Finding a Body (The Dark Herbalist Book #4) LitRPG series

by Michael Atamanov

  “Tim, how are you planning to tell the four riders apart? You need to keep them straight so you don’t forget who you told to do what. Maybe you should name these ghastly riders? For example, you could name them after the four horsemen of the Apocalypse: Pestilence, War, Famine and Death. Sounds pretty good, huh?”

  But I was deeply opposed to that choice of names. First of all, the steeds my horsemen rode were an identical shade of black, unlike those in the canonical text about Judgement Day. Second, I didn’t want to intertwine characters from holy texts with a videogame and potentially cause complaints from religious fanatics.

  “I shall call them Darkness, Gloom, Night and Murk! And they shall all be siblings, the first three women and the last a man. And each of the riders will be assigned to patrol and protect the distant borders of my holdings. North, East, West and South. And I’ll have them respawn if they die, because they’re badass and it would be hard to find more like them!”

  You have used 4 Direct Intervention Points

  You have 148 points remaining

  The massively tall rider before me acquired obviously female proportions. What was more, a mane of long hair grew out from under her helm, and her armor and weapon changed as well. Gone was the elongated cavalry pike. In its place, the Rider now held a curved ghostly saber, which looked to have been forged from the deepest darkness of the underworld.

  Night

  Emissary of the Dark Sovereign

  Level 250 Ghostly Rider

  I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to spend Direct Intervention Points. I named the wolves of the Gray Pack before I even knew about these points, after all. But seemingly where I spent the points was when I went beyond names, giving them genders and altering their appearance. Oh well, I’d survive. And at that I’d be sure that my emissaries were busy guarding the borders not just wandering at random. Plus they could respawn if they encountered an overly powerful opponent.

  “Night, you shall be responsible for the West. And I have your first mission as well. Ride out to the queen of the land of the dead Hel. She lives somewhere in your area. Be extremely polite so the hot-headed Scandinavian goddess of death doesn’t kill you right away. I need her to hear you out. And relay this message: ‘My sister Hel, you offered your aid to Fenrir. Well, now your brother has a request of you. There are five Silver Pegasus riders flying along the river of death. Their names, most likely...’” here I opened some old logs containing my conversations with the Legion of Steel , “‘are Kristina Mozzi [LEGION], Leon Shadow_Hunter [LEGION], Violetta Bestia [LEGION], Antonio de_ Pirienne [LEGION], and Till Quick_Fingers [LEGION]. Hel, kill them all and do with them as you threatened to do with me, so these undying do not respawn right away. Thanks in advance, sister! And I’m expecting a visit, so drop by any time! Your brother Fenrir, a.k.a. Amra, a.k.a. the Dark Sovereign.’ That is all, Night, now carry out my order!”

  A moment later, the Dark Rider dissolved into wisps of fog. Valerianna spent a long time staring at the fading wisps, then asked with clear mistrust:

  “Do you really think it’ll work? It just feels so much like cheating. It kind of bothers me. You just summon a goddess, and your enemies get blasted into oblivion.”

  “Do you think it was that easy?! How about you go try and meet with a goddess, then reach an understanding with her without dying first...” I grumbled, frowning in dismay as I remembered the unpleasant discussion with the goddess of death. “And we still have yet to see whether this actually works. But even if it does this time, I’m not at all sure Hel will agree to help me again. So let’s think up a few alternative methods of greeting flying guests.”

  Diplomat skill increased to level 23!

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (8)

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (9)

  ...

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (12)

  Level seventy-one!

  Level seventy-two!

  ...

  Attention! You have reached level 80.

  You may now improve your character’s survival by choosing a modification

  ...

  Level eighty-three!

  Woah... The cascade of messages gushing down on me almost knocked me off my feet. And the accompanying changes in body statistics and intense emotional outburst inside only made it harder. Thirteen levels in one go! This was the first time I got that. But I didn’t lose control of my character this time, though it was no easy task.

  “Aha, it worked...” Valerianna Quickfoot said, not hiding her glee. “But Tim, you’ve got the Criminal marker over your head again, and for the next eight hours you can’t leave the game. In the future that could be a serious problem, because you’re gonna have to kill more and more players every day as they come to attack your holdings. And if every murder gets you that penalty...”

  “Not eight hours, just six and a half. My Veil skill brings down the penalty. But you’re right, Val, I’ll have to do something about that. I’ll write to support. As it is it’s a bit illogical that the Dark Sovereign — a game boss, created especially to do battle with living players — is given this commonplace penalty like some average PK’er. I have to leave the game to rest sometimes, after all. How am I supposed to do that with the Criminal marker constantly hanging over my head?!”

  Wisps of dark mist started gathering and growing dense over the square near me and the mavka again. Apparently, my emissary was coming back. And I hoped she had good news. Boom! Night rode out of the dark cloud, and the Ghostly Rider’s saddle-horn had a big bag tied to it. Whatever was inside was wriggling around and issuing ghastly wails. Night stopped a few steps away and reported that her mission was complete. I then noticed that the Rider’s level had gone up from 250 to the shocking 287 in that brief time... Wow, that was about how much experience she should have gotten for killing five TOP players over level 300. But why was I given so much less? Seemed a bit unfair...

  Meanwhile, Night untied the bag and threw it at my feet:

  “Sovereign, the goddess Hel asked me to bring you this gift. She said she stumbled upon this creature in the kingdom of the dead and thought you might like it.”

  After that, the Ghostly Rider figured she was done and was about to go back into the wisps of fog, but I stopped her. I just couldn’t forget about the loot the leaders of the Legion of Steel might have dropped after they met their end at the hands of the goddess of death. After all, they were in the top one hundred strongest characters of the Southern Continent, and they were probably wearing some pretty intense equipment. Unique and even legendary items, objects from sets... Even if just one such item dropped, it would be very cool. What was more, every time a player died, some of the coins they were carrying would also fall, so the five leaders of the strongest and one of the richest gaming clans might have dropped a whole fortune.

  “Night, where the five undying were killed, many coins and interesting items may have dropped. Go there, pick it up and bring their belongings to me!”

  But Night just lowered her head, looking downcast, and said:

  “Sovereign, I cannot pick up silver coins. I am just a fleshless ghost, and silver is a particularly tricky metal. What’s more, I have no idea what may be of interest to my lord.”

  Ah, bad luck... But my sister saved the situation:

  “Night, I’ll come with you and do it myself!” Valerianna Quickfoot traced a complicated figure in the air with her glowing wand and decisively stepped toward the ghost. Then she very gracefully climbed up on the stirrups and took a seat in front of the Ghostly Rider. “I created an Illusion Magic spell that temporarily turns ghosts solid. And I’ll just come back through a portal. I’ll be right back, Tim!”

  In an instant, the huge black steed had carried both riders into the thick dark cloud. And when it dispersed, neither the Ghostly Rider nor Valerianna Quickfoot were there. I then walked over to the jostling and rather noisy bag. I carefully untied the top, and... nearly lost my left hand when a set of huge teeth cl
amped shut right where it had been a second earlier.

  Successful Agility check

  Dodge skill increased to level 38!

  With a punch to the head, I sent the creature back into the bag, and quickly tied the top shut again. Quite the gift! I barely saw anything but a row of sharp predatory teeth and the empty eye sockets of a bare skull. I couldn’t recognize the creature, but it was clearly undead, and quite aggressive at that.

  Undead? Yes, for sure. My vampiric ability Search for Life couldn’t find anything alive nearby. Well if it was indeed not mortal, I would have to take an entirely different approach. I waited a minute for the beast to calm down and stop thrashing inside the bag, then activated my Undead Apathy ability. This time, the monster didn’t react at all and was still calm in the sack. I sighed, gathering my strength, and looked around: the last thing I needed was a servant to mess things up by coming in right now! I untied the bag again and looked inside.

  It was the skeleton of a huge hound with disproportionately long paws and jaws, more fitting for a crocodile than a dog. In the depths of the elongated skull, I could see spooky red blinking eyes. In places the old skeleton still had dried out parchment-like skin with clumps of long decayed fur. And the being’s neck bones were all shattered. By the looks of things, once upon a time this dangerous beast had its head cut off. Nevertheless, the monster’s head was still present, though it was not physically connected to the rest of the body.

  Faithful

  Ravenous Cur

  Level-210 Modified Chimeroid

  Chimeroid? A creature based on a dog that was created by magic? By the way, among my Goblin Herbalist’s many bonuses, I had one boosting chimeroid opinion. However, that clearly applied only to living creatures because this dead Ravenous Cur didn’t give a damn that I was good and he was supposed to be friendly to me. I also immediately checked if could add this being to the Gray Pack, but was left disappointed. What to do with it? Should I try to bring it back to life using Direct Intervention Points? Of course that would be fun to try, but I was in no hurry. Who could say how this predatory beast might behave with a body of flesh and blood? What if it attacked me, or even worse ran away and started causing mayhem around my castle? A level-210 monster was always going to be a risk, and one had to behave cautiously around them.

  What was more, I had to get a handle on this beast’s unique features. After all, this was no simple wolf or dog, but a chimeroid, which had been magically modified. Someone had made it for a purpose, and it was probably not merely the elongated jaws. What was more, the goddess Hel wouldn’t have gifted me this beast and said she thought I might like it if it didn’t have any unique traits. So I’d put this Ravenous Cur in a cage for now to study later!

  I called the Keymaster and the huge dark figure appeared before me with a tinkling keyring. I was a bit worried about how my fanged undead gift would act around someone else, but the Ravenous Cur had no reaction. That must have been due to my servant’s Indestructible tag, which the dead hound must have perceived as “not tasty, uninteresting.”

  “Is there a room that locks up tight in the castle, or a strong cage for this undead beast?” I asked, pointing at the Ravenous Cur. The Keymaster bared his teeth happily:

  “You offend me, master. I have facilities to keep all manner of things! The dungeons of this castle have rooms and cages strong enough that even a rampaging dragon couldn’t escape! Shall I bring this sweet little thing down there?”

  Sweet little thing??? The dead beast was almost one hundred fifty levels stronger than me and, although it was calm now, I still wouldn’t exactly call it a “sweet little thing.” That said... I didn’t know the Keymaster’s level, maybe to him the Ravenous Cur was just a “sweet little thing,” especially given that this predator had no way of biting or in any way harming him. I ordered the Keymaster to take the monster away and lock it up tight and finally got to the idea that had made me hurry into Boundless Realm today in the first place.

  * * *

  “IT’S SETTLED!” Trying to act with extreme caution and not break his old bones, I squeezed the frail gray gremlin’s hand. The NPC Banker was of some absolutely unfathomable level, but clearly ancient.

  At that, it took great effort to hold back a shout of elation. It had all worked out even better than I hoped! Before meeting the head of the Most Reliable Bank of the Gremlins, I was extremely nervous and thought I would have to convince him and offer some business plan for expanding his bank throughout my lands. But the reality was quite the opposite. The harrier-gray gremlin that walked out of the fiery oval portal immediately sent his gloomy taciturn bodyguards back through the portal, gave a deep bow to the Dark Sovereign and handed me a valuable gift. It was a massive chain of dark-red gold with links in the shape of human skulls. It gave pretty solid magical bonuses to defense against mind reading. After that, the banker started convincing me not so much to even open a new branch of the bank in my faraway lands, as to not attack any offices of the Most Reliable Bank of Gremlins when I invaded Boundless Realm . I faked a frown and pretended to think it over, which clearly made him nervous and offer even more advantageous conditions.

  Finally, I gave my official assent. By then, the hoar-headed executive of the largest in-game bank was offering me seven hundred thousand coins to pay off my army. I was also offered “a unique item that will certainly be of interest to the Sovereign.” And the chairman of the bank was glancing every so often at the rusty torture implements around him, every time pressing his huge ears to his head. You see, I was holding this meeting in the deepest depths of my dungeons in the torture chamber. Why such a strange location? First of all, I needed to build a reputation as a terrifying leader to be reckoned with, and it was hard to imagine a better setting for that. Second, the torture chamber was the only room I wasn’t ashamed to show such an important guest. All the other rooms of the huge castle would have greeted the Gremlin Banker with just bare walls and no furniture.

  We hadn’t even finished sealing the deal with a handshake before rolling thunder, clearly audible through the thick walls, confirmed that the gods of Boundless Realm had heard and would guarantee our agreement. From then on, my subjects both living and dead were bound not to damage the property of the Most Reliable Bank of Gremlins or attack any employee of the bank.

  Trading skill increased to level 33!

  Trading skill increased to level 34!

  Trading skill increased to level 35!

  As soon as the big-eared old man said goodbye and disappeared, before me appeared the Storekeeper, glowing with delight:

  “Sovereign, magic demonic messengers have just delivered three chests full of silver coins to the castle store rooms! The total is seven hundred thousand. I’ve already counted! It’s a fortune! And the winged demons also brought this,” the Storekeeper said, handing me a long package of time-darkened parchment, tied up with twine.

  Not wasting time, I shook out the packet and started looking curiously at the tube, which looked to be carved of one piece of time-yellowed bone. There were no words on the surface, nor removable lid or even the slightest crack... However, the object was clearly hollow, and something was shaking around inside. What was this thing? And how to get at the contents?

  Insufficient Intelligence to identify object

  Required minimum Intelligence: 270

  Insufficient Intelligence to complete action

  Required minimum Intelligence to open object: 700

  Two hundred seventy Intelligence points were needed just to know what this thing in my hands even was?! And a whole seven hundred to open it? You’ve got to be kidding me... Even Valerianna Quickfoot, who was specialized in the magical arts, didn’t have seven hundred Intelligence! I looked at my goblin’s pitiful Intelligence of 34. Easier to break it open and get what’s inside than try to make my Goblin Herbalist into some big-headed intellectual.

  Not having found a way to open the tube, I decided to simply break it. But... That wasn’t right either!
Despite the apparent fragility, the thin bone walls of the case wouldn’t give. Striking it with a heavy hammer, pinching it in magical pliers and even tightening a spiked torture implement for breaking bones all did nothing.

  Item parameter detected: Indestructible

  Experience received: 80 Exp.

  I chortled. What a tricky old banker! I guess he knew the right kind of gift for me. “A unique item that will certainly be of interest to the Sovereign.” You can say that again! Now I was going batty with curiosity, trying to discover what was inside! My sister would be able to read the object’s information and tell me something useful, but she wasn’t back yet so I tossed the bothersome tube to my Storekeeper:

  “Stick this in storage and lock it up tight! And don’t hide the three chests of coins far away. That’s money for my soldiers to buy what they need before a long military campaign, I’m planning to hand it out tomorrow or the next day. By the way... I’m not gonna have time for that, so you’ll be handing it out! With your stinginess, I can be sure that not a single coin will be wasted and it’ll all go where I need!”

  Seeing the stingy demon’s sour face and rolling eyes as he nearly passed out, I hurried to add:

  “As soon as you hand out the money to my soldiers, get an empty trunk of coins ready. The gremlins are bringing lots of money today. Almost nine million coins!”

  That was exactly how much I had in promissory notes from the Most Reliable Bank of Gremlins, and the head of the bank promised to convert them into clinking silver by the end of the day. But the gremlins didn’t accept notes from the competition, so I’d also have to take the rest to the dwarves.