Shadow Seer (Rogue Merchant Book #3): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (read ebook pdf .TXT) 📕

HotCat: What if I can do it? What will you lose? Let’s say you’ll give me back the transportation fee and get me to the Isle of Madness for free.

Thrainul: I’ll give anything you want, even sell my soul.

HotCat: So it’s a deal. A contract?

Thrainul: Wait. Look...

The Guardian seemingly aimlessly probed the area right next to us with its tentacles, and the movement of water carried the Abyssal aside. Startled, the monster froze. Agonizing silence fell. Everyone was glued to the portholes, afraid to breathe. Impending death was just next to us, and we could hear its footsteps.

Thrainul: It’s leaving! Holy balls, it’s leaving!

Fayana: I confirm. The signal’s moving away. Movement vector: back, downward.

True, the glowing eyes were growing smaller as the squid withdrew, returning to the chasm from whence it had crawled several minutes before. Were we really off the hook? I felt relief with a hint of disappointment. I had already made up my mind for heroics!

Fayana: It’s retreating extremely fast. That’s it; it’s out of my search sphere.

A collective sigh sounded across the deck. NPCs and players exchanged unbelieving glances, happy smiles on their faces.

“What a beast!” Rocky complained. “I almost crapped my pants!”

Quietly, afraid to once again draw the giant’s attention, our ship began to crawl to the surface. Thankfully, the area around us was calm, and after the Guardian’s withdrawal, the level of Dread returned to the usual four points. Other monsters were probably afraid to haunt its domain. When I opened my atlas and scrolled to the Hole’s page (Bonus had helpfully copied Thrainul’s map for me), I saw that we were inside a big blank spot—the aforementioned uncharted Sea of Terror. The Isle of Madness was somewhere close...

In the meantime, Thrainul laid into me, disgruntled.

“What was that nonsense? What contract?”

“It wasn’t nonsense. I really can kill this creature,” I replied, unperturbed.

“Are you nuts? How? Have you seen its health bar? It doesn’t even show how many hit points it has, probably billions! The Guardian cannot be killed at all!”

“This goes against Sphere’s basic mechanics,” Fayana argued. “Nothing is invincible. There’s a key to everything.”

“A key! You and your theories!” Thrainul snorted. “And we live here... Cat, can you explain how you’re going to kill it? I’d love to hear it!”

“Nothing special. I just have a skill that can one-shot any target.”

“I’ve never heard about such imba stuff,” the zwerg said, looking at me with distrust.

“Some legendary archetypes have such abilities,” Fayana spoke up, nodding. “For example, Black Hole and Meteor Strike.”

“Yeah, something like that.” I grinned.

“Really? And how does your skill work?”

“I can’t give you the details; you must realize that. But one of the requirements is being close enough to the target to touch it.”

“You would have died ten seconds after leaving the hatch,” the captain said, shaking his head. “At least, without outside help. Even if you got a Breathe Underwater buff, the pressure would kill you.”

“You could wear a deepwater suit!” Rocky suggested. “We have one at hand.”

“Forgive me for interrupting, Captain. You have the experience, you live here and all that,” Fayana said calmly. “But I’ve explored underwater locations before. Air Bubble works well in the deep and protects from pressure and lack of air.”

“What rank of Air Magic is this, seventh?” Thrainul gave her a piercing look. “It’s a rare spell, and few people learn it. Do you know it? Can you craft each of us a scroll?”

“No problem.” She smiled.

“It would be nice; it could save us in a pinch... Fine, the monster’s gone, and we need to get out of here. Let’s get to work, people!”

* * *

The edge of the Sea of Terror. The Barracuda

Yota was emotionlessly staring at the shining black surface of the underground ocean, squinting and clutching the railing with his hands. He didn’t even flinch when Ran Dom and Pinprick appeared behind his back and stood by his side.

“It’s a wretched place,” Pinprick said, disgust on her face. “Why did you gather everyone? I was sleeping. Any news?”

“Yes. The oracle learned his coordinates,” Yota replied. “We’ve identified the vessel. It’s the same ship he used to get to the Stone Forest. He’s over there somewhere.”

The Panda warrior pointed at the greenish haze above the surface of the water pierced by the beams of the ship’s lights.

“So what’s the problem? Give Mancurt the coordinates, and let’s go!”

“It’s not that simple. Our captain’s too stubborn. He doesn’t want to go into this location, the Sea of Terror.”

“What do you mean, stubborn? Didn’t we pay him enough?” Ran Dom winced. “Maybe we should talk to him with our fists?”

“Mancurt boasted that the Barracuda is the fastest ship in all of the Hole,” Pinprick added. “Let’s chase them down and kill them! All of them!”

“No. We shouldn’t play on their board with their figures and by their rules. If they go to the bottom, we’ll lose our advantage,” Yota said slowly. “I don’t like this sea.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“Let’s wait and see. If they survive the Sea of Terror, I’ll make their captain an offer he can’t refuse.”

* * *

The Abyssal turned back. Thrainul was afraid to turn on the main engine, and we moved just below the surface using the handwheel powered by the Clay People’s muscle power. Actually, we barely crawled, as the area was a dangerous one, and the crew was on their guard. Many creatures of the Hole had inborn stealth abilities and camouflage, and the absence of signals around us didn’t mean anything. At any moment, a dangerous predator could appear out of nowhere. That said, the zwerg let slip that his ship was designed to combat large underwater monsters—it had powerful defenses and heavy armaments at the expense