A Second Chance Page 17
“On the way back!” insisted Eredani, setting off along the track and veering to the right. “Diabettis will be counting on us both, but he’ll only get half a player. There’s no need to throw him under the bus.”
“Have it your way,” I said, dousing the thrill of the battle that was kindling inside me. Demons weren’t terrifying monsters; if anything they were comical, big-eared, level-three beasties across the board. You took one by the tail and smashed it on a rock. A couple of hits and the client was ready.
“Can you explain what’s wrong with the ring?”
“Nothing. I noticed it’s changed since the update. Doesn’t it seem strange to you that a level-250 epic ring has only thirty plus characteristics? I didn’t get it at first, but then I realized –levelling up. Clothing has taken a back seat, and now the most important things are levels and plus characteristics. Where would vagrants have got the money for a ring like that? The Corporation has adjusted all objects. The emphasis isn’t on characteristics now, it’s on additional bonuses. Look at the ring — three boosts on top of the pluses. That’s very cool and very interesting. Everything’s based on percentages and adjusted to the player. Numerical values are a formality. Take your pickaxe for example — a rare object with two bonuses, while an epic object has three bonuses. That means a legendary might have from four to six boosts, and I’m not even going to mention scales. But that’s just me speculating. When you get out into reality, see what they say about it on the forums.”
“Why don’t you look yourself?”
“Because prisoner pods are not connected to the general information field.”
Reference information
Classification of objects in Barliona
Common: The most widespread kind of object in the game, with no additional characteristics or bonuses. Created by players or bought from NPCs. May be sold to other players, including after personal use. No level restrictions.
Unusual: An object with one random plus characteristic and one bonus. Created by players or bought from NPCs. May be sold to other players, including after personal use. No level restrictions.
Rare: An object with two random plus characteristics and two bonuses. Created by players or bought from NPCs. May be sold to other players, including after personal use. Level restrictions apply.
Epic: An object with three random plus characteristics and three bonuses. Created by players or bought from NPCs. May be sold to other players before personal use. After use, not transferable to other players. Level restrictions apply.
Legendary: An object with five random plus characteristics and five bonuses. Created by players or bought from NPCs. May be sold to other players, including after personal use. Level restrictions apply. Object may be stolen from inventory, with 10% probability it will remain on the ground when player dies.
Scale: An object with seven random plus characteristics and seven bonuses. Acquired only from NPCs. Not transferable to other players. No level restrictions. Object may not be stolen from inventory, and does not fall out when player dies.
Divine: An object with ten random plus characteristics and ten bonuses. Received only for distinguished service to Barliona, awarded personally by the Emperor. Not transferable to other players. No level restrictions. Object many not be stolen from inventory, and does not fall out when player dies.
We rounded the hill, but couldn’t see a single living being. No demons, no rodents, no snakes, no nothing. The players had left us bare rocks and sand. Being used to my solitude in reality, I lagged behind Eredani in Barliona. He didn’t mind; he simply scooted over to the side of the path and drew level with me. We walked some distance apart, but could still see each other.
“Kvalen, come here!” he called and knelt down. His tone was casual and his frame was green, so I didn’t hurry. His horned head was bent low over a red prickle.
“Demon clover,” he explained, and scooped some sand aside with his hands. “To pick it correctly you need Herbalist skills of at least four hundred. Then the cut-line becomes visible. Try and pick it.”
Eredani stepped aside, and I crouched down to look. I knew the picking technique — when you studied a plant in detail, a twinkling stripe should appear, along which you could cut or tear while preserving it intact. If you slipped, you got a handful of straw that was no good to anybody. There was no stripe, but I estimated where it ought to have been, gripped the stalk closer to the base, and snapped.
New speciality received: Herbalist
Description: A gathering speciality. You are becoming a true master at seeking out herbs. From now on you are capable of sensing and finding herbs in the very shyest recesses of Barliona.
Object received: demon clover pollen
Description: A common object necessary for specialities. Use: gather 100 pollen and receive one demon clover.
Improvement gained
Experience: +12, until next level: 964
“Wonderful news,” said Eredani joyfully. “I knew reason would win eventually. I just didn’t think it would take so long. Has your Herbalist level increased?”
“Only the scale by two points,” I said, becoming absorbed in the variations. “Although experience has made good progress.”
“Now I understand the logic of the upgrade,” he said. “Objects have indeed lost their leading role, and players’ ascent is now only defined by their level and received characteristics. Even if someone on level one pours millions into the game and buys themselves a bunch of scale objects, they won’t suddenly become hella strong just like that. Only by going up through the levels.”
“Which have become freaking difficult to achieve.” I echoed Eredani. “I got a bonus for the pod, and a twofold experience boost for the newbies’ assault course, but for the flower I only got one percent of the level.”
“Who said it was going to be easy? The fat cats must be able to feel their privileged position, otherwise they’ll stop spending money. Mark this spot on the map — plants regenerate every twenty-four hours. In Settings find Herbalist and tick Automatic Detection. The higher your skill, the further away you can detect herbs.”
There was nothing wrong in what Eredani said, but his continual fatherly tone was irritating. “Do this, don’t do that.” I quietly obeyed his commands, but it was increasingly difficult to keep my cool. My nature demanded that I display self-sufficiency and prove I had long since grown up and wised up.
“You do what you like, but I’m going to try some hunting.” Eredani could wait for the way home if he wished, but I wanted to level up right then. He shrugged his shoulders and moved further away, not wanting to be on the receiving end of my archdemoness’s “bonuses.” If I was honest, I didn’t believe she would do me any damage. Surely the developers could never realize that moment so wrongly? Who would chose to be a tiefling when they come with such baggage?
Aniram appeared in all her glory — threatening, wings wide, shackled in light fetters and, which was especially concerning, silent. No “I’ll grind you to a powder,” or “I’ll drink your blood,” or “I’ll defecate under your door.” She merely glared down at me from her two meters, and made no attempt to summon a beastie from the Abyss.
I waited. Her contempt remained exclusively passive. Taking that as a good sign, assuming I was correct, and being a real man, I set off on the hunt.
N’Got’s minions were level-three, jug-eared snakes, which looked like nagas who had been sick since childhood. Slightly over a meter long, they had a scrawny torso, undeveloped limbs ending in long, black nails, enormous ears, and two horns which they used to cling onto stones. The demonettes evoked anything but fear. I wanted to sit down and scratch the cute little things sympathetically behind the ear.
When the players had shuffled off around to the other side of the hill and couldn’t see me, I extracted the anti-snake from between the stones and activated Demon Strike.
Damage inflicted
You have inflicted 15 damage: (20 Magic Attack) - 5 (protection of va
ssal of N’Got). Total Health remaining: 285 out of 300
The demon screeched and lunged to take retribution for its desecrated honor — it was the only explanation for such aggressive behaviour; fifteen HP lost wouldn’t anger it that much. With a fearful squall the overfed maggot targeted my leg, but an opportunely stamped hoof stopped the graceful attack in its tracks and, just to make sure, I sealed it with a second Demon Strike. The snakelet got off lightly with fifteen damage, and attempted to bite my hoof. Fuck you! The attack didn’t decrease my Health, but it did tickle, so I stepped on the demon’s head and pinned it to the ground. Now I could open the records. I had inflicted sixty-one points of magic damage, but due to the level-difference between me and the demon, that became threefold less. A formula was even provided: damage = A/B, where A is player attack strength, and B is opponent level divided by character level. Accordingly, the higher the opponent’s level, the less damage they sustained, and vice versa. Such entertaining mathematics.
While I was sifting through the records, Aniram moved closer to the hill and struck the area around it with such supersonic power it made me jump. “Come hither, brothers! Annihilate the traitors who have cast aside their essence! Come!” When she was done screeching, she bared her sharp teeth in delight, clicked her tongue, and folded her wings. “Soho!”
The stones began to rustle as N’Got’s flunkies rose to the archdemoness’s call. Deprived of their master, they could not resist her will. Twenty bat-eared heads poked out from the surrounding stones and, smacking their chops, surged toward me. The first to attack was the flattened snake, which writhed, jumped, and sank its teeth painfully into my leg.
Damage sustained
Health level decreased by 30: 30 (bite from vassal of N’Got) - 0 (physical protection). Remaining Health: 570 out of 600
That hurts! A hoof to your snout, you ungrateful creature, not a tickle behind the ear!
For the first time in total immersion I had been attacked by a mob, and I could say with absolute confidence that I could do without such experiences. I kicked the viper back toward the ruins. The flight was short but ultimately pointless, because after hitting the rocks, the demon merely shook its head and bolted back in my direction.
“Go, Kvalen, go!” Eredani shouted almost in verse and, leading the way, took to his heels. After weighing up my chances against a horde of miniature, flap-eared monsters, I set off after him.
“Had a bit of a hunt now?” he asked ironically after letting me catch up to him, though his legs didn’t stop working to whisk him further from N’Got’s domain.
“Save your breath, you’ll need it,” I replied in irritation, although I understood his irony was justified.
“The radius of demon agro isn’t usually more than a kilometer,” said Eredani, continuing to mock me. You’ll have enough breath. Just look at the bonus! Attention, right!”
I looked toward where he was indicating, and saw Aniram. Her manacled hands did not preclude her maintaining balance, and her leather corset strikingly underlined those features which indicated unambiguously that I was host to a demoness as opposed to than a demon. Those features moved in time with her run and arrested all my attention, leading me to trip over a stone and very nearly fall. Just how did Eredani manage to notice everything? To be on the safe side I sent the double Ds packing, together with Aniram. Or to be more accurate, Aniram with her double Ds.
The demons dropped behind after a kilometre, but we ran on another five hundred meters just to be sure, before stopping. Up ahead the track became a neglected path, then disappeared completely. Evidently few players ventured that far from the camp, since at first glance there seemed to be no demons or booty. After ten minutes we came to a full-flowing river about twenty meters wide. The black water looked strange and was bubbling vigorously.
“That’s not water.” Eredani squatted down on the bank to inspect the unknown substance, but was wary of putting his hand in. “It looks like air-saturated sand.”
“I don’t care what it is. I’m more concerned about how we’re going to get to the other side.”
Nowhere could I see anything resembling a normal means of crossing a river, even on the other bank. Only a thin pole resting on small struts stretched from one bank to the other, half a meter above the surface, challenging us to test our tightrope skills.
Hoping for a Cartography boost, I scoured the opposite bank. Beyond the ever-present, gray, spiky trees I was surprised to see an exuberance of green and yellow vegetation, and just as I noted the height of the mountains, the system at last recognized my attempt to compare the relative sizes of objects.
Improvement gained
+1 to Cartography speciality
“Piece of cake,” Eredani chuckled and ran nimbly across the pole to the other side. The bridge, which was scarcely big enough for a human foot, didn’t even bend under the tiefling’s weight. This was the first time in Barliona I had encountered deviation from the usual laws of physics.
Kvalen: I’m amazed! But I never was a big fan of the circus.
Eredani: How strange. You’re one hell of a clown.
“You motherfucker!” I said good-naturedly, as I stepped onto the bridge with growing interest in the nature of the simmering, black liquid. What would happen if I fell in? I wasn’t much of a wirewalker, so after a second’s hesitation I lay down on my belly and began to pull myself along, slowly, carefully, and much to the annoyance of my partner.
Eredani: I’ll be free before you get across. Summon your demoness. You run pretty fast when she’s around.
“Motherfucker,” I reiterated. “Why are you getting my goat so much today?”
The question was rhetorical, so he couldn’t hear it. After three metres I relaxed — it wasn’t as terrifying as it seemed at first. However, at a certain point I relaxed my legs a little too much and lost my grip. In a flash I tipped upside down and my horns skipped along the surface of the river. Hanging on under the bridge was difficult, as my hooves kept slipping, and I was about to right myself when I realized my tail was half dangling in the river. It really was like quicksand. It did no damage and caused no unpleasant sensations, although that was it for the positives of the experience, because something bit painfully into my tail and tried to pull me in. I roared in agony, and jerked the appendage out.
Damage sustained
Health level reduced by 20: 20 (river demon bite) - 0 (physical protection). Remaining Health: 580 out of 600
Health level reduced by 20: 20 (river demon bite) - 0 (physical protection). Remaining Health: 560 out of 600
Twisting my head, I saw a fish the size of a well-fed cat attached to my tail. The terrible beast was clinging to its prey not only with its teeth, but also with its inexplicable hands. Crying, “Get the fuck off me, you fucker!” I wagged my tail from side to side, trying to throw the demon fish off, but it wasn’t happening. It continued gnawing at my tail, at the same time grizzling and exuding acrid fumes.
“Let go of the bridge!” Eredani somehow appeared alongside me, taking my hand and wrenching me back up onto the pole, whence I shot back to the bank. The fish didn’t give up, whizzing after me like a smoking comet and continuing to inflict damage. That was the last straw. Jumping onto the bank, I grabbed my pick and began to spin on the spot, like a dog chasing its tail, and after a couple of misses, I landed a hefty thwack on the demon fish.
Damage inflicted
You have inflicted 42 damage: [19 (physical attack) - 5 (protection from river demon)]*3 (boost coefficient for being in the air). Total Health remaining: 158 out of 200
A quick read of the description was enough to stop me spinning, and I struck the level-two beastie frenziedly. Five hits and it shimmered and dispersed into the air, leaving behind a small red flask.
Improvement gained
Experience: +14, until next level: 950
New speciality received: fishing
Description: A gathering speciality. You are becoming a true master fisherman. From no
w on you are able to sense and catch shoals of fish in all Barliona’s water sources.
I accepted the new speciality and showed Eredani my catch — a flask containing demon blood. “Not a bad catch,” he said, pleased. “Hide it. You can sell it after the camp.”
“Carry me to the other side,” I said. “I won’t make it on my own.”
“No can do. I’m still not used to this body. We’d risk falling in together. Have you noticed the bridge is bigger?”
I looked at the pole, and it was indeed wider; not much, only two centimeters, but still.
“Kvalen, do you like fishing?” Eredani asked mysteriously, before demanding elliptically that I shove my tail back into the river.