Finding a Body (The Dark Herbalist Book #4) LitRPG series Read online

  First of all, her description used to clearly label her race as Wood Nymph, and that was now gone. The information could still be found deep in her detailed character info, though. And Valerianna Quickfoot still looked like a wood nymph — a delicate long-legged girl with hair the color of fresh leaves and huge eyes. Still, my sister discovered that some important changes had also taken place in her skills and statistics. Some disciplines of magical arts were now off limits (for example, Life Magic and Order Magic), and her mana expenditure had been rebalanced, along with casting time and spell effects. Lots of other things had also changed in a minor way. All that needed to be carefully combed over, and Val was going to get deep into that after finishing this game session. That way, by tomorrow morning, she could put together a new development plan for her character.

  Max Sochnier heard what Val said, shuddered and got on guard:

  “I don’t quite get it. Valerianna, are you trying to get rid of me?”

  “Nothing of the sort! Think for yourself — next to the castle of the Dark Sovereign and in the castle itself, there are already one thousand thirty creatures, approximately half of which are alive and need to consume food regularly. And soon, if Amra’s plan to attract settlers works, there will be many more inhabitants! Meanwhile, we have very scant provisions and the hunters can barely provide food for all our needs. And the villagers, when they arrive and get to work, will also need time to grow crops, especially with this constant thick fog and lack of sun.”

  “And what do you suggest?” I asked, intrigued because the issue of providing food to my subjects had me seriously worried.

  The Wood Nymph started smiling with her sharp predatory little teeth and answered eagerly:

  “I was thinking of the underwater fishing village of Ookaa. But there’s also the Isle of the Wanton Widow, and a bunch of other little islands and nearby fishing villages where you can buy fish very cheap. Max has a trade galley the Tipsy Albatross , which plies approximately those very waters on a fixed route. So have them buy all the fish they can, then send it here using portal scrolls! I actually learned to make them at level one hundred, so I can whip up plenty by tomorrow. Then we just need to set fish prices in the lands of the Dark Sovereign at a level that’s both affordable to your subjects and keeps Max Sochnier in the green.”

  The Naiad Trader enthusiastically extended his bright red back fins and built on my sister’s idea with zeal:

  “Great idea, Valerianna! As a law-abiding merchant I will pay the required tenth of my income to the Dark Sovereign’s treasury, and I can pay you for the teleportation scrolls. The volume of trade we’re talking about is easily enough for us not to need to mess around with delivery. And the trade could be... what do I mean could? It would have to be bilateral! There must be something unique in these lands, which we could sell to people on the coast. I mean, basically no one else can get here! Heck, we might be able to sell to the whole Southern Continent! Unique minerals and plants, rare and valuable items... What about that antiaris wood!?” Max said, pointing his webbed hand at my throne. “It’s very rare and in demand among the players! If we harvest the toxic wood here, we could sell it in fairly small amounts in various parts of the continent. That way we don’t have to worry about revealing the source or bringing the price down. We could have a real Klondike on our hands here!”

  As for the antiaris wood, I wasn’t going to rush things. There was no guarantee that these highly dangerous trees even grew in my lands, or that the deadly material could easily be processed in sufficient quantity. And the idea of regularly opening portals had to be seriously looked over from a safety standpoint, because it constituted an obvious weak point in my defenses. The strongest player clans had highly skilled analysts in their ranks. And they could quickly correlate the shipments of rare artifacts and minerals with the route of the trade galley. Then they could connect its owner Max Sochnier with the Dark Sovereign and his distant lands. Then one day a shipment might be replaced by a fully-fledged invasion of the Legion of Steel or the Lords of Chaos !

  But regardless, Max Sochnier’s words did contain a kernel of rationality. Every game I’d ever played obeyed one simple rule: the further you got from crowded places, the more interesting locations, loot and resources you’d find. Boundless Realm was no exception in that regard, and the lands of the Dark Sovereign were very remote indeed. So here, we could probably encounter something so valuable traders would tear each other’s arms off to get it.

  Sure, we did still need to fully scout out the area to discover precious resources, especially mineral and ore veins located deep underground. But I had an interesting idea on that account. I walked over to the crystal ball:

  “Tondik Exuberant, Gnum Spiteful, I need you both in the throne room! And I also need creatures of any type who are familiar with the local caves and mountains! If there are any, they are to report directly to the Dark Sovereign!”

  Foreman skill increased to level 71!

  Just wow! No, I mean I was expecting Gnum Spiteful and the burnt Tondik Exuberant, whose beard had still not grown back and was missing one eye and arm. But I was not expecting the twenty fearsome ghosts who came with them or the three Midnight Wraiths, or the barely visible and practically transparent Spirit of the Eternal Miner, or the huge Plague Bat, or the pack of variously sized Rats from level one to one hundred fifty. Nevertheless, there was work for them all:

  “Subterranean beasts, show these two dwarves all entrances to the caves and catacombs you know! And protect them from any troubles and dangers until they’ve mapped out everything!”

  Foreman skill increased to level 72!

  Now I turned my attention to the two dwarves, who were respectfully standing and hanging on my every word:

  “My warrior friends! I need a professional consultation. Throughout Boundless Realm , dwarves are famed as the foremost experts in geological matters. None can compare with your race’s talent for discovering valuable ore. And so I want you to explore all the deepest caves and catacombs, search deep under my new mountains and find all ores of iron, copper, silver and anything else of interest...”

  “Uhh, Captain Amra...” Gnum Spiteful the Dwarf Mechanic interrupted me unconfidently. “You hold us in too high an esteem. Yes, we’re both dwarves and thus know a thing or two about metals and ores, but I’m a Mechanic by trade, and he’s a Chef. How are we supposed to find any ore?!”

  “Sovereign, I agree with Gnum. Although we are subterranean natives and know something about minerals, you’d be better off finding experts in the field... And two scouts are not enough. We need at least two or three dozen. And I know just where to find them! Half the miners of the dwarven city of Dotur-Khawe would give up their beards for the chance to prospect virgin mountains!”

  Mission received: The only thing better than one mountain is a mountain range

  Mission class: Normal

  Description: hire a brigade of dwarven miners in the city of Dotur-Khawe (no less than thirty) to explore the mountains and caverns in the lands of the Dark Sovereign

  Reward: 800 Exp.

  What? Just eight hundred exp? Being at level seventy, that was just crumbs, nothing serious. I mean, for every enemy I’d killed recently, the game system sent me at least three hundred thousand experience, what was some pitiful eight hundred points to me?! Nevertheless, I didn’t turn down the useful quest. Dotur-Khawe? It was pretty far, sure... Good thing last time I was in Dotur-Khawe, I got a couple extra teleportation scrolls to the Dwarven capital. Without them, even on the swift-winged VIXEN, it would take around two days each way, and that was if my Royal Forest Wyvern could fly over the icy mountains on the way to the city of the dwarves with their ghastly winds and freezing temperatures. The dangerous cloudy lands of the river of death and scorching hot desert after that were no walk in the park either.

  But even with portals, dragging myself to Dotur-Khawe to find miners seemed like an unjustifiable waste of time. What was more, I had two right in front of me who
would be glad to visit their home town and help me out. All that remained was to lead the dwarves to the idea of taking a little trip back home.

  I pretended I was seriously thinking and fell silent for half a minute, then answered:

  “Alright, Tondik and Gnum, you’ve convinced me. Such work requires true professionals, and the easiest place to find them is Dotur-Khawe. I intend to give you this important assignment, because you know the city of dwarves best and I trust you. I’ll give you a portal scroll to Dotur-Khawe, you can get a return one from Valerianna Quickfoot. Remember, you need to hire at least thirty experienced miners and take them back here as quickly as possible. Your work will be generously rewarded, my friends, no doubt about it. And Tondik, I’d like to give you a down payment! I assume you’d prefer to have two arms and eyes!”

  A moment later, where the pudgy dwarf’s stump had just been, there was now an arm and hand, but not made of flesh and blood, seemingly woven from a thick, wavering darkness. His replacement eye was similarly unsettling and dark. Tondik Exuberant moved his new fingers dubiously, then tried to pick up the chef’s ladle hanging on his belt with his dark hand, and was left totally satisfied.

  You have used 8 Direct Intervention Points

  You have 122 points remaining

  I wondered why there were one hundred twenty-two, not one hundred nineteen. Before I had one hundred twenty-seven points, minus eight.. either I had forgotten elementary-school arithmetic or something was fishy. Had it really generated new points already? But then why three and not two?

  I asked that aloud. Valerianna Quickfoot looked the throne over and confirmed that adding the two new rougarou chieftain heads had made the magical artifact start generating three Direct Intervention Points per hour. Cool! Just for that it was worth executing the rebels!

  I considered my conversation with the dwarves over, but Tondik and Gnum were in no rush to leave. They just kept shifting nervously from one foot to the next, exchanging glances. It seemed like they wanted to ask me something, but were too embarrassed. Finally, Tondik made up his mind:

  “Sovereign Amra, no matter how we want it, we cannot return quickly. As soon as we’re back in our home town, my mother Pirona Zealous will find out that I am back and that I have a beautiful bride. And Vanessa’s family would also not let her go without an opulent wedding, and that would take several days. It’s just dwarven custom!”

  Hrm, quite a problem. I hadn’t considered that... Very few in my crew knew that the spritely sharp-tongued Gnum was actually a bearded woman by the name Vanessa Hamfist. I myself forgot it from time to time, because dwarven women and men were sometimes hard to tell apart. They were all bearded, thick-set and short. Even the dwarves themselves couldn’t always tell a woman dressed in men’s clothing. What was more, Gnum Spiteful behaved like a blustery and cantankerous dwarven man, loved to drink and started fights at any opportunity.

  What could I do? Let the loving couple go to their wedding, then wait for them to come back with the master miners they hired hopefully in a week, maybe two? Clearly a bad option. Not let the dwarves go home? Also no good, especially after I’d just said how much I trusted them both... The chat window flickered open. A private message came in from Valerianna Quickfoot:

  “You should suggest holding the wedding here as a special favor from the Dark Sovereign. At the same time, have them invite as many of their kin to the wedding as they can. I’m sure you’ll have something to offer the dwarves — there’s tons of work for their craftsmen here.”

  Ah, great idea! I made that suggestion to the bride and groom. Tondik and Vanessa first predictably hesitated at the unexpected offer and were clearly looking for an excuse to politely refuse, but I managed to convince them:

  “In the dwarven race’s thousands of years of history, you will be the only couple to have received such a great honor! Every chronicle of your submontane folk written after this date will contain a chapter on this rare event. You will be as famed as the great kings of antiquity! I’m sure thousands of guests will come to bear witness to this unique occasion, and the dwarves who miss your wedding will tear out their own beard hair in frustration! I’ve got plenty of space, food and entertainment no matter how many guests show up. I’m sure your brethren will want to see with their own eyes how wild this distant unknown land is. And who knows? Maybe, some of them will find engaging work. Some may even decide to settle permanently in my lands!”

  Trading skill increased to level 32!

  Diplomat skill increased to level 22!

  And that’s what we decided to do. I immediately handed the newlyweds a portal scroll to Dotur-Khawe, while Valerianna Quickfoot promised to prepare a return portal as quickly as possible. Max Sochnier, carefully listening to our negotiations, was very satisfied:

  “Knowing the craftiness and curious nature of the dwarves, all nearby mountains will be dug up by day two of the wedding, and every mine will be exhausted to the very bottom. But you, Sovereign Amra, will get a full map of useful minerals and ore veins with notes about which dwarf clan to call to extract them! Great work!”

  Tondik and Vanessa thanked me for taking an interest in their fate, bade me farewell and went to get ready to return home. After their departure, Max Sochnier excused himself, saying his work day as a tester was over, and he would also be saying goodbye until morning. The fish man went down on his haunches a step from my throne and disappeared without a trace half a minute later.

  Finally, for the first time in this endless day, I was alone with my sister! We had so many important issues to discuss in private! As it quickly became clear, I was not the only one impatiently awaiting the chance to talk eye to eye. As soon as the Naiad Trader disappeared, Valerianna Quickfoot took a magic wand from her inventory and raised a magical dome of silence over us, then she made a demand:

  “Timothy, lots of things you do in the game don’t make sense to me anymore and, in the real world, you’re acting even weirder. You’re not answering phone calls, you didn’t come visit me in the hospital after the operation, you didn’t even come to Kira’s grandmother’s funeral. There must be a very good explanation for all this, and I want to hear it from you. So then, Tim. Tell me!”

  Day One. Talking with my Sister

  “HOW IS KIRA? Is she very mad that I missed the funeral?”

  I started with the thing that had me most worried. But I immediately realized I chose wrong, because the Wood Nymph made a frown of dismay:

  “Timothy, this isn’t about Kira. I’m the one hurting! You haven’t seen your own sister for three long days. Finally we get a convenient chance to talk, and the first question you ask has nothing to do with the complicated twelve-hour operation I just had, or how I’m feeling after anesthesia! No, you just had to know about your girlfriend! Come on, Timothy, you’re a hard-hearted blockhead!”

  I had to apologize. Yes, I was wrong. Yes, I was a cold-hearted thick-skinned fool, who didn’t appreciate how lucky he was to have such a great sister. In my defense I only said that I couldn’t get in touch with her sooner because my cell phone had been temporarily confiscated, so my means of communicating with the outside world were seriously limited. Valerianna gave a slight nod:

  “Yeah, they told me you had a fight with someone at work and leadership punished you...”

  “What???” now here I couldn’t hold back and started screaming, because the last thing I was expecting to hear was that the company was telling people such an asinine story. “An employee of the corporation attempted to murder me while I was in my virtual reality capsule, stabbing me twice in the chest and severing my mesenteric artery. Is that what they’re calling a fight now?! I mean, I almost died from the blood loss!”

  The Wood Nymph’s already huge eyes grew even bigger:

  “What are you talking about, Tim?! What wounds, what attempted murder, what blood loss?”

  “Remember when you left the game before the operation, when we were on the boat with the rougarou? Well, not five minutes after
that, someone tried to kill me in the real world! A corporate tech named Arthur stabbed through the top of my virtual reality capsule with a sharpened screwdriver! Then, when I finally managed to get the damaged top open, he tried to strangle me. Fortunately, help came just in time, security ran in and we got dragged out. I was gushing blood and lost consciousness. The surgeons spent two whole days patching me up!”

  Poor signal quality

  If connection problems persist, the Boundless Realm client will be forced to close

  The warning message flickered up before my eyes. I couldn’t imagine what kind of “connection problems” there could be, considering corporate testers had their virtual reality capsules literally less than one hundred fifty feet from the game servers. They were in the very same building, just two or three floors below. Well or in my case a few more floors, but still in the same building!

  “Val, is your game lagging? Are you having connection problems?” I asked and she answered no. Boundless Realm was working just fine for Valeria, even though my sister’s capsule was much farther from the servers.

  Got it, I’m no idiot... Corporate leadership must have been showing me that the topic my sister and I were discussing was not to their liking, and if I didn’t change my behavior right away, I’d be suspended once again and forced out of the game. I had to put on a more positive tone so I wouldn’t lose the chance to talk with Val:

  “Val, the corporation probably just didn’t want to scare and upset you. And they definitely didn’t want that unpleasant incident leaking. And for that exact reason, Amra was played by a program script two days ago, and my video clip was composed by some other people. They didn’t want my viewers suspecting anything. I was unconscious for two days, so I didn’t have the chance to come visit you in the hospital, or express my sympathy to Kira.”