Soulcatcher

by Sergey Zaytsev

  "Thank you," I said almost sincerely, accepting the offered quest.

  Then I crossed the briefing room, stepped over the threshold of the "Replicator" and staggered down the path to the inn, preparing myself for the upcoming accomplishments.

  "The Destroyer's" pack kicked our asses with discouraging ease. The damn "Mark"…

  I reached the following conclusion: my mentor was an ordinary person, and was not immune to elementary mistakes, as the case on the river bank demonstrated. Grant didn't know much and couldn't foresee much because of his ignorance. It was time to think with my own head, so as not to blame someone else later. I will be leveling until I flatline. I didn't want to waste a single minute.

  An hour, you say, to get back to normal…

  I'd have to make haste to complete all of my "Daisy Chores" within an hour.

  Chapter 12

  "Village chores"

  The fairies followed me as soon as I started shambling towards the inn along the ring road connecting all the buildings in the village.

  These lovely creatures were obviously natural empaths, and my were emotions an open book for them. Provoking sympathy, the fairies surrounded me in a buzzing cloud, like bees around a hive. Their little eyes looked at me with sympathy with and tiny fingers touched my face. One even patted me on the cheek and, feeling shy, disappeared in the bushes.

  I wanted to reach the inn as soon as possible, but rushing never led to anything good. My quick pace was slowed down by the hellish headache. I had to stop for a bit, and wait to get better. The sword resting on my shoulder felt as if it weighed a ton, but I didn't dare to drop it, feeling that to lift it again would be harder. Why was the inn suddenly so far away…?

  Having nothing better to do, I stared at the village.

  It was 5AM, and the place was as empty and as quiet as a graveyard. There was not a single living thing around. Not counting the fairies, of course, I'm talking about the players. Part of the village, the one that was behind the hill of the "Seat", was lost in the morning haze, and the "Training Grounds" were almost invisible. If one looked to the right, over the forest and right behind the "Town Hall", they could see the edge of the cold, white light which had just started its daily ascent to heaven. New day, new worries. Twelve hours down the drain. Instead of resting in a bed, like all normal people, I had to relive the assembly process in the sarcophagus.

  With a sigh, I moved on...

  ...only to pause again. With purpose in her step, Alice ran down the stairs. Noticing me, she stopped and, tilting her head, examined me from head to toe as if she was witnessing "The Appearance of Christ before the People" with her own eyes.

  "Heading from the 'Replicator'?"

  People here sure knew how to ask rhetorical questions. Where else could I have come from looking so...dashing? The difference in our appearances was striking

  A "tomboy" haircut framing a pretty, yet too lean face; one wouldn't pay attention to her while passing by. But now, face to face, or rather, her face to my shoulder, Alice seemed fine as hell. Her petite figure was proportionally built and perfectly highlighted by her outfit; a black jacket with silver inserts, breeches and boots. Everything was done in the same style. On her hip was a dagger in a sheath made of blackened leather and metal. The girl's fist tightly gripped a composite bow with intricately curved limbs, decorated with the same silver inserts as her outfit. It was not hard to guess where it all had come from - The Destroyer's dungeon. She was not a girl, but the embodiment of success in the field of gaming.

  And then there was I - a shrill t-shirt, shorts and a piece of iron, thrown over the shoulder like a thill... I might have been ashamed had it not been for the pain. But, for some, reason I wanted to laugh. Nervously, with a low, stifled laugh. I couldn't hold back a stupid joke:

  "Nah, I just like to run around the village in my underwear."

  "Where's Grant?" she asked, totally ignoring my attempt at being humorous.

  Damn, was Grant the only fish in the sea, or what? Here I was in front of her, suffering, and she wouldn't so much as talk to me... Too late I realized that I hadn't asked Ears about Grant's fate. Feeling as the Devil himself had established a portable forge in my head and was hammering at my skull like there was no tomorrow, such an oversight wasn't surprising.

  "Like hell if I know... Believe it or not," I hardly muttered. "Maybe he is in the inn, or maybe…"

  "No need to be rude," the blonde harshly interrupted me, narrowing her eyes, grey as the rainy autumn sky. "He's not at the inn. What happened to you? Didn't you get to the 'Temple'? And who battered you like this?"

  While she was firing questions like a machine-gun, another afterthought came to my poor head. I never found out if Grant had ever actually died or not. Hell... If this was his second death, I would have to level up on my own for six more hours. And if it was his third... Then I was a totally fucked. No, no, I better think positive.

  "You are as useless as a white crayon, Wise," snickered the blonde, and without waiting for a response added, "Fine, I'll find out at the 'Replicator', I needed supplies anyway. You're free to go."

  Immediately losing interest in me, Alice ran down the stairs. She moved swiftly and quickly making it look as if she barely touched the ground with her heels. Turning my eyes from her swaying hips, I entered the inn.

  However, before I could reach my room, I had to hobble over to the inn's administrator.

  Unlike Ears, this guy seemed friendlier and his monitoring system worked better. As soon as I took a break at the counter, a familiar fat man dressed in brown suede appeared from the parlor behind it. First time I saw him with no activated interface, and now, looking at his nickname, I read the expectedly brief info.

  Turcan, the innkeeper

  The man knew what I needed but his reply stunned me.

  "Only the first time is free."

  "And how much is it now?" I sighed sadly, knowing that I would have to walk around the woods in my underwear.

  "Jacket and pants are two 'socs' each; belt and flask, one 'soc' each."

  "Are you storing those 'socs' for rainy days?" I grumbled. "What do you need those for? You're ripping all of us off, aren't you?"

  Turcan nodded, me apparently not being the first one to accuse him, and beckoned me into his parlor. My arrival had distracted the innkeeper from his tea; a cup of the freshly brewed beverage stood on a low table near the sofa, next to which was a floating, holographic screen. The "Caretaker" clearly doesn't live here; it's too basic. However, it wasn't his breakfast he wanted to show me. Turcan ran his fingers across the control panel on the screen, and a few dozen holes the size of a fist opened on the back wall of the office with a quiet buzz. Gently glowing inside them where the faceted crystals.

  "The 'socs' go here," Turcan jerked his chin in the direction of the cells. "Power slots. This room provides power for the entire settlement. The 'Replicator', the 'Town Hall', the 'Training Grounds'..."

  Grant mentioned it before, back when we were taming Glutton. But I didn't get the full scale of this... The world interested me even more now. It turns out that the crystals are literal batteries. And then it hit me... Glutton! What happened to it? All our bets were on it!

  "Turcan, you seem like a decent man... Could you answer a couple of questions unrelated to your professional field?"

  "Go on," the fatty smiled encouragingly. "It all runs like clockwork here, so I have time. You want some tea?"

  "Thanks, but I have no time for tea. Tell me, what happens to the pet after its owner's death?"

  "If the pet survives, and the threat is eliminated, then nothing will happen to it. It goes into 'offline' mode till the owner is back. And if the pet dies, it is possible to revive it in the 'Stables'. There a 'Pet Replicator' there."

  "In the 'Stables'?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Never heard of it. Where is it?"

  "It's not encouraged to appear in the village with animals, so they have a separate place, a stone's throw from 'Daisy'. Up t
o level five you had business with the 'Stables' as you couldn't use them, system limitations, and all that. Its services are simple – renting mounts and reviving pets. 'Caretaker' Catch is in charge of the 'Stables'. Taciturn type, but his work doesn't require much talking…"

  "Damn…" I grimaced, trying to ignore the persistent headache. "How many times can you do it? Revive the pet, I mean."

  "The pet gets as many saves as the player has at the time of its taming. I'm sorry, but you hit your question limit," Turcan guiltily chuckled. "The rules here are the same for everyone; the players themselves have to figure out how the game works. Yes, and these questions, as you pointed out, are not from 'field'. Mr. Esco won't pat me on the head for this liberty, but sometimes you want to send these rules to hell and talk to someone heart to heart."

  "Understood. And thank you."

  Oh shit. I had no clue about the question limit. Why were they so afraid of Esco? How would he know about the conversation? Not like Turcan was about to go and personally report it to him. Still, I noted this "Overseer". Maybe later I would be able to find out something interesting from him. I could learn about pets and "Stables" from other players; more important questions and should be saved for the "Overseers". Like, for example, what the hell am I even doing in this game? But it was clear that he wouldn't answer that question just yet. It's fine, I'm patient. I will wait for the right moment.

  "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to warn you," Turcan gasped anxiously as I turned to leave. "The room is yours till tonight, and then you will have to pay two 'socs' per day... You heard me, stop making such a sour face! You are level four already, you should be able to earn 'socs' without a problem."

  "Wait a minute," I frowned. "You didn't tell me how much the 'Pet Seed' and the 'Duplicator' are worth. There's no way I could do without them."

  "I'm sorry, buddy, but those things are only given once. Look around where you had lost it. Anything else I can help you with?" Turcan asked, looking at me with restrained sympathy.

  I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He was really not to blame for my losses, and rules were rules. "Duplicator" and the "Seed"... Yeah. My traps remained in the bag near the campfire. Now, weather I wanted it or not, I would have to rush there headlong. Unease latched onto my soul like a leech; according to the "Murphy's law", something bad was bound to happen and usurp my hard-earned stuff. I was less worried about the "Bone Slayers"; if my corpse near the flooded tree on the bank of "The Affluent" had not yet been found, the twin daggers would not go anywhere. How strange that sounded, "my corpse"…

  Briefly nodding at the innkeeper, I went to the room.

  My mood was nowhere near fine, and my health was even worse, but I needed to hurry.

  A slight touch and the lock clicked open. I took off my clothes and climbed into the shower mentally activating the water. Thirty seconds later, the "Heaven's Grace" aura was bestowed on me, and after a few minutes more the phantom pains started to subside. There was a lot to think about. But I didn't have the slightest desire to strain my brain. I wanted peace and quiet. At least for a minute. After all, as soon as I cross the threshold of the room, I won't know rest for a long time.

  A demanding knock at the door disturbed my tranquility.

  I guess my head was not clear enough since I went straight out of the shower to find out who was there. For some reason, I thought it was Grant. Wet feet sploshing, I opened the door. And saw Alice. It was too late to try and cover myself somehow. I had to pretend to be one of those macho guys who didn't care if a woman was present. Although, it was terribly awkward, of course.

  The girl's eyes widened in surprise, but, to her credit, she instantly curbed her emotions. Smiling subtly, she glanced at me from head to toe – and I was, of course, buck naked.

  "We have a thing to discuss, Wise. If you step aside, I'll come in and explain what I want from you."

  "Do you want to wait till I get dressed?" I hid the awkwardness behind a sarcastic grin.

  "Don't worry about it," carelessly dropped the blonde. "Nothing I haven't already seen."

  Who said words couldn't hurt?

  Apparently, she was the type who felt decency is a must. Or rather, everything related to her personally was decent, the rest didn't count. Other people's feelings were other people's problems. This arrogance simultaneously fascinated and irritated. Should I slam the door in her face and send her back into the woods? I was, however, interested to hear what she wanted from me.

  I had no other choice but let her into the room.

  She still had the same bow in her right hand. I wondered why it was not behind her back. In her left hand was a spare bag. I say "spare", because another one hanged from her shoulder. With a light step, the archer went to the bed with a light step, gracefully sat on its edge, and threw the bow next to her. Once more, she stared at me with scornful superiority, like a royal lady at a servant. Clearly she was determined to test how strong my nerves were. Psychologically, the man was very vulnerable without any clothes on, and Alice knew this, as her shameless eyes revealed. I drove the feeling of discomfort deep inside and pulled the clothes onto my wet body. I knew there was a towel in the linen closet, but drying myself in front of her would be too much.

  "I hope you're alright. There is no time to hole up in the room."

  Was she mocking me on purpose or did she not know what happened to the player after the "Replicator"? Maybe she never died and therefore did not understand what a delightful bunch of negative feelings the revived had to deal with without the injection? Dressed, I felt much more confident and decided to remain calm. Anger was a weakness, the best weapon in a situation like this was light irony.

  "Do you really worry about my health, or are you just being polite?"

  "Has anyone ever told you that you're unfriendly?" the girl asked with an innocent voice.

  "Do you always answer a question with a question or are you making an exception for me?"

  "Touché," the smile was almost lovely, but her eyes revealed no warmth at all. Better keep an eye on her.

  "So what do you want? Did you decide to get 'in touch' with me while Grant's not around, or did you simply come to recruit me for your clan?"

  "Get ready. You're coming with me."

  Confidently, she tossed me quite a huge bag. I looked inside and found a jacket, a pair of pants, a belt, and a "Tincture". A full beginner's kit, except for the "Duplicator" and the "Seed". That's new.

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "A token of goodwill," smiled Alice. "And not need to feel indebted, you'll repay me tonight."

  My opinion of the girl improved considerably.

  No matter her motives, the main thing was that she helped me. After all, I had no one here to address, so the help was timely and deserved special gratitude. She was right to remind me about the debt. It was never my thing to accept free gifts from strangers, I felt better to pay them back right away.

  Acquired quest: "Debtor"

  Conditions: Return eight soul crystals to the player "Alice".

  Time to complete: 8h

  Reward: 100 XP

  Penalty for non-completion: XP reduced by 100 for each overdue hour.

  I mentally counted to ten as not to swear in her presence. Today was obviously not my day; surprises were jumping out at me from every corner. What a motherfucking clever system. It tracked everything, from the amount of "socs" to the execution time, so that the player's didn't have to worry about it. And being a debtor here needed to be particularly disadvantageous.

  "So, where am I supposed to go?"

  "Where? Don't you want to know what happened to Grant?"

  Grant. Of course this was about him. I would have figured it out sooner if Alice hadn't interrupted my contemplation. After all, she was interested in him only.

  "I know what happened to him," I snapped at her, grimly bringing my eyebrows together. "He fell into the river with an arrow in his throat, and his body was swept away by the current."
r />   "Did it happen at the 'Temple's' pier?" the blonde's stare was tenacious and attentive, like an interrogator's. Jokes were over.

  "Yeah. Killed by one of 'the Destroyer's' packs. Six of them, all level eight. They attacked when we weren't expecting. Grant got knocked out first, probably because he's a healer and, you know, enemies do not like them."

  "He's not dead, Wise," the girl slowly shook her blonde head. "He's not in the 'Replicator'. There's no point in lying for Ears."

  "I don't know how that can be. Even if he was only wounded, he would have drowned."

  "So, are you going to look for him or not?" Alice sighed, portraying stoic patience.

  "Sure I am. But why do you care so much?"

  "I have my reasons."

  "Care to share them?"

  "No," the girl shrugged. "It's none of your business. Get ready. Or you can go and do it yourself. The only reason I need you is because it's safer to travel together. All of my people are busy questing, and there is no one here in the village. In the end, Grant is your mentor, you should be concerned about him, not me."

  Exactly, Grant was my mentor, and I didn't know what kind of game she was playing. I haven't forgotten about Sarge and the clan vendetta in case Grant refuses to join him. What if Alice was just feigning concern and that was the real reason why she was trying to find Grant? To finish him off personally? Well if that was the case, I couldn't let her go alone. She was going to the "Temple" anyway. Grant and I together had a chance to reason with her; in the "sandbox", high level didn't always mean success.

  No, I refused to believe that she had something against Grant. I probably was just paranoid after the "Replicator". It must've been something else. If I go with her, I'll probably find out what her real intentions are.

  "You got it," I came up to the bed and shook the things out of the gift satchel. "I really don't mind finding out what happened."

  "One more thing. How much do you have left before level five?"

  "Quite a bit," I tossed a quick glance at the XP bar. "I'm at 3320 outta 3375. Why?"