Chapter 23: how to reach 'la Zen Attitude'
1M, 3W & 6D until the tournament
I had two hours before my next day of trining with Elia so i decided to spend them managing Centiped. Sitting in my inn's bedroom, i opened the guild's window and started reading my messages.
The situation back in Jungo had been resolved, the healers, priests and physiciens i sent stoped the plague from spreading and cured those that had fallen sick. The medecin stock they had braught with them was sold in a matter of hours and a second shipment had been organised by the caravan's merchant. At the same time the guards affected to the carts relayed themselves so that some of them could take on quests and side missions durring their off time.
All in all, the trip had been a success.
One one the peddlers that was traveling from settlement to settlement had reported a group of trolls migrating and i sent a party of beginner players that were in the area to clear them.
Another caravan that regularly travelled on a set course had been attacked. It was the third time in a month.
I wouldn't have paid attention to it if four other carts that were traveling in a repetitive and set road had not also been attacked several times before this one.
Maybe some bandits have started to organise?
After looking at the map, i saw that the five wagons travel routes all departed from Fridol but went towards five different towns that were distent of several days travel.
it can't be bandits, yet its definitively organised...
I left the inn to go to the merchant guild. After a long conversation with one of the clercs (mostly spent convincing him that talking to the Master of a dirrect concurent was not betrayal) i understood that none of the merchant's guild caravans had been robbed.
It's definitly an attack dirrected at Centiped! But who?
My first thought would have been NoMercy. I was already under watch, they had massively joined the Great Tournament only because Centiped did... They were the perfect culprit.
Too perfect. Let's not fall into a trap and start a fight we cannot win. Especially since they are not the only Guild that we crossed.
Since we were ranked first in the player made guild charts it also ment that every other player made guild could be mad at us. (Author's Note: okay, i'm getting tired of writting 'player made guild' everytime. Its long, doent ring well and anoying to do it so from now on i will writte it PMG.) Before taking any desition i had to gather more information.
So i sent a message to every Black Ops Branch member.
It told them about my suspicion of organises attacks on the regularly scheduled caravans. I attached a map with the itinaries of all the regular caravans, their frequency, composition and what they usually transported.
Then i tasked them to keep an eye on them from afar and follow any lead they could find.
Who was behind the attacks, why they were doing it, any information about futur attacks and proofs of their wrong doing was what they had to find.
I indicated that retribution would have to be dealt with later, once all information and every man and women who had conspired against Centiped had been identified.
In clear, you can spy, tail and duplicate documents but no stealing or assassinating. That's for later.
I also changed a few of the soldiers that guarded regular transports with stronger, better equiped men, some were players.
It's a precaution that anyone would take after being attacked several times in a single month. Exept that i did that with every carts.
Normal bandits would stop attacking the same cart when they noticed that the security had risen. Their attention would then be dirrected to another caravan that operated in the near their base area. However since they were not normal bandits, there was the possibility that the attackers would stop their activities and disband to be replaced by another group of raiders in another completely different area.
If i was trying to undermine my enemy's economical base on a long span of time without attracting attention while using the least amount of manpower possible so as to not disturb my own daily activities that's how i would proceed.
Create small stike groups that attack a few times in a certain area then go into hidding or disolve when they've attracted attention, replacing them by another group in another area where attacks are not expected and the security is low. If the attacks had been more distanced in time i wouldn't have noticed it and the guild's monthly income would have slighly been reduced.
Not enough for me to suspect anything but enough to be missed later on, when whoever is behind the attacks will go to the next step of their plan.
Once i was done adjusting the caravans' escorts i opened replies from the guilds i had contacted before.
The first one i read was from a small guild of 32 players originating from every part of the earth that had gathered to share and relish in their hobby: mountain climbing. They called themselves TheHappyHickers.
Apparently they had talked between themselves and decided to accept a bussiness arrangment as the basis of an alliance. Their Guild Master was ready to discuss the exact terms of the alliance.
Hickers... They are not warriors nor healers or productive workers... sticktly speacking i don't have any manual use for them. Their only good point is their knowledge of mountainuous areas.
After a while i decided to propose the same price reduction in all of the Centiped owned bussiness as regular members in exchange for their assistance, guidance, councel if any of Centiped's troops or men were to need it for a quest or travel.
It's a good deal. if they are smart they will accept it.
The second message was from a small guild of 13 players. its members had already known each other in RL and had decided to band together under the same banner. Since they were not particalarly interested in wealth or power i had thought that they would be safe to ask an alliance from.
From what i gathered of their reply the guild master was flattered by my proposal and would have accepted if we were not such a powerfull guild. He, or she, feared that by associating themselves with us they would attract unwanted attention and more wrong than good would result from an alliance.
He is correct. Taking the size and average level of his guild into account if they were to upset someone powerfull like the NoMercy because they became our allies, they wouldn't survive it.
Considering how their guild master had been able to foresee such consequences i felt that not keeping in tuch would be a loss. So i sent a following message saying that i understood and respected his decision but that if him, a member of his guild or the guild itself ever needed anything they just had to ask him and he would help them out the best he could.
In other words let's have a secret alliance.
The next message was a reply from the NPC run Architect Guild. This one was a sensible case as it was one of the largest and powerfull Guilds. Spread all over the Valarian Continent, many its members had become famous by designing the plans and managing the construction of high nobles or Royal families, sometimes even of entire villages or town.
If i ever want to bruild a Guild Hall from scratch when Centiped influence reachs over Braeen, then i will need to befriend them.
Centiped's own s architecs level's wasn't high enough for such a task and the simple fact that our guild was in relation with the Architect Guild would dissuade many from attacking us.
I was relieved to read that they were interested in forming an official Trading Agreement. Aparently they would consider giving a 5% discount to all Centiped members if we did the same for them.
At first such terms would sound fair, but considering that building materials were used in massive amounts to create a single small house while buying lodgins or shops within a town or city was a much rarer thing and people always baugt houses per the unit.
If i had agreed to those terms, the Architect Guild would have ripped at least a hundred times more profits than we would have.
I won't fall for such a cheap trick! Don't under estimate the power of calculating taxes and living expences on a monthly basis! I am like old grampa duck from the walt disney cartoons!
I sent a message back saying that we wanted a 20% reduction from their part. i knew they would either refuse or try to lower it but i still wanted to try.
The last possitive return was from a third PMG. It had moth than 130 members with an average level of 65 and strong influence in their kingdom of origin. this was the most interesting guild i had contacted so far.
It was a guild constitued only of Dwarfs and was based in Panthyr, their starting kingdom.
I had not expected much since we were so far away but it seamed like i had been lucky.
"To Ben Varrand, Guild Master of Centiped
From GreyBeard, Guild Master of SoftHammers:
Receiving an alliance proposition from the top PMG is an honor. If the way Centiped revealed itself was any indication of how competente and sly you are, then i believe that an alliance between our two guilds would be beneficial in the long run.
However considering the distance between our two respective starting Kingdom, I do not believe that a military or political alliance is what would suit our new friendship therefore i intend to refuse your current proposition and propose a standard Peace Treaty that should allow us to start trading with each other.
I have reasons to believe you are interested in the study of weapon and armor conseptions and, as a dwarf and the leader of a guild specialised in smithing i happen to have access to such information and am willing to sell finished products to you and your guild members at profitable prises for the both of us.
In return i would like you to provide me and my guild with several materials only found on Valerian's main land and promisse that the technics used in their conception will remain a dwarf trade secret.
Please think about my proposition."
I immediatly agreed to the Peace status between our guild, receiving a Diplomatic Status Update information window and sent a first draft of a profitable trade agreement for the both of us.
Out of all the messages i had sent, only four of them were positive. Yet it made four more friends.
It's little, but it's not nothing.
After that i sent a message to the ten top ranked guild members ( basicly the 4 people currently in charge of the guild's branches, Trickster who served as my right arm and five others that were in charge of important properties or teams) and braught them up to date on Centiles new friends, allies and current negociations.
I changed from my usual dark tunic and garbs with my weapons to the sleeveless white hooded tunic and put my quiver and bow back on to look like a beginner archer player before i went down to the tavern and ate a leek omlette and some fresly pressed orange juice for breackfast. After that i left for the Training Hall to start the next stage of my straining with Elia.
The sun was only starting to rise above the horizon yet the streets were already full of people. qmost of them, i noticed were farmers bringing in their products to set their market stands or workers leaving the city's wall to work.
When i aproached the training hall Eli was waiting in front of the entrence.
"You are here. Good. Let us start today's training then."
Without any more explanation he motioned for me to follow him. We walked through the city to the church. From the inside of the stone monument, prayers could be heard. and orgue music could be heard.
We walked pass the great oak doors, went through the small garden to arive a the back of the church. There, thre was a small tool shed next to a large cedar that was itself next to the church's roof tiles.
I thought we would be borowing something from it but once again, Elia's way of training differed from my predictions.
When we were ten meters away from the shed he started running at full speed, used the shed as a stepping stone to jump as high as possible and grab one of the cedar's thick branches.
Then using his strength and dexterity he pulled himself up and jumped from the tree to the church's roof, landing in a typical feline fashion.
He wants me to follow him? Like that?
I had never tried to get into a tree or walk on walls before. I gathered my courage and started runing towards the shed. As soon as i steped on the wooden wall i realised how much my avatar's body exeded my own real one. I had no trouble scaling the shed and pull myself in the tree. Confident of my physical abilities and jumped on the roof and received myself with a roll. Elia noded at me and stood up again.
We walked on top of the tiles until we reached the top of the roof, witch we folowed to the botom of the bell.
"Sit."
I did. Right under the bell.
Elia sat behind me and put his hands on my back.
"Today we practice Meditation. It is one of the most basic skills of the Martial Artists. I know you have done it before so it helps."
Wait, what about those new skills? I want new ones, not old ones!
"I will monitorate your progress. Now settle and start breathing deeply. Inspire... Expire... Inspire..."
Even through i did not like it, i couldn't really refuse him. So i sat, motionless, breathing in and out in a regular and slow rithm. After a while my thought started to drift.
I wondered if the Black Ops players had found any leads on the raiders, what Trickster and Sygmond were doing, thought of the next step in my plan to expand Centiped's power and influence, of SoftHammer's bussiness proposition, of the tournament and NoMercy's sudden participation.
The sun was right above my head now, the heat was making me thirsty and my hunger was rising. My Meditation skill had long reached Intermediate 3, still i kept meditating.
Annie, my mother, my father and his second wife, my little half brother born of their union, my work at the insurence company and my boss who was unhappy with my repetitive leave of absences to play New Roads!, i pondered about how i would meet the King, what he would look like, about the Prince and the Queen, the nobles, the consequences of completing Vendro's request and how to benefit the most out of it.
The sun was setting. We kept meditating.
Intermediate 5 already... How long with this take? I could be doing so much more...
The moon reached the height of the stary sky. I had long since run out of things to think about.
My only distraction now was to feel my own body pulse with life, my heart beat, my blood running in my veins, my muscles twitch, the warmth of my skin meet the freshness of the night breeze...
Wait. Something is different here. It's... moving!
I concentrated on the feeling i had discerned. The warmth i was feeling was pressent in my entire body, coursing through every strand of my being. What had alerted me was that it did not flow the same way blood did.
My thinking was disrupted by the usual ringing bell of an information window. Thinking that it was the usual Meditation Skill level rise i kept my eyes closed and my mind concentrated on the newly found energy.
I kept observing it until the sun rose. This stream of pure energy was spreading from my heart in waves, diffusing all over me, strengthening my organs, muscles, bones and my skin from within.
I then decided to touch it with my mind. When i tried it while concentrating on my right hand the energy in it stagnated. Carefully i consentrated it in my fist, released to gather it again.
This is kinda fun!
I started gathering the energy in different parts like my body, my arms, legs, head, torso, belly and feet, then i made it circulate more slower, faster, stopped it, diminished the amount diffused from my heart, increased it...
Several bell sounds had chimed as i played with the energy. At first i thought i had done something wrong, but since i didn't not feel any discomfort i kept playing with it.
At some point, manipulating the energy inside of my avatar became boring so i tried making it go outside.
I imagined my hand being envloped in a thin energy layer, as i did i felt it do so, i was so exited that my control over it was released and immediatly the energy detached itself from my hand to squatter and vanish in the air. I felt a light breeze carress my hand when it happened.
I see... i have to keap it attached to my skin or it will disapear. Let's try this...
I practiced creating the energy layer around my hand, experimenting with its thickness, size and the maximum length of time i could keep it active and how fast i could form it.
Each time i failed or stoped the energy would leave and disolve. At some point i run out of energy to use. As i was thinking of what to do, a small amount spread out of my heart.
Is it a naturaly made type of energy? Maybe that's how Mana is represented in the game... No, this feels nothing like when i used my Druid's magics and skills.
I waited until there was a decent amout stocked inside of me and started manipulating it again.
I worked on making the energy come back inside when i stopped. It did.
Then consentrated enough energy to fill my small toe and shoved the ball of twirling energy outside of my body. As it disolved a gust of wind was created between my two feet.
If it can create such a big a disturbance in the air with so little of the energy then...
Exited by my idea, i gathered half of my energy in my torso into a tight round ball, creating hundreds of currents that spun in all dirrections. Once i was satisfied by the size of the sphere and speed of the currents i shoved the ball out of me.
The second after that i was hit by a giant wall of wind, my body was propulsed into Elia's arms and my meditation state broke. When i regainned my barrings, a thin layer of energy was protecting me, dust, pieces and shards of the roof tilles were splattered on the roof's surface and myself but none had managed to go past the energy protection and harm me.
The protective energy covering me stoped and i understood that it came from Elia.
"That was rather dangerous young man. Do not do it again."
I did that?
When i looked at Elia again i noticed that he wasn't wearing the red martial art outfit anymore. The one on him right now was a deep Night Sky color (black with touchs of silver) with the same tribal partern in silver threads.
"Here, eat this."
Elia handed me a loaf of bread and his canteen. It was then that i noticed that my health had been reduced by the blast.
It's what, down by a sixth? That makes around... 200 health points! Holly! It's like a freaking Razengan!
I ate the food in silence, absorbed by the many information windows that had been waiting for me.
"Your Meditation skill has reached Intermediate 4 (0%)
"Your Meditation skill has reached Intermediate 5 (0%)
"Your Meditation skill has reached Intermediate 6 (0%)
"Your Meditation skill has reached Intermediate 7 (0%)
"Your Meditation skill has reached Intermediate 8 (0%)
"You have discovered Ki:
Ki is the energy found in all things. Most people go through their life unaware of its existance but those that knows of it can learn to manipulate it.
Ki is mostly used by practitioners of Hand to Hand Martial Arts or Martial Artists that dwelves in the practice of Healing.
Special stat Ki was created.
Meditation has risen to Advenced 1 (0%) due to extended knowledge and understanding of its most basic principles."
"You have learned the Martial Artists skill 'Ki Manipulation'
Ki +15"
"Ki Manipulation: Beginer 1 (0%)
You can strengthen or tougthen your body by concentrating Ki within its muscles, bones and skin.
Resistance to cutting attacks +1+
Resistance to blunt attacks +1%
Resistance to elemental magic attacks +1%"
"Your skill Ki Manipulation has reached Beginer 2
Ki +1"
"Your skill Ki Manipulation has reached Beginer 3
Ki +1"
"Your skill Ki Manipulation has reached Beginer 4
Ki +1"
"Your Meditation skill has reached Advanced 2 (0%)
Ki +5"
"Your skill Ki Manipulation has reached Beginer 5
Ki +5"
"You have learned the Martial Artist skill 'Ki Protection'
Ki +15"
"Ki Protection: Beginer 1 (0%)
A layer of ki surounding your body that protects you from physical attacks.
Resistance to physical attacts +1%
Resistance to elemental magic attacks +1%"
"You have learned the Martial Art skill 'Ki Projection'
Ki +15"
"Ki Projection: Beginer 1 (0%)
One of Ki manipulation's most comon use, Ki Projection is the act of sending Ki outside of your own body."
"You have generated a new skill attack using Ki manipulation and Ki projection to create a projectile made of Ki. Please, name it to set it as a proper Martial Art skill."
"Your skill Meditation has reached Advanced 3 (0%)"
"You have generated a new skill attack using Ki Manipulation and Ki Projection to create a explosive mini-tornado made of Ki. Please, name it to set it as a proper Martial Art skill."
For a moment there, i was stunned. The skills and aptitudes i had developed were just so increadible that i could wrap my mind arround it.
Ki! This is like chakra in Naruto! With this i can create tons of techniques! And it can replace elemental magics too!
I called the first skill Ki Bullet and the secong Razengan in honor of its similarity to Naruto's favorite technic. Both attacks were set at Beginer 1.
"Hey, we should get out of here. Your little trick has attracted the attention of the city's guards."
When i looked down i noticed that he was right, a few guardmen, reconisable through their gree tabards, were comming our way. We jumped off the roof and meddled with the crowd on the streets. On the way back to the training hall i noticed that the sun was close to setting, curious i looked at the game's inner calendar and realised that i had been meditating for an entire 12 hours of playing, therefore 2 days here in the game. Once at the hall, the two of us sat face to face.
"Congratulation in learning one of the most fundamental truth of the path of a Martial Artist. You have completed another stage of your training. All that is left now is to succed in your final trial. Are you ready for it?
"I am as ready as one can be, master."
"Good. Then we depart tomorow for the Great Orca Dungon!"
"The Great Orca Dungeon? I have never heard of it?"
"It is one of the deepest dungons found in Valarian. It is one of the most ancient architectural creations known on this continent. The knowledge of who built it and when and how it was constructed has long been lost. Nowadays it is filled with Orcs and many other creatures and monsters. Only the most powerfull warriors dare to venture in it alone."
"You say that it is deep? How much exacly?"
"Hum... Personaly i went as far as the twenty third floor, but i know that others, stronger than me, have gone further down. No one knows for sure how many levels there is, all that is certain is that as you descend in the abbys, your enemies get stronger. It's a place any warrior or combatant has to visit if he or she wishs to be reconised as such."
Elia told me to meet him at the gates at sun rise the next day and allowed me to leave. I stayed a while in the Guild hall, chatting with the others and checking on Centiped related business before renting a room for the night. Aparently, when i had aggreed to the peace treaty between SoftHammer and us, every members of both Guilds received a system update message, we could now create chat rooms with SoftHammer's members and access a more detailed version of each other's guild home page. It had become the hottest conversation topic.
Wait until i get a reply from TheHappyHickers and the Architect Guild. Then it's gonna be big news.
•••••••••••••
The final trial is here!!!
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