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

by Vasily Mahanenko

  A Ranger Tent.

  Description: the best piece of kit for travelers setting out on a long journey.

  Spaces in the tent: 10.

  Comfort level: 6 out of 10.

  Visual detection radius: 1 meter.

  I stuffed the items I had got from the gnome into the bag and ran off towards the Temple. Now I was ready to head for the Free Lands.

  Chapter Four. Departure for the Free Lands

  "Since we're all here, let me do some introductions. All of you know me, so I will skip that part. Let's start with the ordinary residents of Barliona. Please give a warm welcome to Slate, the uncrowned Prince of the Malabar Empire. He's run into some family-related trouble: catch the quest description – we'll be doing it together. As soon as we complete the High Priestess's assignment, we'll all head off to a rather interesting place. I hope his family issues get resolved and he ends up marrying the Princess. The Prince is a decent Smith, Repairman and Warrior and will be very useful in our mission. I'm starting a group: accept the invite."

  The longer I spent introducing Slate, the more astonished everyone’s faces grew. In the end it was a scene worthy of a painting titled: 'a herd of deer staring at the headlights.' Only Clutzer gave a nervous laugh:

  "Prince of Malabar?"

  "Your Highness," muttered Leite. All, including the non-convict players, bowed their heads and bent their knees, complying with the standard etiquette for greeting a monarch. We won't get very far if they continue treating Slate this way. Had they never had any contact with members of the Imperial family before? Although there was one exception – Clutzer didn't bend his knee, but briefly bowed his head as a sign of respect before immediately straightening up. Well done to him. But the rest ... they gave the impression of messenger boys in a huge corporation suddenly facing the managing director who has dropped in for a party – sporting a can of beer, lack of tie and plenty of determination to have a good time. It was a similar type of reaction, what with their obedient stances, lifted, or in our case bowed, heads and readiness to carry out any command ... such an awkward attitude didn't bode well.

  "Right, guys! Relax. Take a few of deep breaths. So what if he's a Prince? Eric, Leite, snap out of it already! You'll have to appear before the Emperor to be honored for your First Kill in two months' time – is this the way you plan to react to him as well? "

  "I thought you were fibbing before," mumbled Elenium. "The Emperor, the High Priestess of Eluna, the Heralds ... it just didn't sound real ... and now we have a Prince in our group ..."

  "Please get up," said the future Prince, somewhat red in the face. "Just call me Slate, I'm not a Prince yet and if you don't help me I may never become one. So please, don't kneel every time you want to speak to me. Just think of me as the group's blacksmith."

  "Slate is right," I tried to talk some sense into my stunned team "you better start getting used to the idea that our group has another member. Forget about his status. And in general, you should get used to the fact that from now on your standing in Barliona will change: I don't know whether it will be for the worse or for the better, but change it certainly will. We'll mix with Princes and Princesses, and even the Emperor will no longer be some distant unapproachable figure. Let's get on with the introductions. This is Clutzer. Like me, he made it out of a mine and now we're in the same clan ..." I started to introduce everyone in turn, recounting when and how I came to meet them. "What relationships develop between you guys is your business, it's not like I can force you all to become friends, but while we're on the quest I ask that you maintain normal professional relations, setting any emotions aside. Put off any arguments and so forth until we return. Everyone, I'm sharing both quests with you: that of the High Priestess and of the Prince."

  "Mahan, we have a problem," Clutzer's voice came almost straight away.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Look at the quest description, namely at the limitations section. We don't cut it level-wise."

  "What the heck?" I exclaimed, as I dug up the quest description. The overall level of the group amounted to 622, but it came up as 494(128) in front of the required 600-level limitation. 494 was the combined level of the players, while 128 levels were Slate’s. It looked like our NPC didn't count towards the total group level and so Beth wouldn't give us the quest. ... Where did it all go wrong? "If we are lacking in levels, we'll have to invite someone else. Any of you know someone who could take off to the Free Lands for a couple of weeks right this minute?"

  "I'll have a look," was Eric's businesslike reply "I did play as a tank for quite a while and my contacts should all still be there." Judging by his appearance he went into mail-sending mode and was quickly jotting down messages.

  "What about you?" I asked my friends from my former gaming life.

  "I don't have anyone," came Elenium's honest answer "as soon as my son was born, I left Barliona for a long time – even got kicked out of the clan as an unreliable element, although I gave them my reason. You wouldn’t want to invite people like that on an expedition.

  Following Eric's example Sushiho and Dukki began writing letters to their acquaintances.

  "I don't have anyone to invite either”, said Clutzer. "I would be categorically against inviting any of my old acquaintances ... that is assuming they even managed to get out of the mines ..."

  "I have a candidate," I said thoughtfully, weighing up all the pros and cons. "I'm not a hundred percent sure of them yet, but it still might be better than hooking up with a total stranger."

  "Do it, invite anyone you can think of," said Eric quickly "I've already had three declines. Supposedly they don't have any time. Bastards. They know that I've been in the can and don't want to associate with a convict."

  I made up my mind and started to write a letter.

  'Hello Marina.

  I know that I just recently wrote to you saying that we may only meet up in three weeks' time, but circumstances have changed. I urgently need a player with 106+ levels. As far as I remember, you've reached level 107 in Beatwick, so you meet the requirements. In essence, the quest is to make a trip to the Free Lands and find a precious stone. The assignment was given to me by the High Priestess of Eluna. I'm attaching a link to the quest chain. We're gathering in Anhurs right now and we have to decide quickly. Quest duration could be around a week, from 18:00 to 01:00 in the morning system-time each day."

  After a little while Eric shook his head disappointedly to show that his search for extra players was unsuccessful. It was the same story with Dukki and Sushiho – there were no candidates prepared to suddenly take off for an indefinite length of time. Now we only had to wait for Mirida's decision ...

  "Hi Daniel,

  I'm quite far away from Anhurs at the moment, otherwise I would've happily accepted your offer. I don't have a portal scroll and riding Fluffy to the capital would take about two weeks.

  Sorry."

  "No-go on my front either," I said and sat down right on the temple steps, crestfallen. Can someone explain to me why the developers thought you actually had to be looking at another player before you could add him to the group? Why no long-distance invites? Is cutting us some slack with this against their religion or something?

  "All we can do now is shout in the group-finder channel," concluded Eric. "I have done this often in the past and, in all honesty, I have to say that I always ended up with total third-raters. So it's a double-edged sword, really."

  "Do we have any choice though? The person I had in mind can only be in Anhurs in a couple of weeks. We can't wait for her until then."

  "Her?" Clutzer latched onto the word.

  "Yes, 'her'. She's a Hunter, level 107 Beastmaster. We fought together against the Kartoss forces in Beatwick." I provided a neutral explanation, reluctant to reveal Marina's true face. I would have to have a chat with her first and only then would I tell the others who she really is. "All right – I'll start searching. Let's hope we get lucky. Clutzer, I have a little task for you. Can you loo
k through standard Clan Agreements: we need to formulate a proper Agreement for our clan, one that will cover everything: joining, leaving, loot allocation, roles, structure and everything else you see fit, right up to the monthly salary for the players of a certain level."

  "Why me?" Clutzer asked, surprised, although you could see by his expression that he was extremely pleased.

  "Because you could only get to the Mona Lisa if you were able to think through all the possibilities. No-one could arrange everything more correctly and prioritize better than you. Guys," I turned to the others, "please help him. It's time we made this a proper clan."

  After handing that task over to the team, I opened the group search channel and started to shout throughout Anhurs:

  "Looking for a competent 106+ level DD for a trip to the Free Lands. Duration: at least two to three weeks; must be available in-game between 18:00 and 01:00 system time. We're starting a quest chain, details in the mail.

  As soon as I sent this announcement, I was hit with an avalanche of letters:

  "I cannoot from 18.00, hwe about 12:00 to 14:00? 64-level Rogue."

  "I'll boost you through the Patris Dungeon. Cost – 10k gold."

  "153-level Mage. Will accept 2020 gold per day. All the loot is mine. Have an agreement ready."

  There was so much of this junk that I sensed people were failing to read the original text of the message and simply sent replies to anyone that popped up in the channel. There was little else I could do other than delete the letters or, if they sounded completely mental, stick the senders straight on the blacklist.

  Attention! The official blacklist of the Dark Legion clan comes into effect in the next 5 minutes. Please confirm that you have read this message.

  This came with a huge 'Yes' button that covered most of the view. Damn ... I didn't think that putting a team together would take this long. I was running the risk of ending up in real hot water. ... All right, not much I can do about that, I thought as I pressed the button, and continued to look through the letters. I urgently needed a competent player.

  "Hi,

  I'm a 147-level Druid. I have a few questions about the group: What's the loot allocation? What's the make-up of the rest of the group? Why aren't you using NPC mercenaries? Send me a link to the quest, so I can see what I need to take with me. What are the gear requirements? How do we get to the Free Lands? I propose we discuss all this first, before deciding whether I should join or not."

  Ten minutes later I had finally managed to dig up a message written by an experienced Druid – or rather, a Lady Druid, since Barsina was clearly a female name.

  "Hi,

  We haven't discussed loot allocation yet, but I think we'll follow the standard route. Gold is divided equally among all and gear goes to whomsoever it benefits the most. If it suits several people at once, we'll let Lady Luck decide. The group is made up of 7 players between level 20 and 150, with 90 as the level average, and 1 NPC. We can't get mercenaries because the quest has a requirement for the level of the participants and so any NPCs’ levels do not count towards that (already checked). Here's the link to the quest. There are no gear requirements; I'll trust you to be sensible. We'll be ported to the Free Lands. I think that's it. We are currently gathered by the Temple of Eluna. You may join us – I'll explain everything you want to know once you get here."

  Keeping my fingers crossed, I sent my reply to Barsina. Judging by her questions, she was a competent player – of the kind I really needed right now. The main thing was for her not to have any hang-ups or additional demands, or it might turn out that although she was asking for one thing now, in actual fact she was after something else completely.

  "On my way. I'll ask you straight away – do you have the means of transport taken care of, or will the group depend on its level 20 members who wouldn't be able to afford a normal horse?"

  I read over the message one more time and realized that I probably owed Barsina a present. Would some flowers do the job? Whether she decided to join us in the end or not, mentioning the mounts from the start was very much the right thing to do. It looks like she might have had a bad experience with a group in this respect, if she brought it up straight away.

  "I think I found one," I told the others sitting next to me, "she'll be here in a minute. By the way, what are your transport arrangements? Does everyone have mounts?"

  "I don't," Clutzer quickly answered. "Why? Are you saying there might be other options?"

  Eric and Leite also didn't have anything, but Dukki, Sushiho and Elenium had better news. This meant that we would only have to buy four horses – preferably not the cheapest kind to avoid traveling at the speed of a sightseeing snail.

  "Other options should and must happen. Sergei, do you know where they sell horses? Take our mount-less lot to the stables. Here’s an Agreement indicating that the gold for the horses should be taken off my account. Try not to get the most expensive ones, but not the worst quality either, all right? I can't go myself, since I'm waiting for Barsina. Move it, people, we're catastrophically running out of time!"

  "How come?"

  "The Dark Legion clan stuck me on their blacklist, the official one, and open season was declared on me a few minutes ago. Look at the way the passersby are eyeing me. They're probably seeing the message that there's a reward on my head and are considering whether to go for me or if it's best not to get involved."

  "A reward? Why can't we see any of that?" Sushiho said in surprise.

  "That's because we're in the same group. At least that's my best guess. Let's check this – Dukki, can you leave us for a couple of minutes?"

  "Five thousand for each kill," he said almost straight away, as he was reading through the text. "You can be attacked even inside the city without any fear of the PK penalty. You must've seriously rubbed Number Twos the wrong way! How did that happen?"

  "Sure thing, I'll tell you as soon as you join the clan," I replied. "Rejoin the group. And, Sergei, you’d better be off to get the horses."

  It should be said that when I met up with my old gaming buddies and invited them to join the clan they refused at first. They said that they would have to see who the other clan members were, what the clan policies looked like, the loot allocation and so on, and only then would they decide. Although they knew me well enough, they would have preferred to play it safe at the time, because each of them had been receiving a certain salary-shaped bonus from their own clans and were reluctant to lose the additional income. My proposal to sign Agreements right away was met with approval, but it was finally agreed that could be done after we completed the quest. When I asked about the bonus, which was something new to me, it turned out that from level 5 10% of all the money a player received from quests or mobs went to the clan treasury. This amount wasn't deducted from the player, but was an additional payment made by the Corporation. So certain clans chose to provide a degree of financial support to their members. According to Dukki, because of this he was receiving 10000 gold a month. A pretty healthy sum – considering that he was getting it pretty much for nothing.

  The matter of clan levels really piqued my interest, so I sent Dukki back to 'reality' for additional information. The situation with levels was far from simple: the more group quests, Dungeons, or crafting projects clan players completed, the more clan points – of some kind – the clan collected. As soon as the clan accumulated 20 million of these points, the clan gained its first level. The second level required 60 million and 40 million more for the next level, and so on. The maximum clan level was held by Dark Legion, which beat Phoenix on account of its extremely large membership. At least in this regard they weren't 'Number Twos'.

  Attention! You have been discovered by a player from the Dark Legion clan. They are under obligation to attack you. Prepare yourself!

  I barely had time to read this short text before a 5-minute Stun debuff landed on Dukki and Sushiho. Rogues! I immediately jumped up, looked around and kicked myself for not buying any stealth-detectin
g elixirs. A Stun could only be applied to 122 and 127-level players if the opponent was of the same level or higher. Otherwise Dukki, also being a Rogue, would've detected the attack and had time to react. And now I was left to face two or more players all on my own. There was little hope in relying on Slate – as an NPC he wouldn't interfere in the fight even if it were happening right around him.

  Damage taken.

  Hit Points reduced by 14533: 16314 (Critical Kick) – 1781 (Physical defense)

  Total Hit Points: 5106 out of 19640

  Attacker: Lloyd Redoombsky, level 172. PK restrictions have been lifted.

  I was flung about two meters away and slid down the temple steps. The worst thing was that I could feel very well where that kick had landed – the part usually used for sitting. Bastard – if I ever get my hands on him, I'll kill him! As I got up, I just glimpsed a flickering in the air a few meters away – Lloyd stealthed once again. As soon as a Rogue attacks from invisibility, he drops back into vision for 5–10 seconds. One of the abilities of that class is that they can stealth several times in a row, perhaps three or four times all together, though I don't remember the exact number. Such a sneak-attack always inflicts extra damage. In general, it's a pretty unpleasant class in a solo fight. On the other hand, if you manage to survive the first two or three attacks, the Rogue is as good as done for – you can do what you like with him in the time it takes for his invisibility to recharge. It's a pity that our level difference was so great – 105 levels. Otherwise I would've taught him a lesson, as I did Reptilis. But why was he hitting me with his foot rather than his daggers? After all, I did spot fairly decent gear on Lloyd earlier!

  The Shaman has three hands ...