I finished the scroll and was thinking, since the old guy was in no hurry to throw me out. From the standpoint of survival, no matter how you looked at it, Bernard was the best option I could possibly find on Earth. Now I needed to understand what was the meaning of the scene I had witnessed in the gazebo, and how to extract some additional benefit from it; also, I had to figure out the situation with the actual Diary.
“I agree, but I would like to receive answers to my questions. Also, I will need you to provide me with an opportunity to level up my artifact, preferably using books.” I tried to at least say it with calm dignity, as if something actually depended on me.
“You will certainly receive answers to some of your questions. I will help with the leveling up, fine. Now let’s get to business; repeat after me: ‘I swear to serve…’,” Bernard responded calmly.
The oath of loyalty to the suzerain was completely identical to the text I had seen in the Temple of Knowledge, so there were no problems in that for me. Bernard stated his part of the oath, and lightning flickered between us. The butler appeared next to me and completed the ceremony: my suzerain’s emblem appeared on my left shoulder. The triskelion.
“What do you know about restart? Just make it brief.” Bernard leaned back in the armchair, breathing heavily. Even though simple, the ceremony had taken practically all his strength. And mine as well. My Energy dropped all the way down to one. “And do me a favor, pick up this book already.”
I did not protest, and the Diary was in my hand again. While I was doing that, Bernard drank some wine leisurely, and immediately looked noticeably better. Before answering, I also took a sip from the glass presented by the servants, and my Energy started creeping up.
“I know that there have been several of them. It takes three participants, not two as some mistakenly believe. All of them are people. Two men and one woman,” Saying all this aloud drove home the thought that I did not know that much, after all. “Well, actually, that was the brief version. May I ask my questions now?”
The man nodded:
“But don’t expect me to answer all of them. Go on: surprise me, young Paladin.”
“Why did you return the Diary to me? Why do you need the Game to restart? Why do so few know about the third participant in the restart? Why me?”
“The first and last questions are essentially the same. Levard made a mistake by leaving you in the cage. You repeated his actions and activated your copy of the Diary; by doing so you became the Guide. Not the Keymaster, as Archibald thinks. Is there something you know?” the suzerain noticed my smile.
“I know who could be the Keymaster. I don’t know the rest of the terminology. Does that mean I am not Merlin? What does it mean: the Guide and the Keymaster?”
“Believe me, you are not Merlin,” Bernard’s eyes warmed up a lot; apparently he had expected some heavy duty conversation and pressure. It was nice to know that I had ruined his plans. “As for the Keymaster… If you know that, I definitely do as well. It’s Dolgunata, Archibald’s student. They have been training her for this role for the last thirty years, naively supposing that I knew nothing about it.”
“I feel like a first grader talking to the professor about quantum physics theory,” I honestly confessed.”That makes my question even more important. Why me?”
“Because of this,” Bernard pointed at Madonna’s Diary. “By initiating the restart you became the Guide. It’s a being who is supposed to take all three to the restart point. This role cannot be taken away from you any more, unless you are completely wiped out. In that case the activated Diary would disappear and the restart would stop. That’s why you are so valuable to me now, and so inconvenient for my enemies. Accepting you as my vassal makes it easier for me to ensure your safety. I am not going to lock you up in a cell or keep you tied up here. The Game is open to you.”
“So I am not going to die?” I asked with joy; however, Bernard’s reaction told me that I had said something stupid.
“The second question: the third player. Gromana, leave us.” The witch immediately rose, made a polite bow and left the gazebo, accompanied by the vampire. “The flaw of my protégé is too great to allow her hear too much. Unfortunately, I have not figured out how to remove the curse; Soluna is a strong witch. The reason no one knows about the third player lies in his own self. He carefully and thoroughly removes any mention of himself from all the sources. I found out about his existence only thirty years ago, even though I had been working on the issue of restart for over four centuries. I still know little. It is a man‒human‒ Madonna’s lover. His name and class are unknown. One thing I know for sure: he and Madonna always find each other. It’s an axiom.”
“Why?” I could not restrain myself, but Bernard ignored my question.
“The third question was why I need restart. Now, that’s more complicated. You have just witnessed a rather unpleasant scene, right? My other self. My personal curse. My echo. Every time a player reaches a hundredfold level of “Grandeur”, the Game gets a glitch. It creates the player’s echo, his complete copy both externally and internally, only with a defect: the echo knows nothing about the Game. It’s not an NPC, nor is it a player; rather, it resembles a Doll in some way: it’s an unusual something that craves to find its progenitor. But while Dolls are created for love, an echo is created for death. It has the same strength as the creature for whom it was generated. Oh, and there is an important point: the number of echoes is determined by the level of “Grandeur”. At one hundred there is one, at two hundred there would be two… I had four. Three were destroyed at once‒ the laws of the Game are ruthless to them. The fourth, however, was quicker and got to me. You have seen what came of it. I was able to survive because I dared a full merge. So this body houses two beings, which are continuously fighting. Myself and my echo. Occasionally it comes to the surface, scaring everyone around. Until today I thought I had things under control. But, apparently the energy of the activated Diary affected my mental control. You have seen the result. That’s why I want a restart: it will help me get rid of this curse. Nothing else can undo a merge.”
“Why did Gromana throw that animal at you?” I decided to clarify that point for myself as well, while my host was being so cooperative.
“It’s a manushka. They are very fast and have a particular venom. Gromana told me about those animals and suggested I could use one. Their bite puts the echo into a coma, thus enabling me to restore my mental shields. Before that I used other methods which were less effective. With the use of a manushka the fits became rarer and rarer, and I had allowed myself to relax.”
Bernard fell silent for a moment, recalling the unpleasant events again. Then he continued:
“I know where to find Merlin. Archibald knows where to find Madonna. You need to convince the catorian to share information; you can tell him about everything you have seen here, except my other “self”. No one should learn that I have swallowed an echo. Malturion will see you to the library; however, you should know: already tomorrow you must set out on your class quest. You should not quarrel with Iven; I have certain plans for that Paladin.”
Bernard demonstrated how formidably well-informed he was about all my affairs.
“I answered all of your questions, Yaropolk.”
“Not quite,” I resisted, remembering that Madonna and the third restart participant always find each other.
“Right. And I will leave you this question to explore on your own. You are an explorer? Right? Your Doll will help you in that.” With those words Bernard broke into laughter. And I was stunned. What did my Doll have to do with it? “My advice is: don’t reject her. There is nothing bad about sensuality.”
Thoughts were flashing through my head at lightning speed. Really… That would be just incredible. I was staring at the man with my mouth open, contrary to all good manners. He smiled playfully, and praised me:
“Good boy. We’ll find a way to work together. “He rose from the table, indicating that the mee
ting was over. “Complete your quests and talk to Iven. This is your task for next week. Then we’ll see.”
“Please follow me.” The butler appeared nearby. “Gromana mentioned that you cannot use Light books; that somewhat limits the list of what’s available, so we can begin with…”
The butler was explaining the logistics, but I was distracted. I could not get over a fascinating thought to which Bernard had led me.
Madonna‒or the third participant of the restart‒ was a Doll who had become a player.
Chapter Five. Lady Lecleur’s Estate
BERNARD’S LIBRARY, unlike his material wealth, inspired envy and amazed with a practically infinite number of books, scrolls and fragments of documents in various languages. Most of the scripts looked to me like “nonsense” or “some scribbles”. That was frustrating. My eyes kept catching artifacts from previous eras; the oldest one was a collection of poems written three restarts prior to ours. I stopped near the beautiful holographic crystal floating in the air, regretting that modern technology was unable to read it. Even though who knows?‒ maybe there were nothing but some silly love sonnets there.
“That’s always sought after.” Malturion reminded me he was still there, as he noticed my interest in the crystal. “As of now we know of about fifteen hundred quests generated to destroy this object. The Game does not like rare objects from the past and tries to destroy them. Uninvited visitors show up steadily, about once a week.”
“I suppose it would be naïve to imagine you offer each one some tea?” I asked with a smile. “A person like Bernard should easily be able to protect his property from assaults, even within the Sanctuary.”
“Well, actually, any guest is welcome to appreciate my master’s hospitality over a cup of tea with a chimera or Cyclops several worlds away from here.” The butler returned a wry smile and clarified politely: “Portals. Any careless touch would take a guest on an unexpected safari.”
I nodded understandingly, and silently praised myself for my reserve towards the crystal. A few moments ago I had really wanted to touch it, but now the urge vanished completely.
“I wonder to what extent the worlds before our restart were more technologically advanced?”
“I would not be able to tell you. I belong to the current one. Perhaps Gromana could help you with this question. I dare to remind you that time is short. In the morning I am supposed to send you off to Lady Lecleur’s estate. Until then the library is fully at your disposal. Don’t worry about the portals; until morning you have authorized access. Unless you need something else, I’ll leave you to your studies.”
Admitting the butler was right, I took the nearest book off the shelf. A moment later the green light on the open pages faded: my personal video recorder scanned and analyzed the text, then the Book stored it in its virtual compartments. My scale of artifact experience increased by one hundredth of a percent, and I immediately turned the page without reading the text. My task for the moment was to load information; I would sort it out later, when I had a calm environment of private eternity. The knowledge, facts and terminology started flowing into me like a river.
Installing update
“Greetings!” A hoarse voice suddenly whispered, and a small transparent image of an old man appeared before me; it looked precisely like the Keeper from the Temple of Knowledge. “Protocol 250-201 is available; assistant has been activated. Estimated time required for initial analysis and processing information in the Book of Knowledge is three hours seventeen minutes and thirty one seconds. During analysis the assistant’s functions will be limited. Initialization initiated.
Staring at the image in bewilderment, I realized that I had been scanning information for several hours on autopilot, without noticing anything around. It turned out that my “Neuronal Network” properties had attained 30 units, and I had received a virtual assistant as a bonus. Its appearance was quite welcome: no matter how I squeezed and rubbed my eyes, the fatigue was noticeable. Unlike in an eternity pocket, it was hard to do in the real world without sleep, particularly when it was five o’clock in the morning and Energy-wise I was riding on fumes.
“Display information on customizing assistant.” For a few seconds I hesitated between the urge to just keep on the autopilot and scan everything that came to hand, and my reluctance to miss the slightest chance to use the remaining hours with maximum efficiency. In the end the scales tilted towards the potential usefulness of the assistant, and I decided to allocate some of my precious time to him.
“Inquiry is accepted. The information you need is in this scroll. Study it.” The imitation was so perfect that even the manner of speech was exactly like the prototype. Damn, I would go barking mad after five or six “your inquiry is accepted – study this scroll”s! I’d rather make him mute than listen to that impersonal navigator voice!
Fortunately, I was able to customize the assistant’s appearance, even though the choice of interfaces was not great: the old man from the Temple of Knowledge, average male or female characters of the same race as the player, the player himself, and his Doll. Without much ado I chose the guy. A new face would be interesting, and I would not have a woman as an advisor: this was a sure way to turn into a hen-pecked pansy. As for the rest, the options were not much fun: it was possible to turn the assistant on or off, or adjust its transparency and location. That’s it! Suppressing a disappointed sigh, I kept scanning, hoping that something interesting would turn up after the Book analyzed that.
“Based on a current analysis of the uploaded data, the desire of the subject to maximize artifact level and time remaining on the current location in the amount of two hours forty-two minutes and twelve seconds I have to inform you that the current book, with 80% probability, will not provide additional data value,” half an hour later my “new friend” suddenly piped up, reacting to the book I was about to scan into my artifact; with this official statement he was trying to help me. I turned the book in my hand: it was a thick one; it would take about fifteen minutes to scan.
“Analysis of the nearest books that could provide maximum leveling up.” I decided to trust the new function and put the rejected book aside. One of the books close to me was suddenly highlighted in blue. The assistant scanned the cover and supposed that the information within would be most useful for me. A few moments later the blue glow changed to green. The scanning volume was determined.
“Analysis complete. Potentially useful books are selected and highlighted in blue.”
“Could you talk in… a less impersonal manner?” I was very pleased to find out that it was possible to talk to the assistant in my mind, without having to scare those around me with suspicions of acute schizophrenia. The appearance of my navigator was that of a simple-minded fellow with an open and friendly face. When this face said: “based on current analysis…” and the rest of it, it completely threw me. Something had to be done about that.
“Protocol 250-201 implies installing a standard assistant module without personality matrix. Development of a personality matrix occurs in the process of assistant performing its functions and close integration with the mind of its subject. Typical time required for development of a personality matrix and adjustment to subject is two years.”
“Personal time or Game time?” I was curious.
“Personal.”
“Great! I this case, I name you Steve.” The name suited the virtual guy like no other. “Work on the Book of Knowledge, and I’ll keep scanning.”
“Renaming and specified task accepted. Personality matrix 'Steve' initiated.”
By the time the butler appeared, I could boast, besides a humming head, level 10 of “Context Search” and 33 of “Neuronal Network”. Because of the “Explorer’s Book” presented by the Chancellor of the Academy, those parameters were enhanced by 10%, which made me a very happy player.
“It’s time,” Malturion's appearance interrupted me; he was standing expectantly at the portal, not allowing me to finish the book I was hol
ding. “You will have many more opportunities to use the library. The master is offering to change your anchor point to this residence. He considers that would be safer; however, he has left the choice to you.”
“I agree.” The vassal oath turned out to be much better protection than assurances from Archibald and Sharda, so I did not hesitate for a moment.
“Follow me,” the vampire said briefly, and stepped into the portal. “Let’s finish with all the formalities.”
Two hours later I stepped outside and sighed with pleasure. After the registration hall I was taken to the armory. A strange silent creature wrapped from head to toe in a black cloth, who turned out to be the local metalworker, listened to the vampire’s requirements and worked on my armor by making a few quick gestures. This enhanced the protection that was already incredibly strong; then the creature installed the gems that I had acquired. Even though I did not receive any additional armor attributes such as antigravity devices or inertia neutralizers, yet the enhancements were magnificent. Lastly, Malturion handed me defense and attack amulets, inventory expanders, about a hundred vials of Energy elixirs and the scroll with the portal to Lady Lecleur’s estate.
“Only the emblem will save you from heavy duty players,” the vampire explained Bernard’s generosity. “But lesser opponents will break their teeth. You understand, not all players would actually care about the emblem. Master ordered your Doll to be delivered here. I will open the portal to the Sanctuary as soon as you are ready.”
The Quest (Dark Paladin Book #2) LitRPG Series Page 14
