The Citadel (Mirror World Book #2) (8 page)

Oh. Nothing good. The level 270 creature didn't look like a hedgehog at all. If anything, it resembled a Komodo dragon with a long head and a jawful of crooked fangs. His back was covered with long spikes from his neck right down to the end of his long tail. Despite the creature's seeming clumsiness, it moved very quickly.

Several players had already engaged the creature, including my wizard. I counted seven in total — the wizard being the highest-level of them all.

Three of the fighters hurried to put all of their combat training to good use. Judging by their coordinated actions, they must have been a group. But in general, the melee didn't seem particularly well-organized. The players must have teamed up in a hurry using whatever skills each of them had. A level-150 Rock Rhoggh was doing the tanking, expertly focusing the mob's aggro on himself. Problem was, even I could see he was no match for it.

Despite being outnumbered, the hedgehog seemed to control the situation. It may sound weird but the creature seemed to attack and defend itself by the book.

Its long spiky tail lashed about, meting out blows. Each such hit stripped the mob's opponent of quite a lot of Life; every other hit also added some nasty poison debuff to the damage. That's not forgetting his fangs and his powerful legs.

Even I could see that if the cavalry didn't arrive pretty quickly, these brave seven would die a valiant death without really dealing much damage to the monster.

Very well. It looked like I'd outstayed my welcome here. Time to leg it.

Just as I activated my bot, another couple of players darted out from around the corner of a crumbled house. Their vital stats were in the red. Both were hung with the familiar nasty debuffs. Their eyes were wide open, their mouths contorted by fear and desperation. The two miserable excuses for warriors dashed past me, gasping and screaming for help.

What happened next I'd probably remember for the rest of my life. It was like watching a movie in slow motion. No idea what had saved me: it could have been the warning growl of the approaching behemoth or the aforementioned corner of the demolished house that the giant spiky Komodo dragon had swept away in its stride. Could be a bit of both, I suppose. I leaped awkwardly aside, saving the local road builders the trouble of picking my miserable remains out of the cracks between the cobblestones.

The monster rumbled past, roaring its fury as it caught up with the hapless players. Not only had they failed to stop the creature themselves, they'd pulled it toward us, as well! Now the Alven wizard was toast, that's for sure.

The screaming players never reached the scene of combat though. The hedgehog caught up with them. Even I, snuggling in the dust on a pile of debris, heard the snapping sound of its jaws. The dead players' bodies promptly faded into the air, leaving behind two neat trunkfuls of various gaming goodies they'd earned with their own hard labor.

I wondered if grave robbing was common in the Citadel, imagining the two hapless players — barefoot and in their white starting underpants — scurrying back double quick to pick up their stuff.

In three long leaps the hedgehog reached the scene of combat and joined in the fight, making the situation much worse for the seven players. After a couple of minutes, the two monsters had brought their number down to three. Surprisingly, the last men standing were the tanking Rhoggh, the Alven wizard and a gnome crossbowman. Despite his seemingly cumbersome armor, the Rhoggh fluttered around like a butterfly over a meadow, dealing powerful blows right, left and center. Admittedly, it cost him a great number of Life points. Had it not been for the wizard busy healing him non-stop, the fight might have already been over.

The wizard had it rough. Ignoring his own protection, he poured all of his own mana into the Rhoggh's life support. The gnome looked the healthiest of all three. His Life was firmly in the green. Not a single debuff. He just stood behind the wizard's back, methodically loosing off bolts.

Even I could see that the moment the Rhoggh went down, that would be the end of them. Neither the gnome nor the wizard would last a few seconds without him. What a shame. They were giving it their all. I couldn't take my eyes off them even though I was supposed to be hightailing it for dear life.

I was about to scramble to my feet when the inevitable finally happened: the Rhoggh died. His body dissolved into thin air. The wizard attempted to redirect the leftover mana to his own defense but also flew into the air, struck by a powerful blow from the mob's spiky tail. He landed amid the ruins of the building: I clearly saw some of the brickwork collapse on top of him.

Seeing their luck finally turn, the gnome darted toward the main square. The two hedgehogs didn't appreciate their opponent's behavior. Their disappointed roaring echoed through the streets as they set off after him. Judging by the gnome's impressive head start, he had every chance of avoiding the sad fate of turning into a chestful of goodies sitting on the cobblestones.

Finally, the whole cacophony of the clattering of weapons mixed with the monsters' deafening roar, all the screaming of players and the noise of buildings collapsing died away. Silence enveloped the street. The dreadful sounds of battle still reached out from a distance.

It might be a good idea to stay put and sit it out — or should I say hide out? There was still fifteen minutes left until the magic shield restored. The earth wasn't quaking anymore which probably meant that the Calteans had stopped shelling the fortress. That was good. Pretty good.

While I was still lying about with nothing better to do, I decided to take in my surroundings. The street had been hit hard. It would take a good six months to restore it. Lots of work for the builders. Then again, they shouldn't complain: they'd be looking at a nice growth in skill levels plus all sorts of bonuses.

Actually, I really should seek the Alven wizard out and repay him in kind. He'd saved my bacon, after all. The lane where I'd been hiding was now a mess of rockfall: the house walls had succumbed to the aftershocks. I dreaded to think what might have happened to me had I lingered there a little longer.

But what was that? The Calteans' hedgehog trap was still there. How interesting. Should I take a peek, maybe? If I moved along the walls, lurking in the shadows... The street looked deserted but I already knew from experience how deceptive could this silence be.

Right, what did we have here?

The trap looked like a cluster of cobwebs made up of chains instead of threads. Judging by the thick layer of rust, the trap's owners didn't care much about its storing conditions. It was approximately six by six foot in size. How on earth had that enormous hedgehog even fit within?

Jesus, what was I talking about? What rust? What size? Wake up, Olgerd! This is a game!

Casting wary looks around, I ventured closer. How very interesting.

Name: A Magic Steel Net

Effect: Thanks to the ancient magic lore of the Founders, it can trap a wild animal and keep it inside for an indefinite period of time.

Restriction 1: Only for animals below level 310

Restriction 2: Only for animals inhabiting No-Man's Lands.

Player's level: 0 and above

Status: discharged

Warning! Binds on pickup!

Warning! The item expires in,

01:49...

01:48...

01:47...

Would you like to pick up the item? Yes/No

I cast another look around. Would picking it up make me a scavenger? I didn't have any right to it, after all. Then again, the hedgehog that it used to confine was still out and about. It was probably out at the main square now, busy laying down the law together with the other monster.

I had very little idea of the game's rules in this respect. Who had the right to this trophy? I'd never thought I might ever need to know things like that. But still, if anyone wanted to claim it, they were conspicuous by their absence. Besides, whoever deserved it must have been busy by the Altar now. No way they could make it here within the remaining minute and a half.

Finally, I came up with a plan. I would wait till the last second, then pick the thing up. It was going to disappear, anyway. Why should I waste it, even if I had no idea what I might need it for? My bag had already become a collection of useless objects. If it went on like this, soon I would look like a walking flea market full of weird artifacts.

I diligently waited another minute, then took a look around. No one. My conscience was clear.

I clicked
Yes.

With a jolt, the net curled itself into a tight steel ball and disappeared inside my bag.

Let's have a look. Predictably, the item's countdown timer had disappeared. Now the Caltean trap was safe in my inventory until I could use it. Alternatively, I could always discard it. Not necessarily... but if push came to shove...

Talking about using it: I immediately received a new system message informing me that I could only use the net once. No idea how and when that was going to happen, but it was good to know. And I still had to recharge it! All in all, it was going to cost me a good 2000 pt. Energy.

The item's charging scheme was different from that of the Replicator I'd assembled. The system suggested I synchronize my energy source with the magic network. To put it simply, I was expected to become the item's power supply by channeling some of my daily allotment of energy into the thingy until it accumulated enough to function properly.

So it looked like I'd got myself another leech syphoning off my powers. Having said that, I could now afford to part with a couple hundred points Energy.

I pressed
Confirm Synchronization
. Let the thing charge up. Little by little... you never know, something might come out of it.

I couldn't help thinking about the Alven wizard. Was he already dead — or was he lying somewhere bleeding to death, buried under some collapsed building? I really needed to go and check on him. Of course, the most logical decision would be to switch the bot back on and continue looking for Captain Gard, but I couldn't just leave without first finding out what had happened to him.

As I walked, I kept coming across weird-looking piles of stones. They looked identically neat, each stone like the next. They weren't big: if you topped them with a cross or a tombstone, they'd look just like a proper grave. How interesting.

Finally, I came to the place where, in my estimation, the wizard must have landed. I saw the collapsed wall — and underneath, another one of those piles of stones. Could it really be a grave? Even though, as I already knew, if a player died in battle, he left a chest containing all his in-game possessions behind.

When I walked closer, I could finally see what it was.

Name: A Pile of Brick Rubble

Type: Simple

Name of the casualty: Marcus

Expires in: 2 days

I began reading a rather longish list of item restrictions but was distracted by a voice from behind my back,

"Cool grave, eh?"

I turned round and grinned to the wizard. "You look different."

"This is what they call a birthday suit," Marcus pointed mockingly at his white starting underpants.

"Mind telling me what this is?" I pointed at the grave.

"This is a Pile of Rubble. One of Mirror World's signature tricks. The moment I hit the wall, I got buried by bricks."

"Is it a trap?"

"Unfortunately. Now I'll have to wait for a rescue team or some builders to arrive and dug out my stuff," Marcus heaved a sigh.

"Do you mean that getting buried in one of those means they have to save you in two days max?"

"Yeah. And this is a simple two-day Pile. If you get caught in one of these somewhere in No-Man's Lands, you can safely log out for a couple of weeks and take your family on vacation," Marcus began to explain. "Okay, so normally I don't care about low-level traps like this one. Today was different though. I had too many debuffs plus I got caught, plus the mob had critted me. Shit! My stuff is trapped there now. I've just resurrected in the Central Square and here I am, as large as life and twice as ugly, lecturing you on the dangers of Mirror World."

"Do you want to say that if a high-level player gets caught in a trap like this... especially if he's in good form..."

"Any level 30-plus will get out of it, no problem," Marcus interrupted me, looking around for someone to help him. "But this is a simple one. A player of your level should steer clear of them. Unless you're-"

He cut himself short and turned back to me, beaming. "So stupid of me! You're a Mine Digger, right? Come on, then! Didn't you say you owed me? Quick, dig my stuff out!"

"Can I do that?" I asked, unsure.

"You bet! You're the right person! Shifting rocks is your job!" he rubbed his hands in glee. "Come on, get on with it!"

Unhesitantly I pulled my pick out of my bag and took a swing.

You've tried to clear a Pile of Brick Rubble.

-3 to the item's durability.

Durability: 17/20