A Jump into the Unknown (Reality Benders Book #5) LitRPG Series

by Michael Atamanov

  A Jump into the Unknown (Reality Benders Book #5) LitRPG Series

  Reality Benders, Volume 5

  Michael Atamanov

  Published by Magic Dome Books, 2019.

  A Jump into the Unknown

  a novel

  by Michael Atamanov

  Reality Benders

  Book#5

  Magic Dome Books

  Reality Benders

  Book #5: A Jump into the Unknown

  Copyright © Michael Atamanov 2019

  Cover Art © Ivan Khivrenko 2019

  Cover Designer © Vladimir Manyukhin 2019

  English translation copyright © Andrew Schmitt 2019

  Published by Magic Dome Books, 2019

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is entirely a work of fiction. Any correlation with real people or events is coincidental.

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  Table of Contents:

  Introduction, Part One. Revocation of Titles

  Introduction, Part Two. Consequences

  Chapter One. Back Underway!

  Chapter Two. Platinum Mine

  Chapter Three. Big Brazen

  Chapter Four. Getting a Team Together

  Chapter Five. A Requested Stop

  Chapter Six. There Weren’t Enough of Us

  Chapter Seven. Backed into a Corner

  Chapter Eight. Under Siege

  Chapter 9. A New War

  Chapter Ten. Reinforcements

  Chapter Eleven. Preparing for a Counterattack

  Chapter Twelve. Up in Smoke

  Chapter Thirteen. Pyrrhic Victory

  Chapter Fourteen. Without the Horse we Rode in on

  Chapter Fifteen. Horde Liaison

  Chapter Sixteen. Conflict in the Crew

  Chapter Seventeen. The Ruler’s Burden

  Chapter Eighteen. Twinbody Landing Craft, Enhanced

  Chapter Nineteen. One Against All

  Chapter Twenty. Forsaken, but not Broken

  Chapter Twenty-One. Too Famous

  Chapter Twenty-Two. Return to the Stars

  Chapter Twenty-Three. Pirates or Saviors?

  Chapter Twenty-Four. Pirates or Victims?

  Chapter Twenty-Five. Enemy of the Horde

  Chapter Twenty-Six. Saving Valeri

  Chapter Twenty-Seven. Electronics and Medicine

  Chapter Twenty-Eight. Black Hole

  Chapter Twenty-Nine. Damaged Goods

  Chapter Thirty. Blast from the Past

  Chapter Thirty-One. The Long Road to a Mystery

  Chapter Thirty-Two. Jump into the Unknown

  Introduction, Part One. Revocation of Titles

  Pa-lin-thu, capital of the First Directory

  Palace of the Ruling Council

  Small Council Chamber

  “PRINCESS, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, only members of the ruling Council and invited speakers are allowed to enter the palace,” said the watchful head of the palace guard, standing in the way of Minn-O La-Fin’s luxurious levitating throne. As he spoke, the gray-haired guardsman got down on one knee to express his immeasurable respect for the ruler of the First Directory and his liege lady but he was still unwilling to shirk his duty and allow ancient law to be violated. The dozen other armed soldiers guarding the entryway followed their commander’s lead and also respectfully got down on one knee, yet maintained vigilance and kept hold of their weapons.

  The noble princess, looking unbelievably haughty and majestic in her traditional vestments, which were meant exclusively for members of her ancient ruling dynasty La-Fin, opted not to get into a verbal skirmish with her subject. Instead, she just turned around in silence and looked to her companion – the young but already quite authoritative Mage Diviner Mac-Peu Un-Roi. The respected sorcerer impatiently pushed aside a muscle-bound middle-aged man who was loaded down with boxes and parcels and wearing the gray smock of a rightless nonmage, then unhappily shoved a short servant girl standing behind the flying throne and stepped out in front:

  “Uei-Lu Ot-Tosh, commander of the guard! I am mage-ruler Mac-Peu Un-Roi, chief advisor to the La-Fin Dynasty. I will also be giving a speech at the council of mage-rulers today!”

  The head of the palace guard stood up and gave another bow of respect, though it lacked the piety he reserved for his liege lady.

  “Mage-ruler Mac-Peu Un-Roi, I know you well and am prepared to let you enter. But who are the other people in your group?” The tip of the wand in the guardsman’s hand, sparkling with electricity, pointed at the miniature servant girl and heavily-laden muscleman. “I have been given a description of the ruler of the First Directory, Coruler Gnat La-Fin, and neither of your companions seem to match. I don’t know them, so I cannot allow them to enter!”

  Mac-Peu opened his mouth to answer, but kept silent as not to tell a blatant lie. A tense pause took hold. Then Princess Minn-O La-Fin spoke up for the first time. And her tinkling-metal voice carried so much confidence and majesty that anyone would concede that it belonged to a natural-born ruler:

  “My husband, Coruler Gnat La-Fin was unable to attend the council. You see, he lives in the world where magic is atrophied, and travelling here would take far too much time. Unfortunately for us, time was something Coruler of Humanity Archmage Onuri-Unta La-Varrez did not deign to provide when he announced this urgent session of the mage council. So I will be speaking in the name of the ancient La-Fin dynasty of mage-rulers! These two nonmages are my servants and they will be accompanying me!”

  The lead guard bowed respectfully to the regal lady but still did not make way. Young mage Mac-Peu Un-Roi had to come up closer to the commander and explain, lowering his voice to a whisper so the common palace guardsmen wouldn’t overhear:

  “Commander Uei-Lu Ot-Tosh, you must be aware that Princess Minn-O La-Fin was severely wounded in the terror attack at the funeral of her grandfather Thumor-Anhu La-Fin. My lady lost her legs and is not able to move on her own, or take care of even her most basic day-to-day necessities. So the Princess’s servants are absolutely indispensable. As it is, we strove to minimize the size of our group as much as possible to reduce friction with the Council of Rulers. We did not even take any mages despite the fact that, as ruler of the First Directory, she is entitled to a magnificent retinue containing many mages of all kinds.”

  The guard commander furrowed his brow and started to think. This really was more complicated than it looked. Outsiders were categorically forbidden from entering the palace however, without these two servants, it was doubtful the council session would take place at all. After all, great Archmage Coruler Onuri-Unta La-Varrez wasn’t going to be personally carrying the crippled Princess and setting her on the podium. And he certainly wouldn’t be readjusting her dress, or carrying her out to the toilet. And that was what made up the commander’s mind:

  “Okay then, the servants may enter. But first I must search them
to make sure there are no dangerous items concealed in their clothing. I’ll also need to give the throne a thorough inspection. And as for you, honorable Mac-Peu Un-Roi, I humbly request that you leave your magic wand at the entrance. Regrettable as it may be, rules are rules!”

  The Princess gave a silent nod, consenting to the search of her retinue. And they were very thorough, but nothing suspicious was found. The burly pack-mule was carrying only a holographic screen generator – a completely standard model like anyone might use to provide visual aid to a speech. The servant girl was wearing no jewelry, and didn’t even have pockets in her clothing, so she also made it through the inspection unimpeded. A few minutes later, the Princess’s retinue was back on its way and, after walking into the main hall of the palace, turned a corner into a room where those about to speak in the Small Council Chamber could get some rest or tidy themselves up.

  Just after the doors closed behind them, the Mage Diviner gave a happy chuckle:

  “See, Princess Minn-O, I told you it wouldn’t be too hard to sneak Roman Pavlovich and Tamara into the palace!” When he saw fear on the ruler’s face, Mac-Peu hurried to add: “Don’t be afraid, we can speak openly here. The palace was checked thoroughly this morning, and no microphones, spy cameras or other foreign objects were found. The only room the guard did not check, as per tradition, was the council chamber itself.”

  Up on the levitating throne, Minn-O adjusted the uncomfortable high collar of her dress and sat back wearily in her chair:

  “Although I have never entered this palace before, I am perfectly familiar with the way things work here. Ever since an order from my great grandfather Coruler of Humanity Archmage Yuho-Loru La-Fin more than two hundred years ago, both the Large and Small Council Chambers have been off limits to everyone except members of the Ruling Council and invited speakers.”

  “And yet we both also know that is not exactly the whole truth, Princess,” the Mage Diviner said with a smirk and wily chuckle. “An exception is made for one lone cleaning woman who regularly tidies up all over the palace. In her forty years of impeccable service, she has earned the complete trust of the guard. But that cleaning woman just so happens to hail from the First Directory, and be a faithful subject of yours, so she got everything ready yesterday.”

  Princess Minn-O took a heavy sigh. The young ruler was extremely displeased with all this. It was a great shame, but there was no other way to stay in power. They would have to spook the Ruling Council a bit and put the fear of God into them. The talented mage seer had studied all possible lines of the future a day prior and warned the Princess that her enemies from the other magical dynasties were in quite a decisive mood. According to him, it was inevitable that Minn-O La-Fin would suffer at least attempted mental attacks during the council session. And it was just as inevitable that the council would end with a vote to demand she be stripped of her title as head of the La-Fin Faction in the game, and that Coruler Gnat La-Fin be deposed as ruler of the First Directory in the real world.

  Now, the Princess had no fear of mental attacks. The “servant girl” in her retinue was actually a Paladin from the other world by the name of Tamara with a unique aptitude for blocking magic. And Minn-O was not particularly worried about the outcome of the vote of nonconfidence because the La-Fin Faction, which she led, had put up impressive results in the game that bends reality. According to reports from humanity’s Geckho suzerains, the La-Fin Faction was currently the most advanced and powerful faction not only from the magocratic world, but of all the factions on the virtual Earth as a whole. To her eye, the report she was about to give detailing her faction’s success, and the strides it had made toward providing for defense of the world as a whole were sure to have a positive impact on the members of the Ruling Council and thus a favorable outcome was preordained. But nevertheless, the Princess was feeling jittery, so she agreed to her advisor’s plan B just in case the threat of impeachment became too real.

  “I’d have never agreed to such a thing if not for your prediction that they might request that I step down or strip me of all my titles. But you are correct, advisor. If we cannot come to an agreement the nice way, we’ll have to try being mean! But for now I am not so much worried about the mages of competing dynasties. If your words are to be trusted, we will overcome them all in the end. But my husband will be outraged when he finds out what happened! Leng Gnat La-Fin loves me, values me and would never have released me into a hornets’ nest without all the relevant information. But if they do try something, I truly pity them. Gnat never forgives attacks against him. And it would be hard to look at a threat of impeachment any other way. If they did that, it could lead to a huge war. And I feel sorry for the sorcerers who dare stand in my husband’s path!”

  Mac-Peu Un-Roi didn’t answer. He had spent over an hour checking over all the most probable lines of the future and seeing all kinds of different endings to today’s session of the Ruling Council. And that included outcomes the Princess was better off not knowing...

  “FOURTEEN HEXAGONS, one at level five and two at four. An advanced high-speed road network. Vast northern and northwestern territories for future expansion, which have already been partially cleared of aggressive NPC’s. The hexagons that directly border the Geckho spaceport are also very nearby and primed for capture. Very soon, the La-Fin Faction may have total control over overland transport of extraterrestrial goods and all trade with the suzerains. “

  The mage-rulers in the council chamber began to buzz. But it was more dismay than approval. It was very strange. Princess Minn-O was speaking at such a high level for the first time, but that didn’t exactly make her a novice in rhetoric. Since childhood, as an heiress to an ancient ruling dynasty, she had been trained in many skills that might be relevant to a Princess, including the art of public speaking. All the Princess’s tutors remarked that she had an implicit talent for rhetoric. Minn-O could win over even the most venerable opponents, subdue any audience to her will and force them to empathize with whatever she was saying. For that very reason, Coruler of Humanity Thumor-Anhu La-Fin often sent his capable and intelligent great granddaughter to represent the First Directory and La-Fin dynasty at all kinds of events, and Minn-O always performed admirably.

  Because the Princess had rich experience with public speaking, she figured she could predict the audience’s reactions in advance. She was currently reporting on the striking successes and military victories of the La-Fin Faction, so she imagined that the Council of Rulers was going to react, if not with elation, then at the very least with approval. After all, if one of the key factions of the magocratic world was doing well, that was good for all of them. However, the audience was behaving unexpectedly. Everything was strange today. She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. The Princess was basically saying the right things, backing it all up with facts, diagrams and illustrative images. She took pauses of the perfect length in all the right places, expertly played with her volume and pacing, but still she wasn’t sensing the proper reaction from the crowd. It was as if the mage-rulers weren’t listening to her. And when they did react, it was generally negative. That had her upset and on guard. But nevertheless, Minn-O continued her speech:

  “As of the present day, the La-Fin Faction comprises seven thousand three hundred players. And recently, our population has been growing at an exponential pace. In fact, we will be surpassing the ten-thousand-player mark within the next seven or eight days. As soon as that happens, our capital hexagon will advance to level six, which will allow us to bring a total of fourteen thousand one hundred players into the game. As far as I know, none of the other factions of the virtual planet can even come close to boasting of such success!”

  With a remote control, she flipped the huge screen to her next slide, depicting the construction of a grand freight port in the Tropics – a hexagon recently captured from the Human-3 Faction and officially transferred to the La-Fin Faction in a recent peace treaty. The plan was for a port with a plethora of docks which was to
serve as the main logistics hub on the eastern shore of the bay for four factions: La-Fin, Relict, Human-3 and Human-6. And it would provide good stable income, commensurate with the profits from trade with the Geckho spaceport. What was more, a planetary shield generator was being erected on the nearby Rocky Island and it was going to require truly colossal quantities of material of all different kinds. Most of that was planned to be delivered by sea, so the large port would be necessary for the survival of humanity as a whole.

  Nevertheless, as soon as she began speaking about the construction of the port, Coruler of Humanity Onuri-Unta La-Varrez abruptly stood up, cutting the Princess of midword. The most powerful Archmage of modern times and her greatest opponent, in his day he had done quite a lot to make Coruler Thumor-Anhu La-Fin’s life miserable. The fearsome sorcerer, wearing a black robe with gold embroidery, hammered his magic staff into the floor with every step he took toward the podium. With the sound of his last knock still reverberating off the walls, he stopped a few steps from Minn-O.

  “Did I hear you right?” Coruler Onuri-Unta asked, his voice powerful and booming, fully belying the old man’s respectable one hundred and fifty years. “Girl, do you really have the gall to stand there and claim your faction is doing well? In point of fact, you are making a real mess of things. Perhaps your young years make it hard to comprehend, so allow me to explain. Every player in your faction with magical abilities will flee at the first possible opportunity. So how can there be any talk of development and increasing your faction’s numbers, if your faction has no players capable of occupying key leadership positions?! Or are you under the impression that nonmages can occupy these posts?”

  The ghoulish old man fell silent, awaiting the Princess’s imminent response. When Coruler Onuri-Unta finished, the room burst into a storm of applause. By all appearances, the vast majority of the audience supported the Archmage’s point of view. The Princess winced in pain – not once over the course of her speech today had the room supported her even with the most tepid golf-clap. But here her opponent’s opening salvo was met with unmitigated delight. Bad! Very bad! Just then, her advisor Mac-Peu Un-Roi’s voice rang out in her head: