The Kartoss Gambit (The Way of the Shaman: Book #2)

by Vasily Mahanenko

  "I stood up for another prisoner, who was set up at the mine. Then I killed the culprit. I was thrown for respawn and the commission for prisoner affairs ruled that I should be given three character levels and Friendly status with the guards. And then it was simple: Rats. I'm a Shaman, who can summon Spirits, and rat tails provided a decent reputation increase. So that's how I got out in three months. You could say I just got damn lucky."

  "You got lucky with the Dungeon too?" now Hellfire joined our conversation.

  "To be honest, yes. Eric, one of our five-strong group, saw a dot in a mountain. He played Barliona before prison as a tank, so we believed him. That dot turned out to be a cave entrance. We completed the Malachite gathering quest and went through the Dungeon. It was aimed right at our level, so it wasn't too difficult."

  "But Eric, as you call him, Leite and Clutzer said it was actually pretty hard," judging by the way Hellfire was watching me, he was expecting some sort of a reaction. It was strange, but the more time I spent in Anastaria's company, the more I wanted to curl up in a ball under her feet. She's just an ordinary girl, even if unbelievably beautiful, with such wonderful hair that you want to... Right, pull yourself together, you sop!

  "'Hard' is when you've had a hundred wipes and are out of ideas on how to keep going. When a Dungeon is completed at the first attempt — it's not that hard," where was I getting all this confidence from? "And how did you find out about Leite, Clutzer and Eric?"

  "They've gone through a trial and became our Recruits. They're part of Phoenix now. When you get to Anhurs, drop by our clan's representative office. You're expected there already. When you complete the trial, you'll join us as well," Hellfire did not have a shred of doubt that I would be unable to turn down his offer, and my pride reared its head. So what's this then — Eric, Leite and Clutzer are already in Phoenix? Have all our plans for creating our own clan gone to the dogs now? Well, you can all go bugger yourselves! I won't join, and that's that! Damn, this really has got to me. I was really hoping that I could play the remainder of my sentence with others like me — former prisoners. But it didn't turn out that way at all...

  "Right, we're done with small talk, now to business. We are looking for a squad of dark goblins. They're roaming around somewhere in this region. Have you seen anything?"

  "Can't you see from the air who's where?" I was genuinely surprised.

  "That's the problem — there's a ziggurat standing in this area, with a forty-kilometre radius of effect."

  A ziggurat? This was serious! I went to the manual to refresh my memory with the description of this wonder from Kartoss.

  Ziggurat — is a unique Kartoss device for suppressing the maps and airborne forces of the enemy. A Ziggurat conceals a certain area of the map and is located in a random spot of the covered area. It is impossible to conduct a search from the air in an area affected by a ziggurat: all Kartoss buildings and units gain the 'Invisibility' buff.

  "Have you fallen asleep?"

  "Eh? No, just thinking. A ziggurat in this province? Guys, are you sure you're not confusing something? All right, there may be a squad of dark goblins, even ten quads with ten goblins in each. They are all level twenty-thirty. A ziggurat is something a lot more serious! Only a Magister can set one up! Why would there be a Dark Magister of Kartoss in the Krong province?"

  "You really aren't a noob," smiled Anastaria. "When you join the clan, I'll take you into my squad. Although... stop! Hel, drive!"

  A gust rushed through the area. Hellfire, who was standing a couple of meters away, was suddenly sitting on me — I was pinned to the ground and practically immobilised.

  "Stacey, what happened?" though Hellfire didn't understand anything, he carried out Anastaria's command without question. Like an experienced raider — first do, then ask why. It's the only way it works in the Dungeons.

  "Our little Shaman here is getting just a little too curious. Are we looking at competition here? Even if he's too much of a small fish to be a competitor. Hel, think about it: we didn't say how many goblin squads there were. We didn't say what level they were. We didn't say how many goblins there were in each squad. But Mahan told us all these things just like that, while the Herald shared this information with us as highly confidential. You don't find it all a bit strange?"

  "You think the Seconds hired him?" Hellfire's voice became steely. He bent my head so I saw his grey eyes. "Mahan? Is there something you want to tell us?" Or will we have to be persuading you? You think I don't know what the red band on your head means?"

  "Just let me go, I'll tell you all I know," I growled. Hellfire looked questioningly at Anastaria, waited for her nod and got off me. Phew! Right, the time had come to spill the beans. I got up, flexed my neck that was roughed up by Hellfire and began my tale:

  "It so happens that I was the one who discovered the first squad of dark goblins. I found it and destroyed it, taking its leader prisoner," I recounted that entire fight, including the 'Romeo and Juliet' achievement. I kept quiet about the Wolves, since they weren't really connected to the goblins.

  "That's how I got hold of a work team. They are mining the ore not far from here. That's it, I think."

  Hellfire and Anastaria even laughed when I told them about how I lured out the goblins, but as soon as I mentioned the work team, they immediately fell silent.

  "So those ten were yours?" Hellfire finally muttered, after the tale of my adventures had come to an end.

  "Were?"

  "You see, we've already been roaming this territory in search of goblins for two days," Anastaria's tone was strangely apologetic. "We only found out about the ziggurat today, when we were adding our route to the maps. Anyway, we saw your goblins from the air, took them for a dark goblin squad and because our quest said 'destroy' we didn't even bother landing. You know what a meteor shower is, right? Well, I'm afraid you don't have a work group anymore."

  "What???"

  "Right, chill it" intervened Hellfire. "You should put up signs when you hire work groups. You can take any complaints to the clan, they'll be reviewed there."

  "Hel, there's no need to be this way. He's a small-fry, where would he get the money? You could say he had a great stroke of luck, and we just stripped him of ten grand in gold."

  "Ehh, Stacey! One day your kindness would bring our clan to ruin! Here you go!" Hellfire threw me seven thousand gold into the trade window." "The cost of a beginner level work group ranges between ten and a hundred gold. The annual profit that they could generate for you wouldn't exceed ten thousand gold, so you can't have any claims against the clan from the financial side. On behalf of the Phoenix clan please accept my apologies for this misunderstanding. I hope that your gaming experience has not suffered. Stacey, let's keep flying, we have another square to cover."

  "Mahan, if you see the goblins, let me know," Anastaria handed me a communication amulet. "Call me right away."

  The griffins soared into the sky, leaving me in a state of complete befuddlement. Seven thousand gold is good, of course, but now I would have to mine the ore myself. I wonder if they took the gathered ore or just left it lying on the ground. If they didn't actually land, it should still be there. I have to go and check. I’ll do some swinging with my pick as well, take my anger out on a Tin Vein at least. Why does Phoenix think that all the players owe them? And, most importantly, how could Eric, Leite and Clutzer flake out on me like that?

  The mine was transformed after the meteorite attack. There were huge holes and piles of stones and not a trace of my workers. The place where the ore was collected was also worse for wear, or rather, it had simply disappeared under a pile of enormous rocks. Even if my former workers did gather anything, it was impossible to get at it now. Damn! I took out my pick and unleashed my fury on the vein. Although why get angry? Some high-level players flew by, made it clear who was boss around here, paid some money and flew off. Same as everywhere else.

  “Oi, you there,” a rough voice interrupted my involved, Tin Vein-facil
itated anger management session. I'd taken off about 40% of its durability in about half an hour. Not bad for a vein of this level. My hand still remembered how these things were done. “Wotcha mucking about with here?”

  Taught by experience, I looked up. There was another standard griffin and a great bird of flame. I knew well enough who it was that managed to get his hands on the only phoenix in the game. The Dark Legion clan, or, ‘Seconds’, as everyone called them behind their backs. The phoenix was carrying none other than Plinto, the head of the clan, a three hundred and thirty-level player. A rogue. Hellfire offered him a crazy amount of money to buy out the phoenix, but Plinto laughed at his requests. He said that this was showing Phoenix's proper place – under Plinto's… Basically, there was a non-stop war between these two clans. Phoenix's strength was in their mastery, while the Dark Legion's was in greater numbers. When a crowd of a hundred 100-level players are trying to catch a level 200 player, the outcome of the battle is very hard to predict. The Dark Legion had tens of thousands of members — Plinto accepted everyone. This included those rejected by Phoenix and those eager to take part in capturing a castle. Almost all high-level PKers were members of this clan, but the Dark Legion always remained in the second place. Right now I had two main players from this clan floating above me. I seem to be having quite a day for running into people.

  “I’m mining ore,” I had little desire to be rude to Plinto, who was famous for his short temper. He could send me for respawn in the blink of an eye.

  “Have you seen any goblins?”

  I could barely restrain myself from saying that I was looking at a couple right now.

  “Yes, there were ten of them in this mine. Then Hellfire and Anastaria from Phoenix flew by and destroyed them. You can see the result: total chaos and ruin.” They really shouldn’t have killed off my workers. It wasn’t much, but it was still revenge.

  “They’re here?! Dronn, call in reinforcements!”

  “Plinto, we can’t. Remember the conditions of the quest? Only two clan representatives on this territory. Any more would mean a fail. We’ve already found two groups out of nine. Those bastards got at least one. Who the heck knows how many duos are still flying about in the Free Lands?”

  “Then get mercenaries! I need twenty level-200 mercenaries. They have to slow Phoenix down. We could use an extra twelve hours. We'll be first!” Plinto looked at me: “Where did you see them last?”

  “Not far from there, they flew off that way,” I waved in the direction the killers of my work team had departed.

  “Quick, let’s follow them! Here, take this for the info,” Plinto opened a trade window and threw me seven hundred gold. “If you see them again, give me a call,” a communication amulet landed on me after the money. There was a slight breeze and both players were quickly out of sight.

  Let’s see. What’s going on here? What kind of a quest would be limited to only two clan members? And we're talking about the most powerful clans too. I remembered the Mayor’s words: "The search for the remaining eight squads is being carried out by eight heroes that had been hired by the Heralds." So this means that four more must be flying around here somewhere. Plus the ziggurat. Plus the coordinator. Right, stop. This has nothing to do with me. I got a better grip on the pick and continued to smash the Tin Vein. My task is simple – live a quiet life and don’t bother anyone. I had little desire to get involved in clan disputes.

  Attention! The ‘Last Hope’ quest chain has been blocked due to the destruction of Grey Death and her pack. Pack respawn time: 4 months.

  I blinked in surprise at the message that popped up. The wolves have been killed… I had high hopes of getting a nice bonus at the end of this rare quest chain… But then these high-level players flew in and destroyed everything… I threw myself at the Tin Vein in powerless rage. Why am I so unlucky of late?

  Experience gained: +10 Experience; points remaining until next level: 8145.

  Skill increase:

  +40% to Mining. Total: 101%. Mining increased by 13.

  +2% to Stamina. Total: 60%.

  +2% to Strength. Total: 67%.

  I looked at the results of my work: Seven pieces of Tin Ore. Maybe I really should forget everything and just keep levelling up in the mining profession? You don’t have to think or make any decisions. Just swing the pick without a care in the world. I picked up the ore and walked over to the next vein. I had twenty hours before I had to return to Beatwick, veins respawn every day, and there was plenty of food. I’ll just stay here and work.

  By the end of the day I'd smashed six more veins and raised my Mining profession to level 14, made small gains in Experience, Stamina and Strength, and also got forty pieces of Tin Ore. Working in the advancing twilight was awkward, so I trudged off to the village. When you knew the way, it took just two hours of unhurried walking. Right next door, you could say.

  In about thirty minutes I came out of the forest and saw a site of battle. Not as much of battle as the immediate death of the wolf pack. The bodies of the wolves, the leader and Grey Death were strewn about twenty meters away from an enormous black crater. Strange that the wolves didn't disappear as soon as they were killed. Dead mobs do not despawn only in one case – if they are still part of a quest. Like the wolves whose tails I collected the other day. Ah! Should I take the tail off Grey Death as well? That way I’d at least complete the Village Headman’s assignment…

  The tail of the she-wolf practically fell into may hands of its own accord, after which the entire pack faded away. That’s it. They’ve served their purpose.

  Quest 'The Hunt for Grey Death' completed. Speak to the Beatwick Headman.

  I continued on my way, but then a small speck caught my eye.

  I came closer. It was a piece of paper, held down by a rock. Who would be littering the expanses of Barliona with something that doesn't exactly cost a pittance? I kicked away the rock, picked up the paper and read the text, written in neat handwriting:

  “Hello again, Mahan. I decided not to bring up Jewelcrafting in Anastaria’s presence, but this topic is of great interest to me. In his report Eric pointed out that you have three levels in Crafting. He mentioned your rings separately, as well as how you brought down Rats with your Spirits. I know full well how Crafting is gained and how you level up in it. In my clan only twenty people have this stat, and only four of them have it at a higher level than you.

  Now, to business. I weighed up all the pros and cons, and am now quite sure that you are none other than the Jeweller who crafted the Orc Warriors from the Kardamont chess set. We’ll talk about them separately, it’s not like you actually need them. But now is not the time for that conversation. Anastaria’s birthday is a month away and she is crazy about chess. According to the rules, Dwarf Warriors are the next part of the set to be crafted. These are what I need. Everyone knows about the orcs (there are hundreds of fakes on the Anhurs market now), but no-one has the dwarves. Go to the Bank, use password ‘Hellfire-Lapis Lazuli-dwarves’, and you’ll receive the materials needed to make them. Because of the limitations imposed by the assignment Anastaria and I are doing and your compulsory presence in Beatwck, I cannot recruit you into the clan at this time, but you should know that you will become a Master in Phoenix as soon as our search is finished. In a couple of weeks I will drop by for the results, wait for me in Beatwick.

  P.S. Sorry about the wolves. Judging by the fact that they have not despawned, these were quest-related mobs. Since you’re the only player I met in this location, these were probably your wolves. I will leave the letter for you here – you’re sure to come across the wolves tomorrow if not today.

  P.P.S. Don’t let me down. If Anastaria fails to get her present, I will be very upset…

  Hellfire, head of the Phoenix clan.”

  So, looks like Eric and Co. have sold me out completely. I'd been very naïve and revealed all my cards to them with the Crafting skill, but those gits went and changed all their plans the moment they were offered a
place in a leading clan. And really, who the heck am I? Just some prisoner, whom they've only known for just a couple of weeks. What have I got to offer them in the game? Nothing. But in Phoenix they would be protected from ninety percent of other players. Except for the Dark Legion, no-one wants to get on Phoenix’s bad side. Good call, guys, covered your asses well and good! And Hellfire, he's a piece of work... Decided to make a present. Via an offer you can't refuse. Killed my wolves too! Who the hell does he think he is?

  If any player crossed my path at that moment, I would have attacked him without a second thought. If you're surrounded only by schmucks, it’s easier to serve the rest of the sentence at the mine — just mining the ore every day and making rings, without a worry about the future.

  By the time I was approaching Beatwick, my conscience got the better of me. To hell with Hellfire, I don’t care about him, but Anastaria… She never did anything bad to me and even protected me after a fashion from the dwarf. And I sent Plinto in her direction. Just doesn’t seem right. Taking out her one-way communication amulet, I squeezed it and called up Anastaria.

  “Yes,” sounded the paladin's divine voice. “Who is this?”

  “Hi, Anastaria. This is Mahan, we met this morning…”

  “Mahan! Where are you now? What quest are you on?” Anastaria’s anxious voice interrupted me.

  “What do you mean, ‘where’? I’m walking up to my place of exile. Beatwick. What happened?”

  “All right, we’ll get to that. What do you need me for? Did you come across another goblin squad?” I may have been imagining this, but was Anastaria either catching her breath or trying to quickly come to a decision?

  “It might as well have been goblins. At the mine where you killed my work team I ran across Plinto. He’s also looking for the goblin squads. To top it off, I overheard his conversation with his deputy. They found three squads and there are four more players flying around this area. That’s it from me, I think. I wanted to warn you about Plinto and pass on the information about the goblins.”