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

by Vasily Mahanenko

  "Sergei, didn't we want a clan of our own ...?" I had to force the words out. "How can all this crazy talk be true?"

  "Dan, I completely understand what you're trying to say, but you have to understand me too. There's my wife and kid and a stable salary for four compulsory hours online with Phoenix on the one hand and you, a bunch of convicts, and some unintelligible salary from my contribution to the clan on the other. There's no way that I can sit in Barliona twenty-four seven, so my contribution to the clan would be minimal. This means that I wouldn't earn enough even to pay the subscription, let alone enough to keep a family. I'm not prepared to leave reality for Barliona completely, so Phoenix's offer to me was ... I need hardly say ..."

  "Sergei, are you sure? Look how the top players are dancing around Seathistles, handing over piles of money. We have enough additional quests to earn us a whole load more. It'll all work out."

  "I know all that very well! Stop trying to persuade me like I'm a little kid. It's not the clan those top players are dancing around, it's you. Once you're gone, everything else is gone too. The risks are just too great. What'll happen to the clan if you end up back in the mines? Do you know how hard it was for me to make this decision? But that's the decision I've taken and I'll stick with it, come what may. My entire life as a player I've been dreaming of being accepted into Phoenix and now when I've finally been given the opportunity, I can't let it slip away."

  "Do you realize that what you're doing is called a 'common stitch-up'? I was counting on you and you quit the moment a lucrative opportunity beckoned. Sergei, I never expected something like that from you. Perhaps, Dooki or Sushiho, but you ..."

  "Well, since you brought them up ... I asked Raster if there's a chance they would be accepted into Phoenix too. If I'm right, they're going through testing as we speak."

  "WHAT?!"

  "That's right," said a deep chesty voice that for some reason women find so attractive. Although for me it became the embodiment of everything that was bad about Barliona: Hellfire – in the flesh. "But Elenium's got it wrong. They have ALREADY done the tests. Their results weren't as good as those of the Priest, so I'm not prepared to offer them the role of Fighters. But Raster said that they'll do fine as Recruits and will go through a second round of testing after proper training. Elenium, have you made your decision?"

  "Yes, I agree to your terms."

  "Then no point putting things off. I need you to call on the Emperor as a witness that you haven't given Mahan the description of the quest. After that I'm prepared to accept you into Phoenix. Those are the rules."

  "Let the Emperor be my witness," Elenium called on the ultimate arbiter in Malabar, "that I haven't given the description of the class-based quest chain I received from the High Priestess to anyone other than members of the Phoenix clan."

  A cloud of light immediately formed around Sergei, and quickly dissipated without causing him any harm. The Priest hadn't lied – the Imitator confirmed that. They say that the developers have learned to use capsules as lie detectors, so that if you blabbed a secret outside the Game – in reality – the system would still figure it out. But in all likelihood these were probably just rumors. Otherwise players would've kicked up a fuss a long time ago, protesting against such an intrusion in their private life.

  "Welcome to the Phoenix clan, Fighter," uttered Hellfire, when – just a moment after the official confirmation – the symbol of the flaming chicken clan appeared above Elenium's head. "Our Head Priest will contact you today and set out a leveling-up schedule for you. Now let me talk to Mahan."

  "So what is it you're trying to achieve here?" I asked the hateful dwarf as soon as Sergei walked away. "Just don't bullshit me with a story about how you suddenly had a revelation that these three were prime examples of priestly, rogue and necromancer genius."

  "Why? Elenium really is a talented Priest – it’s a surprise that he hasn't tried to take our tests before. Mahan, you're wasting your time looking for some malicious ulterior motive where there is none. My task is to make the Phoenix clan stronger and poach the very best players from all the other clans. Preferably doing as much as possible to destroy these clans in the process, leaving them no chance of catching up with us. Seathistles have been getting too much limelight all of a sudden. Every other person seems to be saying that a clan has emerged with none other than Johnson himself as a member. But I'm sure that you aren't him. This would be just too petty for him. You're nothing more than an ordinary player, who's managed to get hooked into one scenario. And, as you've been riding that wave, the developers have managed to use you and all those near you for the subsequent scenarios so that they can have a sure shot at launching the update."

  "That's all very informative, but it still doesn't explain what possessed you to start poaching my people."

  "It seems that you didn't hear me: Mahan, please understand, this is not personal. For the Phoenix clan you represent the potential threat of losing out on good profit. Therefore I've taken certain steps to counteract that."

  "You do realize that now I'll stop involving Phoenix in any new quests?"

  "What quests? Mahan, get it through your head already! If you are removed from these scenarios, you will stop getting any more of them. Your decision to invite all of us to the Cleansing of the Dark Forest was downright stupid. I concede that you've made a very good gain financially, but with subsequent developments ... the times of Beatwick are over, now other continent-wide scenarios will be coming into play, one of which was given to Elenium and, consequently, to Phoenix. Of course, I could've given you a blank face and simply told you to take a hike, but I decided to explain everything to avoid any misunderstandings. That's something we can do without. People can take offence and start doing stupid things. You just can't be allowed to return to the mines right now. The Guardian's quest is tied to you, so for the time being you're useful. But I'll tell you straight away, I will do everything I can to make sure Phoenix takes this quest off your hands. Perhaps you should quit being obstinate and accept my offer? The place of the Master of Phoenix is still waiting for you."

  "No." I couldn't think of anything sufficiently offensive to unsettle Hellfire, so my answer was monosyllabic. My apologies, Anastaria, but from now on Phoenix is going on my ignore list. The whole clan.

  "As you wish. Ah! There's Dooki and Sushiho. Are you ready to accept my offer? You can see that Elenium has already made his decision," Hellfire said to the other players that'd just arrived, and then turned to me and moved in for the kill: "not much point in me going after the three convicts – those guys follow the code of honor amongst thieves and won't leave Seathistles. I respect that, but you should know that I intend to talk with Barsina and take her with us as well. Mahan, I won't let your clan get off its knees."

  As the Seathistles clan lost two more players, I finally understood that my previous life as a Hunter had ended for good.

  Hellfire stood next to me for a little while, probably expecting me to explode in anger, but I remained deathly still. Snorting, the top dwarf of Malabar left me alone as I lowered myself to the ground.

  Can you describe pain? Can you describe complete disappointment? Can you describe the realization that no matter what you did it would all be fruitless, because someone like Hellfire would turn up and simply buy all your fighters? If everything is so bad, what's the point in continuing to struggle and trying to make it to the top?

  My eyes closed, cutting off the colors of this world. I wished I had some way to block sound as well, but I had no scroll for doing that, like Anastaria. What if there's a Spirit that can separate you from the surrounding world? I should dig around for one ASAP. Right now I didn't give a damn that Hellfire was savoring his victory over me and, consequently, my complete defeat at the hands of his legendary and unparalleled might. Right now I needed to find a way of being alone. Spirit, where the heck are you?!

  Are you sure that you want to leave this world and be transported to the Astral Plane?

 
Astral Plane? Well, what's the difference? If it's got to be the Astral Plane, the Astral Plane it is. I really didn't care anymore, even if I got sent back to the mines. What's the use of making plans for developing your clan if you have no way of ever getting them off the ground? I was counting on the free players so much that I was completely unprepared for such a move on their part. It was hard to wake up to the fact that the guys with whom you've played for well over two years are first and foremost people who could simply be bought. And then most likely sold on and thrown away, like useless junk, after all their potential is used up.

  Stop!

  How about I stop feeling sorry for myself? Maybe it's time for me to start showing my teeth and fighting for what's mine? Am I a Shaman or a shy mouse, when push comes to shove? Why am I behaving like a complete pushover? Oh noes! Someone took a shit on me! Enough! I need to pull myself together and take this on the chin, or fight back with everything I've got. So Hellfire wants to destroy my clan, eh? He can dream on! That flame-grilled chicken douchebag is due for one hell of a comeuppance!

  Having made up my mind, I opened my eyes. There's no returning the ones who left, but Barsina will stay with me. You have to fight for your clan members. I don't get it ... what happened to the Guardian's glade?

  The surrounding world had transformed. The trees, the mist, the other players and the Guardian had disappeared. Everything had vanished, even the ground! I ended up at the center of a sphere divided into two: one part consisted of unbearably bright Light and the other of frighteningly pitch-black Darkness. Those designers sure know how to do visuals – looking at just one of these half-spheres was enough to give you goosebumps. The only thing that didn't cause any discomfort was the gray line dividing the light from the dark and that's where my gaze came to rest. The main thing was not to stand there wide-eyed, but figure out where the heck I'd ended up.

  "You dared to enter our world, Elemental One!" thundered the Darkness, enveloping me in a terrible coldness.

  "You aren't ready yet, almost Great One," whispered the Light, caressing me with its warmth.

  "Where am I?" I whispered, stupefied, and blinked a few times in the hope that all of this would stop and I would find myself back in the Dark Forest.

  "You have entered the abode of the Supreme Spirits of the Higher and Lower Worlds, Elemental One!" thundered the Darkness again, sweeping another wave of cold over me.

  "You have entered a place of answers, almost Great One." The gentle sounds of Light pushed back the dark and rekindled my desire to keep playing – what if them voices come with a nifty buff or two?

  "Mahan, where did you go? And, more importantly, how?" An internal raid message from Ehkiller popped up in front of me, but I waved it away like some annoying insect. I had more important things to do than chat to those who would shortly be going on my ignore list. I finally had an opportunity to get some answers. But the unpleasant part was that I had no idea which questions I should be asking. ...

  "You don't belong here, yet, future Great One," whispered the Light a couple of seconds later. "We were watching our best student in Malabar and were not expecting to meet another Shaman entering the Astral Plane – unprepared and uninitiated. You should not have ended up here and ... we will be more careful in the future, but we must atone for our mistake. You will receive an answer to any question. Ask!"

  "An-," I began, but regained control of myself just in time and fell silent. If I asked 'Any?' now, the answer I'd get would be 'Yes, but now you've used up your question'. Now I could see who Almis and Kornik took after in the 'how to be a pain in the neck' department: none other than these Supreme Spirit dudes. But back to the matter in hand: if I have a chance to ask a question, there's no way I can let it slip away. I just have to decide what interests me the most. Should I ask about the Karmadont Chess Set? Like, 'Can you give me the exact coordinates of the cave?', for example? But what if it's not a cave or if you need a key to enter, that key being the chess set itself? Not much sense in asking this then. I'll find that out from Anasta- ... damn, from Barsina or any other player. To hell with Phoenix! Should I find out how to complete the trial to become a Great Shaman? I can ask Antsinthepantsa that. Where hoards of gold might be hidden in Barliona? I'll be sent off to such a distant middle-of-nowhere that no amount of gold would make up for having to trudge there. And in any case, I have those two Dragon treasures waiting for me, so I'm sorted on the loot front. What then? What does it mean to be a Shaman? What happened during the fight between Prontho and Shiam? Is Kornik alive? So many questions to which I'd love to get answers, but I can ask only one ...

  "What is the source of Geranika's strength?" I finally managed to articulate the question that was continuing to bother me. Antsinthepantsa said that there was no answer and Kalatea is unlikely to spill the beans, since she probably enjoys watching players explore various features she’d helped design for the Shaman class, so this was a highly relevant matter. Keeping in mind that Geranika promised to do all kinds of 'pleasant' things to me, any information on his capabilities would come in very handy. I could even trade it with Natalie on mutually beneficial terms.

  "O Supreme ones, are you still here?" When over a minute later no answer was forthcoming, I politely reminded them of my existence. Either the Spirits have no idea, or ...

  "We cannot tell you this, because we do not know it ourselves," growled the Darkness. Looks like getting to the bottom of Geranika's strength is connected to some scenario quest, so the Imitators can't 'leak' this information before it's time. The developers wouldn't permit this. Very interesting. A negative result is still a result. "The last time Geranika summoned a Spirit was twenty years ago, from then on he has been using something else. We didn't answer your question and you cannot ask us another, to our regret. In the whole of Barliona only the Patriarch is able to help you, but he is out of reach. We cannot touch the dead ones; neither can they enter our world. It is time for you to go. We will transport you back without imposing penalties for your lengthy stay in the Astral Plane. A Shaman is able to speak to us for no more than three minutes, after that Spirits stop responding to him for a long time. Remember this until our next meeting. When you decide to become a Harbinger, you will find yourself in our presence once more. Until we meet again, Elemental one," concluded the Darkness. The sphere surrounding me began to spin, slowly at first and then faster and faster, until, finally, reaching a crazy speed, it blurred into continuous gray. There was a quiet clap, as if someone had shot a gun with a silencer attached, like in one of those antique films, and the sphere dissipated like a cloud of smoke, returning me to the Guardian's glade. The first thing I saw when I appeared were the surprised eyes of Antsinthepantsa. So, she's already back.

  "The gusts of wind have brought us mist, our Shaman hiding in its midst," Natalie greeted me with a rhyme and a chuckle. "Judging by the visual effect, you've just had a meeting with the Spirits of the Higher and Lower Worlds. Only High Shamans are able to do that and only a couple of those exist in the entire continent. Are you sure you're just 'Elemental'?"

  "Can all Shamans appear out of the mist?" Some other player decided to join our conversation. "Stunning!"

  "You haven't seen the arrival of a Harbinger yet. When I saw her for the first time, I had to scrape my jaw off the floor. If you want a definition of 'stunningly beautiful', that is it."

  "Guys, let's not mope around. It's time we knuckled down but now you've started with all this Shaman talk." I put a stop to all the chitchat, showing a total lack of desire to continue the conversation and trying to get people into a working mood. "Anastaria and Donotpunnik! We convene to discuss plans in five minutes! Everyone else – get ready to step out into the forest, we have another fight ahead of us! Plinto! Where's Plinto? Not here yet? When he appears, send him to me straight away. We have to find out what it was he saw and what this 'Ash' is. Let's get to work!" I didn't care how ridiculous an under-level-100 player ordering about level-280+ players might look, that's just how it was.
We had to complete the clearing of the forest and find the Patriarch as soon as possible, so I could forget this bad dream. I couldn't exclude the deserters from doing the quest, but removing them from the group and leaving them to complete the quests by themselves ... no, if we started together, we'd finish together. Let Eluna be their judge, but I had no intention of turning into Bat from Pryke. Had all my additional stat slots not been taken, right now the System would have offered me the Meanness stat for sure. Like I needed it. By the looks of it, Elenium only got the current quest because he was in one group with me. If I kick him I have no idea how he would complete it or hand it in – there's a risk that he wouldn't be accepted, and I wouldn't want to stitch him up, potentially. Although ... if it's a scenario, what difference does it make to the High Priestess who completes it? The main thing was the result. In this Hellfire was right – while I'm at the center of attention quests will keep falling into my lap, but as soon as I get sidelined this flow of bonuses will stop.

  "Mahan, would you permit me to have a chat with you," said Ehkiller graciously, in an almost fatherly tone. "Anastaria, do join us. Put up a dome please," he asked the girl as soon as she walked over.

  "Well ... as disagreeable as it is to admit it, a very delicate situation has arisen between our clans, which the both of us have to try to resolve."

  "You call poaching players in the middle of a quest a 'tricky situation'?" I chuckled. "In that case what would be a 'negative' or an 'unpleasant' situation? Killer, this was a stitch-up, pure and simple. This sort of stuff warrants a black eye, or two."

  "You are letting your emotions do the talking." Ehkiller refused to be provoked and continued, firmly sticking to his agenda, "You must realize that if you found yourself in a similar situation, you would've acted in exactly the same manner. I'm quite sure of it. But let's not talk of what could've been, let's return to the players that crossed over. I have to admit that they will have to remain in Phoenix: I doubt you'd take them back if I excluded them from the clan and I don't want it to become known throughout Barliona that I am not a man who keeps his word."