Его не звали, но он приперся / They never called, yet he is here: Глава 27

Chapter 27

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 20:43

A note for the future, for one cretin with bouts of misplaced heroism: mixing different alchemicals and thinking that the subsequent intoxication is tolerable is a very bad idea. I cannot tell you how bad it is! Worse than mixing vodka and beer, drinking wine, and polishing off a couple of glasses of champagne! Stupider than buying a kebab at a station stall!
T.N.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 21:36

It wasn't even that it was that dangerous to my health, because my condition was stable and did not threaten to worsen. It was just that I didn't feel well! I was sick with dryness, vomiting, upset stomach, and my face was sprinkled on the second day. If I'd had lower characteristics, I might have been killed, but I was only incapacitated for a few days. The longest fucking days of my life!

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 21:37

I remember the first night, when I first started to feel the effects, very vaguely. The only thing I remember most clearly was the beautiful moment when I briefly had glitches. Believe me, when you pour your heart out to a medieval toilet and it starts to answer you, you're probably hallucinating. Well, or there really was something living in there, intelligent enough to have a conversation with me about the principles of quantum indeterminacy.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 21:38

On the second day, I almost didn't vomit rainbows anymore (literally, guys, quite literally), and the other side wasn't bursting. But my entire face was covered in nasty boils that threatened to linger on my face for at least another week. I had to push myself to get to my feet and brew some kind of booze that would bring these decorations down. Actually, I had a few vials of potions specifically against intoxication, but, alas, they were not cool enough for my situation. And the effect would have been comparable to what I was experiencing now- my body was purging itself in every way possible, without needing the help of outside influences.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 21:43

I managed to make not even a potion, but rather some kind of therapeutic decoction, which tasted like herbal tea. It helped because my stomach finally began to accept food, and even the boils began to disappear. The latter, however, had to be smeared with an expensive healing potion based on Bigfoot blood. Shooting at sparrows with a cannon, and even with gold bricks, but I have no desire to walk around with such a face. Besides, I'm an alchemist. I make it myself, and I spend my treasures myself!

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 21:46

I was a bit unconscious of the appearance of the grandfather, to whom I lied something about "the experiment gone wrong and generally do not touch me, I'm resting". I gave him some potions from the supplies for further trade, and then I went to bed. I slept well, though surreal glitches tried to creep into my dreams. Fortunately, it was in my dreams that I could chase my glitches with a chainsaw, heroically forcing them to surrender. My reserve was replenished, but I needed to rest my magic after my adventures, so I limited myself to checking Ygra. I didn't even try to edit her dreams, just made sure that my ward hadn't been eaten by someone, and I looked at the events of the past few days.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 21:48

She hadn't.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 21:48

But a lot of people trying to eat it went to the swamp ogre who took another level for dinner. Thirty-sixth level is very, very cool. There aren't many creatures in the forests around the Edge that are comparable to it in class right now. However, goblinoids have been playing cat and mouse with her for a week now, trying to corner and nail the unknown enemy. So far her skills are sufficient to evade ambushes and even, at times, to beat out the farthest groups of encroachers. But her hide had already been burned a few times, which was understandably unsettling.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 22:04

I don't want some legendary creature summoned after her. I wish I had the strength to give the "get the hell out of there and take a break" order. But in the next few days, I'll have to get the Greenskin out of danger. I don't like the number of enemies about to rip her head off.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:32

On the third day, I felt pretty good. I mean, I still had a nasty weakness in my entire body, a runny nose (an allergic reaction), and my magic skills were working pretty hard, but that was all that was left. Another day or two and I could dance like a goat again. It would be a good time to sort out the rewards of my crazy night.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 22:48

Three levels that gave me another fifteen stats was a very nice gift. Considering how hard it is to earn experience at my current level, that's a pretty good reward for one night of events. Obviously, I would have liked a dozen at once, or at least a full five, but I'm happy with what I got. Especially since it's not the only reinforcement I've received.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 22:50

Walking through enemy lines: The ability to move quickly is quite common. But only a few manage to reach the level that you have reached. Fighting a whole group of equally strong opponents in a confined space with no room to maneuver? Crazy! Do that twice in one day? That's idiotic! Not getting a single scratch in these fights, dodging all attacks, only to reappear in reality a split second later and strike from a seemingly impossible position? Talent! Accept a well-deserved reward. Bonus: +10 to Dexterity.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 22:51

A cool title for a cool deed, what else can I say? And don't let anybody say anything about my "idiocy" that made me go into battle against the goddamn mutants in one go. I had a clever tactic, and I stuck to it! That's the way I did it, not the other way around. And the reward, when you think about it, is very good - almost two levels.
T.N.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 22:53

Add the bonus for closing the shadow steps to the ten I got, and my dexterity was again higher than the energy I was carefully developing. One hundred and thirty-five fucking points! I want so much to add the fifteen points to this stat now, to get the long-awaited bonus! I can hardly give up on the idea, literally stepping on my own throat.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 22:55

The reason is the same as last time - I have enough dexterity now, even with a small reserve, and the main striking power is still shadow-based magic attacks. Which require high reserve and concentration, not extreme dexterity. I can handle those who I don't want to waste reserve on without a hundred and fifty points of dexterity, but against those who I can't penetrate with shadows, high speed won't save me.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 22:56

And that's where the real fucking joke comes in! Because I don't have enough stats to get the energy bonus. Six fucking stats short! One hundred and twenty-nine I have now, fifteen more in reserve, and one hundred and forty-four as a result. It's an epic injustice, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'll put in the extra points as soon as I'm back on my feet.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 23:03

The second title I received that night did not add any stats, but it was no less interesting and useful in the long run. I'd had time to appreciate the benefits of the Soul of the Mocker, and the new title was very similar, and in some ways even cooler. Or vice versa, infinitely worse.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 23:12

The Giver of Fear: There are beings in this universe who know no fear or doubt. Trying to confuse them is as foolish as scooping out the sea, or wrenching ropes from the sand. But you have succeeded! In some unknowable way, you can find and pull out long-forgotten memories and open old wounds. Bonus: You intuitively sense your interlocutor's fears, doubts, and worries, as well as ways to hurt them, +5 to your provocation and clairvoyance skills.

Camrad_RIP 15.01.22 в 23:13

By the way, this is the first title I've seen that gives a bonus not for stats, but skills. I'd rather have clairvoyance alone, than useless, and in some places even dangerous to my ass, provocation. Yes, yes! It's the skill that brings me problems, not my verbal diarrhea, just like that!

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:42

In all seriousness, the gift of the title looks pretty cringe. If Soul of the Mocker was dangerous and hurtful, then the new acquisition... There was something about him that reeked of something wrong and unwanted. And that wasn't surprising, considering how I'd felt when I'd talked to the cultists. What I had become for a few seconds, what looked out of me, what spoke from my mouth - it really could scare even those who ought not to be afraid of anything.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:44

And me, too, if think about it.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:44

A separate reason to be "proud" is the fact that provocation has reached the rank of a great master. My most useless skill. A great, fuck it, a master. I don't even know what to think about it and how to react.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:45

To be honest, I sincerely hoped that by the time I recover from my "exploits," the good people of the regular guards and the adventurers' guild would have scorched the cult and built a casino with blackjack and poetesses on its ruins. The hope remained purely a hope, for the cultists proved to be quite a handful, managing to escape the blow, though not entirely, but with as little loss as possible.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:47

Still, I was pretty bad when I left Bale with the corpse of his mutant sidekick, but I didn't leave a note with a list of addresses. I don't know how I should have done it, but it would have made more sense. But that's the way it turned out.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:50

Let all the important people understand that some very unpleasant shit is ripe (and matured) in the Krai. But that's all they knew. Something was told by Gray's survivors, who had managed not to die during the night's fight with the cult. Something the guards themselves had managed to figure out, having searched the remains of the ritual center, which was disguised as an ordinary pawn shop. And the corpses of the guards that I had left at the pawnshop were also suggestive, forcing them to think more actively.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:51

But most of the information was not reported to the locals, which is why they failed... not a disaster, and not even a failure. Rather, in merchant terms, they were shortchanged - too much had escaped their notice, despite the best efforts of motivated guards.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:53

They uncovered several lairs, declassified a fair share of mutants, especially those in a public role. But the very heart of the cult had come out of the blow, though not without losses to themselves. The human losses, however, were far greater. At first, the mood of the hunters had been in the style of "go fuck them," but after the first dead bodies, when the mutants had to be pelted with bodies, the mood changed to "God save me". The magistrate had to shove their pride deep down and use the elite guard units, at the same time paying contracts to the toughest of the adventurers.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:54

It helped, for the losses were drastically reduced, but not entirely gone. And then the boys did their investigation, and it was easy to come up with a mysterious club of kinky lovers. It would have been strange if they had not found it - all the strings that finally began to be looked for, rather than ignored, led there. The noise of the storming of that place even reached my apartment, but it ended in a puff of smoke.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:56

These fagots escaped!

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:56

They took everything they could out of there, left a bunch of traps and the most untransportable and useless creatures, and stupidly fucked off in an unknown direction, hiding somewhere in the catacombs beneath the city! I can bet you all my teeth that it wasn't easy for the creature to move to a new location. I'm also sure the enemy never left the city - it just couldn't survive the long journey. Nevertheless, they had the strength and means to escape.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 13:29

I could have interfered with them if I had had the strength for another confrontation. But I didn't have the strength left, and the cultists proved themselves to be very good at escaping into the unknown.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 13:30

The feelings were strange. On the one hand, my participation had taken a huge toll on the enemy - half the mutants had been multiplied by zero, most of the tainted fighters had been destroyed, and the uninitiated fighters had either been killed completely or scattered, having deserted. On the other hand, the creature itself has never been found, and I still know next to nothing about it. And the clairvoyance-weakening curtain still hides the essence of the strange beast from me.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 13:38

The keyword has to be considered "weakening". Now, after more loosening of the barrier and after increasing my clairvoyance, I am picking up much more than I could see at the beginning of my investigation. And I'm not going to back down.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 13:38

Not after all the work

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 13:39

I still don't even think about fighting the creature and all the remnants of the cult in direct combat, but I certainly won't miss the opportunity to set them against all those who are interested in the destruction of this nice organization without my involvement. And there are many, many of them now.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 13:52

I finally deployed the stats, investing them, as planned, in energy. It annoying to need to take two more levels at least, but the cheats did not deliver. Otherwise, I would have prescribed myself infinite life and invulnerability. What kind of Marty Sue I am without the ability to pierce the sky with a drill? Or is that from a different story? In any case, right now I need to walk around the city and clear my head. After a long bout of withdrawal and poisoning by my alchemy, that would do me just fine.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 13:56

The city was nervous - rumors of monsters nesting inside the walls had successfully seeped into the populace, filled with a lot of false details, and swelled to truly cosmic proportions. So everyone around me was suspicious of everyone else, which was not conducive to normal human communication. Even about me, rumors among neighbors start, they said, he came here, and sits like an owl, making evil plans! Indeed - a dark creature, filthy abomination! We should have him, ugh!

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:02

Fortunately, my persona attracted far less gossip than old Phmek, who had recently refused to donate or sell good wine on credit to his neighbors. For the sake of fighting evil, that's for sure! For every fool knows that monsters do not touch those who stink of expensive wine! That is why rich people drink it, to scare away the Evil One.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:03

I'm not kidding - this man was even brought in to the guards as an enemy agent! The guards laughed, of course, but they didn't forget to sample the wine. I don't know if it really scares the creatures away. Strange things in the minds of men. At least clairvoyance has become much easier to control lately, so as not to torment me with headaches.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:04

I was checked by the guards, too, by the way, if it could even be considered a check. It was a funny situation, though I realize now that I could have gotten into a lot more trouble if things had gone differently. But there was nothing dangerous - they came, asked questions, ate the same story about a failed experiment, and left, limiting themselves to a superficial inspection of the laboratory and the warehouse. Although if they had checked some compounds, I would have been in trouble. If they had found a cut and burned black cloak and a cute mask, I would have had to bury them there. Sometimes it's a good thing when guards slack from the work.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:06

Fortunately, their sensor, with a sentinel class, couldn't penetrate the stolen shadow, seeing only the twelfth level designation and the marking "Limited Dangerous". And it's a good thing it was the only one he saw, for the shadow, I stole from his fellow sentinel. It would have been strange if he'd noticed I had, as an alchemist, such a class. A little suspicious, yes.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:13

And in general, as I understood from careful questioning, mutants were not defined by sensory skills in almost any way (not surprising if they even managed to cheat the Gaze sometimes), and therefore the guards are not too vicious with the scanners. Thief classes and other criminals suffer more here than possible cultists.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:14

What they didn't tell me, and what I found out for myself, was that the cultists had a great dislike for divine power. It didn't kill them, or even weaken them, no, but it stripped away their disguises. That's why there was a tired-looking priest among the guards who checked me out, whose face had the words "You're fucking me up" written all over it. I did not even have time to strain, because he just stroked me a lazy glance, muttered something under his breath (not a prayer, but a simple grumble), and then fled with the others. It's a good thing he didn't go into the latrine, or he might have sensed something.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:25

I did not get a chance to go for a walk; everyone was at home, and there were hardly any people even at the market. I returned home empty-handed and without the pies that I so desperately wanted. I had to start alchemy, but it brought neither success nor peace of mind - no new ingredients, not enough inspiration to spend the remaining Bigfoot material, and I was bored.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:27

I made a standard "trash" set for sale, and so gave it up.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:28

I went downstairs to have a little chat with the grandfather, but the conversation didn't go very well, either. No, the old man himself didn't mind talking, but his speech was too slurred. But I did hear about how the three of them had survived the massacre that had taken place in the streets. Nothing out of the ordinary just locked themselves in their hovel and sat there till morning.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:29

I heard the latest rumors from the kids, including some true ones (thanks again to clairvoyance). I told them a couple of children's scary stories, making them gnash their teeth and ask for more. The grandfather, by the way, listened very carefully - he's a storyteller, after all.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:30

I made the hard decision to keep doing nothing for at least a couple more days. Either I'm a lazy ass or I was starting to relax after that night.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 14:31

Anyway, there was a bed waiting for me.

Camrad_RIP 16.01.22 в 12:40