A Trap for the Potentate (The Dark Herbalist Book #3) LitRPG series

by Michael Atamanov

  “We found eighteen lamps. We don’t know which it is yet. But we put them all in a row next to the cave exit. We haven’t touched them with our bare hands.”

  “Rational caution,” the Magess replied, praising our actions. “This is only the fourth time this quest has fired in the game. The last three times, the attempt to call the djinn ended fatally for the one who found the lamp and, even worse, the djinn himself ran away and moved to a different place. Do you know the level of the monster?”

  I shook my head “no.” I could be sure the djinn was higher than level-77, as it had defeated the Sandstorm Ifrit in its very den, but the question was: how much higher?

  “We'll treat this mission with all due seriousness. The most important thing is not to allow the djinn to flee.” Till said, turning to his companions, then he turned to me. “You need to include five players in the group, I'll send the list in a private message!”

  And just then a private-chat window flickered open, and I familiarized myself with the information. Now that was a surprise! Four of them were standing right in front of me, but the fifth was not the owner of the fifth Pegasus, or even a player from the Legion of Steel at all!

  Larsen Lucky

  Human

  Level 237 Trader

  Surprise must have shown on my face, because Till Quick_Fingers hurried to explain:

  “He's an old friend of our clan, and we have certain understandings. What's more, he pays generously for the chance to take part in such activities.”

  And really, what difference did it make to me? I included the five names into the list of quest participants, after which the players standing before me grew noticeably happier and more relaxed. They couldn't seriously think I was tricking them, and didn't have a unique quest, right?!

  “Yes, it's all on the up and up, like we agreed,” the Valkyrie confirmed. “And now I ask you not to interfere, or even come close to us as we complete the quest! We'll call you when the mission is done, and the time to collect the reward has come! Our diplomat will give you the map and ingredients. The provisions are already unloaded. Your hungry mobs can wolf down everything there as soon as our soldiers walk away.”

  * * *

  The starving orcs devoured their food. They didn’t “dine” or “eat.” What they did could only be called “devouring.” Hurriedly shoving food into their tusked maws, they were all trying to tear off the biggest pieces, swallowing, gagging, belching and champing. The spectacle was fairly unsightly, but I understood that this was not the right moment to teach manners to my wildlings. The humans, though, who weren't accustomed to orcish ways, shot them dismayed frowns and turned away.

  The only member of the Legion of Steel who stayed with us and didn't take part in the battle with the djinn was Alexander the Great3st, the level-231 Sun Priest, who was riding a huge level-150 Tyrannosaurus. He'd stayed behind as a rear guard instead of going to fight the djinn. At first, I was surprised at that fact, but remembered soon enough that the diplomat was of an advanced age and didn't ask a tactless question. All the same, the old man soon confirmed my guess:

  “At eighty-two years, one starts to value peace and quiet, not brilliant sensations. There are plenty of people in the clan willing to spill their own blood fighting monsters without me. I am valued for other talents. I'm quite a good organizer, and my great life experience helps determine which type of rhetorical approach will work best on a person, which aids in negotiations.”

  The old man fell silent, staring at the twinkling glow coming from the battle. The mages of the Legion of Steel had covered the location with a translucent dome, allowing them to enter, but nothing to leave. Based on the ghastly whelping and flashes of lightning coming from that direction, my caution hadn't been misplaced, and the djinn had tested the magical boundary several times.

  A trade window opened. Alexander the Great3st was offering me three Ifrit Hearts, and asking for zero coins in return. Naturally, I agreed immediately.

  “Today, our mages discovered that these hearts have a property we hadn't detected before...” the man began with a crafty chuckle. “I'm sure, Amra, that you already know about it. Half a million experience points is only interesting to a noob. Level 200+ characters get that much for killing just one monster. Removing level requirements from objects is also only useful to beginners. But improving resistance to air magic is a very interesting thing indeed. In fact, we can now even farm cloud palaces and the heavenly fortresses of air elementals. Before, those places were too harsh even for TOP alliances. So, the price of Ifrit Hearts is sure to take off into the heavens, and they'll soon be in very high demand. Now, as for the maps...”

  Alexander the Great3st [LEGION] offers you a private contract

  I opened the contract and read the conditions. I was being offered to buy a map for zero coins. He waited for my agreement, and asked only after that:

  “May I inquire, Amra, why you needed a map of such a desolate area?”

  It wasn't a secret, so I honestly told the old man that my boss at the Boundless Realm Corporation had given me a difficult mission as a tester and employee to journey to the upper reaches of the Styx. My boss told me that the owner of a flying mount was the very person for scouting new territories, and that such exploration would be to the benefit of all the millions of players of Boundless Realm. My boss also told me that many before me had tried to go up the black river, including large clans. So, I asked for a map of those places, supposing that the Legion of Steel may have already been there.

  “You've been given a very difficult mission...” the old man said after a long silence. “The Legion of Steel was planning to make an expedition up the Styx a year and a half ago, just after it was added to the game. New locations, new quests, unique resources. All of that represents a fairly great value, which attracted us. But then a war came to a head between us and an alliance of three other clans, so we never even started our journey. After that, we simply watched other large clans break themselves one after the other trying to explore the river of death. I have no idea why the developers made these regions so impossibly hard to get through, or what reward is meant to compensate all these difficulties, or if such a prize even exists...”

  The old man fell silent, but then gave a sharp shudder, as if he had seen or heard something I hadn't noticed. After turning his tyrannosaur toward the site of the battle, the diplomat commented:

  “It's over Amra. The djinn has been pacified. Call your friends. The time has come to take your rewards.”

  * * *

  Along with Valerianna Quickfoot, Taisha and I walked over to the shining dome, which many Legion of Steel mages were holding up with obvious strain. Guards stationed along the perimeter advised me to proceed on foot, because the spell wouldn't allow NPC's, including pets or mounts. I jumped off Fimbulthul and stopped, offering to let the girls go first through the magical barrier. I had serious doubts about Taisha, and I was already mentally preparing to ask the mages to remove the dome, but my NPC wife passed through without any resistance. Not wasting time, I followed after her.

  Based on the dozens of bodies lying breathless and black patches of vitrified sand, it must have been very, very hot here, in the literal and figurative senses, and the djinn had made them pay handsomely for his freedom. Soon, I saw the thing that had caused all this mess, a nearly transparent, pale blue spirit restrained with a great many brightly glimmering power lines leading to a ball about one and a half meters in diameter hovering motionless in the air.

  Al-Hassan Godsbain

  Djinn Sultan (unique creature)

  A unique creature! His marker on the mini-map was golden! The rarest type of being in Boundless Realm, of which only one could exist. I could not determine its level. To me, the Djinn Sultan was marked simply with a black skull, which meant there were more than fifty levels between us.

  Kristina Mozzi, the level-333 Valkyrie came out to meet me and my companions. After calling for our attention with a raised pointer finger, she led
us through a quick set of instructions:

  “To be brief, the mission conditions are thus: this son of Shaytan won’t create anything material but, other than that, the 'wishes' he can grant can be of nearly any nature. The only limit is that the wish must be clearly described with numbers and statistics. You can reinforce a stat, raise a skill level or resist, determine the coordinates of a rare object or quest... Basically, just try some stuff out. We've already made our wishes, now it's your turn!”

  Hmm, it would be interesting to hear the wishes of TOP players from the strongest alliance in Boundless Realm! Probably, after all, they needed something extremely rare, very interesting or global! Most likely, we were invited late in order to leave us in the dark as to the demands of the leaders of the Legion of Steel.

  For my own wish, I'll admit, I was lost. You might think I’d had plenty of time to think it over, but I just kept putting the decision off for later, thinking I'd figure it out when I got there. But now, nothing sensible was coming to mind. Valerianna Quickfoot, seeing my hesitation, was first to take a step forward to the restrained being:

  “I wish to double the effect of my Insect Swarm specialization, under the Animal Control skill!”

  The djinn didn't say anything aloud, but clearly my sister got some kind of answer, because she immediately adjusted her wish:

  “Alright, if doubling it is impossible, then increase it by the forty percent the game rules allow!”

  Based on what I saw, the djinn agreed, because the forest nymph spent a few seconds standing in silence, then jumped for joy:

  “Amra, instead of twelve hornets, I now have seventeen! And they all have reinforcement bonuses from the total number of insects in the swarm! Dang, this is cool!”

  After my sister, I stepped forward to the tethered djinn, already more or less having formed my thoughts:

  “I'd like to know where the items from Fenrir’s Cursed Regalia are!”

  “Not possible,” came a voice in my head. “For one wish, you may receive information about only one unique item.”

  “Alright, tell me the location of at least one item from Fenrir’s Cursed Regalia,” I said, agreeing to his limit. But before the djinn managed to answer, I hurriedly added: “except those I already have!”

  “Ugh... You ruined such an amazing joke,” the djinn answered, clearly upset. “Alright. You can find the Boots of Fenrir in the Harpy village of Sini-Nalle in possession of a Minotaur rag-dealer named Rho.”

  Mission completed: Something Different...

  Reward: One Wish

  Fame increased

  Present value: 6

  Sini-Nalle? Where was that exactly? I didn't have any idea, but I was sure going to find out! I now had a new goal!

  But meanwhile, Taisha was in no hurry to tell the djinn her wish. Instead, my NPC wife turned to the Valkyrie standing nearby:

  “And what will happen when the last of the eight wishes is granted?”

  Kristina Mozzi gave a predatory chuckle, displaying a set of pure white teeth:

  “The djinn thinks we'll let him go... So naive! Who would refuse the chance to kill a unique creature?! That's both huge experience and unique loot, and also more fame for everyone who takes part in the battle! So, make your wish quick, we're already getting sick of waiting. Also, it's night time, and a lot of us have to work tomorrow.”

  “Alright, I won't keep you any longer...” Taisha turned around and walked over to the doomed creature in an unhurried gait.

  I'll be honest, at the very last moment, I guessed what Taisha would wish for, and froze in horror, anticipating the now inevitable catastrophe. And my intuition didn't mislead me...

  “I wish for the Djinn Sultan Al-Hassan Godsbain to be set free!”

  Taisha said this in Goblin tongue, so very few understood her. But I did. And so did the Chaos Magess Violetta Bestia, because the she-elf gave a blood-curdling scream of horror and tried to protect herself, raising her magic staff for some kind of spell. But she wasn't fast enough. And no one else nearby was either...

  You have died

  55808 Exp. lost

  You will respawn in 59 minutes, 58 seconds at the last respawn point you set

  Adjustment in Plans

  I CRAWLED OUT of the virtual reality capsule, soaked in sweat and feeling like a mouse that just escaped a cat. My arms were shaking in pain. I wasn’t as overexerted as after that long-ago night of rowing with heavy oars, but I felt not only depleted, but depressed. Just to think, my NPC girlfriend Taisha, who I'd known for many weeks now, had not only killed my character with her actions, but had also humiliated me in the ugliest way possible before very, very influential players!

  I reached for my phone and called my sister. Val answered instantly, as if she was already holding her phone.

  “Bro, I can't say I have good news. I lost a level and a whole hour for respawn. And although my forest nymph has the Polyglot skill, I still am bad at understanding Goblin tongue. What just happened?!”

  I explained exactly what Taisha had wished for. In reply, my little sister couldn't hold back her emotions and started cursing in the most natural fashion. This time, I didn't even tell my sister off. I had similar feelings myself.

  “And what now?” Valeria wondered. “If the loss of experience from death is noticeable even to us, just imagine how mad the high-level Legion of Steel players are gonna be! It's much harder for them to gain a level. They take a few days to level up, maybe even a week!”

  “You’re right...” it was hard not to agree with my sister in this matter. “I feel like I can no longer count on their help...”

  “Timothy, call their diplomat right now, apologize and explain what happened,” Val suggested. “If you do, the Legion of Steel might not think we set it all up on purpose, and put us into their KOS list (kill on sight).”

  It was the right idea, and I dialed the familiar number of Alexander the Great3st. All the same, the old man refused the call, not even wishing to speak with me. Bad sign, very bad sign! It meant an official representative of the strongest clan in the game was mad at me.

  Such a large clan could express its anger at my big-eared Amra in many ways. And they wouldn’t have to join forces with the Goons and loudly declare a hunt for me, include me in their KOS list, or set a bounty for my big-eared head. If they wanted to, they could simply ruin this game for me once and for all.

  For example, they could buy an item from Fenrir’s Cursed Regalia, thus stopping me from ever getting the full set. After all, I had technically just revealed my character-development strategy, and the representatives of the Legion of Steel had heard my wish. Or, for another option, they could simply kill all my orc pirates. For soldiers of such a high level, such a thing wouldn't even be hard. Without the help of the NPC orcs, it would be practically impossible for me to complete my new mission, and reach the upper parts of the river of death.

  So, there were options and, to be honest, my shoulders were slumping due to all that happened. My mood was as low as could be.

  As if sensing my gloomy state, I got a call from Val with words of encouragement. My sister understood that I was having a hard time, and assured me that the run of bad luck would end eventually. Beyond moral support, my wonderful little sister told me that she had found something interesting in an auction in the Lars province: a unique item called Wolf Claws, which seemed to be gloves.

  “What, is that right?” I shuddered, gradually returning to life. “Tell me more!”

  Valeria, with clear pride at the work she'd done, started telling me. There was no game-wide auction in Boundless Realm, each province had its own trade squares. So, she’d begun her search from the regions where Fenrir's Grey Pack had once raged. All in all, it was logical, seeing how the majority of battles had taken place in the Urtez and Lars regions, and the players who’d faced off against the wolves were primarily from there as well. She had done a context search for wolf, gray pack or Fenrir in active and old auctions and, fairly quickl
y, she turned up the Wolf Claws.

  In the description, there wasn't a single word about the object being part of any set, and the gloves also had fairly weak characteristics:

  +4% melee damage

  +15 Agility +20 Strength

  7% of damage dealt is transferred into healing

  Immunity to fear

  But the object was related to wolves, had first gone up for auction around the time of the Gray Pack's defeat, and was also unique and cursed! According to my sister, the owner of these gloves had placed them up for auction several times, trying in vain to palm off the unique item on any takers. The price had decreased in the previous months from thirty to eight thousand coins. But at that price, there still wasn’t a single taker for the cursed yet mediocre gloves, which could never be removed. Now, the auction would be over in just five days, yet not one bid had been placed. They were still valued at eight thousand, though. For thirteen thousand, I could buy the item now, without waiting for the auction to end.

  “It looks a lot like what I'm looking for, but I'm still not that sure. But thirteen thousand coins is a totally acceptable price for an attempt, I need to try! Val, look at the list of trader players from the Lars region. They usually relentlessly advertise their services on the Boundless Realm forum. Pick one that’s active now, at night, but make sure he's reliable, with a good history. Pay all his costs and commissions, let him buy the lot and immediately send it on...” I thought for a few seconds... “to Dotur-Khawe, the subterranean city of the dwarves. As soon as I respawn, I'll fly there on VIXEN and pick them up.”

  “Timothy, I'd be glad to do all that, of course, but there is one little detail. My mavka simply doesn't have that much money!”