Princess & Cyberserk

The journey in the Spider's Den

The journey to the dungeon was an interesting experience for Dan. He liked the way Tom ran operations. For the clone, getting the mission was the starting point for a military operation. Dan noticed a familiar expression on the advisor's face. The strange creature's pleasant and handsome face began to look detached and devoid of any feeling.

The clone had already begun his command and training on his way out of the guild building.

"You both possess excellent disguise skills. We need to get to the dungeon entrance unnoticed by unpleasant townsfolk who wish us harm. We have two choices before us. We can all go this way under the spell of disguise. I alone reach the entrance point and place a tag for teleportation to our group leader. Normally we would always use the second way. But today I want the kids to get acquainted with their new habitat. We apply the cloak and move toward the south gate of the city. Please don't be too distracted by interesting views. Have a safe trip, kids."

Tom immediately applied the Walk of Caution spell to himself and disappeared. Elina grinned and looked at the young man's hurt face.

"I like it when he commands. Dan, answer me honestly. Don't you feel a sense of humiliation of dignity?" Elina had long wanted to know how the Baron was experiencing his submission to the clone.

"He's my clone. The best part of me. I can command, too, and I understand his course of thought and operation planning. But he does everything better. Tom is not subject to emotion. He makes decisions quickly and in cold blood. You and I get distracted by all sorts of interesting nonsense and hold back when confronted with unpleasant emotions," Dan smiled. He winked at the girl and offered to keep up with the commander. "Let's take an invisible walk through the streets of the Community. Are you sure you know the place we need to get to?"

"Yes. I have a magic map," the princess patted her elegant little bag on her belt.

Dan shook his head. He was having a hard time getting used to the fact that all nations have their ways of interacting with reality. He had a mini-map in front of him in the corner of his field of vision. The princess had a map in her inventory. It looked like an ordinary map on which the markings of new locations appeared.  

The young man applied his camouflage skill and ran towards the south gate. He took his time and did not run too fast. He was interested in noticing the different details of the new city.

The Community on the Hill had a life of its own. Residents of different nations were prominent in the streets. The houses had familiar differences and architectural features. Each nation built its dwellings in its way. The vampires preferred stone houses with many stories. Vampire towers rose above most of the city's buildings. Elves lived in special living trees. The living quarters were inside the trunk of a large tree. At the same time, the tree did not suffer from the inhabitants and always received a boost of magic from the careful elves. The mice lived in low earthen hills. The hills did not rise above the surface and much of the quarters went underground. Orcs built large tents of animal skins and sturdy brightly colored fabrics. The gnomes preferred sturdy stone low buildings.

Dan noticed that in this city there was no separation into the usual quarters in which individual nations lived. Rather, there was a separation by occupation in this city. Almost identical signs were visible on the various houses, indicating the goods that were made in a given place. Near the south gate, he ran with interest past a large section of the city where the blacksmiths of different nations lived. The mostly hill and stone gnome houses had tall chimneys from which smoke rose to the clear sky.

Most of the inhabitants were unarmed. But the young man saw that all the citizens were watching their surroundings closely and were ready for danger. The city's visitors stood out in their full armor and weaponry. It was always quiet where vampires and elves met. Tension slowed the life of the city of craftsmen. The gnomes and orcs caused a noisy and cheerful revival. Orcs loudly expressed their desires and the purpose of visiting an important place of commerce. Gnomes bargained in the streets and the discussion of the details of the bargain was of great interest to many observers.

Dan didn't linger and ran for the exit. He was curious about the city but hurried to find out what awaited him in the dungeon.

At the gate, he was surprised to see that the city had no high walls. The role of a city wall was played by sturdy stone houses, which were tightly built to each other.

He easily slipped between the guards and ran along the good stone road to the entrance of the dungeon. He felt no fatigue and was glad to feel his overstated capabilities.

This world was a place of development up to level forty. Dan had already realized that he had a great advantage in attributes over the other players. But he was well aware of the fact that his skills had lost 85% of their value. The need to develop his combat skills was unnerving and gave him a nice sense of anticipation for the start of monster fights. It was nice for Dan to dive into the world of regular monster fighting. In the dungeon, he didn't think about the intrigues and complexities of the city lifestyle.

Outside the city life went on. Dan was surprised to see many buildings where farmers and cattlemen lived. Gardens and cultivated fields alternated with farms and inns. The Community City was protected on two sides by the banks of rivers. There were no large forests near the town. Only beyond the bridge did Dan run along a road that was surrounded by large trees. These places were quiet but not peaceful. The young man noticed groups of hunters and strange warriors. There were no good intentions on the faces of armed inhabitants. The swordsman understood that in this place one could get into trouble at any moment. He had witnessed several major clashes between groups of armed rivals. Dan realized that in this place there was an ongoing war between the inhabitants of the three main cities.

Soon the young man approached the entrance to the dungeon of the Spider's Den. He stopped and threw a gold coin from his inventory on the ground.

The young man felt a clone touch his and Tom's figure appeared at the entrance and the clone whispered.

"You might as well not throw the gold around. Next time pick up a stone out of the way. Elina won't come running soon. I don't think she has your reserve of powers."

Dan tapped Tom on the shoulder and destroyed the disguise. He picked up a gold coin and shared his most unpleasant impressions.

"A lot of military clashes between the locals. This world loves a rough way of life."

"I've overheard enough in the inns. The skill penalty is applied to experience from killing monsters," Tom nodded his head and tried to reassure his friend. "It's very hard to gain experience. But we don't need much experience. By the way, making items also gives an in-game experience. That said, doing peaceful activities is much more profitable than killing monsters!"

"Interesting place," Dan smiled. "Frowny Nose said we'd be able to buy complete sets of assorted drawings to develop our blacksmithing skills."

"What he didn't say was that resources in this world are very expensive. We have to kill a lot of monsters. I didn't hear anything about the penalty on trophies. Dan, confess quickly and honestly. Do you like this world?" Tom wanted to understand his partner's state of mind.   

"It's a nice place," smiled the young man. "It's not as sterile as Grossroads. It was all too complicated there. And I'm tired of hearing about the flaws of new players from the human race."

"I want to talk about the princess," the phantom remarked. "In Grossroads I could learn nothing about the properties of royal blood. She's really special. And she is strange of the human race. I liked her cautious restraint. The girl is in no hurry to start political games in a new place. But she has a quest. Strange that you have nothing to do with that quest. I'm not sure her dungeon training should occupy the major part of her life in the new place."

"You mean we need to get rid of her. We need to find something interesting for her to do in the city. I agree that swordsmanship should not be a major specialty for royalty. She's a politician and an administrator," Dan agreed. "Too bad I didn't get a clear quest to interact with Elina. Anyway, we'll help her."

The young man felt a tap on his arm and saw a disgruntled princess appear before him.

"Secreting? Discussing me and my plans? It is good to hear that you are willing to give me your support. It is unpleasant to be reminded that you are a disgusting politician and manager. Stupid and inexperienced Baron Raven. Your advisor is much more useful," the princess complained indignantly.

Elina drew her sword and nodded toward the entrance to the dungeon.

"We will not discuss our problems today. Let us enjoy ourselves. We all enjoy being simple warriors in simple battles with monsters."

"Eavesdropping is ugly but useful. You're a real palace person," laughed Tom. "Let's hurry to the dungeon before nasty companions join us."

"Nasty companions are as pleasant to us as monsters," remarked Dan. "I'll be interested to test our methods in encountering scoundrels of all kinds."