Его не звали, но он приперся / They never called, yet he is here: Глава 4

Chapter 4

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 09:53

The new four sentries, sent to replace the processed ones who had gone back to camp, were not going to be spared; it was enough to leave one alive to send signals through the amulet. In fact, no one was going to be polite to them, only taking care to maintain radio silence on their part.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 11:57

Gently, almost tenderly, I stroke the owner of the signal amulet on the head, sending him off to the land of sweet dreams, and then let my companions go on their way. Just beginning to suspect something, the archer caught a glowing arrow with his throat from the invested power from Hans, and after him, his neighbor received a similar gift. The latter, who was fourth, did not wait his turn, wisely deciding to get out of this madhouse. A quick and well-judged jump downward allowed him to get out of the shooting range, only to be immediately taken down by a sharp dagger, guided by the gentle palm of the beautiful Tarija.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:10

Alas, she was far from me, and so the vile brigand was in no hurry to die from the extra holes in his body. When he realized that there was only one opponent and that the arrow could not reach him now (he had not seen me, so he assumed that the arrows had killed all three of his companions), he decided to spend a few seconds of his time trying to take the life of his opponent.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:11

If it had been a one-on-one fight, Tarija would have lost. It wasn't even about levels, though the seventh wasn't good enough against the thirteenth, it was about experience and superiority in weaponry. Tarija must have thought my example exemplary, and then decided that the dagger was the choice of a true Hero. Except she didn't have my abilities and characteristics, and in combat against an armored opponent armed with a normal blade... Let's just say the dagger is not the best choice here.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:12

If it hadn't been for the potions all my companions had used ( only the longest potions so far, so that we wouldn't find ourselves without pants at the most inopportune moment), I would have had to save the fool, but she was doing fine with them. The outlaw hurled his crossbow at her, forcing her to retreat and giving himself time to draw his short sword from its sheath, but that was where his successes ended.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:13

A series of swift slashing attacks, aimed at her face, legs, and forearms, failed to hurt the experienced fighter, but also prevented him from going on the offensive to take advantage of the length of his blade. At the moment of Tarija's boldest attack, he managed to push her with his body, but the dream-trained maiden had already encountered such tactics. A downward departure and another risky lunge, followed by a wistful howl from he - a blade to the groin didn't add to anyone's mood. A severed femoral vein and a severed jade rod guaranteed death by blood loss, but the girl decided to take control, coming in from the blind spot and stabbing straight into the back of his head like a bird stabbing with a steel beak.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:19

The whole fight didn't take a minute, and most of the time was spent fighting the lowest level of us. It took longer to sneak up to the gatehouse to attack suddenly, but knowing the location of the traps and seeing where the sentries were looking at that moment in time, it wasn't too difficult.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:22

"How did I do? You're good, aren't you?" Now that silence was no longer necessary, Tarija allowed herself a show of emotion. "Six levels of the difference!"

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:23

Even though she was happy, it was not even me who had to knock her down, but the serious, like a resident of the Chelyabinsk region, Hans, who was now concentrating on taking his arrows out of the corpses.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:24

"Mm-hmm. Good for you. But you should know that without potions, he'd have gutted you like a fish and then fucked you, too. Maybe even backward." And without letting her insert an indignant retort, he reasoned. "Why are you dropping into the strike like that? You couldn't pull your arm back and you'd get your grip snatched right off! You got a dagger in your hand! You can't block with it!"

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:25

Tarija looked at me, but I just make a look like "Yeah, you really almost screwed up, honey. Try to be a little more careful in the future". Meanwhile, the pathfinder had turned the scene with the reprimand into another lesson and analysis of mistakes. And I understood it all, but I could hardly characterize the problem so accurately. Exactly in words, and not in a correctly shown exercise, to characterize it.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:30

"You have to strike the dagger at close range, so you can feel someone else's breath. And you were fencing with it, as if you had a sword in your hands. No, you can do that too, but it's harder, and it's too early for you..."

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:31

I distracted myself from another lesson and rushed upstairs to help Losij drag our prisoner down. I'm not sure how much time I have, but there's not much time to finish with the prisoner before it's time for another signal.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:32

When Tarija saw our burden, she just grinned wickedly and began to pull off her leather breastplate. I don't like how much she gets off on her power, though.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:32

The slave traders' camp looked more like some not-so-small village or military outpost than a bloody den of bandits. It was rather neat and tidy, everyone was busy or resting, and the whole picture was too... orderly. The presence of normal houses in the camp should be noted specifically - sturdily built wooden huts and barracks clearly hinted at the fact that these guys have been here for a long time. Barracks, warehouses, personal homes of local leaders, full-fledged working quarters, barracks, and slave pens had clearly been fortified and built up over years.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:34

And I was now fully convinced that there was no way this could be done without a cover-up from above. Even if the thugs had bought up all the villagers' guts and shit, someone would have blabbed. I don't want to say anything about the fact that such a construction site couldn't have gone completely unnoticed. No, these mutts are clearly walking under someone's hand, and that hand is long and very hairy.
T.N.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:36

There were enough ordinary tents or rather more of them, but it was probably because the weather allowed them to live that way, rather than crowding under the walls. Despite the resemblance of this place to some villages, there were many more differences. The first thing that struck the eye was the complete absence of livestock or even chickens, so there was no stench of shit. There were no gardens either, except for a couple of greenhouses next to the local alchemist's laboratory house.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:38

But there were dogs if these huge and furry cutthroats could be considered mere dogs and not peculiar monsters. Some of them must have been as big as a fat calf. They must have been fattened up on runaway slaves. That was a logical assumption, considering that most of the dogs were leashed up next to the slave pens.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:38

Nor was it without a few dismembered corpses hanging in the trees, belonging to ( and I could have done without that knowledge) those unfortunate people who had angered their masters in some way. Or simply too useless and cheap to spend money and supplies on them. It costs money, and the whips are free, but they give great motivation to those who haven't been beaten to death with them.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:40

It's a life-affirming picture, there's no other way to express it.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:41

Me and my young team... No, that's not the phrase. I and my comrades-in-arms had separated a few minutes before, after which the trio, drunk on alchemy, began to make a wide detour toward the swamp, where they would be met and backed up by the instructed Ygra, while I began to infiltrate from a completely different direction.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:41

The barrier around the camp was good, but a really strong lurker could only detain a little, not stop it. I didn't have any trouble at all, because I simply shifted into my shadowy form, slipped under the ground, and slipped inside. To be honest, even the ground on which the camp stood was part of a protective circuit. If any earth mage or other physical body decided to break through it, it would be picked up. Fortunately, beaming other plans, including the Shadow plan, is a level of protection that even the coolest and richest slave traders couldn't afford. Simply because people who could put up such protection wouldn't even talk to barefooted bandits.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:44

On the other hand, someone set up this far from ordinary barrier here, didn't he? But here I am thinking of a local ritualist who has a very high level and, most importantly, funding and access to rare reagents. Further proof of the high patronage of this gang. I would have listed the ritualist as a priority target for my visit, but I did not sense any particular danger from him. My clairvoyance even told me that he had been busy for weeks on some project of his own, making experiments on prisoners and looking for something he knew only. I could concentrate on that, but I had enough other purposes where I could apply my clairvoyance well. What mattered was the opportunity to infiltrate the camp, not the purpose of some local Mengele's research.
T.N.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:46

When I emerged from the Shadow, I immediately went into stealth, sensibly assuming that the locals might be disturbed by a figure wearing my smiling mask, appearing in the middle of their camp. Realizing that no one was watching my movements, I went to consider my targets. The team had already gone a third of the way to their chosen point and would soon begin taking down the sentries. By that time, the death mage should learn his direction of magic, so to speak, from the inside.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:47

Otherwise, it's just silly.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:48

As always in my life, yes.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:48

My first target was surprisingly problematic, though it didn't seem so at first. The spacious and ornate tent was radically black, evidently as a sign of the shop's membership. The occupant was also fully in keeping with all the classic notions of dark magicians, both in dress and appearance. And if the same black cloak and massive gray skull medallion could still seem normal, then the appearance...

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:53

Somehow this man reminded me of the unforgettable villain from the series of young British wizard movies. Only he had a nose, but otherwise, it was very similar. Pale and thin skin, narrow slits of eyes, the color of which was impossible to make out, thin fingers that looked like spider's legs - just looking at him made me want to burn him in the holy flames. He was too undead, even more so than other undead.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:54

If all zombies and ghouls had the energy of death, here it replaced the energy of life. There was still living somewhere in the depths of his frail body, but it was so ghostly that it wasn't even funny. This is just a joke, but this fellow is dead to a much greater extent than a mere corpse.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 18:55

And I had to kill him, quickly and discreetly, so as not to cause a commotion. He even made it easy for me by sitting alone in his tent, with no thought of the company. And I doubt there's anyone around here who'd be willing to keep him company. I'm sure a simple stab of a dagger in the heart won't even flinch him, but the shadows should be able to handle it. And then there are the problems that I hadn't thought of, and that Losij's brother-inquisitor never told his kinsman.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 19:03

That bastard necropedophile, that walking stamp from cheap fantasy, sensed death. And the feeling was not limited to the mere knowledge that someone had been stabbed somewhere nearby. He sensed death coming on to himself! Good thing my intuition sounded the alarm on the approach, and then clairvoyance intervened, more or less revealing the concept of his powers.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 19:06

Until I make a firm intention to attack right here and now, the Death Preacher's class sense will be silent. But any, even subconscious movement in the direction of killing him would be the equivalent of an icy thorn in his heart muscle - no way to miss a clue like that.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 19:07

All the same, clairvoyance sang, bringing to my attention a whole bunch of unhelpful facts. There were some really useful notes among this stream of nonsense, such as the realization that a preacher's sense grows with the level (which is not surprising) and on the battlefield, where death walks near, which is more unusual. Now, when he has just set foot on this path and is still at maximum rest, his foresight is running at a minimum. And I'd better not let him accelerate to really serious levels.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 19:10

No one will kill him but me.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 19:10

Hm.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 19:10

Hm.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 19:10

That's not a bad idea, Kostik, not a bad idea at all. When I finish with this camp, I can take a pie from the shelf. Maybe even with cherries, anyway, the carnage will be over by then.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 19:17

I take a position in the farthest corner of his tent - it's surprisingly sparse, despite how expensive it is - while simultaneously pulling my will toward The Shadow. I proceeded at top speed, hastily executing the plan I'd devised.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:28

Here I am, summoning an inferior Shadow from another plane. I'm certainly not going to attack the damn mage with it, but I'm going to keep the Shadow from attacking in any way I can. I am not causing death by my actions, but rather I am preventing it. That's why my actions are invisible to the mage. At the same time as I summon, I try to spend as little energy as possible so as not to disturb a wizard of his level, because I'm conjuring right next to him.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:29

But one of the Shadow's greatest advantages is its stealth and imperceptibility, and so even action as perceptually illuminating as summoning a creature from another plane provides almost no secondary background. Something did make its way through all my efforts, but it was a crumb that no one outside the tent could detect.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:30

Alas, the bald prick was still inside the tent, and so he couldn't help but notice the slightest chill in the air, the slightly dimmed light of the oil lamp, and the barely perceptible shadows around him. It was enough to alarm him, and he pulled up, putting aside his quill and his book and gripping his amulet tightly.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:31

The Mage of Death was ready for battle, but he still doubted the need to raise the alarm, not wanting to make a fool of himself and panic-monger - even individuals so grown-up with their powers remain subject to human standards and thinking. And at that moment an inferior Shadow manifested itself in reality, literally pulsing with malice and lust for other people's lives.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:32

I controlled it, keeping it from attacking, but it wanted to drink the man in front of it dry, even without my involvement. If the Preacher had been more skilled, he would have sensed my intention, too, but fortunately for me, he was not skilled.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:33

The blow of death magic was fatal to the Shadow - the creature simply ceased to be, instantly ending its existence. It was strong, considering that the concept of death is quite alien to Shadows. However, the comparative strength of the Shadow and the charms that struck it would not be at all in favor of the creature I'd summoned.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:33

The mage's blow was completely silent and devoid of special effects - in the real world, it looked like a barely perceptible stream of gray ash. It wasn't spectacular at all, and you might miss it if you don't have an exaggerated perception. My gaze revealed the impact as an impossibly thick shroud of bone ash, in which the painfully white hues of something too otherworldly to be understood by someone who was not himself akin to that power.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:34

The blow was strong, fast, deadly... the last one.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:27

I struck before my Shadow had even disembodied itself, attacking at full speed and without the slightest restraint. The blade that continued the blade of my dagger to its limit, composed entirely of shadow energy, was not a weapon, but a bloody slit in the body of reality. If I had wished to create a breakthrough to the Shadow Plane, a mere swing of this construct would have been enough to really cut through the very fabric of creation!

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:35

Instead, I thrust the edge of the shadow blade straight into the mage's back, piercing his heart without even noticing the protective barrier that erupted. After the first wound, the blade disintegrated into free shadow energy, corroding the victim from the inside, wrapping his entire body in an insurmountable shroud the color of a starless sky. After a few seconds, there was nothing left of the body, only a gray spot in the Shadow where the now-deceased had once stood.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:40

I couldn't bear the urge to say some pompous phrase, but I had to limit myself to poking the freak with a fack, and then I quietly left the tent - there was a lot of work ahead of me.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.22 в 20:40