Survival Quest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #1) (21 page)

I sat in my favorite spot, lost in thought. On one hand, what I did was sensible and smart, guided by the principle 'every man for himself'. On the other hand... I felt so rotten inside, it was quite beyond words. It looked like I was no better than people like Bat and other prisoners who were only capable of seeing their own advantage in everything and levelling up in Meanness. Perhaps I shouldn't have passed over such a nice stat? It'd come in handy now.

I got up and went to the barracks. I'd try to sleep all of this off. But as soon as I came up to the building I saw that I made a mistake - just then Sakas came out of the barracks with a face full of resignation. That's right - the guy's given up and is mentally ready for respawn. What kind of a bastard am I?

"Sakas, stop!" I shouted, to my own surprise, and caught up with him. "Where are you off to?"

"According to the Emperor's decree..." began the orc, but I cut him off:

"I know all about the Emperor's decree already. When do you go?"

"Now. I was even freed from work today so I could prepare for it. Although what's there to prepare for? Unlike you I don't have that many things: my tools are always with me and what I craft I immediately sell to Rine or present to the mine governor and there's little point in stealing unworked wood - Rine doesn't buy it. So I'm ready now. Ah yes, I've made another dozen Copper Ingots this morning, had nothing else to do, really. I'm sorry it's not much, but that's all I could do. Here you go."

Sakas handed me the ingots and, downcast, headed to the administration building. So even knowing that he's heading for certain death he still thought of someone else first?

"Just hold on a minute!" I shouted again, catching up. "Tell me how much time you have left?"

"You mean time in the mine? I almost gained Respect and my plan was to make a few things, present them to the governor and leave the mine. If you mean how much of my prison term I have left - I have to stew here for another year and a half." Pausing for a few moments, Sakas asked: "Tell me, do you think Smithing will still be in demand after I come back? It would be difficult to get my current professions up to their present level, but I had a chat with Kart when he was reset. He told me of your idea with the professions. You'll need a Leatherworker or a Smith, right?"

"Of course it's still in demand. Let me see you off. Perhaps you could take my rings? I've made some +7 rings recently and I think you could use them. No-one would read their properties without your permission anyway. You need Strength, right? Eight rings and a chain will give you +63 to one or to a collection of stats. Just say what you need and I'll make it straight away."

As we walked to the administration building, the somewhat cheered up Sakas planned what rings I should make him. In the end we decided on 5 rings for Stamina, to add 350 extra Hit Points, and another 3 rings and a chain for Strength, to help with fighting off the Rats and smashing veins. We came into the mine governor's office together.

The transport portal shimmered in the middle of the office; the Dolma mine was probably on the other end. The orc met me with a chilly look. My refusal had probably lowered his opinion of me, quite a lot. But I'm sorry, I can't help that - I need to get out into the main gameworld. I don't see any other way than sending Sakas to his death. Finishing the last of the rings there and then I gave them to Sakas.

"Here, take these. I hope they help," I said, but then the heavy voice of the governor broke the silence:

"Prisoners cannot take items to the Dolma mine that have been in their possession for less than a week. The portal would not let them through, so you can take your rings back. They're no use to Sakas."

Well, I'll be damned! What is this? I mechanically put the rings back on my fingers and looked at the shocked Sakas, who slowly headed towards the portal. Looking at him I understood that I'd be regretting what I was about to do for the rest of my short, but probably very exciting, life. Right up until the moment when the Rats eat me.

"Sakas, stop! Let me at least shake your hand for good luck," I stopped the orc and, when he hesitantly stretched his hand, jerked it, pulling Sakas away from the portal and clearing a path for myself. Before I dove in, I looked at the governor, who stood there, silent, and said:

"For the record: I agree to take Sakas's place," and not waiting for a reply, I closed my eyes and stepped into the transport portal. A pang of cold, some slight disorientation and I found myself next to a lop-sided sign, where time-faded letters proclaimed: "Welcome to the Dolma Copper Mine".

"The name and title of the mine!" The abrupt scream came from behind, and seemed to throw me in the air.

I turned around and couldn't believe what I saw: an enormous, three-meter-tall ogre, dressed in the Imperial guard uniform, stood before me. But ogres are meant to be wild, they are something that people hunted! How can he be here and in Imperial uniform too?

"Mahan, Pryke Copper Mine! I came from our mine to dig for Malachite," I blurted out.

Quest accepted: "Bloody Malachite".

Description: In the course of two weeks, while fighting off Rats, mine 20 pieces of Malachite from Large Copper Veins in the closed Dolma Mine. Attention! The Rats are aggressive! Chance of Malachite drop: 100%. Quest type: Rare. Reward: Respect of the Pryke Mine Guards, Respect of the Pryke Mine Governor. Penalty for failing the quest: resetting of all stat points.

Chapter 9

The Dolma Mine. Part 1

'W
hat an idiot! I am one crazy dimwit! Did that conscience that I swept under the carpet sneak-attack me? Wanted to play the hero, eh?' These nice thoughts about my own dear self ran through my head as I headed to the local trader.

The resident dwarf named Lish was the spitting image of Rine: small and beardless, he looked at me with the same sly smile as I went through his goods. While I was at it, instead of actually looking at Lish's goods, which at a glance were the same as Rine's, I focused all my attention on the arriving people, who had started to turn up one after another.

"Pryke mine must be going through tough times if that's the best it can send us." said Lish after a while, when I started to lose interest in his wares altogether. "What's with sending us level sevens instead of twelve? At least you're not the only one, or it would have been too sad for you lot."

The dwarf continued to grumble, but I wasn't listening.
‘At least you're not the only one...’
  Lish's words stuck in my mind. Does this mean that Sakas went through with me after all? Or did he go after me, but came out here first? I was getting confused.

"Which way did the orc go?" I asked once Lish stopped talking.

"What orc?" was the dwarf's surprised response.

"What do you mean 'what orc?' The one from the Pryke Mine," now it was my turn to be surprised.

"We've had four people from Pryke Mine today and you're the fifth, but there weren't any orcs among them," the dwarf said, killing off my last shreds of comprehension. So, aside from me, there's four other prisoners from my mine here? Who are they?

"Hey, Mahan, if you're not going to buy anything, take a walk and look around. It's still a couple of hours until the prisoners are gathered and told the rules, so you have time to wander round and get your bearings."

The surroundings weren't much to look at - everything was old and worn, there wasn't even a smithy, where I had first intended to make some copper wire to kill time. At a loss what to do with myself, I decided to have a closer look at the prisoners that Lish said came from my mine.

"Pryke Copper Mine!" I shouted as loud as I could. "Anyone from Pryke Copper Mine, come over here!"

In a few minutes three humans and a dwarf walked over to me. They came up separately, which meant that they didn't know each other. The hard and grave looks that they shot at other prisoners including myself indicated that they were also shocked by the news that several sentients came from that mine. What else? There wasn't much else to say about them, it was time to go and break the ice. I placed a lot of hope in my level four in Charisma: that they'd not tell me to get lost right away and at least hear me out. It was time to see whether or not I made a mistake by investing in this stat.

"Greetings all," I began, when they all gathered. "Let's introduce ourselves. My name's Mahan, I'm from the Pryke Copper Mine and, being perfectly honest with you, I don't know any of you. Are you sure there hasn't been some mistake? The Pryke Copper Mine is this wonderful place with an administration office full of crafted objects, an orc governor, don't know his name, and dwarf Rine, either a trader or head of supplies. Is that the Pryke mine you hail from?"

"My local monicker is shitty, so call me Clutzer," said one of the humans that had come up. He was quite thin and not very tall, with shifty eyes and an inconspicuous face. Someone like that had to be playing a Rogue, I thought. All he was missing was a couple of daggers and he'd be ready to go. "That's some pretty shit you're shooting about the mine, Mahan. Rine, the grody orc, the mine, all's there, but I just can't grok ya. What rock did you crawl out from under? We never had you at our mine, for real. And you’re acting like an underboss."

I was taken aback by this speech. No-one spoke like that at the mine, but here we had a veritable well of gangster lingo. The only non-human in the group put an end to my total bewilderment.

"I'm Eric, to keep things short," said the dwarf. "I also don't know you, Mahan. I've not seen any of you before either. I was promised that if I mined 20 pieces of Malachite, I'd finally go into the main gameworld. I have another half a year to go until Respect, but I'm fed up with waiting, so I was happy to jump at this proposal. With my level 12 in Mining, getting 20 pieces of Malachite will be a walk in the park."

"I'm from Pryke too. You can call me Karachun. I was also promised that I'd be released from the mine if I get the Malachite. And, by the way, like the rest it's the first time I've seen you Mahan and you Clutzer..."

"Hey, Clutzer's my nick!"

"It's all the same to me," continued Karachun. "It's not like I ever saw you at the mine before. There were two hundred and forty prisoners there and I know each of them. None of you were ever among them. Period."

"Leite," said the last man. "Same as the rest - not seen anyone and don't know anyone. So, what should we do? I also have 12 in Mining and character level. As far as I see, that's what you need to end up here. I too was promised parole if I gather the Malachite."

"FALL IN!" the ogre's shout rang through the mine and we started to gather into one big crowd. No ranks  formed - everyone stood like a bunch of sheep in front of the ogre, shifting from foot to foot. We needed our sergeant here from boot camp - he'd sort them out fast.

"Attention everyone! I'll explain the rules of the Dolma Mine for the first and last time," began the ogre.

"First. From today and for the next two weeks there are no restrictions on food and drink - you can use them any time as much as you want. From tomorrow morning food will be constantly available by the entrance to the mine; whoever needs it can come and use it.

"Second. Dolma Mine has only one section, about two by two kilometers in size. It contains about three thousand Large Copper Veins, which are renewed daily - so there'll be enough for everyone. Guards have no access to the mining section, so if a Rat attacks you, you either kill it yourself or run out of the mine all the way here. The mages will arrive here tomorrow - they'll provide protection.

"Third. Rats. Ours are big, fat and have a bite to reckon with. So keep your wits about you. Each Rat has its own habitation zone, about 40 meters in diameter. If you kill the Rat - you’re free to work within a 20-metre radius. There are 1-2 veins in each zone, so you have plenty to work on; and remember - a new Rat appears in about an hour, so don't get carried away with work, and keep your eyes open. If you get eaten, you'll go home to your mummy," a murmur went through the ranks of the prisoners, but the ogre quickly cut it off: "Silence! I'm not finished!

"Fourth. The territory of the mining section is very well-explored within one kilometer from the entrance. What lies beyond is known only in part, so my advice is: if you want to live, don't go too far. You can work alone or form groups. If you form a group you won't be able to leave the group until the time set for this task runs out; a group has to hand in the sum of the Malachite pieces to be mined by all its members. To make it clear from the start - loners have never survived in the mine for more than two days. About the groups. If anyone dies and leaves the group, the number of Malachite pieces that the others have to mine is reduced by 20. If the deceased had Malachite in his possession, it remains where his body was and can be picked up. And remember: if a group of five people, for instance, gather twenty pieces of Malachite and one of the group dies and is removed, the amount of the gathered Malachite is reduced as well - by the share of the one removed. In the described example, the group will be left with 16 pieces instead of 20.

"Fifth. If by some miracle you manage to get 20 pieces of Malachite and stay alive, you'll still have to remain here until the two weeks run out. During that time you can mine Malachite for yourself. The countdown starts in the morning; there are no sleeping quarters in Dolma, so you sleep right on the ground. No-one will wake you up, so if you're lazy you'll pay for it in two weeks - your time for mining is limited.

"And sixth. The Rats drop Skins, meat and there is some chance of various fangs, tails and other items that alchemists need. So if you get lucky you may even make a profit when you leave.

"Now you're free to go. Next time I want to see you ether with the 20 pieces of Malachite or in two week's time when I'll be personally sending you to the mine as Rat food. Dismissed!"

There still remained a couple of hours until the evening and so I decided to do some scouting around the mine. I was curious what was out there, what was meant by a common section, how many Rats were running around and, in general, maybe I should try smashing a vein. 'It's true that fools think alike', I noted to myself, because after the ogre's speech almost all the prisoners went to the mining section. Of course:  the sooner you start, the sooner you'll finish.

The section was separated from the rest of the mine by a glimmering veil, beyond which nothing could be seen. 'So here's the veil that the guards cannot cross', I guessed. This means that the mining section itself is like a Dungeon in the main gameworld. But if that's the case, getting together a standard Dungeon group is a must - a tank, a healer and three DDs (damage dealers, fighters specializing in damage). My gut feeling told me that there must have been a reason why there were five of us from our mine, and a good one at that. The dwarf will be the tank - he's small and thus harder to hit, plus he should have some special bonuses for tanking, if I'm not mistaken about dwarves. I'll be the healer, even though I really hate doing that, and the rest of the gang will go at the Rat from the sides while it gnaws on Eric. I’ll have to put this proposal to them. I was walking up to the veil with these thoughts when suddenly some prisoner tumbled out of it with a terrible scream. He immediately got back on his feet and ran towards the guards and then THIS THING appeared from the direction of the mining section.

The THING was the Rat, but about the size of a small pony, around  a meter in height and about 2.5-3 meters in length, tail and all. Is that supposed to be a Rat? It's a Horse! The animal stopped, surprised at seeing so many people, then something seemed to click in its head and it unhurriedly trotted after the prisoner that had just appeared, completely ignoring all the others. 'Ah, the Rat has an aggro-list (a list with the data about each player that enters the mob's perception zone. The mob attacks the player at the top of that list. In order for the mob to switch to a different player, the latter has to re-aggro it: generate a greater amount of threat than the first player on the list).' The thought flashed by, 'this means the others have nothing to worry about.' What happened next I could only explain as an act of subconscious reflexes, since these were by no means conscious actions on my part.

"Eric, grab it, I'll heal! Clutzer, Karachun, Leite, wait five seconds and then hit it from the sides! Don't come at it from behind or it'll slash you with its tail! Now!" I shouted frantically. I don't know what moved Eric: my shouting, my Charisma, reasons of his own, or Mars moving into Capricorn, but after my cry, he ran up to the Rat, took out his pick and made a good swing at it, shouting: "Aaahh, you bastard!" and hit.

The Rat made a high-pitched squeal, stopped and immediately reacted to Eric's attack: it made a sharp turn ending in a bite and his Life Bar was diminished by a quarter. That foul vermin - how much damage was it dealing? If Eric is level 12, he must have 60 points in his stats; he's bound to have put some of them into Stamina to avoid his Energy going down too quickly during mining. So to take off a quarter of hit points just like that was quite a lot. Now it was my move.

All these thoughts rushed past in less than a moment. Eric barely had time to scream in pain as I got my Tambourine out of the bag. Thanks again, Kart and Sakas, for making me this wonder. Now, to begin.

I selected Eric and started to hit the Tambourine. I decided to take no notice of how it looked like from outside, my task was to get Eric back up. I started with my usual song:

The Shaman has three hands...

Yes! Eric's Hit Points went up.

"Waste that Squeaker!" shouted Clutzer and attacked. Right, things should get easier now.

... and behind his back a wing...

Yes! Eric's doing a good job too, not screaming from the Rat bites, standing there, teeth clenched, and taking it.

... from the heat upon his breath...

Yes! Why is it just Clutzer hacking at the Rat? Where are the others?

...  shining candle-fire springs.

"Karachun, Leite, you need a special invitation?" growled Eric through his teeth. Good: if he has time to look around, he's still with us.

"Take that, you bastard! Rub out that grey-furred biter! Karachun, away from the tail, or it'll get you!" our shouts echoed through the mine.

"Eric, turn its head to the mine! The tail!" I shouted when I saw that the Rat was hitting other prisoners with its tail. I wasn't exactly worried for them (it's not like the tail was going to kill them), but I had no intention of sharing the loot. Who knows what the local system for loot allocation was. Things were rather interesting with this in Barliona - in some cases the loot went to the person who hit first, in others to all those who sustained damage. So we shouldn't take the risk - there's not a lot to go around as it is. By this time I had little doubt that we'd bring it down.