I sat on the beam for about an hour. The mages had cleared the field of the players who never woke up, then left about twenty minutes ago. Gradually new players started appearing, making it in groups to the current teacher and learning the principles of functioning of their artifacts, but I kept sitting in the same place, unable to move. The adrenaline dissolved, leaving apathy in its wake: the mages’ hunt was not just an empty threat. No matter where I could try to go now, only one thing would be there for me: groups of mages waiting for me to approach the teachers.
Panic and depression were creeping up on me, so I used the tried and true method for retaining an adequate perception of reality: I started thinking. I already knew that there was only one way to leave the Academy: completing training with ten teachers. The main question that would determine all my further existence was – are those ten specified and fixed or not? If the answer is yes, I could as well jump down head first, respawn, lose a level and surrender to the mages. It would make no sense to try and do anything further. But if one needed to train with any ten teachers, ‘ten’ being the key word, I had a chance. The Academy was full of teachers, the trick was to find them. If I were to stay away from the main passages, I might survive. There was nothing else left for me. Now it was necessary to understand why the mages were so afraid of the labyrinth. Even though calling this mess of stones, reinforced concrete structures, steel beams, rods, wire and wooden boards a "labyrinth" or a "jungle" would definitely be a stretch. "Obstacle course" would be more accurate. I looked down, swallowed and instinctively clung to the beam again. As I was trying to hide I had climbed about five meters up. It does not seem too high, but still quite a ways to fall.
The beam on which I was sitting turned sharply a meter above me and leaned towards one of the passages. I stopped grabbing convulsively everything that came to hand and started climbing upward: I needed to see for myself how and where the second teacher was situated. If I were to move along the tops, did I have to constantly look down or could teachers be waiting above ground? If the latter were true, then I would not even get down to the ground; I’d turn into Tarzan!
“Derv, there is another teacher in the clearing right ahead!” I heard from below the excited whispering of a player just as I climbed the beam and settled on it with a sigh of relief, trying to get my breath back.
“Would you be quiet!” Someone hissed angrily in response. “Is the field clear?”
“No, there are three mages there. They are standing next to the teacher waiting for someone.”
“Mages…” there was so much hatred in Derv’s voice that I had a hard time refraining from coming down to hug the comrade who shared my hatred of the mages. That wasn't why I had spent so much time climbing up. “We are leaving. There’s nothing for us here.”
“But… why? You saw for yourself that at the last teacher’s location they didn’t bother anyone… except for Paladins… But we are Rogues!”
“Listen, I’ve had enough of you! You want to be killed – go alone! At the last teacher’s they didn’t bother people ‘cause there were too many players of other classes. And here there’s no one other than themselves, so they’ll send us for respawn for sure. The two of us can’t harm them!
“But then what should we do? We are already… Did you hear that?!”
Not only Derv heard THAT, but I did as well. Besides, unlike the rogues, I could very well see the source of the low throaty roar: a few meters below a huge black panther appeared out of nothing – that’s the only way I could describe it. The black tail was whipping her heaving sides frantically. All the panther’s attention was on those standing below: the rogues.
“We must get out of here!” was all Derv had time to shout, then the panther roared menacingly and rushed down like black lightning. There were two screams of agony, then a few moments of silence followed by remote yells: “What was that?” and “Get to the paths, everybody! They are safe!” The players found out with surprise about a new condition: in the Academy not only other players are a source of danger, but also the creatures of the Academy itself. I was sure that the panther was not the only local creature; there must be others.
It took me half an hour to calm down the shaking and then make myself move on. The latter took a lot longer: my fear of wild animals was much stronger than fear of other players. After I finally forced myself to crawl for a few meters pretending as well as I could to be the ‘invisible man’, I saw a "" symbol in front of me. Dusty and partially hidden by stones, the symbol seemed to try very hard to stay unnoticed. Had I not been crawling along the beam with my nose to its surface, I would 99% guarantee that I would have missed it.
My progress slowed down again. I discarded the possibility that the symbol indicated the direction towards the nearest teacher right away: the nearest teacher was standing a dozen meters away in the direction opposite to that shown by the symbol. And no one would be creating symbols special for me: Archibald’s words that the system couldn’t care less about any of the players were etched deep in my mind. Particularly given the latest events. So, the arrow must be pointing at something else. But at what?
As could be expected, the system did not welcome me with open arms hurrying to explain what was going on. I made sure that the Book of Knowledge recorded the appropriate line and the map… I got that sinking feeling – how could I forget that in this world I could record my location? Just because the information about the world around me was continuously recorded by the Book of Knowledge even without my active participation did not mean the map would necessarily follow suit. A semi-transparent window popped up in front of me and I barely contained a sigh of relief: the map did update automatically. The Academy was a huge rectangular site obscured by dark fog; only a tiny colored spot showed on the bottom right: the field where I first appeared here. At least in this the Game was similar to the games I was used to: all the available Academy space was shown to the player from the start. Had the map had no boundaries it would have been impossible to estimate one’s progress in exploring its territory. However, the map header “0.0001% of Academy territory explored” was grounds for optimism. Everything is possible within the Game; the main thing is to avoid players and animals. However, I was quickly able to see the drawbacks of the map: when I zoomed in on my current location, the map offered me a rather funny 3D picture showing the path I covered. What was above or below this path was unclear: the map properties did not record the areas that I had not seen. So if I were to try and explore the entire 100% of Academy territory I’d have to try extra hard.
I made it to the entrance within the obstacle course uneventfully; either the panther did not notice me or the two rogues were enough for it. Constantly jumping from the steel beams to the stones and back, eventually I found myself above a passage two meters wide and three deep. There was a path covered in yellow sand leading within. The stones and steel structures stopped miraculously at the entrance, forming the elaborate corridor Diablo players like so much. Over ten minutes that I observed the path, four teams of ten players each went under it; there were neither mages nor Paladins among them. Most of the players were carrying weapons; it seemed like they did not concern themselves too much with the choice of artifacts. "The shiny and pointy blades are all we need." When I come back – not "if" but definitely "when" – I must make sure to find out why bladed weapons are preferable to projectile ones or, say, something energy-based. I would have thought that the players would be running around with blasters, pulse cannons and other sci-fi equipment rather than swords, bows and similar antiques. However, they did not. So I would definitely have to look into that in detail.
I had no desire to initiate contact with the unknown player teams; so I waited till yet another group went by, then followed them cautiously along the steel beams above the path. With each passing minute I became more convinced that the seemingly chaotic structure of the obstacle course in fact followed a strict algorithm. For example, the steel beams served as guides along which one wa
s supposed to move; the symbols "", "" and "", located at the beginning and end of each beam, suggested movement somewhere toward the center of the Academy, serving as road signs. Stone boulders and pieces of wood served as guards or handrails, or were purely decorative without any meaning. The road above ground was not easy: you had to continuously climb up and down, leap from one beam to another or make a hard choice when the beam split and its ends led in opposite directions. In those cases I clenched my fists, as I was very intrigued by the goal indicated by the arrows but still kept moving above the path. The teacher was more important now…
It took me an hour to reach the second teacher. He was located in the middle of a small clearing, about twenty meters in diameter. It was surrounded by the steel and stone jungle, but it stopped miraculously, the same way it did for the paths, forming a clear space. The positive findings were that there were three paths leading away from the clearing to subsequent teachers, so it would be much easier to find them; the negative: there were ten mages standing next to the teacher, acting as gatekeepers. About twenty players of other classes accepted this rule, forming a line. The mages thoroughly searched each subsequent player, then let him through to the teacher and started searching the next. They paid particular attention to fat players. As if they could be hiding someone within. Me, for example.
No one was eager to challenge the mages’ insolence, perceiving their total control as a normal turn of events. I spent about ten minutes on the beam trying to figure out a way to get to the teacher, but in vain. The mages were very thorough in their search and were not distracted for a moment. Feeling that I would not be able to gain anything there, I started to crawl back cautiously when I heard the metal clattering right below me and a loud scream turning into a gurgle. Someone was drowning in their own blood. Was there another panther?
My curiosity was stronger than my instinct for self-preservation, and I crawled to the clearing once again. After all, what could threaten me at this height?
“Quick, get help!” someone shouted, and immediately two mages dashed out of the clearing. I was about to wonder why there were only two, as three paths led out of it, when I heard beneath me more clatter and the familiar, practically welcome, booming voice of Monstrichello:
“I’ll crush dem freaks! Where are they?”
The space around the eight mages suddenly and miraculously emptied: players of other classes decided not to join the skirmish between Paladins and mages. The area directly below me was obscured by boulders, so I had to impatiently bite my lips to keep from yelling from joy and rushing down. Monstrichello could be alone and even he would not have a chance against eight mages. And if I were to join him it would not improve his chances: I had never had to consciously kill a sentient being, so I would not be much help. The events at the cemetery trailer did not really count, as I had literally run amok.
“Let’s work as we did before,” Nartalim joined Monstrichello, and it was the first time when I was glad to hear the elf. Even despite his contempt for everything alive in his voice.
“Maybe we could make an agreement?” one of the mages stepped forward and then the four Paladins stepped into the fighting space. Powerful Monstrichello, holding the shield in front of him and acting as a breakwater. Nartalim, playing with his sword, following right behind the tank. Sartal, his armor-covered tail whipping in irritation. And Logir holding a weighty hammer. Neither Dietrich, nor the orc whose name I never knew were among them. Two out of four Paladins who had chosen weapons as artifacts, together with Monstrichello’s protection, were quite capable of standing up to the mages, even if there eight of those.
“There’s nothing for us to agree about,” Monstrichello roared, but Nartalim held him back:
“Wait. Let’s try.” Just as I supposed, the elf had become the leader of the team. “You give us free access to the teachers, this one and all the subsequent ones; we stop hunting you. Yaropolk’s fate is of no interest to us, you can do whatever you want with him. I have no intention to return from the Academy as a level one player because of just one twit.
“It’s a reasonable demand. Is this the view of your entire team?”
“This is my view and therefore everyone’s,” Nartalim said curtly and, to my great surprise, the other Paladins said nothing. Even Logir! My team just turned me in!
“Let’s wait for Dangard, he will confirm our arrangement,” the mage exhaled with obvious relief, as if he really did not want to do battle. Which was understandable: there is not much one can do with fists against weapons.
“Who’s that jerk?” Monstrichello asked with all the political correctness he ever had.
“One of Devir’s students,” the mage started explaining. He and Ahean were appointed the leads for passing through the Academy and fulfilling the teacher’s tasks. He should be close to here, so we won’t have to wait long. Oh, there he is!”
The clearing was quickly filling with mages. The Paladins, who crowded together and stood back to back, were surrounded, but no one touched them: the sword and the hammer cooled the belligerence of the players. Even if a crush were to begin, Nartalim and Logir would then likely send at least several players to respawn, and I was not sure that the mages had already passed initiation. Nobody wanted to sacrifice a level and become one step closer to being wiped out. Finally, Dangard appeared in one of the passages, and the Book of Knowledge started vibrating markedly — one of the two Devir’s companions was recognized.
“Where’s Yaropolk? Having exchanged a few words with the mages who were guarding the teacher, Dangard leisurely approached the Paladins. His movements, voice and demeanor conveyed such confidence and strength that it made you feel worthless against your will. I shook my head, dispelling the illusion. I could not get rid of the feeling that the mage had a way of influencing others’ minds, suppressing his opponent’s will.
“I have no idea,” Nartalim stepped forward. “When we respawned he was not there anymore.”
The mage stared at the Paladins for some time as if they were funny animals in a zoo, then his stare returned to the elf.
“We need to talk privately. Follow me.”
In the same relaxed and slow gait of a mafia boss, Dangard strode by the Paladins to the edge of the clearing. The spot the mage selected for the conversation was just a dozen meters to the right, and I felt an irresistible itch in my backside to listen in on them. Knowing that I was doing something unforgivably stupid, I carefully started along the edge of the clearing to the coveted spot. I needed to be in a strategic location before Dangard hobbled to the edge of the clearing. Once I slipped on the beam and was barely able to avoid falling, grabbing at a boulder at the last moment, bloodying my fingers. There was not much noise, but I still froze listening to the sounds from the clearing – had the players gotten alarmed? Everything was quiet, so I moved on.
“Elf, we have no issues with you,” I heard Dangard’s muffled voice, and stopped again. It would not make any sense to keep going – I could hear everything very well from where I was.
“Just with me?”
“I would say with the lizard as well. The femorc and the wardrobe boy will leave the Academy at the first level. That is not subject for discussion.
“Pff!” Nartalim snorted with disdain. “I couldn’t care less‒ do whatever you want with them. If no one interferes with me going through with the teachers, those two are yours.”
“I am glad we understand each other. At the next teacher my fighters will deal with that pair. Now about Yaropolk: I need him. Really need him.”
“Listen, I really don’t know where he is. We came to at a respawn point, he was not there and…”
“I already heard that,” the mage cut the elf off. “If you run into Yari, just send him for respawn, immediately and without asking unneeded questions. Make that clear to the others.”
“He is not dead yet?” Nartalim asked in surprise.
“Now let’s talk about you,” Dangard ignored the Paladin’s questi
on. “As I mentioned, we have no issues with you, so no one will bother you much.”
“Much?” Nartalim asked, when the mage fell ominously silent.
“They might catch you by accident‒ it happens, you know. To guarantee protection you need to buy it. I think the price of one granis is quite adequate. One privilege of protection – one granis.”
“What?! A whole granis?!”
I frowned. I was losing the idea again‒ this time of the process of price determination within the Game. I received my granis after I killed Petrovich, an ordinary NPC, of which there were hordes on Earth. So then, two Petroviches would yield two granis. Then three, four and up to seven billion; as far as I recalled that was the population of Earth. So why was Nartalim so surprised?
“Are you objecting? I should count you together with the other two?” Dangard clarified derisively, openly mocking the elf.
“I don’t have a granis,” the Paladin was practically weeping. I frowned: Nartalim cracked! The selfish elf‒a member of the guilded youth‒ broke down during this conversation with the mage! This is impossible!
“You are initiated,” the mage continued to sneer. “Let’s make a deal, and after you graduate from the Academy you will repay the debt to me.. I am not even going to charge you interest.”
“A… deal?”
“Call the Game to witness that two days after you leave the Academy you will hand me a granis. Voluntarily, and without me having to remind you. That will be enough.”
“But…”
The Beginning (Dark Paladin Book #1) LitRPG Series Page 10
