(World of Valdira 01) The Way of the Clan

by Dem Mikhaylov

  - …. My shaking finger hardly found the mouse’s button.

  ‘Go to Zar’graad! I announce admission to the shipyard of White Panthers clan! Double pay!’

  ‘All gamers, attention, please! Everyone who wants to earn some money and increase their skills! I announce labor recruitment to work at the shipyard of White Panthers clan! A complete package. Protection of laborers by the clan’s best members! The best at the construction site will gain special awards! Those who will contribute all their time into ship-building will get a warranted ticket to one of the ships! Please, contact the gamer nicknamed Leopard!’

  I sat back in the arm-chair, hardly controlling my hands that were reaching to the keyboard eager to type ‘It’s me!!! It’s me who learnt the spell! It’s me! Me! Me! Me!’ I was able to return to the forum only after defeating my vain alter ego as a safe winner. It’s too early to dive into that still water as still water runs deep.

  I didn’t study all the topics just scrolled down the whole forum to make sure that there were over two hundreds of similar topics with almost identical titles. It seemed that all the dwellers of the world of Valdira were interested in just two things: to reveal my incognito and to construct ships. Ships to go to Zar’graad.

  Now I saw it clearly that Zar’graad wasn’t a person but a place which could be reached only by ship. Hrmph… and what about achilots? They don’t need any ships. I don’t understand. Although they do need ships. Achilots are keen swimmers but to use breaststroke swimming across the ocean is a doubtful entertainment. And sea predators are still alive. But it’s not the most essential at the moment. It’s high time to find out what Zar’graad is in fact.

  I closed the forum and logged in the game portal. I didn’t have to search for a long time – the breaking news was on the main page.

  Ahoy! I see the ground! Zar’graad is on the horizon. It happened! Way to the lost continent Zar’graad can be open! The spell considered lost has been found and learnt! Get ready for colonization! Navigator came to the world. He can lead ships through raging seas right to Zar’graad and chase away the magic veil set by the ancient race of the Great over it! A huge continent where no creature of sense has stepped for ages! Abandoned towns and castles, forsaken mines, endless forests and valleys, deep underwater ravines, islands submerged into seas, dark caves with terrible monsters, ancient treasure and artifacts, legendary weapon and armor, unique sets and runes, magic scrolls with unfamiliar spells and, surely, crazy adventures! All that and even more is waiting for you on Zar’graad!

  The only thing to do is to reach the lost continent!

  So take your hammers and saws!

  Start building ships at shipyards! And then set off to adventure the unknown under sail filled with favorable winds!

  Voyage to the world’s end! Journey to Zar’graad!

  Further information is available in the portal special section (click here).

  Oh my god…

  Stop… I’ve already heard about this mega-advent – the discovery of a new continent in the world of Valdira which isn’t small even without it. But the name slipped out of my mind. No wonder – such a tricky word hard to pronounce, let alone remember it… And the main idea is that it hasn’t been breaking news for a long time. Rather a fairy-tale. A legend about another Atlantis. Three years passed since Zar’graad was mentioned for the first time. I didn’t play then. And I when I joined the game, the fuss had already decreased long time ago. Well… just rare phrases on the forum and gamers’ discussions. But there you are… the fairy-tale came true.

  I’m Navigator to Zar’graad.

  ‘Shall I phone daddy? I always wanted me to be a sailor. Let him get proud of his son’ – an absolutely crazy idea occurred in my mind.

  A sudden telephone rang made me jumped up.

  - Hello?

  - Hey, Ros! Do you recognize me?

  - Yup, I do. Hi, Gosha.

  - So be prepared today. She’ll come to the Cradle about in an hour give or take ten minutes. Can you meet her at the entrance?

  - Sure, as we agreed.

  - Good. Then get ready for immergence.

  - Hey, why aren’t you at work? It’s already ten a.m. – I asked having looked at the alarm-clock face – Are you calling from the office?

  - What? Nope, from home. I’m on holiday – Gosha informed me – For a month plus day-offs for three weeks. Don’t you know what’s happening? Log in the portal and read! Such events are going on! All Valdira is turned inside out! Damn that bloody work!

  - What’s going on? – I wondered in an innocent voice – You know I’m still hanging about in the Cradle. Advancing there slowly. Besides I’ve just waken up and logged in the game portal just a minute ago.

  - You amaze me! Forget about advancement! Zar’graad is open! – Gosha usually as cool as a cucumber must be shivering with excitement fever. He spat out words fast than burst of machine-gun fire.

  - Ah! Zar’graad… yeah, I’ve read about it. Avout Navigator and crazy adventure on a new continent…

  - Damn this adventure! Damn bloody Navigator! – Gosha suddenly roared so angrily that I put the receiver aside from my ear. – I’d choke off this son of bitch! Why has he learnt the spell these days? Could he wait for another half a year until we boost our positions… damn it! Now we’ll have to spread into two directions! To fight against clans and to build ships! You know how much is it to rent a shipyard? I’m ready to take off my armor and put it out for bids! And resources?! You won’t buy them even if increase the price three times plus everybody seems to take up robbing caravans! And he period designated for ship-building is as short as a month and a half!

  - E-e-er… I’m sorry, Gosha – I uttered carefully – Well, no matter how much the rent is, your clan’s treasury can afford more. Yours is one of the best clans anyway. You’ll scrape up the gold required.

  - Do you know what amounts they are talking about? And ships aren’t rubber ducks. We’ll need at least five of them. And it’s a poorest alternative, a ticket to failure! Well, forget about it. It’s not your headache. You’ve got another task. Don’t let me down, Ros! Please, at least cope with the first step!

  - I’ll do my best – I said as serious as I could – And even more. I promise.

  - And I promise you, Ros, if you complete both quests successfully, I personally will hand you a ticket to one of our ships! You’ll sail to Zar’graad with us!

  - Oh… thank you, Gosha. I told you – I’d do my best. Thank you for a ticket!

  - You bet – the hefty fellow grumbled charitably – Otherwise you don’t have a chance to get there.

  - Absolutely! Otherwise no chance – I agreed – Ok, I must go now. Or I can be late for the meeting. What’s her nickname, by the way?

  - I don’t know her new name. It doesn’t matter much. She’ll find you. I told her your nickname. Your task is to wait her at the entrance not to miss each other. That’s all. Bye.

  - See you…

  Making sure there were short beeps heard in the receiver, I hanged up and looking at the ceiling drawled thoughtfully:

  - We-e-ell, what a mess…

  A flash…

  Nice to see you again, rainbow…

  Green branches penetrated by sunny beams were dancing over my head. Merry babble of birds was blurring with a grasshopper’s clicking. Stretching my body, I sat down slowly and gave a sleepy smile. A tender sunny beam ran over my face to make me screw up my eyes. Good morning, Valdira. Ok, that will do for lounging, it’s time to get down to urgent business. In real world I’ve got much fewer things to do than here! First I shook out the content of both rucksacks and started sorting out the pile. I sorted according to the principle: to you – to me, to you – to me, to me – to me, to me – to me, and this one definitely goes to me…

  I put the sword, the dagger, the round shield, the waist belt, the boots and a clock with a straw hat into my old rucksack. That’s for the she-gamer. That gear is more than required for the very begin
ning of the game. Especially if you remember the stick I swung during my first days… Thinking for a while I added one flask there and a bundle of dried meat with a deep sigh. Ready! Almost the same kit was left for me but I had an ash stuff instead of the sword and I didn’t need a shield. Plus, my old rags and some amount of money that easily fitted a more capacious new rucksack. I put my feet into high boots, put on a grey cloak and clapped a straw hat on my head. Very nice. Protection against physical hit jumped by three points. That counted. In terms of the Cradle I was dressed like a real lord. A dress can make a man indeed! If I added a long grey beard, I’d look like Gandalf…

  And now the most important thing to do. I sat on the rucksacks, made the spellbook appear in front of my eyes and pierced into ‘To chase away Zar’graad’s veil forever’.

  The spell ‘To chase away Zar’graad’s veil‘!

  The spell effect: it destroys the veil of Zar’graad forever.

  The required number of mana points: 10,000.

  The five-digit number at the end of the text almost made me hiccup. Ten thousand mana points! Sure, there were numerous things, runes and even increasing buffs that can help raise mana points to decent level but ten thousand…that’s too many. Ok, at least I made sure that I hadn’t imagined such a giant number the day before.

  Now I’ve got twenty miserable mana points available. Even less than one per cent of the required amount. To increase my mana points to the incredible value of ten thousand in such a short period of time is hellish toil and no warranty for a happy end.

  So here comes a simple question: do I really want it? Would I like to set off to the continent Zar’graad and after casting a spell be among those who will be the first to step on the unexplored land?

  The reply came immediately:

  - Are you a fool?! – my alter ego cried out loud – Yes, I would! I definitely would!

  Great.

  And what should I do to make my dream come true? It’s also as simple as ABC.

  I should level up as high as I could. Then find as much gear increasing mana as I could… and the most important – to forget about a warrior class. I have only one way out – to advance my character as a high-intelligent one collecting all the available goodies on my way and developing appropriate skills. I will be a mage. A combat mage. It’s not my thing to wander at the end of the group, to cast protective buffs on other warriors and to heal them in time. To play a part of a healer and buffer successfully, you need to have a special mind-set and be able to cope stoically with all the criticism of your party gamers who get into mess because of their own stupidity. No way, it’s not for me. Ok, so it’s decided. I’m a combat mage. Consequently it’s time to distribute my points available according to my development strategy. Just to match a new part a bit.

  I opened the basic characteristics menu and contributed all fifteen points into intelligence without my hands shaking.

  Your character’s basic attributes:

  Strength – 13

  Intelligence – 17

  Agility – 11

  Stamina – 11

  Wisdom – 1

  So what did I get?

  Life: 170/170 Mana: 20/95

  So almost a hundred of mana…

  - Are you mediating?

  - What’s the hell! – I jumped up due to that thunder-clap when I heard a friendly voice somewhere aside.

  Grabbing my stuff from the grass I jumped on my feet and while jumping I managed to turn all my body to the sound source. I faced an angel smiling gently at me. He was sitting in the air laid-back as if he was in an arm-chair. He even crossed his legs and was lazily swinging his shoe made from golden stripes.

  - You can’t kill an Amreeta. Good morning, Rosgard.

  - Good morning – I nodded with amazement and put my stuff aside.

  - I’m sorry to interfere into your game process – the angel said absolutely serious – But we should talk. Don’t you mind?

  - Sure, we can do it. But to tell the truth I don’t have much time. I’m afraid I can be late for a meeting.

  - I’ll try not to waste much of your time – the Amreeta gave me a thin smile – Do you know now what the Zar’graad’s spell that you’ve learnt is intended for?

  - Yes, I do… but… are you sure that no one can hear us now? I wouldn’t like to make it a common knowledge…

  - No one can hear us – the angel calmed me down – And no one can see us. I guarantee it. So?

  - This spell chases the magic veil away from the lost continent Zar’graad. And it can be reached by sea only.

  - Absolutely correct, Rosgard. I think you realize that the spell learnt means not only a great privilege, luck, unicity and a nice way to earn a fortune. First of all it means a huge responsibility. Yesterday you launched a giant mechanism and now we can’t stop its spinning flywheels. The shipyards used to be closed before that day are open now, drawings of ships are on sale – all that is quite expensive. Huge amounts of money are flowing into the game, all paid bonuses of shipyards have been activated. A trade war to gain resources required to build ships has already burst out. Gamers with advanced craft skills are in great demand. All clans’ efforts are focused on building and protecting ships at the shipyards against monsters and enemy clans. Everybody is trying to identify what gamer is Navigator to tempt him to join their party. It’s a rush. A hostile rush that involves everybody without an exception. There is the whole continent at stake. Those who reach it first will have an advantage of others. Let alone a huge bonus for a first clan or a separate ship that will reach Zar’graad! Although you can forget about single ships, it’s a mere venture. Only a well-protected and swift-sailing fleet will be able to get through. In general I can describe the current events by a few words: Valdira is in a mess. And nobody is aware of an evolving problem…

  - Er… a problem?

  - Sure, a problem – the Amreeta assured me and leaned forward – Rosgard, everybody is busy building ships now, but as soon as these ships are ready to set off, gamers will demand to show Navigator. Considering the amount of time, resources and money spent – they will be enable to do it. And where is our gamer-joker, our gamer-navigator? He has reached the eighth level of development only and is still sitting in the Cradle… that’s a problem. I’m sorry…

  The angel narrowed his eyes for a moment staring at me and sat back in his imaginary arm-chair again opening his hands wide helplessly:

  - …ninety-eight mana points.

  - Wait – I woke from a stupor – I understand what you’re talking about but I can’t understand what you want me to do?

  - An answer. Why are you still in the Cradle? There is one month left before ships have been built. That’s enough to level up. More over you can just choose a clan and inform them that you’re Navigator. The clan will do the rest for you – advance you in high-level locations, dress you and arm. But, Rosgard, you keep on hiding in bushes and obviously not going to the Cradle at all! Please, relieve me, say that I’m wrong.

  - You’re wrong! – I blurted out fast – I gonna leave the Cradle soon and trust me – I want to get to Zar’graad very much.

  - Ok – the Amreeta nodded slowly – It’s good news for me. We didn’t want to interfere directly but your… hmm… strange behavior forced us to take such a step. I must say something. Please, don’t consider it a threat. We’ll be watching you, Rosgard. The administration can’t afford to sabotage such a significant event. And if you realize once one month passes that you won’t be able to read the spell or you will give up the game or you won’t want to board a ship then we’ll have to take the spell from you and transfer it to another. The voyage to the lost continent will happen with you or without you.

  - To another? Do you mean you’ll transfer the spell to another gamer?

  - No, not a gamer. To a representative of the administration who pretending to be a gamer will board a ship and set off to Zar’graad as Navigator. But it will be a least-evil solution. In this case you’ll get rathe
r valuable consolation prizes and a ticket to one of the ships. You’ll sail as an adventurer. And small advice. If you understand that Navigator’s burden is too heavy for you, you can do the following: join any clan and transfer Navigator’s ability to the clan’s head willingly but to the clan’s head only. There is a special ritual for this purpose. So it’s you who decides. We are not stalemating you. We just want everything to happen in a proper way. Did you understand me, Rosgard?

  - Yes, I understood you very well… thank you for the honest and sincere answer.

  - Nothing personal – the Amreeta smiled rising while hovering in the air – Considering your current level and gear quality at the initial location, you’re a very purposeful gamer. Assertive and logical in your strategy. I believe soon you’ll stand at the helm as Navigator and lead the head ship to the unknown land. Can I ask you to keep this conversation between you and me and the bedpost?

  - I won’t tell anyone – I replied firmly.

  - I’ so sorry I wasted your time. Good luck.

  After those words the angle disappeared. He didn’t soar into the sky as the previous time but just vanished in the air instead. No choir singing. That’s for the better.

  I was standing still for a few moments, thinking over everything I had heard, then shook my head and grabbed the rucksacks from the ground. I am late. I should hurry up.

  I recognized the needed girl at once. Leaving the milky fog of the magic veil she walked straight without staring at the local sights. As a rule beginners don’t behave like that. However she could be an experienced gamer who decided to be born again. But when she approached me directly all my doubts disappeared. I stepped forward studying her appearance.

  A human. A grey-eyed girl a bit shorter than me. Long black hair is pulled back into a bun at the back of her head. A beginner’s clothes look too loose for her. In general a usual girl that you can meet in the real world.