The Karmadont Chess Set (The Way of the Shaman: Book #5) LitRPG series

by Vasily Mahanenko

  Giant squidolphin. Level: 20. Object Type: Underwater/Surface vessel. Crew size—50. Owner—None. Status—Untamed. This creature is at its maximum level and therefore can no longer be tamed.

  “We’ll attack at the count of three,” Anastaria announced. The girl had waited for the creature’s properties until the last moment, hoping that the squidolphin could be captured and tamed, but now it was clear that this was pointless. Since we couldn’t train it, we’d have to destroy it—which is what we were about to do. The third squadron of ships was creaking at its seams and groaning, yet holding on despite the squidolphin’s best attempts. “Aim straight for the center. One…Two…Three!”

  For a moment Barliona’s bright sun went dark—more than a hundred Mages, Druids, Shamans, Hunters and Eluna-knew-what other classes, struck one joint blow at the squidolphin. Lightning, ice, branches, arrows, Spirits…It was quite the spectacle!

  “Target hit! 10% damage to Durability! One of the tentacles has fallen off! Attention—the monster’s released some black liquid! It’s released our ships and is retreating!”

  “Third squadron—retreat from the black liquid immediately!” Stacey yelled into her amulet over the joyous yells of the players. The four ships that the squidolphin had attached itself to, jumped out of the water like a cork from a bottle—and slammed back down raising great clouds of spray. “Faster! It’s eating everything!”

  “The monster is targeting squadron four! Distance one hundred! Forty! Contact!”

  “We’re going down!” the third squadron began to scream suddenly. “Two of our ships have lost their bottoms! Save yourselves whoever can!”

  “Fire at will!” Anastaria commanded and turned to Grygz: “Cast hooks at the third squadron and begin hauling! We need to pull it out of the toxic ink!”

  “Get it done!” the pirate leader called to his men as Anastaria returned to the projection.

  “To all ships—hoist sails and move ahead!” the girl issued another order. “We need to avoid the clouds of toxic ink! What’s the status of the monster?”

  “Durability is at 78%. It’s finishing off the second ship of the fourth squadron. If we don’t stop it, in twenty seconds it’ll sink them…”

  “Squadron three is gone,” Evolett remarked calmly, looking on as four ships crumbled to pieces. Both players and NPCs were in the water now, but not everyone managed to remain on the surface. Only about a third of the crew managed to escape the squidolphin’s tentacles and its toxic ink—almost all of them higher-level players and NPCs. With only 10–20% Hit Points remaining, the sailors were swimming in our direction.

  “The third ship in the fourth squadron has been breeched,” the lookout reported. “Only one remains. It’s currently…”

  The squidolphin didn’t bother battering the last ship, grabbing her instead with her tentacles and pulling her into the depths. Since three of the other ships already had broken hulls, this wasn’t too difficult. Emitting one more cloud of toxic ink, in order to kill whatever survivors remained, the squidolphin dove sharply, taking her prey with her. No one survived from the fourth squadron…

  “Target lost! Continue the search!”

  “Shannaya will kill me,” Grygz said philosophically, removing his hat in memory of the drowned men. “Lartan was an honorable pirate!”

  “The monster is returning! It’s aiming for squadron number five! Fifty meters till contact…Ten…Contact! No! Belay that! It’s heading for squadron number six! Contact! Again belay that! The monster’s coming around for another pass!”

  “It’s using its fins to attack!” announced a player either from the fifth or sixth squadron. “It’s coming past us at full speed under our hulls and cutting our Durability by 20% with each pass. The NPCs are already making repairs…But we just lost another 20%! We can take only four more attacks—you have to do something!”

  The squidolphin had radically changed tactics. Choosing two squadrons that were near each other, she began to dart between them using her upper fins like a plow. Everything the players and NPCs aboard those ships tried to stop the monster had no effect—her Durability had dwindled to 70% but it was already clear that the fifth and sixth squadron were doomed…

  “To all Mages—get the crews off the ships immediately!” ordered Anastaria. The downside of the squadrons was that they were not mobile and so we hadn’t the time to come to the aid of the sinking ships. We had only one thing left to us—save as many of the players and pirates and concentrate everyone on our four Level 18 ships—our main strike force against the squidolphin.

  “Say, Evolett, you don’t by any chance have a Scroll of Armageddon?” I asked. “We’ve already lost twelve ships and only done 30% damage to that thing. It’s not a very fair trade…”

  “It won’t help,” Anastaria muscled into our conversation. “The squidolphin has very strong armor. Even if the detonation takes place right next to her, the monster will barely notice it. You can see yourself—we’re exhausting all our mana, but all we’re causing are scratches. In terms of power, we’ve already poured an Armageddon-worth of spells into her, but only done 30% damage.”

  “That’s only if we detonate the scroll from the outside. What do you think will happen if we set off Armageddon inside of her?”

  “But how…? Uh-huh…Evolett? We’ll take care of the money later.”

  “I don’t have any. I gave you the last one for the castle.”

  “Hi Killer,” Anastaria instantly called her dad. “I need a Scroll of Armageddon urgently. I’ll fill you in later. Do you have it?”

  “…?”

  “Yes or no?”

  “I think I do…but why don’t you summon me over there? I’d like to take a look at what you’re up to.”

  “Mages—summon Ehkiller this instant! We’ll summon you in a second, just make sure to bring the scroll with you.”

  “Five and six have gone down,” reported the lookout. While we were deciding what to do next, the squidolphin had continued to destroy our ships’ hulls. “We’ve transferred a fifth of the players and main NPCs. We’re hauling out the ones in the water right now. The monster’s cast toxic ink next to each ship, the bitch!”

  “Squadron two—head towards us,” Anastaria ordered and turned to Ehkiller who had just appeared on deck. “Hey! Have you brought the scroll?”

  “Never leave home without it,” the Mage shrugged. “What are we hunting here?”

  “Killer—how many Level 300+ Mages do you have at your disposal right now?” I asked the head of Phoenix. “Can we borrow them for an hour?”

  “Just a second,” Ehkiller’s fingers began to wriggle, indicating that he was typing something into the chat, after which he replied: “At the moment, we have seventeen people online. Do you need help?”

  “Stacey, summon them over here. Summon anyone who can help stop this beast. If what I have in mind doesn’t work—we’ll have only one option…”

  “Want me to do it, brother?” Draco appeared beside me and looked decisively at the Scroll of Armageddon that Killer was holding in his hands.

  “No, Draco. This one’s mine…”

  “The monster’s turning to attack the second squadron! They don’t have time to reach us!”

  “Mages—iceberg!” yelled Anastaria. “We’ll combine forces. Whoever is low on mana, drink an elixir. I need a second iceberg next to the first thirty seconds from now! On the double!”

  Since it was impossible to stop the squidolphin—at the speed she was going at, the second squadron would be destroyed like the other two, after which the monster would turn her attention to us—Anastaria made the only correct decision under these condition—she put an iceberg under our squadron. It would keep our ships safe from the squidolphin’s fin attacks, and yet make them vulnerable to the toxic ink.

  The Mages managed to do as the girl commanded only by the time the second squadron had 32% Durability remaining. And they did such a good job that the enraged squidolphin didn’t have the time
to evade and smashed into the mountain of ice with the full immensity of her torso.

  “22% damage to Durability,” the lookout reported. “It’s got 47% left!”

  “Remember, Mahan, the scroll can only be activated while in battle—and 60 seconds after it begins. But until the monster’s attacked these ships, we’re technically only bystanders to the battle,” Ehkiller began to explain, handing me the Scroll of Armageddon.

  “We were in battle with her, but the monster dove deep and broke contact with us, removing the ‘Battle’ buff,” Stacey explained the reason for why four ships brimming with players and NPCs had done nothing to save the sixteen sunk vessels.

  “I see. As soon as the scroll is activated, the activation point appears in its properties and then it will detonate three seconds after any text appears there. That text field, as I’m sure you understand, is editable. You’ll have three seconds to remove your equipment, otherwise…Well you know yourself what’ll happen.”

  “How are you planning on approaching the monster?” Anastaria managed to inquire, as the squidolphin pulled another trick, crawling up and out onto the iceberg.

  “Squadron two, get out of there immediately!” I yelled, but it was already too late. The squadron was too close to the iceberg and couldn’t do anything when the hundred-meter-long torso of the enraged squidolphin collapsed onto it, snapping its masts.

  “Farewell all! Don’t forget to write,” I muttered turning into a Dragon. The three hundred meters between the two squadrons were a matter of several flaps of my wings, so I could already receive the ‘Battle’ buff.

  My Thunderclap only stunned the squidolphin for 10 seconds, instead of the minute I had counted on. By that time, her immense body had broken through the upper deck and descended to the hold, flailing and whipping her tentacles around herself as she went. Still, the ten seconds gave the pirates time to jump overboard and the players to inflict two or three more attacks.

  Throwing all caution to the wind, I landed onto the squidolphin’s back, turned back into my human form and took cover under the protective dome that blocked out the water. If this monster dives again, we’ll go under together…I didn’t want to lose my ‘Battle’ buff and I still had to wait 60 seconds…

  You have stepped on board an untamed giant squidolphin. Taming is not available …

  Swiping away the notification, I dodged to the side—right where I had been sitting, a tentacle descended with immense force, leaving a clearly visible dent where it had struck. Now that’s what I call strength! I surrendered myself to my premonition and began to waltz along the squidolphin, dodging attacks. The squidolphin continued to wreck the ship but also assigned two tentacles to deal with me. As a result, I didn’t have much time to enjoy the spectacle of the ship’s destruction. Dance, dance and some more dance…One-two-three…One-two-three…One-two…

  “Dan, you’re under water and the minute’s elapsed—you can activate the scroll!” Anastaria said telepathically, almost knocking me off rhythm. The squidolphin continued to beat herself with her tentacles, trying to swat the fly on my face and—what was quite surprising—ended up taking her Durability down to 30%.

  “Dan, we’ve lost you. All that’s left is our squadron. We’ve rescued half of the pirates and players and we’re currently next to the iceberg, but the monster shouldn’t be able to reach us. What’s going on with you?”

  “Sorry—can’t talk—dancing…”

  After another ten seconds or so, the squidolphin stopped trying to knock me off. Instead, she began to row frenetically with her tentacles and dived almost vertically towards the bottom. If it weren’t for the protective dome which kept me safe from the water, the mounting pressure and the abrupt acceleration—the squidolphin remained beneath my feet, while the world spun around us—I can’t imagine how I would’ve survived at this depth. At first the light grew dim and teeming darkness filled my field of vision—then, what I had assumed to be darkness vanished too and was replaced by absolute gloom. Still, the squidolphin continued her descent. In any case, her body never once straightened out to cease her dive into the ocean’s depths…Damn! I’m getting a little scared here, even though all this is a game…

  Then there was a light…A small point of light straight ahead, which gradually grew, filling everything before me. We were still heading down vertically, so it took me a couple moments to realize that I was seeing the ocean floor. The soft phosphorescent light was coming from everywhere, as if each grain of sand tried to cast a tiny bit of light onto this world. Considering that we were in a game, the light meant only one thing—I had reached a location that had been designed with the players in mind. Otherwise, who was the light for? Very interesting…

  Though the squidolphin straightened out and slowed down before reaching the bottom, she still slammed fairly heavily onto the ocean floor, stirring up a cloud of sparking silt. Thank god for the protective dome—it again saved me from unnecessary difficulties which included a mud bath in this case.

  “We’ve arrived,” I messaged Anastaria telepathically, yet the system returned an error message as if mocking me:

  You cannot send out personal messages when you are in the Oceanic Abyss…

  No way! Does that mean that if I die here I won’t respawn on the surface either? What’s this?

  Slowly, at a rate of half a percentage point a minute, the squidolphin’s Durability began to regenerate. Here’s a dilemma then: Either I set off Armageddon here and hope for a miracle, or I can wait until we return to the surface and then look for a way to get inside the monster…The second option sounds a bit crazy, if I’m honest with myself…As for my worries about not respawning up on the surface, if worse comes to worst, I can push the ‘Character Stuck’ button and then figure out how to escape this Oceanic Abyss. Or I could call Viltrius—though it seems that my signal’s pretty poor down here.

  It’s decided then! I’ll blow up the squidolphin before she has a chance to fully restore herself…

  As Anastaria already pointed out, it’d be pointless to activate the scroll up on the surface…You can’t sink a beast like this with Armageddon, especially when it has 32% Durability. Not seeing any other options, I got out my beloved pickaxe and walked over to the deepest dent the tentacle had made. Since I can’t step outside and make my way inside the creature through some natural opening along her body—and I shuddered at the thought of what such openings could be—I had to fashion one of my own. After all, by and large, the squidolphin was no different than a ship in which you could drill a hole. The preparations we had made yesterday for the hunt were a perfect example of this.

  After the first dozen strikes, I thought that I wouldn’t achieve anything—the pickaxe didn’t even leave a mark on the squidolphin’s body. But after a minute, when a small piece of the outer shell broke off, I understood that my plan was indeed possible. The important thing was to persist and hammer away at one spot and particularly one spot between the humps. Rine had taught me this well…

  Thirty minutes of hammering a hole in the squidolphin ended in an entire avalanche of consequences. First of all, the monster’s Durability regenerated by 15%, though this in no way affected the ruckus I was causing. The Durability regenerated in some other part of the creature. Second of all, twelve giant pieces of squidolphin meat found their way to my bag. As soon as a blow from the pickaxe dislodged a hunk of meat, I immediately picked it up, since it seemed to me like an interesting item that demanded further examination. What if I could use it to make a stew? Third of all, my pickaxe floated away to some unknown destination. The last blow I landed caused the dent that the tentacle had made to pop like a champagne bottle being uncorked. The explosion was so intense that the pickaxe, which had become stuck in the surface, was ripped from my hands and carried away. And fourth of all, water gushed into my protective dome from the hole I had created.

  The space under the dome was filling second by second, and yet I didn’t feel any pressure, as if the dome continued to
protect me from this aspect of the environment. A system notification appeared, informing me that my Diver skill was at Level 1 and I could remain underwater for three minutes and change. Meanwhile, the squidolphin’s body began to heal right before my eyes, as if the creature was now concentrating on this area. It took me a single glance at the 1.5 meter thick armor to understand that if it weren’t for the dent and the internal pressure, I would’ve been digging here until the end of time. This one thought blocked my other one: “Save yourself now.” While my mind was considering how many years I’d be hammering away at the armor, my body already did as it felt like—I dove headlong into the squidolphin.

  I don’t know where I ended up, but what I saw was something large, about two meters in diameter, green and pulsating. Without thinking, I turned into a Dragon and latched onto this something with my claws. I began to tear at it left and right. I had all of three minutes to enjoy my destruction of this monster, after which I was going to activate the scroll and enjoy my hard-earned rest. But first I wanted to cause some damage to this pulsating something…

  I don’t even know where all this anger had come from…After five seconds I was using my teeth, then my tail which whipped at everything it touched, while my claws went on tearing to pieces this pulsating sphere. I even cast Thunderclap several times to add insult to injury. I wanted to take out all the frustration I had accumulated on this poor creature—for Stacey, for the bungling players, for the bad weather and for my imprisonment in Barliona. I simply wanted to destroy and crush everything in reach…

  When the sphere exploded, pushing me away with a wave of warm, green blood, I felt completely satisfied. I only had a minute of air remaining, so now I could detonate the scroll and stop worrying about…

  The speed with which the squidolphin changed her position was so great that I was thrown onto my back and pressed into the wall. The dome was no longer protecting me from the changes of direction, so I began to crawl along the wall in the direction of the tail. Even despite the fact that I used all the claws I had, my wings and even my tail, the speed with which the squidolphin was rising was so great that all my progress was for naught. The only good news was that the water began to empty from the monster’s insides allowing me to take a breath. I wish I hadn’t…