. He took off the headset, blinked, and unfastened the harness. Not wasting any time, he immediately switched on his own console.
* * *
Two hearts, the symbol for a portal, adorned the Temple of Astra on Copper Street. The group of fighters from the Brotherhood of Gravediggers was crowded in front of him, their insignia easily identifying them. Jack spotted Burt among them and headed in his direction.
"Greetings," he got down to business. "Burt, you and Andrew Vigo made an agreement. Are you ready to take me there, as agreed?"
"Well..." Burt hesitated. "You see..."
"If not, then no," Jack cut him off. "Just say it, that's all. I still have a lot to do, and I'm not in the mood to waste time figuring out exactly why the Gravediggers are breaking their agreement. In all honesty, I'm not too interested in the reason."
"You listen here," Burt began. "I'm willing to do it! I would! But guild command decided that this was some kind of set-up. Blackmail. That you and Andrew were going to double-cross us. Deliberately summoned that damned black thing so that you could save us from it."
"And so what?" Jack tried to feign surprise. "Let's say that's exactly what we did. How does that change anything? You can't deal with the Shadow and I'm willing to try. What difference does it make, where the creature came from? I honestly just wanted to help Andrew Vigo. We've been friends for a long time."
"But I have to follow orders..."
"Ok, whatever. You can find me in the Rusty Rose if you need me."
Jack saw an entire procession of mages and warriors marching along Copper Street toward the portal. The color of the Gravediggers! They had a large guild... Well, let them try. He had faith in the Shadow. It wouldn't let him down.
Jack didn't bother waiting for the main force of the Brotherhood of Gravediggers to arrive. He just nodded at Burt and left. He didn't look back, certain that a lot of people were watching him. That was okay.
It was always crowded and noisy in the Rusty Rose. Jack sat in a corner and, sipping his virtual beer (excellent flavor, the kind you couldn't find in real life), regarded the people at neighboring tables. There was so much to look at here – all the various armors and clothing, pretty faces, slender figures. Nearly everyone in Alterra was beautiful. Except for the occasional oddball, everybody wanted to be cute.
The Gravediggers showed up after two hours. Jack approved – it had taken them very little time to come to the right decision. Burt and two others came to negotiate. Jack half stood and waved at them. Burt introduced his superiors, although this was simply a formality, as the info-window automatically appeared over the characters. Then Burt moved away from the table and fell silent. Speaking on behalf of the guild was a mage by the name of Weaver Lund. He looked like a middle-aged man with a wise face and shrewd eyes. An imposing man.
Jack interrupted his long-winded opening with a question.
"You tried t
o kill the Shadow, right? And nothing worked?"
"What do you know about the Shadow?"
"No, I asked first."
"Yes, we employed some tactics that were usually effective."
"I bet it was just a pillar of dust," Jack nodded. "Were you there, too? Did you notice that the info-window doesn't come up above it? It's something very particular."
This phrase saved him from having to answer what he knew about the Shadow.
"Yes, it’s like a piece of unexecuted texture!" the mage remarked. "How do we deal with it?"
Jack shrugged. "Andrew tried and failed. I'm not even sure that I can do it. Have to try. But that area is gray on my map. I haven't been there, and it's pretty far to walk..."
Actually, Jack had been thinking about just that: find a guide that would teleport him closer to the black ruins and then he would set off on his own from there. Andrew Vigo's legacy was calling.
"And what are you expecting?" the mage regarded him closely. "I can see that your stats aren't particularly remarkable. No, that is, they're all right. Decent, even, for a lone omega. But, and pardon me, you are far from being a great hero. Do you think you can succeed where our best guild fighters could not? Why is that?"
"Are you worried about me?" Jack tilted his head. "Thank you, I appreciate your concern."
"So...?"
"Everyone has their ways, Weaver. You see, I have a bit of experience with battling mysterious monsters. Just a specialty of mine."
For a full minute, Weaver Lund peered at Jack, trying to allay his doubts. He finally made up his mind.
"Fine. I will take you to... to, well, the place."
The mage kept quiet about the fact the place was the ruins of a demon metropolis. He didn't voice the words “Black City". The Gravedigger wanted to keep at least a little bit of information secret. Both of them followed the same principle: learn more and reveal less. Jack swirled the dregs of his beer and said:
"I don't want to do it. At first, it seemed interesting to try to kill this thing... but it's pretty comfortable here and the beer is very good. Basically, figure it out yourselves."
Weaver didn't hold an important position in the guild for nothing. He got the hint. Negotiations lasted fifteen minutes and they came to an agreement of 200 gold.
"Last question," Jack said, rising when his virtual coin purse clinked with the soft, soothing jingle of coins, "I hope the Shadow isn't hanging around the portal sanctuary? Will I have a little bit of a head start?"
"We distracted it with phantoms before we retreated to the portal," Weaver reassured him. "The phantoms should have led it away. Well, and then there are the goblins. For some reason that place is always full of goblins. That's why we use it for training initiates."
"Goblins. Yeah, they'll distract it... well, I'm ready!"
* * *
The Shadow wasn't in the portal sanctuary. Usually, the Temple of Astra was closed to all monsters and teleportation happened safely. However, Jack had his doubts about that creature, for which the info-window didn't even appear. What if it wasn't subject to the usual rules?
However, Weaver hadn't deceived him. The Shadow couldn't be seen anywhere in the temple or in the surrounding area. Convinced that the way was clear, Jack nodded to his guide.
"Great. Time to go. You can go back home and wait for my message."
"That’s quite all right. I will wait here," the mage answered.
"Ah! And you'll come to my rescue in my time of need!" Jack feigned delight. "Very noble."
Weaver silently gazed at him. He couldn't count on any help. Jack dipped his head in farewell and walked across the lawn, where armor and weapons littered the grass here and there, dropped by the hapless initiates. Delving deeper into the ruins, he slowed his pace, listening and turning his head. He needed to get to the cache, but the Shadow moved noiselessly and could turn up at any moment.
Somewhere in the distance, goblins began to squeal. It looked like the Shadow was busy with them, which meant that Jack had a bit of time. He sought out the ruins where Andrew had spent his last minute. Here was a building with a dome that resembled the chapel. His heart raced. Jack surprised himself. Usually, the game didn't make him so emotional. Maybe a bit of emotion from that guy in the pickup had passed to him? It was an unusual feeling, being excited about experiences in the virtual world. In real life, Jack had found himself in these kinds of messes and had long ago learned to keep his cool.
Would the Tear still be there? Jack crossed the threshold where Andrew Vigo had been sitting when the game disconnected him. He had been sitting and looking at the sky. Then the Shadow had arrived and... and there it was! The stash! The Tear of Azeroth and the black dagger.
Jack dropped the Tear into a bag slot but didn't put the dagger away. Should he just leave with his loot, and tell the mage that he couldn’t manage to kill the creature? No, it would be wrong to use Andrew's legacy like that. The right to someone else's loot had to be earned. Don't lose it to some foolishness. If you had a moral right to it, then that would benefit you later in the future. Jack went to the place where, judging by the goblins' cries, the Shadow was playing.
A round-shouldered, black figure emerged from the ruins and headed toward Jack. Of course, it couldn't possibly recognize the person who had liberated it in the form of another player character. However, it seemed to Jack that it remembered and wanted to settle things specifically with him. Emotions, emotions...
He stepped away from the wall to give himself more room to maneuver, drew up the dagger, and waited. Finally, when the distance between them had lessened, the Shadow picked up its speed and rushed at Jack, like a spurred horse. The dark plume billowed behind it like a cloak, and darkness spread on the grass at its feet – a shadow, cast by the Shadow.
Jack stood motionless, but when the enemy was just one pace away and had already thrown its two dark spikes forward, he crouched and pulled back to the right. The black apparition swept by so closely, that Jack felt as if his face touched the breeze raised by its movement. Falling, he threw his arm out and plunged the black dagger into the darkness running along the grass. The Shadow's shadow – that was what Jack had pierced, nailing it to the grass. A hissing sounded overhead. Jack released the dagger, leaving it stuck in the ground, and rolled. The Shadow, frozen, was trembling, its dark cloak-like plume fluttered in waves... then the dark shape began to shrivel, curl up, and sink into itself. It was hissing, trembling, and diminishing in size. At the same time, the shadow on the grass was also shrinking, curling around the dagger piercing it. The Shadowslayer.
When it was over, Jack pulled the black dagger from the ground, took a couple of deep breaths, calming his heartbeat, and looked at the dagger. Then, he gazed thoughtfully at the sky. Such a blue sky in Alterra.
Over the Blighted Wasteland, the sky was always gray. Underneath it, you wouldn't get far away from New Atrium. Alterra was quite another matter. It was endless. No one knew exactly how many continents and islands there were. If he had the money to fit out a ship, he could try to find another land. The Tear of Azeroth would be worth a few ships, for sure. You could always find alphas, who would fork out gold for such a unique item. Jack knew a couple of dealers who could sell it.
The main thing was to make a decision. Then, follow through with that decision.
Jack stood up and walked to the portal. Alterra's blue sky spread out over him, and he was already certain that he would set off under this sky on the biggest journey of his life.
Chapter Three. Service to the Dark
JACK DREAMED about the Tear all night. They were strange dreams. Nothing in them, – the Tear and him. Jack was inspecting the artifact, shifting it from hand to hand, listening to his senses... and woke up with the firm conviction that he did not want to sell the Tear. Why? It was hard to explain. It was just impossible to part with the Tear, that was all! Trying to find a rational reason, Jack told himself: random loot could be the beginning of a quest line, which could help get a shi
p. Yesterday's thought about a journey had gotten stuck firmly in his head and wouldn't leave. The sea, a distant shore, new lands that no one had seen before... The Tear of Azeroth felt like the beginning of a road, one without an end.
Usually, the game would notify you if you had stumbled upon a new mission, but this time there hadn’t been any info messages, nothing like that. Which meant he had to look for them.
With this thought in mind, Jack got up, stretched, and padded over to the window. Dim light filtered in through the cloudy glass and slightly rusted metal screen. The sky was gray, darker than usual. A row of heavy storm clouds stretched from the seaside. It was stuffy and looked like it was going to rain. Jack was going to go to the trader to ask about revolver cartridges but decided that it was better to stay home in this kind of weather. He logged into the Shell and began to look through guides and articles about the sea. The Shell was a place to chat, with a set of sites and applications for Alterra. If you needed information about the game world, then this was the best place to start. So, ships and sailing...
At first glance, everything was straightforward, but there was one catch: the further out to sea, the higher level a player needed be. Basic fishing boats were available at 10 XP, a sail boat at 20, next there was a coastal barque, which couldn’t go far from the coast... basically, distant sea voyages could be done on a ship, which could be only obtained by a guild, led by a player with a level no less than fifty. No special knowledge or abilities were required for distant campaigns: if you could get a large sea vessel, then you could fill it with a crew of NPCs. In this case, there was less freedom to command, but there was a smaller chance of navigation errors occurring. The crew would include helmsmen and a navigator, an NPC that, in standard situations, rarely made mistakes.
It turned out that he needed 50 XP and his own guild... Jack had a lot of growing to do to get from level 33 to 50. Which meant that he should take bonus quests, to bring in the gold needed for a guild registration. But, where to find them?