Clans War

by Mahanenko, Vasily

Emerald Troll Archers

  +1% HP, MP and Energy regenerated per minute; +10% to Agility.

  Aquamarine Elf Archers

  +1% HP, MP and Energy regenerated per minute; +30 Attractiveness with NPCs older than 18.

  Orc Shaman of Peridot

  +1% HP, MP and Energy regenerated per minute; +100 to Energy.

  Elemental Archmage, a Human of Sapphire

  +1% HP, MP and Energy regenerated per minute; +10% to Intellect.

  Leader of the White Wolves Clans, an Orc of Green Diamond

  +50% chance to find an Uncommon item. +40% chance to find a Rare item. +20% chance to find an Epic item. +5% chance to find a Unique item. +1% chance to find a Legendary item.

  Emperor of Malabar, a Human of Blue Diamond

  +50% chance to find an Uncommon item. +40% chance to find a Rare item. +20% chance to find an Epic item. +5% chance to find a Unique item. +1% chance to find a Legendary item.

  The Chessboard:

  +10% Resistance to all damage types.

  Quest available: ‘The Prisoner.’ Description: The Chess Set of Karmadont is a key. But it is not a key to the Tomb of the Creator. It is a key to the Creator, who is imprisoned in a different world. Find the place of power and destroy the Chess Set. Quest type: Unique. Limitation: Only for the Creator of the Chess Set. Reward: Meet the Creator.

  Skill increase:

  +7 to Crafting. Total: 27.

  +35 to primary profession of Jewelcrafting. Total: 200.

  You have recreated the Legendary Chess Set of Emperor Karmadont…–42000 to Reputation with all factions of Malabar and Kartoss. Current level: Hatred.

  Title of Earl lost.

  Achievement unlocked: ‘One versus all.’ Description: You have become ‘inconvenient’ to the ruling houses of Malabar and Kartoss. +12000 to Reputation with all Shadow factions of Malabar and Kartoss.

  Scenario activated: ‘The Burden of the Creator.’

  The light emanating from my hands gradually faded until I could see an enormous wall of system text as well as the cause of Geranika’s irritation. The library no longer existed. Along with several other chambers that had been within a ten meter radius of my latest creative endeavor. Geranika and I were hanging in the center of a perfect sphere, twenty meters in diameter, which now represented the annihilated portion of the palace.

  “Doesn’t look like anything’s really happened to the library. I just nicked the reading hall a bit, that’s all. All of the books are fine,” I grumbled when the silence started to linger. The news that from now on Malabar and Kartoss were off limits to me was not pleasant in the least. Had the scenario designers completely lost contact with reality? Haven’t they been rewarding me with reputation for each individual chess piece — only to suddenly take it all away for creating the full set? And not only take it all away, but drive me down to Hatred status! Minus 42,000 is enough to wipe out any status, even Exalted!

  “Ah Mahan, Mahan,” Geranika smiled sadly. “The library isn’t the issue. The issue is…”

  ATTENTION! EMERGENCY DISCONNECT IN 5…4…3…2…1…

  YOU HAVE BEEN DISCONNECTED FROM BARLIONA!

  I would give a lot to find out what the ‘issue’ was according to Geranika, but today, I guess, they’d decided to finish me off completely. Gifting me several lessons for the future to boot. Very unpleasant lessons.

  The first was that during an emergency disconnect, the system doesn’t have time to completely shut down all of its mechanisms. The player regains consciousness, yet the capsule’s superficial attributes remain in place. I’d never considered that the removal of catheters from certain bodily orifices could hurt so much.

  The second was that the liquid filling the entire space of the capsule doesn’t have time to drain either. When the catheter began to slide from my mouth, I reflexively swallowed and inhaled — the motion of the catheter had tickled the nerve endings in my throat. It’s a good thing that I still had my reflexes — when I swallowed, the tip of the catheter pressed against the root of my tongue. I began to heave and gag and this kept the liquid from passing further down my throat. Those same reflexes made me start up and ‘surface,’ but I smashed my head against the closed lid. Stars danced before my eyes and I collapsed back onto my back stunned.

  The third was that the capsule’s lid stays shut and it’s very ugly from the inside.

  Fourth…

  “Get up, Daniel! Dan, can you still hear me? Dan?” Stacey’s anxious voice tore through to me through the dancing stars and the fog of my consciousness. I heaved one more time. At long last both the lid and the bindings were gone, so I adopted a half-vertical position and trying to build on this success, coughing and gasping for air, tumbled over the edge of the capsule to collapse like sack of flour on the floor. Finally, I had a moment to catch my breath. Stacey was screaming something, stroking me, crying, stroking me again, but my unfiltered apprehension of reality took its time coming back to me.

  “…you didn’t answer and I decided to pull you out of the game!” At last I could distinguish a cogent thought from the roar surrounding me. Like a tumbler clicking into place, my consciousness returned to me.

  “Why?” I wheezed. My throat burned and I wanted to cough, but I controlled myself. It wasn’t such a big deal — it sometimes taking a few gulps of oxygen-saturated bio-liquid does you good.

  “I saw a notification that you had completed the Chess Set,” Stacey began to explain, still crying her eyes out. “I tried to contact you telepathically but the system said that you weren’t available. Then a notification appeared announcing a quest that the Chess Set had to be destroyed. That you had to be killed! But you still weren’t answering! The markers indicated that you were in Armard. What was I supposed to think? WHAT?! It took me one time to get trapped in Armard to spend a week on the therapist’s couch! I got scared that you were trapped too…Dan, I…” The tears intensified. Stacey, my wonderful and beloved wife, the terror of all the living and all the dead, turned into wailing little girl, terrified that I’d been locked in the game and was being tortured. Hugging this darling wonder to myself, I looked around and barely kept from swearing — the end of a network cable was lying beside the capsule. It had been torn out of the capsule at the root.

  “You’re my savior,” I whispered after inhaling deeply and chasing away the nervous shaking and emotions. I began to stroke Stacey, who was splattered with the bio-fluid as well, when I noticed to my astonishment that my hands were trying to reach for her throat. To her pretty and long throat. To strangle her!

  In addition to the embedded player monitoring systems, the capsules had several other built-in safety layers. Among these was a ‘quick exit’ button — which allowed someone in reality to force a player to exit the game. Parents frequently used these to keep their children from spending too much time in game. But even if you push this button, the system takes its time pulling you out — taking up to several minutes to comfortably return the player to reality. Stacey, however, had acted rashly. Having suffered several hours in the Chamber of Pain — the Dungeon that had been custom-made to torture her, she didn’t want me to relive the same ordeal even for a moment. So she did the simplest and most effective thing — she yanked the network cables out, instantly disconnecting me from the game with all that that entailed. When a capsule is installed, its cabling is routed through the wall in order to prevent even the slightest chance of interruption. But in our case, a force majeure had played a role — as always. I had moved to Stacey’s place only several days ago — we planned a global repair, so the technicians had placed my capsule haphazardly. During its installation, the technicians and our architect had decided to put off the proper installation since both capsules would be moved anyway. This decision had to be officially sanctioned, so we signed papers about our liability about this or that…I could kill them all!

  “Tell me what the quest says,” I said, understanding perfectly well that there was no point in yelling or telling her off. Making a
note to myself to remind her what happens when the connection is broken and why the capsule has at least three network cables, I tried to get back to constructive communication. The scenario designers really must have eaten too much of some controlled substance. Not only had they wiped out all my Reputation but they’d also sicced the playerbase on me. ‘The Burden of the Creator’ scenario…Damn! This is why Stacey yanked the cables out?! While we wait for the technicians to show up, while they reset the connection, do the testing and set up everything…We’ll waste a day easily on dealing with this mess and I’ll be out of the game the entire time. And meanwhile I have Geranika over there waiting to tell me something important. Stacey, oh Stacey…I should remember that she has markers on me. After I return to Barliona, I’ll have to go see Elizabeth. I need to remove them. I don’t like this spying on your spouse business.

  At first tearfully but then slowly coming to and turning from a frog into a lovely princess, Stacey began to relate to me what she knew about the Corporation’s latest move. All I could do was groan in surprise and, in my own turn, tell her about the enormous wall of text that had appeared after I had created the Chess Set. And so!

  The first was that a system notification appeared announcing that the Chess Set had been created. At last, the public at large had learned the name of the creator — Shaman Mahan.

  The second was that all the players received a quest: Stop Mahan at any cost. Don’t let him reach a location with certain, specific coordinates. That is — the Tomb. And what’s important was that this was indefinite. The scenario had no time limit. For their parts, the Emperor and the Dark Lord promised to help the Free Citizens any way they could. For example, from now on portals, teleport scrolls, Mage summons and my Harbinger Blink ability were useless to me. Anything that could whisk me from point A to point B without monotonous travel on my own two feet no longer worked. It was just as possible that they had prohibited me from flying on griffins or in my Dragon form, but I’d have to check that. I’m even curious if Stacey understood all this in those several seconds that she was reading the quest description and trying to get in touch with me.

  The third was the reward. He who stops me closer than anyone else to the walls of the Tomb, or to put it bluntly — sends me to respawn — will instantly receive Exalted status with Malabar and Kartoss as well as one Epic item for his class and level. Directly from the hands of the Emperor and the Dark Lord. All other, ‘interceptors’ will receive Respect status and a Rare item for their level and class, though from the hands of an Adviser or Magister. Again, speaking bluntly, a cute new game had been launched: ‘Send Mahan to respawn and you’ll get a bonus.’

  Like hell!

  I reached for the telephone and with undisguised rage dialed the number familiar to any player. Technical support.

  “Hello on behalf of the Barliona Corporation! In order to provide the highest quality service, this recording will be recorded. You will be connected to an associate in…”

  “Good day to you! This is Connie speaking!”

  “Hi, this is Daniel Mahan. Please connect me with the manager responsible for setting all of the players of the continent on a manhunt after me. I’d like to hear what he has to say!”

  “Thank you for contacting us and using our services, Daniel! May we offer you…”

  “Oh don’t start with that!” I yelled into the handset. “Again, connect me with whoever developed this idiotic scenario! Or I’ll sue you all to Kingdom Come!”

  “Negative emotions will not facilitate a constructive conversation,” the girl replied impassively. “Your request has been assigned ticket number…”

  “Yo, Mahan, what’re you hollering about?” A new voice suddenly cut in. A vaguely familiar voice, so I took a stab:

  “James?”

  “Your ticket has been transferred to another Corporation associate, thank you for your call.” Connie held her own to the end and left us with her head held high. God I hate tech support.

  “What, were you expecting, Mr. Johnson himself? Of course it’s me. What are you hollering about? Why’d you scare that poor girl? What if you made her cry? This is why they never want to talk to you.”

  “So this is your doing?”

  “Don’t act like you’re suffering from chronic amnesia!” said the voice on the other end with mock hurt. “You know very well that I’m responsible for any mess that breaks out in Barliona.”

  “Hello! This is Anastasia Zavala,” Stacey joined our conversation. I looked up and saw her at the second phone blowing me a kiss. “Please introduce yourself.”

  “Oh! Bringing out the big guns, huh?” James replied without skipping a beat. “James Boaster, manager of the innovations department. Is that enough, or do you want my entire title?”

  “That’ll suffice. James, please be so kind as to explain why you are limiting Daniel’s gameplay? Announcing an officially-sanctioned hunt after a player is a very dubious step on the part of the Corporation. Can you imagine what would happen if his sensory filters are lowered to 70% and the entire player base begins to kill him over and over again? Given his current Reputation — would the Heralds and Magisters bother to get involved? I request that you call off this manhunt against my husband. Otherwise, we will be forced to pursue legal action.”

  “I anticipated this,” the manager on the other line was clearly enjoying this conversation, “so I’m ready to explain. You see, Miss Anastasia, Daniel has created something that shouldn’t have appeared in Barliona at least for the next year. This kind of thing happens with him, what can you do? Understanding very well who we’re dealing with, I ordered a special scenario to be designed for him. As I understand it, Daniel hasn’t yet familiarized himself with it and as a result, you have formed a negative impression of what is going on. But this is only a matter of your lacking the proper information. I assure you that as soon as he returns to the game and reads the scenario description, your opinion of it will change dramatically. I can only advise you to craft Lovers’ Pendants for yourselves, since your telepathic communication and ability to summon each other has been temporarily blocked.”

  “So then why…” Stacey began but cut herself off. “That is, are you telling us that there’s no imminent danger to Daniel at the moment?”

  “Anastasia, one legal conflict with your family was enough to make it clear to us that we should stay on the good side of the law when you’re involved. Do you recall what the current state of the game is? If there’s anyone who can hurt another player, that would only be Mahan himself as there is no PvP limitation on Shadow powers. Enter the game yourself and see what happens. I’m confident that you will be pleased with the outcome. In any case, I’m counting on it. Have I assuaged your doubts or do you need an official response from the Corporation?”

  Stacey and I exchanged glances. She merely shrugged — it made no sense to be outraged until all the information was in. Thanking James for his explanations, we called the technicians to restore the connection, washed up, got dressed and ordered dinner from the kitchen Imitators. Then we sat down to spend some time together, since the technicians had promised to show up only the next morning and there was nothing better to do.

  “A while back, I came across a funny line: ‘I got off the web and discovered that my wife was a great conversationalist,’” I joked several hours later when we had turned to a discussion of the latest musical trends — which neither one of us really knew anything about. I had brought up the example of Lori and her band, which Plinto had been so mad about. Stacey, meanwhile, was obsessed with a trio named Larsi , a family band, in which the girl knew how to sing and loved to do it, while her parents hovered around her providing her with support and a rhythm section.

  “I’d never imagine that the phrase might apply to me.”

  “Agreed. The only time you and I spend together is in Barliona,” Stacey said. “I don’t even remember the last time I went out to town. Not to meet someone on business, I mean, but just to take a stroll, w
ander around the streets, meet some new people, be a normal person.”

  “With a security detail of ten bodyguards,” I smiled. “D’you forget about your leg, kitten? If some idiot fan like that creep decides to attack us, I won’t be of much use I’m afraid.”

  “Yes, I know,” Stacey said bitterly. “We’ll have to apologize to the Vecchi, by the way.”

  “So what’s the problem?” I was suddenly overcome with the desire to get Stacey out of the house. It’s not like we had to go strolling through dangerous neighborhoods…“You said that they live in our city. Let’s drop in for a visit.”

  “Nah,” Stacey was taken aback. “Dropping in on someone uninvited is rude. It’s not done. What if they’re in Barliona? Or they’re not home? Or…”

  “Then we’ll go home,” I refused to back down. “Or to the park. We can throw stones at the geese. At night, under the stars! Just imagine — you, me and some stupid geese! Pure romance!”

  “Those are swans,” Stacey corrected me with uncertainty creeping in her voice, which drove me to press more.

  “All the better! They’re not as dumb as geese, but swans make for bigger targets! Get your stuff. First we’ll go see what’s-her-name…Roxanne, and say a couple of kind words to her. And if she’s not home, the hell with her. We’ll dash off to the park! Are you with me, mademoiselle?”

  Bah! It’s too bad you don’t get to level up your skills in real life. The system would’ve definitely told me that I’d gotten bonuses to Charisma, Speech and Bartering, as well as some other tasty and useful stuff for a player. Stacey smiled and offered me her hand so I could help her get up, accepting my idea of a late outing despite the late hour.

  * * *

  “This is their place,” said Stacey, stepping out of the car and turning to face an enormous four-story castle. “Nice little mansion, don’t you think?”

  All I could do was grunt my assent. When we had only just left the city and headed in the direction of ‘moneybags village,’ I began to suspect that maybe just dropping in wasn’t the greatest idea I’d had. My suspicion grew stronger when we flew past several security posts — though no one dared to stop a Zavala car. But the fact that there was so much security there at all said plenty as it was. Now, standing in front of the enormous iron gates which were massive enough to serve as a respectable stretch of railroad track, I understood that I still had a ways to go to get used to my new social stratum. For example, my personal menagerie would never permit to throw massive amounts of money to the wind only to build an almost perfect copy of the Anhurs palace out in reality. And if it did let me, then I’d bawl them out myself.