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

by Vasily Mahanenko

  The cold blue glow of the portal that surrounded me on every side couldn't wash off the warm feeling that arose in my chest. However the upcoming trial went, at least on High Shaman believes in me. And this means that others may do too. I just needed time...

  The place where the portal took me looked nothing like a regular courthouse, such as the one in Anhurs. In the capital the player was taken to an NPC judge, where in an office, sitting behind an enormous table, the latter delivered the verdict: not guilty and free to go, or guilty and sentenced to community service. But here... After checking that video recording was still on, I looked around.

  If I was Gulliver, I might have thought that I was standing in the midst of a Lilliputian circus — a small arena, no more than two by two meters, covered in yellow sand and seats placed around the entire perimeter. The bright light from five projectors was aimed straight at me, as if I was some actor whose performance was awaited by an audience. But some things were different too: the arena was surrounded by a meter-and-a-half-tall wall, covered in shining spikes. These were probably in place to prevent the accused from escaping. There were just two rows of seats, all of which were currently occupied.

  The back rows, barely visible through the bright light of the projectors, were assigned to my clan. Anastaria, Plinto, Barsina, the Officers... The future of these players was hanging on what the court would was about to decide and I thought that at this point nothing depended on me anymore. This was the revelation that struck me when I saw the eyes of those that occupied the front row: the Emperor, the Dark Lord, Kornik, the High Priestess, several Advisors, and Masters... They all looked at me as if the sentence has already been passed and not subject to appeal. I selected Anastaria and sent her the video that I recorded at Pryke. If I was being sent for long 'rest' at the mines right after all this, then all the privileges of a provisionally free citizen would disappear.

  "I promised you, Shaman, that we would meet after you finish your assignments in the Dark Forest," came the voice of Eluna and a second later the last free seat was occupied. The goddess arrived to dispense justice. "Naahti, please announce the reason why this Free Citizen has appeared in my court."

  Rising from his seat, the Emperor enounced:

  "I, the Emperor of Malabar, accuse Free Citizen Mahan, the Great Shaman-Dragon of killing the Great Yalininka, High Shaman Almis and the future Prince of the Empire, Slate. Kornik, the Harbinger-Shaman, will act as an additional accuser, bringing charges against Mahan of betraying the tenets of shamanism and destroying his Totem — an original Dragon! I am demanding his destruction!"

  "Kornik, do you confirm the words of the Emperor?" Eluna looked at the Harbinger.

  "Yes, goddess," the Shaman stood up and bowed to Eluna. "This sentient destroyed everything which Shamans believe in. There is no place for him in Barliona."

  "Who will be defending Mahan's interests?" asked the Goddess and looked around those present. "Or shall I appoint a defender for him myself? Emperor?"

  "I don't have any impartial subjects, Goddess. The Great Yalininka is the symbol of Barliona and not a single mortal would find it within himself her killer."

  "In that case we have to change the place of the hearing. I appoint Dragon Aarenoxitolikus as the defender of this accused. Due to the existing limitations, he cannot enter our world, so we will travel to his!" Eluna closed her eyes and lifted her arms and the surrounding world changed. There was glistening snow instead the sand under our feet, chunks of stone instead of the chairs and the walls changed to the cliffs of the world of the Dragons.

  "My greetings to you, Eluna! I expected you and your subjects later," came Renox's slow growl and an enormous green dragon landed on the modest-sized platform. "Son," Renox greeted me with a slight nod. "I see you just can't keep out of trouble, eh? Last time you gathered all the great heroes of Malabar and now its rulers... I dread to imagine our next meeting. Will you be surrounded by gods then?"

  "I, Emperor of Malabar, accuse Free Citizen Mahan...," Naahti got up from his stone, repeating the words of the accusation.

  "I, High Dragon Aarenoxitolikus refute the accusations of the Emperor and the Shaman-Harbinger Kornik," said Renox solemnly. "As witnesses I shall call..."

  "Hi there, brother! Listen, father told me that you learned how to transform. Can you show me? Oh!" Draco, who practically knocked me off my feet, froze and looked around, embarrassed. "Ss-sorry... Is this a bad time, dad?"

  "Let me answer in your stead," replied a voice so familiar that I involuntarily started and then found myself staring at the High Shaman who appeared from behind the rocks. Almis! "If you bypass all the expletives, it can be put very simply: you've ruined a very beautiful moment. You know," he turned to Renox," I think I finally understand why Mahan managed to pick him — they're of one kind!" Prohibitions? Rules? Restrictions? Nope, never heard of 'em!"

  "But Almis!" whined Draco, with a hurt look, curled around my feet and froze after hiding his head under his tail. The Emperor remained unperturbed and calm, since not a word was said now about Yalininka and Slate, but Kornik was quite a sight. Everyone is familiar with the expression: "Sheer shock." But it didn't cover even one percent of what goblin was experiencing right now. His usual green color was all gone! Right now we had a lobster-red sentient sitting in front of us, who was striving with all his might to dissolve into his stone seat. "Shaman, you are not worthy... You betrayed everything...." Well, well — it's good to come down to earth sometimes!

  "My first witness answered any relevant questions by his very appearance," continued Renox. "So I shall invite the second one. Eluna, if you please," the Dragon bowed before the Goddess and looked at her expectantly.

  "Archangel Yalininka is being summoned as a witness!" Eluna's voice echoed through the mountains.

  "You summoned me, Mother?" there was a clap and a young woman appeared next to Renox. Her dazzlingly bright wings, seemingly breaking every law of physics, touched each of those present, completely restoring them and giving them several beneficial buffs. The Silver-winged had turned into the Bright-winged one...

  "Daughter, tell everyone of the last moments of your earthly life," asked the Goddess.

  "An epidemic had struck Priant and so I decided to risk a short-cut, flying right across the mountains. Half-way the charge in the wings had ran out and I fell, managing to grab a ledge just at the right moment. I knew that my hour had come, but then I saw this Human, hmm... Dragon and asked his help. After this...," Yalininka went on to tell everything that had happened during my first trial, adding her own sensations and emotions to the tale. "I jumped down and right before I reached the ground Eluna took me into her heavenly host."

  "Thank you my daughter, you may return now," the Goddess thanked her and Yalininka disappeared.

  "For a more complete picture," came Renox's voice again, not allowing anyone to put in a word or share their feelings, "I shall summon the authors of the plan behind everything that was done by Great Shaman Mahan. I will admit that I was responsible for certain details, but the general concept and implementation entirely belongs to them. I am calling the Supreme Spirits of the Higher and the Lower Worlds as witnesses!"

  "They are here," uttered Kornik in a voice of one condemned to death. "To avoid traumatizing the Free Citizens who are not used to the Shamanistic gods, the Spirits will be speaking through me."

  Kornik's eyes glazed over, he flew into the air and the Supreme Spirits began their tale:

  "For a long time now we have desired to understand the source of Geranika's power. A Great Shaman, which almost became a High one, at one point renounced us. This was strange and incomprehensible. We knew that the only sentient in Barliona capable of telling us about Geranika was the Patriarch, but we existed in different worlds and unworkable relations with him. Patriarch didn't trust anyone, so communicating with him would have been pointless. When Mahan entered the Astral Plane for the first time, breaking every possible Shamanistic law by doing so, we were struck with an idea
. In order to discover the Enemy's power, we had to send him an apprentice. A sentient, suitable for this role happened to be nearby, so we started to act. We knew that Mahan would have to renounce everything that he believed in four times: his race, his teacher, his Totem and his friend..."

  Kornik twitched, as if even through the Supreme Ones' control word 'friend' meant a lot to him, and then continued to broadcast the Spirits:

  "First of all, we deprived Mahan of the ability to summon his Totem. There is no punishment for destroying a Shadow in the Astral Plane, on the contrary, we were glad that the Shaman found a creative way of destroying them, but we wanted to preserve his Dragon. Then we sent him to Geranika, allowing him to throw a protective dome over him and removing an obstacle in the form of Plinto the Bloodied. That was the only thing we could do without getting detected by Geranika. Thus we left Mahan alone and started to observe his actions. First came Yalininka. Geranika wanted to send Mahan to a time when she was in her prime, but the High Dragon aided us. He corrected the flow of time and Mahan ended up by Yalininka at the time of her death. We thought that he would just turn away and allow her to fall, but you heard from the archangel how it really happened. The second trial consisted of killing his first teacher. We had a chat with Almis and, since he's the only existing Shaman-illusionist, thought of a way to convincingly stage his death. Almis summoned a Spirit with which Mahan had to fight, but ... instead of fighting the would-be-apprentice wanted to talk and risked failing the trial, so Almis attacked first. After Mahan pushed away the projection, Almis withered the Spirit and unsummoned him, leaving the staff to aid his apprentice. A High Shaman looks awkward without a staff. Mahan was unable to complete the third trial because he couldn't summon his Totem, but the fourth one he failed fair and square by sticking the horn into Geranika instead of Kornik. The only thing that didn't fit into our plans was the appearance of the Free Citizens and Slate's death. Emperor, we understand that the echo of the Shaman's deeds went through the entire Barliona, but only you are responsible for the deaths of thirty eight thousand two hundred and forty six Free Citizens and the future Prince of Malabar. For unshakable faith in his own abilities and for following the taken decision regardless of possible penalties and hardships, we, the Supreme Spirits of the Higher and Lower Worlds declare Mahan to be a High Shaman! That is all!"

  Character class update: Class Great Shaman has been replaced by High Shaman.

  +1000 to Reputation with the Supreme Spirits of the Higher and Lower Worlds. Current level: Friendly. You are 2390 points away from the status of Respect.

  Kornik descended from the air and, drained, leant back into this stone seat: acting as the conduit for the Spirits took nearly all his strength.

  "In view of what we've just heard," the surrounding world was pierced by the Emperor's cold voice, "I am dropping all charges against Mahan. His actions have been deemed to be beneficial to the Empire, for which reason I am offering the High Shaman Mahan the post of a commissioned ambassador of the Empire to the kingdom of the Dwarves. Our ally is being harassed by armies of barbarians encroaching from the Free Lands. You must find out the reason behind such frenzied attacks and remove it. You will be able to obtain a portal to the lands of the Dwarves from any Herald as soon as you summon him, but not later than a month from this moment. Should he succeed in helping the king of the Dwarves within the next 6 months, the clan will receive castle Urusai into its ownership, the head of the clan the title of an Earl and the rest of its leaders the titles of Barons! This is my decision!"

  Quest available: Inevitable evil. Description: The Kingdom of the Dwarves ... Deadline for completion: 6 months. Quest type: Clan-based unique. Reward: Urusai castle, the title of an Earl for the head of the clan, title of a Baron for the Officers, Keepers and Treasurer of the clan. Penalty for failing or refusing the quest: Dislike with the Emperor.

  "So be it!" said Eluna, the moment I accepted the quest. "I confirm the Emperor's words! Mahan and all the members of his clan have been found not guilty!"

  There was a thunder clap, like an echo of some unseen lightning, and once again the surrounding scenery had changed. Judging by the map, which I immediately opened, we were at the very center of the castle of the Fallen, but right now there was nothing here to remind us that it ever existed. We were on an ordinary green glade, already covered by small young trees. In the course of a day the Guardian managed to destroy all reminders of Geranika or Midial. Draco, Renox and Almis remained in the world of the Dragons, the Emperor and the Dark Lord vanished almost immediately without saying a word, but I managed to glance at the Attractiveness in their properties just before they did that. 65 points with the Emperor and 46 points with the Dark Lord. Great, things were looking up! Advisors and Masters were discussing something, returning to their places once they were done. Then only Kornik, Beth and Eluna remained.

  "Mahan," the High Priestess immediately spoke to me, "it is now time to give you and your people the reward for finding the Stone of Light. Thank you all!"

  The players lit up like a bunch of Christmas trees when a wave of new levels and reputation increases went through the clan and then the High Priestess came up to each player, giving them flasks with Water of Life (I must remember to ask Anastaria what that thing was for) and kissed them on the forehead. It turned out that Eluna's Blessing, 3rd rank (all this happened despite the Goddess standing right there and observing the actions of her Priestess) increased all the main stats by 15%. And this lasted all long as the character existed, or as long as the player remained in the Goddess' favor.

  "And it is finally my turn to reward Mahan," smiled the Goddess. "You and your people deserve to be the talk of all in Barliona. But I think that a simple item reward which you would soon outgrow would be insufficient. I would like to give you something which had never been and will never be gained by any clan in Barliona. This will earn you enemies, who will be jealous of this gift, but it is worth it. Behold!"

  A flaming message appeared in the air right in front of Eluna, which was seen not only by myself, but also by the rest of the clan:

  You may now change the name of your clan to Legends of Barliona (reserved name). If you accept this name, each member of your clan will receive a small projection of their race.

  Legends of Barliona and projections? I looked at Barsina's wide eyes, Plinto's grin, the now habitually dropped jaws of my Officers, and Anastaria doing her best to look imperturbable and realized that they've already made the decision.

  "I thank you for this gift, Goddess. This is a truly divine reward!"

  There was another clap of thunder and only players remained on the Dark Forest glade.

  "Isn't she a sweetie?!" Anastaria's impassiveness vanished in a flash when she saw a small, about ten centimeter-long, Siren, which was coiling itself around the girl's hand. Stacey started to move her arm in different directions and the Siren sped around it happily, emitting squeals that no-one (possibly except her owner) could hear. Periodically the projection stopped and froze, with a mirror appearing before it, and then the Siren began to look at herself from every side, like a little girl who finally got at her mother's jewelry.

  "Crunch!" a strange sound sounded by my ear. I turned around and saw the little Dragonling dressed in a Shaman's feathered cape and holding a staff in one of its paws. With the help of the second paw he was eating a juicy apple, seemingly oblivious of the world around him. Once he demolished the apple, he darted under my coat and then stuck out his head, putting it on my shoulder.

  I looked at the other players who were also examining their pets and chuckled: real Legends of Barliona were born today...

  End of Book Three

  NEW!

  Attention LitRPG fans and Fantasy genre lovers from Germany!

  The German version of Way of the Shaman, Book #1

  will be released 10th September 2016!

  Pre-order the German version on Amazon!

  Read the opening chapters on Goodreads!

  Wa
nt to be the first to know about our latest LitRPG, sci fi and fantasy titles from your favorite authors?

  Subscribe to our New Releases newsletter!

  Thank you for reading The Secret of the Dark Forest!

  If you like what you've read, check out other LitRPG books and series published by Magic Dome Books:

  The Way of the Shaman Books 1 and 2

  by Vasily Mahanenko

  Start the Game (Galactogon Book #1)

  by Vasily Mahanenko

  Phantom Server Books 1, 2 and 3

  by Andrei Livadny

  Perimeter Defense Books 1, 2 and 3

  by Michael Atamanov

  Mirror World Books 1 and 2

  by Alexey Osadchuk

  The Lag (The Game Master Book #1)

  by A. Bobl and A. Levitsky

  More LitRPG books are coming out soon!

  In order to have new books of the series translated faster, we need your help and support! Please consider leaving a review or spread the word by recommending The Secret of the Dark Forest to your friends and posting the link on social media. The more people buy the book, the sooner we'll be able to make new translations available.

  Thank you!

  Be the first to know about new LitRPG releases!

  Visit our

  Facebook LitRPG page

  to meet new and established LitRPG authors!

  Tell us more about yourself and your favorite books,

  view new book covers and make friends with other LitRPG fans!

  Follow the latest LitRPG news on Twitter!

  Till next time!