Patch 17 (Realm of Arkon) (41 page)

Then he started to worry about his friend. There was no information on Demon Grounds anywhere on the game forum—that plane was still being prepared for launch, so there was simply no one around who would know how to get there. Max eventually got tired of tossing and turning—he rose, turned on the light, opened the window and lit a cigarette. There were drunks singing tunelessly in the street. A woman was laughing loudly. The young man sighed. How would this new world accept them the way they really were? He sat down on a ramshackle stool near the windowsill—you needed money to change the interior of your private room, and he and Luffy had spent everything on missing pieces of equipment—and surrendered to contemplation. It was true that the players differed little from NPCs who had come to life now, the way Mentor Almaren appeared to have done, all of them following a preprogrammed pattern of behavior. In case of the elves, that pattern was affected by such qualities as pride and arrogance. If Almaren, like the other Sunlit Forest NPCs, was programmed to have a certain amount of benevolence towards players, the movers and shakers of this world were unlikely to cry tears of sympathy at the sight of a warrior dressed in rags. That meant they'd have to fight hard for their place under the sun—and, on top of all that, he'd have to find and protect Alyona, and then discover a means of infiltrating a locked gaming plane to save his friend. He could contemplate his place in this world later—he was no stranger to hardship and expected a lot more to come, yet Max didn't doubt himself or his ability to succeed for a second.

He opened the character menu to distract himself, and took another good look at his stats and equipment. The best item out of those laid out carefully on his table was the two-handed sword received from the druid.

Young Warrior's Two-Handed Sword.

Sword: two-handed weapon.

Durability: 200/200.

Ordinary.

Minimum level: 10.

Damage: 15-27.

+11 to strength.

Weight: 9 lbs.

His stats with the sword equipped looked as follows:

Agility: 1.

Strength: 35.

Constitution: 30.

Vigor: 8.

Spirit: 1.

Intellect: 1.

HP: 300.

Energy: 80.

Mana: 10.

Armor: 62 (31.2% physical damage absorption).

Weapon damage: 16.05-28.89.

Mighty Blow I: 42.80-68.48 physical damage.

Max didn't know the exact formula for calculating the percentage of physical damage being absorbed by the armor vis-a-vis the player's level, but the fact that his 35 points of strength increased his damage output by 7% (5 points of strength being roughly equal to 1%) was indicated next to the stat. Having reached level 10, the newfangled warrior was faced with the selection of the skill that he'd have to learn first—either Dash or Mighty Blow. Max decided to invest the points in extra damage. He'd see whether or not he'd made the right decision tomorrow. He took another look at the learned skill.

Mighty Blow I.

Energy: 10 points.

Instant cast.

Cooldown: 3 seconds.

Minimum level: 10.

Required: melee range, melee weapon equipped.

An instant attack that deals 100% damage on top of the weapon's base damage. +10 to damage for two-handed weapons or +12 to damage for one-handed weapons.

Just like the guide recommends,
he thought, minimizing the character menu. Whether the simple set of chain-and-leather armor that he had managed to buy for one gold could protect him also remained to be seen—it increased his armor class, but didn't boost any stats. He resented the fact that his utter lack of experience meant he'd have to listen to other people's advice—in his former life he tried to make all his decisions by himself. However, there was no choice at this point, unfortunately.
And then there are the rats to take care of,
he put out the cigarette and shut the window tight. He'd never have to kill anyone previously, so those who've spent a while playing such games had a definite advantage. However, Max didn't doubt himself—he'd kill anyone who would stand between him and Alyona or Roman—and, possibly, also Luffy, since they'd become close friends over the past three days and had decided to seek their fortunes together.

The time on the wooden clock on the wall showed three AM—there was less than three hours of sleep left. Max turned off the light, stretched out on the bed, made an approximate plan for tomorrow, and only then finally managed to drift into peaceful sleep.

The sun that rose from behind the trees transformed the elven village in an astonishing way—it played in the droplets of dew hanging from the blades of grass, chasing the layered fog into the woods and painting the slowly drifting clouds pink.

"Why so grumpy?" Max chortled at the sight of the mage—scowling and shivering from the morning chill. "The early bird—"

"Stays sleepy all day long," said Luffy gruffly, still half asleep. "Right, let's go see this Dyslexius..."

"Hey, you guys," a level 13 elf hunter nicknamed Theophilus separated from a nearby group and approached them. "Let's go take care of the local miniboss—we're just missing a tank and dps," he sad with a barely audible accent. "It's a level 12 boar—we'll deal with him in five minutes."

"Sorry, man," Max shook his head. "We've got a lot of stuff to do ourselves, but thanks for the invitation."

"Have you shat your pants now?" the hunter snorted derisively. "Not enough cojones, eh?" the guy turned to address those behind him, as if calling them to witness. "The game's overrun by chickenshit noobs..."

"Get stuffed, imbecile," Luffy butted in. "I bet this guy is the master looter in your group, isn't he?" he asked the young men and women standing behind the hunter. "Once you snuff the boar, this dope will grab everything for himself—there's no way you'll be able to take your share. So good luck to all of you," he chuckled, shaking Max by the shoulder. "Come on, let's move."

According to the expressions on the elves' faces, the mage's words hit the mark, but the two companions decided not to wait for the situation to resolve one way or another. As Max was leaving, he just smiled back at the hunter, who was staring him down furiously.

"Do we really look like such easy marks?" he asked the mage who was walking in front. Max had read a few warnings about con artists of this sort on the forum, and regretted having almost allowed himself to be taken in.

"Perish the thought," the wizard hastened to reassure him. "You and that phallic symbol on your shoulder," he nodded toward the dully glistening two-handed sword, "not to mention the shining armor, doubtlessly make you look like a legendary hero of yore."

"Accompanying Merlin the Great to the golf course?" Max pointed toward Luffy's poker-shaped staff, and they shared a merry laugh.

"Heroes, eh?" Majordomo Diplexius—a tall, broad-shouldered elf with long silver hair in two long braids—put away the scroll and looked at Max with a mix of irony and scorn. "Well then, it shouldn't be hard for you to destroy a meager fifty wood rats in the Brown Hills."

You've accessed the quest: Vermin Extermination.

Quest type: normal.

Bring fifty Wood Rat Tails from the Brown Hills, located to the north of Venlamin, to Majordomo Diplexius.

Reward: experience, increased reputation in Sunlit Forest, 1 gold, unusual cloak of your choice.

"The rats are basically not aggressive," the elf explained once they accepted the quest. "However, the instant you attack one, you shouldn't approach any of the others without a weapon in your hand. Those beasts have something like a hive mind binding them together—you should bear that in mind. And another thing," Diplexius pointed toward one of the residential trees. "Pay Alaune Veliessa a visit. She might have a quest for you, too..."

Alaune Veliessa's marlorien was surrounded by flowering vegetation growing in a fifty-yard radius—it was the lushest garden Max had ever seen. Flower combinations that seemed impossible created an unimaginable overall effect—one couldn't stop admiring them. Decorative hedges assumed the shapes of fantastical animals and seemed to come alive when touched by the rays of the rising sun.

The owner, a middle-aged elven lady with very comely and symmetrical features, met them at the doorway of her home. She appeared flattered by the admiring looks cast at her garden by the companions.

"You like it, don't you?" she inquired in a melodious low voice.

"It's amazing," Max exhaled, having finished admiring the bush that grew in the shape of a sleeping panther. The wind was ruffling its leaves, creating the impression that the large cat was asleep and breathing steadily in its slumber. "How do you manage it?"

"When your comrade becomes a Herb Whisperer, he'll also be able to do it," the woman smiled in return. "Why didn't you take up this noble profession, o young warrior?"

"I'm not that young," Max shook his head. "If I find out how you do it, it won't seem like fairy tale stuff anymore, and I'm not sure I'd like that to happen."

"What a great excuse, bravo," whispered Luffy, who had stood to the right, making Veliessa smile for a moment.

"So you opine that your thirty-two years make you an adult?" she inquired with a touch of irony in her voice. "Well, it doesn't matter—be an adult if you want to." The woman stepped to the side graciously and invited them in with a gesture. "Come in and tell me what brings you here so early in the day. I have no wine, but I think you might like my tea."

"I'm really sorry that you'll have to kill these animals," the elven woman shook her head when they told her about the purpose of their visit. "But I know it cannot be helped. Those rats breed at an alarming rate, and the forest is in serious danger. As you must have guessed," she nodded toward the rows of test tubes and flasks standing on the shelves, "apart from herbalism, I dabble in alchemy and have pretty decent command of nature magic. If you get me 10 wood rat secretion glands, I'll probably be able to come up with a spell that will substantially slow down the propagation of those vermin. I can teach you alchemy in return, with mana, HP and energy restoration potion recipes thrown in, or pay you a gold coin for those glands."

You've accessed the quest: Ingredients for Veliessa.

Quest type: normal.

Bring 10 Wood Rat Secretion Glands to Alaune Veliessa in Venlamin.

Reward: experience and a choice between 1 gold or learning the Alchemy skill, plus the recipes for Lesser Mana Potion, Lesser Health Potion, and Lesser Energy Potion.

"If you add the recipe for this incredible tea to those of the potions," the mage nodded toward the steaming cup in his hand, "we can bring you eleven of those glands, no less."

"It's hard to say no to you," the elven lady smiled at him. "I don't need eleven—I'll teach you for free, and even provide you with a pouch of tea from my personal stash."

"Really, did you hear the way she pronounced the last phrase?" said Luffy in a dreamy voice when they left Venlamin, having consulted the map previously, and headed north, following a narrow path. "I'm really beginning to like it here..."

"You mean they find it hard to reject you? Sure, I've heard it all," grunted Max without turning around. "By the way, how old do you think she is? If she finds my thirty two years youthful... What kind of experience does one need to guess a person's age just like that?"

"You really are a wet blanket," the mage sighed heavily. "Was it really necessary for you to say that?"

"I'm not trying to discourage you, I'd just like you not to get any ideas before we manage to get a good idea of how things work over here."

"I'm not getting any ideas," Luffy grouched. "I have other things on my mind right now. By the way, any idea what these glands look like?"

"We're not supposed to remove them surgically or anything," replied Max without a moment's thought. "You're just supposed to find them inside dead rats, or did I misunderstand what they said on the forum?"

"Nope, you're right. And since you're so intelligent and well-read, you'll be the one to remove them, just in case," Luffy nodded toward the two-handed sword. "You've gotten yourself a slicer, after all, young padawan."

"Right, even score," Max laughed, and the companions walked on.

They noticed signs of the local rodents' activities well in advance. Two enormous hills well over a hundred feet each were completely devoid of trees, as well as the area around them. It didn't look like a woodcutter operation—there weren't even any stumps left. The rodents themselves were nowhere to be seen. According to Diplexius, wood rats were exclusively nocturnal. The steep hill slopes were pocked with dark caves, six to twelve feet wide. Max counted twelve of them.

"Which hole shall we investigate?"