A Song of Shadow Read online

  I re-read the quest description in perplexity, considering what to do. Killing biota would make enemies of both Astilba and Eben. Yet if I refused, the doors to the new empire would be shut to me forever.

  “I will do as you wish, my Lord,” I decided.

  In the end, I have three days to complete this quest. Or not complete it...

  New ability unlocked: ‘Shadow Transform.’

  You absorb the shadow energy of the world around you and shoot an impact shade at your target. Casting time: 5 seconds. Cost: (Character Level × 5) MP. Damage dealt: Intellect × 5. Impact shades do Shadow damage and ignore all types of armor. Range: 100 meters.

  I must have looked ridiculous at that moment: my eyes bulging in surprise, my lips stretched into an unwitting smile. Range of one hundred meters. One. Hundred. Meters. When the average range of spells is usually twenty meters. Holy Meatballs!

  “It’s...amazing,” I finally managed to find the right words.

  “Oh but this is but a trifle compared to what I can teach you in the future,” Geranika seemed to be pleased with impression he had made.

  “I have a question, Master. You and Astilba are allies, and I was tasked with a quest for the renegades. Will you permit me to finish what I started, or should I forget about her orders?”

  The Lord of Shadow blew an invisible speck of dust from the sleeve of his elegant jacket, and casually waved his hand:

  “Do it. My interests really do align with Astilba’s at the moment. In fact, here is something to help you complete these tedious chores...”

  A snap of Geranika’s fingers and fog instantly enveloped me.

  Buff gained: ‘Indefatigable.’ +100% to running speed. –70% to Stamina cost. Immunity from immobilizing and slowing debuffs. As long as ‘Indefatigable’ is in effect, the character cannot be saddled with the ‘Exhausted Nag’ debuff.

  “Thank you, Master.”

  “Do not let me down, Lorelei...”

  The fog at Geranika’s feet surged up, enveloped his figure, and when it receded, it left no trace of my future mentor. I, in turn, sat down on the ground, opened my map and started thinking long and hard.

  The Arras wasn’t so far from here. About an hour’s journey, judging by the map. But this wasn’t taking into account the running from the sentries and the sowing I had to do. And once I’m there, I’ll be able to usher in the players from outside, gear up and consider how best to go about completing Geranika’s quest. Killing biota was the last thing I wanted to do, nor did I want to anger Astilba at the most interesting point in the story.

  I sighed deeply, collected myself and decided to get on with it.

  Running was surprisingly easy and pleasant. No cramps or stitches, no labored panting. A tremendous feeling. Plus, once I hit a good pace, my agility began to grow as well as (much more slowly) my Constitution. I should take note of this method of grinding my stats. The only downside was that my stamina was dropping really quickly despite Geranika’s buff. I should come up with some method of leveling up my Constitution because otherwise I’ll find myself without water and my stamina will run out at an inopportune moment.

  As I reached the edge of blighted ground, I slowed down and looked around. There weren’t any sentries in sight, but something told me that this was merely temporary. At least the large seed I had planted here earlier had sprouted and the blight had spread further. My safe path now reached further than before. I was forced to tinker a bit with the sowing of the little seeds. The plat I’d been assigned with the quest insisted that I maintain a ratio between the large and small seeds, so I had to spend fifteen minutes checking the distance between the holes and then another ten watching the hedge of thorns grow. So that’s where this labyrinth came from! This is not just a decoration, it is being intentionally planted by the renegades.

  There was no time to fully appreciate my latest discovery and I moved closer to the border with the untouched part of the forest. The sentry was there as expected. He was wandering along the border of blighted ground as if he knew that I would return to continue my mischief. That’s okay. This time I know what to do.

  I cast Shadow Shield just to be safe. In addition to a new icon that had appeared in my gaming interface, something else had changed. My shield now generated four materia shades instead of one. My avatar now cast five shades and something about the four newcomers told me they weren’t mine. The shades flickered and waxed and waned, sometimes fading until they were barely discernable. For some time I watched them with some apprehension, but there seemed nothing threatening about them either. Nothing more than a fun visual effect for the spell. And if so, it’s time to return to the quest.

  My flask is full of water and the eid is hanging from my belt, ready to be played. It might get in the way of my running, but at least I can arm myself quickly. The bag with the mana potions is conveniently at hand. The time has come.

  A fake start in a false direction, Shadow Haze on the Forest Sentry, and a rabid sprint in the true direction. Roots shot from the ground, forcing my insides to shrink, but the clingy tendrils merely grazed my feet without slowing me down. Thank you, Geranika!

  I did not bother turning around. Whether the sentry is listening or not, whether he’s headed in the false direction or following in my wake—it doesn’t matter. What matters is closing the distance as quickly as possible and reaching the next sowing point. The haze with the bumbling sentry in its midst was behind me now. A potion restored my mana and stamina.

  By the time I reached the place I needed, I couldn’t see the sentry. I checked my plat, dug a hole, placed a seed into it and rushed onward without waiting around. Today I don’t have the time to wait for Shadow Haze’s cooldown, so I have to move as quickly as I can.

  The Forest Sentry overtook me as I was sowing my fifth seed. According to my calculations, he should have fallen hopelessly behind and yet...Here he is—the mossy giant, stomping implacably to intercept me. How did he close the distance? Glancing anxiously at the sentry, I hastily covered the seed I’d just sowed. He raised his ugly head, charging up the sadly familiar Sylvyn’s Wrath spell. I didn’t feel like sticking around for the finale. Finishing with the seed, I sprinted back to the creeping patches of blighted ground.

  The air around me blossomed with a swarm of magic fireflies, and a system notification appeared detailing a long formula of damage taken and blocked. The gist of it was that a materia shade had taken an insane amount of damage. Bursting, the shade channeled all the excess damage into some kind of inside-out world, but that part didn’t interest me much. What’s important is that I’m alive and I still have another two materia shades in reserve.

  I did not have a long time to enjoy this fact. One more Forest Sentry was coming to meet me. It turns out that no one had overtaken me after all. I’d just run away from the first and into the second...and now back into the first again! A humble patch of blighted ground about five meters in diameter lay before me. I dashed for it as fast as I could. Another Sylvyn’s Wrath took out another shade, but I still managed to get to the patch in time. The sentries gathered for a consultation at the very edge of my refuge and fixed me with unwavering stares that even had a bit of reproach about them. That’s right, boys. Life’s not fair.

  The blight was spreading depressingly slowly and Shadow Haze still had forty minutes of cooldown, so I decided to take a nap. Sleep in VR isn’t like the real stuff of course, but it lets you unload a bit and while away the time. It’s not like you’re going to climb out of the capsule for a half-hour nap. So I set an alarm in the interface and made myself comfortable right there amid the thorns and the sentries’ glowering. Thanks to my passive buffs, the yoga-like comfort of my position did not bother me. The human mind is an amazing thing after all. In meatspace, I’d be afraid of sleeping alone in the middle of a forest—to say nothing of tree monsters—but in the game...In the game, my consciousness changed and distorted, allowing me to do the unthinkable, both big and small. By the time I reached this
consideration, I was already dreaming.

  But I didn’t get the chance to enjoy my sleep properly. I was just starting in on an entertaining dream when a vaguely familiar voice crept into it.

  “I see dead people...” A voice whispered softly right in my ear.

  Unsure what reality I was in, I still managed to break some of the laws of physics and jump from a prone position directly to a standing one. Pasta, meatballs and blessed sauce! How scary that was! Otolaryngologist, who had ​​just been bending over me, straightened out and began to laugh cheerfully.

  “You’re real jumpy for a killer,” announced the biota rogue after he’d done laughing. “Guilty conscience? Wandering all alone so far from the Tree with an outlaw status to your name. Looks like you’ve managed to sprout some thorns. Out with it—what’s your story?”

  He sounded more or less friendly but something told me that he wasn’t just trying to get to know me as much as ordering me to account for myself.

  “What’s it to you?” I muttered, coming to my senses.

  The last vestige of sleep had already left me, but my mind still needed time to assess the situation. The patch of blighted ground had expanded quite a bit but it hadn’t yet merged with its fellow patch. The two sentries were still patiently stomping at the border, waiting for me. It looked like Otolaryngologist was on his own. In any case, I couldn’t see anyone else.

  “I’m curious,” Oto said eagerly. “I’m generally very curious by nature. I wonder where you’ve been, what you’ve seen. Maybe you’ve found something interesting? Let me copy your map, eh?”

  I didn’t need a PhD in psychology to understand that I was about to be killed in cold blood. The search for the dungeon continues and this guy won’t tolerate any competitors. Unless I give him the coordinates of the very dungeon he’s looking for...But that’s not even an option. And so I can’t afford to leave the game for twelve hours right now, yet I don’t intend on telling this killer-celery the dungeon coordinates on principle. This is what they call being between a rock and a hard place.

  “Maybe you’d like the keys to the safe in the process too?” I asked, trying to buy myself time to think of something sensible.

  “Not a bad idea,” Oto approved. “But it’s better to start with a map and a story about your unhealthy appearance.”

  “What’s in it for me?” I asked, opening my spellbook. It had been oh so long since I had examined my arsenal and considered my PvP meta. It’s a good thing Lorelei’s eyes don’t have any pupils so he can’t tell where I’m looking.

  “I won’t kill you,” the brigand promised amicably and twirled one of his daggers expressively.

  “Priceless, that,” I had to admit. “You’ve got a deal. I came across an ancient altar about an hour ago and foolishly decided to examine it further. Ended up picking up this nasty curse for my trouble. Now I can freely walk on the blighted ground without any negative effects, but these stupid logs are after me too.” I pointed to the silent sentries.

  “Cool,” Oto replied. “Will you have the debuff for a long time?”

  “Until I die. But don’t kill me, eh? I want to see if there’s anything interesting around here.”

  “Well...” the rogue said pensively. “Maybe if you take me to that altar...”

  “Not a problem! I’ll show you where it is! Only, I will need to move quickly to get away from the sentries. The next spot of blight is near here.”

  “Only no funny business,” warned the verdant blackmailer. “My agility is through the roof. I’ll catch you no matter what you try. And when I do, that’ll be the end of you. And when you respawn, I’ll be waiting too. Understand?”

  “Uh-huh. Let me just cast this buff on myself and then follow me.”

  “I’ll be watching,” Oto warned and activated his camouflage. Damn, this complicates things.

  Arming myself with my eid, I cast Song of Inspiration, buffing my damage by 12%. Every little bit will help in this situation. There were about five hundred meters between us and the next patch of blighted ground. This is not reality—with Geranika’s buff, I can run 100 meters faster than the top athlete in meatspace. The sentries cast Roots first and after that Wrath. Since they’re not doing so at the moment, the spell can’t overcome the blight. So I should make it in time. I only wish I knew whether the roots’ AoE will trap Otolaryngologist or whether allied biota don’t count as targets.

  I took off quickly enough to beat the world record. The dumb forest elementals cast Roots in turn, but I didn’t waste time turning around to see whether they were appealing to their forest deity to punish my trespassing. I came flying into the fresh patch of blight like an arrow and noticed out of the corner of my eyes as the fireflies fizzed out behind me. That was close. And where is Oto then? Alas, my hopes were in vain. Either the tough roots did not touch the rogue or he had remained on the blighted ground when they were cast. Too bad.

  “You sure run fast,” a surprised voice sounded from somewhere to my right. “You’re a caster...the hell are you grinding agility for?”

  “Just kind of turned out that way,” I muttered vaguely without the slightest desire to discuss Geranika’s buff. “All right. Let’s head for the altar. Let me just check my map.”

  I made a show of unfurling my map and began to move my finger around it. Time. I had to buy a bit more time...

  “Give me a copy of your map while you’re at it,” the unseen voice demanded.

  “Yeah right. And then you’ll off me. The altar is on the map.”

  “What’s stopping me from offing you at the altar?” the rogue asked reasonably.

  “Have you heard of Scheherazade? Maybe I’ll find a way to buy off your persistent attention to my person...”

  “Come now, come now...Crap!” the rogue cursed, reappearing.

  Aha! He’d spent a minute on blighted ground and taken damage. I started a timer in my interface and carelessly waved my hand:

  “Forget about it. Once the altar curses you, you won’t have to deal with this crap.”

  A notification appeared that I had transferred another part of my life to my summoned spirits. I even jumped in surprise—at first, I’d thought that the rogue had attacked me.

  “Oh!” he said with surprise. “What’d you just take damage from?” He had noticed my HP drop.

  “The curse on me is hilarious,” I said. “Every two hours it takes a chunk of life. By the way, I can show you where I picked up this crud.”

  “I’d rather you shake a leg and get on with it,” muttered Oto and vanished again from my sight.

  From the moment the seeds were planted, the blight spread out quite cheerfully along the ground and the areas that I had sowed had almost merged already—forming a kind of safe path for the renegades. The modest patch of green no more than a hundred meters in diameter, didn’t bother me. One sprint and the sentries won’t even have time to cast a single spell.

  “I’m about to run again,” I warned Oto who was moving invisibly somewhere beside me. I turned to look at the sentries stomping behind me and glanced at my spell panel. I still needed to buy more time...

  “Well, are you going to be long?” asked the irritated rogue, who had again taken damage from the blight and lost his camouflage.

  “It’s a few more minutes from here,” I said, again demonstratively checking the map. “Look, do you mind explaining why you’re picking on me? Am I bothering you somehow?”

  “You were told that you weren’t allowed to be here,” the rogue snapped. He didn’t bother camouflaging himself again, apparently realizing that doing so on the blighted ground was not particularly effective. “Noobs need to keep out of the adults’ area.”

  “Come on,” I answered. “Who am I bothering?”

  “My guild,” said Oto.

  “But you don’t have a guild,” I said, surprised. “There aren’t any guilds here at all. You need five thousand gold to register a guild. I read that. No one has money like that here.”

&nb
sp; “You’re a fool. My main is in a guild, just like two thirds of the players running around here. The corporation allows us to suspend our main avatars while we try out this hardcore area. Accordingly, all the guilds have people here trying out the new location. And no doubt you too have created a new character and are here trying to win something for your guild. You’re just playing stupid. Women like that kind of thing.”

  “Oh absolutely,” I agreed, assessing the situation. We had managed to delve deeply into the blighted lands. Great. If he’s so sure that women are so dumb, let that at least bring me some benefit beside the customary irritation.

  “Enough of this nonsense,” Oto blurted out. “Where is the altar?”

  “I’m a decent girl,” I said, arranging my fingers on the eid’s strings. “I’m not going to the altar with the first guy I come across.”

  Machine gun

  Tearing my body all apart

  Machine gun

  Tearing my body all apart...

  The Shadow Haze, which had cooled down ten seconds ago, triggered instantly, and three seconds later the first of the three magic missiles flew from my strings. Oto cursed and activated his camo, but his HP was already in the red. Like any other biota, his Constitution wasn’t great and the blighted ground hit his stats for 50%, while boosting mine. My Intellect alone was up to 132 here. In effect our levels were equal around here, even though because of the actual level difference, my spells would miss sometimes. As a result, whoever dealt the first blow gained the initiative. The vital thing now was that he tries to finish me off instead of retreating to assess the situation.

  “So what’s up, dickhead? Are you having fun yet?” I yelled as glibly and loudly as I could, giving out my location with my voice. As I did so, I recast Shadow Shield.

  He won’t run away as long as he thinks there’s a chance of getting me. And I only have enough health for one hit. Or so he thinks.

  I quietly shifted over a few steps, drank a potion to restore the mana I had just spent and again took up the eid. The first thing to do is cast Canopy of Silence, followed by Vengeful Flame. The roaring tongues of fire fluttered in all directions, flooding the forest within a radius of nine meters with a devouring flame. I took damage from my own spell, but the rogue sneaking in the direction of my last location found himself amid the flames as well. He came out of camo and as he did so, I stopped channeling Flame and again cast Magic Missiles. Alas, while Oto had been hidden, he had managed to drink a health potion and raise his health. On top of that two of the three missiles simply whiffed. The rogue not only survived, but again disappeared with health in the yellow. I wonder how many potions he has left.