Его не звали, но он приперся / They never called, yet he is here: Седьмая глава

Chapter 7

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 20:45

Contrary to logic and safety, we sat on that same lawn for another twenty-four hours, having had a good night's sleep and just a moral break from all this shit that was happening to us. Surprisingly, in all that time no one tried to kill us, eat us, enslave us, bump us, scare us, or even piss on us. Well, maybe the mosquitoes tried, but only until the first dose of repellent, I shared with my companions.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 20:51

Actually, I keep getting the feeling that this world doesn't love me. It doesn't seem to love anyone at all. All kinds of orcs and goblins, all kinds of monsters of different scales and types, all the same System that directly encourages all living things to cut and eat each other, which does not add to anyone's kindness.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 20:53

In such conditions, a few hours of peace and quiet can be much more valuable than a mountain of gold and a bag of gems. Material goods can be gained or taken away, but peace of mind can only be found on one's own. I will not lie about immediately settling down and embracing zen, for I am as delusional as a candidate for election. But the fear of darkness and the fear of my own shadow receded, giving me a chance to think properly about the consequences of my decisions.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 20:54

And I had to solve a burning question on a topic known to every gamer from planet Earth. Namely: how to distribute stats? It doesn't make sense to wait any longer, because all the main characteristics have already been revealed and will not be increased by simple training. But six and a half dozen extra stats will be very useful.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 20:55

I could, for example, throw them all into one characteristic, for example, dexterity, get a bonus for a hundred in one parameter, and then in a few levels get up to one hundred and fifty. With that kind of dexterity, I wouldn't have been a whipping boy like in the previous fight. Or rather, not like that. I'd still be the same slow lout, but at least I'd have time to block his blows with shadows.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 20:57

I could do the opposite: put everything into energy, making my shadows an order of magnitude stronger, and then I might not have to fight those goblins at all in close combat. I could stand in the middle of the woods, preferably in stealth, picking my nose and watching as the shadow blades help the enemy multiply by fission.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 20:58

I could increase perception, which my classes don't really need, or even endurance. But, all this would mean one thing - a skew in one, at most two stats. This is not to say that so bad, but I would like more. For example, it is trivial to raise the free growth characteristics to a hundred. I have a suspicion that the Chosen Ones have exactly this limit.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 20:59

Lots of options, but no solution.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:00

I thought.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:00

I thought a lot.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:14

I walked around the lawn in circles (in stealth, or they would take me for an idiot).

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:18

I did a jog through the woods.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:18

I counted the butterflies flying within my sphere of perception.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:21

And finally, in the morning before I left for the road ahead, I made my decision. The problem is that all my classes are magical, but what I need to survive is physics, or rather a dexterity and a bit of perception. I remember all too well the problems that my lack of speed and agility caused me, and I can be quite sure that without them I would be in trouble.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:22

So, until I crawl out of the woods, my priority will be to improve my dexterity, and only then my energy. Then I plan to correct this flaw, but initially, I'd rather be fast and able to run far away. So, with a steady hand (I'm lying as a deputy, because I'm shaking, too) I get my dexterity up to a hundred, spending thirty-three points. It's only a little over half of what I have, but it's so pity, damn you all!

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:24

It even made me want to go out and kill the damn Bobik, just to become a normal Chosen One and grind my stats up to a hundred. Alas, dreams remain dreams, in this case, they certainly do.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:26

I put the points in one at a time, while simultaneously doing my knife-fighting warm-up routine, speeding up more and more. And I can really feel my limits expanding, my movements becoming smoother and more measured, and the world around me seeming more perfect and clearer. After about half an hour of shadow training (not literally), I calm my somewhat labored breathing and give out a high-pitched one:

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:27

"Fuck yeah."

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:27

It was worth it, no kidding. It was like heaven and earth. A hundred dexterity is indeed a high score, permitting something that ten out of ten Earth acrobats would chew their balls off out of envy, or sell their farts to black overlords just to repeat it. It wasn't even the flexibility, but the monstrous coordination of my own movements. I didn't get lazy and ripped the mosquito's legs right off in flight. Then I got even more stoned and ripped off the next one, only the odd ones. If I had been more perceptive, I would have tied them up with trunks, too.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:33

I would have continued to have fun, but I saw the cherished system message promising me another gift from the dear administration, so I stopped fooling around and started to look a gift horse in the mouth. The horses were given to me, purebred and beautiful, but there was only one to choose from, which was not good.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:35

The Dexterity characteristic has reached 100! Choose a perk!

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:37

- Perfect coordination (rare);

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:40

- Flexible Bones (rare);

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:40

In fact, the prospects offered by both abilities cannot be underestimated. Even now I can think of a dozen ways to use these treasures, but I choose coordination. First of all, it was only given to me because I had already managed to take a weakened version of it. And second, it fits my style perfectly.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:42

The ability to bend like rubber would greatly increase my evasion, but I could dodge the weaker ones anyway. I'd have to fight off really strong opponents in any case, either with shadows or by heroically fleeing to the unknown direction, preferably faster. And the very ability that was given to me at the expense of the choice of strengthening bones a little earlier, was suitable for some thief or circus acrobat.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:45

It's not that it was useless to me, but I just couldn't unlock its full potential. I had too much of a different style, with different techniques. So I chose it without pity, but with a certain touch of greed and munchkinism.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:46

I'm going to allocate the remaining thirty-two points to energy, just like I did with dexterity, one point at a time. The training was careful manipulation of the shadows within the radius of my sphere. I was a little twitchy about touching them, but I'd already conquered the main fear. The main thing to remember is that until I accumulate a critical mass of shadow energy myself, until I feed them the lion's share of my reserve until I call them to the table, they can't come to my door.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:48

I hope.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 21:48

The feeling of the rising energy was very different, unlike the previous ones. It was as if something incredibly hot and voluminous began to pulsate inside you, and it pulsed harder and more frequently with each point it was put in. I suppose that if I hadn't been wasting my energy on shadow control, I might have crippled myself somewhat with the sharp amplification.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 22:04

After another half hour and a third of my reserve was empty, my energy score was... ta-da! Ninety-four points! You know, I felt about the same sensation as a donkey with a carrot hung in front of his face, but not allowed to reach it. And you look at that carrot, you realize that it is out of reach at that moment in time, and you get wildly, wildly mad!

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 22:05

No, seriously!

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 22:06

It's not fun!

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 22:06

I have to wait for two whole levels until I can finally get another perk. I feel that I will have to wait for either a very long time, which I don't like at all. Or the opposite: a very short time, because I'm going to get into some foul-smelling substance again. Naturally, I dislike the latter even more than the former.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 22:08

As I walked to the camp, I tried out absolute coordination, literally feeling every movement to the millimeter, both for myself and for... my shadows. At first, I froze as if I had been knocked, and then I smiled broadly and anticipatively. I suppose not all magical classes can derive such a bonus from high dexterity. Telekinetics, water mages, maybe geomancers, and other guys who can perceive a magical manifestation as part of themselves. All kinds of firebenders are out, I'm sure of it.

Camrad_RIP 10.12.21 в 22:24

But for me, as a shadowborn... I don't even know if there are mages anywhere else, besides mythical classes, for whom their elemental is so natural?

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:22

Or rather, not like that.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:22

Shadows, as is, are not part of my body, but when combined with the perception sphere, I can perceive them as an extension of myself, albeit distantly, weakened and incompletely. This, of course, is no longer perfect control as with body movements, but it's still a huge bonus to attacking through shadows outside the line of sight and to sensory skills.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:24

It was a smart thing to do when I took it, ignoring another perk, because the synergy is very high. It's not for nothing that the class description says that one of the main characteristics of the shadow class is dexterity.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:24

They went out in silence, as usual.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:25

Hans was telling a story from his time in the frontier service, Losij was listening, thinking about something of his own, and I was lurking about a hundred meters away from the couple, trying to watch the men's movements with my shadows. Not just to feel them in my sphere, but to watch them, as if through a monitor screen. It feels medium-bad and highly amusing, I must tell you! Each shadow looks different, from its angle, and gives its distortions to the images.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:31

The only thing all these " TVs " have in common is the black and white, or rather a monochrome image. It's a peculiar sight, especially when you consider that it is superimposed on your vision. It's like you have an extra pair of eyes. If I hadn't gotten used to the sensory load of the shadow sphere, I might have lost my mind.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:32

I'm almost reflexively choosing the best route, scanning the terrain at the same time, but I'm thinking about something else entirely. Or, to be more precise, about my shadow class and the prospects for its development. In fact, I've completely done one section and more than half-developed the other. Now I can invest two more points and upgrade the class to the second rank, getting a new class passive and new abilities.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:46

That's a definite plus.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:46

And on the negative side, we'd like to point out the fear of the shadow dwellers that never let go of me after that battle. Not that I was that afraid, for that would not be entirely true. My, ha-ha, "heroism" was clearly helping to control my stress and panic, but even common sense told me not to joke about such matters because there would be consequences.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:47

So I found myself in some confusion as I contemplated this dilemma. On the one hand, I didn't want to increase my problems with excessive living shadows to the point of pulling hair out of my ass. On the other hand, just then I stood a good chance of finding something among my newly discovered skills that would help me control or at least shield myself from the shadow-dwelling monsters.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:49

The thoughts were heavy and unpleasant, but understanding the need for further development required me to make decisions and take action. Once again I had to squeeze an asshole into an invisible point and put two points into shadow perception.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:53

I just decided to put it off until tonight, when we'll take a stop.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:54

At rest, a new problem arose, namely the rapidly depleting supply of water, which became much more difficult to replenish as we left the river bank. I was not sure if I could drink the blood of the killed prey, but I had no particular desire to become a novice vampire. I couldn't help thinking about the prospect of using shadow manipulation to collect dew or filter water directly from the ground.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 06:56

The funny thing about this situation is that I, in principle, am able to do something like this. A truly universal class, in every sense. The advantage of mythic archetypes over normal archetypes, as I understand it, is exactly that - the monstrous flexibility of using class abilities, allowing you to find new solutions to problems where the owners of standard classes will see only an insurmountable wall.

Camrad_RIP 11.12.21 в 07:16