The Secret of the Dark Forest ( (The Way of the Shaman: Book #3) (22 page)

"Of course, I'll send it to my guys. They'll pick this line apart into all its constituent elements. So, you trust me so much now that you're not even demanding an Agreement?"

"I have to trust someone in this game, so why not you?"

"And yet the Karmadont Chess Pieces are still a no-go zone?"

The girl's question caught me completely flat-footed, so I had to close my eyes and silently count to ten as I tried to keep my emotions in check. All I wanted to do right now was grab Anastaria by the shoulders and shake all the baloney out of her. How long can she badger me with these chess figurines? I opened my eyes, looked at the grinning girl and counted to ten once again, but slower and more thoughtfully this time. No, things can't carry on like this. The matter of the chess pieces has to be settled once and for all, or I'll spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, to see if Anastaria was there, waiting to make her move.

"You're a strange one, Stacey. Sometimes I get the feeling that you're not even human, just some soulless machine bent on pursuing its aim, oblivious to anyone or anything else." The girl was silent, so I couldn't think of anything better to do than to take out all the Orc Warriors and put them in her lap. "If these things can make you risk your character by misusing the Sirens' Poison and you can't help constantly bringing them up and teasing me about them, then clearly your life isn't complete without them. They're yours. Your peace of mind is worth more to me than a collection of algorithms. Take them and do what you like with them."

That's it. The die had been cast – as one of the ancients said, there's nowhere left to retreat, the bridges are burnt. As soon as I spoke the phrase 'they're yours', the owner of the figurines changed and I no longer had any claim over them, except authorship. Now, even if I came to my senses and decided to take the Orcs back, my fingers would go right through them. To be honest, I was playing it far from straight with her by giving her only the Orc Warriors, staying stubbornly silent about the Dwarves. She could think that's because I did it in the heat of the moment. I made my move, now it was Anastaria's turn. All our future relations depended on what would happen next.

"One of the Orc Warriors from the Karmadont Chess Set," said Anastaria thoughtfully, turning the figurine around in her hands. "You have no idea what I would've been prepared to do to get my hands on them, and here you just gave them to me, without any conditions at all. ... Not so long ago I wouldn't have given a second thought to immediately throwing them in my bag. But now ... I had to know for sure that the Chess Pieces did in fact exist – that it wasn't some error in the Game code, which spread this announcement throughout Malabar. Here," Anastaria handed the figurines over to me, "they're yours. No-one in this game apart from you has any claim over them. There's a reason I was remembering my student days ... as corny as it may sound, you've made me respect you and not just the results of your crafting. Whatever you may think of me, for me a relationship of trust is more important than gold or the Karmadont Chess Pieces. You can buy everything except that ... thank you!" The girl leant over to me and did something completely unexpected: she kissed me. Intensely, passionately, unforgettably ... there were no words.

"All that I ask of you is that no-one else finds out about this kiss." When Stacey drew back, my head was still floating in the clouds amid beautiful dreams. I have no idea how, but an ordinary kiss gave me so much pleasure that, compared to it, any visits to the Dating House seemed to pale into insignificance.

"Judging by your expression, you're not exactly immune to the magic of Delight after all." Anastaria's laughter sounded inside the dome, "I'm sorry, I just had to check. Now I just need to find out why my poison had no effect on you. How do you know about it, by the way?"

Like a giant cold shower these words shook me out of the pink clouds and sent me crashing back down to earth. She really is such a ... woman ... Wothebugs take her!

"I think we've had enough revelations for today." I tried to regain composure, which, despite Anastaria's last phrase, was an uphill struggle: the pink clouds were refusing to let me go and my face still sported a stupidly happy smile that I just couldn't shake off.

"Will you tell me what the other two quests you have are?"

"Will you tell me what you're prepared to give me for them?"

"Without even looking at their descriptions first? The correct answer would be – nothing."

"All right, let's take a different approach. Do you know who the Patriarch of the Vampires is?"

The girl's silence, as well as her wide-eyed surprise, were a clear enough answer to my question. She knew who that was, all right!

"Mahan, this is Ehkiller." The call of the amulet interrupted my intimate meeting with Stacey, allowing her to regain composure and start trying to figure out whether I was bluffing or not. "We've discussed and accepted the Agreement that you've sent. We'll pay the price of one million per participant and will be sending you the list of players in a moment. Please confirm that the location coordinates will appear in the Agreement as soon as it is signed and the money arrives in your account."

"Confirmed, but it shouldn't be my account, rather the account of the Seathistles clan. Thank you for reaching a decision so quickly," I thanked Ehkiller. "I have another question – do you want to start the quest today or tomorrow morning?"

"We will settle the formalities today and start the assignment tomorrow," the Phoenix representative assured me, "Anyone who wishes can join you today, but we'll set out tomorrow morning."

"You know, the more time I spend with you, the more I think that you're a spy for the Corporation," said the girl, now quite recovered, the moment Ehkiller disconnected. "There are just too many coincidences for a simple prisoner, don't you think?"

"No, I can call the Emperor as a witness (although I have no idea how he would be able to check); I have nothing to do with the Corporation. I did work for it once, before the mines, but only odd-jobs here and there."

"You do know that the Patriarch is as legendary a figure as the Dragons? Or that no-one has seen him in the entire 15 years of the Game? But it looks like you're already acquainted with him and all ..."

"I'm afraid I'm not. I have a quest that involves finding him and having a chat about what's going on in the Dark Forest. Can you see the connection with the scenario that I've shared with the top players? The other quest is focused on the Prince and has nothing to do with this place. So, have you decided if you're with me?"

"In the search for the Patriarch? Like you need to ask!"

"Then let's make things clear straight away – you'll be joining us as a mercenary alongside my clan and not as the head of Phoenix. I don't need any extra hangers-on on this quest."

"Mahan, what's taking so long? How many times have you scored already?"

"One more joke like that and I'll dock you 5% of the loot. The Agreement is being signed: the 53 million will soon arrive in our account."

"It's a deal," said Stacey, staring with some puzzlement at my clan, who had started to run around the glade in sheer joy. Even Barsina, who was usually still somewhat reserved, was unable to restrain herself and was embracing Clutzer. I just hope that wouldn't be interpreted as violation of her non-flirtation rule. "You told them that the Agreement's been signed? Look at them. Happy as kids at Christmas. What's your loot allocation amongst the clan?"

"The same as the one I'll be offering you: 70% of all the money gained goes into the clan treasury, 30% on salaries, depending on the level of participation. Loot is allocated by an Imitator. If you're happy with these conditions, with the fact that you'd be a mercenary and not the head of Phoenix, and with not sharing the quest with anyone else, I would be happy to discuss your joining us.

"Reasonable clan demands – I'm ready to sign an Agreement. Who else do you plan to invite, other than your clan?"

"Antsinthepantsa. We'll fail without her."

"You don't like her very much, do you? Why tell one girl that another is indispensable? I'll eat her alive and not bat an eyelid. As if I'd let her hang around my Shaman, when there's not enough of him for me as it is. ... All right, I'll deal with her later. Where's the Agreement?"

"When did I become 'your’ Shaman?"

"Quit nitpicking. Send the Agreement."

"What's the point? It's not like there are any Heralds around to validate it."

"Why do you need the Heralds? They uphold the law only in Malabar; in Kartoss that's done by Magisters and in the Free Lands by Guardians. ... What, didn't you know?"

"To be honest, I'm not exactly an expert on these things. But that isn't important. The Chess Pieces have shown that you wish to lay claim to the title of 'Madam who can be trusted'. Catch the Agreement. Its main feature is the loot allocation, it has no other restrictions."

"That 'Madam' will earn you a slap in the face. While we're on the subject, it’s 'Miss' to you – while standing to attention. And say it like you mean it, please. Let's dispense with Agreements altogether – see who's who in all of this."

"Here it is, then." I shared the High Priestess's quest with Anastaria. "I think people will start arriving in about twenty minutes, so let's wrap things up. They'll get here and what will they see? A huge opaque dome concealing a man and a woman: that leaves too much to the imagination. ..."

Instead of an answer Anastaria was silent for a few seconds while looking directly into my eyes and then, whispering, "I'm being such a fool!" she planted her lips on mine once again. And, for the record, she got no protest out of me. Whatever this Delight was doing, it was working 100%! It felt like gaining five or six levels in your main profession in one go, with Endurance turned off. I'll have to get to the bottom of what this magic was and what one was meant to do with it.

Clan achievement gained: 'Clan of the Oligarchs'

Conditions for Procurement: conduct transactions worth over 40 million gold with the clan treasury within 2 game hours.

5% discount with NPC merchants for all clan members. Now all your trade negotiations with NPCs will end in the words: 'Of course, with a clan like that!'

"Oooh! Adamantium!" Just a minute after Anastaria took down the dome, players began to arrive at the glade. Everyone had the same sequence of reactions: surprise, greedy stares, the growing realization that, unlike the bunch of noobs standing nearby, they had the relevant professions sufficiently leveled up for gathering the high-level resources and, finally, a befuddled expression after walking up to a vein / tree / herb and discovering that the pick hit the ground – the axe went straight through the tree – and that working out the mathematical equation for finding the right point to cut was the only thing they were able to do with the herb. You could only gather something in the Guardian's glade if you had the relevant permission, which I had no intention of handing out for free. Of the ten early arrivals only four agreed to hand over 30% of the resources they gathered to my clan, the rest refused.

"Judging by your pleased expression," Dooki came up to me once players had stopped appearing, "Anastaria had good reason to put up that dome. It's too bad that it doesn't really grow dark in this forest or we could've used you as a giant torch. You're positively glowing! I do, of course, understand that two million each is a good addition to our retirement fund, but even this can't make a guy look THAT pleased. Are you gonna spill the beans?"

"What the hell?" As I was trying to think of a sharp comeback for my second Rogue, a surprised shout echoed through the glade. I didn't immediately realize where the sound had come from, but when I did, we were a player down: one of those who refused to benefit the Seathistles clan with his labor had decided to go sightseeing and had stepped out into the mists of the surrounding forest. Judging by the map of this area, the Dark Forest was a location for 100-level players, so supposedly high-level players had nothing to fear around here. Yeah, right! It was hard to imagine what forces were lurking in the surrounding twilight if someone with level 288 went down in close to ten seconds.

"YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO OPPOSE ME." The forest once again shook with reverberations, but this time an hour-long 'Fear' debuff was slapped on us, which reduced all stats by 5%. Looks like that Lieutenant had finally dropped in for a chat. I don't remember the Sergeant having such abilities. It was a completely different voice too. "I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

"Mahan," Anastaria took a break from the herbs and stared at me, just as all the other players that had arrived in the glade were doing, "is there something you want to tell us?"

Realizing that keeping things to myself was no longer an option, I recounted everything about the Cursed Wothe, its warning about the Vampires and its assurance that in this zone neither I nor any of my group had anything to fear. Speaking of the group ... I immediately sent an invite to each new arrival, even the gatherers, mentally thanking the Fallen for not flooding the glade with arrows just yet. The local NPC-minions probably didn't think that I could be so ... imprudent, I think that's the word. If only I had thought about the group straight away, Anastaria would've been able to get the player out on pure reflex, simply by seeing his frame. She would've thrown a bubble over him or would've cast something on him. Hmm ... altogether too many 'wouldas' here. In the end we have what we have, so all the 'shoulda woulda couldas' are a bit pointless.