“Sakhray will be here in a couple of minutes.” Dolgunata returned just a moment later. “What are we doing?”
“I provide Gerhard’s seal so that the Paladins would not dare delay you and would let you into the treasury,” Archibald started his instructions. “I cannot go into the estate myself, Gerhard would not allow me to risk myself in this manner. Follow plan D, paragraph three. Go in, the three of you, but I rely mostly on you in this. Try not to fail with the monster of the Reverse. I will give you the access key in the Sanctuary in two hours; ensure you have the portals.”
“Will Sakhray be the third?” Dolgunata asked for clarification.
“No. I will need him.” Archibald fell to thinking. “Yari, you had an orc. He will do. It’s too late to look for anyone else. What did the necromancer look like? Emblem, any distinctive markings, race? I need to know who is training his fighters on the newbies.
“The emblem was a diamond with oddly uneven edges. There was a sun or a ball in the center, it was not clear. Race – human; no distinctive features except for a hoarse voice, as if it were hard for him to talk.” Steve helped me with the main features of the necromancers’ teacher.
“Don Fabio with his bunch,” Archibald nearly spat. “His Game world is Altair. He is an exceptional bastard, with just one redeeming quality: he is a high level experienced necromancer. He trains exclusively teachers. And even that strictly to dispel his boredom. That’s why the newbies were unable to beat his undead. Too high a level. He is such a strong mentalist that he can ignore the new players’ immunity against mental control. He can think up something of his own and no less nasty. Fine: that’s it for the necromancer! Now Fabio is not your problem anymore. All that’s required of you: keep out of his sight. There will be worthy opponents for him without you, snotty-nosed kids. Is everything clear?”
Archibald spoke more for Dolgunata’s sake, so when she nodded I ignored the question. Amazing how much he was worried about her well-being.
Suddenly my comm started vibrating. Gromana.
“Not now, I’ll call you back…” I started answering, but she cut me off:
“What?! I’ll see you at the gate of the estate! You have two minutes!” Gromana was obviously lacking such important things as calmness and patience. The witch was out of sorts.
The comm switched off and I stared at Dolgunata, puzzled.
“Go: this may be important.” Amazing, but the druid quit her mockery. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours here. Archibald?”
“Say hi to Gromana.” The catorian indicated that he was not going to hold me back. I activated invisibility, the druid opened the door and let me out into the crowd of greedy players looking to profit. The search had not stopped for a second. I went down to the courtyard and out of the estate gates. The guards glanced at me, indicating that they did notice me, but they took no action. I was not listed as a violator of some kind despite Ervan’s ire; I was not planning to come back into the castle secretly, and as for leaving in such a manner... oh well, players are pretty weird folks anyway.
Gromana was standing near the entrance, and was nearly stomping the ground with impatience.
“Hi!” I appeared a couple of steps away from the witch. “Why so mad?”
“Yari, are you completely bonkers? What possessed you to use Leguria against players? Fine, you were trained on NPCs, and your superiors even got backdated permission for having done that. But against players?! How did that even occur to you?!”
I had not expected such an outburst of emotion, so I was taken aback a little.
“Bernard was called in by the Viceroy, who demanded explanations for the use of Leguria on Earth against players.” Gromana kept raging, attracting the attention of those around us. Some were already pointing at me, recognizing the target of the local search. “Several projects were terminated in which I was a participant, among others. This game world lost several points of “Light”; we dropped even further in the world rating, and all this because of you!”
“And you are in favor of the 'Light allegiance' of this world, Dark one? Since when?” My initial astonishment faded, and I attacked back. “You should thank me that there are at least some crumbs of emotions that can be gathered without having to beg some deity. As for Leguria – what kind of a maniac allows a strong necromancer to train his students on newbies, given that each student is a full-fledged player? I never signed up to be a sacrificial lamb and die just so!”
“Lie ahead, but take it easy! At that estate you drank yourself into seeing necromancers in a Light world?" Gromana tried to regain her edge, but I would not let her:
“I dare you to keep me company over a glass of wine in the evening, and together we’ll enjoy the sight of Don Fabio from Altair.” The witch’s rounded eyes indicated that the name was more than just vaguely familiar to her. “Yesterday he was standing on that hill over there and directing the attack. Once I used Leguria to kill his students, he promised to come back today having taught them how to protect themselves. So you take it easy, witch!”
“Don Fabio… That’s a heavyweight. We need to warn Bernard that someone issued him permission to visit our world and went around the Coordinator.” Gromana’s tone changed instantly, as if she had not been scolding me vehemently just a moment ago. And no apologies whatsoever. Then, without any transition, she handed me a small package. “He sent something to you. Are you going to open it?”
I turned the parcel in my hands, in no hurry to unwrap it. The witch was clicking her fingers impatiently. She obviously resented the role of a courier, but one does not argue with the suzerain. Gromana must have decided that since Bernard chose her to send a present for me there must be something important and interesting inside.
“Why did we have to meet outside the castle?” I was holding a theatrical pause as a matter of some small revenge against the mean witch for her recent scene.
“The thief threatened to destroy the pendant and kill Elizabeth with it. Paladins have asked for help, so that’s why Bernard gave me those instructions. I am on the list… Blast you, little morons! Have you no respect for your elders?!”
Gromana threw some kind of a protection over me, and dark force ripples started spreading in a circle from her, turning everything living into ashes: grass, bugs, and about a dozen players who had been preparing to attack me and ignored Gromana. Which was extremely short-sighted on their part.
“Have they gone completely mad that they can’t see who you are talking to?”
“They can,” I objected, “but not very clearly. They are drunk. You are an experienced witch – you ought to know that the deeper the bottle, the crazier the deeds. What they are seeing now is not a high level witch; they see a broad chatting with a granis.”
“What does that mean?” The witch was astonished.
“”What you think it means! The one who catches me and brings to the host of the estate will receive a granis.”
“A granis for catching Bernard’s vassal?! What kind of a game world is this? What did you do‒ steal all their table silver?” Gromana kept expressing her surprise, meanwhile, by the way, blowing off those attempting to get to my body. “Where the hell do you think you are going?! What do they teach them in those academies?!”
Using a controlled blob of dark matter Gromana grabbed a player who was trying to shoot me from a distance, peeled his armor off together with his skin and left him hanging in the air as a lesson to all those trying to get a granis for nothing. The stuck player was squealing like a stuck pig, but the witch just glanced at him, noting with a grimace that pedagogy was not her forte after all. There were no more around trying to get to me. Gromana thought for a moment, and activated some crystal on her armor. An energy dome appeared around us, separating us from the rest of the players.
“What’s in the parcel‒ a thousand curses on your reckless head?!”
Gromana had reached a point when lingering further would be a really dangerous thing to do. So I opened Bernard’s
present and stared in bewilderment at a black brochure the size of my hand, and probably barely ten pages thick. But the witch’s reaction was quite telling – she swallowed and whispered reverently:
“The Dark Book of Lumpen. Merlin take me!!! How did Bernard do it…”
“The library that he has…” I shrugged.
“The library,” Gromana repeated mockingly. “It’s a sacrilege to keep such things in a library! Everybody thinks this book has been lost ever since the previous era. Hide it right away!”
I sensibly followed Gromana’s instructions, and threw the book into my personal inventory. I’d deal with it later in a quiet place.
“It’s more than just a book! Actually, all it has of a book is appearance,” Gromana clarified, and looked around. “Invisibility curtain, thank Night. No one could have seen it. This is an artifact of Darkness! If you activate the book, Darkness will forever become your ally, but you will have to give your whole being to it as well, fully! It’s like a vow to your betrothed that you will stay with her forever.”
“So much pathos. Let’s go over it again in a more down to earth manner; keep it simple. I never grokked poetry. And why are you looking around again? Will I be beaten if I flash it around?” If those around me would be brief and to the point, it would make it so much simpler for me to get on with the Game. Had there been an option somewhere to “turn off pathos and windbaggery” – it would have been a truly priceless one.
Gromana sighed, remembering whom she had to work with, and proceeded to specifics:
“If you were to activate it, you would have the mark of Darkness on you all the way till the end of the Game. It would be impossible to change sides after that and become neutral or Light. If you ran into high-level Light fanatics, yes, they would definitely beat you. Small fish Light ones would dislike being near you. Your presence would annoy them.”
“It’s not like they were really fond of me before. In the Academy I was told that the choice of allegiance is made once and for all and cannot be changed.” What I had heard before was different from what Gromana was telling me now.
“That’s right. It cannot be changed by standard means. But the Viceroy, the Emperor’s Councilor, or the Emperor himself may ignore the rule if you found the right approach to them. But even they would be powerless to change the allegiance of a player who has this book.”
“That’s a dubious advantage the way I see it. Is there something more unequivocal?” I still could not understand why Bernard would make me such a gift.
“There is. While the Light ones would subconsciously feel aggression towards you, the Dark ones would do the opposite: they would consider it an honor and pleasure to help you. Your level of Darkness would reach 100 and stay there forever, never dropping even if the book owner were to worship some gods or become an ascetic. Besides, the force of dark spells would reach simply fantastic levels. Your Leguria enhanced with absolute Darkness would be a hefty argument against that Don Fabio. Now, silly head, do you understand that this is more than just a gift? Just think; Lumpen’s creation in such hands… Under other circumstances I would…” Gromana did not finish, shaking her head indignantly.
“Under other circumstances I would still think long and hard before activating it. We are in the world of Light ones, Gromana! As soon as I activated the book, it would serve as a command to attack for everybody, and I would become a constant target. While the Dark ones are so few and far between here that you could count them on one hand. I doubt that their friendliness would outweigh the hatred of the Light ones.”
“Then give it to me,” Gromana laughed gratingly, bowing and scraping her foot in jest. “In exchange you will have my gratitude, granises and generally everything I can give you.”
I responded in kind with a forced grin:
“That’s a great joke! I am sure Bernard would like that.” I had to visit the Temple of Knowledge. As soon as I understand the core essence of the book, I will figure out how it could help me. I looked at the witch and it confirmed that there was a grain of joke in every joke. “If you wish, we can discuss your offer at a later time.”
The witch mumbled, upset, that it was worth a try, and nodded. Taking advantage of her willingness, I asked:
“Do you know anything about the pendant or its thief?”
“What is there to know? It’s all so boring.” Gromana waved me off, still upset. “Some local twit decided to bump off an old decrepit lady, but miscalculated his strength. Who is this Elizabeth, after all? Small fish‒ there are millions like her.”
“And if I were to tell you that she is Anna’s daughter?”
“Then I will tell you that you have not impressed me!” Gromana was working herself up now. “If you have something to tell me, then go ahead. No need to play charades here. My plate is so full it’s flowing over, and here I am playing courier to some pipsqueak. What is it then about this Anna-Elizabeth?”
I need you to pass on information to Bernard, since you can’t help me.” I steered the conversation back to business. "Not only was Anna the mother of the victim, but she was also the only student of some Madonna. While the victim, Elizabeth, was Madonna’s only minion.”
“What a complicated story…” Gromana was looking quite despondent now. Apparently, Bernard had never told her about any of that.
“In addition, Sophie is Elizabeth’s daughter and a granddaughter of Iven, toward whom Milord Bernard had exhibited some interest. She has filed a petition for divorce and transfer to another world secretly from her grandfather. But there has been no response so far. If Milord Bernard were to grant this petition, he would have one loyal Lecleur bound to him by gratitude till the end of her life. And through whom it would be possible to get to Iven himself. Please convey this to him as food for thought.”
“This information is useful but I am sure that Milord Bernard is well aware of all that. Since he is taking no action, no action is necessary. Did you promise anything to her?”
“Only that I would put in a word for her, nothing more. I have fulfilled my part of the deal, so my conscience is clear!”
“What a good boy. Now you, with your clear conscience get yourself off to look for the pendant, while I with my clear conscience will deal with my own business. I am removing the dome… I am tired as hell of this shit of yours!”
Another dark wave rippled from the witch, reducing nearby players to dust. Gromana activated a portal, paying no attention to the already gurgling player still hanging in the air, and disappeared. The hapless guy dropped to the ground and died. Soon the body predictably glimmered and disappeared, to reemerge at the respawn point an hour later.
Before the other players had a chance to figure out that the danger Gromana represented was no longer there, I activated invisibility and Sleevan helped me return to the estate. Having made sure that Dolgunata invited Alard for the walk I hid in the herald’s house, and without further ado, started examining Bernard’s gift.
As soon as I tried to open the book the Game inquired if I was ready to accept the Darkness and let it into myself? Naturally I refused, and received a message indicating that those who had not passed the above-mentioned initiation were denied access to this manual. For a few moments I contemplated whether I should dedicate some time to try and find some information regarding the book in the Sanctuary library or other sources available to me, but then followed the familiar path, and requested access to the Temple of Knowledge straight away.
“In order to make a decision on using the artifact of Darkness from Lumpen I need information regarding the consequences of activating it within the game world ‘Earth’ for a player with allegiance to Darkness.” I tried to make my inquiry as detailed as possible.
“Welcome to the Temple of Knowledge, Dark one.” The Keeper responded at once. The old man pointed affably at the chair that appeared out of thin air, and settled on the one that materialized next to it. The furniture and absence of the habitual coffee table with the scroll on it puzzled me
.
“Have a seat‒ we ought to talk.” The old man was suspiciously friendly and pleasant. It seemed that someone had at least heard me silently bewailing the lack of an option for turning off pathos and windbaggery: the Keeper cut straight to the point. “The Temple of Knowledge is offering you an exchange. You give us the artifact, and we will allow you to ask two questions unrelated to the main query whenever you visit the Temple of Knowledge.”
“Are we talking about the book of Lumpen now?” I was taken aback. The Keeper nodded.
“What is so valuable about it that you are extending such a generous offer? Or is the catch in the fact that I will be allowed to ask the question but will not be guaranteed the answers?" I decided to clarify just in case.
The Keeper smiled patronizingly in response:
“Let’s try. You ask a question and assess the completeness of the answer. Some topics fall outside the scope of the agreement. You will be warned about that and you will have the right to ask a different question.”
“Why do you need it?” I came back to the matter of the book.
“To destroy it. Artifacts of previous eras, when they move about freely in the game world, upset the balance, which is already fragile. They can cause catastrophes by their mere presence. Frequently, as a player activates them, he has not the slightest clue of hidden danger. This book, as so many other similar things, has nothing to do with what it appears to be. You did the right thing by coming to the Temple of Knowledge for help. Unfortunately, frequently curiosity is stronger than reason. In your case, by acknowledging the Darkness as your ally and master, in addition you would have received yet another master. Quite a material one, unlike the Darkness. You would have voluntarily accepted the mark of a slave.”
The Quest (Dark Paladin Book #2) LitRPG Series Page 23
