Who was the famous Baroness at the beginning of her career?
How did she become the leader?
What kind of strange family is the brother and sister?
I don’t know… probably very few know, if there even are ones who do.
Overall, the Baroness is a puzzle.
And Valdira only discussed her actions. We respected her commitment to excellence, her domination of the Sleepless Clan. We envied her because of her success, hated her for her grudges and non-forgiveness of sins. We recognized her everywhere she went.
And to be honest, I was jealous of her.
Because I’d never reach that— I don’t have the stamina.
The Great Navigator… it was a title. It was happenstance— I just happened to find a tablet and learned some unique magic. I was lucky. Maybe also a little stubborn and crazy, but only a little.
The Black Baroness on the other hand was skilled in cash transactions, and lavish receptions, strong in battles and sieges, and even overthrew the gods! And that she accomplished on her own… step by step. There was certainly something to envy. And a lot to learn.
If I had time, I would have continued to reflect on her phenomenon, would have built theories about her past.
But right now there was no time.
Behind the river, you could see again life springing into actions. The reptiles were awakening. The river itself was just seething with rage, and hundreds of toothy and spiny creatures frothed to the surface. The bridge was gone.
We were in the buffer zone between two borders. But ahead, in three hundred meters, began a range of rock spikes, hills and ravines, deep cracks in the earth and miniature mountain ranges. Monsters were lurking among the rocks, eagerly waiting for us.
And further, just beyond the wide strip of land, there was a wall of steep rock, divided by three valleys.
Three roads— three ways— where would they lead us? I do not know.
Which one should we choose?
I do not know.
Which one will lead to the bottomless abyss, towards which hordes of monsters will drive us?
I do not know.
Or maybe there is no right way?
I don’t know.
Is this my fault? Because I do not know anything?
No. Not my fault. I simply cannot break up and do several things at once.
I can train myself and Tyrant. I can gather information and sit in the library or perform tasks associated with the information. I can communicate with players and buy old books at auction. But I cannot do it all at the same time. Because I am one. I have friends, but they have their own business.
But in a clan, you can give a trusted team member a bunch of gold and send him to the auction.
A clan means power.
I had known this before, but never really understood it until now. Perhaps because I had always been a lone wolf. But in recent times I had definitely changed a lot…
“Kira,” I called softly.
“Hm? Tired? Don’t worry, I think this is the final frontier. We passed through most of the Outland.”
“I’m tired,” I confessed. “But that’s not important. I’ve thought and decided… thought a lot, listened to everyone… and decided to found this clan. I’m tired of riding alone. I would like to have a society, go shoulder to shoulder with teammates, to travel together and overcome obstacles… well, you understand.”
To my utter surprise Trouble showed no surprise. She didn’t even raise an eyebrow. My troublesome girl just nodded:
“Uh-huh.”
“What do you mean?” I was already irked. This was a fateful decision… and my other half simply said “uh-huh.”
“Meaning, alright darling. It’s high time. You’re hard headed, you do not notice, but everyone’s been talking about it in plain text. Some people are just built for certain positions. They just have to study up a bit. I was going to offer it myself when we got out of here.”
“You are by the way an Albatross!” I said, somewhat grumpily. Wow… and I thought that it was my bright idea. And so it was, but it seemed that the idea had visited all my other companions before me.
“Well…” Kira thought.
“Not now,” I stopped her. “Founding a class before departure to the lost continent would be stupid. It would have to be afterwards. After the Outland I’m going to ask you all to join a clan that will be established in the future. You’re already in a clan, so I want to tell you ahead of time. You should think carefully and make a decision. But for now, let’s think about what’s straight ahead of us. Do you think one of them is a dead end?”
“Absolutely!” Said Kira. “And there is sure to be a slap.”
“Slap,” I winced. “Meaning…”
“Uh-huh,” nodded Trouble. “A slap in the ass so that we don’t hesitate too long. Considering we have the caravan of Archs behind us, too… we have to choose very quickly. Almost without intelligence… look at those live clouds…”
Wow… even at the top of the distant rock I could see a dark swarm. Birds? Pterodactyls? Giant insects? All of the above? The live clouds circled everywhere, serving as a perfect air barrier for our winged scouts. Flying to explore what is behind the gorges would fail.
A slap was a deliberate hurrying of any raid group. It always looked different, but the effect was the same— the squad would have no choice but to move forward. Sometimes this was a wave of monsters coming out of nowhere from the rear in a suicide attack. A battle— and then another wave. And so on ad infinitum, until it was much easier to submit to the inevitable. Sometimes it’s a wave of water which threatens to overwhelm. Sometimes a closing wall of rock. More often than not— quicksand. They force the players to make decisions almost at random. We were lucky— we could see all of the options from here. If we were to choose the one with a dead end, we would have to push against a wave of monsters to go back. Which was theoretically possible. My theory, however, was that we were coming to a maze of rock.
Now we could see the pack of hungry flying creatures above our heads. There would be falling rock from the mountains and earth that caved in, and “elite” monsters masquerading as easier ones attacking us suddenly, emerging from the ground or from the sky…
Maybe something else particularly nasty, but until we were in there, we wouldn’t know what it was until we got there. In any case, the fantasy of the Outland creators was going to play out here to its finest. We have already gone through a lot…
We walked through the jungle, the river, almost past the buffer zone in the middle, through the rocks, and then onwards…
From our current position, I could clearly see behind the rock wall, a majestic mountain with snowcapped peaks. There was something about halfway up, standing out in color and scale. Something like ruins? A watch post? In any case, one would be able to see the whole of the Outland from there. Maybe even now, someone was watching us from there. Hm…
“Everyone! Prepare yourselves!” We heard the Baroness’ hard voice. “Eye! What’s the preliminary lookout?”
“Stone shells, strong bodies, stout legs, heads well-hidden and protected. We see spikes, and claws. Something like stone golems. A few rhinoceros beetles. Move slowly for now. A lot of rocks. Attention! Lots of chasms! Very wide! And something is active within them. Not sure yet what it is. The Pterodactyls are dragging some fireflies to one of them. We might be able to see then.”
“Clear. I look forward to the report. Cancel the poison! No fire! Gunmen! Emphasis on armor-piercing weapons and explosives! Malice! Baron! I’m counting on you! Shields must withstand a battering ram! Lark! Tell the Architects— stay close. I want to be able to feel their breath on our back. Don’t count on an easy walk.”
“Clear!”
“Well… alright Sleepless, give em hell!”
“To hell!”
The last hours of continuous slaughter, where one blunder could destroy the entire raid squad. I was tired. I could still shoot… but I was tired.
Fatigue could be heard in the voice of the Baroness. Even in the reports of the Eye there was a creeping exhaustion. This is how the world of Valdira was built— the closer to the finish line, the more fatigue. And then the mistakes begin…
But we were still holding on. And we had a solid defense.
A dull roar sounded like a warning. Like huge rolling boulders. And grating iron… like a stern warning— only trouble will be found here!
Looking at the utterly serious and confident warriors around me, I understood why the Baroness was so often quiet and vindictive— because she could allow herself such behavior in a tough world. Because she was not alone. Behind her stood a whole army of professional soldiers.
Well… I guess the hike into the Outland wasn’t good for nothing. I learned a lot about the Sleepless. And about the Architects.
I had already discussed them with the Baroness once before— sitting on the cozy second floor library in the stronghold of the Sleepless. I learned that the Architects have the biggest naval armada for the voyage to Zar’graad. And now the Baroness had forced them to bend to her will. Not only that— she had pulled a large chunk of fatty meat out of their body, proving herself to be a ruthless predator. She showed them who was the boss of the jungle, like a true panther. If the Architects were the oldest, it only meant that they had grown old and were beginning to miss. Soon it would be known all over the forest…
Ugh… there goes my fantasizing…
But wasn’t this all done so that I realized which side was the right one?
Or have I begun to think too much lately?
God only knows… but if everything goes according to the Baroness’ plan… I would have nothing to do with the Architects.
B-b-bam!
Straight ahead a few stone geysers soared into the sky in an explosion.
And there was our first welcome…
The howling creatures were unable to hold back our onslaught.
We broke through the jungle of rocks, cut our way through hordes of stone-protected monsters. And then we ran into a rock wall, stretching straight across our path. Here and there along the wall roared waterfalls from unimaginable heights. High in the sky swarmed hordes of winged creatures, screeching at the top of their lungs. Behind us was another horde of monsters, their ranks not thinning.
The boiling magma worked wonders… we literally cut through the rocky terrain, melting critters and leaving the lava to cool slowly behind us. Thick gray smoke billowed up in a continuous shroud of darkness. The Architects squad came out of the smoke just behind us. Then the ground shuddered and the smoke dissipated, initiating the falling of large stones. That’s the slap. Classic, and the most effective at forcing us to make a choice right now. But the Baroness wasn’t stunned. She didn’t hesitate to give the order— and our unit moved to the leftmost gorge. Why the left? I have no idea.
Whatever the reason, the raid squad dove into the narrow gorge. Winged scouts flew from the air and sat right down on the mammoths, preferring to leave the hostile sky.
The sunlight virtually disappeared. But, after the Baroness’ order, several lights soared up and illuminated our path— one far ahead, one on top and one behind, hanging above the Archs. And yet another one appeared and blazed behind them.
A dull rumble, a rattle and silence— the slap had served its purpose. I could have sworn that now, behind us, lay a bottomless abyss. And if we came across a dead end now… we would find ourselves in a trap.
“Reorganize the troops! Change to formation two!” Said the Baroness in a voice that was absolutely calm and confident.
Already good…
Chapter 3
Through the atrium— into the heart! The star on its course to disaster
Having emerged from the passage, the detachment continued to move up a steep incline.
We had lost two soldiers.
The Outland lost hundreds.
The Black Baroness had proven to be an amazing leader, managing to pull off the impossible.
And now, putting a frozen arrow into the crossbow, I felt like… like… damn. I felt like a drink unknown mad having wandered by accident into an elite restaurant. The next morning, the guy remembers things very vaguely and feels both a burning shame and satisfaction.
That is how I felt now.
Some pride— just like the old days!
And shame— somewhere, I have gone wrong— taken a wrong turn.
It was the same here.
I remembered everything vaguely— we walked in the maze for a few hours now. And I was becoming exhausted. The colors weren’t graying yet, I continued to shoot from the crossbow on target, but I knew that if I went on like this a little longer I would soon be in for “decay.” And not just me— all of the faces of the sleepless expressed the same accumulated fatigue. There is a lot of mental strain that comes from such missions. It’s not every day you can take a walk like this. In the Bloody Reefs, where the clans fought to possess a unique spell, it must have been complete overload… incredible.
But there wasn’t time to think about that now.
As soon as we entered the huge rock maze, the walls abruptly closed, almost crushing the “tail” of Architects. The exit from the gorge was gone. There was no way back. Now we could either go forwards or into the real world— pressing the “off” button in the game and emerging on the mainland was the same as defeat.
“Forwards. Slow,” commanded the hoarse voice of the Baroness.
She walked down to the front rows, not moving as gracefully as was usual. Tired…
Ahead was a kind of wide, ancient road. In a couple of places, I noticed elegant stone tiles with beautiful patterns. Bom noticed them right away and grabbed one, as did the members of the Sleepless. I wouldn’t be surprised if these pieces of pavement go for a very great price on the auction.
“Built by the ancients,” whispered Ul. “I bet. Such strange shapes.”
“Yes,” I nodded. “I think so too.”
One kilometer away from us and up the hill the ruins began. There was largely felled stone wall. Not as high as the one in Algora but still pretty solid. One could see the various buildings that resembled the project of a cross-eyed architect suffering from a tremor in all his limbs.
What else could I call it?
Houses in the form of slightly oblique triangles.
Houses in the form on spiky balls resembling sea urchins.
Houses that looked like thick bagels standing on edge.
Needle houses— thin spires, going up about two hundred meters. At the top, where the needle’s eye would be, a single room for two people maximum.
And next to these, absolutely normal and beautiful buildings resembling structures from the middle ages, gargoyles and all.
Just a glance away, a building in the form of a flower pot with five or six long flowers, with the petals as terraces and the flower buds as the rooms. The flower itself stone, but entangled in other vegetation.
Players specializing in ancients have collected a lot of information about this subject. Many of us were now recording the scene. One could easily sell a video for a good amount— unless, of course, Kaylen would put it online for free.
“Stop!” Gently said the Baroness, her voice softer. She was aware of the morale of her soldiers— she wasn’t going to “add heat.” There was lurking irritation, fatigue, and impending ‘decay.’
The troops moved forwards another few steps and then stopped obediently. We were three hundred meters from the ruins.
We didn’t have to look for a reason to stop for long— just before our noses hovered a bunch of light in the form of a five pointed star. The end of each ray was painted a different color.
“It’s…” I breathed.
“It is!...” Said Ul sharply, directing his crossbow out of range. All of the soldiers lowered their weapons. The wizards put their hands behind their backs.
Three players leapt to the head of the mammoth and dragged Orbit aw
ay. God forbid he say something stupid.
We all started to smile very kindly.
Why?
Because we were in the presence of something truly unearthly. Why? Well because it’s…
The star quietly trembled, rippled, and we heard a very clear and utterly incomprehensible voice, uttering a few short phrases in a language unknown to me.
Wow… what now?
My confusion did not last long. Obeying a gesture of the Baroness the Red Baron took out a very small sphere of gray glass and hit his palm on it. The thing lit up, and a grayish glow enveloped us. I noticed that one of the Architects activated the exact same light.
The Black Baroness spoke loud and clear:
“I beg the great defender of the ancient city to repeat their words.”
The glowing star spun around its axis for a moment, turning into a blurry circle. Then he stopped abruptly. One of its beams, painted in a soft pink color, flashed and flew away into the distance, flying over the rock maze and down a shallow arc. It fell into the broad river and evaporated a few tons on the water. The mysterious guardian had expressed his dissatisfaction. And he was right— his annoyance was justified. His guests should have been more prepared. That was exhaustion. The translator orbs could have been activated beforehand. Who cares that they cost a lot of money— it is better not to anger such a guard.
The Language of the Ancients. Spoken by the city’s defenders.
And as for the defender himself— he is quite a separate issue. We had a real guard of the ancients in our way.
Who is he?
I don’t know.
What is he?
Also do not know. And no one, probably, knows.
Although a lot is known about them.
First of all— the guard is virtually indestructible. Or it has an unprecedented amount of life and energy, as well as instant regeneration abilities. Before, players have tried to kill it with powerful magic, with CLOUD, but nothing has worked.
The Way of the Clan 6: World of Valdira Page 10
