The Phantom Castle (The Way of the Shaman: Book #4) LitRPG series

by Vasily Mahanenko

  Shadows poured from Geranika’s hands and began to spin around me, Stacey, Plinto, Geyra, Cain…around everyone present, buffing all our main stats by 50%—the strongest possible buff in the game, which would last for the next 8 hours. With a smirk, the Lord of Shadow vanished.

  “What is your plan for sneaking into Altameda?” asked Cain. “We can revel in the graciousness of my Master later—we have eight hours to take over this world…”

  “Geyra, tell him,” I asked my mercenary, opening my logs and looking for the place where Geranika took his oath:

  12:38:45 The Creator of Barliona casts telepathic attack “Grandeur” – Level 500.

  12:38:46 Player struck by telepathic attack “Grandeur” – Level 500.

  Bloody hell! He does live! The virtual creator of Barliona, who is mentioned even in Karmadont’s Chess Set, which claimed that he had ‘grown tired’ and ‘gone to his rest’—was alive! But what or who then was in his tomb?

  What would Karmadont’s Chess Set unleash?

  Chapter 14. Urusai — or, The Secret of Altameda

  “That’s the entrance,” said Geyra, indicating an immense oak. “Wait here, please…”

  Casting another withering glance at Cain, the mercenary approached the tree, touched its bark and said something. It didn’t matter now, but just in case I made a mental note to check the logs. The girl’s phrase should be recorded in them—what if I might have to use this entrance again sometime.

  The oak’s bark rippled like the surface of a lake that a stone had been cast into. Then, a rectangular impression became visible in the bark as if an invisible box was being pushed into it. The surface gradually regained its placidity, forming a passage, just inside of which I could see a spiral staircase leading downward.

  “Welcome to the secret Dungeon of Glarnis,” said Geyra fervently. Her eyes were filled with pride in her family, which had built this underground passage. “Enter one at a time, and do not touch anything.”

  “A bit cramped, don you think?” muttered Plinto, following the mercenary. The passage really could have been made a bit wider—I was forced to make my way sideways, since even my not too broad shoulders didn’t quite fit in the dark passage.

  “You’ll have more room when we reach the first level,” the mercenary parried, lit another torch and passed it to the rear. “Let’s go! The five kilometers won’t walk themselves…”

  As easy as it had been to run from Altameda, so difficult it was to shuffle in its direction sideways—and do so in impenetrable darkness, for we only had ten torches for eight people. Or, well, thirty people and fifty shadows. Still, it wouldn’t have been so bad if the floor had been even, but the constant holes and rocks impeded our progress, especially any time someone would trip and fall onto his neighbor.

  After about a kilometer, the passage sloped noticeably downward, making our journey even more precarious—we constantly had to prop ourselves against the walls in order to keep from slipping. How even the floor was, no longer mattered. The important thing was not to fall.

  You have entered blessed ground. Buff received: Eluna’s Gift.

  “What a pleasant surprise,” I heard Cain remark from somewhere behind me. So I can assume that the blessed circle affects even Geranika’s servants, doing so not only up on the surface but down here deep below ground. “It follows that we’re almost there?”

  “Another hundred meters,” said Geyra from the tip of our column. “I’ll admit that I had hoped that the circle would destroy you…”

  “It is not so easy to destroy us, Mage. One would need something a bit more potent than Eluna’s circle.”

  “Plinto, how are you doing?” I asked the Rogue, interrupting the NPCs’ barbed exchange. Plinto was walking beside the mercenary and should therefore have already entered Altameda’s premises. I was very curious to find out whether my legal fiction had worked.

  “I seem to be alive. Haven’t received any notifications. If I’m reading the map correctly, the castle is right above us. Let’s get a move on—there’s a wider area up ahead…”

  After four hours of descending down the underground passage, we reached an enormous cave with two exits—the dark passage that we had come through and a massive wooden door with an arched lintel.

  “The Dungeon proper begins beyond the door. I don’t have a detailed map, but I know for certain that it has four levels altogether. I don’t know how my forefather and his mages designed it, but let us assume the worst—that it alters itself constantly and the map I have of it won’t do us any good. Still—here—take it, just in case. As we agreed, I will follow behind…”

  “Is the fearless mercenary afraid of something?” Cain quipped.

  “There’s a Devourer that dwells here,” said the girl and the Necromancer’s smirk immediately vanished from his face basically for the first time in our brief acquaintance.

  “That changes things,” said Geranika’s servant. “Did you know about this, Mahan?”

  “That’s exactly why you’re coming with us instead of storming the castle gates,” I replied. “The three of us will deal with the Devourer, with the assistance of the Priests. Your job will be to kill everything that moves and doesn’t consume essences. According to Geyra, there should be plenty of such creatures here too.”

  “Accepted. Who wants the loot?” Cain inquired. An appropriate question, by the way, for, under our agreement, all the loot that would drop in Glarnis and Altameda would belong to me—aside from the reward for killing the final boss, Urusai. If the boss dropped something useful to the Necromancer, then its allocation would be left to chance. However, Cain had no right to take anything else while our agreement remained in effect. I adore Stacey for remembering to include that clause…

  “I get the items; Anastaria gets the gold,” I replied, not wishing to forego 30% of the clan profits. A member of another Empire couldn’t send the money directly to the clan, so we’d do it through the girl.

  “Got it. In that case…”

  “YOU HAVE COME! AT LAST! I AWAIT YOU!” a strange voice sounded in my head, drowning out Cain’s. The strange thing about this voice was that I sensed no malice in it—to the opposite rather—it resembled that of a loving and caring father who was greeting his child. Strange…

  “Stacey, did you hear that?”

  “Hear what?”

  “The voice that just…In my head…”

  “You’re scaring me, Dan. What voice?”

  “O-okay…WHO ARE YOU?” I asked mentally, addressing the mysterious speaker—or rather imagining myself addressing him.

  “It’s me, Dan. Stacey. Are you feeling okay?”

  “It’s not working,” I said aloud, minding my Energy. “Geyra, open the door. Let’s go and see what’s going on in there. Plinto—you be the tank…Anastaria, stop looking at me like I’m crazy. I’ll explain everything later…”

  Message for the player! A new territory has been discovered: Glarnis Dungeon. The probability of finding a valuable item from an ordinary opponent has increased by 49.999%. Experience received is increased by 20%.

  “Here come our First Kill at last!” Plinto proclaimed, extending an open hand to Stacey.

  “We haven’t gotten it yet,” the girl said coolly; however, I could tell by her appearance that the sight of the shimmering barrier beyond the door did not make her very happy.

  “It’s okay, I can wait,” Plinto remarked wryly. “I’ve been waiting seven years. I can wait another couple hours.”

  “What’s this all about, Stacey?” I asked telepathically.

  “A long time ago, I told Plinto that we would never share a First Kill…We even made a bet. Now, if we get it, and we will get it, I will owe him a case of the Golden Horseshoe’s finest vintage. I’m not that miffed at the expense as at the realization that I lost…”

  “Everything has changed here,” said Geyra, appearing beside us. As soon as we passed through the shimmering barrier into the Dungeon, we found ourselves in a
large cavern—maybe even a chamber—from which three corridors vanished into the darkness. “When I was last here several weeks ago, there were no branches. My map will be of no help to us…”

  “In that case, I propose we go to the right. Mahan, as the prophet in chief, what do you advise?” asked the Rogue, slipping out his dagger and smearing something green onto it.

  “My inner prophet isn’t working at the moment,” I joked back, without even bothering to listen to my premonition. My inner menagerie was gradually recovering from the shock of the Dragon’s Treasure Vault and required fiscal nutrition, so I was dead-set on clearing this Dungeon level by level. Given that the Dungeon was designed with Level 300 players in mind and given that the mercenaries had been unable to clear it—the rewards here must be quite pleasing. Magdey and Clutzer would definitely like it.

  Magdey!

  How could I forget about him?! I had sent him to the barbarians to find out why they had left their native lands and begun to terrorize the dwarves…but I became occupied and forgot to find out what happened. Oh the holes in my head!

  “Magdey, greetings!” I immediately wrote into the clan chat. “Write me a letter with the results of your visit to the barbarians.”

  “Actually, I sent you one just like it about a week ago,” came the instant reply. “Or do you not check your mail on principle?”

  As Anastaria and Plinto looked on mockingly, I reached for my mailbox and sighed heavily—despite all the filters I had erected, I still had about twenty thousand unread missives. No wonder then that one brief letter got lost in their midst…But it was still bad that I had only thought of it now and not earlier.

  Searching by name, I opened Magdey’s letter and began to read it.

  “Hi Mahan! The barbarians fled their lands because they could not bear residing in the vicinity of the terrible monster that has invaded the castle. The monster was poisoning their lives, sapping their strength and preventing them from their customary killing, robbing and raiding activities. Bit of a strange occupation for such a terrible monster, don’t you think? After catching several dozen barbarians, the picture came into focus—that which is terrifying to them is beneficial to us and vice versa. That which inhabits Altameda has kept the barbarians from doing harm to others, so they decided to leave. I have no idea how this relates to what is going on in actual fact. I suppose you have some friends you could turn to for advice. I consider the mission you assigned me accomplished and request that you confirm this fact. Magdey.”

  “Thanks, Magdey. I read it. You did more than was asked of you!”

  Blast! I really need to be more thorough with my mail.

  “Guys, want to hear a fairy tale?” I asked rhetorically, sending the letter to Anastaria and Plinto. “This is what we’re up against in Altameda.”

  “Perhaps you would like to clue your allies in as well?” Cain instantly asked. “Concealing information pertinent to the monster’s destruction is prohibited under our agreement…”

  “I remember,” I was forced to agree and sent the letter to Cain and Geyra as well.

  “So are we to understand that Urusai is a gentle monster? A gentle monster that through an act of kindness destroyed Glarnis along with all its residents and is now sending his phantoms forth to destroy anything in the vicinity of the castle? Such a kind dear monster that Eluna was even forced to erect a wall of light around the castle?” Geyra did not seem to be taking the news very well. “I was inside the castle when you cast Armageddon! This is no gentle monster at all! There are only phantoms in there—an endless host of phantoms! Your people have made a mistake!”

  “Or did not fully understand what the barbarians were trying to communicate,” Stacey parried. “It’s true that they are among the evil and aggressive factions of Barliona, and yet pure evil affects them too. I mean an evil that is entirely different to the one they are accustomed to. Cain—it’s time you shared some of your info. Why are you trying to kill Urusai? What is this monster to you anyway?”

  “The Paladin Captain is renowned for her perceptiveness and ability to turn a pile of coal into a diamond of knowledge,” replied the Necromancer ornately. “I will tell you all about who Urusai is and why we intend on destroying him as soon as we enter the Glarnis throne room. Despite our temporary peace, I would prefer not to reveal my Master’s information to my enemies without reason. After all, what if we never make it through this Dungeon?”

  “In that case, Plinto—take the right corridor,” I put an end to the discussion. “Cain, you and your warriors follow on his heels. Let’s get to work. We’ve wasted enough time measuring whose knowledge is greater…”

  Experience gained: +1000 Experience; points remaining until next level: 401,731.

  The mobs yielded far more XP than Geranika’s fighters—and faster too. In only thirty minutes of ‘work,’ we killed about fifty strange creatures—either slugs or animated pieces of dirt—thereby raising my XP bar by about a third of a level. At long last, the right corridor terminated in a hall and a boss.

  “The Devourer,” whispered Geyra, terrified of drawing the boss’s attention. “He used to be on the second level…I propose we explore the other hallways. There’s no point going forward.”

  “We will absolutely explore the other hallways,” I assured the mercenary, while peering closer at the gelatinous mass. The boss’s outward appearance left something to be desired.

  Smidgen Gloop. Level: Inaccessible. Abilities: Poison, Acid Spit, Devour.

  I knew of course what I had signed up for, but it’s still unpleasant when you can’t see the boss’s level because it’s at least 30 Levels higher than your own. Ordinary old mobs, sure, why not? But a boss…Who was responsible for coming up with these rules anyway?

  “What a cute Level 320 critter,” Stacey remarked, evidently naming the boss’s level for me. “Plinto, you know what to do. Mahan, you stay here and slow down the slimes.”

  “What slimes?”

  “You’ll see. There’ll be these green slimes that’ll go crawling to the boss. The longer it takes them to reach the boss, the faster we’ll take care of him. Geyra,” Stacey turned to the mercenary, “is this the boss that you had trouble with or was it another one?”

  “It was this one. Twenty of my warriors stayed back to fight him in order to…”

  “Yes, I’ve heard the rest. Okay, Plinto—keep a close eye on the poison and as soon as…”

  “Why don’t you tell me how to hold my dagger too and how to move while you’re at it,” the Rogue grinned, playing his part in the already snippy exchange.

  “Don’t get aggro. Geyra and Cain—stand here with your warriors and, if you like, attack from afar. I’ll warn you right away that I don’t know how the Devour mechanic works, so if you enter the battle, you may be hit with it. Priests—if something goes amiss, be ready to revive us that very instant. Cain—do you have an Assassin? Tell him to take guard the Priests. Everyone ready? Then onwards! Plinto—full throttle!”

  “YOU HAVE CHOSEN A DIFFICULT WAY!”

  I almost missed our attack because of the strange thought occurring in my head. It’s becoming clear why the Corporation doesn’t wish to implement telepathy among the general player-base. You gradually begin to doubt your own thoughts and begin to think that maybe they’re another’s or that of another ‘you’ speaking in a different voice…It’s a good thing that telepathy consumes Energy as quickly as it does because otherwise you could as well kiss your mind goodbye and say hello to your new personality.

  By the way, what a great chance to experiment with my Spirit summoning abilities! While the others had busied themselves with slaying the ordinary mobs, I kept to the rear, gathering my crumbs of XP from each kill. Now, however, there were only three of us facing a Level 320 boss and I couldn’t miss this chance to level up…

  Plinto skipped up to the boss, cast Acceleration and began to imitate a helicopter. All that I could make out from him was the green trail of his daggers. Naturally,
a Rogue isn’t much of a tank (to put it mildly), but the boss was 30 Levels below Plinto, so the damage he did to the Vampire not only decreased due to the difference but was also largely wasted—he simply couldn’t hit Plinto often enough.

  Every ten seconds, the Rogue’s frame glowed green, indicating that he had been poisoned; however, Plinto would cure himself almost instantaneously. But all right, enough sightseeing—in forty seconds we had only taken off 2% of the boss’s Hit Points, which meant the battle wouldn’t be a brief affair. Time to grind.

  “Greetings, High Shaman!” said the Supreme Water Spirit, hovering a few meters in front of me. During my recent trial, the Spirit’s room had simply materialized before me, while now it was like my consciousness had divided itself. The first ‘I’ was back in the room with the boss. The second ‘I’ was in the circular stone room with the Spirit: a strange feeling, especially when both realities existed for me at the same time and I experienced no particular discomfort from such an intense detachment from myself. “You became Nashlazar’s apprentice?”

  “Almost. She’s training Kornik at the moment. He will complete my training. Teachers are for life.”

  “I knew that you would never listen to anyone and choose the right way. What has brought you here? Do you require Spirits?”

  “I do. The bigger, the better.”

  “Daniel, the slimes! Slow them!”

  “Which Spirit do you require, oh High Shaman?” the Elemental Spirit asked majestically. No, things can’t carry on like this. I used to be able to do things much faster. If each summon will require a conversation, I’m probably best off avoiding the whirlwind’s abode. I’d get killed otherwise! Although…What if I’m just going about it all wrong?