The Citadel (Mirror World Book #2) (14 page)

"I understand. Unfortunately, all I can tell you is that I got it in Mellenville."

I'd rather not tell him the whole truth. Everyone has the right to secrets.

"I see," he said. "Big city dwellers and their secrets. I used to level up Reputation too. Then I got fed up."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Just a shift in priorities. I got myself Kosma, and a pet like this takes up a lot of time. I couldn't run all those stupid errands anymore. And once Kosma grew up a bit, we started working. And why do you need Rep for?"

"I need a loan from the Reflex Bank," I replied in all honesty.

He nodded. "I see. Well, good luck."

"Is it really possible?" Liz asked us from behind. "To get a loan, I mean?"

"It is," Uncle Vanya said firmly. "I know a lot of guys who've done it. They said it worked out fine."

"That brings hope," I sighed. "Very much so."

"How much money do you need?"

"A lot."

"I see. All I know is that the more Reputation you have, the higher your chances are of getting a big loan. Heh! Now I understand why you came here to the Citadel."

I shrugged. "You'd better tell me why you don't wear your gorgeous gear every day."

They exchanged glances, smiling. "How can I say," the dwarf began. "These kits aren't to be worn every day. You need to save them. Their Durability doesn't last forever, and repairs are costly."

"Also, if you flash your expensive kit every day, you're sure to attract some robbing scumbag," Liz added.

"Isn't it non-transferrable?" I peered at their armor's stats. "What's the point?"

Uncle Vanya grinned. "You've no idea how many shitheads there are in Mirror World. They just don't care."

"For some PKs, smoking a high-level char in elite gear is something to be proud of," Liz added.

I remembered the Spider Grotto. A shiver ran down my spine. "You don't need to tell me. But what's a PK?"

"It's short for a Player Killer," Uncle Vanya said.

"You can tell them by their tags: they have a red skull next to their nickname," Liz explained.

"They love using zero-level players to level up Fury," the dwarf added.

"Scumbags," Liz mumbled. "My blood boils every time I remember."

"It's okay, Liz," her uncle said soothingly. "They already got their comeuppance. My guys still smoke them every time they see them."

Seeing my quizzical stare, he explained, "Liz had some very unpleasant experiences with PKs. She had it really bad then."

She clenched her fists. "If only they crossed my path now!"

The dwarf shook his head. "It's been a while but she still can't let it go."

By then, we'd crossed the river bank and entered a small copse of trees. I could feel the path underfoot go slightly uphill. I glimpsed the first snow peaks above the far-off tree tops. Still distant, they gave you the impression of hanging over you.

Humidity was high here. Uncle Vanya's armor was covered in condensation. Did he use elemental protection? I was about to ask him when he beat me to it,

"We're in the mountains!"

Indeed, the path rose steeply, threading around some of the sharper and nastier-looking boulders.

A system message promptly popped up,

Warning! You're entering one of the most dangerous locations in the Lands of Light! Watch your back for aggressive creatures trespassing from No-Man's Lands!

I already knew about this, as did my friends.

"So how far is your mountain?" Liz asked, admiring the view.

"Less than a mile, according to my satnav," I said.

Uncle Vanya nodded. "It's all right. Come on, then. The place seems quiet today."

"Too quiet," Liz whispered, casting anxious looks around. "I can't see anyone. The Blue Hills I can understand. Golems are boring. But here? Players seem to like it here, normally. They can smoke all sorts of cool mobs."

Uncle Vanya scratched his beard. "I'm afraid you're right. It
is
weird. Never mind. If push comes to shove, we can always use a scroll to port outta here."

"A scroll?" I asked.

"Yes, a portal scroll. It costs a fortune. But it'll jump us directly back to Drammen."

"How much does it cost?"

"Two grand. But you can forget it. Zero levels can't buy them."

"Portal scrolls are only available for players level 70 and above," Liz added.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "How interesting. How do you use it?"

"Easy," Uncle Vanya said. "First you activate it. Then you choose a location from the list and press
Apply
."

"How big is the location list?"

"You're thinking in the right direction. To put it short, the entire Lands of Light are divided into four sectors: red, blue, yellow and green. We're currently in the green sector. I'm forwarding you the link to the scroll's description. And here's its page on the info portal. You read up on it later. It's quite a clever system. Can you see that my scroll is green?"

I nodded. "I see. You can only use it to travel around the green sector."

"Or to the capital," he added. "You can jump to Mellenville from any sector."

"If I understand you correctly, does that mean there are more expensive scrolls around? For more advanced players, maybe?"

He nodded. "You're right. You'll have to look them up yourself. I don't know much about them."

I grinned. "Thanks for the tip. I'll buy you a beer."

My bot kicked in, telling me that we'd arrived at our destination.

"Here," I nodded at a towering cliff ahead. "I'd love to know how I'm supposed to climb it, though. As far as I understand, the nest is right at the top."

"That's not a problem," Uncle Vanya tilted his head upward, shielding his eyes with his wide hand. "There must be steps here somewhere."

Seeing me perplexed, he grinned. "Does that sound strange to you? They're nests, yes. Still, to get to each of them you need to use a staircase cut into the rock. They're actually very well-made. Whoever made them wanted them to last centuries."

"How many nests are there?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Never thought about it. At least a hundred. Each with its own staircase."

"Listen, you two," Liz shuffled her feet nervously, listening in to something, "I understand you can discuss this for hours but don't you think it's time we move it?" she cast a wary glance around and added softly, "I don't like it here today."

Uncle Vanya looked around. "I think she's right. Okay, man, you climb up and do whatever you're supposed to do, then come right back. Go ahead now, chop chop! We'll keep an eye on the area."

They didn't need to ask. I activated the bot to make sure I didn't lose my way and darted off.

I skirted the rock. Indeed, Uncle Vanya had been right. There were some steps going up the cliff, nice and stable, spiraling around it like a giant snake.

The location lived up to its name. The higher I climbed, the thicker the mist was. Sometimes I had to bend down and peer down to see where I was going.

Yet another step unexpectedly proved to be the last. I walked out onto a wide round platform. According to my bot, it was mob-free, but the sheer amount of bones, skulls, scraps of old clothing and rusted pieces of armor put one in a totally different mood.

This was indeed a nest. Made of rocks. What kind of bird was it that had built a nest the size of my old apartment? Judging by the number of skeletons, this monster was hardly herbivorous.

I cast another look around. So what was I supposed to find here? I opened the quest. What did we have there?

You must find the Nest of Rocks and inspect the remains of the last wearer of the Royal Charm. Then come back to Master Adkhur and tell him everything you've seen.

And where was I supposed to find him, this wearer of theirs? The nest was an absolute mess of old bones, bits of rags and chunks of steel. Having said that... What was it Adkhur had told me about the Der Swyor Clan's coat of arms? Could it have been the prompt I needed?

Gingerly I began trawling through the junk. Yuk! Those game designers had some sick imaginations! The charm's last wearer, where are you?

A message from Uncle Vanya popped up in my mental view,

Olgerd, come down quick! We've got problems! Come down now!

Shit. Just what I didn't need. What was I supposed to do? I might never get another chance to come back here!

Olgerd come down now!!!

Dammit! Whatever could have happened there? I swung my head around desperately, searching. Wait a sec! What was
that
?

OLGERD COME NOW!!!!

A few paces away from me, a skeleton slumped back as if resting after a hard day's work. Bits of rotting disintegrated clothing still clung to its bones. But the belt still seemed to be in one piece — or rather, the steel buckles that used to decorate it. The leather parts had long gone, either rotted away or consumed by small rodents.

It had been one of those buckles that had caught my eye. It didn't look rusty at all. It was shiny, if anything. Let's have a look...

I reached out my hand. Got it! It was engraved with a triangular shield supported by two Black Grisons, the ancestors of my little Prankster.

I turned to the skeleton. It was frozen in a sitting position, its head slightly skewed to the side, its hands resting in its lap palms up. What could it have been that killed you, buddy?

But what was that? A fluffy ball lay in the skeleton's lap. The man must have held it in his hands when he died. And later, when the flesh of his hands had rotted away, the ball must have dropped into his lap.

It was about the size of an orange, soft and strangely warm. It actually resembled a ball of gray wool. The moment I touched it, a new system message popped up,

Quest alert! Congratulations! You've just completed the first part of the quest: Journey to the Misty Mountains!

New objective: Return to Master Adkhur and tell him about what you've found.

New items received:

A Belt Buckle, 1

An unknown item, 1

I opened my inventory. That's right. Both the buckle and the fluff ball were already in my bag. I heaved a sigh of relief and darted for the stairs.

Chapter Eleven

I
found both Uncle Vanya and Liz hiding behind one of the larger rocks. They huddled together, tense as if waiting for a bomb to drop. On seeing me, the dwarf motioned me to duck, then pressed his finger to his lips.

Got it. I crouched and lay low, casting wary looks around. Whatever had alerted them so? The place seemed to be perfectly quiet.

Uncle Vanya peeked from behind their boulder, peering at the nearest thicket of trees about a hundred and fifty feet away. He then turned to me and waved an all-clear.

I darted toward them and ducked behind their boulder.

"What's up?" I asked, half-whispering.

"We're deep in shit, Sir Olgerd, that's what's up," he grumbled.

"A Darkies' raid," Liz said.

"A what?"

"Apparently, the Rhynn Castle has fallen," Uncle Vanya pointed to the north. "The bulk of the Darkies must still be engaged there. But the first small groups have already infiltrated here."

"They've come looking for scalps," the girl added.

"Liz, you're something," I shook my head in amazement. "Your instincts are unbelievable. Respect!"

"She did good," the dwarf gave her a wink. "The moment she noticed the Dark scout, we both ducked behind this rock. I don't think they noticed us."

"How many can there be?" I asked.

"Not the slightest idea. Could be six — but that's unlikely, — or it could be fifty. A raid is a serious business."

"They're probably all levels 200+, no?"

He shrugged. "Not necessarily. They use low-level players too. Those around here are small fry. All the top raid members must be busy now fighting for the castle while all the low-level vultures are on the prowl looking for easy prey."

"How long is it gonna last?"

"Not long," he said. "Soon all the warriors of Light will be here. Everyone can use a bit of Valor leveling."

"So what are we going to do?"

"Stay put and keep our eyes peeled. We can always port out of here if we want to. Still, it would be nice not to use the scroll. It costs two grand, you know. It would be such a shame to waste it."

I sighed. Talk about bad timing. Wretched Darkies and their raids!

We sat there for about quarter of an hour, keeping a low profile. The dwarf tapped away in his chat — probably explaining the situation to his comrades.

Personally, I hadn't noticed anyone. But in cases like these it was probably a good idea to trust the more experienced higher-level players. Hadn't I said I was going to "cower behind some rock"? So there I was, doing exactly that.

Uncle Vanya was done with his chatting. He leaned wearily back against the cliff.

"That's it," he smiled to us. "Soon this place will be absolutely packed."

I glanced doubtfully at the forest where our enemies were supposed to be lurking. "It's been almost an hour but I haven't seen a single Darkie yet."

Liz chuckled. "Consider yourself lucky. And pray that
they
don't see you."

"Sir Olgerd doesn't believe us," the dwarf winked at her. "You see," he turned to me, "in this game, every race has its own classes. Lots of them. You can look it all up in the Wiki later if you want. But some of those classes have access to the Invisibility skill."

"D'you mean-"

He nodded. "Exactly. They're about a hundred feet directly in front of us, just where the forest ends. At least two or three of them."

Liz grinned. "Four, to be precise."

Uncle Vanya nodded. "You see, Olgerd? Liz has been leveling up Perception. That's her class ability. No wonder she can see and feel much more than you and I can."

"Hush," she brought a finger to her lips. Her pointy ears twitched in a most funny way like two radars.

"They're coming," she whispered. "From the north. They're moving openly."

"Either our guys have won the castle back," Uncle Vanya said, "in which case they're going to mop up all the locations. Alternatively, the Darkies might have broken through. Which doesn't look good."

If I had any hopes for a quick end to our excursion, Liz had now dashed them. "Darkies," she whispered, pressing her back into the rock.

Very soon I got the chance to see for myself. I found a tiny crack in the rocks which allowed me to watch a small area about fifty feet away from us.

There were indeed ten of them: a few warriors, an archer and a wizard, judging by his robes. Actually, no. Not ten. Fourteen. Just as Liz had said. Four more players appeared out of thin air, like the monster in that good old movie,
Predator
.

One of them was a crossbowman, the remaining three also archers. They were saying something to a burly warrior in dark armor. I couldn't hear the words, but judging by their body language, they were reporting to him.

Invisibility, she'd said? What a useful skill. I really had to look into it.

I'd thought their levels would be higher but no, they were all below 180. Uncle Vanya had been right. They'd come here searching for easy prey.

"That's it," Uncle Vanya suddenly said in his normal voice. "Enough hiding. Come on, get out."

"Why?" I whispered. "They're gonna hear you!"

He beamed and stood up, reaching for the battle axe behind his back. "Let them hear! Why not?"

He walked out from behind the boulder and headed calmly toward the Darkies.

I watched him, unblinking. Whatever had come over him? One moment he'd been sitting there quiet as a mouse hushing everyone up, and now he was walking toward them? They'd noticed him, too! What were we supposed to do?

A tap on my shoulder distracted me from the scene. I turned round.

Liz behind me was grinning. "Come with me. It's gonna be hot here in a moment. Not a good place to be for the likes of us."

"Sorry, I don't understand. Can you explain?"

She opened her mouth when a loud popping sound assaulted our eardrums. I squeezed my eyes shut. When I reopened them, a portal already gaped open not fifty feet away, disgorging high-level players with weapons at the ready and happy smiles on their faces. There were at least thirty of them. I saw Varn and a few other Guiding Eyes. So!

Liz gave me a smile. "Do you see now?"

"Yeah... sort of... I think..." I managed, admiring the soldiers of Light.

"What Uncle Vanya did, he forwarded our coordinates to Varn who threw a group together. They're about to make mincemeat out of the Darkies. Come on now, it's not a healthy place for you and me. If you get grazed by a spell, you'll spend the next few days healing. Same for me. I'm not tough enough to join this kind of fray. I'm still kinda small for this sort of battle. Let's go."

* * *

"You! I thought you'd forgotten all about the old man, dammit!"

The face of Master Adkhur lit up with a happy smile. I looked around, taking in the fresh air. This place just felt so good. Nothing had changed since my first visit: the same hut clinging to the base of a gigantic tree, the same walls overgrown with yellow moss, the tiny window...

Master Adkhur hadn't changed, either: a long gray beard full of twigs, pine needles and bits of dried leaves; the wide-brimmed straw hat and the green robe — he looked just like a big fat mushroom.

That day, Liz had taken me to the nearest portal station as promised. We'd bidden our goodbyes, then I hurried to the Woods of Lirtia hoping to solve yet another one of Pierrot's mysteries.

Unwilling to arrive empty-handed, I'd stopped at a shop to buy two flasks of wine and lots of various treats, including some for the spotted kitty.

It felt so good walking through a warm, sunlit forest: a welcome change from the drizzly Drammen and the Citadel.

"I've brought you some gifts," I smiled to the old man. "I haven't forgotten anyone, I think," I gave a meaningful nod at the lynx who rewarded me with her signature yellow stare. "Does she like fish?"

"Does she ever! Are you going to lure her away too?" his voice rang with mocking anger. "You must have sold the Grison already, dammit!" his cunning eyes squinted at me.

"Of course I didn't. How could I? I'd feel so lonely without Prankster."

I meant it. The little black joker was the best medicine against any gloomy thoughts.

I activated the charm. Prankster appeared in the blink of an eye as usual. It took him a split second to take in his surroundings. His black shadow flashed through the air as, squeaking victoriously, he darted for the hut and climbed the roof.

"That's it," Master Adkhur sighed. "The roof is finished now."

"Pranky!" I said. "Behave yourself."

The Grison twitched his rounded ears as in, 'yeah, I heard you,' and continued inspecting the straw and moss of the roof.

"No way!" the old Ennan exclaimed. "Lita, did you see that? He listens to our Olgerd!"

The lynx lazily turned her head in the hut's direction, then continued staring at me.

Oh, look! Her name had appeared in a frame above her head.
Lita, a Spotted Lynx
! I froze, stupefied, as I peered at her stats.

Jesus Christ. Level four hundred freakin' fifty? Pierrot played it big and proper. Not every clan could afford a pet like this. You'd need to call up a raid to smoke one of these. And I didn't even know Master Adkhur's level, either. If the truth were known, I hadn't even thought about it.

Secondly, her combat stats. Loads of different kinds of protection from all sorts of magic as well as physical damage. Her attacking skills didn't leave much to be desired, either. Little as I knew about this stuff, I got the impression that this small spotted kitty was a veritable killing machine.

"Ah, so you've already met each other," Master Adkhur hid a smile in his gray beard. "Come in, don't stand outside. I can see you're going to treat the old man to all sorts of fancy goodies."

While I emptied my bag, Adkhur produced some clay cups and plates from a small cupboard. Finally, we sat down at the table. Adkhur uncorked the flask, sniffed first the cork and then the flask itself.

"Excellent," he said. "You seem to know your wines."

He filled the tall narrow glasses with the grenadine-color liquid.

"So, Sir Olgerd? Here's to the future of the Der Swyor Clan!"

"To its power!" I joined.

We clinked our glasses and turned our attention to the food.

"I can see the Grison has accepted you," Master Adkhur took another sip of his wine.

I shrugged. "Not a problem. He's a very good boy."

"A word of warning: don't miss the moment when he begins to grow. They can get quite uncontrollable."

"Thanks for the tip."

"You're welcome," he stuffed a large salad leaf into his mouth. "That's what we can do. When he grows up a little, come back here, both of you."

A new system message came as a surprise,

New Quest alert: Grow Big and Strong

Once your pet reaches level 1, show him to Master Adkhur.

Reward: a choice of two starting skills for your pet

Accept: Yes/No

I clicked
Yes
. But what was the point? My Grison was doomed to forever remain zero-level just as I was.

"Agreed," I said. "What would I do without you, Master?"

"Excellent," his voice rang with approval. "These days young people do things their own way. And once they screw everything up, they come running to the old and wise like guilty puppies."

The wine seemed to affect him just like it had the last time. I'd better close the quest before he falls asleep again. I opened my mouth to speak but he beat me to it,

"I completely forgot, dammit! Didn't you show me one of Brolgerd's shticks last time? Have you managed to find out anything?"

My hands shook with excitement as I produced the feather from my bag. "Here, Master. I've checked the Nest of Rocks as you told me. I found a skeleton... er... actually, the place was chock full of bones. But that particular skeleton had this buckle on."

He frowned shortsightedly. "Oh. I see. It's one of those buckles our riders used to wear. Useful item. You keep it. You never know, you might need it."

Congratulations! You've received an item: a Buckle from a Combat Belt from the legendary Wings of Death armor set.

I stared at its stats, flabbergasted.

Name: A Wings of Death Belt Buckle

Effect: +150 to Strength

Effect: +100 to Protection

Effect: +250 to Endurance

Effect: +150 to Stamina

Restrictions: Only Ennan race

Level: 50