A Slave in the Locked Lands

by Arthur Stone

  “I am. So what?”

  “How did you end up here?”

  The girl drew a sad sigh and explained:

  “It’s hard to level a flighting. I’m only in it for the money. Once you get high enough, you can join good raids and get good money. I got enlisted in the Mercenary Guild—I planned to level to 100 and earn some money while I was at it.”

  “They accept players? I’d thought it was NPC-only.”

  “There is that. They normally don’t. But there have been lots of skirmishes in the Western Empire lately because of that legendary hero. Many of the mercenaries had been killed, so the emperor issued an edict that rare classes could be temporarily replaced by players until things settled down. And mine is rare enough. The money was good, and I even managed to get free transportation—they paid for all the teleports. And given the hours I keep these days, it makes more sense for me to play with Americans. It was OK initially. We patrolled the Fiery Cleft. It was easy enough, for the most part, and the XP was good. Then, suddenly, there was a distress call, and they sent us to Arbenne. We had no idea what was going on. And we were the last party to reach the city. The teleport stopped working right afterwards. We could have escaped, but the orders were to defend the city. There were too many mobs, and lots of mages and archers among them. I ran out of mana while the walls still stood—the battle was so hard that our leader told me to stop healing and only cast shields as soon as the skill cooled down. I did as instructed, but then the walls came down, and we began retreating through the burning city. There were fewer and fewer of us. I ran out of mana again, and no one had any elixirs left, so the squad leader told me to hide in the cellar. I have no idea what happened to them. They must have gotten killed, all of them—mobs do not capture NPCs, as far as I know. I couldn’t stay in the cellar long—smoke began filtering in, and I couldn’t breathe. I barely managed to get out through the fire, and that was when they got me. If the guild rules there was a breach of contract, they won’t pay me anything. And, technically, there was a breach—I shouldn’t have left the leader.”

  “But didn’t he order you to?”

  “That doesn’t matter.”

  “Well, if you don’t tell anyone, no one will find out.”

  “They will if they really want to. And why would anyone lie in the game? Aren’t there enough lies in the real world?”

  That struck Ros as an unusual question, so he just nodded.

  “My level is down, so I can’t wear most of my gear, with the exception of a bracelet and a few rings. The boots, too, they need three levels less. Who’d need me half-naked?”

  “A flighting doesn’t need any high-level equipment.”

  “That’s ridiculous. Our natural defenses are negligible. Without proper equipment, it takes just one hit to take one of us out. Who’d need a flighting like that? On the contrary, we should be the last to die, keeping the others alive. Oh well, I’ll pull through somehow. But spending a month here… I won’t earn anything—I’ll just lose XP. Even if I do nothing, I’ll lose another level from being famished before the quest runs its course. And I’d still have to pay for my account. Do you see? Nearly everyone has abandoned their character. They may have been right to do it, but what should I do? You won’t believe how much I counted on this month…”

  Ros gave a mental sigh, chiding himself for being an impractical gentleman—to put it mildly—and decided to engage in some charity. On the other hand, Babe could end up helping him as much as he helped her. No, this wasn’t charity—he was being as practical as ever.

  “Well, if you can’t join the others, why don’t we go down there and get some gold?”

  “I can’t even find any. But the mobs find me quickly enough, and their level is so high I can do nothing about them. Look at these guys—only a few of them are over 100. Higher-level players have nothing to do in Rallia.”

  “Well, they sure do now…”

  “I’m talking about the times before the war. Or the invasion. I don’t know what to call it.”

  “Are you able to heal without a staff?”

  “Sure, but that will restore less health. A lot less.”

  “What about your buffs?”

  “I’ve none of the expensive ones. Plenty of the noobish ones, and decently leveled at that.”

  “All right, here’s the plan. We go down there, I get the ore, and you sit next to me and do nothing. As soon as a mob turns up, you start healing me.”

  “And what happens then?”

  “That’s my business.”

  “Sorry, but it’s not just yours. They have killed me three times already, and I don’t want to die again. Tell me everything if you want me to help.”

  “I’ll kill the mob.”

  “You won’t be able to. I can see your level—it’s only 44. That’s not good enough—even players over 100 are powerless against them naked.”

  “Well, you can keep on sitting here and crying about the raw deal fate has given you. Or you can come along and do something useful. The choice is yours—I’m going to explore the mine.”

  The girl caught up with him when he was halfway down, and immediately complained.

  “These dumb bastards haven’t given us any footwear. Those sharp rocks are sheer hell for the feet. Do I call you Tarros?”

  “Ros is better.”

  No point hiding after revealing himself to the first dwarf he had met.

  “All right. So, you’re Russian, too, aren’t you? The translation interface is off, and it makes quite a few errors, even if you buy the lip-sync option. Which means you’re speaking pure Russian.”

  “Yes, I am Russian.”

  “That’s a strange coincidence. So, how did you wind up here?”

  “Just like you. I was trying to make some money.”

  “And you’ve had as much luck as me, by the looks of it.”

  “Well, sure, so far.”

  “Look, Ros, I don’t know what you’re thinking, so let me tell you right away: I have a boyfriend. He’s really worried, and he expects me back.”

  “So why did he let you join the mercenaries all alone?”

  “Well, that just kind of happened…” The girl looked embarrassed.

  “Anything can happen. But what was the point of telling me about him?”

  “Duh, so that you would… You know… Make no advances of any sort.”

  “Do you think that if I suddenly decided I wanted a woman’s touch badly enough, your boyfriend, who is currently quite a long way away, could foil my nefarious plans? Assuming I wouldn’t die of laughter imagining him ranting and raving.”

  “Laugh all you want. But I’ve warned you: keep your hands to yourself.”

  “I wouldn’t think of it if they paid me in gold. And fewer words from you—we’re almost there. Let’s see your magic buffs.”

  “Throw me a party invite.”

  Ros cursed silently and used Veil of Mystery on himself. The buff’s upkeep would consume a lot of mana, which might prove problematic for a character with virtually no equipment. On the other hand, his sky-high Intellect should compensate.

  He couldn’t well refuse the lady’s request, now could he?

  And without the Veil, she would instantly realize Ros was no simple noob.

  Once they entered the cave, Babe threw up her hand. A small sphere of bright light slid off her palm and hovered some three feet above her head.

  “What’s that?” Ros asked.

  “Illumination, what else? It’s going to be completely dark from here on. We won’t be able to see anything. Every mage does it—the spell is very simple. Are you telling me you don’t know it?”

  “Nope. I don’t need any light, anyway.”

  “Good for you. But a magic light is useful, anyway. It can help you spot an ambush, a hidden object, or a cache.”

  “Oh? That’s good—it might help us see ore, too.”

  “I’m not so sure. It didn’t help me whatsoever, at least.”

 
Chapter 12

  Babe was incapable of staying silent, and Ros was starting to suspect that the main reason she had been crying back at the bind point was that there wasn’t anyone there for her to talk to.

  “How did you manage to see the ore? I only saw it after you started tapping away at it.”

  “I’m pretty observant, and I concentrate on where I look instead of just turning my head this way and that.”

  “You mean, you just ran into it by chance?”

  “Yup. I have five more lumps in my bag. And each one was found as a result of a chance encounter. That’s how it goes.”

  “Five?! Really?!”

  “Really, really.”

  “So you’re a miner? And you have a few skills I don’t?”

  “A brilliant deduction.”

  “Need any help?”

  “How could you help? Only a single person can mine a resource.”

  “Isn’t there any more gold nearby?”

  “Not that I can see. And even if there was, it wouldn’t be wise to try and mine it. Have you noticed the condition of this mine?”

  “Come again?”

  “You haven’t seen any mines before, have you? This isn’t a mine. It’s just a cave that has never been properly developed. Which makes it a very dangerous place. And several players working in close vicinity increase the chance of a rockfall. That’s how the game works.”

  “Is it OK for me to stand next to you right now?”

  “Sure. You aren’t doing anything, after all.”

  “That’s right. I haven’t even gotten my pickaxe out of my bag.”

  Ros showed her another lump of ore.

  “This is the sixth.”

  The girl smiled, and then made a sad face again.

  “We need twenty for the two of us. Although you don’t have to eat every day. Not the most pleasant thing, but we’ll stay alive, and keep our XP, at least.”

  “Just don’t you forget to heal me when the next mob turns up.”

  “What if it doesn’t?”

  “It will. Nothing draws them to you like the sound of a pickaxe hitting rock.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “One reads quality newspapers.”

  “As in in-game newspapers?”

  “There’s more gold here. Can you see it?”

  “I can. But only after you’ve pointed it out to me.”

  “There are two copper veins and one iron vein nearby. Try finding them without my help.”

  “What for?”

  “You’ll level up your Perception. Not by much, but every bit helps. That is, if you manage to find them.”

  “Oh? I had no idea.”

  “Now you do. Look for them.”

  Babe found copper easily, but iron was harder, although she seemed to stare right at the vein at least once.

  Once Ros was done with the gold, he pointed with his finger.

  “Take a look here. Mind that you look carefully. See anything?”

  “Not really… Hey! Now I do! There it is! Iron ore! I found copper at once, but this was more difficult.”

  “Iron is a higher-level resource, so it’s a lot harder to spot. And gold is harder still.”

  “I have already gathered as much. So, that is why I can’t see it without you.”

  Ros turned toward one of the distant tunnels leading into the hall, and gave a warning.

  “Get ready, we have a guest. And we’ll be lucky if there’s just one.”

  Babe’s eyes lost their distracted look in an instant. Collecting herself at once, she pronounced the spell very clearly, in a voice void of any emotion:

  “Shield.”

  Ros’ body became wrapped up in a shimmering cocoon that could absorb some damage. Just how much depended on the buffer’s stats, equipment, and skill level. He shifted his pickaxe into his left hand and thrust his right palm forward.

  The mob that dashed into the hall was unfamiliar to Ros, looking like a seven-foot gorilla without anything even remotely resembling a head. The creature’s eyes and nose were located a bit below its shoulders, and the enormous maw with thick lips was lower still, almost at bellybutton level. Its paws featured elbows facing forward, covered in long shaggy fur, while the rest of its body looked smooth-coated like a Doberman.

  “Unknown creature. Aggression: unknown. Sociality: unknown. Level: unknown. Abilities: unknown. Stats: unknown.”

  Entangling Roots worked. The mob froze in place, unable to tear its feet from the cave’s mossy floor. Ros instantly hit it with Chaos Aura, reducing its HP bar by ten percent. But the monster wouldn’t take it lying down—its jaws disgorged a foul substance that looked like a semi-digested jellyfish. The shield absorbed the damage, but started to blink red to show it would expire any second.

  “The shield is done. Casting Regen,” said Babe in the same calm and collected voice.

  Ros wasn’t that familiar with buffer terminology, but he got the gist of it—Babe was referring to regeneration, or regen for short. It was a specific skill that required precise calculation and situation assessment. Unlike regular healing that restored a set range of HP at once, regen spells restored smaller number of HP every second or two over a longer period. A short-term buff of sorts.

  On the face of it, it would seem that healing a character at once was a safer bet. But the devil was in the details. A regeneration spell could be cast on a character with full HP before a battle. Once a battle begun, the character’s health would regenerate sustained damage for a given period of time. And the effect was stackable—a proficient healer could cast three or four regen layers on a single player, if not more. And that could well end up restoring more HP than a single healing spell.

  Battles were unpredictable affairs—buffers could die, get caught under a control spell, or switch their focus to other players. By ensuring that the party tanks had enough regen effects on them, they would buy themselves and the entire party crucial time.

  The mob broke free and pounced at Ros, swiping with one of its paws. But then the creature took a Chaos Arrow in the head, and staggered.

  The mob’s next hit destroyed Ros’ shield and took around 15% off his health. The rrokh countered with Sleep, then dashed toward the far end of the cave, shouting to Babe:

  “Follow me! Over here! Let him stay there a while!”

  She obeyed, stopping a few feet away from him, then raised her arm again.

  “Shield.”

  The well-familiar glow was back. Ros hit the mob with a Chaos Arrow, and followed it up with Roots. Both abilities took—the mob didn’t manage to take so much as a single step. Another Arrow was fired, to which the mob replied with another disgorged jellyfish. This time the glow disappeared completely instead of going red, and he suffered a measly 40 points of damage.

  “Shield’s cooling down, casting Regen!” said Babe in a dispassionate voice. “Heals coming up! Then a boost to resistance to all elemental damage for ten seconds!”

  Ros managed to fire off five Arrows while getting three of the “jellyfish bolts” in return. But this time they didn’t do much—Babe’s short-term elemental buff had reduced their damage fourfold.

  The mob broke free and rushed Ros.

  “Don’t hit it!” Babe yelled. “Sleep!”

  The very next moment, the “gorilla” froze, bluish sparks scintillating all over its body.

  So, buffers could learn Sleep as well. That might come in pretty handy. Ros had his controlling skills on cooldown, and was primed to soak up a lot of damage without any equipment, so he was desperate to avoid it.

  They ran as far away from the mob as they could, waiting for his Roots to cool down. Once they did, Ros immobilized the mob, then cast Soul Trap and Steal Essence while Babe piled on healing and regen spells. The creature did not try to approach anymore, even after breaking free, apparently realizing it would just be put to sleep again.

  A smart critter…

  As the monster’s health kept dwindling, the perfidious
thing blinded Ros for a few seconds, and then used a shield of its own, looking like a bubble with the mob inside it. Then it deployed the jellyfish spell at Babe, aiming to take the meddling healer out of commission.

  “Defense mode!” was all she said as the shield cocoon engulfed her body.

  Ros cast Sleep on the mob, and healed Babe.