The Way of the Shaman [06] Shaman's Revenge Page 8

  Thirdly, we needed to hit Phoenix in its purse. Here Plinto would help us. Clutzer confessed that he had adjusted the plan on the fly as soon as he’d seen that I had received my Harbinger title. The gist of the financial blow would be that we would clean out Phoenix’s treasure vaults. When I looked at Clutzer with befuddlement, suspecting that he was suffering from heat stroke, he explained further: Plinto would sneak into the castle and record the exact coordinates of the entrance to the treasure vault. It was 100% certain that Phoenix’ treasure vaults were exactly like ours—located somewhere in the mountains. And here my newly acquired skills as a Harbinger would come in handy. An ordinary scroll of teleport can send someone to a concrete point in a two-dimensional coordinate grid. If the treasure vault is buried deep underground, then even if you know its location, you can only teleport to the surface. But not in my case—a Harbinger uses a three-dimensional coordinate grid to teleport. Even if it means fighting, Plinto has to break through to the vault, record his coordinates and send them to me. As soon as Phoenix calms down, I’ll take both players as well as two maximum-capacity bags with me and blink to the treasure vault to relieve it of its contents. This is a one-time deal, since Phoenix will make sure to install hobgoblins in its vaults afterward. In fact, Clutzer had to admit right then and there that there wasn’t any guarantee that the vaults didn’t already have hobgoblins. But it was worth a shot…

  And yet all of these foregoing points paled in comparison to what the Rogue proposed next—we would assault, capture and destroy Phoenix’ castles…At this point, I could no longer control myself and burst out laughing. No matter how many people we managed to assemble in order to capture a castle, two Raid Parties led by Hellfire and Anastaria would smash us to smithereens. There was an enormous difference between a player of Level 350 and even, say, one of Level 250. We wouldn’t even be able to approach their walls! Clutzer, however, uttered a single word that forced me to stop and think.

  Armageddon.

  The process for crafting this terrifying weapon—which was practically impossible to survive—was simple enough. The spell was enchanted on a special sheet of paper that grew once a month from the Alvandella tree. Every clan worth its salt had one of these trees, which would typically grow right in the center of the castle. This meant that we had to acquire one of our own. That was obligatory. Second—the scroll had to be ‘charged,’ which involved channeling about twenty million MP into it over the course of a day. Clutzer assured us that this wasn’t a problem—he already had a gaggle of Mages that would charge our scroll. After that we’d need to go see the High Mage and have him inscribe the spell structure onto the scroll. Finally, the Emperor or the Dark Lord would need to imbue the scroll with life. This was where I’d come in handy. Clutzer planned on channeling Mana into ten scrolls over the next six months. Beside the ones we’d grow ourselves, we could obtain paper for the scrolls from the Azure Dragons and the Heirs of the Titans. No doubt they’d be happy to help, since Phoenix’s dominance was a problem for everyone. Clutzer would guide the Mages, while my job would be to deal with the High Mage and the Emperor. In view of my relationships with the powers that were, it shouldn’t be difficult for me to arrange the necessary audiences. As for activating the scroll after it was charged—that was a matter of technique. Plinto would burst into the castle, start a melee and receive the ‘In Combat’ status. He’d have to survive for a minute and then cast the wave of flame in the very center of the castle. Phoenix’s castles weren’t Altameda. They weren’t built from Imperial Steel. Furthermore, the spell would be cast within the walls, increasing the devastation…In general, we could be sure of knocking several levels off their castles at least. And if we went so far as to detonate five scrolls simultaneously inside Phoenix’s main castle (this was the number that Clutzer reckoned Plinto would have time to activate) the number of levels lost would be even more substantial. We could even block the clan’s access to their treasure vault. And that would entail a severe blow to the reputation and finances of Ehkiller’s clan, which couldn’t help but please us. Either way we’d have to spend the next six months in preparations. Such a plan wouldn’t come to fruition any earlier.

  I promised the guys that I’d consider their proposals and called Viltrius to have him summon me back to Altameda. I didn’t feel like saying yes or no without having first considered everything. I liked the plan of using Armageddon very much, but there was a downside—there was nothing to stop Anastaria from doing the same thing in Altameda. I’m sure that if we managed to pull this off against Phoenix, she would find my castle and set off several scrolls of her own inside of it…So I needed to think things over very well before making my decision. Take for example the declaration of war. A portion of the players would happily join our clan, looking for a fight with Phoenix. And yet the gatherers and craftsmen don’t really like being in a clan dedicated to PvP. What did I need then—a clan of fighters or a clan that could sustain itself? Did I need a clan at all? There were so many questions that I didn’t have answers to. This definitely wasn’t what was on my mind when I entered Barliona this morning.

  And then there was that visitation by Eluna…By the way! I had sent a letter to tech support!

  I opened my email and smiled at the twelve million letters that had filled my inbox during the past week. Then I clicked on a special section that blinked green notifying me that I had a message from the Barliona admins.

  Dear Mahan,

  Thank you for your inquiry…

  Right, we’ll skip the formalities…

  We’d like to bring to your attention that we are currently offering a new service—you may now transfer your character to a different faction…

  We’ll skip this part too…

  As for your inquiry, we are happy to inform you that, indeed, an item called the Tear of Harrashess was developed for the game. However, we assure you that players cannot acquire this item for their own use. The warning you received from the Imitator playing the role of Eluna was no more than a precaution taken by another Imitator playing the role of the High Priestess of that goddess. You have a unique reputation and attractiveness with this NPC, so she asked the goddess to warn you of the threat. We assure you that this item poses no danger to you whatsoever since it is technically impossible for you to receive it.

  We wish to use this opportunity to recommend to you a new…

  The rest of the letter was an ad offering various cosmetic improvements to my castle, so I didn’t keep reading. Glancing over the tech support part of the text again, I could be sure of one thing—it was a good idea for me to be afraid. After all, no player could receive the Ying-Yang either. Only an NPC could own that item.

  Thus, not having decided anything, I opened my mail and began to go through the letters. The twelve million emails that snuck through my spam filter in the past week was just too much. I don’t even know how else I can set the filters up in order to sort out this torrent of information. I already have an ad blocker in place and another filter to block requests for money as well as…Excuse me?!

  When I opened the list of filters to add another one, I was astonished to find their utter absence. The list of applied filters was empty, which meant that ads and other spam could now reach my poor consciousness. So it follows that during the transfer of my Shaman, all the settings were reset. No wonder I felt a bit uncomfortable in Anhurs today, surprised at the extreme activity of the players. Everyone was yelling, making noise, while the chat was bursting into little pieces…I’ll have to start everything all over again. I somehow missed this part before.

  “Master, there’s a package here for you with a request that it be delivered to you personally,” Viltrius said, distracting me from my renewed attempts to set up my email and offering me a small package.

  “From whom?” I asked surprised. The fact that the package was sent through an NPC meant that someone with access to the castle had found Altameda’s location, walked up to the gates, called Viltrius and handed h
im the package. Furthermore, this someone did all this while I was in Anhurs just now. In other words, I needed to think carefully about what I would do.

  “Master Spiteful Gnum, whom you hired to repair the gates and refresh the building’s ornament. He is bound to the castle, so he sent the package to you with his demons, since Altameda’s location remains unknown to him.

  “Thank you. I’ll take a look,” I said, taking the package from the goblin. Somehow I’d forgotten that my castle was playing host to one of Barliona’s odder players. When I teleported the castle to a new location and blocked all access to it, I had left Gnum without work and, consequently, further development, which for a creative type like him could not fail to evoke displeasure. So I guess I could roughly guess what was in the package already. After all, besides his skillful carpentry, the gnome was also a pretty good Tailor…

  This is no way to conduct business, Mahan! What the hell? I enter the game and find the castle’s gone! I call Viltrius, but that green twerp doesn’t pick up. My demons are in shock—they don’t know that castles can teleport, no one can find you, everyone’s upset and in a trance, while meanwhile my materials are rotting…Anyway! I found a way to express how I feel about you! Here’s another gift from me! If you want to continue your repairs, don’t bother calling me.

  P.S. You know where to find me.

  P.P.S. How did you manage that anyway?

  P.P.P.S.S. Lol, S.S.

  Item acquired: Cape of the Opposite. Description: A sentient who equips this cape adopts the appearance of those of non-traditional sexual orientations. When this item is equipped: +20 Attractiveness with members of your own gender, -40 Attractiveness with members of the opposite gender. Item class: Unique. Creator: Spiteful Gnum.

  A bright piece of cloth fell into my hands, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. The power of Gnum’s creation was so great that even holding this piece of cloth in my hands I could see my hands grow elegant like an elf’s. A manicure began to transform my fingers. Dropping the cape to the floor and making sure that this was no more than an optical illusion, I ordered Viltrius to remove the cape to the treasure vault. No one’s cursed me out in such an extravagant way before…

  But in one sense I was thankful to Gnum—I had finally decided how my clan would develop from here on out. Yes, the clan—I decided against disbanding it, yet in my plan, the Legends of Barliona wouldn’t engage in any hostilities against Phoenix either. To the opposite—my main task in the next six months, while the scrolls of Armageddon were being prepared—would be to stay as far away from battles as possible. If something happened, I’d have Plinto and Clutzer with their Raiding Parties. They’d deal with the contingencies. Instead, I was faced with a different problem—the development of different professions. And I don’t mean gatherers—there were endless numbers of those in Barliona. But autodidacts like Gnum and Svard are one in a million. As long as I can maintain their interest, I want them to stay with me. And as long as they’re with me, I have the advantage. This means that I have to retain their attention, and I know exactly how to do that.

  After all, I have to not only destroy the main castle of Phoenix, but also try and rummage around its darker corners—and these are mere preludes that no one will notice. I want to aim my main blow at the foundations of Phoenix’s budget—the sale of unique items. If I can wriggle my way into this market and push Phoenix out, the losses suffered by the clan of the fried chicken will be colossal. Which is what I need.

  For now, I had to meet with Gnum and encourage him to work with me. Without players like him, I’d never achieve my goals…

  Chapter Three. A Meeting and New Quests

  “Mahan!” As soon as I entered her office, Elizabeth’s sullen face looked up from the documents that were occupying her and brightened. “How nice of you to stop by!”

  “Hi Elsa,” I greeted the High Priestess and following her gesture, sat down in the chair. “I have some business to discuss with you…”

  Having made a decision about my clan’s further development, I understood perfectly well that I wouldn’t be able to verify what Clutzer had said about the divorce at the moment—and since I needed to get some sleep too, I decided to run two more errands before signing out to reality. The first was to go to the plateau and appear before the Angels to receive access to the Tomb. The second was to see Elizabeth and ask her for advice about the divorce. I didn’t trust anyone else when it came to this question.

  I located the coordinates to the plateau before the Tomb in my logs, opened the Blink settings, entered the data, pushed the Blink button and…remained in place. To my immense surprise, an unpleasant notification appeared before me, telling me that Anastaria had considered her plan down to the slightest details.

  Teleportation to the indicated coordinates is impossible—this location has an activated anti-teleportation crystal in place.

  Fully aware that I could become a Harbinger or use my castle’s capabilities, Phoenix had installed crystals that blocked any teleportation to the Tomb. It followed that I’d have to blink to a neighboring locale and reach the Tomb on my own two…well, wings. And if Phoenix is as committed as they seem to preventing me from reaching the entrance, then they’ll have placed a hundred or two high-level players whose assignment it is to keep me from breaking through.

  Bastards!

  “Your business can wait,” Elsa jolted me from my ruminations. “Better tell me something else—why is this here lying on my table.”

  With undisguised revulsion, Elsa picked up one of the documents from the pile before her with two fingers and offered it to me. A notification about having received a document from an NPC flashed before my eyes as a text appeared below it:

  To the High Priestess of Eluna,

  Oh High One, please listen to this plea of mine, for I have not the strength to bear this burden any longer. My priceless spouse, known to you as High Shaman Mahan, has variously sought ways to avoid meeting with me—as if that unearthly spark that caused the Ying-Yang to flower and burn with all the colors of the rainbow, has faded. With immense hurt in my heart, I met my husband’s eyes, filled with hate, after which he pushed me away and forgot about his eternal oath…He has ceased to love me. If you believe that I am lying, summon my husband yourself and speak to him about me. Listen to his feelings. There will be no love there, only hate, anger and the desire to crush and destroy me. I admit that I am not without fault and I realize the cause of this behavior—after all, I returned to my father’s clan, but if you love someone you must know how to understand and forgive. Mahan is incapable of forgiveness. I’ve already understood this, so I have nothing left to do but fall at your feet and beg you to annul our union. I am ready to sacrifice myself—if only I can cease to be a burden on my beloved husband. Let me suffer—so long as he gains his liberty.

  Anastaria, Captain of Paladins and Paladin General.

  “Tell me this isn’t true, Mahan,” Elizabeth said expectantly when I had finished reading. “Tell me that you don’t hate your wife…”

  To say that I was surprised would have been an understatement. It’s one thing to file for divorce claiming irreconcilable differences—it’s something else entirely to claim these grounds. So Stacey is guilty, but I’m the bastard who was incapable of heeding the feelings that are greater than actions. And it’s not like I can explain to Elizabeth that it was because of Anastaria that I lost the Chess Set and the Eye—or that she used me for her own personal ends. The real world didn’t exist for the High Priestess. The fact that Anastaria had switched clans—the fact that she’d returned to her father who perhaps missed his daughter, didn’t mean she had fallen out of love with me. The clan that one belongs to, the colors one wears, doesn’t mean anything to an NPC. Instead, the player’s feelings are everything.

  “Elsa, this letter is like a knife to my heart,” I said at last. My initial emotions had ebbed and I managed not to swear. No one was tracking my body metrics, or at least the system didn’t
mention this, so Elizabeth was still waiting for my verbal response. If Anastaria had written a letter like this, then she wanted to cast me in a very unpleasant light. I doubt that they’d show me this letter tomorrow. But if I started arguing with Anastaria in front of Elizabeth, even if I had refused the divorce, my Attractiveness with the High Priestess would decrease from its current level of 100 points. Well, best of luck to you, Anastaria! I’ll turn on stupid mode and act like I don’t know anything. “Forgive me, I’m just stunned, stunned at what my beloved wife writes here and…No but this is some kind of counterfeit letter! Anastaria could not have written this! Elsa, are you sure that this if from her?”

  “Naturally—she handed me the letter herself.”

  “That’s impossible,” I droned on, trying to gain some time and figure out where I should go next. It was evident now that if I start accusing Anastaria in Elizabeth’s presence, I would hurt my relations with the High Priestess. And I really didn’t want this to happen. I had to choose each word carefully and purposefully—I couldn’t allow Anastaria to drive a wedge between me and Elsa. “Impossible, I tell you!”

  “I was also very surprised,” Elizabeth agreed. “If you hadn’t loved each other completely, you’d never have gotten the Ying-Yang to bloom. The stone cannot be tricked—it heeds the deepest feelings of sentients and makes the decision of whether or not they are worthy of being together on its own. Your Ying-Yang showed that you were worthy. Could you really fall out of love over the course of two months? No, that’s pure folly—you still wear the amulet…As soon as you stop loving each other, the Ying-Yang will ignite, burning away to ashes, and your abilities will vanish. Or does the amulet already not work?”