“I do,” said the girl.
“In that case—be one,” shrugged Kornik. “You have the power and the desire. Everything else will come with experience. And don’t ever listen to anyone when they tell you that you can’t be a Shaman. You proved the opposite just now…”
Kornik vanished, as did the Mentor, and Fleita and I remained on our own.
“Mahan, will you tell me what just happened? I don’t understand a damn thing…”
“There’s no fish in that lake…”
“I already got that, but what does that have to do with me being a Shaman?”
“There’s no fish in the lake,” I said, this time for my own benefit, “but you couldn’t care less about that fact. You used the fishing rod as a focus point and ended up catching two fish through the Astral Plane. Do I need to explain to you what the Astral Plane is?”
“I did that?!” It was looking like Fleita’s primary goal for the rest of the day would be not dying from astonishment. “I know what the Astral Plane is. But only High Shamans can enter it!”
“Yes. Kornik mentioned that,” I replied, a bit jealously. Ever since I had managed to wrangle my way into the Astral Plane while still an Elemental Shaman, I thought of myself as quite the rarity. But here came Fleita and managed to enter it without even having reached Beginner rank. What would she be capable of when she became a High Shaman? “If you decide to become a Shaman, you will be able to summon Spirits. In effect, you already managed to do just that—you caught two fish.”
“So what should I do now?”
“As I understand it, you need to reach Level 10 and choose the Shaman class if that’s what you still want. Then you’ll have to find a teacher and harass him until he explains the principles of passing the Shamanic trial to you…Or actually, until he teaches you how to be a Shaman. I think you’ll manage to pass your trial on your own…Kornik!” I called out again.
“Well, what are you yelling about now? I told you—your ability to summon your teacher has been blocked!”
“Kornik—Fleita has decided to become a Shaman. You should be her teacher! No one but you can teach her properly.”
“Heh, have you decided to get rid of me?” the goblin asked wryly. “Tired of your old teacher, huh?”
“Why get rid of? To the contrary, this is a worthy challenge to the great and terrible Kornik, the doom of all mortals! Who else, if not you, will be able to teach the one who cannot be taught?”
“I don’t want to study with him,” said Fleita, with one fell swoop knocking down all my fantasies. I had almost persuaded the goblin to take her as a new student, when, well, here you go! “If I must have a teacher, I want you to be it. It was you who made me go to the lake!”
“He cannot become your teacher, oh class-less one,” Kornik began with his typical snark, and yet, I knew this NPC well enough by now to be certain that this wasn’t a laughing matter for him. It’s true that I have a quest to become a teacher, which I have to do once Kornik gets done teaching me, but considering my social position back in reality, only an NPC could become my student. And that’s not to mention that I’ve never even heard of players becoming the students of other players. If I’m not mistaken, that would be against the game rules. Either an NPC teaches a player or a player teaches an NPC. There’s no other option.
“Why not?” To my surprise, Fleita refused to cave. “He is a High Shaman and he’s always involved in events that expose the true values of Shamanism. Only practice can make a true Shaman—not reading some dusty volume you’ve stored somewhere in your cellar.”
“He can’t be your teacher because he’s got nothing to offer—no powers, no abilities, no skills. He’s not much of a Shaman at the moment, you see…”
“That’s only for the next two months,” I couldn’t help but butt in. There’s no need to embarrass me in front of a colleague…
“There, you see?” Fleita said happily. “Mahan isn’t against it! I’ll spend the two months reading up on the theory and after that we’ll start training! Is that all right with you?”
“Heh,” was all that Kornik could manage at this juncture. “One more headache for this poor goblin…Prontho—come over here, will you?”
“What’s happened now?” As cool as Akela from the Jungle Book, the orc appeared beside us and looked us over thoughtfully. It’s odd—according to Kornik, the two are constantly arguing over every possible thing, but I’m having trouble imagining this confident, charismatic and renowned Shaman arguing over which end of a hardboiled egg one should crack. I guess such fantasies are beyond me…
“She wants to become a student,” Kornik nodded in Fleita’s direction and then at me, “of his. She says she wants to have a Dragon, since this is what she’s always dreamed of.”
“An undead creature cannot become a Shaman,” Prontho declared flatly. “You’ve torn me away from my work over this?”
“No one’s arguing about that. Moreover, I’m in agreement with you!” It was looking like Kornik was having his moment of glory. I hadn’t heard this much snark in his voice in a long time—and yet the topic was pretty serious! “But you see, Fleita didn’t choose Mahan for no reason. Did you see that?” Kornik pointed at the two carps still lying on the pond shore.
“From the pond?” asked Prontho gravely.
“From the pond,” the goblin sighed sadly. “The Supreme Spirits say that the time has come to forget prior limits…The Shadows seek to erase everything…”
“He cannot become your teacher, oh class-less one,” the orc immediately rejoined as if echoing the goblin.
“I already heard that part,” Fleita still refused to back down. “He’s got no powers, no abilities, no skills. He’s not much of a Shaman at the moment, blah blah blah…I believe he can! And you can all go to hell! Here you all are holding a big meeting and not one of you wants to make a decision.”
Having said this, the girl turned to me and said with a smirk:
“Mahan, take me on as a student. I promise to be studious, to argue only about matters of principle, to agree with almost all you tell me and to do most of the quests you send me on! I promise I’ll spend five to six hours of the day in-game, except on weekends and during finals. What else…Oh! Please!”
“You know, it looks like she’s not getting it,” Kornik whispered to the orc, although everyone could still hear him. “Mahan really cannot become a teacher right now.”
I hadn’t received a notification of a new quest with the girl’s offer, which made perfect sense—she wasn’t an NPC and couldn’t generate quests. At the same time, there had also been no warning that I wasn’t allowed to accept her offer. To hell with all this!
“Unclassified Free Citizen Fleita the Decembrist! Since you have chosen to become a Shaman, I am prepared to become your teacher and teach you everything I know and have learned myself. However, you must know something about me which may have a serious effect on your decision—I am a convict who is serving his sentence in Barliona. I escaped Pryke Mine where this orc was the governor,” I nodded at Prontho who remained still like a marble statue, “so if you become my student, you will be studying with a criminal.”
“If you were a bad person,” it took Fleita literally several moments to make her decision, “you wouldn’t be standing here. My offer stands—I’ll reach Level 10 in a few days and become a Shaman! Then I’ll consider myself your student. You promised!”
“I confirm my words,” my heart skipped a beat when Fleita told me that my social standing didn’t matter to her. “Go ahead and become a Shaman and…”
“She doesn’t have to wait until Level 10,” Kornik said wistfully. “If your decision is final and you don’t intend on seeing reason, Fleita is allowed to become a Shaman this very instant…”
“Oh! What do I need to do?” the girl inquired.
“Prontho?” Kornik cast his melancholy glance at the orc. “I’m through arguing. One Mahan is enough for me. If I have to deal with Mahan and Fleita togeth
er, I’ll be in the goblin madhouse within a month. I give up. If she wants him as her teacher, let her think he’s her teacher…”
“Let it be so!” Prontho proclaimed loftily and vanished into thin air. Boy, I really can’t wait to be a Harbinger!
“I’m going to take your student with me for the next eight hours,” Kornik told me, taking Fleita by the hand. “I’ll turn her into a Beginner Shaman. After that, you can deal with her on your own. Remember—she must do her trial six months from now. Don’t let me down…”
Kornik and Fleita vanished, leaving a single anxious Shaman beside the lake—me, that is. Life is strange. I had come here to figure out why I had been stripped of my powers…and ended up becoming a teacher. It’d be nice to avoid Stacey and Plinto for a little while. They’d really let me have it if they found out.
“Magdey, Clutzer—I’ll need the services of your raid parties in the coming days. We’ll have to complete a new Dungeon which is supposed to contain some tasty bosses. Please, clear your schedules for it—First Kills don’t grow on trees!”
After I finished issuing orders, I headed off to get some rest with a clean conscience. With one swoop, I had just struck two of my thirteen tasks from the list—I’d figured out how I had lost my powers and acquired a student. The next step, as I saw it, would be the Skrooj Dungeon, which according to Ishni supposedly contained stones for the Karmadont Chess Set. Since I didn’t want to choose between Magdey and Clutzer, I decided to simply take both raid parties with me. If there was some party size limit, we’d cast lots to see who stayed and who went home, but we’d do that only once we’d all be there.
There wasn’t any point in staying in Anhurs longer, so I cast a portal and returned to Altameda. Elizabeth and the Jewelcrafting trainer, whom I should probably visit too, could wait a few days until Fleita returned. The eight game hours that Kornik had mentioned could easily add up to several calendar days for the girl. For my part, I resolved to take the girl with me wherever I went—there’s no other way to teach a Shaman.
“Viltrius, assemble all the aldermen tomorrow,” I ordered the goblin, upon reaching my castle. “We’ll preside over their oaths of fealty around ten in the morning. The Emperor has granted permission to administer the villages.”
“I shall make the requisite preparations immediately,” my majordomo assured me in a neutral voice. “Will there be anything else?”
“Yes, one more thing…Tell me, my green friend, is there a workshop in Altameda?”
Even though it was almost evening, I decided to do some work for the good of the clan. Rings, chains, cut stones—a clan has many urgent Jewelcrafting needs. As a ‘permanent’ resident of Barliona, I had no excuse to avoid work. Besides, this would push me closer to reaching my third Gem Cutter rank—for which I had to first somehow gain another +31 in Jewelcrafting. I think I recall someone once telling me that nothing happens on its own, so no doubt I had some long, hard work in front of me. Like Mister Geppetto…
A ring? A chain? A stone?
The question of where to begin in my crafting confronted me as soon as I entered design mode. On the one hand, it’s high time I made myself some rings. I’m still wandering around with +12 Copper Rings that I’d crafted in a former life. The same applies to my chain: +12 to Intellect is not becoming for a leveled-up character like mine—to say nothing of how it looks on an Earl. I could craft a Gold Ring of Intellect, which I had a recipe for in my book, and thereby increase this stat by +32 with one ring. Yet I wouldn’t be able to set a stone into such a ring…Should I maybe forget about my recipes and come up with something more interesting? It wasn’t a big deal if I went missing from the game for several days—I was in Altameda after all. And I didn’t have any pressing business. Kornik would keep Fleita occupied with something or other…Okay! It’s decided. Let’s forget about the recipe book and start something from scratch. The highest-level metal that I can Jewelcraft with is gold; the highest-level stone is Amethyst and Tourmaline. I’ll use these as my basic materials then!
Having ordered the stones from the auctioneers, I commenced with my work.
To begin with, I decided to craft myself a new ring. The immediate question was whether I should fashion it from wire or cast it? As I understood it, a ring of wire would grant lower stat bonuses, but it would be easier to set a stone in it. A cast ring was the exact opposite and, besides, harder to craft. I was comfortable working with wire, whereas cutting a mold for casting would pose a challenge.
A blinking notification that I had received my order interrupted my thoughts, so I left design mode and opened the mail. After paying for the delivery service, I poured the stones into two large heaps of fifty stones each and began to consider which of the stones I liked better—the greenish Tourmaline or the bluish Amethyst. I would eventually have to craft the Karmadont Chess Knights from Tourmaline, so I knew I should practice working with it.
Darkness again—and again design mode.
Looking at the wire, I suddenly realized that I would no longer work with this material. It’s not that I don’t like the process of braiding wire into a ring…it’s the result that’s the problem. I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s like the ring comes out flimsy or something like that. And that’s not to mention that, cosmetically, a wire ring leaves something to be desired. It’s decided then! The ring shall be solid and cast. Now I need a mold for it. The type of setting doesn’t require much thought—I’ll use a bezel setting since it’s one of the most reliable options. All that remains is to come up with the shape.
I didn’t want to craft a simple band: The result would be too ordinary and commonplace. If I’ve decided to be creative, then I should commit all the way—without sparing myself any hardship or effort. For example, who even decided that a ring should be a ring? Who decided that it should be a closed loop? When a hulking orc removes a ring from his bratwurst finger and hands it to an elf, the game automatically adjusts the relevant dimensions, allowing the long-eared elf to slip the ring onto his refined aristocratic fingers instead of having to wear it around his neck like a yoke. I wonder—who decided that elves were aristocrats anyway? Players who played this race would behave as badly as some dwarves I’d come across…and even the NPC elves I knew weren’t exactly saints! I’d need to check the library to find out how they’d earned this noble honor.
But anyway—since the ring will adapt to fit its owner, I could easily experiment with its shape. For example, instead of making it a closed circuit, I could leave it open or even…ah! That’s it—I could craft it in the form of a spiral or a spring! But no—then I’d end up making a wire ring, only cast…What’s the point in wasting time, when it’d be easier to braid it?
If I set an Amethyst in the center of the piece and frame it with Tourmaline, then…NO! Why didn’t it occur to me right away? I urgently needed one more stone!
According to the chart of Barliona’s gems, the only black stones were Onyx, which I couldn’t yet work with, Melanite, which I didn’t know a thing about, and Jet, which like Onyx remained off limits to me. Well, if it must be Melanite, let it be Melanite.
I left design mode and sent another request to the auctioneers. I knew I needed a black stone…
Once a black heap had joined the green and blue heaps, I returned to design mode and tried to wrap my mind around my idea.
And so!
What were the Legends of Barliona most famous for? The fact that they had three players with unique races, a myriad of First Kills, unique projections, several scenarios and a personal relationship with the Emperor. And yet, any one of Malabar’s Top 10 clans could boast of these same honors—with the exception of the first. Accordingly, I decided to concentrate on the three unique races. The Siren, the Dragon and the Vampire. Green, Blue, and Black. Tourmaline, Amethyst and Melanite…
Three shapeless masses appeared before my eyes and gradually took on the forms of a Dragon, a Siren and a Vampire. It didn’t matter to me that they didn’t look like us in
the least. The important thing is the image, not its correspondence to the original. I shaped a ring beside the figures and couldn’t help but curse—the ring was almost invisible. Rather, it was a little larger than the vampire’s head. I had no idea how I would position the three figures in such a small space and make the whole thing fit on a finger at the same time. Disappointed, I discarded the figures of the Vampire and the Siren and made the Dragon shapeless again. I went on working with this one piece of stone because it would be too dreary and ugly to craft the figures separately and then arrange them on a ring. My design had to be unified.
A Dragon rampant, crushing the Siren and the Vampire into the ground…
A Siren with her tail coiled around the Dragon and the Vampire—who is sinking his fangs into her throat…
A Dragon tearing the Vampire apart as the Siren impales him on her trident…
Despite all my efforts, the only thing I could come up with were scenes of violence—which would clearly end with a single victor—either the Dragon, or the Siren, or the Vampire. The scenes appeared in different variations, but the main thrust remained the same—the races were in conflict even in my thoughts…If I removed one of the trio, the composition turned out quite striking, and yet when all three were depicted together…
I must be doing something wrong…
I spent an hour in thought, trying to figure out where my error lay. If I want to craft a ring for my clan, then it should depict our legends because…Hmm…Maybe there is no ‘because’…maybe my entire initial premise is wrong…I want to make a ring for my clan, proceeding from the assumption that our three unique races are what make us the Legends. But what if this isn’t the case? What if the Legends of Barliona are something greater than their respective races? After all, when all is said and done, our clan’s name changed not because we three were in it but because of something else…
What and who can be considered a legend anyway? Is not a legend someone who has done something that has caused the entire world to speak of them? It didn’t matter whether their fame was good or bad; what mattered was that everyone knew of them. And what had I just tried to do? I had tried to fit a square peg into a round hole, forcing my opinion onto a larger system. I’m no legend. Plinto isn’t a legend. Stacey might be, but most likely she is not. Then who?
The Karmadont Chess Set (The Way of the Shaman: Book #5) LitRPG series Page 6