Clans War

by Mahanenko, Vasily

“Hell with it. Who are they, Stacey?”

  “Golems. Dolls that the players can control. At one of the competitions…”

  “Why do you need this information?” Bihan asked calmly, interrupting Stacey.

  “So that I can understand how I can kill you next time,” I replied with befuddlement at having to explain something so evident.

  “Your position is not entirely clear to me, Shaman,” Bihan went on. “Or your demands. You can read all about the golems in any Barliona FAQ. Anastaria will explain to you why I am only at Level 389 when practically all my warriors have passed the Level 400 milestone. There’s nothing left but to consider that you have found yourself out of your depth and wish to provoke a conflict. Correct me if I am mistaken.”

  “You’re absolutely right,” I nodded. “This situation cannot be resolved by anything short of a conflict. You wish to gain access to the Tomb. I don’t want you in there. As for my position and demands…I am still waiting for an answer.”

  “Azari, be so kind as to satisfy our guest’s wishes,” Bihan was so calm and reasonable that I began to feel out of my element. I’m behaving like a quarrelsome newbie who’d first stepped into Barliona and decided that this game world owed him everything. And everyone else is speaking to me accordingly.

  “As master wishes…”

  As difficult as it was to admit it, the information wasn’t worth a half-eaten egg. At the second intercontinental competition, the subject of the crafting contest was a recipe for golems — an avatar’s in-game clone. Depending on the Engineering skill and the ‘Golem Control’ parameter that was unlocked the first time a golem was controlled, a player could substitute his avatar with this golem for six hours a day. A golem’s death didn’t affect the avatar or its stats, so Bihan made a very interesting decision — he deleted his character and created a new one from scratch. Using his clan’s resources he leveled up to maximum at the training grounds and through the use of quests and mobs without dying a single time. When the time came to enter the larger world — since even the training grounds have their limits — Bihan entered as his golem instead of his actual character. The player only received half of the XP that the golem earned, but even this was enough to level Bihan up to Level 389 at the current moment and he was thus the only player who was higher than Level 200 and who hadn’t ever once had to respawn. Each hundred levels without death endowed Bihan with insane bonuses and the higher he was above Level 100 the greater the bonuses were. There wasn’t much remaining until the next milestone — a mere 11 levels — at which point Barliona would be in awe of the reward that the Corporation would grant to Bihan.

  “This information isn’t secret and is accessible to any player who is even slightly curious,” Azari concluded, smirking sarcastically. “However, the Shaman wishes to match his spouse in intelligence as well as behavior.”

  “Here’s your Pendant,” I slid the item over to Azari, maintaining a poker face as I did so. Despite my inner displeasure with my own behavior and the current situation in general, I had to ply my line to its conclusion. “It’s too bad that I had to insist on Bihan’s assistance to remind you of your position in your clan’s food chain. I mean, serving the drinks, telling the fairy tales and pleasuring master between the sheets. Everything else should be left to the big boys. I thought that the East was big on subordination. When a woman goes too far and begins to show off the sting of her tongue, don’t they immediately cut it short? Either I’m wrong, which is unlikely, or you’re really a man who’s somehow convinced the Corporation to let him play with a female avatar. By the way, that would explain why you weren’t at that beauty contest. Who would allow you to…”

  “How dare you?!” Azari screamed jumping up from the table. Her face acquired a strange gray hue and it suddenly became very crowded in the cabin. There was the sound of splintering planks, Bihan’s surprised grunting, I was pressed into the wall and two enormous yellow eyes appeared before me. A Dragon!

  “I think I should take some lessons from you,” Plinto wrote in the clan chat. “No one’s ever pissed her off this much. Not even me!”

  “Danny boy, you’ve just earned yourself a terrible enemy!” Stacey echoed Plinto, telepathically. “Oh how I cherish you!”

  “KILL! DEATH! HUNGER!” Somewhere deep inside my mind, I heard the thundering voice of the Dragon that had pressed me into the wall. At first I decided that Azari had transformed into a Dragon, stripping me of my status of the only Dragon in Barliona, and became upset. Then I recalled that Fleita too was already a Dragon and I became upset even more; however, checking the creature’s properties raised my spirits. A pet! This was only Azari’s pet, though how and where she acquired it remained a mystery. But either way, this beastie can’t do anything to me. PvP is forbidden. And that’s a good thing because I wasn’t certain about the battle’s outcome — judging by the size of this mug, this guy’s dimensions could even give me a run for my money, to say nothing of Draco.

  “KILL THE ENEMY! EAT THE ENEMY!” The Dragon continued to amp himself up, after which he opened his enormous, toothy mouth and spat a stream of flame at me. I didn’t even manage to shut my eyes from surprise when for the second time I found myself in the middle of a lake of fire. And if the first time I had Stacey’s bubble to protect me, then now I was simply standing in the center of a fire tornado and looking on with surprise as Durability bars appeared on the cabin’s walls and rushed as quickly as a boy to his first date toward zero.

  “Why?” I managed to ask the Dragon before everything suddenly stopped. Never responding to my question, the Dragon vanished in an instant, leaving not even a slight wisp of smoke in his wake. I pried myself from the wall and looked around — the cabin had turned into a large, charred chamber. Stacey and Plinto were standing next to walls that had been burned through in several places, looking around bewildered. Neither Azari nor Bihan were with us. The fire had incinerated their golems.

  “As for how we can kill them,” muttered Plinto, critically examining his daggers, “we could simply burn them. Tell me, oh my beauty, why was there an ambush here? Did Phoenix acquire another Hellfire?”

  I frowned, not quite understanding Plinto’s implication, but Stacey’s answer cleared it up for me: He was talking about the mole. Someone in Phoenix was spilling info to the Celestial Empire.

  “I propose we step over to the neighboring ship and continue our conversation there.” Utterly unfazed, Bihan appeared in the cabin’s door. “Unfortunately, this seafaring transport will soon have to be scuttled. And just so we don’t have to waste time negotiating an answer to the question that Mahan is clearly forming in his head, I’d like to state that each of the central ships has three golems. Esteemed Vampire, you may naturally kill them, but I would like to conclude our conversation on a positive note for everyone. I don’t see the sense in fighting, considering that Ehkiller and I have already agreed to everything.”

  “WHAT?!” I’d never seen Anastaria so shocked. Even outside of Beatwick when she was trying to use the Siren’s venom on me and failed, she had managed to control herself. Now, however, her shout had burst from her so naturally that it was clear that she wasn’t aware of what was happening.

  “I will repeat my offer — let us please move to the neighboring ship where we can discuss everything…”

  Azari did not join us this time. Either she didn’t have any spare golems or she was on another ship bawling and sobbing and unable to come visit with us, since Geranika’s sphere didn’t disperse, or maybe Bihan simply forbade her from appearing before him. After all, despite the constructive conversation ahead of us, I wouldn’t let anyone speak ill of Stacey. Even someone some mega-epic winner of everything and all.

  “What do you think the Tomb of the Creator is?” Bihan began in a roundabout manner. “Why did I decide to invest so many resources of my clan in order to reach it? We’re sailing to another continent after all. We’ve even picked a fight with a very interesting trio — a Dragon, a Siren and a Vampire.
Why would I try to explain all this to you? What did I need any of this for? Do you really think that it’s all over a simple Dungeon? That I would seek Mahan’s collaboration to complete a Dungeon just so I could sell some Epic or Legendary items for a profit?”

  “Stacey, is he trying to muddle us or something?”

  “I’m afraid not…Let’s listen to what he has to say.”

  This is when things got interesting. When I opened the Tomb of the Creator in Kalragon, the High Mages of all the other continents beheld a vision: The Tombs on their continents were fake. The Corporation had eliminated the doubles and to ensure that we’d still have fun, resorted to the trick of Prophecy — our Tomb had to be sealed. Bihan even showed us a unique quest that the heads of the three leading clans of the Celestial Empire received from the Emperor. If I skip the boilerplate, the gist was simple — search, destroy, seal. Under no condition could they kill the Dungeon’s final boss. Even approaching him was forbidden. For, the Tomb of the Creator is the heart of all evil in Barliona. There sure is a lot of evil wandering around on our continent lately.

  “Several days ago I contacted Ehkiller with an offer and today we’ve come to terms about all the main points of our agreement. The Era of Dragons and Phoenix have become allies and shall work together to defend the Tomb from the other clans. The plan is to slay the first two bosses with your cooperation, earning whatever rewards we can, and then detonate an Armageddon Scroll in the Tomb, sealing it for all eternity. No one will ever reach the center of this Dungeon. Victor, please confirm this.”

  “That’s right,” came Ehkiller’s voice and only now did I notice a comms amulet in Bihan’s hand. “The Tomb must be sealed…I have information that the Dragon of Shadow that Geranika is currently raising as quickly as he can will be an utter lamb compared to what the Tomb might unleash. The Corporation has been looking for a chance shake things up in Barliona for a long time. We cannot allow it to do so.”

  “So why didn’t you stop us?” I blurted out. “What is all this masquerade with the raid on the obelisk for?”

  “Bihan knew we were coming,” Stacey began to figure out with barely concealed anger. “They wanted to test their warriors. Three central ships is bait for an Armageddon Scroll. All of Barliona knows about how much you love to set off fireworks. They chose a sacrifice, created a statue and sailed forth to see who’s worthy of the raider rank. I didn’t see any of their main guys. There wasn’t any particular information about PvP being banned on the seas, so they placed the ships in the center and…”

  “It was edifying to see what the Vampire and Dragon are capable of,” nodded the head of the Celestial clan. “In view of the coming tournament, this is very useful information.”

  “What’s our tournament to you?” Stacey frowned, yet there was another question bugging me.

  “In that case, where’s the obelisk?”

  “I imagine somewhere right near our continent,” Plinto spoke up. “On an ordinary merchantman, with a basic escort of three to four ships, no more. To scare the pirates away. You borked your Squidolphin and there’s no other in these waters, so…”

  Attention: Tomb of the Creator level has increased. New Level: 483.

  “I see…” I drawled sadly, seeing the fateful notification.

  “I’d like to point out,” Bihan smiled, “that in the next eight hours, members of another twenty clans from our continent will land on yours. As for the tournament — Ehkiller as the organizer offered us to take part as invited guests. The Emperor liked the idea so much that he sent invitations to all the leading clans of Barliona. Including, as it now turns out, to Geranika, who will be sending Mahan. Does that answer all you questions?”

  “You made a deal with Ehkiller, not with me.” The rabble rouser in me awoke. For some reason everyone decided to make decisions for me again. I hate that. In this case, the time has come to express my displeasure. Even if the decision that had been forced on me was the right one. “If you don’t remove your obelisk and your ships from our continent, Level 400 without respawning will remain a fantasy for you.”

  “You are threatening me?” Bihan arched an eyebrow in surprise.

  “Calm down, Mahan,” Ehkiller’s voice said from the amulet, but I decided to go to the end. This is my Way!

  “No, I’m not threatening anything. I’m promising you,” I said curtly, shrugging my shoulders. “If you decide to take the Tomb from me, I’ll take your achievement in exchange.”

  “I’m curious how you’d do that,” Bihan smirked. “Will you throw slippers at me?”

  “Why waste slippers?” Plinto interrupted, twirling his stilettos. “He’s got me. Several weeks of work and I’ll find whoever. It’s strictly a technical problem.”

  “Think about it. And make your decision.” It took all my self-control to keep a smile from plastering across my face. Plinto was with me! “We’re going to go. Killer, where are you right now? We need to talk…Plinto, send this dud back to maintenance,” I pointed at Bihan and a second later the golem collapsed in a pile of pebbles on the floor. I didn’t have to ask the Rogue twice.

  Putting aside the question of why we still had the ability to kill golems, while they couldn’t hurt us in return, I blinked into Phoenix’s main castle. Before leaving the ships, I managed to notice some wispy essence resembling a Shadow flit out of the golem and zoom away through the side of the vessel. Why look at that! If we assume that this is the gaming version of the golem’s spirit, which the player controls and this spirit just flew not to another golem but back to its owner, then…Something tells me that a very curious job awaits Plinto shortly.

  “I’m going to go for a stroll,” said the Rogue when we reached Ehkiller. Whistling a cute tune, he set off for the doors with a slight jig, unwittingly attracting attention to himself. I shook my head in wonder. Who would think that this person is far older than 30! Plinto was so unfettered and unrestrained in the game that the only thing that occurred to you when you met him was whether he was a kiddo or a student.

  “Ehkiller, do I understand correctly that you just betrayed us through and through?” I asked a minute after the door shut behind Plinto. Stacey and her father were playing the staredown game, without making a single sound, so I had to remind them that I was there too.

  “Dan, he and I need to speak alone,” came Anastaria’s thought and immediately, without looking away from his daughter, Ehkiller added:

  “We need to speak alone. Mahan, go join Plinto.”

  I froze. On the one hand, Stacey had asked me. On the other hand, Killer was tossing me out like an errant kitten. Go have a walk, boy, while the adults have a chat. What am I supposed to do here? To hell with all this! I sat down in the nearest chair, smiled widely and shut my eyes.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Stacey. Cast a shroud of silence. I’m not a dog.”

  The shroud was cast in short order. All I could do was watch Stacey and her father calmly listen to each other in turn and then argue their case. But soon, the ‘in turn’ part was forgotten and both began to talk without listening to the other. After that the ‘calmly’ part went too, first on Ehkiller’s part and then Anastaria jumped to her feet and began to gesture with her hands. When the two began to scream, it became clear that the negotiations had reached a dead end.

  “Come on back, Plinto. We’re leaving,” Stacey’s message appeared in the clan chat. I looked at her with surprise. Inhaling deeply with her fists clenched, Stacey was listening to Killer who was waving his hands almost in front of his daughter’s face.

  “Mahan, teleport us to the Tomb.” As soon as Plinto entered the hall, Stacey stepped out of the shroud of silence and headed toward us with her head held high. Pursed lips, clenched fists, a straight back, narrowed eyes — I’d give so much to have heard what they had discussed. Or rather, what they had yelled about. I’d never seen Stacey this angry.

  “Magdey, step aside please,” Anastaria growled in a whisper when we appeared at the plateau before the To
mb. Or rather on the only path that led to it. The teleport had worked as it should have — it determined the coordinates of the location, checked to make sure that it was possible to teleport us there, discovered that the given coordinates were occupied and began to search for the nearest available egress point. It so happened that the nearest location for three players was a hundred meters from the entrance and not even on the clearing itself. The path to the Tomb was cluttered with players from the Celestial and Phoenix clans, who were now acting as living shields.

  “Direct orders from the head of the clan — not to let anyone through, especially you,” Phoenix’s chief raid leader replied with a shrug. “Speak to Ehkiller if you have questions.”

  “Kid, it looks like you forgot who hired you,” Anastaria’s voice was so cold that I took several steps back. Even if PvP was disabled, it’s still hazardous to stand next to an angry Siren. And I have to see her in reality later.

  “Direct orders from the clan head,” Magdey reiterated. “I can’t let anyone through to the Tomb without his personal permission. And I don’t have that.”

  “I love mortals,” smirked Plinto, stepping up beside Stacey. “Are we going to break through Stacey?”

  “Direct orders from the clan head,” Magdey parroted, stunning us with his impassivity. “In a word, flying over the plateau is forbidden.”

  “Bastards!” Anastaria whispered/growled again and her avatar dissolved in the surrounding world. The girl had exited to reality.

  “You know, Mahan,” Plinto looked up at the sky and made a face like he had a toothache, “my advice is don’t leave the game for a few hours. We’ve been betrayed and Stacey needs to cool off. If you get in her way right now, you’ll both be sorry later. Have you and Serart figured out the clan’s future yet? I think it’s a good time to deal with that issue.”

  It was hard not to agree with Plinto. I’d never seen Anastaria in such a state before. I really didn’t want to exit. It wasn’t that I was scared of the girl’s ire, rather I really didn’t want to yell and argue with each other. Stacey needed time to decide for herself how she felt about her father’s decision to betray the Tomb to the Celestial. Under no circumstances should I interfere in that process.