Player Reached the Top. LitRPG series. Book I Page 9

  “White Raven.” Lekhor poked Will’s shoulder. “Go to take hot drinks and also fill in to yourself. Me and Gikhor to go the shaman.”

  “You’d better tell me where I can rent a room.”

  “Of course, yes! ʻPick and mountains’, steps hundred directly.”

  “Thanks. See you later.” He headed toward the inn.

  Walking around, he concluded that other races besides the Horghs lived there as well. Not understanding why that was the case, he decided to ask a translucent being standing behind one of the counters about it. Its body reminded him of a human being, but it had small snakes instead of hair. Its pupils were serpentine, as was its lower jaw.

  “Excuse me…”

  “Are you buying or selling?”

  Its voice was phlegmatic, and its unemotional face suggested it was there against its will.

  “Neither. I’d like to know why other races, other than the Horghs, also live here.”

  “It's-s not proh-hibited. S-s-so, if you aren’t gonna buy nor s-sell, leave. Don’t dis-sturb me.

  “Thank you for the information. Excuse me if I sound rude but what race do you belong to?”

  The dealer face palmed and shook its head. “I’m just s-so s-sick of this-s. I am a Nag. Is-s it all? I as-sk you to go away.”

  Will understood it despite the odd accent. “Alright, thank you very much.”

  The inn that Lekhor had mentioned was close. He entered, rented a room upstairs, locked himself in, and opened the chest.

  “Your money was transferred from your account to your storage. For further use of the storage, it is not obligatory to visit the same room. Any rooms you rent or buy will provide automatic access to it. For more information visit our website, under the section: ʻPersonal storages and their use’.”

  He laid down and clicked ʻoutput’.

  Chapter 27. Hidden in the depths

  Having left the capsule, Will made himself some noodles. Then, after auctioning off the gloves, he went to check the forums.

  “The continent in the North (1st Floor)"

  “Where can I find the hermit Nort?"

  “I saw the guard! (2nd Floor)"

  Will immediately clicked on the last one.

  “We were leveling up near Vataskoriya's ruins yesterday (for people from the other Floors: it’s the place with the different Undead--my guys know what I mean =)). So, we were leveling up when suddenly, a neighing horse and a headless rider appeared outta thin air and dashed right through the walls! I managed to scan him!

  “Dullakhan (Guard)

  Level: 42

  HP: 7,100.”

  “That’s it!! Remember that wild dragon from the first Floor?! I think they are constantly travelling around the map. We probably need to kill them, but someone needs to give us that quest. It’s impossible to catch them any other way. The Floors are huge, as you know.”

  “As always, it's loads of fun…”

  After reading a couple of more forum threads, Will went to get some exercises, and sort out his thoughts. An hour later, he returned to the game.

  …

  Coming out of the in, he saw that Lekhor was waiting for him.

  “Who are you waiting for, oh, strongest warrior?” smiled Raven.

  “To wait for yours the shaman, to call to himself. To go, I to see off White Raven.”

  “The shaman? What does he want?” The young man followed the Horgh, wondering why was the shaman was interested in him.

  “The shaman also strong and wise. To protect ours the tribe hundred years many times. He not to speak about the decisions with someone.”

  …

  Lekhor brought him to a low building surrounded by a fence. Horghs, equipped from head to toe, stood at the gate.

  “White Raven?” barked one of them.

  “Yes, I am,” nodded Will.

  “Yours to be being waited. To go!”

  Raven passed by them, leaving Lekhor behind. The doors were open, and a multi-colored light shining from inside. The shaman looked young, but something about him reminded Will of a sadder and wiser old man. The most striking thing was that he did not belong to the Horgh tribe. Will did not know what race the man sitting in front of him belonged to. However, having learned his lesson before, he was would neither ask nor scan the man’s name and level. Scanning was for monsters only.

  Several lit candles surrounded the shaman, each of which burned with a different color flame. The air smelled like a mix of herbs and aromas. The shaman sat on his knees in the center of the room, holding a book in his right, and a bottle filled with bright red liquid in his left.

  “Are you Raven?” His eyes, lacking pupils, looked in his direction. “Lekhor and Gikhor have already told me about you. Thank you for saving them. They are good warriors, and our general force would fall apart without them. What do you want for their rescue?”

  Will frowned. The shaman did not scare him. He never intended to let the Horghs die just so that he could level up at the expense of their force. But the oath that they had taken could not be traded for any gift that the shaman could give. Raven decided to take nothing.

  “I need nothing. If you want to thank me, answer my questions.”

  “Oh, answers. All of you begin to look for them someday… I see confusion in your soul… No, it’s something different… Desire? No, something bigger than that… Hunger? Yes, hunger. What are you so starved for, my friend?”

  His words rubbed Will the wrong way. He had an idea what the shaman was going on about, but he did not like the stranger stepping onto his toes.

  “Stop it!” Will’s face become a mask, his voice betrayed his hidden rage. “ I was gonna ask you questions, not the other way around!”

  “Well-… if you want answers-… drink.” The shaman gave him the bottle with the red liquid and a crooked smile. “It is not poison, don’t be afraid. However, I do not promise tranquility.”

  “What is it?”

  “Drink and you will receive even those answers that you’re not looking for. You have chosen your award …”

  “To thank you for saving the lives of the Horghs the shaman gives you your chosen reward. Only you can decide what to do with it.”

  Raven did not understand what was going on, but the words of the blind man caused an unknown feeling to stir in his gut. What would happen after he drank the potion? What answers was the shaman talking about?

  “Give it here!” Will yanked the bottle out of the man’s hand and, without thinking, drank down its contents.

  He felt dizzy... and then dizzier. The last thing he saw before blackness claimed him were the shaman's hands catching him.

  “You have drunk the “Truth potion”.

  A unique potion prepared by the shaman Grrakhkat.

  Everyone who drinks his potion will be shown their utmost hidden desires, purposes and motives.

  Duration: 4 hours.”

  Will opened his eyes and realized he was sitting at his old school desk. He saw himself, the small and badly dressed boy, and his schoolmates.

  Nevertheless, some of them were dressed better than the others. Some had new books, rather expensive ones, as well as fashionable backpacks and notebooks. The difference between them was startling. He had envied those who were born richer than himself and his sister since his boyhood.

  No. He did not blame their father, or their mother who had left them when Leah was three years old. He cursed the fate and blamed it for such injustice. This envy, this hatred toward poverty gradually turned into hunger.

  The school was then replaced by his first workplace. A janitor. Then the images changed one after another, showing all the jobs he accepted just to escape from the vicious circle of poverty.

  The flame of anger he had been hiding so carefully burned in his heart. He had tears in his eyes. He DID not want to see this!

  “Ra-a-a!!! Stop! Enough! Why are you showing me this?!” He had already forgotten that he was in the game. The dreadful memories, pulled fr
om the secret corners of his soul, overwhelmed him.

  He curled up and covered his head with his hands. “Enough! Enough! Enough! Enough! Enough!!!”

  Everyone has something they desperately try to hide; desire, aspiration, or hope to have one more chance. Will had always had a burning desire to find the answer to the question: what was the view like from top of the money mountain?

  Being eternally poor, he did not wish such a future for his sister... As he had been told, there was something in everyone that they were too afraid to show even to themselves.

  While being shown what he had hidden, Will relived his childhood memories. Once he even ran away from home and hid himself somewhere and had cried silently. His sister should not see her brother in such a condition, nor should his father see his son like that.

  Will did not want to live for the sake of money. Family, friendship, and something moral, had to be his ideals. But the worm of envy had lodged itself in him and gnawed at his essence, looking for a way out. It finally broke free once it had overheard the conversation between those two visitors.

  He had always been able to advance toward the set goal. So when, at last, his target presented itself, he could not just turn away.

  The top!!!

  He wanted to know what the view from the top of the money mountain was like!

  Chapter 28. The cursed mark

  As soon as Will accepted his hunger, he woke from the trance, covered in sweat and laying on the floor. The memories he had relived knocked him down. There were two debuffs on him.

  “"Demoralization"

  Your will is weak, and you will cause 21% less damage. Energy is lowered by 15%.

  Duration: 10 minutes

  "Weakness"

  HP is reduced by 10%,

  Speed is reduced by 30%.

  Duration: 10 minutes.”

  “Have you found what you were looking for, Envoy?” The shaman’s voice brought him out of prostration.

  “I… probably. I can’t tell what I was looking for, exactly. But I feel relieved, as if something that has been prevailing over me for all these years has disappeared. I should probably thank you, though, you did not warn me about what would happen.”

  “Very few people voluntarily decide to face their internal demons. Those who win against them acquire something valuable. Wouldn’t you agree, Raven?”

  “What are you?” It bugged Will that the system had gotten memoirs from his private life and interweaved them into the game. It could influence the mentality of the user…

  “Me? I am just an old shaman of the Horgh’s tribe. Nothing more.” His quiet smile confirmed his words, and Raven understood that he should not force the answer out of the shaman.

  “Well, it is time to go. See you, maybe.” He turned to leave, but the shaman’s voice halted him in his tracks.

  “Wait! While you were being under the influence of the potion, I felt an old trace of damnation on you. Did you encounter someone with a violet aura not long ago?”

  “I did! It was a big rat. In Skiavra, several miles from here. Why do you ask?”

  “You see, sometimes, fortune favors the bold, and you, undoubtedly, are brave. You can't argue with the fact that you are weak, but brave. Perhaps, your emergence was foreordained, wasn’t it?”

  “Sure. It was foreordained directly by the game mechanics,” Will grimaced. “Cut to the chase, Shaman!”

  “Well… A damned animal appeared in our woods not so long ago. More likely, it is an animal no longer, but a monster. It hunts at night and never attacks big groups. We cannot kill it.”

  “Send somebody as bait and ambush it. Trap the monster. What’s the problem?”

  “We’ve already tried, but it skillfully avoided all of our attacks. We even sent Captain Dreyrok. He’s one of the strongest warriors among the Horghs. But the monster, as if felt his powerful aura, avoided fighting with him. Dreyrok has been travelling around the wood for a week, but he hasn’t been attacked by the monster.”

  “How can I help? Aha, there is a cursed mark on me, which is able to attract this beast, right?”

  “Right you are!”

  “And how will I cope with it? I am not captain Dreyrok. I am not strong enough to fight against such things.”

  “I see… You are really not strong enough, but how did you manage to kill one such monster?”

  “With cunning…” Will sighed. “Cunning and good luck.”

  “It is clear…you need to become stronger.”

  “It is obvious, Shaman. Why can’t you kill him?”

  “I am tied to this land. Also, I can't go far. So, our only chance is you, Envoy. Become stronger and kill the beast, infecting our woods.”

  “Quest available: “Monster at Night”.

  Kill the cursed animal and bring its head as proof.

  Level suggested: 65+

  Awards:

  +15,000 XP;

  +90 gold;

  Grrakhkat’s approval: +47

  Opportunity to choose level suitable jewelry.

  Note: Underleveled players will receive a bonus for killing the monster.

  Accept: Yes/No?”

  “No way in hell am I getting into this mess without some sort of preparation.”

  While reading the system messages, he received a notification about a new mail; it was from Light Terror.

  Chapter 29. Follow the cursed Aura

  “Hi Raven,

  Long time, no see! Sorry about that, clan affairs and all that jazz. In addition, I had problems with the guard. You have probably seen stuff it on the website. An idiot from our clan shared some info. He decided to draw attention, the damn idiot! Well, that isn’t important, we'll sort it out. Now, skill books are in great demand, especially ones with rare skills. But, as we can farm them, my leader reciprocated after she had learned you would pay more than anyone else on the market would. (The fact that I put in a good word for you played a considerable role in making her decide ;)). So, don't let me down. All in all, eight gold. Look at the names and the descriptions; maybe you already have some of these.

  Light Terror”

  Will had a look at the titles of the books. There were five of them:

  “Theft” skill book - The name was self-explanatory; the skill allowed him to rob a victim.

  “Shock” skill book - One of many skills for stunning an enemy, which granted the user a three-second "stun". If timed right, it could interrupt a magician’s skill cast.

  “Dirty Dodge” skill book - The skill which allowed the user to throw sand into the eyes of an enemy, blinding them for two seconds.

  “Poisoning” - Allowed the player to apply concentrated poison on their weapons and arrows. The higher the poison level, the more additional damage it would do.

  The last book was the rarest one, and the rogue did not understand why Pak hadn't sold it. And why the leader allowed him to send it.

  “Double Attack” skill book, an attack causing damage as two attacks.

  He had slightly more than one hundred fifty gold coins. Without hesitation, Will sent his friend the ten gold coins. Such help should be appreciated. He planned on asking him for help in the future. It was good, having support of both guild members and the Horghs.

  …

  Dey-Ghard did not follow the strange soldiers that afternoon. His mood spoiled, he left the game, awaiting the moment when he would be moved back to his Floor.

  When he entered the game the next day, he was standing near the Grotto of Slugs. He knew the dungeon had been occupied by his clan. After writing back to Alteya and learning where they were, he went to meet them.

  The elf received more than a splendid award from the leader, though he did not understand why. Mollie had already watched the received video four times. She was trying to figure out if the player on the video was the guy she was looking for, or if he was just a NPC. Again and again she damned the elf for chickening out. But now she could at least put the nickname "White Raven" on her list of suspect
s. Which had, truth be told, only one name on it.

  …

  Will left the shaman’s house and took a breath of fresh air. The time on the clock read 12:30 PM.

  “Foo-ooh, it’s time to grab a bite.” saying these words, he disappeared.

  …

  Half an hour later, he stood in front of the shaman’s house again. He was about to leave when he realized the shaman could help him read the piece of paper he had retrieved from the corpse in the warehouse.

  Then he recalled something.

  “Fuck me! He’s blind!” Will turned, headed to the gate and stopped. “Why was he holding a book when I entered?" Turning around again, he rushed to the old man.

  The shaman was sitting in the same pose as before.

  “Shaman, can you read the book you're holding in your hand?”

  “What are you talking about? Of course, I can. Why would I be holding it otherwise?”

  “But you’re blind…”

  “Ah-ha-h…” The shaman burst out laughing. “I get it, get it, no, I’m not, Envoy, I’m not blind, my race just has no pupils. Have you heard anything about Khhasakh?”

  “You know I haven’t.”

  “What do you need…?”

  “Can you translate this text?” He took the scrap of the withered paper from his inventory and gave it to the old man.

  “Gm-hm… It’s a ciphered message. You are in luck, however, as that language is familiar to me. Show up in five days. I will be done by then.”

  “Thanks, Grrakhkat. Before I forget again, tell me everything you know about that cursed monster.”

  “Ask Vakhor. He is the only who survived an encounter with it.”

  Raven nodded “Well, I will return in five days. See you soon.”

  “Good luck, Envoy.”

  …

  The locals pointed him in the direction of the house in which Vakhor, the hunter, resided. “Knock-knock. Hello.”