The Quest (Dark Paladin Book #2) LitRPG Series

by Vasily Mahanenko

  Compassion and benevolence were things of the past; now all I had in front of me was not a sentient player, but a vessel with Energy; I needed to learn how to extract it.

  “What are you doing?” I heard a stunned question from behind me, and another several players tumbled into the room, attracted by the bloodcurdling screams.

  “Eating!” I informed the intruders, looking them over pragmatically. “And I can see that a few more dishes have come in on their own.”

  I resumed work on the first victim, who was now cooperating: the top line of his “Faith limit” dropped significantly. So that’s why Dark ones need a Light world! In order to survive without hundreds of thousands of Energy vials. All that was needed was to make the victim forget about his god by torturing him while showing that his faith and god will neither save him from pain, nor render any aid. Steve helpfully pulled up the video of Gromana ruthlessly skinning the player while keeping him conscious with the help of her magic. As I was standing next to her at that time a thought flashed through my mind about her sadistic inclinations, that she was doing it just for fun. But now that I understood the specifics I figured out why the witch did not kill him. She needed pain and emotions! She needed Energy!

  I noticed with my peripheral vision that the guests were dangerously close. One quick dash, and the only one left alive out of the four was the player with the lowest “Faith limit”. Dropping him on the ground as first one died I continued my experiments. I needed to finally understand all the subtleties of the rules for Energy replenishment.

  “There he is, surround him!” I was greeted by a shout from some random player as I emerged from Sleevan’s house fifteen minutes later. Asking after the health of the herald who was taken away by caring servants and already given some elves’ ointment, I headed towards Dolgunata without even attempting to conceal myself. The players were at first rejoicing at my appearance and rushed forward to earn their granis, but their fervor faltered as the distance between us diminished.

  “A Dark one!” The first victim of the dark aura rushed at me from the crowd of puzzled players. With a fanatical shine in his eyes and animal-like growls the player bared his weapon against me, hoping to perform a great feat in the name of Light. Out of control, the guy completely was not thinking about protecting himself. Of course I used that to my advantage, and met him with a simple blow to the face. The spikes went easily into his eyes and as easily went out the back of the fanatic’s skull; blood poured over his face and body. The other players were in no hurry to react to this execution. At least a minute passed, during which I threw off the body and covered about fifty steps, when another young defender of Light went bonkers. Another blow to the face and thirty more steps towards the castle With each killing the number of steps dropped; during the last few yards I ended up having to kill noobs practically at every step. It was easy.

  There were about a dozen in all, I thought. Actually, I lost count a couple of times. Twelve low level players who lost control over their emotions and went wild from the present of one with the hundredth level of Darkness. May that be a lesson to them. I hoped that at the respawn point they would think of protective artifacts against players such as I. Or spend some time in the timeless zone to learn to control their emotions. In any case, I made it to the main gate and all that bothered me was: do I extract Energy properly? I need to check with Gromana as soon as possible.

  “I have some interesting information.” Steve could not care less about these events; he was working on his own thing. “The final analysis of all the data is far from being complete, but I can say already now that there are not that many potential Creators. About a hundred beings by my estimate. That’s how many of those born in the first era were in the lists for the last one.”

  “Is this the information you wanted to share with me?” I stopped, and the players nearest to me froze in place, not knowing what to expect of me, and fearing to provoke aggression on my part.

  “Not only that,” Steve smiled, indicating that he was already developing an independent personality. “The main thing is the last. I checked out one of our acquaintances, and was simply amazed by the results.”

  “Come on already! What did you find?”

  “He was born during the first era. Went through all the restarts. And lives in a second-rate world called ‘Earth’. Guess who it is!”

  “Enough!” I flared up. “I’ll just reformat you! Name!”

  The crowd scattered in all directions, just in case. The players felt so uncomfortable near me that they immediately recalled all the things they had to do urgently, just to get away as far as possible. Even Steve kept quiet – he had not expected such a reaction out of me. However, after sighing a couple of times, just for show to make me feel guilty, he did go ahead and announced with pathos:

  “Paladin Archibald, catorian, game world ‘Earth’.”

  Chapter Eight. The Lecleurs’ Treasury

  THE DARK AURA worked without a glitch. I tentatively divided all players into two categories: cowards and idiots. The first one ran off as I approached, the second one attacked without warning or preparation, led by his overwhelming desire to erase the scary Dark one off the face of the Earth. The stupid ones were so numerous that as we were going to the room I was able to gain an extra level.

  “Great Light! What happened?!” Alard whispered, astounded, as soon as I entered the room.

  “You know, Yari, while before I wanted to strangle you quietly, now I am looking for a reason not to tear you into pieces right here,” stated Dolgunata, sitting in my chair.

  “Risk your old bones, sure,” I nodded to Sakhray who was standing by the window. All Archibald’s students were there. “What’s with the key?”

  “Nothing yet. Archibald has not…” Dolgunata started replying, then jumped up in one fluid motion and shoved back her brother, who had tried to jump at me. He hit his head on the wall and slumped. The druid turned around and growled angrily: “Yari, do something about your aura! Or else it will drive everyone mad!”

  “Alard is doing well and so are you. As for the rest – it’s their problem,” I said with some disdain, looking at Archibald’s second best student. Sakhray came to quickly, and was now looking glumly at me, trying to understand what had just happened. Why had he just rushed to attack me and why did he want to do it yet again?

  “I have a hard time keeping calm, brother,” the orc admitted, taking a few steps back. “Only the understanding that it’s dishonorable to attack a brother is holding me back. Honor above all!”

  “So far as it’s holding you, that’s fine. While Archibald is not here I’d like to take a stroll through the estate, stretch my legs. Nata, are you coming?”

  “To watch you torture the kids? “The druid snorted. “Spare me the sight.”

  I turned around silently and left the room. Even though I was showing off, the uncontrolled aggression coming from everyone around was starting to bother me. This unexpected problem required a quick solution. It would not do to go into the treasury with the Light ones and continuously worry that their self-control will fail. I covered myself under invisibility in an isolated spot and dialed Gromana. If there was anyone who could help, it would be she. The witch was not inclined to be long-winded; moreover, she was not too eager to talk to me generally:

  “I can’t get rid of you, eh! If you don’t like attention from the Light ones, turn off the artifact! Big deal! Enough, I don’t have time!” Gromana wanted to drop the call, but I stopped her.

  “Wait! I don’t want to turn it off, I just want to dim the aura. How can I do it quickly?”

  “What is it about you – ‘I want this'; 'I don’t want that!' You want to eat your cake and have it too! It doesn’t work that way! I told you in common Game language: the fastest and simplest way to resolve your problem is to deactivate the book.”

  I fell silent, thinking. Was I ready to give up this enhancement? If the witch says it’s the simplest way, then so it is. It’s a pity I
am so short on time.

  Meanwhile Gromana, mistaking my silence for agreement, continued:

  “Open the character settings. If you follow the path: Darkness-Settings-Deactivate, you should have acquired an icon with a dark octopus. Have you found it?”

  Still thinking, I followed the path:

  “Yes, I have.”

  “Well, since you have, click on it!” Gromana responded, calming down.

  Thinking sensibly that once I know where to find it I will always have time to click on it later, I decided to verify in conclusion:

  “So what are the ways that are not quick nor simple?”

  “Have you clicked it?” The witch ignored my question and repeated her own.

  “No.”

  “Then click the blasted button already, damn you!” Gromana suddenly exploded, giving me a thought.

  “Once I push it, will something irrevocable or irredeemable happen to me? Will I not lose the book?”

  After a short silence the evil witch deigned to answer:

  “You won’t lose it!” Gromana sighed heavily. “Once you deactivate the book, you can generate it again, but you won’t be able to activate it any more. But you will be able to transfer it to another player. Me, for example. And you won’t get any dark aura!”

  By this time Steve analyzed all the current settings and shook his head negatively.

  “Looks like it’s true. So, it looks like it’s impossible to conceal the aura using settings?”

  “No,” the witch was obviously contemplating whether to respond to me or hang up. She chose the former. “You have made your choice, and this aura will stay with you till deactivation or death. It’s possible to conceal it with an external influence, but it takes time. And you said it was urgent.”

  I grinned at the witch’s attempt to justify herself.

  “Not so urgent as to forfeit an advantage. Is there some amulet for this?”

  “No. You need a powerful Light source.”

  “A Light source will simply kill me,” I objected, but Gromana waved that off.

  “I am alive and all the Dark ones are alive as well. Why should it not work for you? Can you jump to the Sanctuary now? I’ll explain it all to you. It’s inconvenient over the comm.”

  “Is there a threat to me?” I asked habitually. Gromana’s reaction was quite adequate:

  “Why did I have to teach you for my own trouble. No, there are no threats to you, no tricks or other bad things. I promise! At least, until you deactivate the book,” the witch laughed, and I could easily see that this joke was no joke at all.

  “Then wait for me; I’ll be right there. Where should I look for you?” I needed to do something about my aura before Archibald showed up.

  “Let’s meet at the auction in five minutes. It’s the only place I know where one can buy everything we’ll need.”

  Scolding myself for only having bought a few return trip scrolls to the Sanctuary from Sleevan, I activated the last one. Had I known that I would be jumping all over Europe like a crazy grasshopper, I would have bought a dozen portals. Then I would not have to think where to find the herald all the time. Once I was in the Sanctuary, I decided against visiting the Paladins’ headquarters so as not to test Grizdan’s nerves with my Darkness at 100. Worried stares from passers-by were quite enough as they noticed me appearing in Zurich and scattered every which way in a hurry. So this way I made it to the auction, followed by curious stares; one time I even noticed an eye on a long stem peering from the sewage manhole – an inhabitant of Zurich below. Everyone wanted to know what kind of Dark wonder had shown up in the Sanctuary.

  “Oh well,” Gromana drawled, as she met me at the door of the auction. Inhaling contentedly, she even closed her eyes with pleasure. “I am not even going to ask how you made it here alive. The cloud around you is so dense it is as if I were at home again before respawn. I can imagine how you freaked them out… Anyway, now to business. Go to the auction and buy a looped anti-grav. It looks approximately like this.” Gromana took a cylinder made of glass and metal off her belt. A piece of wood was weightlessly floating inside.

  “This is a Light source from my old world,” the witch explained, pointing at the piece of wood. “Its force is comparable to my level of Darkness and completely cancels the aura. To everyone else it looks like I am neutral.”

  “Does it work only on the aura or on the force as well?” I was examining the cylinder carefully. It would be interesting to know what was keeping the piece of wood weightless in there. Magic or something else?

  “It affects the force a little, but primarily the aura.. The cylinder completely blocks the effects of the source of Light. While it’s intact. If it were to be damaged even slightly, the source would touch a wall, and I would go to respawn. Well, first I would be dragged through all the circles of hell the way Christians imagine them.”

  “Has that happened to you often? I was looking at the device skeptically.

  “A couple of times for sure,” Gromana smirked. “What, are you scared?”

  “Is this really the only way to turn off the aura without losing the book?”

  “Yes‒ the only one I know. As to why it is so complicated: where have you seen a Dark one who has reached the maximum level of Darkness and would voluntarily give up the aura that suppresses the Light ones? It’s like buying a flying carpet and then walking everywhere because you don’t want to get it dirty. Stupid and pointless.”

  “But we don’t really have a choice,” I grinned. Gromana hooked the cylinder back onto her belt and snorted:

  “Like hell. The moment you take the anti-grav off you become a dark blot on the reputation of this blighted world.”

  There was nothing to say to Gromana’s reasonable comment.

  “I get it. So I buy an anti-grav, and then what?”

  “You’ll buy a looped anti-grav,” the witch corrected me. “Then you will be facing another problem. You will have to take an interesting trip to one of the local Force points and steal their source of Light. Given that the latter would have to be of maximum strength, small in size and available for stealing, there are not many options in this game world.

  “Any suggestions?”

  “Not a single one. You were born in this world, so you should know. I hope that I am not even here for very long and Bernard will allow me to move to Centauri. So you’ll have to deal with the issue of the source on your own. I can only help you with the anti-grav; not every random one is suitable for your purpose.”

  Twenty minutes later Gromana left me to deal with my new acquisition – a small metal cylinder we bought from a nameless dealer for the three entire granises. Craftsmen in the Game have a gilded life it seems! You find a niche for yourself, fill it with your goods of different price categories, and that’s it! The world is your oyster! My draftsmanship was not going to take me very far here.

  Settling down in the nearest internet café I delved into studying available sources of Light. Even though our world was rich in terms of various relics, there was no reason to rejoice. I had to immediately rule out almost everything: various holy icons, remains of saints, the Black Stone of the Kaaba, the Spear of Destiny that had pierced the side of Jesus, and many other objects that would just physically not fit into my cylinder. And when I found mention of something useful, like the hair of the prophet Muhammad, it turned out that it had been lost. Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam… I went through just about everything, but did not find anything, Despairing, I finally selected the only thing that seemed acceptable: the Buddha’s tooth.

  “Look who’s calling an old mercenary!” The joy in Miltay’s voice was so sincere that I also smiled. Apparently he was looking forward to a lucrative order. “Are you calling for business, or just, like, been missing me?”

  “I’ve been missing you, so I have some business for you. How about earning a couple of granises?

  “Look here, make something! And a couple of granises to boot! Why so generous? Where do we
have to run? Who do we have to bury?”

  “Game world Earth, the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka, Temple of the Tooth. I need to have a relic stolen.”

  “Look here, how about some more detail – what is it you want stolen, like?” Miltay grumbled, as he hadn’t caught it the first time. So I had to clarify:

  “A Light source with the code name ‘The Tooth of the Buddha’. I would like to temporarily borrow it forever for personal use. Is that better? Since a thing like that is likely to be guarded, and guarded well, I'll need supporting fire.”

  “Messing with the monks, eh?” Enthusiasm vanished from the mercenary’s voice, and his joy clearly faded. “Yari, you are a cool guy, but here you are knocking on the wrong door. If you needed to complete a dungeon, or shake up some NPCs, like, that’s something we’ll always do gladly. But against players… Our little fart-guns won’t be any good for that. You must recall how long it took us to destroy the crabs, and players are bound to have much stronger protection. They won’t let us even come in from the cold. They’ll drown us like kittens straight at the door.”

  “I heard you,” I replied in a voice devoid of emotion. “Do you know a good contact though?”

  “Look here, seems like you know one yourself, judging by the markers on you. Archibald and Devir. Those two are the best on Earth. Only, as far as I recall, you aren’t so rich as to hire them. So then, look, there are some players who won’t be asking so sky high: Tselmet, Sherzal and Valir. Actually, I wouldn’t recommend the last one: he’s unreliable. One could call up some from other worlds, too. All you need is granises. That old Khalisad, say, from Zhardin. In our sector, he’d be the cleverest trickster when it comes to borrow ‘n forget. But he’s an expensive little bastard. Won’t work for less than ten granises an hour. But still, like, cheaper than Archibald or Devir will cost ya.”

  I thanked him and after a little more light conversation, I ended my talk with Miltay. The mercenary was right: any more or less significant relic would be guarded, and a common player like myself would not even be able to come close to it. They’d be killed before they even have a chance to approach.