Project Daily Grind (Mirror World Book #1) (32 page)

He smiled. “But as you can see, they failed. You and I, we’re still around. And so is this little fellow,” he paused, pensive, then looked up at me. “You know what? Take him with you! He won’t leave me in peace anyway, dammit. Just look at him! He really likes you, doesn’t he?”

I snickered. “He likes my cheese, that’s what it is!”

He shook his head. “Don’t say that. You don’t understand. Once a Black Grison has chosen a master, it’s... it’s
for good
.”

As if in confirmation, the little brute stretched in his sleep and hugged my finger with his tiny paws. I looked at him closer. Christina would have liked him. Decisions, decisions…

“But what do you want me to do with him?” I asked. ‘Where do I keep him? If he’s always so hyperactive, I won’t last very long.”

“Hyperactive?”

Master Adkhur reached into his pocket and pulled something out. I thought I noticed a faint bluish glow enveloping his clenched fingers. The Grison disappeared. Into thin air. Just like that.

I stared in disbelief at my arm where this little bandit had been fast asleep only a moment ago.

“That’s it!” Master Adkhur offered me a small shiny round object. “Take it, dammit! It’s yours now!”

Congratulations! You’ve just completed a quest: Black Devil.

Reward: a Black Grison Summoning Charm

Chapter Thirty-Two

W
e spent some quality time talking about the clan and its history, about life underground and the joys of mining. Master Adkhur literally buried me under a cartload of historical facts. True, it might be of little use for me personally. Ditto for the little charm I kept fumbling with. What was I going to do with my new pet, tell me, Mr. Pierrot? Was it a new addition to my collection of useless junk like this Replicator I was supposed to put together the same evening? Where exactly did the nutty programmer’s offerings simplify my life? The Shrewd Operator and the Master level, now that was different. I was eternally grateful to Pierrot for those. Problem was, I shouldn’t stick my neck out. The second profession—the stuff of Flint’s group’s dreams—had proven to be a major waste of time and energy. And the feather... wait! The feather! How could I’ve forgotten!

My hands shaking, I reached into my knapsack and offered the silver feather to the already drowsy man. “Sir Adkhur, do you know what this is?”

He peered shortsightedly at it. “Oh, yes,” he hiccupped. “This is the feather of the Night Hunter. A gift to King Tobold I. If I’m not mistaken, it was Brolgerd who made it.”

My virtual heart thumped twice as quickly. “You don’t happen to remember its properties, do you?”

He shrugged. “I’m sorry, my boy...”

I suppressed a sigh of disappointment.

Master Adkhur must have understood how I felt. “Mind if I ask you a question? Where did you get this from?”

So I told him the whole story.

When I’d finished, Adkhur paused, thinking, then began mumbling, half-asleep, “The Misty Mountains, you said... Why not? You never know...”

He must have come to a decision as he yawned again, “I think that’s where you might find the answer.”

New quest alert: Journey to the Misty Mountains!

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.

Reward: Unknown

Accept: Yes/No

I double-checked the task and pressed
Yes
. My satnav pinged, suggesting a new route. I opened the map. The red line of my future journey led toward No-Man’s Lands. That’s where these Misty Mountains were located. Oh. Talk about all roads leading to Rome.

The sound of healthy snoring filled the room, distracting me from the map. Master Adkhur had already snuggled up in his chair, oblivious to the world. The clock showed 6 p.m. I’d way outstayed my welcome. Time to move it.

Slowly so as not to disturb the old man, I rose from the table. I really should have found something to cover him up with as it was possible that he might not move from his chair all night.

I looked around and noticed a comforter on his bed. Just what the doctor ordered. Gently I covered the old man with it. The comforter was soft and smelled of herbs. Good. But... Of course he was only an NPC and still he’d done so much for me already. What could I give him in return? Then again, what
did
I have?

Having said that... I might leave him two Stamina elixirs. One of them seemed to have worked for Grilby.

Two vials left my belt and floated onto the table. Good. That’s it. Time to get going.

I made sure the door didn’t slam as I closed it and walked out. The beautiful spotted cat still lounged by the entrance. Funny but now it didn’t look as dangerously predatory. Two friendly yellow eyes followed my every move.

“See you around, kitty,” I whispered happily and headed toward the grove.

I was so deep in thought that later I couldn’t remember how long it had taken me to get back. When I came round, I was already standing inside the Portal Center. So! This Pierrot sure knew how to get a man thinking.

The portal jump was predictably easy—routinely so. Lots of things in this virtual world had already become part of my daily life. I wasn’t yet sure whether this was a good or a bad thing.

Nighttime Mellenville buzzed, partying, as the capital celebrated the Barren Plateau victory. Many passersby clutched colorful little flags with the winning clans’ logos. Wherever you turned, you could hear upbeat music and cheering for the generals of Light. The sky exploded with fireworks. The game designers were having a ball! I lingered, taking in the magnificent scene.

The inn was the same as I’d left it, as if I’d only popped out for a couple of minutes. It was packed solid. I got the impression that there were more serving girls, too. The screens kept replaying the morning’s victory from every possible angle: apparently, some players had already uploaded their videos to the local net. Wow. I absolutely had to watch the whole thing again. But now I had work to do.

My room was strangely quiet. The walls blanketed out any noise. Why couldn’t they do that in real life? I’d been to Barcelona once on a business trip. I’d arrived late at night and had a meeting with a client early the next morning. I’d have given anything for a good night’s sleep. Just my luck: that same night, the local team defeated Real Madrid. Long story short, everyone arrived at the meeting red-eyed from lack of sleep. The city went on celebrating for another week.

Peace and quiet was exactly what I needed now. A Stamina elixir in hand, I made myself comfortable in the chair. Right. Last stage. Let’s assemble this mysterious Replicator thing.

I opened the blueprints.

Warning! In order to assemble Replicator, you will need:

A Sensory Spiral

A Steel Stand

A Support

A Condenser

A Crystalline panel

Warning! In order to assemble Replicator, you need 1500 pt. of pure Energy!

Would you like to assemble Replicator: Yes/No

Oh. It wasn’t going to be easy. Never mind.

I pressed
Yes
.

Congratulations! You’ve assembled a Replicator!

You’ve received +75 to your skill.

Current skill: 200

Congratulations! Your professional level has grown! You're a Class 1 Engineering Designer now!

The maximum skill limit for your current profession level: 400.

When I finally came back to my senses, I realized I was holding a smallish object that vaguely resembled a microscope. Oh. That Energy drop had really crushed me. But if you think about it, it wasn’t that bad after all.

I fidgeted with the gizmo for a bit, then shoved it in my knapsack. What about the blueprints?

Indeed there was a new design available! Great. Let’s get going!

Congratulations! You’ve studied a design: Unworked Charm of Arakh

To build an Unworked Charm of Arakh, you will need:

A fragment of Blue Ice.

My satnav kicked back to life,

Would you like to locate the source of Blue Ice?

I had a funny feeling I already knew where that might be. Still, I clicked
Search
.

So, Sir Olgerd! Let’s take stock of what we’d done. On one hand, I hadn’t deviated from the original plan. I’d say more: I was currently ahead of schedule. I’d had myself registered in Mellenville—and in an NPC inn, no less. My Reputation with Mellenville kept growing. Soon I’d be able to apply to the bank for loan instructions—but that only after I signed a new longer-term work contract. This was my sole trump card. I had neither property nor guarantors left.

On the other hand, nutty Pierrot kept sending all sorts of weird items and quests my way. Even this Replicator...

I reached into my knapsack and produced the freshly-assembled machine. What on earth could it be? It did indeed look a bit like a school microscope. But that was only from the outside. In reality, it was nothing like. It had no buttons or little wheels, no lenses—nothing of the kind.

Replicator. A Replicator. Could its name be the clue? It could be anything, really. It could copy things. Duplicate them. It could clone stuff. Another funny thing was, I hadn’t yet received the activation message. Putting it plainly, I’d just assembled God knows what.

Now, the second design. Blue Ice, it said? I opened the auction. A quick search produced exactly nothing. According to this search, there was no such resource in Mirror World, period.

Okay. Let’s see what my satnav had found.

Of course. Just what I thought it would be. There was only one place where you could farm Blue Ice: the so-called North Mine. Had it not been for the Map of Der Swyor Clan’s Trade Routes (courtesy of Pierrot), my bot would never have found it on its own. I made a mental note to check all the forums for any No-Man’s Lands maps as soon as I logged out. I should have done it earlier. No wonder: before, I’d only been interested in mining locations. But things seemed to be taking a very interesting turn...

Now the location itself. That was the most interesting thing about it. The North Mine was located in the neutral zone. It was the farthest-flung, God-forsaken shithole at the furthermost periphery of Mirror World, to be precise. No idea how I was supposed to get there. Most likely, even the crème de la crème of Mirror World players weren’t interested in going there. So it looked like I hit a brick wall in this particular direction.

Oh. Bummer. What could I say? I’d have to keep on mining, wouldn’t I? All that time wasted on assembling a stupid machine!

Never mind. What was it Master Grilby had said?
Do not despair
... Okay, so I won’t. Now the feather. What had the other Master said? The Misty Mountains.

I checked the map. That looked more doable... sort of. The location was just next door to No-Man’s Lands. Wait, wait. This was a stone’s throw from the Maragar Citadel, the one that Terminal #572 had so insistently invited me to. Yes, that’s right... look... here’s the Raldian Ridge... the Black Stream… and to their right, the Misty Mountains.

I sat back, deep in thought. What was the probability of me, a humble Mine Digger, finding the said Nest of Rocks without getting into trouble? If the truth were known, trouble was my middle name. On the other hand, I only had one characteristic of the Feather left to open. Three I knew already—without spending a penny, mind you. If, by some miracle, I discovered its effect, it just might bring me closer to my objective. You never know. All I could do now was hope for the best.

And talking about the Ennans’ Elders, I had two more of them to visit: Satis and Axe the Terrible. According to Pierrot’s prompt, all these NPCs were experts in their professions. Grilby was more or less clear. He was an Engineering Designer who’d given me his passion for his lifework. Now if I only knew what his lifework had been about...

Master Adkhur was a forest spirit. What did the description say? He was the Patron of the Younger Race. He too was more or less clear. He lived in the forest and seemed to be happy with his lot. It looked like he was the lord of the animal realm. Or something along those lines. Pierrot, my tireless well-wisher, had placed these two in the lands of Light. Apparently, he’d wanted me to start my search here. Unlike Grilby’s, Adkhur’s name hadn’t disappeared from the map which meant we had to meet again.

Next. Master Axe the Terrible. The valorous monster slayer who wore his underpants on the outside. He might try to beknight me. If he did, he’d be disappointed. I was a Mine Digger, and no mistake. Here in Mirror World, a Grinder was supposed to stick to his trade.

Axe the Terrible resided in a location known as Sleepy Valley, not far from the Twilight Citadel which I’d have loved to visit. Still, at the moment it was out of my league.

The fourth Elder: Master Satis. He seemed to control some kind of force or element. Also, apparently he was a very smart guy. A warlock, if I’d understood correctly. His Ice Tower was located to the north of No-Man’s Lands. That entire region was colored white on the map. Incidentally, that’s where my Blue Ice was located too.

That seemed to be it. I heaved a sigh and produced the round silvery charm Adkhur had given me. A curled-up marten had been minted on it. The charm’s reverse side featured what I believed to be the coat of arms of the Der Swyor clan: a triangular shield being at its center, supported by two Black Grisons. Unlike my little bandit, they looked strong and threatening. Dangerous.

I couldn’t work out the motto. The language looked like nothing I’d ever encountered. I had a funny feeling there was no dictionary in the world that could translate this.

Now. What else?

Name: The Black Grison summoning charm

Effect: Allows you to summon your pet

Restriction: Only Ennan Race

And how was I supposed to summon you? Hadn’t Master Adkhur clutched the charm in his hand?

I copied his actions exactly as I remembered them. Yes!