“Kvalen didn’t compl…” Haldei began, then thought better of it. Uldaron turned and strode from the basic training zone. The orc spat in our direction and snarled, “Fifteen out of fifteen! You have nothing left to do on the basic course, so fuck off to the mid-level course! I will pass on the chief’s words to master Drumm over there. You complete the course one by one! Now get out of here!”
Achievement gained: basic conqueror
Description: You passed all fifteen obstacles on the basic course at the first attempt. Before leaving the training camp you will receive a Basic Demon Hunter buff: a fourfold increase in experience, reputation, and characteristics growth rate (supersedes Unrivalled Newbie buff).
Bonuses:
+8 to all main characteristics for passing 15 obstacles in succession at the first attempt
Step 2 task “Start of Training” completed
Experience: +28
Reputation with Light of Barliona faction: +12
Access to next training step
Bonus for completing course with full marks: +1 to all main characteristics
Task received: Step 3. Mid-level training
Description: A class-specific task. Complete the mid-level assault course. Minimum completion score: 15 out of 20.
Reward:
Experience: +5
Reputation with Light of Barliona faction: +1
Access to next training step
Bonus for completing course with full marks: +1 to all main characteristics
Restrictions:
You must pass the mid-level course alone.
“It would have been better if they hadn’t recognized your result,” the crabby Eredani said and exited the course. “The developers have taken quick advantage of the opportunity, and now we can’t waltz in pairs.”
“What are we going to do?” I said, jumping to the ground. A priestess next to me made two passes with her hand and restored my HP. The sledgehammer had smashed it down to 1.
“Train and run! It’s every man for himself. Sorry, but I can’t back you up like here. You’re going to be dancing every day. Marcon will work out a test, show it to me, and prepare the next one while I’m working with you. There’s no other way. Let’s go. It’s time to open the bidding.”
We left the training course, and the expert jury continued to grow.
“Plus nine to all characteristics for the whole course,” Eredani said in summary. “It would be the same if we’d completed the whole newbies’ course. That’s thirty-six pluses for four courses. I’m willing to teach you the movements, in detail, analytically explaining each obstacle. We’ll video everything. I’ll dictate requirements and necessary skills to the candidates. Thirty-six pluses for the current characteristics growth rate isn’t a bad bonus for level one. But the decision is yours.”
“How much?” asked Shukir the businessman.
“There are two prices. One — twenty-five thousand gold, per clan, for the course. How many you train is up to you. One, two… You can get all Barliona over here, it’s not a problem for us. Or two — five thousand gold per clan for the course now, plus twenty percent of all profits from players who level up using our method, until they achieve level thirty-six. In the second case, if anyone pays to level up, we take one third.”
“Sounds like a rip-off.” Shukir frowned.
“Go and breed perch in the lake then,” said Eredani curtly. “You can see the result, it was filmed. You must understand the advantage if you’re not a total idiot. We’re passing the courses one by one now. Personally, I wouldn’t want to hold you back. Discuss the details with the curators and make a decision by the end of the week. In a month, maybe less, it’s going to be problematic to buy a pass.”
Leaving the clan representatives to their thoughts, we were on the way to the barrack to continue training, when somebody called to us.
“Hey, guys, wait up!” Level-one player Luckyrain the Almighty caught us up and ran alongside us, but backwards, telling us to stop.
“What do you want?” I asked. He was clingy and didn’t induce a desire to stop and chat.
“Let me into your group. You won’t regret it, brothers. I really need to level up.”
“Twenty-five thousand and you’re in,” snorted Eredani. The player blocked our path and made us stop.
“I have serious money problems. But I also have valuable information.”
We passed him on opposite sides and continued on our way, but he wouldn’t give up. “River demon treasure!” He tried another tack to grab our interest. I was ready to stop, but Eredani shook his head barely noticeably.
“Surprise, surprise. Any player knows a pride of demons has its own treasure. River demons, N’Got, L’Kri, all of them. It’s a classic.”
“I see you’re on the ball,” said Luckyrain. “But not every player knows where to look for it. I do.”
“Folderol,” said Eredani, not slowing his pace. “We’re not interested.”
“The Island of Darkness on the Lake of Tranquility.” He blocked our way once more. “The boss of the level-seven river demons is a huge, overfed crab. He hangs out in the lagoon on the island. So, brothers, do we have an agreement?”
Eredani: What do you say? A lowlife like any other, but he knows a lot.
Kvalen: I say it sounds like a crappy trailer for a crappy thriller. Are you suggesting we extort the information, then do him in?
Eredani: Clown.
Kvalen: Rather a clown than a distrustful moron. If he leads us to the treasure, what’s the difference if he’s a lowlife or a lousy intellectual?
“How do you know about the island and the lake?” Eredani stopped and scrutinized the player.
“I bought it. Or a friend slipped it to me. What’s the difference? I’m sharing it with you fraternally.” Understanding he had us hooked, Luckyrain rubbed his hands with glee. “So, I have the exact coordinates. You get me there, and I’ll take you to the boss himself. We bump him off together, and split everything three ways.”
“Not happening. We teach you, you give us the coordinates, we go alone.”
“Don’t take me for a sucker,” he said, the smile falling from his face. “Together, or I find someone more accommodating. See how many clans there are around? Anyone would give me a couple of purses’ worth for treasure like that.”
“For treasure in the nursery? There won’t be anything in it but low-level tripe,” Eredani sniggered.
“I’m doing demon hunter for the third time because of that tripe!” Luckyrain shouted, his eyes bulging. “I came to you because you’re alone and I need company. If you don’t want to go together, choke on it!”
Eredani: I’ve got a bad feeling below my tail. He showed up in the nick of time.
Kvalen: Get yourself checked out for digital tapeworm. What if total immersion’s become completely realistic? Eredani, what on earth have we yielded to him for? We have nothing to offer apart from your tapeworm.
Eredani sighed, showing exactly what he thought of me, and continued: “Last question: how are you planning to get to the Island of Darkness?”
“I have everything worked out, brothers.” Luckyrain took from his inventory a small wooden boat which, judging by its size, must have taken up all the free space in there. “As luck would have it, it’s a three-man boat. That’s why I came to you. So, am I in?”
“Training starts tomorrow at nine in the morning. Don’t be late,” said Eredani, finding no reasonable grounds for refusal. The boat had been his final argument. Luckyrain broke out in such a beaming smile I also began to think it was a set up. Nevertheless, an agreement had been reached, and we returned to the barrack. I paid Marcon for the basic course, and Eredani explained the new rules, expecting to hear a protest, but the dancer was oddly pleased:
“One at a time? That completely changes things. Every time I was like, ‘What am I going to do? How do we do this as a pair?’ That’s why it took me so long without a partner. For individuals I’ll draw up the
middle level in two days. Twenty tests — pfft! That’s nothing if your desire is to become a master.”
“We must start training tomorrow,” said Eredani. “You pass two simulators and you teach me. I’ll deal with my partner myself.”
“Gotcha. I’m already on it,” Marcon said and made for the exit.
I said goodbye to Eredani and was about to exit to reality, when I saw him lie down on his bed, and it occured to me I had a life waiting for me outside this digital stage set, while he really was trapped in there, and for the long haul.
“Victor,” I said, deliberately calling him by his real name, “maybe I should buy you some books?”
He looked at me keenly. “I wouldn’t say no. I’m sick of lying here contemplating the burden of my sins. My brain is atrophying.”
“Just a minute and I’ll ask my friend. He can send something now, and tomorrow I’ll fetch you whatever you fancy.” I took out the communication amulet and toyed with it. No buttons to dial — only search, list-scrolling, and creating a copy of itself to give to another player. I copied mine, opened my mailbox, and sent a letter to my friend Keiron Marley. Not wanting to wait around until he read it, I logged out and called Matty in his pod.
“I’ve sent you an amulet. I don’t suppose you have anything to read in Barliona?”
“I do, but only what I’m reading myself. Is it urgent?”
“Yeah. Give me what you’ve got.”
“No problem, but I must have it back. I haven’t finished it.”
“Whatever you say, O lover of detective novels. I’m waiting.”
In the attachment were three books. Without looking at them, I transferred them to Eredani, who inspected them and, instead of expressing gratitude, threw them on the floor.
“Good joke, Brody. Much appreciated.” He stared at me like a crazy man.
In my confusion I shifted my gaze from the tiefling to the books and read the titles. How to become an effective member of society. Time management for beginners. The way to success through self-improvement.
Thanks a lot, Matty! However, understanding the irony of the situation, I didn’t let it get to me. “Screw you! I didn’t know what he was going to send. I figured a detective novel or some pulp fiction. He never used to read anything else.”
“These aren’t yours?” Eredani asked skeptically.
“Do I look like the sort of person who would read that?”
“Do I?” He justly threw my question back.
“If you don’t like them, let me return them to their owner. That’s all there is until tomorrow.”
“Leave them. I’ll read them as satire.” He looked at the tomes on the floor with the contempt they deserved. I made a mental note to give Matty a talking-to for reading that shit, asked Eredani what sort of books he would like, and logged out.
The next two weeks were routine and dull: work, dance till I dropped in Barliona, sleep, repeat. Everything at work was running smoothly and, in my view, successfully. Matty was finishing his first course and preparing for exams. He looked more confident and had developed a sense of purpose, which could only be cheering news.
A hard-work vibe reigned in Barliona too. Three clans were interested in us completing the course: the Phoenixes, the Dark Legion, and the Heirs of the Titans. Exorsus and Ingenium declined — spending that sort of money on newbies was excessive. They made several attempts to convince Eredani to lower the stakes, but he stood firm. The rest of the clans chose the first scheme. All financial transactions were done through me, as Eredani was too poor to sacrifice thirty percent to the government.
Luckyrain appeared once, the following day, when we were in the process of coming to an agreement. He asked us to send him the video, and said he would be training later and alone. This pleased Eredani, and they drew up a contract: we would provide the video of the completion of all the courses; he would not resell the material, and as soon as we finished the courses he would take us to the river boss and give us all his information concerning the treasure.
Marcon broke down the mid-level course in a record one-and-a-half days, then spent the same on training Eredani. We got stuck on the course exclusively because of me. For one-and-a-half weeks, five hours a day, I danced to my partner’s tune and tried to internalize it. When he flew off the handle, he would tell me precisely where to go, before stomping off to train his new students. Things were a lot easier with them. The clans accepted Eredani’s demands on the players, and provided quality performers. In four days, all nine of them had finished the middle course and were on a level footing with me. Even with a head start I managed to come last.
Eredani was so upset he didn’t want to speak with me, and the only reason he didn’t stop was that he couldn’t admit to failure when he saw I was putting my all into it. I was even strutting my dance moves out in reality.
Eventually our collective efforts were rewarded.
Achievement gained: mid-level conqueror
Description: You passed all twenty obstacles on the mid-level course at the first attempt. Before leaving the training camp you will receive a Mid-Level Demon Hunter buff: a sixfold increase in experience, reputation, and characteristics growth rate (supersedes Basic Conquerer buff).
Bonuses:
+10 to all main characteristics for completing 20 obstacles in succession at the first attempt
The local victory bolstered me no end, and I felt like a hero. Had someone told me a month ago that I could dance complex trails faultlessly, I would have laughed in their face. I knew my own talents well enough, and dancing did not number among them.
“Greetings, brothers!” Luckyrain was waiting for us by the exit from the course. “Change of plan. My guys can’t wait any longer. If we don’t move out for the treasure today, they’ll find somebody else, and we’ll have to wait three weeks for a new boss to be born.”
“How do we get out of the camp if we haven’t finished the higher course?” I asked. “That’s not what we agreed.”
“Agreed, didn’t agree… I have to go today, no two ways about it. Brothers, are you coming or not?”
“Did you hear Kvalen?” Eredani raised his voice.
“I heard him, brother, I just don’t get it. What’s the problem with leaving?” A piece of paper appeared in our temporary partner’s hands. A regular, everyday piece of paper, except for what was written on it. The scroll, signed by Uldaron, sanctioned one single exit from the camp to three players, irrespective of their progress.
“We’re not taking a step until we know where you got that.” Eredani outlined our position clearly, and I was in total agreement.
“I bought it. One hundred gold per player. What, you didn’t know?” His surprise was too natural not to be genuine.
Kvalen: Did you know?
Eredan: No, but I concede it’s perfectly possible.
We weren’t planning to leave the camp, which was why we hadn’t thought about it.
“Just so you don’t think I’m trying to dupe you, you can pay me later, when we find the treasure.” Luckyrain continued with his persuasion campaign. “I can’t wait. What about it, brothers?”
“Okay,” I said, looking at the clock. The next day was Saturday — no work — I could afford to be a bit late.
“Alright! Wait, I’ll go and get something for the journey,” Luckyrain said and ran off toward the barracks.
“I don’t like him,” Eredani said, watching him go.
“Why not? He seems fine so far.”
“That’s the point. I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s not right. What’s he doing hanging around us? Said he needed to level up, but didn’t want to train with us; pops up like a jack-in-the-box then disappears; has watertight answers prepared for every question. If this wasn’t the nursery, I’d think he was trying to scam us. His boat is a three-seater.”
“The Vartalinskys? They haven’t left the camp.”
“Don’t be daft. This is too complex for them. Those kids wouldn’t wait
so long planning revenge. What for? They kill us outside the camp, we get reborn and reappear here. We have to go and have a look. Aside from time and possibly our lives, we have nothing to lose.”
“Let’s go, brothers!” The cheerful Luckyrain was back.
There were no problems leaving the camp. The paper really was signed by Uldaron, not by Luckyrain himself in a fit of artistry. It was three kilometers to our target, so I decided to put the time to good use. According to Hermit’s map, between the camp and the Lake of Tranquility were three patches of demon clover, and I made frequent excursions to the side in search of flowers. The first time Luckyrain said nothing; the second time he muttered something poutingly; the third time he exploded. According to him we were wasting time and being distracted from the main task. There were so many players in the location that someone might easily get to the treasure first. The mob restart was in three weeks, and he couldn’t possibly wait the same time again.
A Second Chance Page 22
