The Secret of the Dark Forest ( (The Way of the Shaman: Book #3)

by Vasily Mahanenko

  "I'm afraid I'm not. I have a quest that involves finding him and having a chat about what's going on in the Dark Forest. Can you see the connection with the scenario that I've shared with the top players? The other quest is focused on the Prince and has nothing to do with this place. So, have you decided if you're with me?"

  "In the search for the Patriarch? Like you need to ask!"

  "Then let's make things clear straight away – you'll be joining us as a mercenary alongside my clan and not as the head of Phoenix. I don't need any extra hangers-on on this quest."

  "Mahan, what's taking so long? How many times have you scored already?"

  "One more joke like that and I'll dock you 5% of the loot. The Agreement is being signed: the 53 million will soon arrive in our account."

  "It's a deal," said Stacey, staring with some puzzlement at my clan, who had started to run around the glade in sheer joy. Even Barsina, who was usually still somewhat reserved, was unable to restrain herself and was embracing Clutzer. I just hope that wouldn't be interpreted as violation of her non-flirtation rule. "You told them that the Agreement's been signed? Look at them. Happy as kids at Christmas. What's your loot allocation amongst the clan?"

  "The same as the one I'll be offering you: 70% of all the money gained goes into the clan treasury, 30% on salaries, depending on the level of participation. Loot is allocated by an Imitator. If you're happy with these conditions, with the fact that you'd be a mercenary and not the head of Phoenix, and with not sharing the quest with anyone else, I would be happy to discuss your joining us.

  "Reasonable clan demands – I'm ready to sign an Agreement. Who else do you plan to invite, other than your clan?"

  "Antsinthepantsa. We'll fail without her."

  "You don't like her very much, do you? Why tell one girl that another is indispensable? I'll eat her alive and not bat an eyelid. As if I'd let her hang around my Shaman, when there's not enough of him for me as it is. ... All right, I'll deal with her later. Where's the Agreement?"

  "When did I become 'your’ Shaman?"

  "Quit nitpicking. Send the Agreement."

  "What's the point? It's not like there are any Heralds around to validate it."

  "Why do you need the Heralds? They uphold the law only in Malabar; in Kartoss that's done by Magisters and in the Free Lands by Guardians. ... What, didn't you know?"

  "To be honest, I'm not exactly an expert on these things. But that isn't important. The Chess Pieces have shown that you wish to lay claim to the title of 'Madam who can be trusted'. Catch the Agreement. Its main feature is the loot allocation, it has no other restrictions."

  "That 'Madam' will earn you a slap in the face. While we're on the subject, it’s 'Miss' to you – while standing to attention. And say it like you mean it, please. Let's dispense with Agreements altogether – see who's who in all of this."

  "Here it is, then." I shared the High Priestess's quest with Anastaria. "I think people will start arriving in about twenty minutes, so let's wrap things up. They'll get here and what will they see? A huge opaque dome concealing a man and a woman: that leaves too much to the imagination. ..."

  Instead of an answer Anastaria was silent for a few seconds while looking directly into my eyes and then, whispering, "I'm being such a fool!" she planted her lips on mine once again. And, for the record, she got no protest out of me. Whatever this Delight was doing, it was working 100%! It felt like gaining five or six levels in your main profession in one go, with Endurance turned off. I'll have to get to the bottom of what this magic was and what one was meant to do with it.

  Clan achievement gained: 'Clan of the Oligarchs'

  Conditions for Procurement: conduct transactions worth over 40 million gold with the clan treasury within 2 game hours.

  5% discount with NPC merchants for all clan members. Now all your trade negotiations with NPCs will end in the words: 'Of course, with a clan like that!'

  "Oooh! Adamantium!" Just a minute after Anastaria took down the dome, players began to arrive at the glade. Everyone had the same sequence of reactions: surprise, greedy stares, the growing realization that, unlike the bunch of noobs standing nearby, they had the relevant professions sufficiently leveled up for gathering the high-level resources and, finally, a befuddled expression after walking up to a vein / tree / herb and discovering that the pick hit the ground – the axe went straight through the tree – and that working out the mathematical equation for finding the right point to cut was the only thing they were able to do with the herb. You could only gather something in the Guardian's glade if you had the relevant permission, which I had no intention of handing out for free. Of the ten early arrivals only four agreed to hand over 30% of the resources they gathered to my clan, the rest refused.

  "Judging by your pleased expression," Dooki came up to me once players had stopped appearing, "Anastaria had good reason to put up that dome. It's too bad that it doesn't really grow dark in this forest or we could've used you as a giant torch. You're positively glowing! I do, of course, understand that two million each is a good addition to our retirement fund, but even this can't make a guy look THAT pleased. Are you gonna spill the beans?"

  "What the hell?" As I was trying to think of a sharp comeback for my second Rogue, a surprised shout echoed through the glade. I didn't immediately realize where the sound had come from, but when I did, we were a player down: one of those who refused to benefit the Seathistles clan with his labor had decided to go sightseeing and had stepped out into the mists of the surrounding forest. Judging by the map of this area, the Dark Forest was a location for 100-level players, so supposedly high-level players had nothing to fear around here. Yeah, right! It was hard to imagine what forces were lurking in the surrounding twilight if someone with level 288 went down in close to ten seconds.

  "YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO OPPOSE ME." The forest once again shook with reverberations, but this time an hour-long 'Fear' debuff was slapped on us, which reduced all stats by 5%. Looks like that Lieutenant had finally dropped in for a chat. I don't remember the Sergeant having such abilities. It was a completely different voice too. "I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

  "Mahan," Anastaria took a break from the herbs and stared at me, just as all the other players that had arrived in the glade were doing, "is there something you want to tell us?"

  Realizing that keeping things to myself was no longer an option, I recounted everything about the Cursed Wothe, its warning about the Vampires and its assurance that in this zone neither I nor any of my group had anything to fear. Speaking of the group ... I immediately sent an invite to each new arrival, even the gatherers, mentally thanking the Fallen for not flooding the glade with arrows just yet. The local NPC-minions probably didn't think that I could be so ... imprudent, I think that's the word. If only I had thought about the group straight away, Anastaria would've been able to get the player out on pure reflex, simply by seeing his frame. She would've thrown a bubble over him or would've cast something on him. Hmm ... altogether too many 'wouldas' here. In the end we have what we have, so all the 'shoulda woulda couldas' are a bit pointless.

  "So it looks like the area is being patrolled by a squad of Vampires of indeterminate level, headed by some sort of Lieutenant, who are quite capable of taking down an unprepared 288-level mage in 13 seconds," Anastaria mumbled thoughtfully. "I might have been able to get him out, of course, but the speed at which he was killed was something else. Now we must wait for the rest of the group, especially the tanks and a couple of healers – we can't enter the Dark Forest without them. Let's see what they'll do with Hel around. ..."

  "Guys," I addressed my free fighters as soon as all the other high-level players returned to resource gathering, "I have a question. Can you take a holiday for about three weeks from tomorrow morning? From the financial point of view, you've already got your salary covered for the next three years, if not more, so you can afford to take some time off. It would be a pity if the top players complete the quest, but you don't."

  "
Well, aside from the fact that we haven't been paid our salary yet, since the Imitator will only transfer it in a couple of weeks," said Elenium, "the idea of a holiday is a good one. I'll let you know tomorrow. Right, I'm turning on 'Follow' – time for me to get some rest."

  "When are we planning to set out?" asked Barsina as soon as all the other free players in my clan left the Game. "Time is not an issue for me, so I can simply stay from now on. You said something about a tent before, got space in there?"

  "I have five with me, so if purely male company isn't a problem for you, you're very welcome to join us."

  "Good: that can be a test of whether you guys can be trusted," said the girl. Before disappearing into the tent, she turned and blew me away with a question: "So what's with you and Anastaria, then?"

  * * *

  The next morning began with a commotion that even the tent couldn't keep out: the noise of the rest of the arriving players.

  "Mahan! Up you get! It's time to form the groups!" You'd never tell from Anastaria's cheerful and alert voice that she spent the entire night communing with high-grade herbs. Who would've thought that the second-highest player on the continent, totally unfettered by concerns for her dignity, would be crawling around on her knees and measuring the length of a stalk with a ruler? Everyone who turned up last night watched this spectacle and, judging by a few camera icons, some of them even filmed it.

  "Do you ever actually leave the game?" I mumbled as I crawled out into the fresh air. The resources were still there, but no-one took any notice of them anymore. Everyone was focused on one thing only – the upcoming battle. The player who was sent for respawn was already back with us, indicating that the usual 12-hour absence is a limitation that only affected newbies. If you leveled up your Reputation with the Empire to 'Exalted' and added to that around a million gold on top, the time you had to spend outside the Game after dying was reduced to 6 hours. In Barliona everything becomes a question of money, and in almost all cases it's a million gold. Do you want a flying pet? A million gold, please. You want to halve the respawn time? Just pay a million. Do you want to take part in a scenario? Please be so kind as to hand over a lump sum to keep those Seathistles happy.

  "Hel, take your team and very carefully try stepping outside the glade." As soon as I had invited the rest of the thronging crowd into the group and shared the quest, Anastaria started to put things in order. "You know the situation, so put the defense up right away: there's some very unpleasant rabble loitering out there. Don, what would be the best place to try to lure them out, in your opinion?"

  "Let's say three o'clock. The sun is on the right and Vampires can't look at it directly, which means they'll get a 10% miss chance," said Donotpunnik, who turned out to be a level 303 Death Knight, clad all in black. His two-handed sword was surrounded by a cold blue aura – probably part of the visual design of this class. From what I could see he was just another fighter, like Hellfire, but if Anastaria has no qualms about asking his advice ... and why hadn't I heard anything about him before? "It's best to set out in ten-strong recon-units (two tanks, three healers and five fighters), range 6, and put it up right away. The black arrows, if I remember correctly, do AOE-damage in melee. The first ten are yours, I'll be on the right and Etamzilat on the left. Twenty should be the backup with scrolls, the standard Alpha support. ..."

  "I disagree," Anastaria interrupted him, "Alpha is good in open ground. We have trees here, which won't allow the Mages to deploy their skills fully and things will be more difficult for healers too. Let's modify Delta, look ..."

  This was followed by an untranslatable volley of words between Anastaria and Donotpunnik. The interesting part was that they appeared to be using normal language, just in a completely incomprehensible way. It was all Alphas or modified Deltas ... the high-level players immersed themselves in their favorite activity: preparing for a raid with tough mobs.

  "Maybe we could just get other people here and flood the whole forest?" Barsina couldn't help adding her two cents, which provoked smiles from the raiders, while Anastaria turned to her and explained, as if to an inexperienced schoolgirl: "My dear, if you start running as a healer, how long will the 'Steel Skin' buff stay on you?"

  "That's nonsense," said Barsina, perplexed. "How can you even cast Steel if you're in healer form, let alone run around? Do you even know how to play Druids?"

  "You see, you've just answered your own question." Anastaria once again smiled at the reddening girl before returning to the laughing raiders to continue discussing the plan. Right ... something tells me that it's time for me to intervene, or my clan will be pushed so far to the edge that getting back into the heart of things would take me the rest of my prison term.

  "What have you decided?" I came up to the group of raid-leaders who were just finishing their meeting.

  "Listen, small fry," Etamzilat looked at me condescendingly, "go and chop some wood or something, eh? You yourself said that your clan is going to be carried on this quest. This stuff is completely out of your league."

  "Let's pretend I didn't hear any of that and I'll ask you once again: what have you decided?" Although I was fuming on the inside, I tried to retain the appearance of calm. Small fry! On the one hand, fair enough, but on the other ... the 'grown ups' had just tried to show me my 'proper place'. In their dreams! Either I'm the head of the clan and of this expedition, or I might as well give up on leadership right now and throw myself into crafting. These sharks would swallow me in one gulp. "And, by the way, Etamzilat, I don't remember your name among MY advisors. Anastaria and Donotpunnik do happen to be included in the Agreement, which was signed by all, yourself included. The Agreement very clearly lays out everyone's roles in this scenario. So maybe you should be the one who should be doing the wood-chopping while I'm making decisions?"

  "The fact that you found this scenario doesn't make you ..."

  "Enough!" Anastaria intervened. Now here was someone who was an indisputable authority among other players: Etamzilat immediately fell silent. "Etamzilat is right, Mahan. I'm sorry, but you don't have experience of leading raids. Now is not the time to quibble over who has higher stats and thicker armor. We have to get on with things now and you're getting in the way."

  "That won't work. With all due respect, the events in Beatwick showed very well the extent of your experience. You have ten, twenty, perhaps even thirty clan raiders, each of them tried and tested in more than one Dungeon. And that's all. As soon as raiders from other clans turn up, you'll be a stumbling mess. People, either we start working together properly from the outset or I'm returning your money, cancelling the Agreement and you can hang out in the Dark Forest on your own, dancing around the Guardian in the hope that he'll give you the quest."

  "We've decided to leave the glade on the west side in three ten-strong groups," said Anastaria after giving it some thought. "Who or what awaits us out there, remains unknown. The three Rogues sent out on stealthed reconnaissance were discovered and attacked. We barely managed to get them back in one piece. We'll have to scout with a fighting party, so we modified one very well-known formation, where the tanks take the first and fifth place, shielding five players each. The distance between the players ..."

  Under Etamzilat's reproachful stare, Stacey began to explain the tactics of the planned battle. Suddenly a certain feeling, which hadn't popped up for quite a while, started to flash within me like a red light. Well, hello there, you incomprehensible beastie!

  "Stacey, we can't go west." I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to interrupt the girl's logical exposition. "We'll get shafted. We have to go east and head towards the center of the forest from there."

  "Explain.” Donotpunnik spoke in place of the still silent girl.

  "Do you remember the bubble on Hellfire in Beatwick?" I continued to look at Stacey, ignoring the Azure Dragons raid-leader. "It's the same situation."

  "Mahan, you do understand that based on all logical accounts Donotpunnik is right?" the girl finally uttere
d. An announcement popped up before my eyes informing me that I'd got a letter from Ehkiller. Strange.

  "I completely understand," I replied, "give me a couple of seconds, please." Realizing how it must look, I opened the Mailbox and read the letter. Why couldn't Ehkiller just say something, especially when he's standing only a couple of paces away and is listening to the whole conversation?

  "Mahan, stay quiet about this. Anastaria asked me to send you a letter to say that if you're sure that standard logic shouldn’t be followed in the Dark Forest, you'll have to prove it to the rest of the players. Respawn hasn't really hindered anyone in the past and the loss of 30%of Experience is a fair price for a mistake. Accept what they've decided. Anastaria will try to stay alive."

  Well, well. I have a long way to go to reach the stature of these veteran players. After taking a split-second decision to wipe out thirty, or at least twenty nine, players – including nine members of her own clan – Stacey had secretly written a note on the inter-clan chat asking Ehkiller to pass on this message to me. This girl sure knows how to play hardball. I have no idea how she'd had time to do all this!

  "All right guys, let's do it your way. But I will say it once again: we cannot get anywhere except by the eastern route, but I guess you can't argue against logic, eh?" I decided to follow Anastaria's advice. "Go for it – let's see how far you get." After that I turned around and went back to my clan. Judging by my fighters’ expressions they realized full well what had just happened – I'd been pushed to the side, utterly and completely. What kind of a leader am I, if I give up so easily under pressure from high-level players? My only remaining hope was that my intuition wouldn't let me down. I think I'm beginning to place too much trust in it – what if I've missed the mark this time?

  "The first group is ready." The entire glade turned into an anthill. Here and there flashes of buffs being cast lit up and immediately faded, players were diligently drinking elixirs and eating stat-boosting food – normal raid preparation was in progress. Even Antsinthepantsa was dragged into the support group. Only the Seathistles clan was standing idle, watching what was happening from the sidelines, not knowing how to make themselves useful. Reluctant to show any emotions, I opened my Mailbox and began to learn all the Jewelcraft recipes that I’d been sent at Anastaria's behest. Iron Ring of Strength, Silver Neck-chain of Balance, Gold Ring of Intellect ... nine recipes that were a perfect match for my level and resources. After learning all the scrolls and sending all the Alchemy materials to Leite and the profession scrolls to my other fighters, I sat myself down on the grass. I didn't feel like doing anything with Jewelcraft, so whether I liked it or not I would have to witness this high-level-player fiasco. I don't know about the rest, but personally I had zero doubts about the outcome of the coming battle: 0:1 to the Dark Ones.