The Kartoss Gambit (The Way of the Shaman: Book #2) Read online

  Endurance determines a player's ability to ignore any damage from an opponent for (Endurance /10) %. This is calculated and deducted from any incoming damage automatically, before the analysis of blocking, dodge or damage reduction from defence.

  Now I understood why I didn't see Endurance in the messages. A message 'sustained XXX damage' shows the harm caused already after it's been reduced on account of Endurance. In my case that was by 1.1%. Not much, of course, but sometimes even such margin may allow you to stay alive.

  I gathered the wolves into one attack formation and headed towards the mine. Enough goblins remained there to give us a fair amount of trouble.

  "The Mastermun came! The Mastermun came!" all ten goblins threw their picks to the ground, fell on their knees and started to kowtow to me all as one. Did they really take me for their master? What the heck am I going to do with them? I selected one of the goblins and looked at his properties. Goblin. Just a goblin, totally lacking the 'dark' adjective. I took a better look at the closest one and saw a collar on him. Slaves! There were a dozen slaves here gathering the ore.

  "Aarrrgghhh!" shouted the warrior guarding the tent and ran at me. "You no wommun! You dress-crossing spy! Enemies in the camp!"

  Level thirty. A close combat fighter, being a warrior and all, was running towards me, waving his yatagan around. Think again, wise guy! I can run too. However, unlike an archer, I can summon Spirits as well. The wolves again froze like statues, reluctant to be the first to join the fight. I can live with that — I'll down this one myself and they can look out for the boss joining the fray. Usually one of those comes part and parcel with a long and hard fight.

  I brought down the warrior quite quickly: ten Lightning Spirits and I was done. The wolves did the right thing to keep away from him — he was running around like crazy, waving his yatagans left and right. He could have easily hit someone.

  Then there was only the tent and the NPC workers, who weren't even thinking of getting up from the ground. Strange: there was so much noise, but no-one came out from the tent. It's not like the boss is asleep, is it? Well, time to wake him up then.

  I came up to the tent and started banging on the roof, ready to jump away if I needed to. Silence. Gathering up my courage, I lifted the flap and looked inside. There was no-one there. This simply can't be! This is the final location where the boss should be found! I looked around the tent and noticed some strange movement in a small pile of blankets. Aha! He hid himself!

  I threw off the blankets and stared at a small, pot-bellied goblin, covered in gold chains and rings and wearing a really expensive-looking suit. Seeing that he was discovered, the goblin sat down, crossed his arms on top of his stomach and started speaking in broken common:

  "You get gold, I you not see."

  "My understands and speaks your tongue," I replied in Goblin. It was strange and I had to say it word by word, but it was still much better than that messed-up common.

  "Oooh! A tall guest, as a beauty disguised is speaking our language in! Or our tall guest really a beauty is?" the emboldened goblin had the 'Adoration' buff fading in and out next to him. Just what I need — this one getting all lovestruck with me too. I dragged the wig off my head and untied the bone. There. I could even breathe more easily now. The goblin was noticeably saddened. Naturally: when Miss World turns into an ugly toad in the blink of an eye, it's a real tragedy!

  Miss World. I even sighed. Each year a beauty contest is held in Barliona. One necessary condition is that the participant's appearance must correspond to their real appearance. For three years in a row the title of Miss Malabar was given to paladin Anastaria. She was a very beautiful girl. Endless poems have been dedicated to her and many players travelled to Anhurs, the Empire's capital, just for a chance to catch a glimpse of her. I came across her only once or rather just saw her about a hundred meters away. I don't know what stat she had levelled up in, but it completely knocks you off your feet. Brrr. At the same time she is the deputy of Hellfire from the Phoenix clan and the second most high-level player in the Empire, as well as the author of nearly all the boss manuals. She is someone who looks at the results of your gameplay, and not at bells and whistles like money or presents. She isn't interested in them... I pushed away my dreams into the background and focused on the goblin. By this time a piece of roast meat had found its way into his hands and he was gobbling it down with involved concentration, as if his being attacked and taken prisoner never happened.

  "Ten gold prepared am to pay you I," he finally deigned to speak to me after he finished chewing the meat. "To work off the loss of my warriors must. For Magister ore gathering we are behind. Mine ore you have to."

  Quest available...

  I didn't even look at what quest was available to me. I quickly stepped over to the cheeky undersized boss and hit him with the Mallet between the eyes. A couple of times just to be sure. The goblin slumped to the ground, but was still alive — his Life Bar was barely dented, but he acquired a 2-hour buff 'Stunned'. That's better. Now I had to look around the tent and see what we had here or my inner Hoarding Hamster would never forgive me. What the...?

  Quest available: 'Head of the Green Raiders'

  Description: You have captured the head of the Kartoss Dark Empire infiltrators. Take him to the nearest town and hand him over to the person in charge. Quest type: Rare. Reward: +400 to Reputation with the Malabar Empire, +500 Experience, +30 Silver coins, a Rare item from the town stores. Penalty for failing/refusing the quest: -400 to Reputation with the Malabar Empire.

  Oh! Of course I'll accept it. Now I knew what to do with this guy. Also, he mentioned a rather interesting position: a Magister. The Dark Empire had the same division of ranks as Malabar. If Malabar had an Emperor, four Advisers and twenty Heralds, Kartoss had the Dark Lord, four Masters and twenty Magisters. Heralds and Magisters could teleport to any point they wished within the bounds of their respective Empires — without limits. However, they were seen by the players as often as the Emperor himself. Which means hardly ever. So, this little pot-bellied creature was given an assignment by none other than a Magister. Great! This meant that he would make a very valuable prisoner. It was an opportunity to get an additional bonus from Malabar. I absolutely had to deliver him and it was just as well that a portal to Farstead was already in my bag. Two beings could walk through it easily enough.

  After tearing up a blanket, I tied up the boss, in case he suddenly woke up. Two hours is plenty of time, but it's best to play it safe. And now to the looting and pillaging.

  A small chest immediately caught my eye. It was finely carved, with intricate symbols on its sides. It also had one small but really unpleasant feature — a broken key was sticking out of the keyhole. Damn. The lid was locked — it looked like the goblin had no time to open it. He was in too much of a hurry when I started to bang on top of the tent. Annoyed, I kicked the immobilised goblin. Just because. Why did he have to be in such a hurry? Didn't he know that I was dropping by for a visit? What should I do now? I couldn't leave the chest behind, my Greed Toad would strangle me, but taking it with me was out of the question. It wasn't loot, but part of the scenery: if you took it out of the tent, it would simply disappear, along with all its contents. I had to stop thinking and start acting. Now then... I wondered what's more impressive — a cannonball that could blast through anything or a wall through which nothing could break? Or, rather, the Mallet or a closed lid? No better time to find out. I put the chest on the side and started to hit it. 'Might makes right' — I learned that still in my childhood. I could see no other 'might' at my disposal, so a minute later the lid fell to the floor with a subdued bang and I stared at the loot that fell out of it. Not bad. Not bad at all! Looks like I struck lucky! There was a small pile of gold. Wow! Three thousand gold, which were immediately reduced by 30%. Five scrolls of teleportation, to Kartoss, by the looks of it. I'll save them for later: when I increase my level they'd come in handy for teleporting to the Dark Empire. Or I could sell the
m at an auction — at about a hundred thousand each. I took two gold rings off the goblin with a +10 to Agility and a neck-chain with +12 to Stamina. That was some boon! If ordinary rings with a +5 stat bonus cost upwards of 100 gold, a ring with +10 could cost around five thousand! I'd leave the chain for myself though. Shame as it was to admit it, it was better than my own, even if I wouldn't be able to wear it until I gain 15 more levels. It could only be used by someone with level 30. On the second thought, I'd sell it as well. I urgently had to start levelling up my Jewelcrafting. I had the recipes, but, as it turned out, I was seriously short of time. The small chest also yielded something that made me more happy than anything else — a map of our continent. In general, maps had this interesting feature in Barliona — they could scale up, as needed. For example, if I had to look at the continent as a whole, the map would take one scale and if I wanted to look just at Malabar, it would become a different scale. It would have another scale for Farstead and another for Beatwick. This only worked, however, if the needed area was actually on the map. If it wasn't there, the map would show nothing, so details either had to be bought or you had to add them to the map yourself if you had the Cartographer profession. I quickly glanced at the map that I got off the goblin. It had twenty percent of discovered terrain in Kartoss, one percent in Malabar and one percent in the Free Lands. I rubbed my face in astonishment, not believing what I saw. Twenty percent of the Kartoss Empire map could mean only one thing — I could look forward to a long and happy life! I could rip so much money from the players for a copy of this map that even thirty percent, which was deducted from me by the Corporation, would seem like small change. As it stands, players usually venture into Kartoss without any maps, as those are extremely hard to get. Yes, my friendship with the wolves sure brought me luck!

  The tent contained nothing else — that is, nothing else that was there for the taking. There were, of course, cushions, blankets, a small chest and many small objects. There was the tent itself, as well. But none of this could be taken. I could put any of this in the bag for a couple of seconds, until the items disappeared. As soon as I send the goblin to Farstead, the tent itself will disappear as if it never existed. It's a pity and a shame, but it's all right. Everyone had gotten used to this by now.

  I put the wig back on, slung the goblin across my shoulder and came out of the tent. The wolves were circling the cages with the wolf cubs, unable to open them with their paws. The cheered up little wolves squealed with joy, jumping around the cages in expectation of reuniting with their parents. The ordinary goblins never bothered to get up from the ground. Right, I had to decide what to do with them. I couldn’t just leave them here.

  I threw the boss down on the ground and undid the wire that held the cages together. That's it — Step 2 is finished.

  'Freeing the Wolf Cubs' quest completed. Experience gained: +550 Experience, points remaining until next level: 1.

  Step 3 of the 'Last Hope' quest chain will become available in six days' time. You will get this quest automatically.

  Wow! This quest could be connected with something. Six days... The time when the Vogren comes out... Is the 'Last Hope' connected to the Beatwick Vogren? What does the manual say? It's as silent as the grave. Damn. It's a real pain when you can't look at normal forums, not moderated by the Corporation representatives...

  I had some hope of being able to carry out at least half of the Headman's quest. I went through the ten previously killed wolves. As soon as I touched their bodies, they immediately disappeared, leaving behind a tail. Ten bodies — ten tails. Now I was only lacking the tail of the Grey Death to finish the quest. I looked at the she-wolf's tail thoughtfully. I couldn't help wondering if they really were that clever — as soon as she saw that I was holding the wolf tails in my hands and stealing glances at her, she turned her back to me and a moment later was running as fast as she could from the mine. The wolf cubs ran after her. They were followed by the ordinary wolves, with only the pack leader staying behind. He came up to the goblins, who were lying down on the faces, snorted and ran after the pack. That's it. Now I had to decide what to do with the ten literally floored goblins.

  "Now — you get up! No time for lying about!" I shouted in Goblin. The green workers immediately jumped up and formed a neat line — in the order of height.

  "So, let's get to the bottom of this. Who's in charge here?"

  "You are, mastermun," said one goblin and all ten of them again fell to their knees.

  "I know that. Who's in charge among the rest of you? Who do I speak to?"

  "That me, mastermun, me you talk to," replied the same goblin.

  "Great. Then I have a question. What are you doing here?"

  "We mining ore, mastermun."

  "I see, I asked the question wrongly. Why were you mining ore?"

  "Our old mastermun ordered us to," the goblin nodded towards my prisoner.

  "And where do you put the gathered ore?"

  "We near the tent put it. Today our former boss sent ore off. No mind, we gather more. New mastermun will happy be. Will new mastermun take us?"

  Attention! You may hire a work team of resource-gathering goblins. Conditions: you must provide the goblins with daily food and daily working wage — 1 silver coin. Level of goblins is determined by player character level. Level of all resource-gathering professions is determined by player character level.

  Wow! Ten virtually free bodies to provide me with resources that I so sorely need. The only drawback was that this was a team focused on gathering, not production. I did, however, get it for nothing. In Anhurs you can hire various work teams — for gathering, production or research. But their cost was extortionate and the workers frequently died, since you had to feed them and otherwise look after them. If you forgot to feed them for a day — you were left without a work team. My hunter never had a work team of his own, because I did not log into the game every day, but since I have such a major stint of time online, I had to make use of the opportunity.

  "I'll take you on. From now on, I'm your new boss."

  Achievement earned!

  Supervisor level 1 (hiring 4 work teams until the next level).

  Achievement reward: the work team's working speed is increased by 5%.

  You can look at the list of achievements in the character settings.

  "Have you already eaten today?" seeing the vigorously nodding goblin mugs, I refined the question: "How many days' food supply do you have?"

  "Five days, mastermun. Former mastermun a big vat cooked for us, we not eat it all yet," hearing this came as a big relief. I planned to teleport to Farstead right away to turn in the boss, but leaving without first resolving the food situation of my new workers wasn't an option.

  "Then this is your job for the week. You mine the ore and don't mind the wolves, they won’t touch you. Put the ore here," I pointed to a small hollow in the ground. "In two days Shaman Mahan will come and will say a password 'Blah-Boom'. You obey him like you do me, understood?" the goblins quickly nodded and I continued: "Why are you loitering here? Off to work with you!"

  In a split second they were gone – they grabbed their picks, spreading throughout the mine, and I went around it gathering everything dropped by the 'Romeos' when they ran off after their 'Juliet'. After me, that is. I walked some distance away, but still managed to catch the goblins whispering amongst themselves:

  "New mastermun, she a real beauty! All green and in a skirt, her bust bigger than my head! Pity no bone in nose, but that fine — it grow in time."

  Chapter Three

  Farstead

  “I’m gathering a party for the Rortus Dungeon! Need healers and a tank!”

  “WTS 40 Wolf Pelts! Just 20 gold each!”

  “WTB a lvl 20 Warrior sword with a bonus to STR!”

  Farstead welcomed me with familiar town buzz. In this respect it was no different from all the other standard towns in Barliona, from which only Anhurs really stood out. Similar-looking two-story stone houses
, gray walls, from which here and there hung the shingles of merchants or various profession trainers. There was a cobbled street, an overturned cart, half-drowned in a haystack (probably a favorite playground for the local kids), and crowds of people, both players and NPCs, hurrying in every direction. Although there weren't exactly hoards of players around, they were making a great din. If you were to believe the manuals, the Krong province was meant for players between level 20 and 40, so looking for good offers on items or groups would be a waste of time here. Savvy players under level 50 level up by themselves or in special clan locations and only visit a town for the Bank, the Dating House, for traders or profession trainers. Those now shouting about forming groups for Dungeons or buying low-level gear are… Let’s put it this way, such players are usually called 'noobs'. That sums it up. There’s little joy in ending up in the same group with a beginner tank or healer: "Oh, I didn't manage to select you as a target and so couldn't heal you in time. Why didn't you heal yourself with bandages?", "Oooh, look at that cute Rat, let's not kill it", "Aaahhh! I'm being attacked! I'm leaving the group!", "Do you kids want daddy to show you how to use them pointy things?"... A couple of times I was careless enough to end up in a group with such players and had very little desire to repeat that experience. They never read any manuals or forums, but are more bigheaded and arrogant than the elves.

  The portal threw me out practically in the middle to the main town square. Why was it the main one? Because it contained the local government headquarters and a Barliona Bank branch.

  Generally speaking, the Bank of Barliona is really something else. As if playing a joke on real banks, the Barliona version resembles a small three-meter-high gazebo surrounded by small trees. There are no thick walls or armies of guards. There is no need for them, because when entering the gazebo each player ends up in a separate dimension, a personal room of sorts. In each room there is a small table with a gremlin sitting behind it, always wearing black brassards, and constantly writing something. You could give him gold to be deposited and he is the one to retrieve it on withdrawal and hand it over to its owner. The gremlin received requests for credit or for expansion of your personal room — its initial modest size meant that it wasn't ideal for storing all your resources. The only item storage limitation the Banks had was that you couldn't store more than ten items of the same class in them. This meant that you could not save up more than ten Legendary or ten Epic items and so on. The Bank had no intention of turning into a warehouse. Clans kept all the accumulated riches inside their own castles, kept secure by guards and by protective spells. There were even special clans dedicated to the production of 'wards' and clans, which focused on breaking through these 'wards'. Same as anywhere, really. I had little to save for the rainy day other than the Warrior Orc figurines. I was going to the Bank for a different reason — I had to withdraw my Hunter items. Extra money and gear, even if focused on Agility, would come in handy. Before I got there some words stood out from the general buzz and caught my ear.