CHAPTER 16 - SOMEONE SPECIAL

RUBLYOVKA’S RESIDENTIAL AREA, MOSCOW

I shouldn't have drunk so much vodka before bed.

A half-asleep man wobbled along a luxurious corridor. He stopped on the way, straightening his posture. “Reporting from Earth, Grandfather Nikolai, money is still humanity’s ultimate goal, just as you predicted in that old diary of yours, over,” he saluted to the portrait, then continued to drag feet forward. He had never seen his maternal grandfather, he had his notes though, they were a source of wisdom and shared hatred toward his father.

A middle-aged woman came out of a side door.

“M-Master Pavel,” she whined, “it's almost lunchtime, and you're still in your underwear?!”

Her master looked like a young soldier after a military binge. Inadequate, yet attractive in his youthful, eccentric appearance.

Lush blond hair hid most of his face. Half-closed blue eyes peeked out from the hair strands. The pale skin enhanced the look of a delicate prince.

"My beloved Natasha," the prince said dramatically, "ray of sunshine, piercing my darkest days; you, faithful compass, guiding me through my nightmares..." He expressed his adoration until the woman became visibly affected.

Although she knew him from a child, Natasha blushed at his words. "I-I politely beg for your respect, sir, I'm one humble, Christian woman..." she begged while following him around.

Accompanied by his maid, Pavel entered a spacious dining room. A sumptuous lunch was served on the table, dishes with exquisite aroma and taste lured the appetite.

А butler in black uniform was inspecting every detail. The moment he saw the young prince he headed his way.

“Ivan!” Pavel opened his arms and hugged him.

“Y-Young sir, your father, and your stepsister have а scheduled visit for today,” Ivan had the expression of an exhausted babysitter. “Forgive my insolence but maybe you should put on some clothes?”

The butler carefully picked his next words. “Also, I am afraid to say it but, your recent virtual sessions have evidently distressed your daily life, sir.”

“You enjoy ordering me around, don't you?” Pavel chuckled, telling that his virtual adventures are necessary to meet his friends and someone special. Then he assured the butler, he’ll be ready for the meeting.

“T-That girl again?” Natasha whispered to herself, still circling around.

Ivan simply sighed after his master left.

“I believe, her name is Anissa!” This time, the maid whispered to Ivan instead. “What if her interest-”

“Tasha,” Ivan’s weary voice interrupted her, “our master is sharper than you think. He survived in that terrible household for 18 years.”

The maid’s face distorted for a second. “M-Master is strong and clever indeed, b-but women can be tricky!”

The butler rolled his eyes at her argument.

Shortly after, Pavel was standing next to them again. Dressed in an elegant white shirt, an exquisite blazer over it, and slim gray pants. Each piece fitted perfectly, after all, it was designed exclusively for him.

Natasha helped him to smooth his golden hair backward. The usual, stubborn strand of hair was left laying on the side of his face, adding a charming element to his overall look.

Pavel’s sleeves were moderately lifted, exposing his gentle arms. His twitching nose and forehead indicated a slight discomfort. The remaining effect of the hangover. Still, the neatly dressed young man was certainly not striking as an alcoholic, and to be fair, he wasn’t, for most of the time.

Natasha was admiring his energetic steps. The sounds of his heels were the melody that warmed her heart. “Allow me to say this, young master, you look splendidly,” she said proudly, as she complimented her own son.

Pavel smiled and nodded at her.

The wrinkled face of Ivan expressed its approval for the young man. The butler had few extra tasks for the day, “Sir, I’ve ordered the favorite flowers of miss Katerina and the favorite wine of master’s father,” Ivan said.

“Thanks for the hard work, Ivan,” Pavel said. It was typical for him to welcome properly even the greatest enemy. “Just don’t flatter them too much, they don’t deserve it.”

“I know, sir, I will spare my words of goodwill...”

A couple of minutes later, Natasha had to return to the kitchen, and Ivan was outside the mansion, welcoming the guests.

Pavel was left alone in the dining room.

“Ivan and Natasha are the only family I have left,” Pavel murmured bitterly. “The guests today are people who would gladly ditch me on the streets if they could. Sadly for them, I am blood-related therefore I have my legal rights.”

Pavel had inherited key financial assets from his mother, most of which were critical for his father’s business. The father had attempted some aggressive legal steps in the past, however, the law was working in Pavel’s favor.

Pavel was also dependent on his family. His financial income was connected to the fortune of his father. In that sense, he had to operate in a cautious manner.

‘You couldn’t put a hand on what’s mine so now you have to embarrass yourself in person.’

Haunted by old memories, Pavel closed eyes, remembering a long-gone, gloomy childhood. Once again he was the least important member of the family, the pets included. Surviving through the days of humiliation with his deceitful smile.

‘That pathetic clown died, I’m stronger now.’ Raising his chin, glaring coldly at the door, Pavel was expecting the guests to enter any moment.

THE HAUNTED MINES, BASEL REPUBLIC

“Gambit,” Anissa shouted, “their damage is no joke, step back!”

The party was dealing with a pack of wild beasts. It was a sudden ambush, just like the stories of the area had told. Most of the storytellers were calling out the balance team in the forums, complaining over the unforgiving swarm of enemies.

The beasts were a mix of wolves, foxes, and even one giant bear. Some were balancing on their hind legs, making them taller. Armed with sharp fangs and claws, the beasts looked ferocious. Their only weakness was the lack of armor. With each stab, one could sense the flesh tearing and see the blood spilling.

At the very beginning, Artemis had tested Call of the Wild on them. There was no response, the wild beasts lacked consciousness to answer. They were an existence composed of pure malice.

The opening was wild, It took Anissa some time to secure Shir’tana’s safety. Jonathan had been helping considerably in creating space. He acted like a second bruiser for a while, he had slain the first enemy as well. His cocky attitude soon crossed the line though. Even with his high vitality, the HP bar rapidly dropped to 30%.

“B-Backing...” Gambit gasped, chased by two beasts. “These things aren’t giving up?”

Artemis peeked at him, but she was in no position to help anyone. She was targeted by the most enemies, and as Anissa had taught her - the leftovers were not her concern. The tank was supposed to aggro the majority of the enemies when they had the number advantage. Her main priority was to control the pace of the battle.

“I’ve got these cuties,” Pavel said with confidence. He released the bowstring with two arrows at once. Each arrow flew in its own direction, as he had fired twice instead.“This is it!”

*Awoooo*

“Brother Pavel, you hit them both!” Shir’tana admired.

Multishot was a technique Pavel had been developing lately. The purpose was to increase the number of arrows fired, thus deal more damage or attack more enemies. The damage and accuracy dropped with each additional arrow. Pavel had to carefully estimate factors like distance, target’s size, as well as his current condition. Multishot's performance was dropping significantly at low stamina.

For a while, Pavel was obsessed with increasing his fire rate. That way he could be more effective as a damage dealer, and less vulnerable between the actions. Investing in Dexterity helped a bit, it was the main attribute for archers anyway.

Grinding proficiency in that aspect was extremely slow though. The Dexterity from leveling wasn’t sufficient to achieve a dramatic improvement. Inspired by Anissa’s dual-wielding, Pavel decided to try firing multiple arrows instead.

“He did it, Ani, the Multishot thing.” Artemis used the shield to push back an enemy, crushing its jaw in the process. Bloody sprays painted her alluring face.

“Yeah, our Cupid didn’t snipe a party member’s butt for once,” Anissa remembered some early attempts. She couldn’t overlook her friend’s strength, “your Shield Charge is rather deadly for a peeling ability.”

“Especially when it crits,” Artemis grinned. Her dedication to Brave New World combined with Anissa’s gaming understanding were shaping a freak. Valentina was feeling extremely comfortable as a front liner, gravitating between bruiser and main tank .“Jonathan has been impressive too, well, for a bit...”

“Until he went full-retard, 1v9-ing...” Anissa ridiculed. She assumed Gambit has been hiding his real strength so far. Anyway, it was moronic by him to show-off here, in the Haunted-fucking-mines, from all places.

“Pretty much… ”Valentina couldn’t disagree.

“Twin terrors!” Anissa activated her Buff.

Based on Daggers’ proficiency, Accuracy and Critical strike chance with Daggers are increased for the next 20 seconds. Each Critical strike extends this duration by 1 second, up to 30 seconds. Reaching the maximum duration of the buff will repeat it for free, adding a bleeding effect to every Critical strike. 2 hours cooldown from the end of the original buff.

Anissa has been experimenting and gaining proficiency with daggers from Day 1. As a result, she became remarkable at wielding daggers. However, this direction was the opposite of her goal, to become Petven’s descendant. She was supposed to become a mage. Anissa had concerns over the progression in Brave New World. At Lvl. 38 she had 50 undistributed passive points, 10 levels worth progression in the form of attributes.

It was pointless investing in Spellpower, Spell casting and Intelligence. She had a single spell, not purely related to mage attributes either. At the same time, she wouldn’t commit to the practical attributes like Strength and Agility. Her intention was to keep the passive points free; utilize them when the time’s right or when forced to survive . “Let’s see if I have a choice today...”

“Thanks for saving my skin there,” Jonathan was now next to Pavel, preparing to drink a healing potion, “and congrats mastering that bow skill.”

Gambit was well aware of the party’s playstyle. He wanted to fit in better, finding his own role. He intended to impress Empress, he was just not sure how much he’s prepared to reveal in the process.

“We are all getting stronger it seems,” Pavel winked at him, then drew another two arrows.

Jonathan was no longer weakened by curses. He had consumed enough traces of the living to unlock the Deadman’s passive, thus his condition was no longer restrained by any side effects.

He desired to demonstrate his worth. The healing effect was ticking, recovering his health. Out of trouble, Jonathan was eager to fight more.

“I learned a bit from you guys,” he said to Pavel, “my patience is still lacking though, I should be more careful.”

Pavel grinned, he knew something’s fishy about Gambit’s sudden power spike. However, It was not the right time to dig in as the party was struggling. To make the situation worse, the bear-like monster was slowly approaching.

“This fat bastard is ignoring the aggro,” Anissa created space early in the battle, now she was worried about Shir’tana and Pavel. Jonathan was there, yet his condition was questionable.

Artemis was next to her, expressing the same concern. “Should we back off as well? I can use Nerves of Steel soon.”

Anissa had to answer quickly. “We shouldn’t risk dropping the aggro, the boys will have to deal with the big one on their own.” One beast should be okay, that’s what she thought.

“Hmm…” Jon narrowed eyes.

“Sister has signaled me, I can use Titan form.” Shir’tana was excited. The little boy didn’t delay at all. He closed his eyes and commenced an incantation which began changing his body with each mysterious word. His limbs started to expand rapidly, he grew taller than every party member and his Spell power attribute also applied to Strength now, making his veins stand out as the arcane power filled them. Even his voice matured.

“Kid, I’ve got something useful for you.” Pavel pulled a large, two-handed sword from his inventory. Anissa insisted from him carrying at least one weapon that compliments Shir’tana’s raw strength for when the transformation is active.

Shir’tana collected the item with childish enthusiasm. “1 minute is my limit, let’s triumph over the evil, dear brothers,” he informed Pavel and Jonathan, then growled toward the bear-like creature. They were going to clash soon.

“Unlike us, the kid can’t respawn,” Pavel whispered to Gambit, “don’t forget it.”

Jonathan nodded at him in agreement, he felt ready to re-enter the fight.

Artemis was bothered by an agile fox-like monster. She got bitten twice, before finally grabbing its fur. Artemis slammed the caught beast on the ground. Her boot followed down and smashed its muzzle. The experience gained triggered an announcement.

LEVEL UP!

‘Level 33, +12 Life, +8 Mana, additional 5 passive points…’ She read the message briefly, then added all points on the same attribute.

Endurance…

Provides slight damage reduction. This effect is amplified when taking significant damage from multiple sources in a short period of time or taking damage from a single source when higher than 5% of the overall health pool. Possible gear requirement attribute. Certain goals can be achieved with the progression in Endurance. Guardian stages. Diamond skin.

The sources are Multiple when coming from 3 or more beings (Players/AI) The damage source is Significant when equal or higher than 1% of the overall health pool

“Ani, will Shir’tana be okay?” Artemis asked while glaring at a vicious gray wolf.

“It should be fine for a bit,” she replied, “the best we can do is to complete our part!”

Her virtual brother had Petven’s blessing, a powerful passive that should prevent him from dying immediately. Anissa was not happy going that far, even so, she had to activate every piece on the board to win the war.

Anissa had her share of enemies to deal with. Since she was killing the most, the beasts were gradually switching the aggro. Artemis was trying to interrupt that, swinging wildly weapon and shield, striving to keep the attention on herself. If this method failed, she could only peel for her friend.

When Shir’tana and the bear collided, Pavel pulled 4 arrows from his quiver, which was coincidently his limit. He assumed that if he’s shooting point-blank, he should be able to neglect the accuracy factor and shotgun the bear.

“You’re planning something risky?” Jon noticed the arrows between his fingers. “I’m done sitting on the sideline, you’d better struck that thing!” At 50% HP Jonathan re-engaged, looking to help Shir’tana. He lied being completely healed.

In his mind, he and the kid would restrain the monster, meanwhile, Pavel would be blasting it from close range. In melee range Jon could also cast Spectre, draining energy for himself.

“Foxes are evasive as hell,” Anissa was enraged with one particular opponent, like dealing with a bunch of savage wolves was not enough, “it just hisses at me the entire time...” She failed again to experience the maximum duration of Twin terrors, followed by the repeated bonus. Anissa decided to leave the slippery opponent for last.

Artemis glanced at the fox with a curious expression.“It's not hissing at you,” she said, “it's talking to you!”

“Ehhh? Would I spare its life for exchange of becoming my pet?” Anissa was confused. “I thought you are the nature’s friend here, why it doesn’t pick you?”

“Master’s fate…” Artemis translated, yet she couldn’t interpret the answer.

At the same time, the boys were battling the bear monster. The situation developed similarly to how Jon had imagined it. Well, with one key difference, the bear was much stronger in reality.

Brown bear Lvl. 40 - Rare boss (Beast race)

Shir’tana’s sword was bouncing back from the massive bear. As muscular as his transformed body was the modest Lvl. 22 made him seem inferior. The bear was sluggish, yet with a single swing won the trade against the inexperienced young fighter.

“Find an opening, Pavel,” Jon shouted charging forward, he planned to divert the attention from Shir’tana.

The kid stepped back with an open chest wound, gritting his teeth. This was the first time he had ever been in such pain. Pavel was yelling something at him, he couldn’t hear a damn word. The beast boss had influenced his senses.

“He’s gone deaf!” Pavel cried.

“I command you to protect that man.” Jonathan summoned a skeleton, corresponding to his own level 32.

The body of Shir’tana was stiff, locked by obscure pressure. The bear’s paw flew towards him. Unable to avoid the blow, the impact was inevitable in the boy's eyes, so they closed in defeat.

He couldn't see the unknown undead dashing towards him. The skeleton’s body barely made it in time to block for Shir'tana. A loud sound echoed from the impact, noises of crackling bones followed.

The bones got blown and spilled everywhere. Shir’tana rolled back, pushed by the flying body parts. He was left confused for a second, staring at Gambit. It wasn’t long ago when skeletons were enemies, back in Dresan.

“Undead are allies,” Jonathan shouted at Shir’tana. The kid was shaking in disbelief. “Trust me!"

Another skeleton and Jonathan himself were attempting to pin the bear’s arms.

“This thing is like a mountain…” Jon grunted. Wrestling with the monster’s arm turned demanding for him. “Summoning third undead, summoning Spectre!” His life regeneration slowed down, the third undead was fleshy, more like a zombie.

Gambit had no control over the type of undead, he could just summon them, randomly. He commanded the zombie to help the skeleton in pinning the opposite arm.

“You summoning motherfucker,” Pavel was letting out some bad words, still, he was grinning widely, drawing his bow at extremely close range. “Quadrakill...”

4 arrows burst forward, piercing the bear’s chest, belly, and leg. The arrows spread a lot, regardless of the favorable range. Thankfully, each hit the target.

*GROOWL*

The enraged boss threw away Gambit and his undead servants. Red eyes and aura glowed from the monster. The boys quickly realized shit’s gone real.

“Great, he’s mad now,” Jonathan joked, recovering from the throw.

“Can you bring more bodies?” Pavel ignored the sense of humor. He noticed that Shir’tana was standing on his feet again. The kid had about 20 seconds left before the transformation ends.

“RISE, MY SERVANTS!” Soon, 3 skeletons and 2 zombies encircled the boss. The weightless Spectre was still draining energy, supplying Jonathan with the much-needed Life and Stamina. “I can’t control them for long, they are literally killing me right now,” Jonathan warned Pavel.

“Whoa...” Shir’tana noticed Gambit’s face going pale in real-time. Everyone was doing their best, but him. He had to act.

“I’m stepping forward, big brothers.” Shir’tana didn’t lack courage. He was challenging the harsh virtual world every day, hoping to find what was taken away from him. His determination knocked off the beast’s influence, breaking the invisible shackles crafted by fear.

+ 1 Endurance

“Aim for the vitals,” Pavel pulled the bowstring with three arrows between fingers. He capitalized on the opportunity to use the undead as a decoy.

*CRITICAL STRIKE*

All three pierced the bear’s neck. Wheezing noises were coming out from the boss. Alas, the red eyes were not fading, instead, they were madly staring at the bold archer.

Shir’tana’s large sword slammed against the bear’s neck as well, landing in the area where three arrows were sticking out. The beast huffed for a second time, however, another big wound marked Shir’tana’s chest. “Nghh… it can’t end here...”

The undead were clutching the boss tightly as Gambit had ordered. In return, he was paying the price for having them, growing weaker, eventually dropping on his knees. The Spectre had vanished. “I couldn’t prove much it seems...” The powerless summoner slumped down, collapsing under the demanding life drain.

“I have 1 Multishot... left in me...” Pavel panted. The ability was taxing his stamina tremendously. A pair of bloody eyes were threatening revenge.

The fuming beast rushed towards him, dragging the undead like a collection of rag dolls. Pavel had no intention to run, nor he could, to be fair. He was smiling upon the approaching monster, indifferently drawing his bow with the last arrows he would fire today.

His spirit was put to a test. He had to preserve the remaining strength, “one more time...”, as his arms were losing grip, “too quick...”, he could feel the breeze drove out his hopes.

“For the Petven clan!” Shir’tana shouted,

*SLAM*

recklessly intercepting the charging beast. A grown man had collided with the powerful boss, yet a fragile boy was left laying on the ground.

For a brief moment, the monster’s charge lost its momentum. Long enough to, “get fucked,” get pierced by multiple arrows in the neck again, making him lifelessly crumble on the ground, “pedobear,” Pavel fell as well, scraping over the brown fur with his unresponding body.

...Brown bear has been defeated…

LEVEL UP!

LEVEL UP!

LEVEL UP!