Survival Quest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #1)

by Vasily Mahanenko

  "What are other advantages other than kudos points?" asked Leite with some interest now. Did Eric really manage to persuade him?

  "The clan which has players with the 'First Kill' achievement receives some bonuses from the Emperor the entire time that such a player is in the clan; I don't remember more exactly. The player himself receives a gift from the Emperor for each such achievement, which is presented by the Emperor in person. Can you imagine what that means? Getting to the Emperor is even more difficult than getting out of the mine or even out of prison itself, and in this case he's the one that invites you to the meeting that takes place five months after the achievement is gained, exactly the day before a new Dungeon is announced. At the same time, each person has a right to invite two others with him to the audience. The bidding for such a place on the black market starts at one hundred thousand gold and it would hurt your brain to even imagine what figure it eventually reaches. This is what's going through my head when I'm looking at the Queen. On one side of the scales - Mahan's Crafting, and on the other a visit to the Emperor with two guests. So that's what I'm saying - we all have to decide on this."

  "This is what I reckon" said Clutzer, "Wasting Mahan would be lame. But if we let the Rat go, we'd feel like suckers. So my proposal is this..." Clutzer laid out his plan. Put into human language, his words were leaving me more and more gobsmacked. The proposal had logic in it, even if it was the very crazy kind. It was somehow... unconventional. And looking at Clutzer you'd never tell that he was hiding such a twisted mind. I'll have to find out what he was doing time for.

  "Madness, complete and utter," said Eric, when Clutzer finished. "But the weirdest thing is - it might just work and I think it's our only chance to down that Rat. Leite, what do you think?"

  "Clutzer's a funky dude, but his idea is something else," agreed Leite. "I agree, it could work, but at such a price... What the heck, I'm in."

  "Then let's go to the positions proposed by Clutzer and begin. Clutzer - you're first, Leite's second and I'll come at the end. Mahan, your job is to stay put and not stick your head out. We start in exactly five minutes, I'm putting the timer on. Can everyone see it? Great, now to positions - as soon as the countdown's over, Clutzer starts us off. May whatever powers are out there help us."

  I selected the Queen and put it into the frame in order to constantly monitor its Hit Points. As I went to my position I heard Eric mutter, "The stuff you come up with, you sodding dragonbuzzer."

  I put myself in the designated position and looked at the timer. It was still three and a half minutes until the insane battle. Whatever the outcome, tomorrow I'll already be in some settlement in the main gameworld. A settlement is good: it means quests, achievements and faster levelling. I'll have to think about what to do in the remaining seven and a half years of my imprisonment. First I'll have to create a clan - it's very difficult to survive in Barliona on your own. Then I'll have to find Duki, Sushiho and Elenium, old acquaintances that I played with before, and suggest they join up with me. They're good guys, without hang-ups and haven't let me down once in the five years that I've known them. I will need access to the outside world, to the manuals so I'll need reliable players from the outside.

  In the meantime I could not decide on my main goal. To be more exact: I did have a global goal, which consisted of me somehow getting my hands on a hundred million gold. But what I had to do to reach that goal remained unclear to me. What methods did I know for earning money? Stealing a clan's vault, selling a place for an audience with the Emperor, finding a treasure or making something incredibly rare and useful. All of this had to be done on an industrial scale. Perhaps I could sell the Orc Warrior chess pieces, but I doubted they'd bring in a lot - you needed the rest of the set. And my greed-toad would never forgive me. If a full chess set grants access to some place, losing a chance, even a very slight one to get to this 'place' was unthinkable. Forty seconds. Then there's Marina. If she's a free artist, I'm sure she spends a lot of time in the Game. It would be good to find here and tell her to her face that promises should be kept. I'd just take her by her...

  BEWARE.

  It began.

  Clutzer's Hit Points, viewed in my frames, immediately fell to 50%: he probably got hit by some ability. Just a few dozen seconds went by and then the whole Dungeon was filled with a wild scream of the Queen. Clutzer's plan worked! The Rat's Hit Points quickly started to plummet, but Clutzer was now on his way back to his mine: he was the first to go for respawn. Then it was Leite's turn. The Queen was down to 60% after which Leite's Hit Points started to diminish fast. The Dungeon was filled by another piercing scream of the Queen and Leite followed Clutzer. The two minutes that the Rat needed to get close to Eric left its Hit Points at only 40%. Well, well. Now's the moment of truth. Eric ran past my hiding place with the Queen a few meters behind him. Just a few seconds went by and only one player remained in the Dungeon - me. The Rat's Hit Points went into a supersonic plummet: 35%, 30%, 15%, 1%, 1 Unit.

  BEWARE.

  I leant closer to the wall. The niche in which I sat may not have been the best shelter, but it was much better than catching who knows what in the open.

  An explosion! A wave of air swept through the entire Dungeon, pushing me into the wall. I think I lost consciousness, because when I opened my eyes the Dungeon was filled with silence and a collection of messages hung in front of me:

  Experience gained: +800 Experience, points remaining until next level: 1170

  Level gained!

  Free stat points: 5.

  Achievement earned!

  The First Kill of Queen Aiden of the Mushu Dungeon.

  Achievement reward: the reputation with all encountered factions will increase daily by 5 units.

  Message for the player: in five months' time you will be teleported to an audience with the Emperor. You may take two companions with you; for this you will have to give them the invitation letter in the course of five months. You may obtain the invitations in any branch office of Barliona Bank.

  A small number 1 wrapped in some flowers appeared next to my name. So that's the general part of the achievement seen by all. I was free to jump for joy and shout 'Hurrah!', but to be honest I didn't feel any particular pride in earning this achievement. I had nothing to do with this; it was earned at a great price - the respawn of the whole group. Keeping in mind that our sensory filters were turned off, everyone must have felt some unforgettably unpleasant sensations before returning to their mines. Not a lot to be happy about, really. All I had to do now was find the loot, pick up the dropped gold and jump in the portal. The Dungeon was completed.

  I headed for the cave that contained the Queen, remembering Clutzer's idea. Translated into human language, it sounded like this:

  "This is what I'm thinking," said Clutzer, "We can't let Mahan die, since it'll be very unprofitable. But if we leave the Rat behind we'll be making a big mistake. Here's my proposal - we have to lead the Rat through all the three traps that we found in the Dungeon: the cave with the slime, the corridor with the web and the hole with the spikes. I'll have a chat with the Queen and invite her for a walk in the cave with the slime, stripping myself beforehand. I've already been there, so I can guess what will happen - most probably I'll end up going back to my mine through a respawn. But then the Queen should feel quite bad from the slime and the level of its Hit Points should fall quite significantly. Then Leite takes the Rat and travels with it to the hanging webs. He'd run along the spider-free space as far as he can and when the passage comes to a turn, he'd jump straight into the web, to guarantee the Rat getting stuck. Yes, Leite would immediately repeat my feat and will end up back in his beloved mine, but the Rat won't be doing so great either. It will get stuck and the spiders will get busy mobbing it for a piece of its Hit Points. If the Queen manages to get out, Eric's task is to take it to the hole with the spikes, stand on the edge and wait for the royal Rat to ram into him at full speed. If he manages to dodge - good for him. If not - not a worry, as
long as the Rat lands on the spikes. That'll be the end. As for Mahan, there is a very good niche between the hole with the spikes and the hanging webs, so he can hide there the entire fight. His task is to survive, pick up the gold that would be left behind us, and make us guaranteed profit when we form the clan."

  This was a rough translation of Clutzer's speech, because reproducing it word for word is beyond my slang skill. We really have to teach him to speak like a normal person, without all this 'for real' and 'money where your mouth is'.

  The money left after Eric lay right on the edge of the hole. So he didn't manage to dodge the enraged Queen. There was nothing left at all of the web labyrinth - the Queen cleaned out the little spiders to the last leg. But for Clutzer's money I had to jump after taking off all my gear: it fell right on the opposite edge of the slime corridor. In all honestly I was amazed by Clutzer. If the first time he didn't know that it would be painful, agreeing to go into this puddle again would require considerable willpower. I opened the chest with the loot and, having taken the money, I even chuckled: I currently had a little under six thousand gold. Enough to start a clan for sure. I examined the loot and immediately set aside three chainmail items - they were for the others and there was no point in looking at their properties. But this leather item was mine, so what bonuses did it hold?

  Terrisa's Leather Gloves. Durability: 300. Physical damage resistance: 90. Stamina: +15. Intellect: + 25. +1 to a random stat (must be chosen when equipped). Magic, fire, cold and poison resistance: 30. Item class: Epic. Minimum level: 14.

  I stared at the description in disbelief. Even if these gloves were meant just for a level 14 player, I'll never be parted from them, at least not until I found some better ones. I put them on and saw the message:

  Attention player! Please choose a stat that you wish to increase from the following list: Charisma, Crafting, Endurance.

  Of course it'd be Crafting, what else could it be?

  Accepted. Current item description: Terrisa's Leather Gloves. Durability: 300. Physical damage resistance: 90. Stamina: +15. Intellect: + 25. Crafting: +1. Magic, fire, cold and poison resistance: 30. Item class: Epic. Minimum level: 14.

  I put the remaining items in the bag and headed for the transport portal. Now I'll come back to Dolma and then to Pryke and tomorrow I'll be in the main gameworld. With gloves like these the idea of making money on an industrial scale seemed a lot more realistic. I involuntarily closed my eyes as I stepped through the portal. Hello Dolma mine. I was looking forward to the expression on the ogre's face when he saw the achievement I just earned. I wondered whether I'd have to put on decent clothes in five month's time or if they would hand them out before the reception. And do I even have time to think about any of this? Why am I still surrounded by a strange glowing cloud through which I can't see anything? And what happened to the frames of my group? The surrounding cloud dissolved and I was faced with a wall of black and a loading bar slowly coming up to 100. I had a feeling that I was back in the world of 2D games: no 3D graphics, just the location loading bar taking its time, since the servers are old and are groaning under the traffic, slowing everything down. I turned my head this way and that, but the bar stayed in front of my eyes. Damn, where the heck am I?

  Chapter 12

  The Return

  The progress bar reached a hundred percent and the black veil dissolved. So, where on earth was I? The status frames of my group and the Queen vanished - it felt like they'd been completely wiped out. Fine, I'll figure it out later. I looked around. Neither Dolma nor Pryke nor the glimmering Dungeon exit/entrance veil was anywhere in sight. The even surface on which I stood was made of a uniform grey material and was smooth to the touch, as if it was grey polished marble. There were no joints. Strange - who would work on such a huge piece of stone? I couldn't see much else, as the light was really poor. If I was asked to describe the lighting, I'd have said that it was something between a moonless night and a foggy evening, a very distinct type of twilight. The visibility was bad, but I noticed a shadow of a building of some kind. I clearly had nothing to lose, so I cautiously headed towards the dim outline, half expecting some sort of a trap. It was eerie, walking around like that. Silence, not even a breeze. Alone in the twilight. All that was missing was a vampire to complete the picture.

  The sharp sound of a siren stunned me for a few seconds. It was then replaced by a metallic female voice:

  Intruder in the technical section detected. The player capsule is being identified. Player capsule identified. Player capsule is being disconnected. Capsule disconn.....

  A flash of light illumined everything around me, I automatically closed my eyes and then, after some blinking, saw the door of my capsule opening. 'E-ehh... What on earth...? They're letting me out already?'

  It took me a few seconds to realize that the capsule lid really had slid sideways, but had then became stuck in a half-opened position. I could have squeezed into the gap if not for one 'but' - the ceiling was just ten centimeters from the capsule. The process of my disconnection from the capsule had began: wires, tubes and various devices started to come away. Long-term immersion capsules do have their drawbacks: it takes a good while for you get in or out of one of them. The majority of the other players use medium immersion capsules in which you can stay up to 24 hours. The capsule analyzes the player's state and comes with a safety measure that warns the player when it is time to have a break, giving him fifteen minutes to reach a safe place before being disconnected. There were also the normal virtual reality helmets, but I don't know who used them, since they don't provide full immersion.

  When the mask covering my face slid off, I could lift my head and stick it outside the gap between the lid and the capsule. I felt like a high-tech Dracula impersonator. The place where I was had a strong resemblance to a crypt: it measured a meter by a meter and was three meters in length. The wall at my feet was completely solid, so with some difficulty I turned my head in the opposite direction. This made things much clearer. So that's where all the prisoners were kept... A great wall of shelves, separated into cells, spanned from floor to ceiling. Fifty levels, and I counted up to sixty-seven cells on each, beyond which I could not see. Mind-boggling! Real economizing on space, time and money for keeping prisoners. Another image popped into my head: Neo from the 'Matrix' film also wakes up in reality like this after eating that pill. He was also covered in wires, and I only lacked a plug in my head to complete the resemblance. Also, unlike him, I had normal control of my body. So, if this was like in the film, I'd be flushed down a drain, where Morpheus and Trinity would pick me up. That was a pretty ridiculous train of thought right there.

  There was nothing left to do but lie back in the capsule and wait. I could have tried screaming in an empty storage room for prisoners, but there was little point in that, since everything was probably automated around here. It was much more likely that the opening of one of the capsules came up somewhere on the system and a bunch of people have already started running around like ants and thinking what to do next. That's right, they've got to earn their lunch money somehow. I didn't notice when I fell asleep, so I missed the moment when the capsule began to shake. 'Sleeping in an opened capsule isn't all that comfortable', I thought to myself, as I moved around in the cramped space, trying to loosen the stiff muscles. The life support systems were turned off, there was no muscle massage and the bed was uncomfortable. Put me back in Barliona already! I don't think I like this reality! I rubbed my sleep-clogged eyes and felt that something was missing. Eyebrows! I had no eyebrows! I felt the back of my head and discovered that I had no hair on my head either. I didn't look anywhere else, supposing that my whole body was now totally hairless. Damn. Is this change permanent or just while I'm in prison? I didn't relish the prospect of spending the rest of my life in a wig. Finally the shaking stopped and I noticed that I was no longer in the crypt, but was being transported somewhere along the moving ceiling. 'They could have at least closed the lid - what if I dropped out?' I
thought. In a couple of minutes the transportation was complete, there was some more shaking and all went quiet. The capsule was probably put on the ground.

  "Prisoner!" there came a shout. "We're opening the lid. Don't make any sudden moves. Once out of the capsule - hands behind your head, face on the floor. If you fail to comply we will use deadly force! Is that clear? I don't hear an answer!"

  Welcome back to the real world, baby.

  "Yes, I get it! As soon as I leave the capsule, I lie on the floor, hands behind my head! I'll not give you any problems, so no shooting," who knows, what if I accidentally slipped and they shot me full of something unhealthy and incompatible with life.

  "Attention! We're opening the lid" - which was followed by the screeching of the screwdriver, swearing, then the screwdriver again, and a minute later the lid fell to the floor with a sharp bang.

  "I'm coming out!" I shouted and carefully got up. There were three technicians in white coats, one guard with a gun aimed at me, and a small mountain of various technical equipment. At least there weren't any women around.

  "Come out, hands behind your head, face on the floor! Move it!" shouted the guard, wiping the sweat off his face with his hand. The guy's scared! Really scared, which means he could shoot just out of fear. I carefully stepped out of the capsule and leant on the lid, steadying myself as my head began to spin. Well I'll be! Was that just from changing my position? I nearly fainted, as my vision went dark. So much for them saying that the capsules provide all you need and are completely safe. But here I've spent three months in one and my head was swimming in circles. I dreaded to think what it would be like after eight years. When my head cleared somewhat, I carefully got down on my knees and lay on the floor, face-down. Damn, it was cold!