(World of Valdira 01) The Way of the Clan (31 page)

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My regrets… - I didn’t know what to say.

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Never mind – Gosha sneered – She’ll be back. We are sort of in love. Let’s toast the Albatrosses’ clan! Let us be lucky in all our deals and damn our enemies!

We drank, then one more… and another… and another…

By the time charming fairies came Gosha and I had got pig-drunk…

I woke up at home. Just not in the bed but I don’t know why in the cocoon with the helm on my head buzzing after the party…

Well, it was a nice party.

I found a half-empty bottle of water on the floor at the cocoon. I thanked myself for such a generous gift, gulped all the water and put on the helm again. It’s high time to check what’s going on there.

A flash.

The rainbow seemed to suffer from hangover too. 

Entrance

The first thing I did as soon as I got into my private room was to flop down on the stone floor and shook out everything that was in the sack in front of me. I got a pile of more or less valuable items. I swept all the coins to one side and then started examining my stuff that wasn’t numerous at all. As for weapon, two ash staffs with different degree of wear, almost ‘killed’ axe and a brand-new dagger. A little food and one healing potion. The rest isn’t worth mentioning – some pieces of rat meat with ‘off’ status, one rat tail, a grey cloak and some withered stemlets of herbs. In two hours they can be thrown away.

I glanced over my miserable treasure sadly and moved on to counting cash. It was more optimistic. It amounted for eight gold, fourteen silver coins and five copper. If I were a simple beginner without a certain mission, I would go mad with delight. I’ve just left the Cradle and have gold in my pockets. But it wasn’t enough for me so far. If I want to play alone and progress , I’ll need constant cash-in. To buy spells, healing and strengthening potions, new weapon and gear, information. It’s not free. I’ll have to do everything on my own, to run around with my dried tongue over my shoulder trying to do everything on time.

Ironically, no one forces me to do it. I took that burden myself and nobody helped me in that good cause. On the contrary, everybody is vying with each other to offer their help. My mates and absolute strangers as well. They are eager to help me advance my character in the private clan’s location, provide with the exclusive gear, offer me money for the legendary item obtained from Grim and are wild to help me sell the unique spell. But instead of accepting their help, I do my best to push off all the offers raining on me. I am charging myself with almost impossible missions. Such a butt-naked superman as cool as a true British and as stubborn as a true Russian. You got an item from the legendary set ‘Grim’s Silver Armor’, would you like to sell it or at least talk about it? No-no, thank you, I’ll cope with it! I definitely will! It’s not a big deal to run around the whole world of Valdira, to find the rest of the armor and that’s it! It’s easy-peasy! So don’t even fancy discussing anything with me or offering. All by myself!

Need to advance to level sixty for a week? You must be kidding! I’ll reach level one hundred in a day! Sure… Any help? A place in the clan’s location? No, thank you. Do you really think that such a tough guy like me needs your miserable location? I’ll run around, devastate a couple of underground caves to make all mobs sob when I approach and beg the administration to stop the mad gamer’s tyranny… All in all, don’t worry Gosha, my lord, I’ll cope with it… without losing my breath! All by myself!

Need to gain ten thousand mana points? No problem. I’m kick ass cool! I can do it! I’m not going to sell my spell or accept a clan’s aid! No way! What are you talking about, divine Amreeta? I’ll be able to gain all twenty thousand in less than a month! And I don’t need a ship – I can swim to Zar’graad! What’s the distance you say? So I hope you got it right – don’t offer me anything, it’s just a waste of time, I’m not interested. All by myself!

All by myself, by myself, by myself… damn it!

I forced myself to stop this self-torture, took off the bright tournament cloak and put on my worn-out grey one instead. I don’t need such bright spots in my gaming biography. I’ll survive without excited glances and exclamations: ‘wow, have a look! This baby won the tournament!’ And the last thing – the silver bracelet snapped open, I admired its sophisticated engraving for the last time and put it carefully on the floor in my private room. I’m going to leave it here. At least so far.

Dressed in ordinary clothes with faint ornament, in a grey cloak over my shoulders and an ash staff in my hand, I looked absolutely anonymous. For ‘locals’ as well as for gamers. My dark hair and brown eyes became a good base for creating a casual look. As well as a rough straw hat of a villager. A bleak appearance.

The door of my private room shut with a slight bang and I dashed running along the corridor. Absolutely another girl was standing at the counter but she was smiling as friendly as the previous one.

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Good morning, sir!

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Good morning, sweetie – I answered merely making the girl get embarrassed and drop her eyes – Can you answer a few questions? I arrived in your decent city last night and don’t know much.

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Certainly, sir, with pleasure – the girl replied at once – What would you like to know?

No doubt it’s a pleasure for her. Hotel staff must help gamers especially those who have just started their life journey in the world of Valdira.

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If you wonder where you can buy weapon or armor, you should visit such craftsmen as…

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Oh, slow down, sweetie – I stopped the steam of typical information hastily – I wanna know about another thing. You see I decided to become a strolling minstrel. What can be better than walking around cities and villages, making people happy with my music, telling fairy-tales, romantic ballads and heroic legends? I’d like to talk to grey-haired old men absorbing their wisdom grain by grain… Isn’t it the best choice?

What a chatter-box I am… I seemed to have overdone a bit. However the ‘local’ standing behind the counter didn’t think so. She was listening to my words with admiration and her wonderful green eyes opened wide. She gave me the immediate answer:

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Sir, then you should go to the Seven Fountains Square. You can always find storytellers, musicians, clowns and circus folk there! Life never slows down there! One step left – and you can listen to a legend about great heroes, one step right – and you’ll drop a tear due to the sad pipe sounds…

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Is there a fat cat in chains walking with a mermaid on his shoulder? – I wondered subconsciously as Pushkin’s tales came to my mind but in a sec I thanked the girl puzzled by my question politely and left the hotel.

Sure! The Seven Fountains Square! I’ll never remember about this place myself just because I don’t belong to such a category of gamers who love visiting Plosefont and spend all their gaming time there. I’ve heard much about it but I have never been there. It’s hard to call those guys gamers, they look like freaks. Enigmatic individuals of both sexes, different races and skin colors. They do whatever but for fighting against monsters and other gamers. Moreover – they never cross the city perimeter! Sing, perform strange dances almost naked, write verses and recite them, plink different musical instruments, preach strange religions, cook meals from mutually exclusive ingredients. Make sculptures, read books written by them, perform focuses and acrobatic stunts, show off in freakish costumes calling it a designer performance of another brilliant couturier. Yup… once I saw such a costume – three oak leaves with a golden edge piping and a couple of laces. Does anybody know how to put it on? I remember once I was handed a multicolored piece of paper inviting me to ‘haute couture week’ held on the Seven Fountains Square. I didn’t understand how fashion could be high or low but decided not to go there just in case. Although they promised all guests free snacks and drinks.

In fact Valdira’s administration encourages disorders happening there and even organizes regular contests with nice prizes. They also promised to enlarge the territory of the square almost twice and to build a spacious museum to underline the fact that they respect the informal subculture of creative people and their contribution in the art development of the world of Valdira. Although this very phrase really creeps me out…

Other gamers have different attitude towards dwellers of Plosefon, most of all patronizingly. Like towards local half-wits. And call them also different names. Pacifists or hippies as they don’t kill mobs. Hipsters as they hang out dressed in multicolored stuff and wear crazy hair-dos. But actually only one term got stuck to them forever suggested by Valdira’s administration – social characters. Socials for short. But representatives of the ‘subculture of creative people’ preferred to be called ‘creators’. But no one except them accepted such a great title. They will never outdo Amreetas and the project administration in this sphere.

So that’s the place I was going to trying to stroll along the center of busy city streets without getting involved in a crowd. I was afraid of gamers-robbers who adored crowded places that allowed them to clean out citizens’ pockets without being punished. But I didn’t want to lose my cash. Why was I going to the Seven Fountains Square? To gain some information. I couldn’t get into the Cradle where according to Keira the book about Grim and Myrtle’s life was kept. I doubted there was one copy of the book. I hoped that somebody had read it or at least had heard about the great heroes from another source. Sooner or later such sort of information had to flow to Plosefont. If I don’t manage to know anything useful, I’ll visit the city library that is one block away from the square only and will talk to its staff.

Plosefont met me with noise and rave of colors. There were at least two thousand people and all of them were constantly moving from one place to another, Fountains – that the square was named to honor –were seven snow-white marble columns soaring into the sky and emitting streams of whitewater. Having a look at the human mess I even got puzzled wondering where to start looking for information interesting for me. If I take up searching blindfolded, I can stay here till the evening that isn’t actually my plan. While I was scratching my head, a hint unexpectedly came to me – a sharp lad from ‘local’ porters with a wicker bucket on his head jumped out of the crowd and ran into me to almost knock me down as he couldn’t hold back. Keeping his balance with an effort the porter apologized hastily:

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I’m so sorry, sir! I haven’t seen you.

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Never mind – I grumbled after making sure that it was really a coincidence and nothing from my personal belongings was stolen.

The lad was about to run away when I caught his sleeve to stop him.

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Hey, where can I find story-tellers who praise great heroes, tails about past times and so on?

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Are you kidding, sir? – the porter stared at me – Anyone with a high-crowned striped cap is a story-teller. He can tell you such a story that you won’t sleep at night.

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Are there many of them here?

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Well… I can’t count but I think they amount for six dozens. Or maybe seven!

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Well… - I drawled sadly puzzled by his answer. How long will it take me to hang out here?

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Sir, what would you like hear? Truth or a beautiful story?

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Me? Truth! I can tell beautiful stories myself.

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Then you should go straight to veela Snesse, sir! She knows everything!

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Where did you say I should go?

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To veela Snesse – the porter repeated patiently and nodded at the center of the crowd – This way. Go straight ahead and in about one hundred fifty steps you’ll see tents. Great Snesse’s tent is light blue with a white snake painted over the entrance. Veela Snesse will tell you all the truth if you really want to hear it!

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Thank you – I nodded with surprise amazed by such a full answer given by an ordinary porter – Why do you know it?

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I’m her first cousin at one remove – the ‘local’ replied readily but seeing my face becoming long confirmed me hastily  - But that’s not the reason I recommend her, sir! She is really a good veela! Others can give you a long song and dance only to take your money! But veela Snesse will either tell you the truth, or keep silence or won’t let you in her tent at all! She’s that kind! She sees everybody through! Trust me, sir – you won’t regret if talk to veela Snesse!

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Take it – I handed some copper coins to the porter.

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Thank you, sir, you’re so kind! – the lad got delighted – Oh, I almost forgot! I will give you one tip… Don’t even think of bargaining with veela Snesse! Pay as much as she says! But if you want to have it cheaper, you’d better go to storytellers or other veelas but they lie like hell! Good-bye, sir, take care!