The Way of the Clan 2 (World of Valdira)

by Dem Mikhaylov

  I waited for some minutes just to make sure that there were no hazards for my precious life. And then I stood up slowly and murmured to Stathan who was still lying on the ground, ‘Hey, bro, stand up. It’s over.’

  I heard his rolling snore in response.

  Stathan drank too much wine and stressed a lot so it was quite predictable that he fell asleep in the middle of road duct in front of his own shop.

  I signed helplessly and raised my eyes to heaven. Why? Tell me why!

  But in a moment I completely forgot about the shopkeeper and all the other things around me as I saw amreetas plummeting from the sky. Surrounded by a glowing halo of burning air they were leaving a clear smoke wake behind. Impulsively I thought they were falling right on me but in a second I realized that they didn’t care about the tiny village. Tearing air apart with a wild roar, fantastic five consisted of Valdira’s angels dashed over Mossy Hills and disappeared behind the edge of a far-away forest. The ground was still but I could see a huge dark cloud of dust and soil that flew up because of a stroke at the place where the living comets disappeared. Did they bump into the ground at full speed?

  ‘Have you seen it? Have you seen?!’ an excited scream rolling along the street made me turn around. An eighteen level elf-gamer dressed in leather armor was running up to me swinging his arms.

  ‘Yes, I have,’ I nodded at him looking rather baffled. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘I don’t know!’ the gamer shook his head and then suddenly blurted out. ‘Look! Can you watch me? I’ll exit for a while to read the forum! And I’ll tell you everything as soon as I come back!’

  ‘Ok,’ I agreed without hesitation. ‘But, please, come back soon!’

  ‘I will!’ the elf flopped on the ground, his face lost any sign of consciousness and turned into a frozen mask. His soul left the virtual body to return to real life.

  He was so interested in the recent events that asked a stranger to watch his character. I had four minutes to loot the unattended body, take all his stuff and to leave without any haste – if I wanted to do anything like that.

  But instead I raised Stathan who was snoring peacefully up to my shoulder, brought him back to the shop and put his weak body on the floor. I greedily looked around the shop stuffed with treasure, breathed out a sad sigh and left the shop before shutting the door carefully. The temptation was great but I managed it. I was going to work there and I didn’t need any troubles with ‘locals’.

  I was sitting on the stairs of the shop for a quarter staring in front of me aimlessly and sucking a clover stemlet. I was correcting my schedule.

  Death was not the end in the world of Valdira. And that rule worked both for gamers and for ‘locals’. Sure, it referred to important ‘locals’ – that were connected with quests somehow or just noble persons like barons, counts or kings. ‘Locals’ of that status usually went to ‘Afterworld’ – a special location for spirits. Gamers were banned to enter it, but it was possible to drag somebody out…

  With the help of special rituals, artifacts or spells it was possible to contact the ‘spirit’ of a dead one. To raise a ghost. But you couldn’t force it to speak. Apart from cases when it was appropriate to your quest or when a ghost could benefit due to it. In my case both requirements could work only if Jogly was killed.

  A ghost eager to revenge would tell all the details of its death and would be happy to reveal the criminal. At least I expected it. And while listening to the ghost’s blaming confession I could have a chance to ask a couple of questions about Grimm’s legendary armor and hoped to get proper answers. But if the old man had passed away due to some natural reasons, his ghost wouldn’t fancy having a heart-to-heart talk and was likely to ask me to get lost. Moreover, he could not appear if asked by such an amateur chiropractic as I was. Then I would have to search for hints somewhere else.

  Besides all these unexpected difficulties I had to level up by minimum three or four levels to avoid some fair complaints from Gosha. It would be nice if I could reach level twenty, earn some gold, master the spell called ‘ice pin’ that turned into ‘ice shard’ at the second rank. Dreams, sweet dreams…

  ‘Thank you!’

  ‘Never mind,’ I nodded at the elf who had just come back. ‘Well, any news? What’s up? Did the amreetas’ autopilot break down? Or maybe brake pedal stopped working.’

  ‘Damn the amreetas!’ The gamer pushed me to sit next to me on the stairs. ‘Guess what!’

  ‘What happened?’ I lost my temper as I was aching to get information.

  ‘Fiery Kites crushed dwarven egg of Diamond Hammer and split it!’

  Well… I couldn’t understand a word from his bright speech…

  ‘Er, can you repeat it?’ I asked him feeling rather baffled by the previous phrase. ‘Use some ordinary words, please.’

  ‘I did use ordinary words! Kites crushed the Dodecahedron belonging to the clan called Diamond Hammer! And it split apart! There is such a mess on the forum right now! Hammers are in fury, all Amreetas gathered to find out whether it was a fraud or a fair case! While Hammers were crying and screaming, Kits got inside and made a real massacre. To crown it all, they got inside the clan vaults! They carried out almost everything except for furniture! Hammers are moaning, beating their heads against the floor, breaking their nails against the wall because of despair. But I believe Hammers won’t be able to make Amreetas take any measures. There is a new post about the successful clan citadel assault on the portal. It’s like bomb explosion on the forum!’

  ‘Tell me everything step by step! What are they writing?’

  ‘Ok, listen!’

  The elf started talking eagerly and gesturing like a true Italian. I was listening to him carefully trying to remember everything I had ever heard about Dodecahedron and started to feel desperate as what the Kites had done was beyond all other precedents had ever happened in Valdira. Anyway their act could be called legendary! And, sure, a decent painting featuring it would decorate all inns in Valdira. Dodecahedron was the name of the oldest and the most protected clan citadel in the world. It belonged to a very rich clan called the Diamond Hammers that specialized mainly in trade deals and politics. Moreover, despite its aggressive name the clan avoided fighting. Instead they sold everything – any product, any resource, lent money at high interest and bought the whole blocks. There was the clan’s shop with wonderful craft gear and weapon in every city of Valdira. Let alone a myriad of potions and artifacts. Their prices were too high, but all those things worth it.

  The hammers built their clan citadel keeping in mind ideas of complete protection and minimization of inevitable attacks and sieges. A one-piece multifaceted construction in the shape of a dodecahedron – what a strange word! – was built underground. So they called the citadel after that geometric shape. There were neither exits nor entrances in the citadel – it was only accessible through teleport. It was built from a special substance derived from a mixture of different minerals and metals. It was very durable. Moreover, the Hammers made thick walls, spent unbelievably huge amounts of money on the construction. Let alone protective magic artifacts. The shape of the citadel was unlikely to remind an egg but, ironically, that nickname became popular among gamers. The word ‘Dodecahedron’ was too hard to pronounce. The Hammers declared that they had chosen such a name not only because of the shape of the citadel, but also because it was similar to the Pentagon, a famous building where the American Ministry of Defense is located.

  A lot of clans tried to reach the underground citadel but all of them failed one by one. And so today, the Kites’ attack was successful. If it could be called an attack. Dodecahedron was a completely independent and closed structure, as if it was ‘held’ within the ground. The attackers used it as advantage. As far as the posted news was trustworthy, the Kites tunneled their way again, but they did it the other way – they didn’t dig top-down, they did it bottom-up. First an exit several miles away – they went down upright and then made their way slowly
towards Dodecahedron. First they dug a huge by depth and width well with upright walls under the citadel. And then they just started thinning the ground cork that served as the foundation of the citadel, until the common gravitation law worked. The thinned out ground cork failed and smashed under that monstrous weight of Dodecahedron that fell down immediately to crash down the solid stony foundation of the well. It proved its nickname as it cracked like eggshell.

  It’s hard to imagine what could happen to the Hammers being inside at that moment. Sure, a few of them could survive such a fall and tremendous impulse. Obviously, combat mages were the first to fly to the respawn location. The place of respawn was situated inside the citadel, nor far away from the field of battle, but the mages came their completely naked, just nappies left – all their gear was on ‘bodies’ – so that made them more vulnerable and was a certain advantage for their attackers.

  As soon as a gap appeared, enthusiastic Kites dashed inside Dodecahedron and killed all the baffled defenders. On their way they looted the richest vaults, stole gear from defeated Hammers and, importantly, took away the essential treasure. The Symbol of the clan. The hammer cut from a one-piece crystal. It was an artifact with loads of plus characteristics. Literally, the Kites stole the heart of Dodecahedron. And let everybody know about the scandal around those famous merchants. As for Amreetas they dived from the heaven because they had heard a desperate moan of the Hammers, who were screaming about cheating bug-usage and outrageous injustice. And then on the ruins of legendary Dodecahedron they were investigating enthusiastically who was guilty and who was right. Personally, after listening to the elf I was impressed by one thing only – the extent of the Kites’ operation. The attackers didn’t occupy the clan citadel. Nope! They destroyed it completely leaving the Hammers without any shelter. And all that the hurt merchants had to care about was not the ignominious end of Dodecahedron but a sum they could afford to ransom their clan’s symbol. Definitely, the Kites would demand such a huge amount of money that yesterday play tycoons would beg alms. The citadel could be rebuilt, but it wouldn’t work for the clan’s symbol.

  Any clan’s symbol is a hot-button topic. It’s unique and exceptional. It provides a lot of plus characteristics that the clan that it belongs to can choose at its complete discretion. Bonuses to characters, to the quantity and quality of items and money gained from monsters, to the defense of the citadel. Moreover, it boosts some skills, provides unique buff spells. But not at once. The head of the clan selects some items from a huge list to comply with the clan’s targets and style of playing. The worst thing about the clan’s symbol is that it’s irreplaceable and there is no chance to make its replica. Actually you can make a replica that will look like the original but it will never give you any goodies.

  So, now the Diamond Hammers have got two alternatives – either take their treasure back by force or ransom it from the attackers’ clan. The good news is that the symbol provides bonuses to the members of the clan but nobody else and only if it’s set on a special pedestal in the center of the native citadel. That’s why the Kites couldn’t have any benefits from owning the Hammers’ symbol. Apart from some personal satisfaction and prestige.

  What a story of hysteria! The best story of the worst hysteria…

  ‘Got it?’ The elf was almost jumping because of excitement. ‘You see how the dudes did it! We are trying to catch a rabbit here, while they are… As soon as I level up, I’ll try to join the Kites as a recruit. At once!’

  ‘Well, thank you for the story… Squeaky.’ I read his game nickname. ‘I must go.’

  ‘Wait!’ The elf exclaimed. ‘There must be something interesting on the forum! It’s your turn now!’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, can you exit for a while to find out what they are discussing,’ explained Squeaky. ‘I’ll wait for you here and watch your body.’

  ‘Ermmmm…’ I glanced at my right hand with the silver bracelet that was embracing my wrist tightly and could be seen a bit. ‘Nope, bro. It’s not interesting for me anymore. If you want, you can go, I’ll wait until you disappear.’

  ‘Why? Is it so hard?’ Squeaky got offended. ‘I’ve already been there, had a look…’

  ‘I must go, sorry, I’m busy.’ I explained vaguely and stood up. ‘I have too many things to do. Bye, Squeaky! Good luck! And thank you!’

  ‘Ok, good-bye!’ The elf nodded at me reluctantly, his glance moved along my hand and I swore in my mind.

  I nodded at the elf and moved slowly towards the street aiming at the outskirts of the village. Before turning behind a high fence, I looked back fast. The shop stairs were empty. The elf had gone and it made me worry even more. He had disappeared too quickly and seemed to forget completely about hot discussions on the forum.

  I hurried up, dashed along fences until I reached a rather low wicker fence as high as my waist. Behind it there was some tall brushwood that looked like maize.

  I looked around to make sure that nobody saw me, then jumped over the wicker fence and went into the brushwood very carefully sideward in order not to break any stem. When the green trembling wall hid me, I lowered on one of my knees and peered through gaps between stems at the street.

  I’ve got another character but I haven’t lost my experience as a ranger.

  Disguise +20.

  That will do. Squeaky doesn’t look like a spy with advanced skills. But I haven’t understood the class of his character. That’s too bad. During our first meeting his hands were empty, as for the gear, it was appropriate for any character. A light leather armor, pants and boots of the same kind. No hat and a dark blue sack behind his back.

  To worse it, I’m dismount. I found the stable at the entrance to Mossy Hills, so I left Help there after paying a friendly groom for a day and adding several copper coins to make sure my horse would be looked after carefully. Horses like comfort and can recover in a stable faster than in a field. Ironically, after being cared about at the stable, they treat their owner better and without any naughtiness. Such a hoofed tamagotchi!

  While hiding in maize for some minutes, I didn’t see anyone. But I didn’t fancy about leaving my shelter. I activated call spell, then caught the hissing snake and let it inside my sleeve. The hedge took its usual place in the left hand and the pin was in the right hand. Healing potion was tight in the pockets of my jacket, the scale of health was full. Well. What is the class of this bloody Squeaky?

  The long-eared emerged in several minutes but it was very unexpected – I heard some rustle behind one of the boarded fences, one of the loose boards moved aside and the elf squeezed through the gap. He squatted down to look around fast but carefully.

  That time he was armed. He was holding something like a short daga in his right hand and something like a long but extremely thin two-edged sword or a straight saber. Moreover, he was left-handed. Probably, he was a fencer or even a dancer. And he was also a bastard!

  Well, he saw something unusual on my wrist and decided to have it. Shithead! First he wanted to cheat me – to persuade me to leave the game to read the forum – no way! I’m not that fool. And when it didn’t work, he decided to find another way to reach his aim. If it ends up fighting, it will be vital not to let him close up, to keep him at a distance. He has got level eighteen so he must have gained some combat skills.

  But it will be the best scenario if he just goes away. But judging by Squeaky’s vulturous face and attentive shifty eyes, I doubt it. He is going to search for me until he finds me. It’s not a good idea to hide in maize for ages. It doesn’t matter wherever but our fighting seems to be inevitable. I was glad that I managed to gain some information about the possible rival.

  Moving very carefully, I got the staff ready and looked askew at the decreasing mana level. What a bummer! The casted snake was consuming my energy like hell. The good thing was that the increased regeneration was minimizing my expenses.

  The elf who was sitting at the fence failed to see me nearby, so he
swore aloud and hurried away towards the other end of the street turning his head left and right.

  I waited until he walked away for about thirty steps, then left the maize but stayed behind the low fence outside the street. I put my hands on the staff and called the gamer’s name with some irony in my voice:

  ‘Hey, Squeaky! Who are you looking for?’

  The gamer turned back all his body and peering at my staff, shrugged his shoulders, an embarrassed smile emerged on his face.

  ‘For you,’ he confessed. ‘Hello, maize child! Were you hiding?’

  ‘No, I was waiting for you,’ I replied in the same manner. ‘Look, can you just get lost? Honestly speaking, I’ve got no time to deal with you. So many things to do.’

  ‘No problem,’ a broad smile spread on Squeaky’s face. He stuck his daga in belt. ‘Just give me the strange stuff you’re wearing on your wrist and I’ll disappear. I swear.’

  ‘You’ve got a nice gear. Much better than mine. Believe me my trinket doesn’t worth it. Do you really want to get ‘red’?’

  ‘Don’t worry about me,’ the elf shrugged his shoulders and suddenly took a tiny crossbow from behind his back.

  The bow-string cracked shortly and a number of events happened almost at the same time: a calm green color of the elf’s nick suddenly became red, I fell down on my knee, a short crossbow bolt flew over my head with a whistle and got lost in the maize. That was the action I was waiting for. First aggressive behavior towards me. If I were the first to attack, the system would have ‘colored’ me red. But in our situation Squeaky became an aggressor and I was an innocent victim. I could call guards but I knew I could be killed twice until those lazy bones emerged. I’d better do everything myself.