The Citadel (Mirror World Book #2)

by Alexey Osadchuk

  "I see, I see," he kept mumbling. "How very interesting."

  He clinked the book's bronze buckle open and began leafing through the thick pages. I didn't look. It's not in my character to poke into other people's business. Personally, I hate it when other people look over my shoulder at whatever I happen to be reading. That applied to everything: books and letters, newspapers and even computer screens.

  Finally, the rustling of pages stopped. Adkhur chuckled. He cast an appraising look at the ball in my hands and turned back to the book, mouthing the words as he read. He scratched his beard. Then he scratched his head.

  Our eyes met. His shone with excitement – with some cheerful, devil-may-care joy. Seeing my state, he finally spoke,

  "Well, dammit! You've just managed to find yourself a cocoon of a Hugger the Night Hunter."

  Chapter Twelve

  Congratulations! You've just completed a quest: Journey to the Misty Mountains.

  Reward: a cocoon of a Hugger the Night Hunter.

  For a while, I just stared at the message. Then I opened the item's stats.

  Name: a cocoon of a Hugger the Night Hunter

  Restriction: Only Ennan race

  Level: 0

  To find out more about the item's characteristics, visit Master Adkhur.

  The old man concealed a smirk in his gray beard. "You poor bastard! You don't even know what you've just got, do you?"

  Yes, just another useless item to add to my collection, I very nearly said but choose a safe option and shook my head instead.

  "There!" Adkhur raised a meaningful (and very dirty) finger. "Then again, who am I to speak? I've very nearly choked on my ham myself when I saw the message. I even had to look this thing up."

  "So what exactly is this thing?" I asked politely.

  "It's not a thing, dammit! It's a cocoon."

  "So I've heard. But what's the catch?"

  He grunted. "Good question! Let's start from the beginning, shall we? A long long time ago the great Master Eilar, my ancestor, rendered a service to the Raldians. And they, as you probably know, are very good at taming all sorts of animals. So Master Eilar who was in fact my great-great-great-grandfather's great-great-great-great... never mind. To cut a long story short, he rescued some high-standing Raldian or other. Their chief's daughter, if I'm not mistaken. It's irrelevant, anyway. So when Eilar — who was still very young at the time — arrived to present himself to the ruler of the Raldian Range — the proud parent of the said damsel — he, er, hem... what was I about... never mind. So he arrived to present himself to him, like, 'Here I am, the rescuer of your sole female issue', dammit. And the ruler asks him, 'What would you, as the rescuer of this mischievous disobedient child, desire to be rewarded with? Would you take gold or do you prefer power over your people? Or maybe something else? You may ask for whatever you want, we have it. As long as you're capable of lugging it back.' And this ancestor of ours found nothing better than to say, 'I have no need for either gold or power. What I'd like to ask you for, Sire, is some ancient wisdom!' Olgerd, can you imagine? Wisdom! Just like that! It runs in our family, apparently. So this ruler of theirs had a good think and then waved his hairy paw and said, 'You can have wisdom if you want. But in order to acquire it, you'll have to live here with us for twenty years. In the mountains.' So he stayed."

  "And what was this wisdom about?" I asked.

  "Didn't I just tell you? To speak in animal tongues, to command and heal all sorts of beasts and to raise them. This is the skill that now runs in our family."

  "All right. But what's this cocoon got to do with it?"

  "Everything. It's a very rare beast. Or not the cocoon itself, of course, but rather what hatches from it."

  When he said hatches, I couldn't help imagining a nasty hairy insect emerge from the cocoon. A spider, maybe? I seemed to be allergic to them just lately.

  Oblivious to my inner struggle, the old man kept pontificating, "A Hugger is a rare and very capricious beast. Dangerous as hell, dammit. Probably one of the most dangerous in Mirror World. From what I heard, they might have existed already at the time of the Founders. Never mind. So this Eilar, my ancestor, learned to tame and command them. And once he returned home to his clan, he learned how to choose those of his warriors who would be adept at taming Night Hunters. The Der Swyor clan was the only one boasting Hugger riders."

  "But other clan leaders weren't exactly happy with this new development, were they?" I added my two cents.

  Master Adkhur heaved a sigh and paused, thoughtful. Apparently I'd touched on a sore subject.

  "So what am I supposed to do with it?" I asked, trying to distract him from his sad musings.

  "To do with what? Oh yes, the cocoon. Well... what you're about to hear here today is a great secret, my boy. Promise me you'll cherish it and keep it safe!"

  "I will."

  You'd expect a system message, wouldn't you? Still, this time it ignored me. How weird.

  Master Adkhur believed me. "The whole secret of taming a Hugger lies in taking proper care of his cocoon."

  I winced. "What kind of care? I hope you don't expect me to hatch it like a broody hen!"

  "Not exactly, but..." he paused again, mulling over my words. "You might say so, I suppose."

  Jesus. Just what I didn't need.

  "You need to keep it on you at all times," he began to explain.

  That wasn't a problem, was it? Where else did he expect me to keep it?

  "Next. Can you feel that it's warm?"

  "Yes," I nodded. "It keeps getting warmer all the time."

  "That's because it feels your energy. The Hugger's trying to hatch already. But God forbid he emerges from his cocoon before his time. It's very, very bad."

  My hands shook against my will. This thing sounded very much like a ticking bomb.

  "Stop shaking!" Adkhur hissed. "Get a grip! He shouldn't sense your fear. That's better... Good boy."

  "So what do you want me to do?" I mumbled.

  "You need to share your vitality with him," the old Ennan said. "It's a bit like feeding him. That'll calm him down while allowing him to sense you and your superiority. Are you going to try it?"

  I gulped. Unblinkingly I stared at Adkhur.

  Master Adkhur offers you a skill trial: Soothe the Baby

  Warning! Each instance of skill use requires 400 pt. Energy.

  Accept: Yes/No

  I clicked Yes. Did I have a choice?

  The item's stats came into view,

  Main characteristics:

  Name: Cocoon of a Hugger

  Type of item: relic

  Level: 0

  Satiety: 0/400

  Would you like to feed it?

  Energy required: 400 pt.

  Accept: Yes/No

  I pressed Yes. The item's Energy bar began to fill until it reached 100%. The cocoon seemed to have cooled down a bit. Yes, definitely. It was much cooler now.

  Congratulations! Your cocoon is well fed!

  Warning! Make sure you feed it regularly!

  You might simplify the feeding process by synchronizing it.

  Would you like to synchronize the feeding process: Yes/No.

  What in the world's name was "a cocoon is well fed"? What had I got myself into again? I might need to consider their synchronization option. Four hundred Energy wasn't the measly ten points I kept investing into Prankster. The Grison was busy now frolicking about outside while I couldn't even feel him syphoning my energy. On the other hand, the cocoon wasn't going to frolic around, was it? It would lie nice and quiet in my inventory. It didn't look as if it was going to release a lot of energy. I might try and synchronize it, anyway. Then we'd see.

  Synchronization successful!

  Congratulations! From now on, the feeding process will proceed in automatic mode. Check your interface for changes.

  I opened my profile to check on my freeloaders. Another smaller Energy bar had appeared directly under mine. The third one, if you counted th
e Caltean trap.

  The cocoon's avatar looked like a gray ball of wool. Some die-hard gamers might have been overjoyed to see the icon's ruby background, identical to that of Prankster's. I seemed to be collecting myself a menagerie of relic beasts.

  The good news was that the cocoon didn't seem to expend any energy. In any case, the system wouldn't let it starve. I just hoped it was worth it.

  "I can see you've worked it out," Adkhur said between gulps from his glass.

  "So how long am I supposed to carry it around?" I asked, placing the cocoon gingerly back into my bag.

  "That's something no one can tell you," he laughed. "It might happen tonight or next week, whenever."

  "Happen?" I tensed. "What do you mean?"

  "You're like a child, dammit. What's a cocoon? It's basically the same as an egg. Soft and fluffy, that's the only difference."

  I stared at him. "Am I supposed to play the midwife?"

  He guffawed. "I'm not doing it! I have no right to be present at the scene. It's between you and the Hugger. You must be the first person he sees and accepts."

  I frowned. "Okay. But what's gonna happen next?"

  "What's gonna happen!" he mimicked me. "Wait till he arrives, then we'll see. Now you need to relax. Have some wine. Take it easy. You're not the first one to take this route and I sure hope you won't be the last."

  I sighed and sipped some wine. Oh no! How could I have forgotten!

  "Master, you've never told me what to do with the charm," I produced the feather from my bag and offered it to him.

  With a frown, the old man laid his broad hand over it. "Not today. Take it back. Its time will come, don't worry about it. Now you need to eat and drink. You'd better tell me about your family."

  We spent another hour talking until he fell asleep in his chair as seemed to be his habit. Just as the last time, I covered him with the herb-scented comforter. I also left some vials of Stamina on the table for him.

  As I walked out of his hut, I met the expectant gaze of Lita the lynx. I slapped myself on the forehead and reached into my bag. "How could I have forgotten! Here, take this, sweetheart. I just hope you like fish."

  Before setting off, I'd bought an enormous fish from a local fisherman. A red-tailed carp: an Experienced-level resource, apparently, which made me hope kitty might like it.

  Lita stretched and rose gracefully. What a beast! She came up to my waist. Standing next to a mob of her caliber felt a bit scary. Last time it hadn't bothered me much as I hadn't had a chance to see her stats. But today... I wasn't even sure calling her a mob was the right thing. She must have been an NPC in her own right. A Mirror Soul. Her gaze beamed with intelligence.

  Unhurriedly she walked over to me and began sniffing the fish.

  "It's fresh," I said. "Only just been caught. Sorry, I completely forgot. I should have remembered earlier."

  In one imperceptible motion, the lynx opened her jaws and grabbed my offering. Judging by her loud purring, she must have liked it. Before returning to her place, she poked my ribs with her large head, allowing me to run my hand over her soft back.

  You've received a blessing: Soft Paw.

  Effect: +150 to Energy every 30 seconds.

  Duration: 4 hrs.

  Oh wow. How interesting. This was a buff to end all buffs! It meant that for the next four hours I wouldn't even feel the drop in Energy. How timely was that? I still had my quota in the mine to do.

  While I was looking into the surprise gift, the lynx had disappeared — probably, to enjoy her treat.

  It was time I was going, too. I activated Prankster's summoning charm and headed for the trees.

  * * *

  The next morning in the wizard's tower promised nothing out of the ordinary. Cold drizzle continued behind the window. The far-off leaden clouds glistened with lightning. I couldn't hear any thunder yet but knowing my luck, the thunderstorm was bound to arrive at the Citadel soon.

  Still lying in bed, I checked on my little menagerie. Excellent. I had one leech less: the Caltean trap had finally recharged and switched off from its power supply, a.k.a. humble me. Let's have a look.

  Name: A Magic Steel Net

  Effect: Thanks to the ancient magic lore of the Founders, it can trap a wild animal and keep it inside for an indefinite time.

  Restriction 1: Only for animals below level 310

  Restriction 2: Only for animals inhabiting No-Man's Lands.

  Player's level: 0 and above

  Status: charged

  Excellent. Let it sit in my bag. You never know, one day I might need it.

  Now, the cocoon. It was still there, consuming next to nothing. Predictably so. That was good. I could live with that.

  I'd already made a habit of letting Prankster out every morning for a bit of a run around. Let him have his fun. That way I wasn't so lonely, either. Just look at him frolicking around the room, stopping only to beg for another lump of cheese. He knew already, the rascal, that I always had treats in my pocket for him.

  I cast another look at the cocoon. It had been lying quietly in my bag for almost two days now, occasionally drawing some energy from me. Dormant, basically. It was probably how it was supposed to be. Never mind.

  Today I could go directly to the mines. I'd cleared the last pile of debris already the previous morning. Oh yes, and the door. I couldn't work out at first why it had kept coming up as an "object available for cleaning". But once I'd finally got around to it, it had become perfectly clear. It wasn't wood at all. The door was made of Dark Lythir which was some kind of local stone. I even received 10 tyllill crystals for handling it. Not bad at all.

  All in all, these last two days of my cleaning gig had earned me 600 crystals. Just as Uncle Vanya had told me, I'd received 2,000 more from the wizard — plus another 300 on closing the cleaning quest that same morning.

  I had smiled as I'd handed the onyx over to the wizard, watching his jaw drop. At first he couldn't believe I'd farmed so many crystals. He hurried to issue my reward, then scrambled upstairs to his lab. Not that he could have fooled me with his excited face and the compliments he showered upon me. This was, after all, an NPC playing his part, a piece of well-functioning software. His behavioral algorithm was the same regardless of the player. And still I'd enjoyed watching his stunned face: his eyes wide open, his cheeks crimson with excitement.

  A poke to my chest cut short my reminiscing. I opened my eyes. It was Prankster back for another piece of cheese.

  "You glutton! You'll explode if you're not careful!"

  His black beady eyes and his moist twitching nose seemed to be saying, Come on, master, quit the BS and give me some more and then we'll see who's going to explode.

  "All right, all right. Take it and beat it."

  He grabbed his cheese and darted to the top of the wardrobe. That was his habit: he seemed to like sitting up high.

  Right. What was I about? Oh yes, the crystals. In total, my little stay in the Citadel had garnered me almost nine and a half thousand Tyllill crystals. Converted to Mellenville Reputation points, that was almost a thousand. Not that I was going to convert them quite yet. I wanted to reach a thousand first: a nice rounded number. Especially seeing as crystals' icons were the same type as money which meant they took up no space at all in my bag.

  This morning the system had already bestowed on me my daily 30 pt. Reputation. Which made it 1950 in total. If you added the crystals, it was almost 3,000.

  That was much better than I'd initially planned. Another 2,000, and I could approach the bank. Naturally, the 2,000 wasn't the limit. The more I had, the bigger my chances would be of getting a larger loan. And as for a permanent contract... well, if you added up all the days off, my trial period expired today. I'd worked well; I'd never shirked my responsibilities. Let's see what Weigner would offer me now. Somehow I didn't think it was going to be a problem.

  Voices outside distracted me from my musings. What was that? Right under the wizard's windows, too. It had n
ever happened before.

  I scrambled out of bed and walked over to the window. So! A motley line of players was forming at the tower's front door. It must have only started a couple of minutes ago because earlier today, the square had been empty.

  New players kept arriving. What was going on? Was it Varn's work? I wondered if selling him the quest information had been a bad deal after ll. Just look at that crowd! Quite a few Grinders among them, too.

  It was a good job I was done clearing the debris. With such an attendance rate, you could forget farming any crystals. Liz had closed her quest on her very first day. She didn't much care for crystals: it was completing the quest itself that mattered to her. But I really liked clearing those piles of stuff. I kept catching myself thinking that I wouldn't mind if the Calteans attacked the fortress again. Who would have thought I'd become so fearless! Actually, I hadn't. But I was really pressed for time.

  The noise grew. What had happened there? Ah, it was Tronus finally opening the front door. Immediately the crowd calmed down as he began dishing out quests. The process didn't take him long: apparently the program could handle several players simultaneously. You might think that the wizard was talking to you alone while in fact he was distributing quests to ten more people.

  What happened next puzzled me a lot. The first ten players had finished their negotiations with the wizard — but instead of heading directly into the back yard, they turned round and hurried away. The next ten did the same. And the Grinders! Why would they go? Cleaning junk was something they were meant to do!

  The whole thing looked wrong. Varn had nothing to do with it. No, this was something else.

  It took about twenty minutes for the courtyard to empty again. I walked downstairs just as Tronus was closing the front door.

  "Ah, it's you," he waved a weary hand. "Good morning, my friend."