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

me out into a cavern full of thick viscous liquid. It was dark, stuffy, and foul-smelling. Water, debris, and screaming invisible enemies kept falling on my head from above. Howls of pain, splashing, hissing...

Messages about acid damage flooded my combat log as each second brought in even more of it. Had I reached the monster’s stomach, swimming in its digestive juice? Thankfully, Air Bubble and Shield of Shadows protected me from the corrosive liquid.

A Circle of Light sprang up right next to me, illuminating folding walls of pink flesh, quivering tendrils, and a lake of colorless fluid with several figures stuck there waist-deep. Like me, they were protected by Air Bubbles and various magic spheres. That said, those didn’t hold a candle against my shield, and their health bars rapidly dwindled.

The Pandas were tough bastards! My enemies were frantically trying to survive, feeding mana to their shields and using elixirs, but none of that really helped. The acid DOTs combined into thousands of damage over several seconds—no laughing matter.

I stepped forward, making a wave with my barrier. It still had nine million durability with more than three minutes remaining; not bad. It should be enough to loot their corpses. Players with red karma always dropped more stuff—I expected 2 or 3 items from each.

Staying away from the Circle of Light spell, I watched them, gloating a little. I had no idea how they had survived inside the crushed Barracuda, but here, inside the Guardian, nobody would remain alive without a protection comparable to the Shield of Shadows.

Yota was the closest to me. The protective sphere around him burst with a loud pop, and the Finn’s health bar floundered into the red zone. He immediately restored it in several ticks—clearly a powerful regenerating effect. Yota struggled with all his might, but the incoming damage was too high, as we were floating in the sea of digestive juice while more corrosive liquid rained on us from the ceiling.

All done! Yota folded in half, dying, and his body slowly disappeared in the viscous paste. I immediately rushed there, entering the lit area. The Bubble traveled with me, creating a gap in the lake and exposing the quivering pink floor. Three items lay there, left by the Panda leader: a scroll, epic-level prayer beads, and a small green pyramid, the one Yota had used to threaten me with reskilling. I sent the scroll and the bracelet into my inventory and fiddled with the pyramid, trying to study it.

Resuciato

Quality: rare. Material: Ancient Alloy. Durability: 345/500.

Resurrection: resurrects the target after the fatal blow, restoring 10% of health. Remaining charges: 11/100.

It was an auto-healing item similar to my Soul Forge Gem. However, the latter could only resurrect its wielder and had a 30% chance of working, while this thing could raise other players. Still, it had limited charges, and they were running low. It clearly had never occurred to the Pandas to use it to resurrect their own fallen during raids. I felt a pang of gloating delight—so Yota’s promise of only cutting off my ears ten times didn’t mean anything; they couldn’t do it any more, anyway. Eleven charges. I rubbed the neck scar I had gotten after the duel in the Stone Forest. Well, ladies and gentlemen of Pandorum, how about you take a sip from your own cup?

Yota’s companions were holding on for dear life. Pinprick was clearly powering her sphere with mana, but how long could it last? Ran Dom was protected by his solid black armor, and he kept trying to break away from the slush, only surviving thanks to his impressive regeneration. Both of them clearly were on their last legs. I aimed the pyramid at them and activated it, marking them as targets for resurrection. Incredulous anger and a stream of curses that even my multi-language pack struggled to translate were the best reward I could hope to get. It was odd how frustrated people could get if they fell into the pit they had dug themselves.

“Don’t be so rude! Respectable people will watch this vid!” I tried to interrupt the flow of expletives but only provoked Pinprick into shooting me with a Great Lightning. The Shield of Shadows wasn’t even scratched, but the Guardian clearly didn’t like it—the stomach walls shook as they contracted, knocking the Pandas down and dousing them in the corrosive lake. It was the last straw, and they died almost at the same time thanks to the acid DOT. At once, Resuciato started glowing in my hands, and thin green beams pulled toward the ghostly silhouettes, depriving them of the ability to respawn.

Resuciato held the soul of Ran Dom! Do you wish to restore them to life? Yes/No 59…58…57…

Resuciato held the soul of Pinprick! Do you wish to restore them to life? Yes/No 59…58…57…

Just a second! I quickly ran to their bodies and looted them. Whoa! Elixirs, scrolls, a harness, a skillbook, a portal token, three pieces of epic-level gear... The Pandas had deep pockets! I scooped it up and sent it into inventory without looking and loudly said, “My offer still stands! Fifty thousand per player, and I let you go. Five seconds to decide! Five! Four! Three!”

No money came to my account five seconds later, and ghostly Pandas kept flipping me off and writing various indecent things in chat. My clients were yet to be convinced. Fine, then; I would continue working on them. I activated Resurrection, and Pinprick and Ran Dom arose with ten percent of their health. This time, they died immediately, almost one-shotted by the acid—I barely had time to mark them for another resurrection.

“Go on; your pain is so sweet!” I smiled when I saw the latest outburst in my personal messages. They had switched from insults to threats, unusually colorful and diverse.

The second portion of loot was just as yummy: a captain’s spyglass, a scroll case, a marquee, more