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

I don't think I like the direction that this conversation is taking – the Intellect Imitator is doing a great job of making me look like an obnoxious and ungrateful bastard who rudely refused a gift. In your dreams! I happen to be capable of standing up for myself! I took out five cursed rings and, after hiding their properties, handed them to Tisha.

"Choose one and put it on, without looking."

"But, they can't be 'read'!" said the girl in surprise.

"Exactly. Just choose one and put it on."

Tisha took one of the rings, which reduced Strength by 5%, put it on her finger and exclaimed:

"It's a Cursed Ring! Mahan! What is the meaning of this?"

As soon as the ring was put on, its properties became accessible to the wearer. Tisha angrily pulled off the ring and threw it towards me.

"Why did you do that? I trusted you! You ..."

"Hold on, Tisha," the Emperor interrupted her and turned to address me: "Open the properties of the other rings and hand them over to me."

There didn't seem anything wrong with Naahti's request, so I picked up the ring Tisha threw down and dropped it together with the rest into the Emperor's hand.

"Did you make them?" The Emperor took a careful look at each ring.

"Yes. I made them from the materials gathered in Beatwick, but after the Inverters did their job only items like these came out, no matter what I did."

"What do you plan to do with them?"

"I'll take them to Elizabeth. She can bless them, they're quite useless otherwise."

"Do you still have any of the amulets that you made in Beatwick?" The former Headman kept up his confounding line of questioning. Something began to stir in me that I thought was gone forever – genuine interest. What can the Emperor want with my rings and Amulet? Strange.

"Yes, here it is." I took out the Novice's Amulet out of the bag and handed it to Naahti. I thought that as soon as he took the Amulet, he would immediately turn into a Vagren, but Emperors were immune to such things by the looks of it. Naahti gave me back four rings, leaving only one for himself. He took it in one hand and the Amulet in the other and then did something I thought completely impossible. He combined them together. A bright sun shone through his hands and when the glow faded both the ring and the Amulet disappeared, as if they never existed. A pleased smile appeared on the Emperor's face.

"Dad?" Tisha was looking wide-eyed at her father, "You just ..."

"Destroyed something that belonged to another?" The Emperor raised an eyebrow. "I know. Mahan's losses will be reimbursed. A hundred Gold for the ring and a thousand for the Amulet." As soon as he uttered those words I received a message that 770 Gold had fallen into my purse. "But that's not the important part. Firstly, Mahan showed me that I was wrong to offer him a blind choice and, secondly, I have an assignment for him."

"A blind choice?" asked Tisha.

"Yes. I offered him a choice of five items with concealed properties. He refused to choose. Now I understand why. It seems that he hasn't forgotten who I was before becoming Emperor, so his suspicions are not groundless." I was lucky that the Emperor was so clever. He came up with the reason, explained it and, most importantly, believed in what he was saying. I was slowly coming back to normal and was hit by the horrible realization how my refusal must have looked. Here was a prideful Shaman, turning his nose up at the gifts of the Emperor. I was lucky not to get docked Reputation points for this.

"You've shown me that I was wrong," continued the Emperor, "so we should once again return to the reward. This time you will have no choice: I will decide what your reward should be. But this can wait. I can't stop thinking of the chess pieces standing in the main hall. They could've only been created by a Cursed Artificer. Did you hold such a title?"

I nodded, not understanding where the Emperor was going with all of this. And why did he say 'did' rather than 'do'?

"The Amulet of the Novice of Eluna could be made by any sentient that has a positive reputation with the priestesses. But you were a Cursed Artificer, therefore, in order to create such a thing, you had to become a Blessed Artificer. Is that the case?"

I nodded once again, beginning to lose track with all these Artificers. There were altogether too many of them.

"Dad, I really don't understand what this is all about," said Tisha, who was still standing next to us. Truth be told, she was voicing my thoughts too – I had no idea what it was that the Emperor wanted.

"Come," the Emperor waved his hand and a portal opened nearby, "I must show you something."

You have gained access to the Emperor's Throne Room. Current level of Palace access: 46%. Next interior: The Emperor's Office.

I waved away the message – for which many players would have easily given two years of play – and stepped into the portal. What was it that Naahti needed?

The answer was very unusual: a dagger was stuck right in the center of the throne. I could tell that this was a Cursed Object without even looking at its properties. The waves of darkness emanating from the dagger were being contained by statuettes of Eluna placed around the throne.

"A present for the future Emperor from Geranika," explained Naahti. "No-one can touch the dagger – neither the Emperor nor the Dark Lord. It can only be destroyed by combining it with a holy object, as I have just done, but there are very few of these throughout the Empire and all of these are located in temples. Neither the throne nor those objects can be moved, otherwise they will lose their properties. The new High Priestess has shielded the effect of the dagger on the Palace, but I cannot take my throne. An Emperor cannot exist for long without his throne. In four months' time I will disappear."

"No!" came a cry from Tisha.

"Calm down, my dear. Not all is lost. In a week I will gather all the heroes of the Empire and ask for their help. According to these scrolls," – some scrolls appeared in the Emperor's hands – "a lost Relic of Light is located somewhere in the depths of the Free Lands. With its help it will be possible to destroy this dagger. The heroes will have to meet very strict requirements, including a minimal level of 200. Their Reputation with the Emperor will not be a factor – I am prepared to meet any exiles half way and give them a second chance. Although I'll weigh up all the pros and cons first..."

"So where do I fit into all of this?" It looked like the scenario for the opening up of Kartoss as a player faction was set to continue a week later and involve high-level players.

"You are a Blessed Artificer. One can't depend entirely on the search for the Relic being successful ; for example, it may not be found within the given time. It is my duty as the Emperor to protect my Empire from any risk and you've given me a very interesting idea. Aside from the heroes of the Empire, I will give an assignment to each of the craftsmen. Instead of joining the search effort they will have to create a holy artifact capable of destroying the dagger. Perhaps someone will succeed. You will be given this assignment right now, even though you don't meet the necessary parameters. As Beatwick had shown, sometimes it's worth taking a risk and trusting a low-level free citizen."

Quest available: "Creation of a Holy Artifact."

Description: The Malabar Empire is facing a calamity: A cursed dagger has been plunged deep into the heart of the throne. If it is not destroyed within four months, the Emperor will perish. Create a holy item that could destroy the dagger.

Reward: +500 Reputation with the Emperor, +15 Levels, +50,000 Gold Coins, a Scaling Item from the Emperor's stores.

Penalty for failing the quest: None.

Quest type: Scenario.

Requirements: at least 100 levels in the main Profession (the quest cannot be completed if the level of the main profession is less than 100).

Level restrictions: None.

Time limit for completing the quest: 127 days from the moment it has been given out.

"I will do everything in my power to destroy the dagger," were the only words I could force out of myself after reading through the quest description. +15 levels ... for this Anastaria and Hellfire would drop everything and start crafting like mad. It's hard to get your character to level 100, but it is possible. Reaching level 200 would require a special effort. After level 300, however, each level gained is a real cause for celebration. And with this you would get +15 all in one go.

"I had no doubt that you would take up the challenge," said the Emperor solemnly. "Now, let us once again return to the question of your reward. I think this would suit you better than the rest," with these words Naahti handed me the boots. "Wear them with pride!"

I bowed as I accepted the Emperor's gift and finally had a look at the properties of my reward. What kind of an item was it impossible to get from the Thricinians?

Item acquired: “Shaman's Boots of Brisk Running”.

Durability: unbreakable.

Description: Shamans spend most of their lives on the road. Comfortable shoes are a guarantee of a happy, and living, Shaman.

+40 to maximum level of Energy, Spirit summoning time is reduced by 50%, +(Player Level*10) Intellect, +(Player Level*5) Stamina, +(Player Level*3) Agility, +(Player Level*7) defense from all damage types.

Item class: Scaling, Integrated.

Level restrictions: None.

Finally the Hamster shook off his apathy. He was jumping happily around the boots, blowing specks of dust off them and looking at the Emperor with love-filled eyes, solemnly promising to craft the holy artifact the very next day: anything to get another bonus like this.

"And one last thing, you may try to create the relic in Anhurs, with the aid of the High Priestess, but I advise you to travel to the Free Lands. There are many untapped resources there, some of which are probably of the hallowed kind. The choice remains up to you, I can only advise. And now please excuse me, I have to leave you."

The Emperor gave me a brief nod, opened a portal and a moment later I was alone with Tisha. I quickly put on the boots, in case anyone changed their mind, and sadly noted that the bonus from Rick's set disappeared. I had to choose – either to put on this new wonder or keep the bonuses from all the eight items in the set. The boots were a clear winner: Rick's gear would have to be changed soon in any case. I've outgrown it.

"Where are you off to now?" it looked like Tisha would be sticking with the stunned princess role for some time. The change of Emperor took place almost painlessly and the developers had already come up with a mass quest for the players, but Tisha was still walking around in a state of shock. Could there be a quest tied to all this?

"I'm going to pay Beth a visit now. She asked me to drop by as soon as I came to Anhurs. Then I will go to the registrar and finally register my clan. And then ... we'll see. Princess, can I be of any help to you?"

"'Princess': ... that sounds so ... strange. Well ... no ... I ..."

Judging by the fact that Tisha was struggling to make up her mind about something, I must have been on the threshold of being given a new quest. I looked at my Attractiveness to her. 39 points. Strange, with the ordinary girl Tisha in Beatwick it was as high as 83 or thereabouts, but here, with her a Princess it was just 39. Of course: these were two different Imitators despite there being only one NPC! They reduced it by too much. It looks like I'll need at least 40 points to be given the quest. Damn, I have no way of increasing my score either. I remembered the Dress that I gave to Reptilis and my inner Greed Toad came out of hibernation. Not only did that lizard fail to pay me the rest of what he owed me (although maybe he did do it – I've not been to the Bank yet), I handed him an item that would have been really useful right now. All I would have had to do was make a gift of it to Tisha and the Princess would have been putty in my hands! Any quest, any help – within reason, of course. I was so stupid!

"Tisha," I said, risking calling the girl by her name. In Beatwick there was no problem with calling NPCs by their first names, but this was the palace and she was now the Princess, so it could land me in real trouble. "How about this: right now I'll go and settle my affairs, then come back to the palace in the evening and we'll have a chat. I have access, even to the Throne Room, so we can meet on this very spot. We can have a proper talk then."

"All right," smiled the girl, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Until evening, then."

I barely had time to notice that I was alone: Tisha was gone in a flash. Great! So how will I make my way out of here? It's not like I know the plan of the palace!

"The Emperor asked me to accompany you." Like a genie from a bottle a Herald popped up next to me. "Where would you like to go?"

"I need to get to the High Priestess of Eluna," I said, quickly recomposing myself. "Please transport me there, or, if you can't take me there directly, to the place where I can ask for an audience with her."

"Please come this way." The Herald opened a portal, saying, "The High Priestess is ready to receive you."

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