Patch 17 (Realm of Arkon) (18 page)

"Wait, Mirana!" I put my hands up hastily. "I happen to have something that will take those fifty years right off!" I put the bottle with the Netherworld's beast's liver extract on the table. The liver extract was one of the main ingredients for a Potion of Rejuvenation. Even back at the inn I was thinking that no woman would possibly refuse it. And I was right."

Mirana stared at the vial for a bit, then shifted her eyes to me.

"There's more to you than meets the eye, light one, oh yes!" the witch shook her head. "You wish to trade this for the means of detecting a karriga?"

"If you throw in some healing and stamina potions, I certainly won't argue."

Your reputation has increased. Mirana relates to you with respect.

The demoness nodded and got up, opened a nearby cupboard and laid eleven bottles on the table before me. Five were pink—healing potions that restored two thousand hit points over ten seconds. Five were light-green—medium potions of vigor that instantly restored five hundred energy. And one bottle with a violet mixture—Potion of Two Moons.

"Take that," she stuck a yellow finger at the violet vial, "pour it onto a chunk of meat and throw it on the ground, preferably at night. The effective radius is two hundred yards, so if the beast is around it won't be long in coming. The potion is consumed upon use, and the effect wears off after an hour. Now go. I need to think."

When I was already outside and heading back to the road, Mirana called after me.

"Come back in a week, light one, and you won't recognize me. Who knows what might happen then. I can't say I'm not curious about your kind," she winked at me.

I smiled and waved goodbye, thinking to myself that a week from now I would be far away, and wished for her to find somebody else to satisfy her curiosity.

There were several dozen people in the dining hall, and it was noisy. I walked up to the bar, smiled at Treis and nodded at Kort.

"Did you get it?"

"Here it is," I showed him the potion. "Pour it on a chunk of meat, and toss the meat on the ground at night."

Kort nodded, pulled out a sheathed sword from behind the bar and handed it to me.

You've completed the quest: Trap for a Karriga I.

You received: Kort's Lightsword.

I didn't level this time, but hey, you can't win 'em all. I unsheathed the sword and examined it. A double-edged steel blade about two and a half feet long.

Kort's Lightsword.

Sword: one-handed weapon.

Durability: 500/500.

Rare.

Minimum level: 65.

Damage: 120-160.

+100 strength.

+3% to critical hit chance with a physical attack.

Weight: 7 lbs.

"Take good care of it," Kort said, "and it will serve you well."

"It is a fine sword. Thank you!"

So, what now?

You've accessed the quest: Trap for a Karriga II.

Quest type: normal, chain.

Help Kort catch and kill the karriga.

Reward: experience, Kort's Cloak.

"Come down to the dining hall closer to midnight. I will gather a few people to make sure the beast doesn't escape. And another thing," Kort handed me a bag, "Snorri came by with an armor and shield. Said the shield is a gift. I shudder to think how badly you must've overpaid him," he scoffed.

Upon getting up to my room, I hastily changed into plate and equipped the sword. The armor set was called Legionnaire's Light Plate, comprising eight pieces, all of unusual class: helm, shoulder pads, cuirass, vambraces, gauntlets, belt, greaves and boots. Each piece added 35 points to strength and 30 to constitution. The set bonus was an additional 50 hit points. The shield was triangular and blocked 60% damage (any attack repelled by the shield let through only 40% damage), added 10 to strength and 55 to constitution. All items had a minimum level of 65, which meant I could easily wear them through level 80-85 or so. I checked out my new stats. Not bad—590 strength and 394 constitution added almost 120% to damage and 4000 to health.

And now for the enchanting. I put the skill on the action bar and selected the sword.

Attention! By using Personal Weapon Enchanting with the Power of the Elements V on Kort's Lightsword, the item will be bound to you. Are you sure you want to proceed?

Shivers ran down my body, as a small translucent clot of power was released from my hand. For a moment, the sword radiated like the rainbow. When the spell ended, I was surprised to discover that the sword in my hand now had a completely different name:

Krian's Lightsword.

Sword: one-handed weapon.

Durability: 500/500.

Bound item.

Rare.

Minimum level: 65.

Damage: 183-244.

+100 strength.

+3% to critical hit chance with a physical attack.

Weight: 7 lbs.

Something didn't add up. The average damage should have been buffed by 50%, but it grew to 52.5%. Oh, right, I was Altus' apprentice! I examined my damage output. My strongest attack was Tongue of Flame at an average of 1200 damage per second against an armorless opponent, taking into account my racial bonus to swords and the boost for slaying Shaartakh. And my own armor, buffed by Shield of the Elements, absorbed 62% of physical damage. Awesome! My belt slots increased as well to eight. I decided to keep Shaartakh's Breath and Venom, and one more Potion of Greater Healing—just in case. I added three more healing potions and two vigor ones. Now I was ready for action.

The armor felt as comfortable as a tracksuit. I was glad at least that hadn't been changed with the new patch. Then again, thinking logically, I had enough strength to carry over a ton of weight.

I practiced a few attacks with Tongue of Flame—the room was large enough, thankfully. As the sword made its arc, it flared up and left a pretty red trail through the air. I walked up to the mirror and checked out my reflection, trying to look as menacing as possible.

Looking back at myself was... me. I hadn't tried to change my appearance during character creation. No Hollywood-style perfectly symmetrical mug, no brutal-looking trappings. Six feet tall, athletic build, short dark hair, gray eyes. Wearing a full plate armor with an open visor. My attempts at a warlike demeanor suddenly looked so silly that I smiled.

"Mage-knight wannabe!"

After running all the numbers, acquiring the gear and even getting level 68, it just occurred to me that I still hadn't yet played the actual game. Everything thus far had been just theory. And I probably wouldn't do much tonight either. Then again, I was in no rush—better to wait for opponents equal to me in strength.

With those thoughts, I set an alarm for half past eleven. Without bothering to remove my armor, I got into bed, which gave an offended creak, and fell asleep.

Nights in the realm of Arkon were incredibly alluring. And this one was no different—quiet and blissfully serene. Somewhere to the side clucked roused chickens, while tired cattle lowed sleepily from the barn. The street was well-illumed with moonlight. I felt absolutely no anxiety about the upcoming event, and not at all because I'd finally gotten some gear and a weapon. My confidence was rooted in the fact that besides myself and Kort, the night's hunt for the mysterious fiend would be joined by a squad of legionnaires led by Vellakh and the local mage with the unusual name Alsuil.

The Genteel Legionnaire's dining hall this close to midnight was about two-thirds full. It was smoky and stuffy—the air was pungent with the aromas of roast meat, stewed cabbage and cheap beer. Treis was working the bar, filling up the mugs of peasants and legionnaires that kept trickling in.

The weird thing was, I didn't hear any drunken arguing or brawling that one might expect in such an atmosphere. Everything was calm and peaceful, as though we were at a religious service or a funeral.

I looked around for Kort.

"Krian," Treis waved at me from behind the bar. "Kort and the guys are out back." She handed me a giant sandwich. "Do you know how to get there?"

I nodded, thanked her for the treat, and headed for the back door.

"And there's Krian," Kort announced loudly when I walked out into the backyard, chewing on the sandwich that seemed to boost all my stats by ten. There were fourteen in all, including myself. Ten level 200+ legionnaires, Krian, Vellakh and the mage that I'd seen conversing with the innkeeper earlier.

"Greetings, light one," he held out his hand for a handshake. "Thank you for Treis, and for tonight's hunt as well. I doubt that I would have been able to get that old pepper-box to pony up the Potion of Two Moons." He chuckled bitterly. "Even regular broads become unbearable as they grow old—witches all the more so. How did you manage it?"

"You can expect her disposition to improve," I grunted. "I gave her an ingredient for rejuvenation."

"The liver extract?" the mage gave me a look of shock. "But where did you... Oh, right, Kort told me. So you went and..." And Alsuil burst into raucous laughter.

Everybody looked in our direction. I simply shrugged, none the wiser. When the mage was finally done laughing, he pointed at me and explained.

"This character slipped Mirana a rejuvenation potion, or rather the main ingredient for one. With her skill in alchemy, she'll get plenty of use from it," he winked at me. "It's a good thing you're leaving for Nittal in the morning, 'cause all the local women will soon hate your guts."

I looked in stupor at the grinning Kort, then at the legionnaires and their dreamy smiles, then turned back to the mage.

"Mirana's great-granddad was an incubus. One-eighth of the blood coursing through her veins is that of a demon of seduction. Few can resist the charms of a pure-blooded succubus, but even one-eighth will be sufficient for all the local peasants and these grunts," he nodded at the legionnaires, "to start salivating at the sight of her. And what woman likes it when her man is gawking at another broad? So, when it comes out who's behind her transformation, don't expect them to treat you kindly for your other merits."

"All right, men, let's move out. Everybody knows their role," Kort's voice wiped the smiles off everybody's faces.

Truly, there was more to the local innkeeper than met the eye if even an army squad leader recognized his authority without question.

"You will follow right behind me. Here's the meat; place it where I tell you, when I tell you."

I accepted the chunk of meat, which must have weighed at least ten pounds.

"Here's the thing," Kort clarified. "Because the effective radius is two hundred yards, we need to make sure to cover the inn and the barracks with the new arrivals."

I nodded with understanding and followed after him.

We stopped near the inn at an intersection of two streets. The legionnaires dispersed in the surrounding darkness, their armor clinking softly, leaving me alone at the center of the intersection. The vial cracked in my hand, the targeted chunk of meat darkened, and the air filled with the scent of anise drops. I tossed the bait to the ground and ran over to Kort, who was waiting for me in the shade of trees by the wayside.

For the next fifteen minutes, nothing was happening. The moon kept shining as before, painting enigmatic shadows on the ground; the wind rustled the leaves that provided cover for Kort and myself. Suddenly I felt inexplicable alarm, as a shiver ran down my spine. Seemingly echoing my sensations, a dog howled nearby. I looked at the innkeeper; seeing my quizzical look, he put a finger to his lips and motioned in the direction of the road leading to the inn.

And then I saw the karriga. A humanoid, hairless body with a noseless, simian face—a dark hole in place of the mouth cavity, populated with sharp needle-like teeth. The beast was stalking warily toward the bait, its movements looking completely inhuman, almost like a giant arachnid. The karriga stopped near the bait, then turned its uneven, knobby head this way and that, as if checking the surroundings. For a moment its yellow, deep-set eyes stopped on the trees that hid Kort and myself, and I tensed up, clenching my jaw and squeezing the hilt of my sword.

The monster sucked in a lungful of air nosily and sunk its teeth into the chunk of meat on the ground.

This jumpstarted a whirlwind of events. An Ice Spear struck the karriga in the side, shattering its ribs and slowing it, like any cold spell worth its salt. The night instantly erupted with the clanging of iron and the blood-chilling wail of the wounded beast. Kort wasted no time charging the monster, with me right behind him.

Everything happened in a matter of seconds. Surrounded by soldiers rushing it from all sides, the beast instantly recognized the weak link in the chain of attackers and leaped in my direction. Kort was too far from me to help. I glimpsed those yellow inhuman eyes and razor-like teeth, the stench of its breath assaulting my nostrils, but managed to put up a shield just as the monster's hooked paws went in for the kill.