The Secret of the Dark Forest ( (The Way of the Shaman: Book #3)

by Vasily Mahanenko

  "The money, now!" The 'superhero' was really screaming by this time, probably trying to use the volume of his voice to affect my decision.

  "I call upon a Herald. I request your assistance," I uttered the summons phrase. The buzz in the grounds immediately died down and camera pictograms appeared above the heads of the majority of players.

  "You called me and I came, if ..."

  "Please confirm that I have fulfilled all the necessary conditions of the agreements signed with these free citizens." I waved my hand around me, indicating the crowd, five members of which still owed me money. "Then please deduct any sums owed from their accounts, or, if they don't have it right now, from the coffers of the Empire, you can settle this matter with the indebted individuals yourselves afterwards."

  In Barliona you always had to pay anything owed under an agreement. If the player didn't have enough money to fulfill his obligations, the Corporation would come to his aid, paying the debt and then proceeding to settle the matter with the debtor. I had no idea what it was that they did, but I was sure they recouped their funds in full.

  The Herald's eyes clouded over for a moment – he was probably looking through and analyzing logs – then he said:

  "Confirmed! All agreements signed with Mahan on completing the obstacle course must be honored without exception. He broke none of Barliona's laws. The funds to be paid under the agreements have been deducted from the accounts of the five free citizens in question and transferred to your account. The fine for refusal to fulfill their obligations, amounting to the size of the bet, has been deducted from the guilty parties and paid to the Empire. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

  After thanking the Herald for his help, I saw the messages concerning the remaining funds arriving in my account, and then headed back into Anhurs at a leisurely pace. The 'superhero' was silent and followed me out with a very unfriendly stare. I realized that I'd gained yet another enemy ...

  Well, to hell with him! I'm a Shaman! Let him fear me. I've had enough of hiding and running away from every shadow. It’s time for me to show some claws.

  As soon as I left the Rogues, I knew where I should head next. I was familiar with the Rogue and Hunter training grounds and have visited them in the past, but there must be one for Shamans as well, where one could meet those who have chosen this challenging class. Why not get together with others like me?

  After asking for directions from a squad of guards patrolling the city, I headed for the Anhurs Shaman retreat. Like all training areas, the Shaman training base was located close to the city wall. Externally it didn't look any different from the others – a wall, a covered training hall, arched gates: everything was the same as with the other classes. When I walked under the arch I beheld the inner layout of the grounds: one training dummy, same as the one Kornik set up for me, one dummy for mass spirit summoning and a great deal of greenery. Grass, trees, bushes and even a pond, which, although not green, was still a completely unexpected thing to find in a training area. Around twenty Shamans were summoning Spirits, under the guidance of an NPC Master. Another two- or three-dozen players were simply lying on the grass and chatting to each other. All they were missing was a basket of food to make this look like a real picnic. I think I like being a shaman more and more!

  "Greetings, Elemental brother." A Master appeared next to me. Have you come for knowledge, skills, expertise or rest?"

  Wow! The full Professional Training Package you're handed at every college, but with the offer of rest on top! This is no training course, but one big pleasure ride.

  "It's knowledge I'm after, Teacher." I bowed to the Master. "I'll hone my skills and expertise elsewhere and I have no time to rest, so all that remains is knowledge. That's the thing I always seem to be lacking."

  "Come with me, brother." The Master wasn't in the least surprised by my choice as he pointed towards the training hall. "There is a library inside the hall and that's where you have to go to obtain knowledge."

  The library astonished me in the sense that it turned out to be a modest-sized room without any windows, covering no more than 10 square meters and lit by two flickering candles. The room contained a table and on it was the only book in the library; next to it a chair held a dozing NPC. The book was being closely studied by a girl whose name I couldn't immediately see in the room's subdued lighting, but when I did I froze. Antsinthepantsa: level 263 High Shaman. You could only level up to a Harbinger above that and by the looks of it she was expanding her knowledge in order to gain that rank.

  "Listen, I need a couple more minutes with the book, all right?" said the girl in a rather hoarse voice. "It's a communal book, so we have to wait our turn to read it. I have to run in a minute anyway, so you'll have it soon enough."

  "Yes, of course I'll wait. By the way, thanks for your advice – without it I wouldn't have become an Elemental Shaman."

  "Advice?" The girl tore herself away from the book. "I've never laid my eyes on you before. Wow, First Kill at level 67? Impressive stuff. Nice flowers too. Seathistles, right?"

  "Yeah, seathistles. About that advice – when I was going through the trial with the four rooms to pick my Totem, your guidance on the in-game forum came in very handy. I still follow it often: 'Forget that you have a brain. Thinking is for mages, Shamans feel.'”

  "And how did you do in the trial?" The girl completely turned away from the book and stared at me.

  This was no special secret, so I told her how I got through all the four rooms and about being given the chance to choose my Totem, without saying whom I got in the end.

  "Exactly the same for me," whispered the girl. "How did you know how to do it correctly? Where did you read it?"

  "Nowhere. That's what I'm saying – I did it thanks to your advice. On the second attempt, that is. I followed the standard path the first time, as you will read in the forums."

  "And whom did you get? The Totem, I mean."

  "I got the one I chose. While he's small I don't really want to show him off too much, I'm sorry. I don't know yours either, for example. When he grows up a bit, I'll show him to you."

  "That makes sense. As for my Totem, I also wasn't given her, but chose her. I wanted a Dragon at first, but I felt nothing towards him, so I chose her instead." Silence descended on the room and then someone else joined us. It was a Black Panther, a meter and a half in tall. Beautiful, graceful, sleek and shimmering in the candlelight, she seemed the very embodiment of strength and power.

  "Hey there beautiful." The words involuntarily flew from my lips and, surprising even myself, I went to the panther and put my hand on the back of her neck. Yeeesss ... the panther's fur was so pleasant to the touch, that I closed my eyes in enjoyment and scratched her as I ran my fingers over her skin. Completely losing any sense of propriety, I put my other hand under the cat's head and started scratching her neck. A few seconds later thunder-like purring echoed through the library.

  "You're the fifth person to have earned the right to touch Bussy," smiled Antsinthepantsa. “She's a fussy girl and won't let just anyone near her.”

  After looking me in the eye the panther dissipated right in my hands – the lady Shaman had dismissed her.

  "So, what's your Totem? You've seen mine now, so it wouldn't be right if you weren’t to respond in kind."

  Dammit! She's got me there! Should I try to wriggle out of it? What would be the point? As soon as I reach level 100 I'll have to get Draco out in the open anyway. All right, why not?

  "Hi. Come over."

  "Coming."

  "For crying out loud!" The NPC, a librarian by the looks of it, finally spoke up. "This is no place for showing off your Totems! This is a library, people come here to read the book and not get up to God knows what! Get that Dragon out of here, now!"

  Antsinthepantsa stared at Draco, entranced, and didn't seem to hear the librarian. She walked over to my Totem like a zombie (is that what I had looked like as well?), stretched her hand and put it on the Dragon's ne
ck. About ten seconds went by and Draco started to buzz with pleasure, stretching out his neck.

  "All right, you can go now. I'll call you a little later," I told my Totem jealously. Here was me thinking that he responded to me alone, but the ungrateful reptile was very ready to volunteer his damned neck to be scratched by this Shaman girl.

  After licking Antsinthepantsa on the cheek (something the panther failed to do to me), Draco dissolved in the air.

  "A Dragon." It took her about a minute to regain her composure, as she stood mesmerized after the Totem disappeared. "So it looks like you're a kindred spirit if he decided to be yours ... and you already managed to embody him as well. How long have you been playing as Shaman?"

  "Half a year."

  "That's fast, but you haven't beaten me: I got your rank after four months. Right, I have to run now. Catch the invitation – let’s meet tomorrow. I want to have a proper chat with you. What if you know where Kornik is?"

  "It won't happen," I declined Antsinthepantsa's invite. "I'll write to you when I get back to Anhurs. I'm off to the Free Lands today and have no idea how long I'll be spending there. It could be a day or it could be three months. As soon as I'm back, I'll be sure to write to you. I have questions for you as well. And I can tell you this much about Kornik: he ended up in the claws of Geranika, the new super-Shaman. I don't know whether he's alive or not, my information is over a month old."

  "I've heard about Geranika, although I don't understand where he gets his power. According to the information that the Corporation supposedly leaked into the net, Geranika is a Shaman who somehow side-stepped working with Spirits. The Spirits of the Higher and Lower worlds have declared war on him but he's just laughing at them. I thought Kornik might provide an answer, but no-one's seen him in the capital for a good while. And now you say he's been captured by Geranika. What on earth are those developers cooking up? Anyway, I'm really out of time and have to run. Be sure to contact me when you get back. I am spending lots of time in Anhurs at the moment."

  "It's a deal."

  "Bye."

  Antsinthepantsa's eyes glazed over and her gaming avatar became transparent and disappeared. A player had exited Barliona. Man ... I should have found what clan she belongs to. The emblem in the shape of a tree wound with a ribbon didn't belong to any of the leading clans, so there was a small chance I would be able to tempt her over to join mine. We need Shamans like that. I'll be sure to speak to her about this when I'm back in Anhurs. But for now, it was knowledge I was after ...

  "Honorable Sir, I would like to touch the wisdom of the ancestors." I bowed to the librarian, who had calmed down as soon as Draco disappeared and gone back to sit in his own chair with a melancholic expression.

  "What's there to touch? Here's the book from which you can gain all the knowledge about Shamans you may ever need."

  "All?" I asked in overplayed surprise "even what happened during the fight between Prontho and Shiam? Or how to get Kornik out of Geranika's clutches?"

  The librarian froze for a moment, staring at me with his gray eyes, and then slowly said:

  "No, the book doesn't contain those things. The truth of what happened during the fight between Prontho and Shiam is known only to the two of them. You're free to ask either. As for getting Kornik out of Geranika's clutches ... someone will have to take a risk and venture into the lair of this lunatic. But I cannot entrust such a task to you. Only the Head of the Shaman Council can send heroes on such errands, so he's the one you need to speak to. I'm not sure that Shiam would send anyone out to fight his own brother, but you can give it a try."

  "So what's useful about this book?" I decided to ask the librarian.

  "It contains wisdom that Shamans have been gathering for centuries. Read it and you'll understand."

  The librarian once again turned into a statue, so there was little else I could do but walk up to the table, open the book and immerse myself in reading:

  A Shaman is a sentient gifted with special abilities to communicate with Spirits and supernatural forces; upon entering a state of ecstasy ...

  When just two hours until the meeting remained, I managed to tear myself away from the book. It made for strange reading, really. I may not have understood half the words, and often the meaning of entire sentences eluded me, but I grasped the main point. That is, what this book was for:

  Skill increase:

  +3 to Spirituality. Total: 24

  + 1 Rank to Water Spirits. Total: 3

  This book helped to level up in things necessary for Shamans: Spirit ranks, Spirituality, perhaps something else that I may not yet have. I only managed to read a little more than two hundred pages out of around two thousand, so I could see that I would be making visits here for quite some time.

  I thanked the librarian and hurried to the place I should have visited first. It didn't really dawn on me until now that I was heading for the Free Lands, where finding mines would be a bit of a problem. In order to level up in Jewelcraft and Smithing I had great need of Ore, preferably in unlimited quantities. I also had to buy traveling bags both for myself and for the guys – they probably still had the standard ones with just 8–16 slots. I also had to think of getting a tent, since sleeping on bare earth would be far from ideal. Looks like I've become a bit too slack – it was time to get more organized. After silently berating myself with every kind of unpleasant name and disregarding all propriety, I ran as fast as I could to the gnomes, since these were the NPCs in charge of the Auction.

  The Auction House itself consisted of a smallish pavilion, with an individual phase for each player. It was located on a small square, about 500 meters from the center of Anhurs. Inside it sat a gnome who provided players with the entry point for their offers and accepted their bids. The square where the pavilion was located was unofficially called 'The Market'. This was where players offering goods directly hung out, side-stepping the Auction House, which took off 3% profit from every deal.

  "WTB 4 sacks with 200 slots each," I shouted before entering the Auction House, in the hope of catching a deal on what I needed among the local peddlers. Bags tend to be in demand, but ones for 200 slots, which a year ago cost 30000 gold, were not among the readily available goods. I was unlikely to get any of my own Tailors in the clan in the near future, so I would have to stock up at the Auction House.

  "Why do you need them so large? Get four with 50 slots." A player immediately popped up next to me, looking me over from head to foot with his shifty eyes. He was probably trying to figure out how much money I had and how big he should make his markup. "I'll sell them at 10000 apiece."

  I shook my head and shouted again for the larger sacks before following up with several for the Ore – starting with Tin and ending with Gold. The hawkers, stared at me with annoyance for interrupting their normal trade, but I took little notice. Every player was free to shout at The Market. Ten minutes later there were still no offers forthcoming, so I headed for the Auction House.

  "Good day," the gnome registrar greeted me. "Do you wish to buy or sell?"

  "Buy. Could you give me a selection of all the clothing on Auction with Crafting stat as the required feature? The type of clothing is unimportant.

  The gnome's eyes clouded over – he was probably conducting a search – after which he said in a disappointed voice:

  "Your search produced no results. There are no items with Crafting bonuses at Auction."

  Right. So it looked like they were either entirely absent or had been immediately snapped up by players. Little surprise there, as such items could completely pay for themselves in the space of a month.

  "Then let's look at bags. Search parameters: 150+ slots, sorting by price – low to high, filter by number of slots." I made the initial request to solve the storage problem right away. Each player can carry up to 3 bags, so buying at least one large one is a top priority task.

  "Your search request has turned up 2042 lots, sorting by price has been applied," reported the gnome and a list of
bags appeared before my eyes. The prices for 150 slots began at 18000, those for 200 – at 30000 and for 250 (which I didn't even know existed) at 50000. After quickly weighing up all the pros and cons I bought a 250-slot bag for myself, and 200-slot bags for the others. In total this purchase cost me 149000 Gold, but I was happy: now neither my fighters nor I had to worry about where to store things. As soon as the gnome handed over the bags, I put mine on and made a search request for Ore. Things didn't look all that great in this area: Copper Ore – 20+ Gold per stack (1 stack = 40 pieces of Ore), Tin – 100+, Silver – 180, Iron – 290, Gold – 500 and Platinum – 1000. I didn't even bother looking at the rest to save myself the disappointment. One bag slot could take 10 stacks, so I stocked up quite well: 80 stacks of Tin Ore, 200 of Iron, 300 of Silver and 100 Gold. As a result of this ruinous errand I only had just over 330000 gold left, but I wasn't worried: with Jewelcraft and Smithing professions I would be able to make a good return on these investments. I made a search for rings for level 50 with the maximum stat bonuses and found out that a Gold Ring of something or other with +13 to Intellect and + 7 to Stamina was worth 3500 Gold. Precious Stones, such as Lapis Lazuli cost upwards of 3000 each, so I whistled when I added up how much Hellfire had spent when he sent me 50 stones. ... Some gift he wanted to make Anastaria ...

  "And one last thing. I need a Frontier Ranger Tent. How much is it?"

  The gnome's eyes again became glassy and then he said:

  "Tents like this sell for 60000 and above. In total there are three such tents for sale."

  "I'll take the one for sixty thousand." I barely uttered the phrase when a window popped up to confirm the transaction. After pressing the 'Yes' button, I saw the most sought-after item for any intrepid traveler lying on the gnome's table: