Его не звали, но он приперся / They never called, yet he is here: Глава 14

Chapter 14

Camrad_RIP 10.07.22 в 19:27

You know, these guys are fucked up, so fucked up that they make even the inhabitants of survivalist forums seem not paranoid at all, but world-loving, hippie pink pony country types. Three layers of protection on Dream's side is enough armor to stop and promptly wipe out almost any threat unless you count the owners of the pumped-up dreamwalkers classes of legendary or higher grades, of which there are very few. I, for example, have never encountered a dreamwalker, or a creature similar to one, except in my own reflection.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 17:15

They weren't satisfied anyway, adding a fourth layer of protection, located almost in the real world. Apparently, it was a backup safeguard, unrelated to the first three defenses, just to be on the safe side. Just a few hundred amulets hung around the barracks and rooms, designed to give a peaceful sleep to all the inhabitants of this structure. I can't even be sure that it's protection against dreamwalkers - it's just as likely that the amulets could be a barrier against all sorts of nasty things that the Mist might inflict.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 17:24

More importantly, I had to wiggle my ass again in an attempt to find the key to these doors as well. And without the owners of that door noticing it. The amulets were not very strong, and it was as easy to burn them as it would be to crush a puddle of ice with a boot. Getting through them unnoticed was a different order of business, though not as difficult. In fact, it was harder and more dangerous to work in Dream, and I was just a little tired of all the crap.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 17:26

Methodically and carefully, I created peculiar bridges, transforming amulets... into more complex and better amulets. I could guarantee that the nightmares of the sleepers would be really less, simply because the trinkets I had strengthened would not let anyone but myself into their dreams. The first reflash took about three hours, and I even had to go back to reality to get something to eat and relieve a migraine - I hadn't yet fully recovered from weaving my first nightmare. The second amulet was finished in an hour, and the fifth and subsequent ones took at most ten minutes to manipulate.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 17:36

I fully appreciate the danger of Dream just now, when I realize the scale of what's happening. There are so many defenses in this fortress that there's no room for spit, but no field can help the inhabitants against an attack from Dream. No, a direct attack with madness or an attempt to drag some creature into reality (though I'm not sure if I could pull such an attack) would be met quite skillfully. The countermeasures might not be specialized at all, but they could burn out my attacks with the power they put into them. But during sleep, when the sleepers come under my full control, there's practically nothing that can help them.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 17:38

I hadn't given it much thought before, but from what I've seen so far, there are very few people who work with this Realm, far fewer even who draw their power from the Shadow. Dreamwalkers, unless they have a mythical, or at least a legendary, class, are too weak in direct combat and of little use in anything other than espionage, and for that the clairvoyants and seers are better suited. Dreamwalkers are weak, and therefore there is little defense against the strong dreamwalkers. What I met and overcame recently was certainly a very serious obstacle, but if it could not stop me even in the initial stages of the second rank, then I have bad news for those in power. Because if that was the best means available to them, I can only laugh at their efforts.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 17:41

I tried to shake off my arrogance, reminding myself that every trickster has a countermeasure, and locals who have accumulated all kinds of stuff should have a warehouse full of it, and a lot of it in their closets. It's easy to be proud, but it's hard to survive a fall because your nose is turned up, especially if no one will let you stand up. That's why it's an axiom that I was just very lucky, and in other places, the protection would be much tougher and more powerful.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 17:42

And so the work went on, gradually rewriting the entire fortress defense in my name from the side of Dream giving me a normal passage into reality. It was like a raid on the territory, evicting the previous occupants. It wasn't that reassigning every single amulet was an impossible task, but it required at least a couple of days of continuous work on that front alone, so I decided not to venture into something like that. I'll finish this later, but right now I need the information I came here for.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 17:44

After I had crushed the defenses of a particular sector of the fortress, opening that section of reality completely to my influence, I began to search for the sleepers to search through their skulls. The hour was nighttime, not even predawn, so I hoped to find a victim quickly enough, but I realized just as quickly that the loser its fate. All the while I was opening a sector of the fortress responsible for some food stores, which is undoubtedly a very important area, but of those sleeping there were only a couple of fat and overfed rats, from whom you would not ask anything but the location of their stash of cheese

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 17:46

Naturally, there were also a few men on duty, whose boredom I could sense even from Dream, but the problem was that they were awake. I could, if pressed, induce drowsiness and put the guys to sleep (I managed to figure out their gender, too), but this might raise unnecessary suspicions, especially if those put to sleep turned out to be as ace as the venerable Rangers, who had long outgrown the level of professionalism when you could sleep on duty, no matter how boring it was.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 17:47

I had to retreat to Dream with swearing and anger and start working on the other side of the fortress. In the same way, gradually rewrite the defense and take control of it. It went faster because of the skill and motivating frenzy I had built up, so I made it through before dawn. It would have been a shame if by the time the work was done all the inhabitants of the fortress had already woken up. But not so offensive as to realize such an unpleasant fact of repeated failure! There were no rats, let alone living people, in the rooms I discovered, which automatically suggested some kind of warehouse or arsenal.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:00

Realizing that I had no time for today, I decided to come out into reality, and whisper to fate and the admins what I think of them. I wish three weeks of continuous diarrhea to those bastards who planned the architecture of this structure, while also questioning their sexual preferences and assuring the universe that my person had the honor to take their esteemed mothers to the theater. When I cooled down a bit, I changed my position, carefully erasing all traces of my presence at the previously occupied point, and then I crossed the Shadow to a new site, free of traps and also long since unchecked.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:20

By the way, only now have I noticed that the transition to the Shadow is somewhat more difficult than in the real world. If it weren't for my current level, I would have noticed it much earlier, because it would have been dangerous, but now... Well, if in the real world trying to step into a Shadowstep for me is comparable to picking up a couple of cherry pips on my outstretched hand, now there are a dozen of these pips. It seems like a lot more, but considering their total weight, the difference can be considered insignificant. If such an anomaly should have slowed all lovers of other Realms, except those who are connected to the Mist, then I simply did not notice it - how to hold with a web or, say, a layer of fragile glass, the falling weight. It will still break through, no matter what.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:23

In the Gaze, it was as if a section of Shadow had been carved out with reality itself, but there was no Shadow outside the islet floating in the Mists. While I was sure I could get to the depths and then swim out of the fold, I had my doubts about doing so in the Mists themselves. All the more reason not to stick my ass in there, lest they bite it and rip out a piece of commissioner's meat.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:34

In my new position, I went to sleep and sent a short message to all my comrades-in-arms. It wasn't very easy to do, because of the Mist, which was clogging up my communication, but I managed it. I did not collect a general dream, or else I would be beaten again, just passed the collected information and informed them that I needed to stay a little longer. Wait for me and all that, for I shall return either with a victory or with a tail of very angry pursuers.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:35

And now sleep.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:36

I woke up a couple of times at night, with faintly flaring anxious feelings. Once I even had to activate the Aegis, going into maximum concealment, when a very powerful wave of scanning magic based on the energies of life and air passed through the entire pocket dimension. To be honest, it would have been worth stepping into Shadow, but I didn't risk doing so under the multiplied pressure of enemy clairvoyance, literally probing the probabilities in the immediate vicinity.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:43

Did I alarm someone?

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:44

Or just a routine checkup?

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:44

Judging by the fact that no alarm was raised, and no one thought to start checking the immediate surroundings, it is closer to the second, although I would not rule out the first either. I still don't know what classes and skills the local prophet have in his arsenal. Maybe he could sense something that wasn't clear-cut but dangerous otherwise, the reaction would have been much more obvious. Sort of the usual bad feeling, without explicitly identifying the threat or the direction of its arrival.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:47

Anyway, I just had to sit around all day, lying down, changing positions, playing imaginary chess with myself, and doing a dozen other kinds of useless shit. I would have gladly let my contract Shadow, who was a scout, off the chain, but there was too much risk. I was in no danger of going near the fortress without a preliminary reconnaissance, and The Shadow might get in somewhere and make a fuss afterward. I had to browse through the heads of at least the rank and file of the local garrison before I could get down to business. Although I have already had a chance to think of possible ways to penetrate through the defense, I do not want to risk without reason - here I just do not need to hurry, and therefore waiting and gradually taking the bridgehead for further action is much preferable. Especially if the possibility of occupying this bridgehead does not require any attraction of attention to their actions.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:49

I would have gone to the woods at the edge of the world, for there are no alarms, but I'm too nervous about the wall of snow-white fog rising toward the milky-white cloud dome that covers this entire domain. Fuck him, and I know too many bad things about other Realms to risk the little things. There's no particular threat of detection now that I've explored the area and got used to the possible dangers, but the threat of being eaten by some fucktard if I get too close to the edge of the fold remains invariably high.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:04

You have to be simpler, Kostik, simpler.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:13

I had finished reassigning more than half of the amulets that protected them against my fellow dreamwalkers, and so I looked to the future with a slight glimmer of optimism and hope for the best. And at first, this mood even seemed reasonable - several sectors open to my will were barracks and dormitories, where the inhabitants were now sleeping and sinking into sleep. It was their dreams that I decided to deal with from the start. Yes, a simple soldier sleeping in a barracks wouldn't know much, but no one would protect him, unlike his father's commanders.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:18

The first pancake was a bit of a mess because the guy had been dreaming about the love he had left at home, the return to which he had been looking forward to for five long years of service. And before that, he had served in the ranks of the baron's retinue, where he had taken his initial levels, while in relative proximity to his love. The story is sublime, kind, and pure, as a love story should be. But his dreams were dirty and filthy, which, again, didn't give me any particular qualms. If it weren't for one small thing - the love of this veteran soldier was, how should I put it mildly, male.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:27

I show heroic tolerance and patience by refraining from sending the sleeper a more fanciful nightmare, after which I decide to change the recipient. Because I'm not that tolerant after all, yeah. Fucking hell! Twenty-first level (albeit with a regular class), a huge amount of experience, several (semi-)military campaigns on the border, off-the-charts brutality, and he is, bitch, faggot! Combat f*cking faggot!

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:28

The second fighter dreamed of soft and tender pig's feet. It wasn't because pigs were a fucked-up theme, but because this guy was always hungry and hungry beyond belief. Whether it was his class or the effect of the title of Gluttony, which increased his stamina by five, but increased the amount of food needed for satiety, this fatty always wanted to eat. And yes, he really was fat. It didn't make anyone laugh, though - for all his weight, the bastard was very fast and extremely technical with his ax and poleaxe. Also the twenty-first level, but the class is already unusual, almost rare, and a couple of unpleasant titles for the opponent has, because of what he was easily pulled at the twenty-fourth, especially if satiated. The commander of his five, assistant tens (corporal, or whatever their name?), an experienced fighter with an implacable temper and a habit to beat in the face, regardless of rank, if he or his people began to oppress. That's why he was transferred here - his character was too unpleasant for arrogant commanders.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:31

The place had no name of its own, at least not one that would be communicated to ordinary soldiers, even though "ordinary" here was considered to be at least level twenty. However, the servicemen had been pretty quick to come up with a name for the place that passed from mouth to mouth among all those who served the Crown in the place.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:32

The Pit.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:32

The fortress was so called not only because the place itself was a hole in reality, but also for the most prosaic reason. It was where they sent those soldiers who had done something wrong or who didn't please their superiors. No, though. Here I, like Marcise, whose dream I'm watching now, have overdone it. Some of the men who are sent here are also those who were displeasing to their superiors, or who have committed some misdeed for which a normal soldier would simply be hanged on the nearest tree or sent to the mines. But there were plenty of regular units, like the Rangers, who were assigned separately through the Crown Office.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:44

In all, the garrison numbered about a hundred and eighty men, of whom only a little less than a hundred and fifty were warriors. The rest of the inhabitants were either shady people in plain clothes or equally shady magicians of unknown orientation. About the latter, it would be better to ask the magicians of the army, who hung out with unknown people. Marcise himself supposed that they were busy keeping the spells cast on the fortress and the area in order and some research of their own. Though, of course, there were other rumors about the place, even the craziest.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:45

That this place is the last refuge of the Royal Family in case of a takeover of the country or a super-scale demonic breakthrough, where the rulers will have to wait out the threat and start ruling from these walls.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:45

That here lies sealed ancient evil, or even Ancient Evil, and they are all but the first barrier to its awakening meant not just to delay the enemy with their deaths, but to feed them with their flesh.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:48

There were even those who thought that it was the men who were in this place who were preparing a rebellion against the King, saving their strength and preparing to strike a treacherous blow and that they were a collection of discontented men who had been wronged by the Crown in some way. A dozen rounds in the latrines issued to the author of this theory, however, slightly dissuaded all those who believed in it.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:49

The point remained the same - they were here for some reason, sitting around in barracks and training on the parade ground, but doing absolutely nothing useful. If it were not for the rare, but nevertheless regular, rotation of personnel that takes place every three years, then all of them would have gone crazy a long time ago, having moved completely from banal boredom. Fortunately, the local commanders were excellent at the tactic of "boring a soldier to the point where he no longer wanted anything," so there was no time for foolishness. Marcise himself even liked the service, if only they fed him more nourishingly. No, he was given a larger portion to take into account his class and titles, but he needed much more than that to be fully satiated.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:53

The discipline here was ironclad, maintained not so much by beatings, but by the commanding skills and general professionalism of those assembled here. It was the hysterical youngsters who could suffer from hazing and cockfighting, but the veterans, who had reached such levels, were perfectly capable of establishing a dialogue and restraining the impulses of the soul. It's like that joke, "Don't think you're the smartest, everyone here is a Jew". Here too, everyone was a dangerous fighter, capable of show a light to an overly rude and uncultured interlocutor.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:55

He knew nothing about the purpose of this place, nothing at all, really nothing at all. Nor did he know anything about the systems of magical protection, except for the obligatory little things like constantly dragging around his amulet and a total ban on visiting certain parts of the fortress. From his memory, I also managed to learn an approximate layout of the rooms, but no more than approximate - in many places ordinary fighters simply were not allowed.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:56

When you think about it, serving in that place was more like imprisonment than a normal life - the extremely limited space, the constant surveillance and control, the lack of opportunities to relieve stress, and the constant harsh drudgery would drive anyone to rabid despair.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:57

Okay, I'm not going to find anything else here.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 19:57

Further excursions through other people's dreams yielded roughly the same result. I was right in my assumption that the people living in the barracks would not know much. Some could tell me about a couple of locked rooms and corridors into which they had once managed to catch a glimpse; others served as informers in the lists of local interrogators from the secret guard, and still, others knew where and from whom to buy some wine stolen from the grocery stores. All sorts of little things of no practical use to me.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 20:05

I had to finish with the soldiers, and then shift my attention to the more secure dormitories, where the officers, the Special Forces, and the mysterious wizards of unknown purpose lived in their rooms. That was a much sweeter prize to take if I wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on without too much trouble.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 20:05

And of course, things couldn't go according to plan!

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 20:06

I don't know how I should respond to this shit anymore, but they went on an extra binge of paranoia here, too. They had individual amulets of incomprehensible nature that were doing something to Dream, preventing me from properly tapping into the dreams of these comrades. At first, I thought that all my previous thoughts about the rarity and inevitability of dreamers were wrong, but then it occurred to me that these amulets did not work only with Dream. In fact, this amulet was directly infused by the fortress, creating a powerful barrier of pure energy that cut off most realms except for the Mist itself.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 20:08

It is possible to overcome such a barrier, and even not very difficult, just to be a really strong dream walker, who can push through such protection with his will, without causing a reaction of the amulet itself, such as heating or other external manifestations. It's another painful and unhurried activity, and I'm about to run out of food, after which I don't even know what I should do. Should I go fishing? There seem to be all sorts of fish floating by, possibly edible ones.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 20:29

In the official documents of Melareth, this place was referred to by the impersonal name "The Stone", passing under a very significant stamp of secrecy. It's not that no one knew about this place at all, but the halo of secrecy here was still very significant. They tried to keep out those who hadn't passed the loyalty test, especially for positions higher than that of an ordinary soldier. Even the "untrustworthy" were recruited whose loyalties were beyond doubt. And, for that matter, most of the "untrustworthy" were put there because of conflict with the aristocracy and commanders, not because of the displeasure of the servants of the Crown. So it turned out that such imprisonment was perceived not as exile, but as a way to lay low for a couple of years and escape the wrath of the other vengeful piece of shit.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:38

Mysterious wizards, on the other hand, were of two kinds: specialists in magical protection, who really kept all the barriers and traps updated and regularly checked, and support wizards, whose purpose was to ensure the stability of the already prepared magical constructions and rituals. The key word here is "rituals," yes. I can, of course, assume that they are engaged in exactly the same thing as the barrier mages, the only difference is that they make sure that the defenses are stable rather than updated.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:39

But something tells me that their main task is to guard and control something that was created and assembled a long time ago, but about which they prefer not to disclose. It is enough just to remember that the rooms of these peppers were better protected than any other premises I have met. That is why I have not yet risked getting near them, even while in Dream. How could I not be suspicious?

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:41

Separately, it is worth noting the presence of three extremely high-level specialists who held command positions in the fortress, commanding all the assembled forces here at once.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:41

Lyroy Atkins, level forty-seven: is the head over all warriors in the Stone, i.e. common fighters, rangers, and several links of elite specialists of various kinds. A rare and epic class and the second is not exactly a fighting type. None of the inquirers knew the exact name, but it is known that this class is aimed at commanding and maintaining discipline in the entrusted army units, as well as strengthening soldiers during battles.

Camrad_RIP 13.07.22 в 18:42