This quest is a variable reward for Witcher in the Shadows, a quest you completed earlier.
Task: Kill the witcher.
Reward:
1500 experience
Other rewards: variable
Important note: You should probably attack the witcher with 2-4 other players. He is a high-level monster that far exceeds most opponents you will find in Fladridge.
Accept?
Wow. Where was I going to find those 2-4 other players? Although, wait a second, I could ask some clanmates, of course.
“Master Hugo, of course, I will come. And I have an offer for you.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“From what I can tell, we’re up against a strong opponent, and all we have from your order are you and Gunther.”
“And Brother Tsimiskhy.”
“Well, yes, though he doesn’t look like he’ll do that well in battle. At least, that was my first impression.”
“That is correct. He’s a good writer, but put a sword in his hands…”
“I can talk to some of my friends. I think they’d be happy to help your order.”
“Sure, but that will take too long. By the time they all get here, the witcher will be gone. And I’ll be back to square one trying to find him.”
“My friends are in the same clan as I am. They have some pretty powerful mages who can send them here very quickly. It isn’t cheap, but—”
“The order will reimburse them.” Von Shlippenshtain broke in. “This is a matter of honor. How fast can your friends get here?”
“Give me five or ten minutes, and I’ll tell you.”
I pulled up my list of friends. Logged into the game at the moment were Rodriguez, Flosi, Reineke Lis, and Krolina. Perfect. The first two, with my apologies to them, would have been nothing more than cannon fodder. But the last two…
I wrote Reineke: Hi! Happen to be interested in killing a witcher?
His answer was instantaneous. A witcher? I’ve seen my share of witches, but a witcher… How strong is it?
Judging by the description, much higher than Level 27-30.
Much higher? Probably 65-75. Piece of cake. Who else is coming?
Me, the master of the Tearful Goddess Order, and one of their knights. They’re Level 55 and Level 30 or something like that.
Kro’s logged in, invite her, too. She likes this kind of thing.
One more tank wouldn’t hurt either.
Oh, come on. There’s the two of us as well as you three.
I’m serious. Better safe than sorry.
Fine. Where?
Fladridge, the order’s mission. By the way, they’re paying for the travel scrolls.
Nice. We’ll be there in ten.
I turned back to von Shlippenshtain. “Master, three of my friends will be here in ten minutes.”
“Great!” The knight clapped his hands loudly. “I’ll go put on my armor. Von Richter!”
“Here I am, Master!” Gunther flew into the room, as he’d apparently been standing behind the door afraid to walk in.
“Help me put my armor on.”
The knights left, leaving me to my thoughts. Why had no one killed the witcher yet? The quest obviously wasn’t hidden, or it would have said that in the description. A little more thinking brought me to the conclusion that quests were all linked. Players who went directly to the mayor were given a quest that had them bring the witch’s glasses back as proof of her death. The book wouldn’t have even come up since nobody was looking for the witcher, and the mayor was just the mayor. And nobody would be looking for the witcher since the master only gave the quest to friends of the order. Only players who took the ability were named friends of the order, and it had been forever since someone had preferred the ability to money or items. So the quest had never been activated. It was all a big, complex puzzle.
Three minutes later, the front door banged open, and I heard Krolina’s voice.
“Hi, baldy. Where’s Hagen?”
“Laird Hagen is in Master Hugo von Shlippenshtain’s office. Would you like me to let him know you’re here?” Brother Tsimiskhy’s voice was obviously annoyed. I could tell why, what with all the people barging in and traipsing around. For all he knew, he might even have to feed them later.
“You sit there, I’ll go find him myself.”
The door creaked, and in flew Krolina.
“Hey! You’re already a laird? Nice!”
She turned back toward the door and shouted through it.
“Hey, baldy, there are two more of us coming, so send them right in when they get here.”
“Yes, fair lady.” Tsimiskhy’s voice grated obediently.
Krolina’s shoes tapped their way around the room.
“It’s so cool in here. A fireplace! Wow, what an enormous bear. Oh, nice blade!” She pulled the katzbalger[12] off the rack, weighed it in her hands, and tried a couple parries. “This is a fun toy. I want one!”
Master Hugo walked down the stairs, armor clanging. He saw Kro and bowed his head.
“Good day, fair lady. Let me introduce myself, Hugo von Shlippenshtain. Forgive me for not knowing your name, and for being unable to greet you on one knee as I should. It’s the armor, as you can see.”
Kro curtsied and responded.
“Ah, who cares? I’m Krolina, a friend of this little guy. Nice to meet you! We have another two friends coming. Speaking of which…” Kro raised her index finger.
“Hi, there!” Reineke Lis’ voice rang out. “I’m looking for a friend of mine named Hagen.”
“Lis, in here!” Kro called to him. “We’re all here!”
Reineke walked into the room, and behind him marched another warrior named Romuil.
“Hi, everyone.” Reineke nodded to the group. Romuil waved.
“Master.” Reineke gave Shlippenshtain a personal bow.
The latter responded in kind.
“So what’s going on?” Lis jumped right in.
“There’s a witcher who’s pretending to be the mayor.” I started my report. “We have to kill him. He’s quite a bad guy!”
“Are you sure he’s a witcher?” asked Romuil. “There’ll be hell to pay if we kill an NPC!”
“I have a quest to look for the witcher,” I said, “so I’d say there’s a 90 percent chance it’s him.”
“If you have a quest, it’s definitely him.” Krolina nodded her head grandly.
“By the way, Master Hugo, my friends haven’t gotten their quests yet.”
“Of course,” said the knight. “Ladies and gentlemen, would you help us kill the villain?”
Everyone responded in the affirmative.
“Then let’s go kill him.” Hugo finished the report.
“Hold on a second,” said Lis. “If he’s the mayor, he’s where? In city hall? There are tons of NPCs there, and we might kill someone by accident. Plus, there’s no room to maneuver. No, we need a plan.”
“Exactly!” Gunther chimed in from the corner where he was sitting meekly. “People could get hurt!”
He earned himself two simultaneous responses.
“Von Richter, who gave you permission to speak?” That was the master.
“Oh, he’s adorable!” That was Krolina, who just then saw the young knight.
“Stop!” And that was Reineke. “Here’s what I propose. We all go outside the city walls. By the gate, there’s a small field in front of the forest, and we can wait there. Once we’re in position, someone, even that doorman, the one sitting at that table writing—”
“Brother Tsimiskhy,” said von Shlippenshtain.
“Yes, then Brother Tsimiskhy can go tell the mayor you’re leaving the city and ask him to see you off. You’re an important guy, so he’ll have to say yes. And there—”
“Wait a second,” I interrupted. “How are we actually going to attack him? He’s still the mayor, after all. He might see us all, realize that we’re about to knock him silly, kiss Master Hugo goodbye, wave a handkerc
hief and scurry back to city hall. Then he can get away once it gets dark.”
“That’s true.” Reineke was taken aback.
“We won’t have a problem.” The master chimed in. “Our order has a powder prepared by the Old Gods. Just a handful of it is enough to reveal the true identity of evil spirits and the undead.”
“Perfect.” Reineke perked up. “Then let’s make our way to the gate in pairs, and you tell Tsimiskhy to go see the mayor.”
Krolina had a question. “Why don’t we all just go together? The more, the merrier!”
“That’s our strategy, Kro. Pairing off.”
Our friendly group found itself outside the Fladridge gate discussing the upcoming battle, though I had the feeling nobody was listening to anyone.
“We’ll go straight for him, with Kro doing her thing behind us,” said Reineke, and Romuil nodded his head in agreement.
“I’ll be doing the fighting!” Von Shlippenshtain was insistent, and he tapped his weapon, an enormous flame-bladed sword, with his finger.
“Is that your horse? Will you take me for a ride?” Kro asked Gunther, who turned crimson from embarrassment. He nodded, dropped his glance, and, I imagine, regretted bringing Duke with him.
I stayed silent and kept my eyes fixed on the gate.
The entire picture was enough to attract a number of people in the vicinity, from beginner players to the high-level players, of whom there were still plenty in Fladridge. It wasn’t every day that you saw a group like ours: three serious players, one noob, two NPC knights, and a horse. Ah, my apologies—a stallion. And everyone was explaining something to everyone else, with the stallion occasionally snorting in the background.
One dwarf from the Hew Orcs, My Axe clan had an idea. “Looks like a flash mob!”
“In the game?” An elf from the Forest Children clan was less than convinced.
“Maybe the quest is to see who can out-argue everyone else?” A tiny elf girl from the Lake Fairies clan squeaked out her alternative.
More and more people showed up, and everyone had their own idea.
Suddenly I saw the chubby mayor striding through the gate.
“Oh, wow, look how many people are here to see off our hero, valiant knight, and Master of the Tearful Goddess Order Hugo von Shlippenshtain! The entire city is here, and even some of its guests. Well, my friend, have a safe journey.”
“Right, that’s why we’re here.” A giggling voice coming from the hushed crowd could be heard.
But then everyone was silent as they realized they’d soon be getting the answers to their questions.
The mayor walked over to Hugo.
“Well, how about a hug goodbye?” He stretched out his arms. Hugo wasted no time and threw a handful of powder into his face. Something hissed, wisps of dirty smoke curled up, and the smell of burnt hair filled the air. The mayor disappeared and was replaced by a tall old man in a dirty robe. His greasy hair framed a bony, unshaven face.
“Ah-h, Mikali powder. You figured it out, you snake!” The witcher gnashed his teeth. It was definitely him.
I looked at his level and staggered backward in horror—107!
Reineke glanced in the same direction and exchanged looks with Kro and Romuil. I was no longer a part of his plans, that much was sure. Honestly, I no longer had any illusions about being part of the fight either.
“Yes, I did.” Hugo’s answer was even. “You’d probably have jumped me somewhere along the road if I’d really been leaving.”
“Of course! I can’t tell you how happy I was to hear the news. I’d have waited until dark, caught up to you, and finished you off. What’s with your band of rabble?”
“My friends. They’re here to make sure everything is fair.”
“Fair with a witcher? Don’t make me laugh!”
“A-ah, it’s a witcher! That’s definitely a quest.” A voice rang out from the crowd. “I’ve heard of a rare one here. And yep, the knights from the order are involved.”
“A hidden quest?”
“No, damn it. Just a rare one. There are all kinds of conditions apparently, but you get a really good reward. A guy I know got something rare for it.”
So my suspicions were on the money.
“You’re kidding!”
“Seriously!”
“But check out that witcher—no walk in the park, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, Level 107. Probably has some tricks up his sleeve, too.”
“The Thunderbirds were ready for him, though—three high levels.”
“Twenty-to-one the Thunderbirds win!”
“Oh, aren’t you clever! Obviously, they’ll be able to take care of him. Three-to-one says the cute one finishes him off!”
“Done. Five-to-one says that one…Reineke does it.”
“Agreed.”
The crowd began to make some noise as everyone haggled and bet. The witcher and the knight looked at the orgy of gambling with surprise. Kro, meanwhile, wasted no time jumping backward while the two warriors circled around to the flanks. Gunther realized there was no escaping the fight and tied Duke to a low-hanging oak branch.
The witcher finally found his voice. “Where’d you find these jokers?”
Hugo quickly retorted. “They’re the people who live here. And our guests. Well, shall we begin?”
The knight grabbed the hilt of his sword with two hands and hoisted it above his head.
“Why not?” The witcher grunted, thrust his hands forward, and shouted a spell.
Frida’s lightning was one thing, but this was completely different. Pulses of energy leaped from his palms toward the knight. The latter barely had time to bring his sword in front of him when the pulses shattered it, flinging shard of energy into Hugo’s chest and throwing him onto his back.
Everything else happened in quick succession.
“Unbelievable!” The crowd gasped and murmured in response.
“I told you he had some tricks up his sleeve!”
“Damn, just like Saruman!”
“Seriously!”
A gray-haired, long-bearded mage named Peronius was more thoughtful. “I wonder what that spell was?”
“I’m going in, Kro. Hold your fire!” Reineke shouted over his shoulder before rolling toward the witcher, landing a blow, and looping around him.
“Master!” A distraught Gunther jumped over to the fallen Hugo and began unlacing his helmet.
The witcher flung lightning bolts at Reineke, who, incredibly, was able to dodge them all. An arrow thudded into the witcher and was soon followed by another as Kro joined the battle. The witcher jumped back and sprang toward Reineke.
“I got him!” Romuil shouted and slammed his sword into the witcher as he ran by, only to see him turn, catch another arrow, and try to cast another spell. Before he had time, however, he was startled by a blow to the back from Reineke and an arrow to the shoulder.
I let my frustration get the better of me as I watched everything going on without me, and jumped around behind the witcher to smack him in the hip. He dismissed me with a hand to the torso that sent me flying back five meters. My health bar turned red.
Someone from the crowd shouted to me. “You got off easy, my friend!”
That was for sure. Why did I go poking my nose in? I didn’t even want to!
Reineke and Romuil continued battering the witcher with their swords, and Kro landed another arrow. It looked like he was about to go down when suddenly he sprang up, barked a spell, threw his arms in the direction of the tanks, and flung them back in opposite directions. Without pausing to survey his handiwork, he immediately extended his right hand with an outstretched index finger pointing toward Kro and released a fireball that left her choking and smoking on the ground.
A warrior from the Rublins clan was jubilant. “He did it!”
“Not so fast.” An indefatigable dwarf from the Axes clan disagreed. “He’s already in the red, so if they can knock him down, they’ll finish him off.”
The witcher laughed, threw out his arms, and, I think, was very surprised to see the tip of a sword protruding from his chest.
Gunther von Richter, the only one of our group still on his feet, stood behind the witcher and clung to the hilt of his sword. The witcher stepped forward to dislodge the sword from his back, turned on his heel, and shoved Gunther square in the middle of his torso.
I didn’t think the blow had much force behind it, but I wasn’t too far away to see how the knight’s armor melted where the witcher’s hands made contact with it. Gunther staggered and collapsed.
Still, the young knight had done his job. The ten seconds he’d bought let everyone else regroup, and the witcher turned back to the battlefield only to have an arrow bury itself in his head, and two swords slice their way into his ribs. His health was nearly gone. Reineke raised his sword to finish him off.
“Wait!” It was Hugo von Shlippenshtain. “He’s mine!”
Reineke lowered his sword.
The master walked over to the dying witcher and picked up Gunther’s sword.
“And you said I wouldn’t kill you.” The old knight gazed at his enemy.
“If you didn’t have your pack of dogs, you’d never have killed me. You’d be the one dying instead!”
“It isn’t a pack, and they aren’t dogs,” answered the master. “They’re my friends.”
And he buried the sword in the witcher’s chest.
Chapter Seventeen
By the Fireplace
You unlocked Level 25!
Points ready to be distributed: 5
The game couldn’t have picked a worse time.
You unlocked Level 26!
Points ready to be distributed: 5
Oh, come on!
I frantically paged through the level notifications. There were quite a few—six…or even seven. I figured I could come back and read them later.
You completed a quest: Kill the Witcher.
You killed the witcher, so go talk to Hugo von Shlippenshtain to get your reward.
Reward:
1500 experience
Other rewards: variable
That sounded great, but I didn’t have time for it either right then.
I tried to get up. The hairy bugger had gotten me good. My legs shook, and I was starting to feel a kind of pleasant pliability deep inside. I tottered over to Gunther, who was lying motionless and lifeless face-down on the ground.
More Than a Game Page 22
