As always, Maria was right. But a player with a perfect reputation with Eyre could only be found among permanent residents, as even Admiration took years to earn. Ignoring privacy, I messaged Komtur directly, even though I knew that the Watchers’ leader was now extremely busy. Defying my expectations, Komtur answered right away.
Komtur: Were are you? Give me the coordinates.
Komtur: Great job. I’ll be there soon.
Along the way, he gave orders via voice chat, coordinating the actions of his raid. As far as I could understand, Pandas and PROJECT had already logged in and were giving our guys hell.
He dropped on us from the sky five minutes later, together with several rocs and griffons, who broke through the forest canopy and landed in a cloud of whirling leaves. Watchers poured out of the saddles—at least ten of them, if not more. I recognized Dimonicus, Alex, and Hermione among them, led by a massive knight in full plate armor, Komtur himself. He pulled off his closed helmet, and pale blue eyes glared at me from under messy blond hair.
“Nicely done, Cat. You’re a quick thinker. If we save the Err, we’ll save Eyre.”
“He can’t go back into the city right now! PROJECT must have sealed off the exits!”
“You’re right. Before we bring reinforcements, we need to hide him somewhere.” He leaned against his weapon, a two-handed warhammer, and looked me right in the eyes.
“You’re not as green as you look. What are you offering?”
“We need to be unpredictable. Let’s move in the opposite direction of Eyre. Throw Tao for a loop, get the Err out of the way.”
“Good idea, especially since we don’t have any other options. All right! I’m giving this task to you, as you asked for it.” Komtur chuckled. “Take a birdie and somebody else and take the Err as far away as possible. You need to hold out! Yesterday, I gathered a full alliance raid — let’s see if they’ve changed their tune!”
“Alex!” he commanded. “Take one roc, your charge, and the Err, and fly. Cat’s already on top of it.”
“There’s a problem,” I said. “The Err doesn’t want to. We need somebody with a perfect rep to convince him!”
“Well, that’s what I’m here for!”
“Komtur,” one of the Watchers said, approaching him, “aren’t you reading the chat at all? PROJECT and Pandas will be here in less than a minute!”
The leader of the Watchers approached Endved. Surprised, I saw them embrace like brothers, their armor plates bumping in contact. Looking at Komtur, the Err beamed, smiling like he had just met up with a dear old friend.
“Komtur was the first to get Eyre rep to Admiration!” Alex whispered, standing next to me. “Less than a dozen of players have achieved that!”
I didn’t hear the words the Watchers’ leader spoke to the young lord, placing his arm around his shoulders, but I did see Endved Elyon remove his golden cloak embroidered with barley ears, the sign of his royal station, and pull on a grey cowled robe, that completely hiding his face and name. I had seen this exact same cloak worn by Snow, when he met at Yahweh’s Temple. She had used it to hide her PK status from the city guards.
One of the surviving “barleys” received the Err’s golden mantle and fastened the brooch at his neck, trembling in awe. I was starting to get an idea of Komtur’s plan.
“Alex, Cat!” Komtur yelled, seating the guard disguised as the Err in his roc’s second saddle. “Start three minutes after us! We’ll lead them away...”
The Watchers hastily mounted their birdies and checked their weapons, buffing and preparing for battle. They took all of Endved’s NPC warriors. A moment later, the winged beasts swept up, engulfing us in a gust of wind and leaves, squawked furiously, and vanished into the sky.
“Three minutes, Cat,” said Alex. “Mount the birdie and get strapped in. I’ll help the Err mount.”
Rocs were one of the most spacious flying mounts. They could carry up to four players, provided they had the right harness. Usually, riders flew in pairs, filling the other slots with stuff like throwing spears, arbalests, and fire bombs. On this occasion, AlexOrder was hurriedly getting rid of the gear to free up space.
We saw one flash, then another, followed by a roll of thunder made the leaves shake. The commotion of ongoing battle was drowned in the sounds of a clash much closer to us—the roar of dragons, the flutter of wings, sharp swooshing of arrows, and the cackling of wounded birdies.
“It’s started. They took the bait,” AlexOrder nodded, focused. “Get ready, Cat. Time for me to remember my aerial stunts! Duck!” He took the roc up into the air. The giant bird’s wings flapped, scattering fallen leaves in the air.
“Hold on!” Alex yelled.
He drove the birdie right though the crowns of the trees, trying to mask our movement beneath the green forest roof. Indignant, the roc cried out as it maneuvered between the tree trunks, wading through the clouds of leaves. I understood why Alex had told me to duck: fragments of twigs and timber dust flew right into my face, as the mount moved up and down, sometimes turning vertical to dodge trees and thick branches.
It was a bumpy ride worthy of any roller coaster, and it completely took my breath away. Only a skilled birdie driver could have avoided crashing in that mad hurdle flight.
The forest came to an abrupt end, and we flew out into an open plain covered with scarce patches of vegetation. The battle was somewhere to our right, and its noise grew increasingly distant. Alex sharply descended and flew right above the ground, trying to hide in the folds of the terrain. Pandorum’s flying ship that soared on the horizon was turning, and we could easily have been spotted. On the other hand, lots of other players were fleeing the battlefield as well. They could not chase after everyone, could they?
“I think we’re clear!” Alex shouted, banking a steep turn. “Where are we going to next, Cat?”
“South!” I yelled in response. “Fly south, opposite to Eyre!”
* * *
Tentacle: I’ve contacted Jerkhan. He’ll give us people, watch the resp point, and surround Eyre.
Svoy: Good. Mir, could you block off the Condor route? Watchers might go there.
Peacemaker: Roger that. Nobody will slip though.
Mirgus: Check, check! There’s info on the Err! Pandas noticed him near the forest, here are the coordinates!
Svoy: Awesome, we’re moving in! Tentacle, we’ll need your group, too!
Tentacle: OMW! Boss has replied. Says he can only go three hours from now…
* * *
Five hours later, deck of Steel Guard’s Astral juggernaut...
“Where’s my reward, Tao?! You promised me the city!” Tao was standing opposite the ogre with his arms folded.
“You do realize the circumstances, don’t you, Jerry?” He remarked. “I’ve already fulfilled the terms of our bargain. Eyre was yours! Nobody could have foreseen the rollback!”
“So what, I bill the admins?” Jerkhan bellowed. Tao shrugged calmly, not saying a word.
“Listen here, Tao!” The ogre roared, baring his two-inch fangs and bending right above PROJECT leader’s face. “You’ve forgotten who you’re dealing with! Pandorum doesn’t work for free!”
“I—” Tao tried arguing, but Jerkhan interrupted him rudely.
“You hired my clan to help you, which we did! Twice! By all accounts, you should pay us double! But all right, we’ll forgive you because of the rollback. Give us the city, Tao, or pay for our blades yourself! You know the price!”
“The rollback—”
“Complain about that to the admins! You can do this the easy way, Tao, or the hard way!”
“I just want you to wait a bit. A day, no more. We’ll find the Err, get the Crown, and you’ll get your souls!”
“That’s enough! We’ve been searching for him the entire day, surrounded the city and the Watchers’ castle! We’re warriors, not bloodhounds!”
“I don’t have the kind of money you want anyway, Jerry,” Tao said.
�
�Then give me that!” Jerkhan growled, poking the PROJECT leader in the chest, clad in black-scaled armor. “The Living Armor! That will cover half your debt. You’ll pay the other in gold! Or real money!”
“Jerry, just one more day, and you’ll get what you came for.”
“One day! All right, Tao! Steel Guard will wait one day! Do your best to find the Crown, Tao, or you won’t enjoy our next meeting!”
Tao: Mirgus, come in.
Mirgus: I’m here, Tao.
Tao: Mirgus, contact the Watchers. I need a meeting with Komtur, pronto.
INTERLUDE TAO—KOMTUR
They met on neutral territory, at the top of a tree-covered hill. The Watchers and the PROJECT HELL warriors, who accompanied both of them on their birdies, eyed each other warily, their hands on their weapons. Komtur was already there, towering at the apex. Clad in shining armor from head to toe, the head of the Watchers assumed the image of a block of solid stone placed next to the tall, but slender Tao.
“Komtur.”
“Tao.”
“My guys tell me, you have a bad eye.” Komtur joked.
“I can show it to you,” Tao said touching his eyepatch, “but I don’t think you’ll like it.”
“Why did you want a meeting?” Tao sighed. It would be a difficult conversation.
“Komtur, I want you to give me Eyre and its Err.”
“What?! Should I also bring you the keys to Condor on a silver platter?”
“Komtur-san,” Tao said, holding his palms in a praying gesture, “I don’t need your castle. I don’t want a war with you at all! All I need is the Crown.”
“You’ve invaded our castle, burned down half of Eyre, declared a war, called Pandorum, and killed our players,” the leader of the Watchers said softly, but with barely restrained rage. “And now all you want is Eyre! I think you’ve forgotten that Eyre and the neighboring kingdoms are the territory of our alliance!”
“Komtur! We are PROJECT HELL. We come and take without asking permission.”
“Then don’t ask me anything else! You place is at the resp point, where we already sent you, by the way.”
“I remember,” said Tao. “And I won’t ever forget it. That is why I’m offering you a deal. Please understand, I don’t need Eyre just for a kick. I know that you’ve hidden the Err somewhere. His Crown is tied to my legendary quest. You must know that I won’t give up.”
“A continental quest? Wow. And what’s the reward?”
“You want to know.”
“Dan-na-Eyre and the Nation of Eyre are a source of quests and reputation for many players of our alliance. We saw what happened in the city when you disabled the guards and gave Eyre over to Pandas to freely loot and pillage! Do you really think you’ll be able repeat that?”
“Oh wow. Komtur, are you seriously concerned about the problems of carebears from your alliance? And I thought the Watchers were a PvP-oriented clan! Oh, they won’t have quests to complete, they’ll lose reputation with NPCs, blah blah. It’s not the end of the world, they’ll get new ones. So what if Pandas take a few hundred souls? Nothing’s going to happen to the faction, anyway. I only need the Crown temporarily.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s the condition for the continental quest. I have to give it to Ananizarte. See how open I’m being with you? Nothing’s going to happen to your Eyre Nation. What does it matter to the players, which deities have temples in the city, light or dark?”
“I hear you,” Komtur said. “Is that all?”
“No, that’s not all. Do you want to know what I’m offering you in return?”
“In return? In return for Eyre?” Komtur laughed. “I don’t think so.” He turned around and started to descend down the hill.
“Helt Akor.” Tao said looking at Komtur’s back. Komtur froze.
“Helt Akor. Access to the Endless Paths,” Tao repeated softly. “Is that of any interest to you?”
CHAPTER 25 BETRAYAL
“So, what about Komtur?”
“Gazebo,” Tao commented.
“What?”
“Remember that old story about the paladin and the gazebo? Komtur should have it written into his profile.”
“Hahaha! I hope you traded up, boss. How long did you give him?”
“Three months. We settled at three, although they wanted a year.”
“In three months, they might farm a lot, might even find something seriously good. Should we allow them to get that strong, boss?”
“Pfft,” Tao scoffed. “They don’t know what Helt Akor is! You know yourself what could be found on the Endless Paths. They’ll waste a whole month just getting an Estel set for the main tank!”
“Maybe. But what if...”
“Tentacle, let’s leave this for later. No time to waste. They gave me the coordinates of the Err’s location. Two Watchers led him to the south. Which of our guys is the closest?”
“Whoa, they got that far? Svoy’s party is the closest. They’re watching the outpost near the Woodland Sea.”
“Great. I’ll contact them. You go find Mirgus. Assemble a raid.”
* * *
Dan-na-Eyre, one hour later…
“Liberty, withdraw from the stations!” Balian commanded. “You’re free for today!”
“Err, what do you mean, commander?” Svenn asked, surprised. “The PROJECTS didn’t go anywhere, and Pandas are still around too.”
“Read the announcement in the alliance mail. We and HELL are now neutral!”
“Neutral? After all this? But how?”
“That’s right! I don’t get it myself.” Balian the Raccoon said, frustrated.
“There’s also a second letter,” said Hermione. “Get ready...prepare Estel equipment... We’ll be farming Helt Akor, yee-ha!” Balian shook his head in doubt.
“PROJECT HELL bought our neutrality with Helt Akor.”
“Not a bad bargain,” remarked Hermione.
“Carebears!” Svenn blurted out, not addressing anyone in particular. He jumped into the saddle and waved his hand, bending down to his mount’s mane. With a sharp cry, he spurred his horse into a gallop, spraying dust and sand from beneath its hooves.
“He left the clan?” Lionel ask, surprised. “Why? Couldn’t stomach it?”
Balian the Raccoon watched the cloud of dust that surrounded Liberty’s best rider, the expression on his face unreadable.
“Svenn has made his choice!” He told the other Liberty recruits. “And we must respect his decision! And now, at ease, everyone!”
* * *
Dear players!
The administration of Sphere of the Worlds offers you its sincere apologies for our project’s malfunction. We are aware of the inconvenience and negative emotions caused by the unplanned interruption of our services and the rollback of game data.
We are very sorry! To compensate your losses, the Sphere of the Worlds administration bestows the following gifts on all players with active accounts:
— Two free weeks of playing!
— An Octangular Lucky Stone! (Description: perfect magic stone; throwing it increases a random attribute by 1. Duration: 10 minutes, cooldown: 3 hours.)
— Any of the following kit: Cook’s, Alchemist’s, Scout’s, Herbalist’s, Archeologist’s, Jeweler’s...your choice of a job kit!
— All selected items will be instantly transferred to your inventory!
Good luck!
Respectfully, Sphere of the Worlds Administration
Sphere greeted me with a sweet chime of the system bell. I stretched on the hard lining of the Linen Tent, finding my character in the same spot, in which I had left him yesterday before logging out. Thanks to my Secret Learning ability, I could level up skills while resting. This time, my Trade skill increased to 403 overnight, getting me rank four. Unfortunately, upon reaching rank four, I discovered that the learning speed was now reduced by half. Zooming in on the progress bar in the interface, I saw that from now on, Trade would grow at
the speed of about 1.5 SP per hour—in Secret Learning mode, of course. I did not want to think about what would happen at rank five. Still, it felt nice, having one more Charisma point and new trade opportunities at auction. It was the little things, you know? Yet, was it really so little? When trading, even one percent difference could bring in a good profit.
Hmm, what the hell’s that flicker?
New archetype unlocked! Revise your character data to identify it?
You were assigned a rare archetype: Free Merchant! Congratulations!
You are the 45,781st owner of this archetype in Dorsa! You receive 5,000 XP.
Free Merchant is a traveler, who makes his living by trading. He is dangerous in battle and able to defend himself and his belongings. Free Merchants are welcome guests in all the Sphere worlds...
Rank 1: Vagabond
Peddler (0/3): You often transport valuable goods and know how to secure them. You receive five additional inventory slots. The chance of losing items at death is decreased by 5%, depending on your karma.
HIDDEN (rank 2 required)
HIDDEN (rank 3 required)
Active abilities:
Appraise (0/3): You are able to learn an item’s price at a glance. The accuracy of your guess depends on ability rank.
HIDDEN (rank 2 required)
HIDDEN (rank 3 required)
Note: you cannot activate more than three archetypes at once!
Ta-da! I got this archetype because my sword added ten to all attributes, while rank 4 in Trade, reached at night, was probably the deciding factor. Peddler was an interesting ability. Minimizing chances of dropping items at death and increasing inventory capacity? A must have! I put three available attribute points into that ability and was pleased to see the drop chance decrease by 15%, which together with my blue karma pretty much removed any chance of losing equipped items. I still could lose something from my inventory, but the likelihood was slim.
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