The Citadel (Mirror World Book #2) (13 page)

"Absolutely," Uncle Vanya said. "He was one of the easiest when it came to quests. Nothing difficult, just a bit of cleaning. Or fetching him some Yellow Onyx.

I pricked up my ears. "Yellow Onyx?"

"Sure," he nodded. "Tronus has been ordering it by the wagonload. Every quest he issues, he always asks for some. He must be having it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!"

"I don't think I remember any Yellow Onyx mines," I adlibbed.

"You don't mine it," Liz said. "It's a drop from Sand Golems. Alternatively, you can get it from the vault in Zeddekey's Catacombs."

Sand golems. How interesting. Did that mean there was another way of farming this particular mineral so beloved by the Citadel's wizard?

"What's in the vault is nothing though," the dwarf shrugged. "It's not worth the trouble."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Closing the quest is the tricky bit. The more onyx you bring, the more generous the wizard will be. Take you, for instance. How many free slots do you have in your bag?"

"Eh... a hundred and forty? Something like that."

"Which means you could farm about two thousand crystals. Possibly more. Definitely no less."

"So that's how it works, then."

He nodded. "Exactly."

"You'd never be able to do the quest, anyway," Liz said with a smirk. "You might be able to complete the cleaning and errand-running part... anyone can do that, I suppose. But the onyx... forget it. You'd have to hire a group to take you there. Whether the Blue Hills or the Catacombs, either way it would have cost you a ton of moolah."

"Blue Hills?"

The dwarf nodded. "She's right. It's the location where Sand Golems live. They're all levels ninety-plus."

I know it sounds crazy but the funny thing was, the Golems were probably a better bet.

The wagon suddenly jolted, interrupting our conversation. While the dwarf was calling Kosma every name under the sun for being a "clumsy blind beast", I opened the map. Let's have a look at those Blue Hills of theirs. Eh? Now that looked interesting...

"So I can see that you too decided to try your luck leveling Valor," Uncle Vanya joked.

I only shrugged.

"He's just being curious," Liz answered for me. "Back at the Swamp, he asked the guys all sorts of questions too."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, adjusting the non-existent glasses. It looked like it had become a habit. I seemed to be doing it every time I was nervous.

"To tell you the truth," I began, "I had no intention of straying so far from the beaten track. I was never interested in the Citadel. I was going to work in the mines. It just happened. There's little I can do now."

"It's all right, it's all right. Keep your hair on," Uncle Vanya said. "We all have our own goals. As the girl's just said, you have your own way. You're doing everything right."

I nodded my appreciation. The inklings of a plan were already beginning to form in my mind. Now I had to find suitable performers — or even comrades, to a certain degree.

"You're right," I said. "Each of us has his or her own way. Still, sometimes our paths can cross."

Uncle Vanya frowned. "What are you driving at?"

"I'd like to hire you two."

They exchanged glances.

"Meaning?" Liz looked at me with interest.

"The thing is," I touched the bridge of my nose, "I can't handle Sand Golems on my own."

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" the dwarf muttered.

"And another thing," I said. "There's this location just next to the Blue Hills. I need to check it out too. But that can wait."

Liz smiled. "You have any idea how much a raid like that would cost you? Do I understand correctly that you want me and Uncle to handle the golems on our own?"

"Exactly," I said. "Just you and him. And as for your wages... There is a slight hitch here. Once you know all the details you might be just as interested in the Golems as I am. Or not the Golems even. The Yellow Onyx."

Uncle Vanya slapped my shoulder and burst out laughing. Liz seemed to be slightly taken aback by his reaction, looking incomprehensively between himself and me.

"You don't get it, do you?" Uncle Vanya laughed. "The dwarf that's been sighted in the wizard's tower! It's our Olgerd here!"

Chapter Ten

T
wo days had elapsed since we'd had this conversation. In the meantime, my lifestyle hadn't changed much. Toiling in the mines. Busting my hump in the Wizard's courtyard. Perusing the info portal before bedtime.

I'd always considered myself a patient person, long-suffering even, but these two days had taken their toll on my nerves. Even though the whole raid thing didn't seem to be that difficult, after all. At least not according to Uncle Vanya.

I was sitting at Talina's drinking coffee. It was nine in the morning. The tavern was empty. Today was the day. We were about to take on the Sand Golems. Or rather, Uncle Vanya and Liz were. My combat skills were a little less than useless. So I was probably going to cower behind some rock while those two would have to farm Yellow Onyx. What else could I do?

Even though, if you listened to Liz, my role in the raid was arguably the most important.

We had made out a contract the same evening as we'd had our conversation. According to one of its clauses, I was obliged to help Liz achieve her goal by telling her how to get in the wizard's good books. In their turn, she and Uncle Vanya promised to help me with the Golems. As a bonus, they also offered to accompany me to the location with the Nests of Rocks. They refused the remuneration I'd offered them, saying that helping society's misfits was the right thing to do.

In all honesty, at first I'd been worried whether Liz could pull off the advice I'd given her. My plan was simple. All other players had been so impatient to get the quest that they had gone directly to the wizard. He, in his turn, rewarded them with complex and almost impossible quests. That created a vicious circle that did nothing but anger players and made for a constant stream of forum whining.

I, however, knew of the reasons behind the wizard's behavior. Which was why I'd suggested Liz went to Captain Gard first and only mentioned the wizard fleetingly, inquiring if he needed any help. Considering the sheer amount of her medals received for the defense of the Citadel, Gard just might consider her worthy of the task.

The next morning after our conversation, I'd been working in the wizard's courtyard when Liz walked in. She was beaming. Holding a small knife shaped like a sickle, she cast me a cheerful smile and began cleaning one of the flowerbeds. My plan had worked. She'd done it.

The same night in the tavern, she'd told me and Uncle Vanya about it. The next thing, Varn joined us and offered me a deal. In exchange for information on how to get one of the wizard's quests, he provided me with a lifelong VIP pass with the Guiding Eyes. Judging by the way Uncle Vanya grinned, he must have had something to do with it. I agreed. Why not? It was an excellent deal: a lifelong free ride and a good relationship with the caravanners. And as for my secret... I was pretty sure that the players would very soon have worked it out anyway. All they had to do was track my first day in the Citadel. So basically, it had all turned out for the best.

Uncle Vanya's voice echoed through the empty tavern, bringing me back to reality.

"Right, golem slayer! Are you ready?"

I turned. So! What the hell had happened to the wagon driver in his standard-issue green clothes? The dwarf stood confidently with his hands on his hips, enjoying the sight of my drooping jaw.

"How do you like it?" he asked with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Man, what can I say? You're full of surprises!"

Uncle Vanya chuckled. "You're not the only one."

I had to agree. Instead of the humble caravanner I was looking at a Dwarf tank clad in a complete Purple Set. The precious suit of armor made him look twice as large and ten times more powerful: a super warrior directly from heaven.

I couldn't help smiling. "You've come prepared, haven't you?"

"You bet," he grinned. "I'll hack them to bits before you even notice. Ah, there's my niece coming!"

The tavern door swung open, revealing our archer girl. Did I say the day was rich in surprises? Her gear was not a patch on her uncle's but still quite impressive. Her Blue Set was infinitely better than the one she'd been wearing back at the Swamp.

"Hi," she sat at our table. "You ready?"

"Sure," Uncle Vanya replied. "A quick coffee, then we'll be off. We should be able to make it back by dinner time. Your auntie wants me to go with her to our country cottage."

"Give her my love."

"Can't you do it yourself?" Uncle Vanya grumbled at her. "Wouldn't you like to go with us to the country? I could get a BBQ going. What would you say to that?"

"Sorry," Liz shook her head. "I have too many things to do."

"Which are what?
Things to do!
You've become completely nuts with this game!"

Liz shook her head and stared out the window.

Uncle Vanya glanced at me, seeking support. "You tell me, Olgerd. Are
you
happy here?"

"Am I supposed to give you an honest answer? Had you asked me twenty years ago... but you want me to be objective, don't you?"

Liz perked up. "Do you want to say that had you been twenty years old, you'd have spent all your waking time in the game?"

"Can't see why not," I replied. "On one condition.'

"Which is what?"

"I wouldn't ignore my loved ones."

With a sigh, she turned back to the window. Uncle Vanya winked me his appreciation.

"Your coffee," Talina appeared by our table, deftly setting down the cups.

I took a sip. "You know, Liz... my Christina would have loved it here. And my wife. I'd love them to be able to come here one day and see for themselves."

"I don't think you're going to take them to Drammen. Nor the Citadel," Uncle Vanya chuckled.

I nodded. "Christina would have loved to meet your Kosma."

He puffed out his chest with pride. "I bet! Sure she would!"

"But you're probably right," I said. "It wouldn't be a good idea to take them to aggressive locations. Now Mellenville's different. There they might appreciate the whole beauty of Mirror World."

"Lots of nice locations around," Liz said. "There're some really cool ones in the South. And in the East."

"There are," Uncle Vanya agreed. "Mirror World is immense. Right! Time to do some golem slaying! I just hope it won't take us long."

* * *

The trip to the Blue Hills was quite quick. Three portal jumps from Drammen to a one-horse-town called Toug took only fifteen minutes, followed by a hike along the wide Inunda River: forty minutes in total. Not bad at all. I was more than happy.

As we walked, we came across a lot of people. Surprisingly, the place was literally swarming with zero-level players: mainly herbalists and fishermen. Then again, why was I surprised? This was a river. A perfect location for either profession.

Watching the fishermen was funny. Some were angling off the bank. Others used small boats. To our right, I noticed several teams of five players casting nets into the water. This was probably how you fished in a group.

As we walked through a small forest, we saw lots of hunters, woodcutters and bee keepers.

"This place is a farming heaven," I commented.

"Sure," Uncle Vanya said. "A very good location."

"Aren't they afraid?"

"What's there to be afraid of? As long as you avoid mobs' aggro zones, you can farm all you want."

"Plus the place is chock full of combat players," Liz added. "They smoke the mobs faster than they can respawn."

Uncle Vanya nodded. "The local beasties make up part of quite a few quests. This was one of Mirror World's first locations ever. That's why there's such a disparity in levels."

"I see," I muttered.

'Wait till we come to the Blue Hills," Uncle Vanya grinned. "That's a totally different picture over there!"

"Sure," Liz said. "The Golems aren't very popular, I tell you. Not as quest mobs, anyway. To do a bit of farming, maybe."

After another ten minutes, we finally left the forest. I walked around one last tree and found myself standing on a wide flat river bank. This was some beach, I tell you. Completely deserted, too.

"Slow down, Olgerd," Uncle Vanya warned me. "Better safe than sorry."

As if in confirmation, a system message popped up,

Warning! This location is not recommended for players under level 80.

"Keep next to me," Liz reached behind her back for her longbow. "Uncle Vanya, it's time to create a group."

He sent us invitations to join, then pointed at the beach in front of him, "See that sand? Notice anything different about it?"

"Just sand," I peered at it, trying to make out any peculiarities. "It's very yellow, if that's what you mean."

He shook his head. "You're not looking at the right thing. Look how uneven it is. See those craters?"

I took a better look. "Yes! I see! They're slightly darker than the rest of it."

"They're golems' lairs," Liz said. "Don't go anywhere near them. If he injures you, we'll have to buy a potion for you or go look for a healer. They're all levels 90-95, that's a 20-hour injury. At least."

"I see," I nodded my understanding. "So where do you want me to be?"

"Just here next to the forest," Uncle Vanya pointed. "That's it. Enough lazing around. Lizzie, are you ready?" he waited for her to nod, then added, "I'll go bring the first one, then."

He set off, holding a broad full-height shield in one hand and a battle axe in the other. Despite his seemingly cumbersome armor, Uncle Vanya moved with the flowing grace of an animal.

Reaching for an arrow behind her back, Liz gave me a wink. "He's awesome, isn't he?"

"He's too good," I answered, admiring him.

The girl heaved a sigh. "Such a waste! If he decided to level up Valor, his char would cost a ton of money."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think? Have you never heard of people selling their chars?"

I shook my head.

'I see," she said. "Never mind. We'll talk about it later. We have a job to do. Look, he's aggroing one already."

Indeed, Uncle Vanya was already about five paces away from one of the craters. The sand around it exploded, letting out the first monster. Jeez, it was fast! For some reason, I'd always believed golems to be slow giants barely moving their massive feet as they stomped along. But the sight of this first Blue Hills golem had busted my ideas of them.

It was short: five foot at the most. It had two arms, two legs and a small head. It moved unbelievably fast, rolling around like a large oily shadow.

Uncle Vanya didn't seem to be nonplussed by its maneuvers in the slightest. Having parried the first blow with his shield, he almost effortlessly twitched his axe, chopping off his opponent's leg and stripping him of 80% Life. Liz's bowstring snapped.

Congratulations!

You've slain a Sand Golem!

Phew. We could go and collect the onyx now.

"We can do it later," Liz said, taking aim again. "Let's mop up this part of the beach first."

I shrugged. If it went like this, we'd be done before midday. Uncle Vanya seemed to be in form, his every swing resulting in a crit. He finished off two more golems without any help from his archer. His level spoke for itself. It was true that we weren't getting any loot or XP for doing this but that wasn't what we'd come here for. We were only interested in the quest resource.

Uncle Vanya had finished off his thirtieth golem — or was it twenty-ninth? — and waved to us.

"Now we can go and collect the onyx," Liz told me.

Softly she moved along the sand. Each mob had given us two or three crystals. Excellent. Another hour, and we could start moving toward the Misty Mountains.

* * *

An hour and a half later, the system told me that my bag was now full. After twenty more minutes, Liz let us know that hers was, too.

"Oh," Uncle Vanya said. "Just when I was getting a taste for it."

Liz rolled her eyes dreamily. "Shame we're not getting any XP or loot. Would be good, wouldn't it?"

"It's a good job we aren't!" the dwarf snorted. "You'd have run me into the ground then. Olgerd, you ready? Show us the way."

I opened the Der Swyor Clan's Trade Routes map. My bot promptly laid a new route and we set off.

"So what is it you need to find there?" Uncle Vanya wondered, walking next to me.

"There's a Nest of Rocks I need to check."

He looked at me in surprise. "You realize how many there are?"

"I do. But I have the exact coordinates of that one."

"I see. What kind of quest is it? Please don't get me wrong. It's just that I've never seen a zero level performing complex quests like these before."