Inferno (Play to Live: Book # 4) (23 page)

"Open a Field Auction, right now. Sell half the stones for raid points and the other for gold. I'll participate like everyone else. Get on with it!"

"Yes, Sir!" the dwarf sprang to attention, cheering up, with a wink and an inconspicuous thumbs-up to the desperate players.

Was he sponging off them, accepting secret payoffs or something? As a matter of fact, an insider like that could in theory affect the leaders' decision by dropping the right word at the right time. I'd have to check the loot logs just in case, anyway. I'd have to borrow the Vets' Mr. Simonov to look into that. I didn't need no rats at key posts.

I PM'd Widowmaker while en route, asking him to bid for me and make sure he won me a stone. As commander in chief, I just couldn't be without my little stash of aces up my sleeve.

We had barely reached the Citadel's gates when the respawned Bundle of Nerves dropped out of thin air barely fifty paces away. Wretched randomization!

The creature flooded us with agony, whining the familiar
"Hurts! Food! Hungry!"
Even Asmodeus staggered. Then the thing smelled the heaps of still-warm meat nearby and hurried toward us with a groan of relief, amplifying its sensations for everyone to experience. It felt a bit like grating an aching tooth with a Swiss file.

"I hate them!" Asmodeus barked, shooting his arm out as he hurled a generous helping of Liquid Fire at the monster. The air shuddered with what sounded like a concussion missile explosion.
Plop, plop, plop
, gore and blood flopped to the ground.

"I hate them," the demon repeated. "They're always around at the worst possible moment. Whenever you see them, just crush them without a second thought. I'll make it up to you."

New quest alert! The Inferno Cleaner.

The Bundles of Nerves are the bane of the Infernal planes. Even the Higher creatures suffer from their pain vibes. They lost count of all the broken rituals, ruined scrolls and perished artifacts due the creatures' sudden attacks.

Destroy them whenever possible and keep their Spores as proof.

Reward: the same amount of xp points as for repeatedly killing a mob.

Reward: the improvement of your relationship with Asmodeus.

I read it, then reread it again. After Ruata's dirty trick I had become more careful with any unanticipated quests. Especially when they came from a demon.

But this one looked legit. Besides, I had a total of eleven jars of Spores clinking in my inventory. Did that mean I was about to get an xp windfall for killing as many level-400 monsters?

I accepted the quest, then unhurriedly loosened the laces of my bag. "You won't believe it but I can't stand them, either. I think I've got something here you might like to see. Shall we take a step through the gate?"

We walked in. If this thing worked, it wasn't a good idea to make it public, especially considering that the Koreans were here. All recurrent collecting quests that allowed you to get xp time and time again were rare and quite valuable. This ability to speed-level twinks, VIPs and key chars was always in high demand.

"There!" I handed him the first jar.

He took one glance at its contents and bared his teeth with delight. Taking a swing, he smashed the jar on the flagstones. The Spore writhed in its slime like an earthworm on concrete, but Asmodeus' heavy foot cut its existence short.

Congratulations! You've received experience!

Your relationship with the Higher Demon Asmodeus has improved!

Excuse me? Where was my
Ding
? Where were my new levels?

Ah, bummer! I should have quit the raid, shouldn't I? I took a peek through the gate. Oh yes, everybody was looking around for the source of the unexpected freebie with a faction bonus. Shit! I got burned!

I sent a quick word to the HQ chat,
Guys, I'm gonna quit for a minute. Widowmaker'll take over from me.

I quickly ticked a few boxes, promoting Widowmaker, then quit the raid and handed another jar to the demon. "There!"

Congratulations! You've received experience!

Your relationship with the Higher Demon Asmodeus has improved!

Congratulations! You've reached level 84!

Racial bonus: +1 to Intellect

Class bonus: +1 to Strength, +1 to Constitution!

5 Characteristic points available! You now have 20 available Characteristic points!

1 Talent point available! You now have 9 available Talent points!

Congratulations! You've reached level 85!

Congratulations! You've reached level 86!

……

……

……

Congratulations! You've reached level 93!

Oh. Did I say windfall? Nine levels in a matter of seconds, just like that!

Did I hear you say, "hacks and cheats"? Before you repeat that, go buy yourself a portal for two hundred grand, put together a two-thousand-strong raid, then spend a day tramping about Inferno and grinding your teeth against Bundles of Nerves with their mental attacks. Then it gets easier: smoke Verenus, buddy up with Asmodeus, expose him to another pain attack and receive the quest. Easy peasy. Isn't it?

Aha, I still had nine more jars! I wouldn't even dare venture a guess!

Congratulations! You've reached level 102!

…

Congratulations! You've reached level 110!

…

Congratulations! You've reached level 118!

…

Congratulations! You've received achievement: Who Wants to Live Forever!

You've managed to get 50 new levels without dying once!

Reward: +10000 to Fame.

Reward: the place of your death will now be marked with an indestructible silver obelisk.

Your fame has exceeded 33,000 points! You've reached Fame level 7: "Friend to Kings".

…

Congratulations! You've reached level 126!

…

Congratulations! You've reached level 134!

…

Congratulations! You've reached level 141!

…

Congratulations! You've reached level 148!

…

Congratulations! You've received achievement: a Living Legend!

You've managed to get 75 new levels without dying once!

Reward: +15000 to Fame.

Reward: When you die... if you die... okay, you'll never die, but if you do, the whole world will know about it. A server message will spread the word to the farthest corners of the world. The sun will momentarily go in and even the most heartless of executioners will cry like little children.

Your Fame has exceeded 48,000 points! You've reached Fame level 8: "Princesses dream about you".

…

Congratulations! You've reached level 155!

…

Congratulations! You've received experience!

Your relationship with the Higher Demon Asmodeus has improved!

Congratulations! You've reached level 161!

Racial bonus: +1 to Intellect

Class bonus: +1 to Strength, +1 to Constitution!

5 Characteristic points available! You now have 405 available Characteristic points!

1 Talent point available! You now have 86 available Talent points!

I staggered with emotion, groping blindly under my backside in search of something to sit it on, thinking wistfully of my wobbly stool I'd nostalgically kept in my Super Nova office. A legend! Dreamy princesses! Friend to Kings! Level one hundred freakin' sixty-one!

I had to have myself a party later tonight, distributing all the characteristics. Just think what I'd be like! Large as life and twice as ugly.

Asmodeus grinned knowingly. His expression was much friendlier now. Avatar or not, this faction bonus had definitely worked in my favor.

"Let's go set the prisoners free," he said. "I'll show you my collection. I've never shown it to anyone before but you... I feel some strange affinity to you. Besides, that's something else I'm proud of."

The Arsenal's massive door. Racks of arms. A secret tile on the floor. A staircase leading down into the freezing cold.

The demon stepped confidently onto the weeping stone step and descended into pitch darkness. I really didn't want to slip up and tumble down like an idiot so I produced a Torch of True Flame out of my inventory and activated the brightest mode.

Shadows shrank away as the tunnel lit up with the Torch's life-bearing light. Asmodeus swung his head 180 degrees, opposite to the direction he was heading in. I nearly dropped the Torch seeing his face covered with a complex scaly pattern, his blue fangs creaking as they extended from his jaws.

Immediately he sized up the situation and shook a reproachful head, mentioning a dozen gay exorcists under his breath as he stopped his combat metamorphosis. His gaze chanced upon the Torch and he beamed like a human being at the sight of a cute kitten.

He reached out and dug his beclawed paw into the flame which danced between his talons, cuddling up to them and purring softly. Had the True Flame been born of Hell's furnace? And if it had, what was it for Asmodeus — a playful speck of light chancing on his underground dungeon? I just couldn't tell.

Warning! A spontaneous item upgrade! The item has been upgraded to:

The Baton of True Flame

Certain artifacts are capable of gaining strength over time, accumulating whatever grains of power come their way, accepting voluntary gifts or taking them by force.

Effect: Fire Jet. Damage: regulated, up to 1100 pps. Working time: varies, 11 sec. at peak load. Charge capacity: 5500 mana points. Autonomous recharge times: 55 mins.

Unicalization Effect! This Baton has been chosen as the first item of a set. In order to upgrade the item to a Staff, collect six more Torches of True Flame.

"D'you mind if you... stroke it some more?" I asked just in case.

What if it upgraded again? Or cloned itself? You couldn't have too many flame throwers. I could already see a group of raiders in shiny armor heading into the mountains carrying the heavy cylinders of my brand-new Flame Batons behind their backs. Incredible.

The demon chuckled and turned his back on me. We continued on our way by the light of the Baton which apparently still worked as a Torch too. And whereas before I'd had to max out the brightness slider, this time I'd moved it barely 10%. I had a funny feeling this thing could also double up as an air defense searchlight.

Finally, the lower level. The round hall was about sixty feet in diameter, its walls covered in ancient mosaics. Not a door in sight.

Asmodeus tapped a fancy code into the colored bits of mosaic: blue, blue, white, red, black... I lost track after that. Besides, the identification didn't stop there. A needle sprung out of the wall and with a slurping sound pierced the demon's finger. A DNA check? Secrets and more secrets. I was more than sure that besides secret doors, he had treasures stashed under every floor tile.

Actually, wasn't it time I tried that ability of mine? I'd forgotten all about it. Was it for nothing I'd busted my hump and wiped away dragons' tears? While the demon fiddled with his complex recognition system, I activated my old and almost forgotten ability: Dragon Whisperer. So, where was this hidden gold within a thousand paces?

Yes, Max, you amaze me sometimes. You're sitting on a pile of gold — and you've chosen to stash it away!

My eyesight switched to matrix mode, highlighting all the precious metal in the area. And not just gold. They didn't seem to have any adamant, but my soldiers' mithril armor glistened a blinding purple. Silver shimmered softly while the Citadel's gold framework blinded my eyes with its light. Yes, you heard it right!
Framework
. The entire building was permeated with fine threads of mana channels just like those of my top golems.

All the control consoles, security systems, lighting installations, traps and mana accumulators — all of them were thirsty as hell, consuming power like there was no tomorrow. In actual fact, you could always power artifacts remotely, switching micro mana channels between them as necessary. But unfortunately, it wasn't terribly efficient, building up enormous mana losses over the years. And in the case of a castle siege, these 20% losses could make the difference between life and death.

That's why both architects and artifact makers strived to insert a fine gold thread whenever they possibly could, especially because just a 0.02 of an ounce of gold was enough to make a mile-long thread.

Asmodeus' castle was no exception. And now I could see all of its corridors, halls, artifacts, all the hidden traps and secret tunnels glisten their golden outlines before my eyes. Actually, the cellar turned out to have three secret doors. The demon was now busy by the central one. The right one led into a hall containing an altar or something equally powerful — this I could tell judging by the mana thread being almost a finger thick. And the left-hand door went into the treasury. About five tons of silver ingots, of all things. Why not gold? Was Inferno too suffering from gold shortages? Had the scammers already made it here?