The Secret of the Dark Forest ( (The Way of the Shaman: Book #3) (12 page)

"How can I be of help to an Elemental Shaman?" said the Master, stressing the last word, my class, and hinting that there was little for me to do here.

"I would like to go through the obstacle course." I tried to speak with a degree of pride, but my last words were drowned out in the laughter of the Rogues and Hunters. Suddenly an idea popped into my head: why not put these snobs back in their place? That would be some joke. Who would expect a Shaman to complete a course that Rogues spend so much time trying to perfect? No-one. This could play in my favor. I had no idea if I could pull it off or not, but I still remembered every move in the first hundred meters. I wasn't deterred by the fact that back then I was a Hunter with maxed out Agility. I knew all about rings and had the ability to change stats on them too.

"Anyone is free to go through the obstacle course." I was grateful to the NPC for not dropping even a hint of a smile when he heard my proposal. "Shaman Mahan has never gone through this trial. I, the Master of Rogues, can confirm this. Give me a sign when you're ready."

"I'm ready," I grinned, as I watched the reaction of the players. They stopped doing their exercises, surrounded the strange Shaman, without blocking the way to the obstacle course, and kept making pointed remarks about my sanity and or total lack thereof.

"I bet five hundred gold that he won't get through even 20 meters!" finally came a shout that I was eagerly expecting. Bigheaded snobs shouldn't just be punished, but hit directly in the pocket – that's the only way they'll learn that putting people down randomly can result in unpleasant consequences.

"I'll take that up!" I shouted. "Five hundred for 20 meters. Anyone else?"

The place descended into chaos. I barely had time to sign the agreements that flashed before my eyes. First came the agreements for 30 meters, then for 50 and then even a handful for 90 meters, staking just over 3000 gold each. As soon as the bombardment of agreements had ceased and the players started to exchange pleased glances – clearly thinking that they were about to clean up as a result of a seriously nutty Shaman – I walked up to the start of the course and looked at the final total: a hundred and twenty three agreements amounting to 52000 gold. Not bad; now I just had to earn it. There were swirling cylinders and pendulums ... everything looked and worked the same as before. ... Let's see. I changed the bonus on my rings to Agility, closed my eyes and took the first step. The test had commenced ...

Jump forward, putting the weight straight on the knees. Immediately roll left and jump up, as a blade slashes under your feet. Two small steps ahead, head ducked, then stop for two seconds and make another two steps forward. Jump up, head still ducked, feel the air being sliced by blades just a centimeter away, lie flat and make a sharp roll to the right. Then jump straight up and five quick steps forward ...

I suddenly felt that something wasn't going according to plan. I sensed a threat coming from the right … I soon lost track of time, so I couldn't say exactly how many meters I'd covered, but judging by the silence around me, only broken only by the squeaking of the mechanisms, I've covered enough: the players were very quiet. That'll teach you to cross a Shaman! All of this took just a moment to flash through my head, as I forced my body to make an awkward movement to dodge a probable line of attack. As soon as I fell down I got the feeling that I had to run from this spot. I rolled sideways, opened my eyes and looked around. 112 meters. Having covered the stretch that I had learned by heart, now I was in unexplored territory. I didn't have a clue how to get through here, so what the players were expecting to happen from the very first moments of the trial finally happened – I was hit by a pendulum ... and flew out of the obstacle course. ...

I came to myself by the start line. My Life Bar froze at 1 point, but soon began to slowly climb back up – having a healthy amount of Energy was helpful. Going through the obstacle course gained me +15 Agility and +5 Stamina. Although these weren't stats that a Shaman would need, I'd find a way to make good use of them too. I got to my feet and looked around. The silence of the players, who had just witnessed a miracle, was the best reward – even better than the extra 200000 gold I just earned.

"That's quite something," finally uttered one of the Rogues, and the crowd of players exploded with noise. As the enthusiastic buzz surrounded me, I began to be bombarded by messages – just as I had received agreements previously – that this or that amount had arrived to my account from some player or other. A minute later I only had five outstanding agreements, worth 3000 gold each.

"Some people still haven't paid up on their agreements." Without a moment's hesitation I tried to outshout the crowd of players. My ear caught a rather interesting scrap of conversation: "Are you sure you filmed everything? We have to put it up on the site today, no-one will believe it unless they see it."

"I haven't paid up," came the voice that had taken a swipe at me at the very beginning. "I won't pay. You cheated!"

"What?!" Such an accusation made my jaw drop. "What cheating? What are you on about?"

"No-one can cover that stretch on the first attempt. You trained especially in order to rip players off. You're a thief! I'll drag your ass through the courts! You'll be kicked out of Barliona for a trick like that! Hand over the money or I'll lodge a complaint against you with the Heralds!"

"Have you gone crazy, pretty-boy?" I took a few deep breaths, trying to regain my cool, but wasn't exactly succeeding. The urge to punch this idiot in the face was so strong that I barely restrained myself. Players weren't permitted to attack each other in the city, but on the training grounds fighting was allowed. As in the case of the obstacle course, a player couldn't be killed: their Life Bar wouldn't fall below one point while their attacker wouldn't be branded with the red PK-er mark. This was the training grounds, after all.

"The money, now!" The 'superhero' was really screaming by this time, probably trying to use the volume of his voice to affect my decision.

"I call upon a Herald. I request your assistance," I uttered the summons phrase. The buzz in the grounds immediately died down and camera pictograms appeared above the heads of the majority of players.

"You called me and I came, if ..."

"Please confirm that I have fulfilled all the necessary conditions of the agreements signed with these free citizens." I waved my hand around me, indicating the crowd, five members of which still owed me money. "Then please deduct any sums owed from their accounts, or, if they don't have it right now, from the coffers of the Empire, you can settle this matter with the indebted individuals yourselves afterwards."

In Barliona you always had to pay anything owed under an agreement. If the player didn't have enough money to fulfill his obligations, the Corporation would come to his aid, paying the debt and then proceeding to settle the matter with the debtor. I had no idea what it was that they did, but I was sure they recouped their funds in full.

The Herald's eyes clouded over for a moment – he was probably looking through and analyzing logs – then he said:

"Confirmed! All agreements signed with Mahan on completing the obstacle course must be honored without exception. He broke none of Barliona's laws. The funds to be paid under the agreements have been deducted from the accounts of the five free citizens in question and transferred to your account. The fine for refusal to fulfill their obligations, amounting to the size of the bet, has been deducted from the guilty parties and paid to the Empire. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

After thanking the Herald for his help, I saw the messages concerning the remaining funds arriving in my account, and then headed back into Anhurs at a leisurely pace. The 'superhero' was silent and followed me out with a very unfriendly stare. I realized that I'd gained yet another enemy ...

Well, to hell with him! I'm a Shaman! Let him fear me. I've had enough of hiding and running away from every shadow. It’s time for me to show some claws.

As soon as I left the Rogues, I knew where I should head next. I was familiar with the Rogue and Hunter training grounds and have visited them in the past, but there must be one for Shamans as well, where one could meet those who have chosen this challenging class. Why not get together with others like me?

After asking for directions from a squad of guards patrolling the city, I headed for the Anhurs Shaman retreat. Like all training areas, the Shaman training base was located close to the city wall. Externally it didn't look any different from the others – a wall, a covered training hall, arched gates: everything was the same as with the other classes. When I walked under the arch I beheld the inner layout of the grounds: one training dummy, same as the one Kornik set up for me, one dummy for mass spirit summoning and a great deal of greenery. Grass, trees, bushes and even a pond, which, although not green, was still a completely unexpected thing to find in a training area. Around twenty Shamans were summoning Spirits, under the guidance of an NPC Master. Another two- or three-dozen players were simply lying on the grass and chatting to each other. All they were missing was a basket of food to make this look like a real picnic. I think I like being a shaman more and more!

"Greetings, Elemental brother." A Master appeared next to me. Have you come for knowledge, skills, expertise or rest?"

Wow! The full Professional Training Package you're handed at every college, but with the offer of rest on top! This is no training course, but one big pleasure ride.

"It's knowledge I'm after, Teacher." I bowed to the Master. "I'll hone my skills and expertise elsewhere and I have no time to rest, so all that remains is knowledge. That's the thing I always seem to be lacking."

"Come with me, brother." The Master wasn't in the least surprised by my choice as he pointed towards the training hall. "There is a library inside the hall and that's where you have to go to obtain knowledge."

The library astonished me in the sense that it turned out to be a modest-sized room without any windows, covering no more than 10 square meters and lit by two flickering candles. The room contained a table and on it was the only book in the library; next to it a chair held a dozing NPC. The book was being closely studied by a girl whose name I couldn't immediately see in the room's subdued lighting, but when I did I froze. Antsinthepantsa: level 263 High Shaman. You could only level up to a Harbinger above that and by the looks of it she was expanding her knowledge in order to gain that rank.

"Listen, I need a couple more minutes with the book, all right?" said the girl in a rather hoarse voice. "It's a communal book, so we have to wait our turn to read it. I have to run in a minute anyway, so you'll have it soon enough."

"Yes, of course I'll wait. By the way, thanks for your advice – without it I wouldn't have become an Elemental Shaman."

"Advice?" The girl tore herself away from the book. "I've never laid my eyes on you before. Wow, First Kill at level 67? Impressive stuff. Nice flowers too. Seathistles, right?"

"Yeah, seathistles. About that advice – when I was going through the trial with the four rooms to pick my Totem, your guidance on the in-game forum came in very handy. I still follow it often: 'Forget that you have a brain. Thinking is for mages, Shamans feel.'”

"And how did you do in the trial?" The girl completely turned away from the book and stared at me.

This was no special secret, so I told her how I got through all the four rooms and about being given the chance to choose my Totem, without saying whom I got in the end.

"Exactly the same for me," whispered the girl. "How did you know how to do it correctly? Where did you read it?"

"Nowhere. That's what I'm saying – I did it thanks to your advice. On the second attempt, that is. I followed the standard path the first time, as you will read in the forums."

"And whom did you get? The Totem, I mean."

"I got the one I chose. While he's small I don't really want to show him off too much, I'm sorry. I don't know yours either, for example. When he grows up a bit, I'll show him to you."

"That makes sense. As for my Totem, I also wasn't given her, but chose her. I wanted a Dragon at first, but I felt nothing towards him, so I chose her instead." Silence descended on the room and then someone else joined us. It was a Black Panther, a meter and a half in tall. Beautiful, graceful, sleek and shimmering in the candlelight, she seemed the very embodiment of strength and power.

"Hey there beautiful." The words involuntarily flew from my lips and, surprising even myself, I went to the panther and put my hand on the back of her neck. Yeeesss ... the panther's fur was so pleasant to the touch, that I closed my eyes in enjoyment and scratched her as I ran my fingers over her skin. Completely losing any sense of propriety, I put my other hand under the cat's head and started scratching her neck. A few seconds later thunder-like purring echoed through the library.

"You're the fifth person to have earned the right to touch Bussy," smiled Antsinthepantsa. “She's a fussy girl and won't let just anyone near her.”

After looking me in the eye the panther dissipated right in my hands – the lady Shaman had dismissed her.

"So, what's your Totem? You've seen mine now, so it wouldn't be right if you weren’t to respond in kind."

Dammit! She's got me there! Should I try to wriggle out of it? What would be the point? As soon as I reach level 100 I'll have to get Draco out in the open anyway. All right, why not?