Survival Quest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #1) (35 page)

When I played my Hunter one of the quests involved collecting a bouquet of flowers to put on Yalininka's grave and to say the words that now flew off my lips:

"Rest in peace, O Great one! You will forever remain in our memory."

There was a loud bang, as if a cracker had gone off next to me, and I was enveloped in a cloud of dust. I got up and went over to the next statue. You have to be proud of and honor your ancestors, instead of showing your arrogance and disregard for their blows. I wasn't celebrating that I had found a way through the statues while avoiding the blows. Right now I was filled with pride for the race which I was currently playing. I made an effort to swallow a lump in the throat and walked on. Warriors, Emperor Karmadont, two archmages and other great people in the history of the human race fell to dust before my bowed head. Why did it have to be like that? Only dust remained of the statues, which now settled in a three-millimeter layer on my body. When the last statue crumbled, a tear ran down my cheek, only to be immediately absorbed by the dust. Wow, that one really got me! I had to snap out of it and move on, or I'd miss the settlement allocation. As I left the room, I turned once again and made a low bow to the empty plinths: it didn't matter that the statues were no longer there - their Spirits were certainly still in the room, and you had to respect your ancestors!

I already knew what to do when I approached the fourth trial. Last time I discovered that dust from the statues stuck to the rice. I took a handful of the grains, rubbed them in my dusty hands and lowered them in the water. May a goblin bite my ass off if I'm wrong. The rice sunk to the bottom and the peas remained floating on the surface. Very good. When I lowered the last handful of seeds into the bucket I felt quite satisfied. Now I really was finished. And this time the sorting only took five minutes, instead of forty, as before. I fished out all the peas and wanted to pour the water out next, but the bucket started to visibly shake and in a few moments green shoots began to appear above it. First there was one, then two and soon a thick green carpet loomed about fifty centimeters above the bucket. Well I'll be - the rice had sprouted. Each stalk became thicker at the end, so now the top of the sprouted bush somewhat resembled an umbrella. When the rice stopped growing, I carefully touched one of the stalks with my finger. This stalk pushed itself noticeably above the rest and its top opened up like a flower bud. An image of a Bear cub then appeared above the carpet of green. It was so cute and cuddly and clumsy that a smile broke across my dusty face and I tried to pat this wondrous little beast. There was a sharp and loud roar of a large bear and a hit taking off 10% of my Hit Points was the result of my attempt to touch the projection. At least there wasn't any blood this time, which meant it was only needed for the first and the second trials. I touched the stalk one more time, the projection vanished, the bud closed and the stem shrunk and came to resemble all the rest...

So what was all this about? What is this Bear cub that attacks good people, like myself, for example? I touched the next stalk. This one had a Tiger cub. The next - a Rhino. A Kangaroo joey. An Owlet.

A Wolf cub.

If all the previous animals didn't interest me that much, this white and fluffy bundle of joy, which chased its tail with such a grumpy expression because it could never catch it, was simply begging to be patted. Damn, this was going to hurt again, but I just couldn't help myself. I closed my eyes and stretched my hand, expecting another pang of pain. His fur was so soft and pleasant to the touch! I opened my eyes and saw that part of my hand next to the projection of the little wolf became transparent. With this hand I could pat the little cub, who was whining with pleasure and had no intention of biting me. At least I'd got some joy from going through all these trials. Although the stuff with the statues was good too.

After playing my fill with the wolf cub, I removed my hand, which immediately took on its old appearance. I was about to touch the stalk to return it to how it was, but was stopped by a message:

Quest accepted: 'Searching for your Totem'. You have chosen your Totem: White Wolf. In order to begin your search, seek out a Shaman trainer.

The stalk closed of its own accord and rejoined the rest, leaving me standing there with an outstretched hand. This was really something! Can I really get a little wolf cub like this? Right, isn't the orc a Shaman trainer? I have to run to him straight away so he can explain everything and tell me what to do. Who cares about initiation? This fluffy bundle was worth much more to me! I jumped up and ran to the exit, but something stopped me right by the door. There was again this stupid feeling that I'd not done something right or left it incomplete. Did I make a mistake in choosing the wolf as my Totem? If that was the case, would I be able to change it later? I opened the manual and started to look for the relevant information. Damn! If a Shaman chose a Totem for himself, he had this Totem for the rest of the game. It was impossible to change it or to make it go away. All you could do was incarnate part of the Totem into reality and walk around with him as a companion. You could even ride him, since one of the Totem's functions was transporting the player around. I really liked the wolf, but, again, this was something external rather than internal. I had to return and look through the whole of the 'zoo' once again. If I didn't find anything, I'd stick with the wolf. I sat myself by the bucket and started to open stalk after stalk, paying careful heed to my instincts.

Fifteen minutes later I came across something that made me freeze. A Dragon. It might have been small, but it was a real dragon! You only heard rumors about them. They were described in the manuals, but no-one had ever seen a live one. At least I've not come across anyone who had. At one point someone even put together an exploration raid into the mountains, hoping to meet some dragons, but it was a total failure. I carefully stretched my hand. He was smooth and nimble, with a sharp ridge. I instinctively took a handful of peas from the pile next to me and gave it to the little dragon. The projection of the dragon coiled around my phantom hand and began to munch noisily. When the peas in my hand ran out, the little dragon flew up and squeaked vigorously. He sure liked that! I got a new handful of peas and stretched it to the hungry flapper. I never thought that feeding animals could be so much fun. When I get out I'll make sure to get a couple of cat-imitators.

Once all the peas were eaten, the little dragon gave a satisfied yawn, curled up and appeared to fall asleep. The stalk started to close and a new message appeared before my eyes:

Changes to the 'Searching for your Totem' quest. You have changed your Totem from White Wolf to: Black Dragon. In order to begin your search, seek out a Shaman trainer.

When I left the room the feeling on incompleteness was no longer holding me back. Who cares if I failed the initiation - I could go through it again once I leave the settlement. Choosing a Dragon Spirit as a Totem was very cool. Although I still had to figure out how to get him. The manuals didn't say much about it: find a trainer, he'll tell you what to do. I didn't look at the forum yet (I could do that later) - I had lost enough time as it was with my second go at the trials. Now I had to come out and disappoint the orc with my news.

I left the cave and walked up to the orc, who continued to hold the Great Air Spirit in his arms. Reluctant as I was to disappoint them, I had no choice - the orc looked at me attentively and waited for me to speak. I would tell him the truth, what else?

"I was unable to complete the trial. After my first attempt, everything I had done felt wrong, so I went through the trial again. In my own way, contrary to everyone's advice. So, all in all..." I spread my arms and shrugged, "I didn't manage it."

The orc was silent and the hurricane-like voice of the Great Air Spirit echoed through the mountains:

"A Shaman's spirit must be firm. You have doomed the fawn to death, by freeing the wolf, but you have doomed the wolf to life by releasing him from the trap. His entire life a Shaman must make hard decisions, which will make some perish and save the lives of others. And the Shaman must feel the immovability and firmness of this decision with his whole being; otherwise he would be unable to hold his own before the Great Elemental Spirits.

"A Shaman's spirit must be steadfast. A Shaman must understand that decisions that he takes now will affect him later in life. If you had swum across the hole with the water, you would not have been able to collect the kind of dust you needed for the future trial. Again and again, you steadfastly forced the water to submit to you, fusing with it your own blood. You didn't know this, but felt that you were doing things right. Feeling is what sets Shamans aside from other classes.

"A Shaman's spirit must be gentle. A Shaman who forgets his ancestors is hard-hearted and blind. The Spirits would not heed his calls and he would not be able to grow into anything greater than an Elementary Shaman. This is the limit for those who do not honor their ancestors. You honored your ancestors and they believe in you, Shaman.

"A Shaman's spirit must be pliant. The direct, immediately apparent solution is not always the right one. Dividing the seeds is only part of the task - only a real Shaman can understand their real purpose. You did it, so I gave you the ability to choose your own Totem. All other Shamans get a random one.

"I have finished. You have brought me joy, little brother. From now on you are an Initiate Shaman," the whirlwind in the orc's hands quickly started to dissipate and just a dozen seconds later was gone.

Quest update - 'The Path of the Shaman. Step 1': Quest completed.

Character class update: Shaman class has been replaced by: Initiate Shaman. Seek your trainer for learning to work with Younger Elemental Spirits.

I looked at the orc.

"Teacher," I bowed my head respectfully, "Please share some of your wisdom with me."

"I cannot teach you, little brother," said the orc. "By the decision of the Shaman Council I have been stripped of this ability. You will have to seek a more worthy teacher. Old Shaman Kornik lives in a settlement near Anhurs. Find him, he will help you. And now we have to get back, the allocation procedure should begin any minute."

Class quest chain accepted: 'The Path of the Shaman'.

'The Path of the Shaman: Step 2'. Find Shaman trainer Kornik.

The orc called a portal and we returned to his office. Again a stupid question popped into my head: who was in charge of the mine while the orc was away? No, I won't ask it - what if he takes offence and allocates me to some dump? I need to get to Anhurs. Kornik lives there somewhere, and Kart too, and the 'The Jolly Gnoom'. In three months' time I have a chance to find everything.

There was a bang and a transport portal appeared in the orc's office. That's it. I'll enter it and find myself in some village, where the local head...

The man that stepped out of the portal stopped my thoughts in their tracks. He was short, fat, toad-like, with a Kameamia on his chest. The Regional Governor had arrived in Pryke. What does he want here?

"Can't you allocate these stinking prisoners without my help?" he started to squeal in his disgusting voice, not even looking in my direction. "This one should be stuck in some piss-hole village, like the Big Hogspoo..." The Regional Governor stopped because his gaze finally fell on my person. I'm buggered! Can it be that the allocation is not handled by the orc, but by this humanoid cross between a toad and a Governor? That's it - a Govertoad!

The Governor stood there for a few moments having never finished saying 'Hogspoons', and then an unpleasant smirk appeared on his face, he even rubbed his hands and then started to spit out words:

"I told you that I wouldn't forget how you refused to give me that Legendary Item! How you treated your Governor! To my castle! Immediately! I am allocating my castle as the settlement for Mahan, the former prisoner of the Pryke Mine. Into the portal! Now!"

Attention! In the next 2 months and 26 days you have the opportunity of living in the castle of the Governor of the Serrest Province. You may leave the castle for no more than 48 hours, following which you will be teleported back. Have a pleasant Game!

I looked at my former boss. Was this a joke? 'A Shaman's spirit must be steadfast,' the orc's gaze seemed to say. 'You have to get through this, little brother.'

'What the hell?! 2 months and 26 days under the power of the Govertoad? No problem! We've been through worse,' I thought and, resolute, stepped into the portal. Good-bye Pryke Mine. I hope - forever.

The second book of the series will be available shortly! If you want to be the first to read the opening chapters or to receive updates about new upcoming books of the series, drop me a line at
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Vasily Mahanenko