Once all the peas were eaten, the little dragon gave a satisfied yawn, curled up and appeared to fall asleep. The stalk started to close and a new message appeared before my eyes:
Changes to the 'Searching for your Totem' quest. You have changed your Totem from White Wolf to: Black Dragon. In order to begin your search, seek out a Shaman trainer.
When I left the room the feeling on incompleteness was no longer holding me back. Who cares if I failed the initiation - I could go through it again once I leave the settlement. Choosing a Dragon Spirit as a Totem was very cool. Although I still had to figure out how to get him. The manuals didn't say much about it: find a trainer, he'll tell you what to do. I didn't look at the forum yet (I could do that later) - I had lost enough time as it was with my second go at the trials. Now I had to come out and disappoint the orc with my news.
I left the cave and walked up to the orc, who continued to hold the Great Air Spirit in his arms. Reluctant as I was to disappoint them, I had no choice - the orc looked at me attentively and waited for me to speak. I would tell him the truth, what else?
"I was unable to complete the trial. After my first attempt, everything I had done felt wrong, so I went through the trial again. In my own way, contrary to everyone's advice. So, all in all..." I spread my arms and shrugged, "I didn't manage it."
The orc was silent and the hurricane-like voice of the Great Air Spirit echoed through the mountains:
"A Shaman's spirit must be firm. You have doomed the fawn to death, by freeing the wolf, but you have doomed the wolf to life by releasing him from the trap. His entire life a Shaman must make hard decisions, which will make some perish and save the lives of others. And the Shaman must feel the immovability and firmness of this decision with his whole being; otherwise he would be unable to hold his own before the Great Elemental Spirits.
"A Shaman's spirit must be steadfast. A Shaman must understand that decisions that he takes now will affect him later in life. If you had swum across the hole with the water, you would not have been able to collect the kind of dust you needed for the future trial. Again and again, you steadfastly forced the water to submit to you, fusing with it your own blood. You didn't know this, but felt that you were doing things right. Feeling is what sets Shamans aside from other classes.
"A Shaman's spirit must be gentle. A Shaman who forgets his ancestors is hard-hearted and blind. The Spirits would not heed his calls and he would not be able to grow into anything greater than an Elementary Shaman. This is the limit for those who do not honor their ancestors. You honored your ancestors and they believe in you, Shaman.
"A Shaman's spirit must be pliant. The direct, immediately apparent solution is not always the right one. Dividing the seeds is only part of the task - only a real Shaman can understand their real purpose. You did it, so I gave you the ability to choose your own Totem. All other Shamans get a random one.
"I have finished. You have brought me joy, little brother. From now on you are an Initiate Shaman," the whirlwind in the orc's hands quickly started to dissipate and just a dozen seconds later was gone.
Quest update - 'The Path of the Shaman. Step 1': Quest completed.
Character class update: Shaman class has been replaced by: Initiate Shaman. Seek your trainer for learning to work with Younger Elemental Spirits.
I looked at the orc.
"Teacher," I bowed my head respectfully, "Please share some of your wisdom with me."
"I cannot teach you, little brother," said the orc. "By the decision of the Shaman Council I have been stripped of this ability. You will have to seek a more worthy teacher. Old Shaman Kornik lives in a settlement near Anhurs. Find him, he will help you. And now we have to get back, the allocation procedure should begin any minute."
Class quest chain accepted: 'The Path of the Shaman'.
'The Path of the Shaman: Step 2'. Find Shaman trainer Kornik.
The orc called a portal and we returned to his office. Again a stupid question popped into my head: who was in charge of the mine while the orc was away? No, I won't ask it - what if he takes offence and allocates me to some dump? I need to get to Anhurs. Kornik lives there somewhere, and Kart too, and the 'The Jolly Gnoom'. In three months' time I have a chance to find everything.
There was a bang and a transport portal appeared in the orc's office. That's it. I'll enter it and find myself in some village, where the local head...
The man that stepped out of the portal stopped my thoughts in their tracks. He was short, fat, toad-like, with a Kameamia on his chest. The Regional Governor had arrived in Pryke. What does he want here?
"Can't you allocate these stinking prisoners without my help?" he started to squeal in his disgusting voice, not even looking in my direction. "This one should be stuck in some piss-hole village, like the Big Hogspoo..." The Regional Governor stopped because his gaze finally fell on my person. I'm buggered! Can it be that the allocation is not handled by the orc, but by this humanoid cross between a toad and a Governor? That's it - a Govertoad!
The Governor stood there for a few moments having never finished saying 'Hogspoons', and then an unpleasant smirk appeared on his face, he even rubbed his hands and then started to spit out words:
"I told you that I wouldn't forget how you refused to give me that Legendary Item! How you treated your Governor! To my castle! Immediately! I am allocating my castle as the settlement for Mahan, the former prisoner of the Pryke Mine. Into the portal! Now!"
Attention! In the next 2 months and 26 days you have the opportunity of living in the castle of the Governor of the Serrest Province. You may leave the castle for no more than 48 hours, following which you will be teleported back. Have a pleasant Game!
I looked at my former boss. Was this a joke? 'A Shaman's spirit must be steadfast,' the orc's gaze seemed to say. 'You have to get through this, little brother.'
'What the hell?! 2 months and 26 days under the power of the Govertoad? No problem! We've been through worse,' I thought and, resolute, stepped into the portal. Good-bye Pryke Mine. I hope - forever.
The second book of the series will be available shortly! If you want to be the first to read the opening chapters or to receive updates about new upcoming books of the series, drop me a line at [email protected] I guarantee that your email addresses are perfectly secure and will never be shared with any third parties.
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I'll be back soon with more LitRPG books!
Sincerely,
Vasily Mahanenko
Survival Quest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #1) Page 30
