Chapter 9
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"You could have died!" exclaimed Petrovich, finally showing up. He was usually quiet and calm but now he looked unusual, even dangerous. Seeing him speak against Baldy was very unexpected. "I stood my ground even though I lost my silver spear. And you? Why didn't you join the fight? Why did you run away? You might have led them to our base! I wouldn't be surprised if they come here in a couple of hours following your trail."
I wasn't the only one who was surprised by Petrovich's behavior. Oddly enough, his words had the desired effect. All of the old-timers, and even the girls who had survived thanks to Igor, looked at him with a hint of contempt; as if he was a coward. A dangerous man he was, this Valentin Petrovich.
"Hey, come on!" Dmitri got over the surprise. "Igor knows the paths better than anyone. If he says that his tracks can't be followed, who are we to argue? Right, Igor?"
"Believe what you want!" Baldy was trying to look calm, but it was obvious that the words, or rather, everyone's reactions, hurt him.
"It's pointless to discuss what has already happened," Andrei tried to change the subject. "Igor, I'll see you at the staff meeting. Mikhail, Olga, Lera, Semyon and Vasily, you aren't invited yet. You still don't know enough about this world. Have some rest, we'll see you in a couple of hours and tell you what to do next."
As soon as the old-timers left, our group broke into smaller fractions. Olga pulled Fox into one corner cave, and the Major took Semyon to another one. Just like most people who love secrets, they were poorly informed about the acoustics of closed spaces which, to be honest, benefited me. The sounds from the far end of our living coverts reached the hallway's entrance and I heard Mikhail trying to recruit the ex-cop, mentioning the obvious divide in our detachment and that it was necessary to keep to the right people. I decided to eavesdrop on the girls so I crept up to the cave's entrance.
Their discussion was of no use to me. They were arguing which man they should take for themselves. Their attitudes were cynical, but this was a dangerous world, after all. One couldn't survive on their own. If all went well, they could make this place a little more hospitable. Andrei could be with Olga, and Suren with Fox. I had, of course, some strong suspicions that none of them were completely sincere. Completely, my ass! I was willing to bet that eighty percent of this was lies and that only twenty was truth. Whatever, I should be spending my free time productively and taking care of myself. I was yet to distribute the points gained during our swamp adventure.
I added ten points to intelligence. It did not affect the damage and I still didn't have any attacking spells, but that wouldn't last forever. My magic defense had already helped me. What else was there to increase if not my unique stat?
Intelligence: +10
Total: 25
Achievement unlocked: Quarter of Mind
Now you can see a little more.
It was a strange achievement, but my magic protection was raised to five. The swamp mosquitoes couldn't hurt me anymore. Now, in order to enhance my skills I needed a place far away from prying eyes. I had examined the entire base before going to the Fishmen in search of a safe place to cast Stone Skin and heal myself in secrecy. The only place that met the minimum security requirements was the bathroom. One could sit there for a while without being disturbed and no one could get close without being noticed. I really hoped that there were no perverts in our group.
I closed the latch on the door of the crudely built booth and looked around to make sure that there were no Peeping Toms around. I could even test my skills here.
Currently I had: Weakness, Cure Light Wounds and Stone Skin. I tried to add a point to my curse.
Open development tree for Weakness?
You need deception (level 1).
Confirm?
Yes, I do.
Mass Weakness
Impact zone: five yards radius from cast point.
Reduces all enemy stats by 5%.
If opponents have blessings, there is a 10% chance for one blessing to turn into a curse of the same level.
Weakening Touch
Impact zone: direct impact with hand or object.
Reduces all enemy stats by 10%. Stacks up to 3 times.
If opponents have blessings, there is a 50% chance for one blessing to turn into a curse of the same level.
That was all pretty straightforward. Now I had to choose would I rather be able to weakly hit several enemies, or hit one opponent with a much more dangerous effect. Mass Weakness would definitely be more useful in the future, but I had to focus on the now. Weakening Touch worked perfectly with my war scythe. The curses could stack, weakening the enemy threefold. A tad on the cheating side, if you ask me. I looked at what else I had in there. Having level 1 deception opened up two options for my healing spell. Unfortunately, I need level 2 deception to reveal more.
Mass Cure Light Wounds
Impact zone: five yards from point of casting; heals all targets.
Instantly restores 5 HP and imposes regeneration.
Lasts 20 seconds. Restores 1HP per second.
Cure Minor Wounds
Restores 50 HP.
These were bad. Mass Cure wasn't very subtle, given its AoE effect that I could occasionally trigger which would heal my teammates and reveal my secret. Cure Minor Wounds, although five times stronger, lost the additional regeneration effect, depriving me of my only serious weapon against local creatures.
All that was left to do was to analyze Stone Skin. I decided to put the healing spells on hold until I gain level 2 deception. Given what was at stake, I didn't want to make the wrong choice.
Stone Ogre Skin
Grants your skin the strength of stone. You gain +20 endurance. Granite warts grant you +40 physical protection.
Stone Gargoyle Skin
Grants your skin the strength of enchanted stone. You gain +20 endurance. The spirit of the stone grants you +2 magical protection.
Ogre Skine could add +40 to my armor, which was a lot since I had only 38. The only problem was the granite warts mentioned in the description. Those would be almost impossible to hide. So, basically, magic defense was to be my future. Why not focus on it then? I chose Gargoyle Skin and saved the second point for later.
"How long are you going to stay there?" I heard Baldy and hoped that his question was not for me.
"Finished," I got out with a sigh and almost toppled over as he threw a backpack with supplies tat me.
"Grab it and get a move on. We have been given a task to catch one of the guests and find out who and what they are." With the meeting over, Igor was, apparently, given the task to collect information. His level aside, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the only one capable of doing that.
"Why me?" I understood why they chose him, but why did he decide to take me along? "Why do you need anyone, especially someone as weak as me?"
I didn't like being humble, but if it helped me understand what was going on, or stay at the base (which was a better option), then I didn't mind it.
"Hah," Igor's mood clearly improved. "I'd gladly kill Petrovich after today. Suren and Andrei said that they don't want to leave the newbies alone in a pinch. Dmitri is a blacksmith, not a warrior, and Alexander talks too much. Have any more bright questions?"
"Out of all the newbies, why me?" I decided to figure out Baldy's real motives. Maybe I'd join those who talk too much.
"Well, you're not a gal, a major or a cop. So why not?" He then became serious. "It's not rocket science: you follow me and stay when I tell you to stay. If there is danger of being captured, I'll kill you myself. That way, we will avoid torture and make sure that you don't spill any information about us. Basically, I'll do everything myself, your only task is to kill the prisoner as soon as I get the information I need. I don't need extra experience."
So Petrovich was partially right. Baldy didn't avoid this morning's fight out of cowardice, he just didn't want extra experience. This campaign promised to be interesting.
Fox, Dmitri and Semyon came to see us off. For some reason I thought that the cop came just to accompany the girl.
Lera Pylevaya
Level 3
Age: 2 days
Dmitri Ognev
Level 8
Age: 28 days
Semyon Jorkaev
Level 3
Age: 2 days
Wait, I wasn't able to see their surnames before. Having 25 points of intelligence must've granted me this ability. Maybe I could learn more if I increase it to 50. Judging by the numbers, ''age'' showed how much time they had spent in this world. With a smile spreading on my face, I turned to Igor, plunging "into myself" and almost froze.
David Jones
Level 5
Age: 798 days
That name... I had clearly seen "Igor", and now he suddenly became David. And his age... He's been here for more than two years now. Maybe I should try to wiggle out of this and run away from this psycho? I remembered Petrovich's words from last night about Baldy, though, this time the old man wasn't in a hurry to accompany us. On the other hand, if I went with Baldy now, I could get experience and learn something new and important about this world. If something goes wrong, I can always resurrect and return to our small cemetery. Even if I was bound, a few Stone Skins would end me.
"Igor," we had moved away from the camp, but had not gone into the woods yet, "tell me what happened with the squad before us. Everyone's treating it like a big secret. It makes it sound like you're hiding something shameful."
He obviously wanted to avoid my question, but the last couple of words made him budge.
"Okay, listen," he scratched his head and slowed down a bit. "I joined this squad three months ago, Max Boyko was the leader then. He had issues, but he was generally a good guy. We haven't missed a single campaign with him."
"What do you mean by 'campaign'?"
"Umph," he obviously started to regret telling me anything. I better keep quiet until he finishes the story. "Once a week the dawn turns red and if you make a campfire in a special place on twilight of the same day, people who passed the first test will find their way to you. You join the squad whose campfire you've come to. If one decides to wait and not make a campfire, or if one dies on the road, the newcomers won't manage to find their way out and will die in vain."
I shuddered as I remembered the shadow world.
"Like I said," he continued, "Max was a good guy. He'd always light a fire, but he didn't want to find his way out of this world. The base hides only those who haven't reached level 20. So, once someone reached level 10, he'd give them a choice: to stop leveling-up, or to leave. As you already know, I don't give a shit about leveling, so I was fine with his terms. However, being among those who were afraid to move on had its effects. Max started to feel less like a leader, and more like a God. This was around the time when Andrei and Suren came. They couldn't stand each other at first. It was really no surprise given that they had both fallen in love with the same girl. All Hell broke loose once Max forced her to be with him. Dmitri was our blacksmith even then. I don't know how they persuaded him, but the next day he came to Max and said that he needed to take his weapon for repair. Then they stole the key, sneaked into the cemetery and broke his tombstone. And then… Then there was a slaughter. They had power and anger but no brains to fight against an opponent like Max. He was unarmed, but they couldn't stop him. Max rampaged through the cemetery, killing people and destroying their tombstones. Only Andrei, Suren, Dmitri and Alexander survived. Petrovich, being the coward he is, holed himself up in one of the caves until it was all over. Oleg and Gleb survived, but lost their tombstones and decided to leave. Olesya, the reason behind this uprising, simply disappeared, although her stone still stands among the others."
Our new tombstones and six old ones, I recalled.
"But there are only eleven stones," I couldn't help but comment.
"You don't think I left mine there after that happened," Igor, aka David, grinned and stopped me, gripping my shoulder. "To the woods now. The road is no longer safe."
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"You could have died!" exclaimed Petrovich, finally showing up. He was usually quiet and calm but now he looked unusual, even dangerous. Seeing him speak against Baldy was very unexpected. "I stood my ground even though I lost my silver spear. And you? Why didn't you join the fight? Why did you run away? You might have led them to our base! I wouldn't be surprised if they come here in a couple of hours following your trail."
I wasn't the only one who was surprised by Petrovich's behavior. Oddly enough, his words had the desired effect. All of the old-timers, and even the girls who had survived thanks to Igor, looked at him with a hint of contempt; as if he was a coward. A dangerous man he was, this Valentin Petrovich.
"Hey, come on!" Dmitri got over the surprise. "Igor knows the paths better than anyone. If he says that his tracks can't be followed, who are we to argue? Right, Igor?"
"Believe what you want!" Baldy was trying to look calm, but it was obvious that the words, or rather, everyone's reactions, hurt him.
"It's pointless to discuss what has already happened," Andrei tried to change the subject. "Igor, I'll see you at the staff meeting. Mikhail, Olga, Lera, Semyon and Vasily, you aren't invited yet. You still don't know enough about this world. Have some rest, we'll see you in a couple of hours and tell you what to do next."
As soon as the old-timers left, our group broke into smaller fractions. Olga pulled Fox into one corner cave, and the Major took Semyon to another one. Just like most people who love secrets, they were poorly informed about the acoustics of closed spaces which, to be honest, benefited me. The sounds from the far end of our living coverts reached the hallway's entrance and I heard Mikhail trying to recruit the ex-cop, mentioning the obvious divide in our detachment and that it was necessary to keep to the right people. I decided to eavesdrop on the girls so I crept up to the cave's entrance.
Their discussion was of no use to me. They were arguing which man they should take for themselves. Their attitudes were cynical, but this was a dangerous world, after all. One couldn't survive on their own. If all went well, they could make this place a little more hospitable. Andrei could be with Olga, and Suren with Fox. I had, of course, some strong suspicions that none of them were completely sincere. Completely, my ass! I was willing to bet that eighty percent of this was lies and that only twenty was truth. Whatever, I should be spending my free time productively and taking care of myself. I was yet to distribute the points gained during our swamp adventure.
I added ten points to intelligence. It did not affect the damage and I still didn't have any attacking spells, but that wouldn't last forever. My magic defense had already helped me. What else was there to increase if not my unique stat?
Intelligence: +10
Total: 25
Achievement unlocked: Quarter of Mind
Now you can see a little more.
It was a strange achievement, but my magic protection was raised to five. The swamp mosquitoes couldn't hurt me anymore. Now, in order to enhance my skills I needed a place far away from prying eyes. I had examined the entire base before going to the Fishmen in search of a safe place to cast Stone Skin and heal myself in secrecy. The only place that met the minimum security requirements was the bathroom. One could sit there for a while without being disturbed and no one could get close without being noticed. I really hoped that there were no perverts in our group.
I closed the latch on the door of the crudely built booth and looked around to make sure that there were no Peeping Toms around. I could even test my skills here.
Currently I had: Weakness, Cure Light Wounds and Stone Skin. I tried to add a point to my curse.
Open development tree for Weakness?
You need deception (level 1).
Confirm?
Yes, I do.
Mass Weakness
Impact zone: five yards radius from cast point.
Reduces all enemy stats by 5%.
If opponents have blessings, there is a 10% chance for one blessing to turn into a curse of the same level.
Weakening Touch
Impact zone: direct impact with hand or object.
Reduces all enemy stats by 10%. Stacks up to 3 times.
If opponents have blessings, there is a 50% chance for one blessing to turn into a curse of the same level.
That was all pretty straightforward. Now I had to choose would I rather be able to weakly hit several enemies, or hit one opponent with a much more dangerous effect. Mass Weakness would definitely be more useful in the future, but I had to focus on the now. Weakening Touch worked perfectly with my war scythe. The curses could stack, weakening the enemy threefold. A tad on the cheating side, if you ask me. I looked at what else I had in there. Having level 1 deception opened up two options for my healing spell. Unfortunately, I need level 2 deception to reveal more.
Mass Cure Light Wounds
Impact zone: five yards from point of casting; heals all targets.
Instantly restores 5 HP and imposes regeneration.
Lasts 20 seconds. Restores 1HP per second.
Cure Minor Wounds
Restores 50 HP.
These were bad. Mass Cure wasn't very subtle, given its AoE effect that I could occasionally trigger which would heal my teammates and reveal my secret. Cure Minor Wounds, although five times stronger, lost the additional regeneration effect, depriving me of my only serious weapon against local creatures.
All that was left to do was to analyze Stone Skin. I decided to put the healing spells on hold until I gain level 2 deception. Given what was at stake, I didn't want to make the wrong choice.
Stone Ogre Skin
Grants your skin the strength of stone. You gain +20 endurance. Granite warts grant you +40 physical protection.
Stone Gargoyle Skin
Grants your skin the strength of enchanted stone. You gain +20 endurance. The spirit of the stone grants you +2 magical protection.
Ogre Skine could add +40 to my armor, which was a lot since I had only 38. The only problem was the granite warts mentioned in the description. Those would be almost impossible to hide. So, basically, magic defense was to be my future. Why not focus on it then? I chose Gargoyle Skin and saved the second point for later.
"How long are you going to stay there?" I heard Baldy and hoped that his question was not for me.
"Finished," I got out with a sigh and almost toppled over as he threw a backpack with supplies tat me.
"Grab it and get a move on. We have been given a task to catch one of the guests and find out who and what they are." With the meeting over, Igor was, apparently, given the task to collect information. His level aside, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the only one capable of doing that.
"Why me?" I understood why they chose him, but why did he decide to take me along? "Why do you need anyone, especially someone as weak as me?"
I didn't like being humble, but if it helped me understand what was going on, or stay at the base (which was a better option), then I didn't mind it.
"Hah," Igor's mood clearly improved. "I'd gladly kill Petrovich after today. Suren and Andrei said that they don't want to leave the newbies alone in a pinch. Dmitri is a blacksmith, not a warrior, and Alexander talks too much. Have any more bright questions?"
"Out of all the newbies, why me?" I decided to figure out Baldy's real motives. Maybe I'd join those who talk too much.
"Well, you're not a gal, a major or a cop. So why not?" He then became serious. "It's not rocket science: you follow me and stay when I tell you to stay. If there is danger of being captured, I'll kill you myself. That way, we will avoid torture and make sure that you don't spill any information about us. Basically, I'll do everything myself, your only task is to kill the prisoner as soon as I get the information I need. I don't need extra experience."
So Petrovich was partially right. Baldy didn't avoid this morning's fight out of cowardice, he just didn't want extra experience. This campaign promised to be interesting.
Fox, Dmitri and Semyon came to see us off. For some reason I thought that the cop came just to accompany the girl.
Lera Pylevaya
Level 3
Age: 2 days
Dmitri Ognev
Level 8
Age: 28 days
Semyon Jorkaev
Level 3
Age: 2 days
Wait, I wasn't able to see their surnames before. Having 25 points of intelligence must've granted me this ability. Maybe I could learn more if I increase it to 50. Judging by the numbers, ''age'' showed how much time they had spent in this world. With a smile spreading on my face, I turned to Igor, plunging "into myself" and almost froze.
David Jones
Level 5
Age: 798 days
That name... I had clearly seen "Igor", and now he suddenly became David. And his age... He's been here for more than two years now. Maybe I should try to wiggle out of this and run away from this psycho? I remembered Petrovich's words from last night about Baldy, though, this time the old man wasn't in a hurry to accompany us. On the other hand, if I went with Baldy now, I could get experience and learn something new and important about this world. If something goes wrong, I can always resurrect and return to our small cemetery. Even if I was bound, a few Stone Skins would end me.
"Igor," we had moved away from the camp, but had not gone into the woods yet, "tell me what happened with the squad before us. Everyone's treating it like a big secret. It makes it sound like you're hiding something shameful."
He obviously wanted to avoid my question, but the last couple of words made him budge.
"Okay, listen," he scratched his head and slowed down a bit. "I joined this squad three months ago, Max Boyko was the leader then. He had issues, but he was generally a good guy. We haven't missed a single campaign with him."
"What do you mean by 'campaign'?"
"Umph," he obviously started to regret telling me anything. I better keep quiet until he finishes the story. "Once a week the dawn turns red and if you make a campfire in a special place on twilight of the same day, people who passed the first test will find their way to you. You join the squad whose campfire you've come to. If one decides to wait and not make a campfire, or if one dies on the road, the newcomers won't manage to find their way out and will die in vain."
I shuddered as I remembered the shadow world.
"Like I said," he continued, "Max was a good guy. He'd always light a fire, but he didn't want to find his way out of this world. The base hides only those who haven't reached level 20. So, once someone reached level 10, he'd give them a choice: to stop leveling-up, or to leave. As you already know, I don't give a shit about leveling, so I was fine with his terms. However, being among those who were afraid to move on had its effects. Max started to feel less like a leader, and more like a God. This was around the time when Andrei and Suren came. They couldn't stand each other at first. It was really no surprise given that they had both fallen in love with the same girl. All Hell broke loose once Max forced her to be with him. Dmitri was our blacksmith even then. I don't know how they persuaded him, but the next day he came to Max and said that he needed to take his weapon for repair. Then they stole the key, sneaked into the cemetery and broke his tombstone. And then… Then there was a slaughter. They had power and anger but no brains to fight against an opponent like Max. He was unarmed, but they couldn't stop him. Max rampaged through the cemetery, killing people and destroying their tombstones. Only Andrei, Suren, Dmitri and Alexander survived. Petrovich, being the coward he is, holed himself up in one of the caves until it was all over. Oleg and Gleb survived, but lost their tombstones and decided to leave. Olesya, the reason behind this uprising, simply disappeared, although her stone still stands among the others."
Our new tombstones and six old ones, I recalled.
"But there are only eleven stones," I couldn't help but comment.
"You don't think I left mine there after that happened," Igor, aka David, grinned and stopped me, gripping my shoulder. "To the woods now. The road is no longer safe."
"You could have died!" exclaimed Petrovich, finally showing up. He was usually quiet and calm but now he looked unusual, even dangerous. Seeing him speak against Baldy was very unexpected. "I stood my ground even though I lost my silver spear. And you? Why didn't you join the fight? Why did you run away? You might have led them to our base! I wouldn't be surprised if they come here in a couple of hours following your trail."I wasn't the only one who was surprised by Petrovich's behavior. Oddly enough, his words had the desired effect. All of the old-timers, and even the girls who had survived thanks to Igor, looked at him with a hint of contempt; as if he was a coward. A dangerous man he was, this Valentin Petrovich."Hey, come on!" Dmitri got over the surprise. "Igor knows the paths better than anyone. If he says that his tracks can't be followed, who are we to argue? Right, Igor?""Believe what you want!" Baldy was trying to look calm, but it was obvious that the words, or rather, everyone's reactions, hurt him."It's pointless to discuss what has already happened," Andrei tried to change the subject. "Igor, I'll see you at the staff meeting. Mikhail, Olga, Lera, Semyon and Vasily, you aren't invited yet. You still don't know enough about this world. Have some rest, we'll see you in a couple of hours and tell you what to do next."As soon as the old-timers left, our group broke into smaller fractions. Olga pulled Fox into one corner cave, and the Major took Semyon to another one. Just like most people who love secrets, they were poorly informed about the acoustics of closed spaces which, to be honest, benefited me. The sounds from the far end of our living coverts reached the hallway's entrance and I heard Mikhail trying to recruit the ex-cop, mentioning the obvious divide in our detachment and that it was necessary to keep to the right people. I decided to eavesdrop on the girls so I crept up to the cave's entrance.Their discussion was of no use to me. They were arguing which man they should take for themselves. Their attitudes were cynical, but this was a dangerous world, after all. One couldn't survive on their own. If all went well, they could make this place a little more hospitable. Andrei could be with Olga, and Suren with Fox. I had, of course, some strong suspicions that none of them were completely sincere. Completely, my ass! I was willing to bet that eighty percent of this was lies and that only twenty was truth. Whatever, I should be spending my free time productively and taking care of myself. I was yet to distribute the points gained during our swamp adventure.I added ten points to intelligence. It did not affect the damage and I still didn't have any attacking spells, but that wouldn't last forever. My magic defense had already helped me. What else was there to increase if not my unique stat?Intelligence: +10Total: 25Achievement unlocked: Quarter of MindNow you can see a little more.It was a strange achievement, but my magic protection was raised to five. The swamp mosquitoes couldn't hurt me anymore. Now, in order to enhance my skills I needed a place far away from prying eyes. I had examined the entire base before going to the Fishmen in search of a safe place to cast Stone Skin and heal myself in secrecy. The only place that met the minimum security requirements was the bathroom. One could sit there for a while without being disturbed and no one could get close without being noticed. I really hoped that there were no perverts in our group.I closed the latch on the door of the crudely built booth and looked around to make sure that there were no Peeping Toms around. I could even test my skills here.Currently I had: Weakness, Cure Light Wounds and Stone Skin. I tried to add a point to my curse.Open development tree for Weakness?You need deception level 1.Confirm?Yes, I do.Mass WeaknessImpact zone: five yards radius from cast point.Reduces all enemy stats by 5%.If opponents have blessings, there is a 10% chance for one blessing to turn into a curse of the same level.Weakening TouchImpact zone: direct impact with hand or object.Reduces all enemy stats by 10%. Stacks up to 3 times.If opponents have blessings, there is a 50% chance for one blessing to turn into a curse of the same level.That was all pretty straightforward. Now I had to choose would I rather be able to weakly hit several enemies, or hit one opponent with a much more dangerous effect. Mass Weakness would definitely be more useful in the future, but I had to focus on the now. Weakening Touch worked perfectly with my war scythe. The curses could stack, weakening the enemy threefold. A tad on the cheating side, if you ask me. I looked at what else I had in there. Having level 1 deception opened up two options for my healing spell. Unfortunately, I need level 2 deception to reveal more.Mass Cure Light WoundsImpact zone: five yards from point of casting; heals all targets.Instantly restores 5 HP and imposes regeneration.Lasts 20 seconds. Restores 1HP per second.Cure Minor WoundsRestores 50 HP.These were bad. Mass Cure wasn't very subtle, given its AoE effect that I could occasionally trigger which would heal my teammates and reveal my secret. Cure Minor Wounds, although five times stronger, lost the additional regeneration effect, depriving me of my only serious weapon against local creatures.All that was left to do was to analyze Stone Skin. I decided to put the healing spells on hold until I gain level 2 deception. Given what was at stake, I didn't want to make the wrong choice.Stone Ogre SkinGrants your skin the strength of stone. You gain +20 endurance. Granite warts grant you +40 physical protection.Stone Gargoyle SkinGrants your skin the strength of enchanted stone. You gain +20 endurance. The spirit of the stone grants you +2 magical protection.Ogre Skine could add +40 to my armor, which was a lot since I had only 38. The only problem was the granite warts mentioned in the description. Those would be almost impossible to hide. So, basically, magic defense was to be my future. Why not focus on it then? I chose Gargoyle Skin and saved the second point for later."How long are you going to stay there?" I heard Baldy and hoped that his question was not for me."Finished," I got out with a sigh and almost toppled over as he threw a backpack with supplies tat me."Grab it and get a move on. We have been given a task to catch one of the guests and find out who and what they are." With the meeting over, Igor was, apparently, given the task to collect information. His level aside, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the only one capable of doing that."Why me?" I understood why they chose him, but why did he decide to take me along? "Why do you need anyone, especially someone as weak as me?"I didn't like being humble, but if it helped me understand what was going on, or stay at the base which was a better option, then I didn't mind it."Hah," Igor's mood clearly improved. "I'd gladly kill Petrovich after today. Suren and Andrei said that they don't want to leave the newbies alone in a pinch. Dmitri is a blacksmith, not a warrior, and Alexander talks too much. Have any more bright questions?""Out of all the newbies, why me?" I decided to figure out Baldy's real motives. Maybe I'd join those who talk too much."Well, you're not a gal, a major or a cop. So why not?" He then became serious. "It's not rocket science: you follow me and stay when I tell you to stay. If there is danger of being captured, I'll kill you myself. That way, we will avoid torture and make sure that you don't spill any information about us. Basically, I'll do everything myself, your only task is to kill the prisoner as soon as I get the information I need. I don't need extra experience."So Petrovich was partially right. Baldy didn't avoid this morning's fight out of cowardice, he just didn't want extra experience. This campaign promised to be interesting.Fox, Dmitri and Semyon came to see us off. For some reason I thought that the cop came just to accompany the girl.Lera PylevayaLevel 3Age: 2 daysDmitri OgnevLevel 8Age: 28 daysSemyon JorkaevLevel 3Age: 2 daysWait, I wasn't able to see their surnames before. Having 25 points of intelligence must've granted me this ability. Maybe I could learn more if I increase it to 50. Judging by the numbers, ''age'' showed how much time they had spent in this world. With a smile spreading on my face, I turned to Igor, plunging "into myself" and almost froze.David JonesLevel 5Age: 798 daysThat name... I had clearly seen "Igor", and now he suddenly became David. And his age... He's been here for more than two years now. Maybe I should try to wiggle out of this and run away from this psycho? I remembered Petrovich's words from last night about Baldy, though, this time the old man wasn't in a hurry to accompany us. On the other hand, if I went with Baldy now, I could get experience and learn something new and important about this world. If something goes wrong, I can always resurrect and return to our small cemetery. Even if I was bound, a few Stone Skins would end me."Igor," we had moved away from the camp, but had not gone into the woods yet, "tell me what happened with the squad before us. Everyone's treating it like a big secret. It makes it sound like you're hiding something shameful."He obviously wanted to avoid my question, but the last couple of words made him budge."Okay, listen," he scratched his head and slowed down a bit. "I joined this squad three months ago, Max Boyko was the leader then. He had issues, but he was generally a good guy. We haven't missed a single campaign with him.""What do you mean by 'campaign'?""Umph," he obviously started to regret telling me anything. I better keep quiet until he finishes the story. "Once a week the dawn turns red and if you make a campfire in a special place on twilight of the same day, people who passed the first test will find their way to you. You join the squad whose campfire you've come to. If one decides to wait and not make a campfire, or if one dies on the road, the newcomers won't manage to find their way out and will die in vain."I shuddered as I remembered the shadow world."Like I said," he continued, "Max was a good guy. He'd always light a fire, but he didn't want to find his way out of this world. The base hides only those who haven't reached level 20. So, once someone reached level 10, he'd give them a choice: to stop leveling-up, or to leave. As you already know, I don't give a shit about leveling, so I was fine with his terms. However, being among those who were afraid to move on had its effects. Max started to feel less like a leader, and more like a God. This was around the time when Andrei and Suren came. They couldn't stand each other at first. It was really no surprise given that they had both fallen in love with the same girl. All Hell broke loose once Max forced her to be with him. Dmitri was our blacksmith even then. I don't know how they persuaded him, but the next day he came to Max and said that he needed to take his weapon for repair. Then they stole the key, sneaked into the cemetery and broke his tombstone. And then Then there was a slaughter. They had power and anger but no brains to fight against an opponent like Max. He was unarmed, but they couldn't stop him. Max rampaged through the cemetery, killing people and destroying their tombstones. Only Andrei, Suren, Dmitri and Alexander survived. Petrovich, being the coward he is, holed himself up in one of the caves until it was all over. Oleg and Gleb survived, but lost their tombstones and decided to leave. Olesya, the reason behind this uprising, simply disappeared, although her stone still stands among the others."Our new tombstones and six old ones, I recalled."But there are only eleven stones," I couldn't help but comment."You don't think I left mine there after that happened," Igor, aka David, grinned and stopped me, gripping my shoulder. "To the woods now. The road is no longer safe."
