You can approach the problem from another side – to try to make the trader a favor, to complete some of his assignments and thus gain his trust and get answers.
Valdira is a multifaceted game that allows you to act out a role of any class, from a silent thief to a wild barbarian. But I didn’t have enough time and decided to go ahead unceremoniously. The information is not particularly valuable and necessary for the shopkeeper. The character was obviously minor.
'I sold them,’ Kumovan admitted against the will, spreading his hands. ‘I sold them just as soon as they came into my hands. On the same day. I am a trading man, I don’t like keeping things for a long time, sir. Buy cheap, sell high. That’s how I survive.’
‘Who did you sell them?’ I asked impassively, trying not to show my disappointment.
'I sold them to Mr Sedry,’ the shopkeeper said with an unexpected relief, ‘he is a wealthy landowner. His estate is next to our village. Even our village belongs to him. Mr. Sedry is a great lover of curiosities… yes, curiosities, he collects them. So I sold them to him. His manor is located westwards from the village on the bank of the Elyrna. I dare say you’re lucky, traveler. But, on the other hand, you’re not very lucky.
'Why?’ I asked while recording new information.
Shit ... the thread leading me to the armor seemed to be endless, and ready to break at any moment.
'Because if Mr. Sedry acquired a little rare thing, will never sell it. He collects various curiosities, I repeat. And why you’re not lucky – because he will never give you anything. He is a good man, but with a very complicated character. And you won’t be allowed to him. The fence of his manor is very high and there are a lot of guards.
'It is clear,’ I sighed adding a skimpy line ‘Sedry, a rich collector’ into the built-in notebook. 'Thank you, noble Kumovan. Let your business flourish.’
'Thank you for your kind words,’ the shopkeeper smiled and lost interest in me, turned his gaze to the coming gamer.
Well, the trader has fulfilled his role, and I'm one step closer to the... well, if not to the armor, then to the next character. So, the rich landowner Sedry...
Coming out of the shop, I looked at the serene blue sky with a few white clouds and no longer paying attention to commercial ads, resolutely walked to the local stables. Midday. I still have enough time before nightfall.
I made about a dozen of steps and stopped abruptly. I peered at the empty spot, where a suspicious gamer had been recently standing, and changed the direction abruptly, heading for the hotel located at the northern side of the square.
I shouldn’t have relaxed somehow.
There were a lot of gamers around the village who were aggrs eager for entertainment and loot.
Therefore, the legendary bracelet and most of the things will remain in my private room and Help will settle in the stall in the stable. I will go to wealthy landowner Sedry without any unnecessary things. Moreover, the collector’s manor is to the west of the village that is next to the road leading to Karstic Caves. And this road is not empty. There are so many people there.
I left the village in less than half an hour. And I was not alone. I stayed especially longer on the outskirts, and waited for the next group of gamers, hurrying towards adventure. I couldn’t join them, and let them pass me and followed them carefully maintaining the twenty-step distance.
While waiting for travel, I chatted a little with the guards standing at the post and received their standard task - to destroy at least twenty-five wolves that were quite insolent and terrorizing the population. They attacked the peacefully grazing cattle, not disdaining skinny shepherds. According to the guards, the wolves were running in the surrounding countryside, and it wouldn’t be difficult to meet them. They required wolves’ tails as a proof. But wolves were of the twenty-second level, it was rather nice. And they were not walking alone, and it wasn’t very nice.
Besides, the guard had another job for me. According to it I had to visit some dark ravine and kill the family of spiders living there. But I didn’t get that quest, because it was arranged for a group of adventurers, but I was alone. What a pity! - as they promised a kind of amulet as a reward.
And, importantly, one of those talkative and lazy guards asked me to give his brother a message inscribed on birch bark. Why is it the most important thing? Because the brother of the village guard worked in the guard of Mr. Sedry’s manor. That could be a good reason to start a conversation. I can imagine how many messages that "local" receives. If each gamer brings him one letter...
One of the standard tasks that are popular in any location. Another rule of Valdira - if desired, experience and money can be obtained without killing monsters but completing some peaceful missions. Work as a postal courier, helping on the farm or construction site.
But I can’t understand why a gamer levels up, buys more expensive equipment, if he is not going to fight against monsters or other gamers! And one more thing it’s possible to upgrade most skills and spells only in a battle. Well, for instance, you leveled up to the hundredth level with your character. So what? All the spells you have are of the first rank, combat skills equal to zero, there is no fighting experience. It makes no sense. If only for peaceful walking areas, to show off in shining armor to make beginners envy. Or settle in Plosefonte among other freaks.
The same problem occurs when a weak gamer israpidly leveled up by a stronger gamer. Well, levels simply click, rise by entire bundles, but the result is the same - the character’s skills are not upgraded. After all, he just trudged behind his ‘sponsor’ wrecking everything on his way but in fact he did not do absolutely anything. Speaking words of wisdom it was a disservice.
Rhythmically moving the legs and adhering to a predetermined rhythm of the gamers marching in front of me, I called my little snake, and began to train it on occurring insects and small animals that were unlucky to come close to the roadside. For each creature killed by the snake I received one point of experience, but now my goal was to upgrade the spell. It's time to think about growing the snake and gaining its weight. Rivals are becoming stronger and cooler day by day.
At the same time I "filled" the right hand with the spell "glowing coal" and shot it at the nearest sunflower. What I saw didn’t impress me.
With a slight hiss a tiny ball of fire flew from my hand, almost invisible in the sunlight, whistling through the air, crashed into a fleshy stem of the plant, leaving it dark marking on it. That's all. The sunflower did not turn into hot ash and didn’t even burst into flames. It only swung a few times with mild reproach, and again stood motionless, showing sunlight its flower cup. A black dot buzzed annoyingly in the air in my direction and darted in front of my eyes. Before I could wonder how a faint crimson flash glared before my eyes announcing the loss of life points. Not many, but still. I heard the buzz again and I quickly pointed at the rushing dark spot and activated the spell. Ironically, but I hit the target the "coal" destroyed the tiny insect by one blow I identified a large bee with a striped belly. Or a wasp. Who knows… I was lucky not to be poisoned by it.
Recollecting myself, I picked up the snake and hurried after my "support" group that had detached from me. However, they didn’t guess that I was using them as a cover. And I didn’t fancy informing them about that fact.
The gates were impressive.
No. The gates were gorgeous.
These massive flaps would not disgrace the honor of any castle, as well as a very high stone wall equal to several human heights. But such serious fortifications looked weird for an ordinary villa.
Throwing my head back, I got stunned and whistled, then looked down below at a couple of guards who looked like pygmies in contrast to the giant gate.
'Good afternoon!’
‘Good afternoon!’ a guard dressed in shiny armor blurted out lazily, holding a hefty halberd aloft without any difficulty. Obviously, friendliness wasn’t local guards’ strength. But their distinguishing features included broad shoulders and powe
r. It wouldn’t be wise to quarrel with these goons. Therefore, I tried to avoid any rudeness and put on a radiant smile on my face before saying, ‘I brought a letter to...’
'To me,’ the person I was talking to bowed his head resignedly and held out his hand, ‘from my brother.’
'Yeah,’ I was happy to give the message and to receive the money earned honestly, ‘from him.’
'He writes me every day,’ the guard complained bitterly, ‘about ten times a day! And even more on some days... and always the same thing - the father and mother are alright, no beast is ill. Oh my light gods...’
'Uh-uh...’ I muttered not able to think a more intelligent answer.
'And I know it without him!’ suddenly the stalwart got angry. ‘Every night I come home where my mother and my father live! I see them every day. My wife doesn’t write to me but brother sends me a carrier every single day, about twenty messages a day! Where does he take so much bark, I wonder?!’
I knew the answer. While waiting for travel, I saw the guard with a satisfied smile on his face receiving a stack of birch bark from gamers and paying them. So it was a special quest, a repeated quest - to bring the guard bark and ink. And the guard used that very birch bark and that very ink to write letters to his brother... a never-ending circle.
I decided not to voice my thoughts, just mumbled vaguely instead, ‘Well, errrr... I mean...’
'Okay,’ the guard sighed weary. ‘Thank you for your trouble. Do you need anything else?’
'Yes! I would like to see the master of this magnificent manor. Mr. Sedry… Is he here?’
"Heh. He is here, but why did you decide that he wants to see you? If he talks to every passer-by, he’ll need to live at least two lives .
Now it was my turn to lower my head resignedly. Well, it started. The game has some strict laws.
The higher the "local" in the hierarchical pyramid of Valdira, the harder it is to see him. It’s enough to knock on the door to see a peasant, but you have to go through many obstacles to get an appointment with the king himself.
The guard didn’t disappoint me.
Scratching his clean-shaven chin, he said, 'Although…’
'Although?’ I encouraged him with a heavy sigh.
'If you were a famous man, for example, a hero... who did something good for local land and worthy to receive the award from the hands of Mr. Sedry .... It would be quite possible to see him! Do you understand me?’
‘Yes, I do,’ I said while glancing at the walls and estimating their height. No, no chance to climb them over. ‘It’s easy to understand. But how can I gain such an honor?’
'That is rather simple, but it is not easy,’ the guard uttered slowly. ‘The village is located on the lands of Selen belonging to Mr. Sedry, our lord, is taking care about its prosperity day and night, day and night. Serve for the benefit of the village, complete some requests, save the peasants from the nuisance of wild animals, to show your bravery and...’
‘Well, I see,’ I hastened to stop the violent speech - And could Mr. Sedry’s noble guard pass him a couple of words from me? I know that your master collects various rarities and curiosities from distant lands. On occasion, I have got a curious little thing.’
'Give it to me,’ he stretched his hand to me. ‘I’ll hand it to the supervisor who will give it to Mr Sedry. If the thing is really valuable, you will know the fair price.’
‘Fuck ...’ I mumbled angrily. ‘But it’s quite a precious thing, I can’t trust it in a stranger’s hands. If only I can see the master and...’
'If it is a no, let it be so,’ the guard shrugged and his face turned into a stone mask again. ‘Go your way, traveler.’
'A terrible danger is hanging over Mr. Sedry, your precious master, and only I can warn him about it,’ I tried to use another practice.
'That’s why we are standing her. To protect against all possible dangers. Go your way, good traveler!’ the guard repeated the request to retire for the second time. The third warning will be the last. And if I don’t depart from the gate, the guards will attack me. One hit of a monstrous halberd and I will flee to the respawn location yelling on my way.
Taking a few steps back, I looked at the doomed forbidding gate and shouted angrily, 'I'll ask your brother to write you a dozen of extra letters. Just to entertain you a bit!’
‘Hmph!’ the poor guy twisted, but said nothing.
I sighed, scratched my head, spat in the dust of the road and stomped back. No other alternative. I will carry out tasks of the local yokels unless my face becomes blue due to tiredness. I’d better say until the level of good relations reaches the proper level.’
Damn! Why is everything so difficult ?!
Okay ... I should search for a positive side in any trouble. I’ll complete several tasks, level up, save some money and buy equipment. Without reducing speed, I distributed the available fifteen points without any hesitation. And admire the result.
The character’s current level: 19.
The basic characteristics of the character:
Strength - 16
Intelligence - 50
Agility -11
Endurance - 17
Wisdom - 17
Contribution points: 0
Ten points was spent on intelligence, five on wisdom. A timid voice inside me whispered insistently, that we should not forget about stamina needed by any character, but I ignored this warning. Mana ... I need it more than endurance.
Hmm... maybe I should move a little away from the road and hunt? A good idea!..
Strangled wheezing I clung a branch creaking under my weight, raised my body and saddled the branch. The level of fatigue was blinking furiously at the maximum mark, I quickly grabbed a thin tree trunk with both hands and clung to it by all my body.
Achievement!
You’ve got the achievement "Tree-climber"of the first rank!
See the table of the obtained achievements in the settings of your character.
Your reward for the achievement: + 1% to the speed of climbing trees.
The current bonus: + 1%
The pretty shabby grass-snake appeared from my jacket, looking reproachfully at me by its tiny eyes and then disappeared, vanished into thin air. The mana was over. My life level was burning red, less than a quarter. After studying my sad parameters, I groaned, looked down at the ground and hissed,
'Pest on you!’
The trio of forest wolves sitting under the tree licked smoothly, looking at me hungrily. The animal sitting on the left scratched the ground by its paw like it wanted to say - get down, we must talk.
'Aha! Right now! Don’t even dream about it!’ I muttered, turning my head around.
Two wolves were like from artwork - thick gray fur, narrow snout with intelligent eyes, bushy tail. The third wolf looked much worse – spots of burnt fur, a tail like a burnt match, and one ear was sticking out at the wrong angle. It was the result of my work. I had attacked the wolf using all available means. Fire magic, thorny barrier and a couple of staff strokes. Then out two of his gray friends suddenly jumped out of the bushes and I had to flee as quickly as I could.
And the worst thing was that wolves had some resistance to certain elements. My ice pin stuck in the thick coat causing almost no damage. The beasts were not afraid cold bites. The thorny barrier also let me down - a couple of times the beast I was attacking dodged gracefully from the prickly bushes emerging in the air; it easily broke the plant shackles three times, however, deteriorating its health badly. But they didn’t like the fiery magic and it allowed me to escape.
'What a nice hunting,’ I muttered, angrily looking at the wolves sitting under the tree. ‘It’s not easy to be a magician!’
"Gr-rr...’ one of the animals agreed with me and sniffed the tree bark thoughtfully.
To make I worse, I came up with a brilliant idea - in any case, it seemed to be brilliant at the beginning.
Just a little before reaching the village, I abruptly turned away an
d went deep into the forest, intending to hunt for the local animals. I decided to "pick" up several wolfs’ tails quickly, in order to fulfill one of the missions. And to level up at the same time.
I didn’t have to wait for wolves for a long time - they found me, so as a result, I'm sitting on top of a thin and dangerously swaying pine, and three hungry beasts are waiting for me below. One of them also harbored a strong resentment at me. It was particularly upset by the fact that I sent "glowing coal" into its nose.
'Well, what are you waiting for?’ I asked grimly, glancing at the slowly growing level of life and mana. ‘Go away!’
I heard contemptuous snort that showed that wolves were not going to go anywhere.
'Shaggy bastards!’ I sighed in frustration, slowly pouring a "small healing" in the left hand and pressing my hand against my cheek - you have nothing else to do? I’m not going to climb down the tree!’
Indeed I was not going to do it. I failed to defeat one wolf, and now there were three burly beasts, eager to get to know me better. I was going to regenerate mana, to heal myself, accumulate some power and then arrange wolves an artillery attack, bringing down a rain of fire and thornbushes upon them. And I'll start with the wounded animal, whose yellowed life scale was only a quarter filled.
As if hearing my thoughts, the wolf licked its nose burnt by my spell, then licked it again, and again... and then its wide tongue started working fast licking burnt spots on its fur. Its fellows sitting nearby sniffed the sufferer, then poked their pink tongue... and joined the process of licking. The life scale of the wounded wolf shook and went up quickly. Before I could blink an eye, my injured friend looked much fresher. The ear straightened, tail was covered by new fluffy fur.
The Way of the Clan 2 (World of Valdira) Page 15
