by Pavel Kornev
Also! The icon of the “Accurate Strike” had now appeared in the two-handed weapon section. I could select it the next time. But first, I needed to read its description.
As for the quest received from the spirit, it had turned out not as easy as I’d first thought. I studied the map but saw no new markers, only a circular patch which now surrounded the lighthouse, with about a half a mile radius. You could spend any amount of time combing through the nearby hills in search of the desecrated remains of the first lighthouse keeper. Also, the storm outside was gaining strength.
I spent some more time walking around the tomb looking for something — anything — that could give me any ideas but found nothing, so I went outside. It was bucketing down. The looters’ tracks had long been washed away by the rain.
Just my luck.
I pulled my hood down over my face and stepped out the door. I was soaked instantly. I was even a bit jealous of the boy’s new leather jacket. I could use some kind of raincoat, preferably waterproof.
However, water from the sky was no threat to a deadman. It wasn’t holy, after all.
I decided against using “Incognito”, unwilling to waste internal energy. It wouldn’t conceal the PK mark, anyway. If I came across other players, a fight was inevitable. Even if somehow I doubted I would.
The downpour had extinguished the fires that had raged around the city but the gleaming of combat magic continued to flash on the streets of Stone Harbor. The dead hadn’t yet managed to take over the Tower of Power. All players must still be there.
I came to a fork in the road and turned off onto the trail that led to the hills. It meandered for a while until it brought me to the road leading to the ferry. Immediately a Death Disciple and two dead legionnaires appeared from around the bend. They set their sights on the boy. But the moment I took him by the hand, those servants of the Tower of Decay immediately lost all interest in him and continued on their way to the city.
We walked so for a while. When we’d reached the abandoned farm, I told the kid to climb into the attic of an empty shed and continued on my own. At first the mud in the road was covered in a multitude of fresh footprints. But as I turned a bend, every trace of them vanished. That set my alarm bells ringing. Still, I carried on for a while until my doubts got the better of me. I turned round and went back.
The footprints disappeared in a big puddle of rainwater by the roadside. A narrow trail disappeared into the thick bushes next to it. Not a trail even but rather a gap between two precipitous cliffs. That’s where I headed. Very soon I found myself standing at the edge of a canyon which ended with a gloomy gaping entrance into to a mine.
Another dungeon? How very original.
The tunnel’s wooden supports were crumbling and rotten. Still, I entered it without hesitation. Even if it collapsed on me, I wouldn’t respawn here but at the abandoned farm where the boy was waiting for me now, keeping my skull safe.
Darkness enveloped me. My night vision didn’t allow me to see any details, so I very nearly fell down an open hatch. I sensed an emptiness underfoot and froze. I groped around for a ladder and used it to come down, only to discover that the access to lower levels had been blocked by a pitfall from a side tunnel that appeared to have been freshly dug. A light glowed at its far end, too bright and level to be a torch or oil lamp.
Electricity?
Electricity my ass! That was magic!
Indeed, the light was emitted by veins of crystal permeating the ore. As I walked, the sorcerous light grew brighter and more sinister.
Two bone golems in mithril armor froze by the entrance to an underground hall. I approached them warily but they didn’t even budge. I stepped into the cavernous hall and shielded my eyes with my hand from the piercing light. It made everything appear clear and bright but at the same time strangely distorted. Grotesque figures cast sharp shadows across the floor. A Death Disciple, a few zombie crossbowmen and a bathful of blood made from a whole crystal.
A death sorcerer stood behind it, his skin taut over his skull. His nose was missing, his lips bloodless.
A Lich
The lighthouse keeper, transformed
For a moment I was taken aback. This must have been the lighthouse keeper which had gone missing a few days ago. And what about the remains of the first keeper? Where were they?
I discovered them in the crystal bath. The moment I saw them, a new system message appeared,
Defend or Die!
New objective: to abort the ritual
Piece of cake, yeah right! And what about my neutrality with the subjects of the Tower of Decay?
The moment I attacked them, I’d become their mortal enemy. And if I used Incognito, the bone golems would make mincemeat out of me just as I entered because they wouldn’t be able to see my Neutrality status.
But why should I fight them if I could just die?
I’d simply steal his remains. The moment I did so, the ritual would get aborted automatically. And even if it didn’t, at least one quest would be completed.
But I failed to bring this promising idea to fruition. I simply couldn’t stealth up. The sorcerous light that filled the grotto didn’t allow me to do it.
Damn this game balance! What’s the point leveling up rogue if the game developers try to hinder your progress at your every turn?
So what was I supposed to do now?
I couldn’t afford to lose my Neutrality with the subjects of the Tower of Gloom. After all, my objective was to procure a Scroll of Rebirth, not some ancient relics. And defending Stone Harbor, even less so. Having said that, all these additional quests weren’t only a source of XP but also offered new possibilities. If I could only manage it all!
Eureka! I clicked my fingers and hurried off.
00:00:03 ... 00:00:02 ... 00:00:01 ...
I began to act the moment my PK mark was gone. By then, the army of the dead had already captured most of Stone Harbor. In some places in the city there were still skirmishes going on, but the attackers simply avoided them, in a hurry to attack the Tower of Power.
The main entrance to the Silver Phoenix tavern was barricaded so I had to use the back door. I activated the Incognito, stole over to the door and knocked softly. There was a clanging of armor inside as someone came to the door.
“It’s John!” I said. “John the Scarecrow!”
Strangely enough, they opened straight away. Just my luck that the guard posted by the door was someone I knew.
“John?” Victor’s eyes widened as he let me in. “They said you’d been buried in the collapsed house!”
“I dug myself out,” I replied, sliding the bolt across. “Are there many of us in the game?”
“About a dozen. Why?”
“Need to talk. Let’s go.”
The atmosphere in the dining room was bleak. The few lucky survivors of yesterday’s battle peered sadly through the cracks in the boarded-up windows, occasionally checking on the progress of the Defend or Die quest. Grakh wasn’t among them. Most of the survivors had been the archers on the roofs.
“Graph’s been killed by the legionnaires,” Victor said, rubbing his tattooed head. «We’re in a power vacuum now.”
That complicated everything. I decided not to convince them to join me. Instead, I just sent them invitations to join the quest I’d just received in the crystal grotto.
“A new objective!” I announced out loud. “Everyone who joins is guaranteed to receive the Defender achievement!”
They hurried to study its requirements.
“But that means leaving the city,” one of them said disappointedly.
Luckily, Victor agreed with me. “Our main forces are now storming the Tower of Power,” he said pointedly. “We can do it. Sign me up.”
A few archers and a couple of gladiators immediately followed his example. They hadn’t logged in for a few days and had thus missed all the fun. Which was why they had now jumped at the opportunity to receive the coveted achievement.
&n
bsp; I didn’t feel the slightest pangs of conscience for my little white lie.
For them it was only a game. Whereas for me, this was a question of life and death.
This may sound like a typical excuse of every scoundrel throughout history but I decided not to beat myself up about it. I looked at the remaining players. “And you? You gonna hang here bored out of your heads?”
A dark-skinned bounty hunter in composite laminate armor nodded his agreement. “Okay, you’ve talked me into it. Let’s have some fun!”
After that, it was all plain sailing. No one wanted to stay behind in the tavern. In the end, our kamikaze group counted all of eleven people: too few to battle through to the Tower of Power but well enough for a lightning raid behind enemy lines.
“I’m gonna stealth up and go first,” I said once everyone had gathered by the back door. “If I notice any deadmen, I’ll let you know. Don’t attack anyone before I do that!”
“We know, we know,” Victor cut me short, laying an arrow across his longbow. “Come on now! I need to log out soon!”
I flung the door open and stepped outside.
STRANGELY ENOUGH, we didn’t have problems getting out of the city. The battle was still raging in the center of town, leaving the outskirts deserted. We hadn’t met anybody on our way, either dead or alive.
With one exception: as we’d already reached the hills, a Death Disciple appeared out of nowhere accompanied by two dead legionnaires. We made quick work of them. In one lightning lunge, the bounty hunter flew at the sorcerer and cleft his head with a scimitar while the archers peppered the legionnaires with arrows.
“There’re two golems guarding the entrance to the grotto,” I warned the others as we’d approached the tunnel. “Watch out.”
They nodded a nonchalant agreement. But the moment we’d reached the lower level, the gladiators launched themselves onto the golems, blocking the archers’ field of fire. A gladiator’s net immobilized one of the golems, allowing the other players to easily chop him to bits with their swords. Unfortunately, they immediately paid for their indiscretion. A spell rocketed out of the cave, showering everyone with cascades of gray sparks, and cremated them on the spot.
The surviving golem headed for us. Bowstrings began to twang. The golem staggered but remained standing, virtually unharmed. The bounty hunter stepped forward, parried the golem’s spear and gave him a God-awful whack on his helmet with his scimitar. I slid past the mechanical monster and darted into the grotto.
The Death Disciple stepped in my way. His hands oozed a ghostly glow which pushed me in the chest but failed to do me any harm. The low ceiling prevented me from taking a good swing with my two-handed sword, so I thrust my flamberge into him at full tilt, transpiercing him. I forced him onto his back, yanked the sword out and slashed him across the head several times.
Damage received: 48! 67! 42! 55! 63!
A group of five zombies loosed off their crossbows into me. No amount of evasion could help me dodge the bolts at such short range. I staggered but regained my balance and leapt aside.
Not a moment too soon. A second group did the same, their bolts striking sparks off the wall.
A black-flighted arrow flew past me, hitting the empty eye socket of the nearest zombie, sending him to the ground. Ignoring the zombies already reloading their crossbow, I went for the lich.
“Scythe of death”!
The undulating blade struck the reborn lighthouse keeper and rebounded, very nearly flying out of my sprained grip. Was he immune to conventional weapons?
The next moment, the sorcerer grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight, breaking my fingers like dry twigs.
“Touch of death!”
“Paralysis”: defense intact!
The leach had almost immobilized me. And since conventional weapons couldn’t hurt him, I had to use the “Soulkiller”. The blow dealt by my left hand had been inaccurate so the bone hook had barely grazed the dead man but he recoiled like a devil from an exorcist.
Damage dealt!
With my next swing I ripped his thigh open, then hit him in the neck but missed and severed his collarbone instead. A crossbow bolt hit me in the back, stripping me of another 50 pt. health, but that didn’t force me to retreat.
I kept lunging at him in an amuck-like state. Kill the bastard! Slice him up! Take him apart!
Even when the dead lighthouse keeper collapsed, I kept thrusting the hook into his unyielding flesh. Take that! And again!
The Lich has been killed! The task “Abort the ritual” is completed!
Experience: +2 000 [11 978/12 900]; +2 000 [12 022/12 900]
Undead, the level is raised! Rogue, the level is increased!
I turned away from the shredded body. By then, the others had already smoked all the crossbowmen. By the same token, only four of our archers had survived.
I slid the hook behind my belt and tried to pick up the flamberge lying on the floor. My broken fingers wouldn’t function. Dammit!
As if echoing my thoughts, a voice said behind my back,
“What the hell? The task is still at ninety-nine percent!”
I looked back at the anxious Victor, “Wait a bit. I’m gonna sort it all out now.”
I turned to the archers, “Vacate the room!”
They ignored my words as they continued to loot the bodies. I cussed, flung my flamberge on my shoulder and left the grotto first.
Victor ran after me. “John? You sure it’s gonna work?” he asked me anxiously as he caught up with me in the tunnel.
“Don’t even doubt it.”
We climbed out of the tunnel back into the open. The half-elf stopped in his tracks and whistled in surprise. “The storm is over!”
Indeed, the downpour had stopped. The clouds had disappeared. The trees above the canyon’s edge were no longer bending in the wind.
“It worked!” Victor exclaimed as he began climbing the crude steps cut into the rock.
I couldn’t follow him so easily with my broken hand which was why I let all the other players follow him first and only then scrambled up to them. The view from the top of the cliff was quite encouraging. The wind had died down. The long silhouettes of barges crossed the lake’s calm waters. Had it not been for the sun blazing down from the sky, it would have been perfect. Honestly, being a deadman, I much preferred the gloom of the stormy twilight. The sunlight was just too much for my eyes.
“Look!” one of the players shouted. “The reinforcements are coming!”
Indeed, the moment the first ship entered the harbor, a new system message popped up,
The task “Defend or Die” is completed!
Achievement received: “Defender of Stone Harbor” Grade 1.
Experience: +2 500 [14 478/15 350]; +2 500 [14 522/15 350]
Undead, the level is raised! Rogue, the level is increased!
Awesome! Two more levels earned! Had I not been afraid of falling to my death into the canyon, I would have danced. The others, however, showed no such restraint. My ears rang with their whistling and cheerful cajoling.
“Let’s go smoke some zombies!” someone shouted the moment the first flashes of combat spells exploded by the pier.
“And some Lighties!” Victor agreed.
Everybody hurried down the hill. He lingered next to me. “John? Aren’t you coming?”
“No. I need to log out soon,” I lied.
But was it a lie? Now that the siege of Stone Harbor was over, nothing prevented Garth from coming here. I needed to make myself scarce.
“I see,” he nodded his understanding. “And where are you going afterwards?”
I saw no point in making a secret of my plans, so I replied in all honesty, “To the Tower of Darkness.”
“What, to the capital? See you there, then. I might be there in a week’s time. Grakh asked me if I’d join the clan.”
I just laughed. “I don’t think there’s much chance of us meeting up in the capital!”
“Why not?
We’ve completed a quest together, haven’t we? Now we’ll always know each other’s location. Okay! I’ll see you around!”
He hurried to rejoin the rest. I froze open-mouthed.
What had he just said about knowing each other’s locations?
That didn’t make sense.
I opened my settings and began looking through them. He was indeed right. You could go back to any of the quests you’d completed and locate any of the players that had participated in them.
Dammit!
So that’s how Garth had always managed to find me! He’d taken the skull out of the playpen, hadn’t he?
And just think of all the lies he’d told me! I was like an open book to him, yeah right! Telling me it was pointless to hide from him! Saying he’d always find me...
And the answer was simple.
I found the right quest and launched a map search for my pursuer. Much to my disappointments, Garth turned out to be very close from where I was. His marker was located near the bridge which was currently contested by the deadmen and the army of Light. Luckily, Garth was still on the far bank.
I had to get away from here.
Still, I suppressed my first impulse. I removed the tick from the box which had allowed him to track me. Only then did I scramble down the slope, slowly and gingerly. Very slowly and very gingerly.
A stupid death could upset all my plans. Wasting several hours resurrecting was the last thing I needed.
9
BACK IN THE CRYSTAL grotto, I fished out the stolen remains from the bath of blood, quickly wiped my hands and was already heading to the exit when I noticed the bone golem’s pauldron — a crumpled piece of black mithril — which must have flown off into the wall. I didn’t want to leave it lying around. I placed it in my inventory and hurried off to the lighthouse. I popped in on the abandoned farm on my way and called the boy who’d been hiding in the attic.
