(World of Valdira 01) The Way of the Clan (19 page)

I examined the girl in a new look and nodded my head with approval. More than good for the Cradle. Rats certainly won’t be a problem. So it’s time to discuss the main question.

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What strategy have we got?

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It’s simple – Keira answered trying her sword – You may laugh at it but first I must level up, say, level four at least. Five will be better but it’s ideally. The gear is good enough – I suppose I won’t be able to find better. So let’s do the following – I’m going to sort out with rats, then switch to more serious mobs. Are beavers still swimming in the pond?

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Yup – I confirmed shrinking subconsciously since I thought about crawling on the oozy bottom yesterday.

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And to crown it all I’ll try to complete a couple of quests to gain experience – Keira summed up – As for the characters development. You distributed all your attribute points, didn’t you?

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Yup. Absolutely. No spare point left.

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Considering your weapon you can’t be a swordsman – Keira chuckled turning something in her mind – But you’re a warrior with an emphasis on strength and agility, right? A pure physio.

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Exactly – I confirmed again – Strength, agility and stamina are over ten points each. Gosha told me to level up my PC a bit, I think I overfulfilled his request.

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Absolutely! What’s your life level?

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One hundred seventy points currently. That’s a very good life capacity for the Cradle.

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I don’t ask you about mana – there’s no use of it here without magic… So actually I’m also a warrior, but to advance I gonna contribute into strength and agility. I won’t develop stamina much just to survive a couple of hits. Then you’re a tank and I’m a damage-dealer. That’s why you’d better find one more shield. If you can’t do it, I’ll give you mine. Anyway, plus two points to the protection bonus are useful. As for weapon, you’ll take a dagger and a sword – if we have enough money…

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Wait – I raised my hand to stop words lava flowing on me – Then I won’t be able to use the stuff properly by one hand. I’ll have to change weapon. That’s a pity… as my crushing hit has been advanced by three points. Maybe not the sword. I can take a one-handed axe. A cluster: an axe + a shield. My axe-handling skill is also advanced a bit.

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It can work – after thinking for a while Keira agreed – So the main idea is the following: I’m responsible for hitting, you’re for protecting. Then we’ll break through. Let’s practice fighting together as a team in the evening. We can use the beavers.

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Stop. In the evening? – I got amazed. – Did I miss anything?

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We can get the tournament quest only late evening – the girl opened her hands wide – Thus, we’ve the following plan – Everyone is doing their things. I’m leveling up. You are trying to find an axe and a shield. After lunch I’ll PM you to inform that I’m ready. Then we’ll meet at the pond, team up and start tearing down beavers and other mobs on our way. Now the most important: we must act in one team. Only you and me. If a gamer asks to join our party, tell him to get lost. I’ll be the leader. Together we’ll have to kill ninety-nine mobs sharp while winning all, you see, all the fights. That means we can neither die nor run away.

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To kill ninety-nine mobs?

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Yup… - the grey-eyed burst out laughing shrugging her shoulders – Sounds wild, doesn’t it? But that’s the only way to get the highest award of the tournament. I’ll explain all details in the cookshop in the evening when we’re celebrating our ninety-nine victories. We’ll paint the town red!

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To say that you’ve confused me is to say nothing – I sniffed and shook my head buzzing due to the absurd information flow.

Good news is that I won’t have to count killed mobs by hand – a team’s statistics among other necessary and unnecessary information reflects the number of fights fulfilled. But ninety-nine mobs? Why such a strange number? Sure numbers can be even bigger. Once being Crashshot I was asked to help villagers get rid of bloodsucking bats… I spent at the cave almost two days and killed over two hundred bats total… But in the Cradle?

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Ok, don’t waste your time – Keira waved to me and walked away.

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Good luck with rats! – I cried at her back and then added in a low voice - Keireya the Protectress… oh sh-sugar. What’s happening?! What’s the bloody tournament?! Holy cow! Gosha! Damn it…

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Good morning!

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What? – I turned around to face a shy smiling guy dressed as a beginner shifting from one foot to another – What do you need?

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I? Certainly, some stuff! Well… a cloak, high boots, weapon! The same as you gave the girl! But would you be so kind to give me two daggers instead of a sword and a shield? I’m a two-handed killer! Possessing magic!

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What?! Buddy, what do you mean? What’s the hell happening? A cloak? Weapon?

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The same as you gave that girl! – the guy was obviously losing his temper – I’m also a beginner! You’re… how do they call you… heaper, right?

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What did you say?!

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Heaper! Oh, no, sorry! Helper! You’re a helper, aren’t you? Well, a dude who helps all beginners at the entrance, gives advice, weapon, sends to useful places…

Ok, I can send you to one useful place… to hell!.. Stop… Did he say a helper? Now I got it.

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No, I’m not a helper – I grumbled - I’m a gamer, just like you. You’re mistaken.

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But you did give her the weapon! Give me too!

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I haven’t got any weapon! Hey, mind your own business, ok?

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Give me advice, at least!

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I’m not a helper – I said as distinctly as I could – If you want advice – have a talk with ‘locals’. They can advise you. Good luck… two-handed killer!

I turned around and loped towards the mill. I’ll sort out all the ambiguities later, now I must do my best to get ready properly for the strange tournament. And win it for love or money. Then I must call Gosha to report and to ask some more cash. Just in case. To have some.

Why did I direct to the mill? There are several answers. I must get as many beaver hides as possible, sell them to the leather-dresser and try to buy at least one leather jacket that I liked so much during my previous visit. In terms of the Cradle the price of the jacket was unreasonable – fifteen silver coins. So it depends how much the leather-dresser will pay me for beaver hides. Second, yesterday I saw an interesting thing in the waterside vegetation and now I want to check if it is really that thing. If I’m right, then I have found another poor but still source of income.

Well, and the most important - it’s time to try my ‘blackthorn bush’ spell in a real battle. Let me check what natural magic is and how monsters like it.

Since I’m a mage so far thus I must act as a mage. But actually my spell is quite specific. If I had a chance, I would choose a simple disaster spell of a long-range action.

The pond was a hive of activity. The dampers were high letting a wide stream flow through. The waterwheel was splashing the water forcing the mill stones spin. A handcart with some grain sacks in it was standing in front of the mill door. Another rule – there aren’t any draught animals like oxen or horses in the Cradle. But they used to be – according to the game forum archives. You could even ride them. I chose the farthest corner of the pond hidden from the mill by dense deergrass as a test site. I wouldn’t like to demonstrate my magic spell to the whole world. No one would approve it…

Even if ‘locals’ may ignore the appearance of magic in the Cradle, gamers won’t miss such an exciting fact. They will start interrogating me where I have taken it, where they can buy it or where to get… been there, done that.

First I should sort out how this spell works. I have already experienced combat magic protective and attacking but only via single-use scrolls. They are expensive but effective and fast. More over I learnt simple spells like ‘small-scale healing’ and ‘small-scale cleaning’ that helped me once or twice. But this one is absolutely different. So…  I opened the magic book interface, clicked the spell ‘blackthorn bush’ and selected the option ‘to activate’. A window with an offer to study the information about ‘fast access’ slots popped up, but I decided not to read it. Otherwise I would stay here till evening. As soon as I shut the help panel, one more help window popped up, that time a small one with a brief explanation and two simple drawings. You should place the spell in one of your hands, no matter which one. I chose right and got puzzled looking at a gleaming green clot that emerged in my arm – somewhere near the elbow – then slipped through my wrist into the heel of the hand fast and smoothly. Done. Now according to the drawings I should move my hand shortly bottom-up keeping my palm up. Such a movement reminds a rude gesture meaning ‘stand up’ that is often used in the real world. The help window recommended performing it fast and smoothly keeping your eyes on the place where a magic ‘blackthorn bush’ had to emerge, it wasn’t obligatory to stretch your arm in front of you in full length. Well…

Stretching my arm in front of me I performed a short movement by my hand while looking at a small bump covered by grass. The gleaming green sphere hid in my hand lit brightly and I grinned with delight when a low – about knee-high – green bush awash with small white flowers appeared on the bump less than in a second.

One… two… three… fo…

At the forth second green ripples ran through the bush and it disappeared in the thin air.

Mana? Minus seven points. Quite reasonable. At the full mana scale I can cast this spell more than ten times. Let’s do it again… my hand shook, but the movement was firmer. The grassy bump got decorated with a funny bush slightly swinging. Without waiting for the first bush to disappear, I cast another one and admired two bushes as like as two peas. I got satisfied with casting a ‘blackthorn bush’ and felt self-confident enough to try it in a real battle. I decided to start with a simple mob easy to kill without much fuss. Although I could kill any mob in the Cradle without any efforts and without magic. Turning my head right and left I noticed a grey and green fat toad that jumped out to the bank looking absolutely happy with a low guttural sound that didn’t remind usual frog’s piping at all. Level two mob. An ideal trial object!

Keeping my eye on the warty creature I performed a soft hand movement. Happy guttural sound stopped immediately. Once the toad found itself inside a thorny bush, it started jerking furiously to escape. I was watching attentively the health level hanging over the toad’s head. It was decreasing every second. At the forth second the bush disappeared after taking a half of life points from the toad. The furious toad rushed hopping towards me without any hesitation that it was me who caused all its trouble. It’s a nice chance to try the spell on a moving enemy.

A brisk gesture… a light flash and a bush emerged behind the toad increasing its speed quickly…

Once again! That time a plant grew just in front of the toad’s muzzle not thinking for a long time the toad leaped over the magic obstacle easily. Damn it! Hey! Can toads really hop so high?

One more bush! Off the mark! Detouring round the bush, the toad made a steep curve entering and landed one step from me.

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Bloody hell! – I roared, grabbed my stuff by two hands and landed it on the toad heavily. Bang! The mob disappeared and I gained one experience point, a torn toad skin and jaded nerves. What a marathon with obstacles did the toad organize? Did it go mad?!

And what a message is it?

Reference Information!

After killing some monsters loot – that can’t be collected without empty jars available in your stock - is left.

  Currently: toad’s slime.

Ah, I know about it. All liquids require empty jars. It’s quite logical. Can you bring away a unicorn’s blood in your hands? Or what about poisonous saliva of a cave spitter? You’d better buy a good stock of empty jars at the alchemist’s. Thanks god, they are extremely cheap, and go hunting. By the way… I can visit the herbalist – the old lady that I have brought the book on herbs and potions recently.

On my way to her small house with a well-groomed garden I settled two more toads and a frog hash to practice casting the spell. The tactics was unchanged: a blachthorn bush was cast on a peacefully sleeping monster that hadn’t expected such a dirty trick from life, a short and angry jerk among thorny branches and when a mob escaped and flew on me – one precise stuff hit and all done and dusted. I managed to kill the frog before it could hop to me closely enough to be hit. I guessed the time correctly and the mob splitting along to me ran into a thorny bush where it died pierced by long thorns. While practicing I was looking around attentively and examining every bush. It wasn’t in vain. Soon I could boast several plantain and peppermint leaves. Unfortunately I didn’t find other plant that I knew. In general the herbalist’s skill was more than useful – herbs didn’t take much space and weighed almost nothing. Ah, I completely forgot that as soon as I picked up the first plantain I was awarded immediately: