"Good morning, Olgerd! How can I help you?"
A pleasant-looking middle-aged woman smiled at me from behind the bar.
"Good morning, er... Talina."
She cast one glance at my drenched clothes and smiled her understanding. "It's some weather outside, isn't it? Wasn't very clever of me to wish you a good morning."
"It's all right," I waved her apology away. "I appreciate your concern. As for the reason of my being here... I have to admit I feel a bit lost. My satnav must be playing up. I was looking for the caravan office but it brought me here instead."
"Don't worry," she answered with another little smile. "There's nothing wrong with your bot. The Guiding Eyes meet here in my inn. There's no point in them renting an office space. They're constantly on the go."
I breathed a sigh of relief. "I see now. I was afraid I might need to go out again, you know. Into the great outdoors."
She nodded knowingly. "That's what we can do," she suggested. "Varn — the caravanners' leader — won't be here for another hour. I suggest you install their app. It's not big but it might take some time for you to study. I can see you're soaked. You must be completely frozen. I insist you take a seat by the fireplace. This way you can combine business with pleasure. In the meantime, I'll fetch you a nice hot cup of tea. What would you say to that?"
"Excellent," I smiled back. "You're so kind. This place isn't at all as gloomy as I thought it would be. Thank you!"
"Thank you," she replied, than added with a bitter note, "Kind is an overstatement, I'm afraid. It's just that my brother Varn is a certified penny-pincher. He knows I'm kind as you say — and he uses it."
It was true that I'd been slightly puzzled by her involvement with the caravanners' affairs and the fact she'd suggested I install their app. But now the picture was clear. This was a family business.
I could never understand people who were eager to discuss their family in front of total strangers. Not that she'd said anything negative about her brother, but still. Personally, I was a very reserved person in this respect. I could never air my family's affairs in public. Neither did I enjoy listening about somebody else's.
"Actually," I hurried to change the subject, "seeing as your brother isn't coming for a while, I'd love to have a quick bite to eat. The smells coming from your kitchen are irresistible."
She flashed me another smile, followed by a system message offering me a download of the aforementioned app.
I sat back on a broad bench and stretched my legs, offering my feet up to the fire. Oh. It felt too good. A well-deserved meal and some warmth were definitely welcome.
Let's have a look at their app, then.
It was indeed small but very informative. Just as I supposed, The Guiding Eye offered both transportation of passengers and their protection. It had over twenty routes to choose from, complete with security guards. In my particular case, the guards' levels were all 100+, even though the mobs in the caravan's path were below 90.
Never mind. What did I expect? They needed to make their living too. I, however, with my miserable level zero was more than dependent on their services.
The transfer from Drammen to the Citadel took about forty-five minutes. Cost: fifteen gold. Multiplied by two trips a day, that's thirty. Costly but doable. Not as comfortable as portal travel but I couldn't do anything about it. I'd made my bed and now I had to lie in it. It was already a good thing there was a commute available, allowing me to come and work here daily. At least I'd save some money on the rent! I could only hope that living in the Citadel barracks was worth it.
Jesus. How on earth had I managed to walk into all this?
The caravanners had their own discounts too. They offered a choice of travel passes: for ten, twenty and thirty trips each. I could use the twenty-trip one. It cost 260 gold. I thought I might buy one once I finished reading.
Another important thing: I wouldn't have to walk these forty-five minutes' worth of travel. Which in my case was extremely cost-effective. The Guiding Eyes transported their clients in armored wagons which by themselves offered guaranteed protection from local monsters. That's provided the guards failed to defend the passengers — which, according to the caravanners themselves, was impossible.
I also saw some positive reviews of their work left by top players and respectable clan members. All this looked perfectly kosher. No sign of any strings attached.
"You! Are you warmer now?!"
The threatening growl distracted me from my musings. I raised my head. A giant Rhoggh towered not two paces away from me. Name: Varn. Level: 150. He was hung like a Christmas tree with stabbing and slashing weapons. The grimace on his fanged mug was apparently supposed to denote a smile.
This was one tough guy. If all the caravan guards were like him, it wasn't that bad after all. You wouldn't want to mess with Talina's brother.
"Yes, thank you," I managed a smile.
"You're the one who wanted to join a caravan?" he asked, taking a seat opposite. The crude bench creaked its complaint. I got the impression that the inch-thick tabletop was buckling under the weight of his elbows.
"Exactly," I hurriedly assured him. "I'd like to buy a twenty-trip pass. To the Citadel."
Varn bared his teeth in a scowl which seemed to signify his satisfaction with my words. Strangely enough, his toothy grin betrayed no surprise. They must have seen a lot of guys like myself. My mentioning the Citadel didn't seem to throw him, either.
"Oh well," he growled. "If you're happy about everything, I'll forward you the contract."
* * *
Once we'd signed the provisional agreement, he said, "There's one little problem."
I tensed. "What's up?"
"It's this wretched weather, dammit. We can't get to the Citadel until tomorrow night."
"You don't mean it!"
Talk about bad news. I was going to lose another day, almost. And I needed to report to Captain Gard. This was bad. Very.
Seeing my jaw drop, Varn tried to reason with me,
"You need to understand, in weather like this you'd better steer clear of that location. Traveling cross-country in this weather is not a walk in the park. I wouldn't like to be seen there on a night like this. Let alone you, with your zero level and unprotected gear. Cheer up, man. The local wizards say it will clear up by tomorrow night. This place doesn't have weather forecasts. It's all different here."
I fell silent, digesting the news, as he impatiently tapped his curved claws on the tabletop.
"Right!" he finally said. "I'm sending you a friend request. I'll contact you tomorrow to let you know the departure time."
"Okay..." I mumbled, deep in thought, as I mechanically accepted his invitation.
This was a far cry from Mellenville. Mellenville! This was worse than Leuton even. This was exactly what I didn't need: unscheduled transfers that depended on weather conditions. Between my serving in the Citadel and working in Drammen's mines, popping my clogs seemed to be only a question of time.
When Varn began to rise from the table, I finally came round and hurried to ask, "What did you mean by unprotected, er, gear?"
He chuckled. "It must be your first visit to this kind of place."
"Why, is it so obvious?"
"Sure," he nodded. "Anyone in the Glasshouse can tell straight away you come from more neutral climes."
"Neutral?"
"Yep. You might have noticed that it's rather damp here. It's like this virtually all year round. Winter is even worse. We have snowstorms and freezing temperatures. I can see you used to work in starting locations."
"I didn't realize it was that obvious," I said. "Now I'm curious. What else can you say about me?"
He grinned. "That's not difficult. I'll bet you got some cool quest and hurried over to the Citadel to complete it. Which doesn't happen very often to zero levels. The Citadel is not a good place for the likes of you. The best you can do is finish your quest and fuck off back home."
He was right, of cou
rse. While I'd been sitting here reading up on them I'd noticed there wasn't a single Grinder in the room. All players here were level 100 give or take.
"You don't see many working-class heroes here, do you?" I asked.
"We do and we don't. But loners like yourself don't come here often."
"I see. I'll keep that in mind. You still didn't tell me what's wrong with my gear."
"There's nothing wrong with it," he said. "For a zero level, it's actually quite decent. Now you need to add some elemental protection to it otherwise it won't last long, not in this kind of weather. Water eats through Durability like hell. If you get soaked, you can expect all sorts of surprises. I can see you already noticed that."
"I did. It's not a good thing. The info portal said nothing about it."
"The info portal!" he guffawed. "You know anyone who reads it? Want a tip?"
"Sure."
"Go to the auction and have a look around. Check out the prices. They have everything there. What you need is elemental protection called Anti-Humidity. That's the only kind you need for the time being. Right, I'm off. See you tomorrow."
He waved me a clawed goodbye and headed for the exit.
I followed his massive bulk with my stare. He might be right — I really should do some market research. Seeing as I had time to burn.
Elemental protection, he said? Let's have a look.
The auction's search engine helpfully offered a dozen pages of relevant results. They had all sorts: protection from humidity, sunshine, cold — you name it. I also saw lots of things that might fit my pet. Not that I needed them at the moment. My Prankster and I, we were doomed to remain level-zero for the rest of our in-game lives.
A message from Varn interrupted my studies. I jumped. I'd completely forgotten I'd added him to my friend list.
Olgerd, I've been thinking. This might be interesting for you. There's a local shop called Rainbow Store. They sell all sorts of cool stuff. I'm not sure but I think they have elementals too. The owner's name is Nilius. Tell him I sent you. Here're the shop's coordinates in case you're interested. Take care! Don't get your feet wet!
The message ended with an active link highlighted in blue. Opening it would make my bot create the optimal route.
I thanked Varn and clicked it. Let my bot do its job. Why not? I could use a walk. I had plenty of time till tomorrow night. Information was always welcome. I just hoped I could glean something from the shop owner.
Before leaving, I made the necessary arrangements with Talina to secure a room for the night. I walked out without saying goodbye to anyone. The rain was pouring down now. If it rained in hell, that's exactly what it would have looked like. Not as wet even.
Apart from the optimal route to the shop, my bot had helpfully offered me a list of all magic-trading shops in the area. The choice was admittedly modest but this Rainbow place had some competition, that's for sure. Supposing that Varn received a commission for every customer he sent Nilius' way, no wonder he'd bothered to PM some humble Grinder. You'd think he had nothing better to do with his time than offer free tips to noobs. But if he received a nice little bonus every time he meted out his advice — that was totally different. Then again, why should I care? Everyone needed to earn a living. He probably had to feed his family or pay for his studies.
I ran all the way to the shop. A couple of times I slipped and very nearly stumbled over the cobblestones but it was worth it. I entered the shop with a satisfied smile: I hadn't lost a single Durability point.
The Rainbow Store's interior was styled like an alchemist's lab: carved wooden cabinets and shelf after shelf of all sorts of little pots and vials.
Behind the counter stood a middle-aged man. A thick black beard hung down to his chest. He was wearing a large beret and a long dark green robe.
I couldn't see the wizard's name even though I already knew it. An NPC, apparently. That was a surprise. How interesting. I understood Varn much better now. Sending me here must have been part of a quest he was doing.
"Good evening, Sir. How can I help you?" the wizard asked with a friendly smile.
"Good evening," I replied, fighting off my desire to tell him everything I thought about this "good evening" in this wonderful place. "I'm looking for Nilius."
"Who sent you here?" the wizard asked, businesslike.
Oh. So my new friend wasn't his only "agent", apparently. "Varn did."
I struggled to remain serious. He looked so much like that shaggy French comedian, Pierre Richard. If you shaved off his beard and removed his beret you could cast him in the French original of The Toy. Heh! Actually, he might look better in the beret...
"Is everything okay?" the wizard asked.
"Sure. Fine. I... I just remembered something. I hope you can help me. Varn says that you might have some protection for my clothes."
"Ah," he smiled, "you've come to the right place."
Once he'd said that, his nametag appeared above his head. Excellent. The ice was broken.
"What exactly do you have in mind?" Nilius paused, then waved his own question away. "Why should I even ask! It's Anti-Humidity, isn't it? You must have already appreciated all the joys of our local climate."
"You could say that. Think you can help me?"
"Of course. Take a look at this."
He produced several small boxes and laid them out on the counter. They looked eerily familiar.
"Runes?" I asked.
"Not quite. Elemental protection."
He gingerly opened one of the boxes. What did he have here? Small — about half the size of the palm of my hand — flat teardrop-shaped tablets made of glass. He had four kinds of them — or rather, four different colors: green, navy blue, purple as well as some made of regular transparent glass. I focused on the latter.
Name: Vann
Type: Elemental protection, regular.
Effect: +5 to Resistance to Humidity
Restrictions: none
I gave each a quick check. The purple ones were the most powerful: +20 to Resistance to Humidity. The good news was, all of them fitted me. Now all I had to do was ask about the price. Actually, taking the purple ones wouldn't be such a good idea. They were for Master-plus and seeing as I didn't want to blow my cover prematurely, I decided to make do with the blue ones.
"Master Nilius, would you be so kind as to tell me how these undoubtedly wonderful appliances work?"
"Oh! Absolutely! I'd be honored! Seeing as you asked me yourself... Actually, it all depends on the degree of the environment's aggression. For instance, you have no need for these transparent elements. Even if you attach them to each and every item of your gear, it still wouldn't be enough. The easiest and cheapest option would be to buy a regular cloak with +50 to Resistance to Humidity. This would last you the few days it normally takes one to sort out whatever business one has here and leave these rainy climes for good. In other words, the transparent elements are only good against some gentle sun-shower in one of the Southern provinces. Now the green ones... they're actually quite popular among office workers, shop assistants and tavern owners."
"In other words, they're good enough for a quick dash from building to building," I said.
"Exactly. They might suit you as well. You're going to work in a mine, aren't you? Having said that, the local mines have high humidity levels. Still, the green elements manage the problem perfectly well."
"I appreciate your being so open with me."
"My pleasure," the wizard hid a flattered smile within his beard. "I'm not a profiteer. I'd never try to capitalize on a customer's ignorance."
"Which means I'm doubly lucky to chance upon you," I played along. "How about the remaining runes?"
"The blue ones are popular with all the local Grinders who work outdoors. They have an excellent track record in this part of the world. And as for the purple ones... a proud owner of a full set of those might even take a marathon swim in our local river without having to worry about the state of his gear. Which
is only my conjecture, of course. I'm still going to put this idea to the test. I hate swimming in icy water."
"Likewise."
The wizard laughed happily. He seemed all right. Never mind that he was only an NPC. But the game developers! What a bunch of sharks! The info portal said nothing about damage from the elements. It was, like, come and get soaked so we can sell you some elemental protection. As soon as I logged out, I'd have to do some quality research — spend a week looking it up if necessary.
"So, what have you decided?" the wizard's voice shook me from my musings.
"Oh yes," I said, resurfacing. "Sure. I might take the blue ones."
"Good choice! How many would you like?"
"Seven."
The good news was, elemental protection was considerably cheaper than malachite or sapphire runes. A full set of blue ones was going to cost me two hundred and ten gold. Where was the catch?
"A word of warning," the wizard said. "You can't install the elements onto items. They can only be installed onto runes which in turn have to be installed first. In your case, a Vann Elemental Set would only fit a set of sapphire runes."
This was the answer to my question. In order to protect themselves from Humidity, players would have to shell out for both the runes and the protection itself. And one other thing. Had I still been a Seasoned player, I'd have had a hard time battling the local elements. Now I understood why Lady Mel's offices were permanently closed — I wouldn't be surprised if the lock itself had rusted solid. What Grinder in his right mind would come here to work in the mines? To suffer the cold and humidity damage when he or she could happily work in some normal location with a neutral climate?
I wondered if Weigner had known about this. If he had, it might mean that he needed me more than I needed him. Old fox! Never mind. We'd have to have words about it later, that's all.
It looked like visiting the local HR was a total waste of time. I had to follow Weigner's advice and head directly for the mines.
The Citadel (Mirror World Book #2) Page 3
